#deadfreaksunite 1984

#deadfreaksunite 1984
tape-by-tape notes

An extended listening project tracking the Grateful Dead’s evolution, recording by recording. Originally posted on Twitter on each show’s 40th/50th anniversary and edited here for readability and occasional revision/correction and minor expansion. Many shows streamable via archive.org. Expanded notes for many shows (with press, scene reports, and images) can be found on Twitter by searching for my username (bourgwick) and the show date. Please consult JerryBase for the latest data, Dead Sources for original articles (1965-1975), and LostLiveDead/Hootrollin for deep dives.

[1965] [1966] [1967] [1968] [1969] [1970] [1971] [1972] [1973] [1974] [1975] [1976] [1977] [1978] [1979] [1980] [1981] [1982] [1983] [1984]

2/21/84 fantasy studios (maybe): a loosie #BobWeir “throwing stones” solo demo for the scrapped 1984 #GratefulDead album, maybe recorded at fantasy records in #berkeley. kind neat to hear a spacious drum machine version with occasional lead guitar color.

2/25/84 fantasy studios (maybe): work tape with a pair of minimalist demos by #BobWeir, a drum machine, & #PhilLesh. only time i know of a weir/lesh duo until their 2018 tour. cool texture with super-busy divebombing lesh bass, but not sure he’s filling up any more space than usual, just a less cluttered field.

3/28/84 marin center: opening 4 nights of @RexFoundation benefits at home in marin, “fresh” from their scrapped sessions at fantasy records. straight to over-the-top energy, CC RIDER & LOSER swell to grunged arena peaks. 1st EL PASO since 12/82. didn’t notice it MIA tbh! WEST LA FADEAWAY arrangement changes from plinky keys to washier ’80s synth. shaky CANDYMAN & LET IT GROW, though latter upshifts into big messy energy. weir’s gear fails, so garcia leads only electric version of elizabeth cotten’s OH, BABE IT AIN’T NO LIE, staple of garcia’s ’82 acoustic sets, unplayed by dead since 10/81 or ever again. somewhat leaden 15-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER. 19-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DON’T NEED LOVE. PLAYING widens, finds dark momentum. garcia & lesh depart before debut of mydland’s icky DON’T NEED LOVE, ready for montage sequence; weir adds whammy figures & half-leads. thread fades before 37-minute extremely weir-ish DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > TRUCKIN’ > SPOONFUL > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. brief balafon SPACE before garcialogue, weir sub-leads building shapes.

3/29/84 marin center: rufus thomas’s WALKING THE DOG opens, goofy R&B by weir & garcia, officially the 1st since ’70, probably learned from the stones, played by the zodiacs & warlocks & early dead & at a private party in ’81. on LITTLE RED ROOSTER, weir running his slide guitar solo through weird harmonizing pedal, crossing the line into noxious weirdness. sleepy 10-minute BIRD SONG, the sound of everybody rubbing their eyes. tightened MY BROTHER ESAU intro/middle, extra-deliberate lesh. 13-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET hits democratic thump, though garcia disappears a bit, also in beginning of 73-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > SPANISH JAM > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. weir watch: “the voices tell me what to take…” band glides into EYES at zippy ~135bpm. weir finds confident no-whammy jam groove. echoed balafon zone before long, leshed-out SPANISH JAM.

3/31/84 marin center: new garcia growl on ALABAMA GETAWAY. tubular 29-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN with semi-minimalist transition, hart on hand drums, maybe. big boppin’ FIRE. 46-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. wild vocal efx on HE’S GONE outro by dan healy, weir clearly loving it. mid-DRUMZ balafon. engaged SPACE fury. some hear BLUES FOR ALLAH, not moi. studio tightened THROWING STONES, tweaked lyrics, g’bye to the neat soaring jam. an underreported part of the history of the NOT FADE AWAY chant: i think hart stays onstage between the set & the encore, drumming & carrying the NOT FADE AWAY clapalong. some reports of this happen later on the tour. audience members did it organically a few times before this, but seems like a formalization.

4/1/84 marin center: bill graham intros rex foundation, shouts out rex jackson & this year’s recipients. garcia vocals froggy throughout. 5-minute CASSIDY; always amazed at how far it can seem to travel. 20-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER does its tricks. 44-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW before multi-song boogie. garcialogue unfolds to patient SPACE, dark & almost ambient. DEW starts shakily but garcia really goes for it & mostly gets there.

4/6/84 las vegas: garcia’s voice is in a better place & there are some fun tune choices, but collectively frayed energy. outlier HELL IN A BUCKET ~20bpm slower than usual. cromulent MUSIC NEVER STOPPED garciaing, though miscommunication in landing (see also late-show transitions into TRUCKIN’, BLACK PETER, SUGAR MAGNOLIA). opening 2nd set, 12-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER feels overflowing, garcia riding bright transition waves. 72-minute LOST SAILOR > SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE > DRUMZ > SPACE > EYES OF THE WORLD > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. graceful SAINT landing with subdued garcia, but he bails quickly. lesh stays for a bit, including nifty weir-led 2nd wind. creepy-crawly SPACE with dubby xylophone. garcialogue quickly bubbles to fast EYES (1st time post-SPACE*). deadhead lore about BLACK PETER (see below). not sure why weir’s in a chair, but his guitar is absent from awkward SUGAR MAG intro.

4/7/84 irvine: tightness already gone from MY BROTHER ESAU intro. solid ALTHEA with good lesh. 75-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > SPANISH JAM > OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. PLAYING flutters ’til weir’s harmonizing pedal enlivens. UNCLE JOHN’S scatters to pensive chaos & reforms. garcialogue SPACE & hyped SPANISH JAM have wild, subtly stereo guitar delays & ambient weir. hart drums on after set to egg on NOT FADE AWAY claps.

4/13/84 hampton: excellent 10-minute BIRD SONG, mydland & lesh getting sweet & conversational; weir’s whammy barring turned down a lot, which probably helps. set-closing HELL IN A BUCKET back at normal tempo. i guess what happens in vegas…? fun 25-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN. during jam, hart moves to talking drum at front of stage & stays. healy adds thick (& well-timed) echo to garcia & weir’s vocals on final FIRE chorus. must’ve been facemelting in the room. 62-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > TRUCKIN’ > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’. more playful vocal echo during ESTIMATED peak (& more subtly on THE WHEEL). jam headed DRUMZ-ward but garcia hangs for a few more “choruses” & satisfying mini-arrivals. xylophone drips into ambient garcialogue SPACE that splatters a bit. spurred (maybe) by weir’s harmonizer pedal, garcia latches into charming WHEEL outro melody.

4/14/84 hampton: much punch, little adventure. fun bass on FEEL LIKE A STRANGER. CC RIDER gains life with vocal echo. 13-minute LET IT GROW keeps soaring. garcia plays with new TOUCH OF GRAY intro. 55-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > TERRAPIN STATION > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW. powerful TERRAPIN trips over outro before brief hint of PLAYING; garcia/lesh split before mydland spotlight. SPACE bass awakenings. big dynamic DEW, lightly frayed. impassioned BABY BLUE vocals.

4/16/84 rochester: according to lore, the 1st unofficial tapers’ section after front-of-house engineer dan healy melts down after seeing “around 100 tapers” blocking his view from the soundboard & orders them to set up behind him. sweet SHAKEDOWN STREET, sax-y garcia, fun echo on vocal reprise. weir uses harmonizing pedal on DUPREE’S DIAMOND BLUES & i don’t hate it. desultory 2nd set has almost-interesting dead minus one pre-DRUMZ in hour-long HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. finally, real action: DRUMZers stay on assertive percussion into SPACE & garcia flows into bright faith-affirming jam, de-cohering but glowing through OTHER ONE.

4/17/84 niagara falls: 26-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER. longer-than-norm SLIPKNOT! churns & chunks, sparkling keys. 68-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > BLACK PETER > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. MAN SMART is hyped but sends garcia into gentle tumble that lazes into mellow, butterflying EYES. SPACE xylophones cascade into swelling ambient garcialogue with subtle echo & weir washes. woozy pitch-shifts by healy in BLACK PETER.

4/19/84 philadelphia: garcia flipped into “on” position from the start, musically lucid & vocally mostly-not-too-croaky. opening BERTHA even at a chill-ish tempo. rare show for the era that feels consistent, but only occasionally exploratory. substantial 13-minute BIRD SONG with neat mydland-led passage(s) & conversations, one leading to extended hang in half-time. hot MUSIC NEVER STOPPED moves from looming question marks to big garcia outro peals, carrying into charged DON’T EASE ME IN. 14-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER, garcia picking the transition with jam banjo clarity. 73-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. ESTIMATED jam raises eyebrows when weir hits HELL IN A BUCKET-like swells. drummers ready to take over when garcia steers band into TERRAPIN. SPACE leans bright & WHEEL-wards early. once again, garcia leads the charge into SUGAR MAGNOLIA. confident BABY BLUE encore.

4/20/84 philadephia: bright garcia in FEEL LIKE A STRANGER / COLD RAIN & SNOW but did he forget how MY BROTHER ESAU goes? 15-minute LET IT GROW rages in place. 2nd set doesn’t grab me. heads dig 29-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN but feels autopiloty & bit somnambulant when they hit FIRE. fun peak, still. 55-minute SAMSON & DELILAH > DRUMZ > SPACE > I NEED A MIRACLE > MORNING DEW > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. garcialogue non-SPACE. soulful DEW with a few iffy spots.

4/21/84 philadelphia: hart, off-mic before 1st song, presumably to kreutzmann: “what do you think we’re doing?” amused that the drummers were guessing the opener, just like the crowd. (it’s ALABAMA GETAWAY, mick.) 24-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER starts mellow & sloppy, finding hypnotic zone & a few nice builds in SLIPKNOT! rough dynamics all over, but a few bright garcia pockets in FRANKLIN’S as they get quiet. 70-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > WHARF RAT > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. hyper PLAYING enlivened by weir’s harmonizing pedal. experiencing a contact low from bleak CHINA DOLL. garcia can’t remember words or chords & his voice sounds awful. still has the good sense to bail before mydland’s excruciating DON’T NEED LOVE. aggressive SPACE (A+ stereo SPACE mice by weir/healy), seems OTHER ONE-bound. after the show, bob weir hangs out with joe strummer from the clash, playing across town at the spectrum theater.

4/23/84 new haven: 1st set is barely 45 minutes. 14-minute SUGAREE glows in places. weir watch: slide guitar & whammy bar supplanted this set (& this tour, mostly) by harmonizing pedal, a vast improvement! no blues/C&W tunes helps, too. 88-minute LOST SAILOR > SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > ONLY A FOOL > DRUMZ > SPACE > SPANISH JAM > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’ is rough around the edges but has fascinating turns. garcia unspools SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE into UNCLE JOHN’S & keeps at UNCLE JOHN’S with long middle & exploratory coda. after garcia/weir/lesh split, mydland & drummers debut ONLY A FOOL (pissing lesh off, per scene report), its only performance. oddly, more appealing to me than DON’T NEED LOVE (almost Band-like keys groove?). satisfying extended SPACE wilding, garcialogue matched by stereo weir/keys & chaos-retaining SPANISH JAM with sweet soaring garcia tone.

4/24/84 new haven: drab 1st set, though brisk 11-minute BIRD SONG with muffled bass & good lesh/garcia peak. 2nd set is crisp-ish if pretty uninventive, ala the pleasant garcia brightisms on MAN SMART, WOMAN SMARTER. 57-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. HE’S GONE feels a breath away from choogling into the dormant NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE. drippy balafon SPACE (an ongoing tour highlight) flows into garcialogue with weir/healy zonk-swirl.

4/26/84 providence: 13-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET is all grungy energy, zoning in on a dank bounce. mumbly garcia accidentally finds cool alternate lyric: “maybe the stars are from your eyes.” raging HELL IN A BUCKET. mydland & garcia hit fun high harmony on LAZY LIGHTNIN’ outro. 27-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN has fun full-band busy-ness at transition but also communication problems & lumpiness, weir singing early in FIRE & drummers miscuing there & other spots. 60-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > GOOD TIME BLUES > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW. in odd reverse, EYES has elegant garcia arpeggio dissolve, but nobody else really jumps on except brief B3 swells? i find mydland tunes to be especially unchill double bummers in the former jam slot pre-DRUMZ & apparently so do garcia/weir/lesh, who again split the moment GOOD TIME BLUES starts, 1st since 12/82. during SPACE garcialogue, healy turns weir’s guitar into dabs of stereo color.

4/27/84 providence: rare set with 2 double-garcia slots. 24-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > HIGH TIME. PLAYING swims in place, dissolves. CHINA DOLL way better than philadelphia. 1st (pretty together) HIGH TIME since 9/82. 48-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > WHARF RAT > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. brief weird-ass lesh/mydland(?) ambient conversation behind garcialogue near SPACE’s end. last of 34 “triple berry” shows with all 3 c. berry songs.

4/29/84 nassau coliseum: 12-minute BIRD SONG murmurs into half-time, awkward reentry. somnambulant WEST LA FADEAWAY, but 13-minute LET IT GROW finds next gear. 75-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > STELLA BLUE > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. finally, full band unfolds TERRAPIN! disbelief when garcia digs in, but all commit for great jam (& bail for DON’T NEED LOVE). long & dense (& fun) healy-tw33ked SPACE, sometimes hard to say who’s doing what. tight TRUCKIN’, too.

4/30/84 nassau coliseum: now the age of IKO IKO show openers, new vibe-setter for mid-‘80s. 71-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > CHINA DOLL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. mournful HE’S GONE outro solo stirs into minor froth-wisp. healy adds SPACE cohesion, panning hand percussion & weir noise in deep stereo mix to fill-out garcialogue. weir’s harmonizer sounds great on CHINA DOLL, marching drums less so.

5/6/84 eugene: 1st HELL IN A BUCKET show opener, becoming its usual slot in ’85. tight soaring CASSIDY. 63-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > SPOONFUL > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > PLAYING IN THE BAND. brief PLAYING, one drummer flying free, one drummer tethered to hi-hat. well-controlled CHINA DOLL. SPACE kawing/vocalizing with full-spectrum mixing fun by healy. loses its chaotic coherence as they tilt towards blooze. abrupt shift back to PLAYING.

5/7/84 eugene: 11-minute BIRD SONG twinkles with keys & odd weir rhythms; thoughtful whammying, even. amped garcia takes I KNOW YOU RIDER’s headlight verse 2x. 66-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. EYES hits so fast it’s basically a new song (~142bpm vs. ~110 in ’73). garcia stays out into fully-vibed DRUMZ/SPACE. balafon, samples, clouds. pre-encore, weir “bop”s ala original NOT FADE AWAY.

5/8/84 eugene: 17-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY, SCARLET’s 1st non-FIRE destination since ’78, apparently at lesh’s instigation. 73-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > I NEED A MIRACLE > MORNING DEW. garcialogue TERRAPIN outro drips into another atmospheric DRUMZ entrance. dense/chaotic/fun SPACE with babbs/kesey & thunder machine. SUGAR MAGNOLIA with no SUNSHINE DAYDREAM. BROKEDOWN PALACE for the keseys, who’d recently lost a son in an accident.

6/9/84 sacramento: beginning of summer touring at #sacramento’s cal expo, a new just-out-of-town home for the next decade. the debut of dan healy’s new digital soundboard, for extra-full tape mixes. concise party mode until 61-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND > BLACK PETER > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. slashing weir pushes PLAYING off-road, summoning kreutzmann to show up as lesh starts his own attack runs, landing in dappled place. strong CHINA DOLL, outro solo turns PLAYING-ish corner, ambling to rare lesh/mydland/drumzers quartet. stereophonic xylophone DRUMZ, dark SPACE noise under garcialogue. wild bass-shaped PLAYING reprise.

6/10/84 sacramento: 11-minute BIRD SONG with active bass & lots of chatter, but never gels for me. 62-minute HE’S GONE > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. HE’S GONE seems vaguely TRUCKIN’-bound but never gets liberated, though some nifty bass conversation before garcia/lesh split in advance of mydland’s tune. xylophone tsunami late in DRUMZ spurs 5 minutes of wild oversaturated (& drummy!) SPACE before garcialogue dissipation.

6/12/84 red rocks: piercing LITTLE RED ROOSTER “slide” by weir. big interlocking LOOKS LIKE RAIN peak. repeating fun variation from eugene: 15-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY linked by assertive gallop that i wish jammed longer. 63-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. ESTIMATED butterflies into fast no-swing EYES. xylophone cascades, sparkling SPACE delays & peaks. way majestic WHARF RAT.

6/13/84 red rocks: rain-lashed show with good energy & big bass. “really a beautiful day for a tornado,” weir sez before rare COLD RAIN & SNOW/DON’T EASE ME IN combo closes abbreviated set. curlicuing 13-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER (’til final chorus crash). weir leans into thrash-voice in MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER & elsewhere. 47-minute LET IT GROW > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > I NEED A MIRACLE > STELLA BLUE. not much jammin’. SPACE xylophones, brief garcia/weir sparkle.

6/14/84 red rocks: IKO IKO has energy burst as it goes, with lit weir/garcia vocal reprise. this summer edges the band decisively into the age of ~45/50-minute 1st sets, really less than thrilling. 58-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DEAR MR. FANTASY > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND > BLACK PETER > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY, though late-set segues are getting looser (besides now-frictionless drop into NOT FADE AWAY, subject of deadhead complaint in new issue of the golden road).  band steers into MR. FANTASY, garcia pushes CHINA DOLL, but mydland starts singing, garcia joins, & band enters (new) age of classic rawk covers. meh, but at least garcia plays/sings, sometimes the same words as mydland. balafon/garcia/weir SPACE clatter before garcialogue & ambient looping. weir remembers holly’s “BOP BOP!” NOT FADE AWAY ending, so naturally starts shouting it. garcia/mydland join. hart again drums between set/encore. weir watch: wholesome flag day US BLUES dedication.

6/21/84 toronto: with The Band, a SEVA benefit in #toronto, the last time they share a bill. in addition to the numerous crowd-pleasers, the Band’s repertoire now has a few more post-robbie tunes, all pretty fun, including the helm-sung STORY EVERYBODY KNOWS (originally done by bb king) & ONE MORE SHOT (his sung-as-jesse-james duet with emmylou harris from the 1980 concept album “the legend of jesse james”) & danko-sung JAVA BLUES (co-written with the late digger/activist & friend of the dead emmett grogan). onstage, wavy gravy enthusiastically intros the dead’s 1st set with a passage from the i ching while ken kesey whispers annotations in the radio booth & cracks wise with co-host paul krassner. 11-minute BIRD SONG flaps neither far nor wide, more like a long & confidently winging garcia solo than a jam. i especially enjoy the weird shimmer of weir’s harmonizer on DUPREE’S DIAMOND BLUES. kesey intros the 2nd set. 24-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN. SCARLET finds neat pocket but kinda confused in places. 50-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. brief but assertive starlight jam in TERRAPIN, like garcia’s ready to fly but remembers there’s more song. DRUMZ ends on cool xylophone groove, jumping into energetic SPACE with garcia/percussion duet, dissipating in waves (with audibly restless crowd). purposeful late-set garcia in weir’s tunes. uncommonly good NOT FADE AWAY harmonies, mydland taking falsetto spotlight, fading on drum-led clapalong. encore features rick danko & levon helm, maybe richard manuel, their last dead appearances. no spotlights except harmonica (manuel, maybe?), though helm clearly on a drum kit, centering the damn backbeat. weir sings last dead NEW ORLEANS. only BIG BOSS MAN of ’84 (with always-funny “won’t let jerry stop” line), criminally undermixed answer vocals by danko. after the show, wavy gravy makes rare stage invocations of pigpen & neal cassady (& jed kesey) & shouts out the equipment crew by name & “all the countless workers & the canadian government” (booooo!) “okay, i take that back. i’d like to thank the planet earth for having us here.” (woooo!) weir jams with sylvia tyson at the aftershow.

6/23/84 harrisburg: it’s officially Grateful Dead Day in #harrisburg & sounds like a beautiful show in the middle of a river on a moonlit night, though the music doesn’t quite find the magic. rare MUSIC NEVER STOPPED hits fun peaks. 63-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND. garcia butterflies from ESTIMATED into unchill 135bpm EYES; outro jam is kinda just a long fade. SPACE xylophones land on noise floor, which rumbles but never blooms. TRUCKIN’ toodles into SPOONFUL riff. “the harrisburg BLACK PETER” (as labeled) is competent. weir (joined by mydland) inserts “run & see” answer vocals.

6/24/84 saratoga springs: now that’s what i call a bustout! show opens with 1st DANCIN’ IN THE STREET since 7/81, probably unrehearsed & reverting to something like the pre-disco arrangement, unplayed since 12/71. can hear band remembering/arranging before they start. exuberant fun, lesh joining garcia at mic. surprisingly tight, with pleasantly questy solo. bird calls (via healy?) during HELL IN A BUCKET. fun unbroken 2nd set. zippy I NEED A MIRACLE/BERTHA combo followed by 73-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > SAMSON & DELILAH > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. deep PLAYING jam with lead bass throughout, weir throwing bent shapes. CHINA DOLL fades into DRUMZ but weir pulls it back. well-mixed DRUMZ dronez. fun SPACE goes from full-zap to lesh-involved dialogue. class-of-’65 encore: SATISFACTION/IT’S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE combo. between, garcia hits THE LAST TIME riff & audibly scoffs when nobody joins.

6/26/84 columbia, MD: opens with 1st CASEY JONES since 8/82, pretty enthused. weir goes screamo during outro. 51-minute mega-’84 sequence of MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > DON’T NEED LOVE. long HE’S GONE slowly turns weird, almost turns over. seems i’m not into mydland songs after SPACE, either. garcia slowly sort of picks up the changes, but maybe only half-commits. after dissipation, TRUCKIN’ > WANG DANG DOODLE > STELLA BLUE.

6/27/84 columbia, MD: nice bass! dense (but maybe not totally engaged) garcia in 13-minute LET IT GROW & 24-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER. 58-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW. ESTIMATED cycles mellowly, landing in EYES at chill tempo. garcia splits & lesh/mydland’s beatles debut is only charming because it’s **SO** terrible. scattered SPACE, strong DEW with good dynamics, very ‘80s vocals.

6/29/84 cuyahoga falls: diggable summer vibes in 1st set. 13-minute BIRD SONG with stormy peak, 2 “new” songs (HELL IN A BUCKET & WEST LA FADEAWAY) & & patient MUSIC NEVER STOPPED. 24-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY > DEAR MR. FANTASY. SCARLET stays in up mode, with a fun messy crash into TOUCH that nobody but garcia seems to expect. he seems to lead charge into DEAR MR. FANTASY, more together as a garcia/mydland duo. 56-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. beautiful ambient SPACE mix by dan healy, dark/dank balafon ricocheting/echoing around weir(d)ness. sweet roll into THE WHEEL, but un-sweet cliff-drop into OTHER ONE, which comes pretty close to remembering how to get weird, weir unusually & niftily starting 1st verse over quiet moment. maybe lesh is singing on US BLUES choruses?

6/30/84 indianapolis: nice feel, shaky garcia vocals. healy enhances SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE harmonies. virtually all 2nd set segues are in intention only. 61-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET > PLAYING IN IN THE BAND > TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND. wide-angle balafon/DRUMZ splatter drips into well-framed garcialogue SPACE. 29-minute TRUCKIN’ > SPOONFUL > STELLA BLUE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT is barely-linked boogie suite with brief valley.

7/1/84 clarkston: very ‘80s party with IKO IKO & LITTLE RED ROOSTER openers & tight HELL IN A BUCKET & such (& not much jamming). 14-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER, mydland mining synth-organ colors during transition. 35-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > CHINA DOLL. HE’S GONE almost fizzles but whips into playful thrilling coda, garcia included. stereo xylophone SPACE is mostly CHINA DOLL garcialogue prelude. sloppy but fun BERTHA & I NEED A MIRACLE in late-set slots.

7/3/84 kansas city, MO: 29-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN. SCARLET gets a little open before lumpy segue. everybody taken by surprise when garcia starts listless FIRE. garcia & lesh bail for whammy-inflected JAM > DON’T NEED LOVE before another hard pause & 38-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. grungy SPACE, OTHER ONE adjacent, weir almost chimes into new place. at set’s end, players exit one by one. a 1st, i think.

7/4/84 cedar rapids: extra-active full-band weave in uptempo 1st set rolling-groove tunes like FEEL LIKE A STRANGER, CUMBERLAND BLUES, & HELL IN A BUCKET, weir & lesh especially alive & chattering. effortless flow doesn’t quite carry to slower/lurchier tunes ala ROW JIMMY. mydland scats with FRIEND OF THE DEVIL solo; could you not? weir dedicates 2nd set (& lesh re-dedicates HE’S GONE) to paul hantman from the rainbow bus, who died a few days earlier. crisp 20-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER, garcia joyously gets every line (if not each word). SLIPKNOT! intensifies via lesh’s activation & weir’s quietly noisy (& fun) comping. 71-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’. gentle ESTIMATED unspooling. HE’S GONE froths into OTHER ONE intro, audibly nixed by weir or garcia. ambient SPACE layers of distorted xylophone & weir feedback prevent garcialoguing.

7/6/84 east troy: mega BIG RAILROAD BLUES vocal miscommunications. warmed up, 12-minute BIRD SONG & 14-minute LET IT GROW surf tumbling summer energies. 54-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER. excruciating-to-me MAN SMART. nearly tensionless garcialogue SPACE. FANTASY solo goes over top, sweet landing in THE OTHER ONE. 2nd WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD is way more together/charming. more miscommunication zaps AROUND & AROUND.

7/7/84 east troy: nice drip from COLD RAIN & SNOW into 47-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > TERRAPIN STATION. garcia remembers CHINA DOLL, but his voice is at full hard-to-listen frogginess. rare late show TERRAPIN, 1st post-SPACE since ’78, accidentally cued on-mic by weir. weir adds his full-body-cringe TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT inside NOT FADE AWAY, 1st by him since ’82, now sadly back in repertoire (no call & response!?); my own fault for listening.

7/13/84 greek theatre: full moon, friday the 13th, good summer energy, band tightening as they go, with fun setlist, garcia pretty present. 31-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN is fullest iteration yet with convincing transitions on both sides. 51-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > I NEED A MIRACLE > STELLA BLUE > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. sweet dissolve from DRUMZ into wild xylophones, rich SPACE, & clanging WHEEL landing with neat liftoffs & descents. encore is only DARK STAR between 12/81 + 10/89, 16 minutes, with slides of surreal space-scapes & NASA-sourced images while a real shooting star soars over the greek. rumored far enough advance that at least one head flew cross-country in anticipation. gentle orbits around the galactic core never break into open space (or, more to the point, the drummers never let go & garcia seems to keep on walking as he passes by a few open doorways around the 10 min. mark), though some pretty peaks.

7/14/84 greek theatre: matt kelly harmonica on LITTLE RED ROOSTER. 14-beat BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE intro, a drummer miscounts or thinks it’s the 15th. 22-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER, doughy SLIPKNOT! as gentle rainstorm hits. 68-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > WHARF RAT > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. mid-tempo EYES sunshine churn. xylophone DRUMZ & mirrored implosion into garcialogue SPACE.

7/15/84 greek theatre: continuously fun from the drop with 2nd re-revived DANCIN’ IN THE STREET, a bright mess with new verses & exciting garcia outro (& fade out end). 12-minute BIRD SONG, dense & almost aggressive, good supportive no-whammy weir. weir watch: “we’re having a technical difficulty,” weir announces before 2nd set. “we have to nail [garcia’s] other foot down.” 2nd set opens with lesh/mydland’s goofed WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD, eventually becoming “do it on the drums…” 71-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > CHINA DOLL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. PLAYING churns into UNCLE JOHN coda before awkward flip into song. way subtle garcia on DON’T NEED LOVE. rad multi-flare SPACE (see below), zonked final peak. new city-poppy CHINA DOLL synth tone, DRUMZ click gets re-triggered during 1st verse. weir dedicates BROKEDOWN PALACE encore to sonny heard, ex-roadie killed previous night in drug-related shooting. important milestone in DRUMZ/SPACE: a lightly-treated metronomic drum machine beat (that almost sounds like a hand drum) starts deep in the xylophone section & threads into SPACE. there’ve been samples before, but the 1st time (i think!) DRUMS & SPACE are linked by a beat/pulse/loop that everybody’s thumping/weirding over, which will become hart’s main strategy in the ’90s & beyond.

7/21/84 ventura: 13-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET lands in mutant blues. mid-set CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER. 64-minute TRUCKIN’ > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. extra-slow EYES, ~100bpm, even slower than early ‘70s. doesn’t go far but totally opulent & lovely! maybe-accidental garcia note at 8:14 fakes towards ’74 jam. thick conversational SPACE with garcia/xylophone dialogue & dark stereo weir ambience.

7/22/84 ventura: DANCIN’ IN THE STREET conversation verges on open jamming but drummers keep hi-hats hissing. good summer energy (aka no weir blues or C&W covers). people love this LOSER, so much that i had to check audience tape, too; hotter dynamics there, plus very present (but very ‘80s) garcia vocal. CASSIDY smokes. sleepier 2nd set, opening with willie dixon’s I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU, 1st since ‘66ish, sung by mydland, formerly by pigpen, rolling into MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER. 43-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW. satisfying melt from xylophones (plus some kind of flute?) through SPACE chaos into sensitive garcia/weir/healy ambience & out to majestic DEW. during NOT FADE AWAY, weir bops at seemingly random times, then remembers it comes at end; garcia/lesh split & rest of band leads clapalong. encore leads with 1st non-new year’s MIDNIGHT HOUR since ’71, only weir’s 2nd time. of songs formerly sung by pig, this one loses the least for me.

10/5/84 charlotte: big cheers for all the local references in PROMISED LAND. still wish weir didn’t abandon so many of his regular guitar moves, but his (still icky) whammy accents are at least getting more expressive on lightly stretching FEEL LIKE A STRANGER & 14-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER with mellow & assertive garcia in middle. 63-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER. new bell-like synth on ESTIMATED bridge, butterflying into 130bpm EYES with gentle dissolve, padding by synth-flute as all land together. stereo-sculpted percussion melts to garcialogue set amid convincing ambient swirl & an abstracted wink at SPANISH JAM before recombobulation. dense OTHER ONE middle jam with more whammying & bass bombs. garcia both starts SUGAR MAGNOLIA (which subsequently collapses) & skips SUNSHINE DAYDREAM (by starting JOHNNY B. GOODE).

10/6/84 richmond: long NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES with cringey slide & punchy bass. 23-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN with floating, weaving transition. 67-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > THROWING STONES > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. big 2nd PLAYING jam, weir throwing ominous shapes. confident CHINA DOLL with coda jam. SPACE wends into full-band NOT FADE AWAYishness. similarly, nice surprise move into GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD.

10/8/84 worcester: a head says he triggered the show-opening IKO IKO by slapping the rhythm on the balcony. sure! 12-minute BIRD SONG, weir summoning a pair of small too-short storms. 10-minute penultimate LAZY LIGHTNING > SUPPLICATION seems to dig in, as it always does. 1st TERRAPIN STATION set opener since ’81 leading to 2nd set with a few iffy transitions. seems like it should drop easily into SAMSON & DELILAH but drummers miss the signal. admirably unpredictable (if not always engaging) 58-minute I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU > I NEED A MIRACLE > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > WHARF RAT. 2nd of 2 versions MAKE LOVE by mydland, sung by pigpen in ‘60s, revived by garcia once in ’95. gets fierce, with a whiff of CAUTION. MIRACLE expands organically, garcia pushing high-speed ideas, though nobody keeps pace & it never quite blooms. nice healy-mediated garcia/weir SPACE ambience, also adding wild tailing efx to TRUCKIN’ verses.

10/9/84 worcester: multiple jam anchors, but not much transcends. 7-minute DANCING IN THE STREET opener, changed to “autumn’s here…”, garcia starting to ramp up as weir cuts back to the ending. slightly jerky 13-minute LET IT GROW to close 1st set (with good bass in outro) & short-ish 22-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER to open the 2nd, SLIPKNOT kinda mushy/tentative. 64-minute HE’S GONE > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. HE’S GONE gets vocal efx in outro. 1st SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING since 3/72 gets cheers, now sung by weir, better than some of his other pigpen revivals, still carrying some of its expansive ominousness. ambient garcialogue SPACE. a few weeks before the ’84 election, on lennon’s birthday, REVOLUTION sounds about as inspired as the mondale campaign.

10/11/84 augusta: not super-exciting, barely dipping into jam territory. 15-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET opener slashes into synth-dripping bounce. garcia’s voice at its froggiest during SHIP OF FOOLS. 54-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY > BLACK PETER > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. sloppy PLAYING eventually immolates into fun freefall (wish there was a soundboard), flowing nicely into marimba-DRUMZ that swirls in the land of zonk. healy adds subtle repeat echo to BLACK PETER.

10/12/84 augusta: fun setlist with oddities & songs outside their usual slots, starting with IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE ROSES played 2nd, garcia’s solo sounding equivalently grungy to his voice & appearance. 1st SHE’S ON THE ROAD AGAIN since ’83 & last ever, on/off weir folk fave going back to the jug band days. garcia follows with another acoustic songbook fave, 1st JACK-A-ROE since 4/82, described by lesh (& seen below). no weir C&W or blues, even IT’S ALL OVER NOW is a bit punchy. DON’T NEED LOVE a bummer no matter when it’s played. 57-minute UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND REPRISE > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > MORNING DEW. long UNCLE JOHN’S is mostly empty space besides brief near-return by garcia at end. good ominous SPACE gonging by weir. solid PLAYING jam before the 1st time the reprise occurs without the beginning, concluding version begun night before. love DEW as powerful set closer, a more common move later. way screamy GOOD LOVIN’ encore.

10/14/84 hartford: garcia finds butter I NEED A MIRACLE into MIGHT AS WELL transition though nobody else shifts gracefully. 77-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > CHINA DOLL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. shimmering delay waterfall in DRUMZ, uneventful SPACE. healy goes ape with vocal (& some guitar) swirl on ESTIMATED & THROWING STONES & LOVELIGHT. house lights flipped on, perhaps inspiring garcia to start LOVELIGHT. no encore.

10/15/84 hartford: full frog garcia. 11-minute SUGAREE soars & 14-minute BIRD SONG makes thoughtful climbs, but ye gods weir’s new distortion is ugly, like it’s over-saturating the tape, but sounds same on audience recordings. 28-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN has more creative but ugly weir comping. 48-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > WHARF RAT > PLAYING IN THE BAND. granular PLAYING dissolve, moments of SPACE focus with quiet side-melt into DRUMZ.

10/17/84 east rutherford: sweet, lazy IKO IKO opener. healy fucks with weir’s slide on NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES; equally plausible, weir’s garbled-tape guitar tone is intentional. 23-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER, bit lost in SLIPKNOT. fun 50-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > OTHER ONE > TRUCKIN’ > STELLA BLUE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD. rich dissolve into the weird. garcia skips GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD’s BID YOU GOODNIGHT coda, band flummoxed.

10/18/84 east rutherford: big FEEL LIKE A STRANGER arrives without traveling. garcia sounds a bit less froggy but very old. quite present on CANDYMAN & his 1st set songs. manic TOUCH OF GREY almost derails. 44-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND. tight econo-move from PLAYING into UNCLE JOHN’S & brief thrilling jam out of CHINA DOLL dissolving into healy-made bleep-sparkle. NOT FADE AWAY ends with clap-leading drum fade-out.

10/20/84 syracuse: big, frayed. delay-swirled “take a step back” routine. lotta expanding/contracting sound/fury in BIRD SONG & SHAKEDOWN STREET. fiery JACK STRAW. 63-minute HE’S GONE > SMOKESTACK LIGHTING > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. SMOKESTACK is less ominous but expands to brief peaking glide. in a harsh era, DRUMZ/SPACE continues to find gorgeous (if brief) ambient shimmer. weir tries LOVELIGHT matchmaking but remains a dork.

10/27/84 berkeley community theater: first officially sanctioned taping section. for their return to a small local venue, pretty uninspired. garcia, lesh, & momentum depart immediately after 17-minute HE’S GONE > WANG DANG DOODLE. vague SPACE before mydland does standalone DON’T NEED LOVE. 38-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. an ugly kersplat into GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD. lesh apparently confiscates weir’s whistle; weir says he’s got a whole box of them.

10/28/84 berkeley community theater: croaky 11-minute BIRD SONG feels like oversaturated water colors until gentle final descent. 2nd set is unbroken 75-minute TERRAPIN STATION > PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. CHINA DOLL patiently shifts/flowers/widens across PLAYING-adjacent territory, sliding into quiet DRUMS & evocative/murky SPACE ambience. hart (presumably) keeps kickdrum going while crowd does NOT FADE AWAY clap.

10/30/84 berkeley community theater: re-revived DANCING IN THE STREET remains ace opener, never long enough. confident power in BROWN EYED WOMEN, CASSIDY, & 12-minute LET IT GROW (nearly derailing). last FAR FROM ME ’til ’87. somewhat static jams in 23-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN & 67-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. probably-rich ambient SPACE on audience tape only.

10/31/84 berkeley community theater: another frayed evening with highlights. 14-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET finds brief zen near end. too much matt kelly, playing harmonica in 1st set on NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES & BIG RAILROAD BLUES, fun evocation of pigpen-era dead on the latter, maybe 1st time i’ve been charmed by kelly. 12-minute LAZY LIGHTNING > SUPPLICATION is last ever version, alas, though fast & kind of discombobulated. SUPPLICATION will return as a jam (& once more with vocals in ’93). 53-minute I NEED A MIRACLE > AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS > HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > MIND LEFT BODY JAM > MORNING DEW, with kelly for 1st two. weir debuts willie dixon’s AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS, a vague nod at spooktacularness. especially righteous healy-sculpted DRUMZ/SPACE, filled with swirls, delays, ultra-quiet, voices (“what it is, what it is…”), unexplained sounds (hart maybe playing a flute & squeaky toy?), stretching into SPACE, with duo MIND LEFT BODY by garcia/weir, & iffy DEW.

11/2/84 berkeley community theater: another surprising shuffled setlist. PEGGY-O comes early. “oh no!” either garcia or hart says as weir starts EL PASO, before weir promptly forgets words (& more off-mic shit is given). pretty together LOSER, give or take froggy vocals. 11-minute SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > SPOONFUL > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING feels big, at least. 22-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER kind of unhinged, but fun double-drumming in FRANKLIN’S peaks. 46-minute WHARF RAT > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND REPRISE. usually in late 2nd set, WHARF RAT dissolves ambiguously into swaggering lesh-led debut of spencer davis’s GIMME SOME LOVIN’, sung by lesh/mydland. lesh’s 1st non-lulz lead since ’73. stereo balafon DRUMZ rainbow & vivid garcia/weir SPACE with slow recombobulation into PLAYING REPRISE, concluding 10/28 version. late-set BERTHA > GOOD LOVIN’, usually earlier. encore is last CASEY JONES ’til 6/92 revival.

11/3/84 berkeley community theater: weir debuts willie dixon’s DOWN IN THE BOTTOM, sounding like NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES, but good energy, crisp garcia & electronic triggers from healy. chaotic 2nd set with a wtf core of 63-minute GLORIA > WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD > DRUMZ > SPACE > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DEAR MR. FANTASY. sloppy songs, long & tactile DRUMZ/SPACE. 1st GLORIA since 10/81 is mess. garcia/weir sing ROAD, also a mess, disintegrating to MIND LEFT BODYish listlessness.

12/18/84 front street: as suggested by fans over halloween, band tries DAY TRIPPER, mydland/weir/lesh singing. 15 minutes of mydland’s TONS OF STEEL, destined for “in the dark”, lesh on chorus vocals & very present on this tape. lesh does JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES, wrestling with monitors. i’m usually fine with lesh’s voice, but his growly TOM THUMB is an acquired taste. charming ad libs. “they blackmailed the king of the hippies into leaving his post.”

12/28/84 san francisco civic auditorium: lesh has mic for 1st time since ’74. garcia sounding rough. 1st TONS OF STEEL, mydland song about a truck that still manages to be gross (“more a bitch than a machine”). lesh cheered for backing vocals. 51-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT. enough weir blues! stereo-zipping SPACE with extended percussion/synth densities. encore DAY TRIPPER debut… could be sloppier? props to hart for percussion verisimilitude. absolute tragedy: that night, loraine & jennifer parish, steve parish’s pregnant wife & daughter, die in a car crash in petaluma. [4/5]

12/29/84 san francisco civic auditorium: surprise! ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT opener, 1st since ’82. present & shredding garcia on 12-minute LET IT GROW. psolidly psychedelic 75-minute TERRAPIN STATION > PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > STELLA BLUE. PLAYING unfolds thoughtfully, drummers successfully shifting gears. loop-wild DRUMZ has 1st Beam segment since 3/83, deep & droning, flowing into well-formed misterioso SPACE & extended widescreen swirl. powerful STELLA BLUE. pretty lit NOT FADE AWAY, almost derailing. the tangled history of the NOT FADE AWAY chant continues. this time, the drummers keep drumming after the band leaves, eventually ceding to crowd. when band returns, weir tries to lead an alternate version of the refrain, “never never never fade away,” mixed with intermittent “bop bop”s, which mydland struggles to match, before garcia sorta segues into BROKEDOWN PALACE, for steve parish.

12/31/84 san francisco civic auditorium: 45 minutes of really delightful/absurd radio bits from the dead’s cross-country new year’s 1984-1985 NPR simulcast, with father guido sarducci interviewing garcia (on catholicism! a UFO encounter!) & kreutzmann (with a few answers seemingly scripted by @[email protected]) & deadheads in the crowd, former tubes singer jane dornacken interviews weir & mydland, & a poem by robert hunter (recorded with self-accompaniment), lesh & legate on fugues. 17-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET opener, garcia bopping in sly turns, a @[email protected] fave, picked for “so many roads”. brisk PEGGY-O is jaunty & charming, but brisk JACK STRAW feels hurried. 13-minute BIRD SONG storms gently. SUGAR MAGNOLIA at midnight, bill graham arriving on a lightning bolt as father time, balloons drop & fireworks pop. SUNSHINE DAYDREAM skipped for 25-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN. meh song parts in both SCARLET & FIRE but adventurous transition & steamy peak. 40-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > SPANISH JAM > THE WHEEL. closing out year of full-spectrum healy-sculpted DRUMZ/SPACE, stereo-panned DRUMZ bends into well-mixed Beam drones, a beautiful destination to have. SPACE orbits deconstructed SPANISH JAM. 3rd set is more like extended 25-minute encore, with another joyous lesh-led GIMME SOME LOVIN’. and they forget to finish SUGAR MAGNOLIA.

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