Grateful Dead: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY

ICY WINDS RIPPED ACROSS Long Island Wednesday night as the Grateful Dead launched the first of three sold-out Uniondale evenings with the meteorologically inspired 'Cold Rain and Snow'. A strangely sinuous lament about bad weather and marital misery, the traditional tune was drawn from the band's first album, which celebrates its 24th birthday next week. Indeed, most of the show had a hard-rocking, rootsy quality, as though the group was blowing off mellow California steam in the heart of East Coast metal country.