#deadfreaksunite 1985
#deadfreaksunite 1985
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 BlueSky/Mastodon 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] [1985]2/18/85 kaiser convention center: the dead open their 1985 in #oakland at the newly-renamed/reopened kaiser convention center, the 1st chinese new year’s shows & the 1st gig since garcia’s bust in golden gate park. all eyes on garcia, fresh from a very public post-bust shaming. start of “trouble ahead, jerry in red.” seasonal IKO IKO opener. chinese new year or mardi gras, who’s counting? signs of life in 1st set, but 10-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER feels bit rushed. well-threaded 76-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > EYES OF THE WORLD > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > DRUMZ > SPACE > CHINA DOLL > BABY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO > SUGAR MAGNOLIA filled with wee surprises. lot of HE’S GONE scatting by garcia & co. garcia finds messy passage into chill ~100 bpm EYES. drummers settle & garcia/mydland get semi-quizzical before side door into pretty ragin’ GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD, with mini-coda DRUMS transition. beam flows into weirdo SPACE & articulate moody conversation. purposeful/atonal twist into ace CHINA DOLL, breathlessly drumless at first, impressive mutated weir counterpoint. mydland debuts jimmy reed’s BABY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, fine late-set addition, sung by garcia with saunders in ‘70s.
2/19/85 kaiser convention center: at least on tape, kinda iffy vibes at the kaiser. weir watch: during the opening JACK STRAW, him & mydland sing “we can share the women, we can share the wine… one more time” (like a new year’s toast?), repeating it during ending tag. off-mic, lesh & hart request (& get) MY BROTHER ESAU, wanting to stay uptempo. 11-minute BIRD SONG, garcia unsure of himself during vocals but all feel connected during jam, weir & drummers especially. 18-minute TRUCKIN’ > TERRAPIN STATION (with big cheers at “busted…”) sets up bill graham’s spectacle, 38-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > THROWING STONES > TOUCH OF GREY. weir inserts bit of IKO IKO into MAN SMART, with “gung hay fat choy!” chinese new year’s lyrics. 1st dragon parade, martial arts, & percussion demo don’t quite translate to tape. singularly terrible TOUCH, band feels off, garcia missing lyrics (though “cow has not been fed in years” is actually kinda good).
2/20/85 kaiser convention center: rare night that garcia’s voice sounds more together than weir’s, ouch, though garcia’s pretty scrapped up by the end, too. sleepy 1st set with kinda half-hearted DAY TRIPPER. lesh on slide bass during (probably) WEST LA FADEAWAY, per @corry342. 23-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN has kinda ecstatic CHINA CAT-like transition & neat landing, FIRE not as sparked. 42-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > BLACK PETER with another dragon parade. unassumingly great PLAYING, everybody going free, pulse remains & eventually reshapes. balafon loops/echoes drip into SPACE with twisting garcialogue & oversaturated drum hits while dragon parade winds across venue floor. weir lets drummers do the ’69-style drum break on TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT, a minor (& promising) miracle, & manages a decent “nowwaitaminute,” but kind of a mess otherwise.
3/xx/85 club front: the grateful dead (possibly minus phil lesh) work on the soundtrack for the new twilight zone series with merl saunders at their front street studio, sessions continuing in late april. unclear when this is from. mostly a series of short space-blurps that set up the main TWILIGHT ZONE motif, but also a 5-minute jam that sounds like something out of TRUCKIN’ with both saunders & mydland on keyboards, & a 2-minute instrumental piece that fades in on a sweet garcia instrumental theme.
3/9/85 berkeley community theater: 1st BERTHA since garcia’s bust, cheers for “why don’t you arrest me?” early eve ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. 12-minute garcia-steered CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > CUMBERLAND BLUES, 1st without RIDER since ’72, last ’til ’88. 41-minute I NEED A MIRACLE > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > OTHER ONE > THE WHEEL. sweet slow EYES, janky-ish jam. busy SPACE (& beyond) with merl saunders, ala recent TWILIGHT ZONE sessions. beam drones, zippy/swirly synths. big BABY BLUE.
3/10/85 berkeley community theater: 10-minute BIRD SONG climbs, lowers to glide, climbs. after limpid TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING, garcia/weir pick up exciting thematic thread, with familiar via BUCKET-like descents, 49-minute JAM > MIND LEFT BODY JAM > DRUMZ > SPACE > STELLA BLUE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. electronic DRUMZ delays. nice drumless STELLA BLUE start. GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD crashes BID YOU GOODNIGHT coda.
3/12/85 berkeley community theater: my definition of a low-calorie setlist. matt kelly on harmonica on LITTLE RED ROOSTER (though not NOT FADE AWAY, that’s deadbase error). 58-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > HE’S GONE > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. PLAYING floats in high familiar zone, only sorta zagging in last minutes. oddly unadorned DRUMZ, though hart hangs with garcia/weir on ambient SPACE balafon. compact NOT FADE AWAY has brief brightness.
3/13/85 berkeley community theater: matt kelly toots harmonica on NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES, DEAL (only time on a garcia song), & SPOONFUL. proper MUSIC NEVER STOPPED jam, at least. 65-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > SPOONFUL > DRUMZ > HAMZA EL-DIN SONG > SPACE > MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > BLACK PETER > GOOD LOVIN’. neat garcia curlicues & time-suspension in ESTIMATED before weir short-circuits into blooze. hamza el-din (& jose lorenzo) do a tune that’s *not* OLLIN ARAGEED.
3/21/85 hampton: garcia’s voice is way ugly in places throughout the night, sometimes making it work more convincingly than others. fake-syllables through a few ALABAMA GETAWAY verses. possibly i’m warming slightly to weir’s AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS/DOWN IN THE BOTTOM, at least as an alternative to NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES. LOOKS LIKE RAIN gets fiery by end. garcia deals rainbows in 12-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER, with a slightly alternative & charming route through peak. 59-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > AROUND & AROUND > JOHNNY B. GOODE. splendid deconstruction from PLAYING into DRUMZ weirdness, blend of synth & stereo-echoed percussion, getting down into cloud-SPACE with the Beam, its first tour. ambient pennywhistle as guitars frolic under reverb cathedral, brief PLAYING tease. way cool OTHER ONE intro, with garcia quoting (i think) irving berlin’s RUSSIAN LULLABY or something equally moody.
3/22/85 hampton: garcia gets riled during COLD RAIN & SNOW outro. surprise 17-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > HELL IN A BUCKET with ace transition & notable cheer for (raging) unreleased song. 58-minute TERRAPIN STATION > MIND LEFT BODY JAM > DRUMZ > SPACE > SPANISH JAM > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > BLACK PETER, only time post-’74 that MLB & SPANISH JAM are in same set. beam provides new levels of SPACE drone. man, TRUCKIN’/SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING is such a drag. sure, just cut the jam, weir.
3/24/85 springfield, MA: low-cal night. nice CUMBERLAND BLUES harmonies. hearty east coast cheers for “arrest me” in BERTHA. off-mic weir/hart tempo battle before MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER; weir wants it faster, hart wants garcia to set tempo. 36-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY. great dissolve from SPOONFUL to stereo-panned percussion coming in, resulting in garcia/balafon duet, before para-ambient SPACE grandeur. drummers lead post-NOT FADE AWAY clapalong.
3/25/85 springfield: garcia way more present tonight, including engaged 11-minute SUGAREE & sweet drifting 12-minute BIRD SONG, kreutzmann finding some flutter (though band almost loses place on reentry), plus 11-minute LET IT GROW with dank 2nd jam. well-linked full-set 87-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER > ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > I NEED A MIRACLE > CHINA DOLL > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > GOOD LOVIN’. SLIPKNOT! floats outward, garcia playing a lot of rhythm, maybe a little shakily, & band almost crashes reentry (a theme, i guess). weir links FRANKLIN’S to ESTIMATED almost subtly, turning over the outro lick & hitting nice slow tempo. EYES surprisingly natural at 130bpm, lotsa lesh, but more off rhythms, i think from garcia. jam gets to gentle place, weir hinting at MIND LEFT BODY. nice dissolve from echoing balafon DRUMS into garcia/weir/healy shimmer.
3/27/85 nassau coliseum: short show & raging wednesday evening party in the heart of dead country, with a GA floor at nassau for the 1st time since ’73. 1st MISSISSIPPI HALF-STEP since 10/82 opens, zooted no-swing tempo, but big fun. lesh returns to outro vocals (sounding great tbh) which seems to kick garcia’s own singing over the top. cutting off garcia, lesh debuts JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES to big cheers, his 1st totally solo lead vocal in years, charming & biting with his own lyric tweaks. 1st verse is bass-led & drumless; apparently hart stands/applauds. 1st TONS OF STEEL since new year’s, pretty tight. 13-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET must’ve been a party on the GA floor, locked-in groove & cool synth drops. garcia skips right into 53-minute UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > STELLA BLUE > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. stellar PLAYING dissolve, everything melting into synth/weir(d)ness/DRUMZ/healy-swirl around garcia, great episodic flow all the way to STELLA BLUE. trainwreck TOUCH OF GREY. garcia blows lyrics, loses groove, & sings verse while rest of band plays bridge.
3/28/85 nassau coliseum: froggy but confident garcia. 19-minute TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > HIGH TIME, only post-’72 TRUCKIN’ opener. matt kelly on harmonica on SMOKESTACK. 24-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, big scraggly energy, with transition marimba synth. 55-minute JAM > DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. too-rare & l’il restless open JAM with non-drum percussion, fun question marks & PLAYING tease. subtle lesh SPACE.
3/29/85 nassau coliseum: matt kelly joins on harmonica for weir’s DOWN IN THE BOTTOM/AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS, his last time with the dead, ‘cuz hart starts whipping drumsticks at his back (& connecting). for 1st time since final LAZY LIGHTNING in 11/84, SUPPLICATION JAM > MY BROTHER ESAU, band sounding pretty confused, garcia playing the LAZY LIGHTNING lick repeatedly, like he’s expecting weir to start singing. weir, before set 2: “i want a bumper sticker that says phil loves new york.” way scattered 2nd set. after vaguely linked TERRAPIN STATION & MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER (rare stage crasher; parish shockingly chill), 54-minute GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > BABY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO > DRUMZ > SPACE > WHARF RAT > THROWING STONES > JOHNNY B. GOODE. listless wisp of MIND LEFT BODY before mydland’s bar-rockin’ BABY, resolving to 4 delicious minutes of garcia-led kaleidoscoping after hart moves over to percussion, edging OTHER ONE-wards. zoot-tempo JOHNNY B. GOODE.
3/31/85 portland, ME: a party that partly translates to tape. 59-minute HE’S GONE > I NEED A MIRACLE > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > PLAYING IN THE BAND > DAY TRIPPER. lumpy CHINA DOLL, but shifting into vibey extended garcia/hand-DRUMZ jam, briefly with the Beam, garcia only off stage for 5 minutes before even-shorter SPACE. inverted PLAYING, coming out of jam into the ending, then flipping & singing verses. sloppy af DAY TRIPPER more fun with crowd ahhhing on audience tape.
4/1/85 portland, ME: guitars/drums feel frequently off-gear. 9-minute climbing/descending/gliding BIRD SONG. after weir ribbing, lesh starts JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES solo. garcia joins for “housing project hill” verse. 62-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > NOT FADE AWAY. gentle ESTIMATED, jittery ~135bpm EYES. gonging dissolve into ambient beam SPACE. after oddly cut NOT FADE AWAY ending, clapalong DRUMZ coda.
4/3/85 providence: not much jamming but consistently thoughtful garcia breaks (SUGAREE, RAMBLE ON ROSE, ROW JIMMY, TERRAPIN STATION) better served on audience tape. exciting & unusually slow 14-minute LET IT GROW stays inside but all band members are in flight. 61-minute TRUCKIN’ > SPOONFUL > DRUMZ > SPACE > WHARF RAT > THROWING STONES > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. good drone/zone SPACE intro doesn’t quite develop. graceful turn from THROWING STONES into SUGAR MAG. mega-falsetto SUNSHINE DAYDREAM.
4/4/85 providence: mega-present DIRE WOLF. garcia debuts dylan’s SHE BELONGS TO ME, started solo, sweet & possibly unrehearsed, 1st dead version since ’66 (when weir sang it), played 9x in ’85. MY BROTHER ESAU bridge changes from “esau, he’s on roller skates today…” to “esau skates on mirrors anymore…” final LOST SAILOR/SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE/DEAL (aka LSD). 12-minute I NEED A MIRACLE > CRAZY FINGERS with metronomic drums, questing outro, & clean landing; 1st CRAZY FINGERS since 10/83. 57-minute HE’S GONE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. another pre-DRUMZ version of GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD, where it lives more than half the time in ’85-’86, this time pushing to a coherent uptempo MYSTERY TRAIN-like tumble (with memories of CAUTION). drumzers jam for most of SPACE (with A+ conversational stereo mix by healy), long WHEEL intro as garcia awaits their return.
4/6/85 philadelphia: nicely jammy FEEL LIKE A STRANGER opener. garcia’s sick(?) & voice hits new level of gargle-howl, often forcing him into lower register. 66-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. UNCLE JOHN’S dissolves into garcialogue, with beam segments leading in/out of DRUMZ. long garcia/weir OTHER ONE prelude with drippy healy mixing, joined by lesh for extended build, pretty abstract for the era.
4/7/85 philadelphia: 1st set is only 45 minutes but fun. ghoulish lesh greetings, “HIYA KIDS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?” & opens with his/mydland’s slowly-tightening WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD. garcia’s voice improved enough to not be full-body cringy. MISSISSIPPI HALF-STEP > CC RIDER even has graceful landing/transition. 11-minute BIRD SONG builds to livewire garcia, good full-band spaciousness. off-mic, hart requests “disco” DANCING IN THE STREET & gets the regular, bright & too short. despite 14-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET getting pensive & gritty (with cool weir ornamentation) & a more confident SHE BELONGS TO ME, 2nd set kinda fizzles jam-wise. weir makes it to post-DRUMZ before singing an original. 52-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > MORNING DEW. SPACE floats, doesn’t cohere. LOVIN’ is good energy, but DEW feels wounded. weir watch: “good night & thank you, jesus” easter sign-off.
4/8/85 philadelphia: another bananas setlist, fun but messy af show, 1st MIDNIGHT HOUR opener since the pigpen era, revived by weir for special occasions, now returning to semi-regular rotation (with EVERYDAY PEOPLE-ish break), followed by garcia’s goofy warlocks-era WALKING THE DOG & rare BIG BOSS MAN (disappearing ’til ’87). kreutzmann requests (& gets) CUMBERLAND BLUES. very loose transitions, but set-closing TONS OF STEEL/SUPPLICATION JAM/MIGHT AS WELL has nice movement. REVOLUTION opens 2nd set & getting tighter, but garcia seems to know fewer lyrics than ever. 65-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. ESTIMATED made memorable when weir goes after a beach ball & falls on his tuckus. beam/garcia jamz into void into deep SPACE hand-DRUMZ. another unusually placed GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD, garcia finding slightly alternate pocket & energy.
4/13/85 irvine: another WHY DON’T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD opener, sounding playful with groove. great (if wounded) PEGGY-O singing. 70-minute full-set TERRAPIN STATION > PLAYING IN THE BAND > CRAZY FINGERS > TRUCKIN’ > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. PLAYING gets dense. fun to hear TRUCKIN’ go not-blues, but weir/drummers abandon ship on garcia & it collapses. DRUMZ builds from balafons to the beast & into beam SPACE, with tactile stereo noise waves.
4/14/85 irvine: fan fave LOOKS LIKE RAIN with sensitive garcia turning alien-toned for peak. 65-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. long HE’S GONE outro dissolves to listless but vibey shimmer-cloud, drummers going to hand percussion. post-beam garcialogue SPACE flowers to 4th world swirl of lead bass, unidentified quacking, etc. DEAR MR. FANTASY become a mydland solo vocal, which makes it less fun to me. mydland teases HEY JUDE coda. rare-ish GLORIA encore has charming garage energy.
4/27/85 frost amphitheater: 6-minute DANCING IN THE STREET edges on the sunshine sea. on BERTHA & elsewhere drummers are a mite amped, but band sounds together & garcia’s voice surprisingly strong after earlier spring gargles. drumhead with “let phil sing” is passed to stage; charming off-mic reactions. “we want phil!” chant in crowd. “we’re hanging onto him for a while,” sez garcia before lesh obliges with 1st west coast JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES. crisply peaking MUSIC NEVER STOPPED. 85-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > EYES OF THE WORLD > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > TRUCKIN’ > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. except for surprise opening transition, all econo-jamming but consistently fun, segues slight but musical. deep garcia/weir zone in SCARLET widens & slows, garcia half-stumbling into chill tempo EYES. well-recorded SPACE beam, a whiff of TWILIGHT ZONE.
4/28/85 frost amphitheater: 1st show-opening powerhouse GIMME SOME LOVIN’, but garcia sounding diminished again. 10-minute BIRD SONG finds sing-song quiet. 72-minute CRAZY FINGERS > PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > PLAYING IN THE BAND > WHARF RAT > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. CHINA DOLL flashes allmans-y before garcia & lesh bail. conversational weir/mydland/balafon transition into DRUMZ. beam fades to ambient & sometimes shrill SPACE with (maybe real?) bird sounds.
6/14/85 greek theatre: band hits stage to “sgt. pepper” for their 20th. 7-minute DANCIN’ IN THE STREET seems ready to jump just as they land it. before CC RIDER, healy (i suspect) samples woman’s voice saying “bobby!” & making a kissing sound. mid-set tech break with good echo freakout on audience tape. 1st of 4 versions of derek & the dominoes’ KEEP ON GROWING, sung with vigor by mydland & lesh, tight for debut. 1st STAGGER LEE since 8/82, back in rotation permanently. rare bear sighting. before 2nd set (on audience tape only), brief healy(?) noise collage with the “bobby!” sample & hart requesting more bass drum. 1st MORNING DEW set opener since 11/73, iffy at first, but finding drama. 54-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > COMES A TIME. mild PLAYING churn. solid CHINA DOLL, lovely outro. brief keys/balafon jam. TWILIGHT ZONE flash in SPACE, plus massive Beam layers. 1st COMES A TIME since 10/80, wounded & deep.
6/15/85 greek theatre: low-cal 1st set. excellent-for-era 11-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER, much thump/sunshine. 39-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’. mydland/weir hang for another nifty balafon jam into DRUMZ, with nifty backwards masking, healy sampling/reversing & adding a loop (i think). magical turnover from THE WHEEL into GIMME SOME LOVIN’ (almost picked for “so many roads”). rare double encore with lovely SHE BELONGS TO ME.
6/16/85 greek theatre: weir leaning into his faux-pigpen era, opening show with MIDNIGHT HOUR, closing with TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT, & debuting his WALKIN’ BLUES, sung by pigpen in ye olde days (& once by boz scaggs with the dead in ’82). perhaps the bottom of weir’s blues barrel for me. fun late-set MISSISSIPPI HALF-STEP, drummers a mess, but fun bass interventions. 22-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, rad transition weave, & cool FIRE outro with mydland pushing boundaries. 1st CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT since ’72. rough but thrilling. 47-minute THAT’S IT FOR THE OTHER ONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > I NEED A MIRACLE > WHARF RAT. healy ab/using sampler: birds, gurgling water, girl moaning “bobby,” a burp (in SPACE, 1st 2 very cool), random voice saying “you know what that means” as they hit GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD (with mega bass groove) plus phil(?) laughing at the end, & distractingly, phil grunting “HEY HEALY!” (in quiet WHARF RAT landing).
6/21/85 east troy: weir’s kinda on one. his guitar sounds AWFUL on the soundboard, distorted & overblown, but the same on the audience tapes, too? is a speaker cone ripped, or is this somehow intentional? 2 new developments during 8-minute BIRD SONG, weir flips to unhinged tone for aggressive/weird counterpoint lead & mydland deploys some kind of angel-choir synth, which i kinda like, though big picture is a bit disjointed. 70-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. angel choir returns during both ESTIMATED jams, cool new texture, mydland alternating tones so often that i wondered if it’s healy? EYES at slow early ‘70s tempo, though a rhythmic mess, eventually leveling out & getting to a subtle but interesting jam. unusually smooth no-count transition from SPACE into TRUCKIN’, all the other segues pretty tenuous.
6/22/85 east troy: WALKIN’ BLUES has a groove vaguely like THE SHAPE I’M IN, which might be the nicest thing i’ll say about it. ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT closes 1st set. wild, right? 2nd KEEP ON GROWING is tighter but less charged than debut. 38-minute LOST SAILOR > SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY. mydland rigs a good SAINT coda, but no real jamming except DRUMZ (slot machine-like balafon trippiness) & SPACE (beam swirl, majestic garcia zonk, & healy texture).
6/24/85 cincinnati: garcia whiffing lyrics all night. slow blues & cowboy-free 1st set. weir watch: “during the break, we’re going to be holding a raffle & the lucky winner of the raffle gets to hold the rhythm section hostage.” storm rolls in during titanic 12-minute set-closing LET IT GROW, a fave version, lightning over river, all 6 members achieving free flight for a few minutes in middle jam & again during outro. thunder rumbles as band returns for 2nd set, audible on the oades’ tape. rainy opening songs, consistent fun. stormy IKO IKO (weir takes a verse, misquoting the wild tchoupitoulas) & SAMSON & DELILAH. 68-minute HE’S GONE > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT > DRUMZ > SPACE > COMES A TIME > THE OTHER ONE > CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT > WHARF RAT > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’. OTHER ONE isn’t too adventurous, but 2 minutes of CRYPTICAL framing builds the set, a thrill to hear it go into DRUMZ for 1st time since ’71; reprise sadly only an ending tag.
6/25/85 cuyahoga falls: classic rock to start both sets, only DAY TRIPPER opener (crispest yet) & ever-fun GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’. despite slow tunes & slop (ROW JIMMY locking in by end), big 1st set energy. JACK STRAW burns in unusual late slot. 45-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > PLAYING IN THE BAND > CHINA DOLL. long PLAYING bends minor before synth zonk weirdness & righteous balafon transition into DRUMZ. weir watch: the age of romping around during SUGAR MAGNOLIA.
6/27/85 saratoga springs: weir & lesh team up to yell at people sitting on overhead ramps (“yo butch, you, off the balcony!” “there’s 50,000 people waiting for you to get back in your seat, man!”), though apparently a naked dude gets through & dances. leads weir to set phil up for “my dog has no nose…” joke, 1st since dusseldorf ’72, i think. 21-minute CRAZY FINGERS > SUPPLICATION JAM > HIGH TIME. healy mixing ambient gurgles into CRAZY FINGERS? nice misterioso turn into SUPPLICATION. tech side note: i believe this is the tour when dan healy began using floor mats by the microphone to turn them on & off when the band was singing (or not), but it was imperfect tech, at least that’s why i suspect that random songs are missing their first words/lines, ala EYES OF THE WORLD tonight, TOM THUMB’S BLUES, & other spots. unexpected connections in fun 77-minute FEEL LIKE A STRANGER > EYES OF THE WORLD > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > SPOONFUL > BLACK PETER > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS blip in SPACE. STRANGER edges into jam-land & garcia veers into ‘70s-tempo’d EYES & then (with some exciting chaos) into GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD. move into MAN SMART less smooth. echoing SPACE voices, maybe the drummers? weir pulls off LOVELIGHT waitaminute.
6/28/85 hershey park: a rainy night in the land of chocolate. the east coast mega-gig returns, a legendary-to-attendees gig. garcia goes dapper. another blessed 1st set with no slow blues or cowboy tunes by weir, but final AIN’T SUPERSTITIOUS/DOWN IN THE BOTTOM, which i’ve enjoyed as a NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES alternative. unexpected garcia 3-fer to close 1st set, 14-minute BIRD SONG > COMES A TIME, sailing from the mystic into the undetermined, briefly on the open ocean, followed by DEAL. ecstatic 2nd set opening MUSIC NEVER STOPPED with big middle jam, then returning to final groove for exploratory coda. 52-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > I NEED A MIRACLE > MORNING DEW. thoughtful ESTIMATED unraveling. wild stereo-panned swirls coming out of DRUMZ, but settling into ambient SPACE, garcialogue with shifting backgrounds. massive tape-rattling lesh bass throughout MORNING DEW, with wounded ‘80s garcia vocals & great full-band dynamics, with soaring middle solo & getting down to ultra quiet before final peak.
6/30/85 columbia, MD: some gate crashing & lots of MDMA around, which becomes illegal at midnight. pre-MIDI synth fun – CC RIDER flute, MEXICALI BLUES accordion, subtle swells at ecstatic peak of head-loved 13-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET. only show with both mydland/lesh covers, KEEP ON GROWING (crisp!) & GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’. burp sounds before 2nd set. 50-minute HE’S GONE > CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > STELLA BLUE. fun half-sloppy bend into CRYPTICAL. solid SPACE weirdness, including drummer voices. mega-present garcia on U.S. BLUES encore.
7/1/85 columbia, MD: 1st GD JACK-A-ROE since 10/84 (& 2nd since ’82). 13-minute LET IT GROW, more hinged than recent takes, brief ambient synth. 23-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN hits the marks, apparently stunning at sunset. 47-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY. PLAYING stays in orbit; more brief ambient synth. SPACE is well-framed garcialogue, a few minutes of weirdness by end (with blocky monophonic synth & vocal muxxing).
7/2/85 pittsburgh: nice power-garcia, especially CASSIDY & WHARF RAT. musical disagreement as 2nd set starts: garcia wants CRAZY FINGERS, weir & drummers want MAN SMART/WOMEN SMARTER & overpower. wee CRAZY FINGERS flight, settling into LOST SAILOR. 36-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > WHARF RAT. garcialogue-y SPACE flashes occasionally into focus/chaos. garcia sings wrong line to start BROKEDOWN PALACE (“hello! sounded good, didn’t it? now we’ll start it the right way”), resets.
7/13/85 ventura: 2 out-of-place openers with ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT (which works just as well or better than its usual encore slot) followed by the 1st SCARLET-less FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN since ’78 (mite awkward tbh, but building steam). spacious & pensive 10-minute BIRD SONG, drums distant/floating on the soundboard, garcia’s guitar centered, weir moving away from his role as a rhythm guitarist to adding mostly stark off-color accents. nice swell to final chorus. very jerry 2nd set anchored by 39-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL, followed by CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT > THE OTHER ONE > COMES A TIME. good DRUMZ to SPACE splatter & textured sproinging & bass stabs, but not much coherence. the whole OTHER ONE is pretty ragged, but fun to hear in this sequence.
7/14/85 ventura: blessed 1st set with neither weir blues nor cowboy tunes. powerful CASSIDY. 19-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD. before 2nd set, tease of (i think) NIGHT TRAIN, which garcia (maybe) references at start of ESTIMATED jam. chill tempo but thunderous EYES doesn’t quite link to 37-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > BLACK PETER. DRUMZ mostly thunder free until beast/beam/scream SPACE transition; mostly garcialogue with healy weirdness clouds.
8/24/85 donner summit: billed as “the highest grateful dead concert in the world” at the infamous donner pass, often called the worst dead show ever. it’s kinda bleh, but not a disaster. a hot windy day at high elevation with some technical difficulties, weir kicking his amp regularly & garcia apparently in a bad mood & maybe slightly more out of breath than usual, but more ho-hum than actually bad. again, no weir blues/cowboy tunes, which is a bonus. weir/mydland FEEL LIKE A STRANGER yelp-off, jam feeling expansive, like it could flow right into CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER (which follows). still not much not write home about. nothing crashes, but lots of little missed cues & scrappy low energy. 48-minute HE’S GONE > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > AROUND & AROUND. garcia virtually opts out of LOVELIGHT closer. it will never not be funny when the band blows through one of weir’s attemping a “nowwaitaminute” in LOVELIGHT. encore is final version of DAY TRIPPER.
8/30/85 houston: garcia lookin’ like death but sounding decent & together (for the era). excruciating weir slide guitar on CC RIDER. 10-minute BIRD SONG with healy (presumably) mixing in bird efx, a bit literal & sometimes distracting but, hey, bird sounds are, like, pretty cool. the start of a new era, though jam spaces towards tentativeness/chaos. 15-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY opens 2nd set, fairly mellow SCARLET jam (garcia dropping out?) with crossfade segue. after SAMSON & DELILAH stops, weir/mydland toodle to start of 56-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’ > THE WHEEL > THE OTHER ONE > MORNING DEW. big beam SPACE drones, garcialogue cloud, nice rolls into GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’/THE WHEEL (reverse of 6/15). garcia disappears again during OTHER ONE (interesting in his absence). rad DEW with good quiet, build to peak (with brief disconnection), tape-distorting bass. decisive set-closing ending by garcia, too. last ever SUGAR MAGNOLIA encore.
8/31/85 austin: 1st set PA issues with multiple vocal dropouts for both garcia & weir. garcia sounding pretty kermit-y on the opening MISSISSPPI HALF-STEP; song sounds big & ragged, like an old flag. triple cowboy tunes sounding extra-bright (including revved-up garcia in MEXICALI BLUES), but i guess it’s austin & all. the last grateful dead version of JACK-A-ROE until ’88, but it stays in the garcia/kahn repertoire. 13-minute LET IT GROW surfs confidently (with a whole lotta cowbell). 2nd set jumps right to 74-minute TERRAPIN STATION > ESTIMATED PROPHET > DRUMZ > SPACE > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > STELLA BLUE > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. “bobb-yyy” sample returns (& kissing noise & bird sounds) for long ESTIMATED, shifting into brief startling jam after drummers drop pulse & garcia keeps going, losing interest all too quickly. SPACE crossfades to garcialogue. powerful STELLA BLUE. crashing efx in THROWING STONES. languid 8-minute SHE BELONGS TO ME encore.
9/2/85 oklahoma city: lesh plays high on ME & MY UNCLE apparently because crew has to swap blown speaker. present garcia steals rare 1st set double-slot with STAGGER LEE & IKO IKO. 56-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > I NEED A MIRACLE > CHINA DOLL > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’, garcia energetically weirds deep into PLAYING. tries to set new gallop, drummers don’t/can’t follow. mydland steers towards DON’T NEED LOVE & is ignored (’til tomorrow). new stereo-bloopy SPACE synth?
9/3/85 kansas city, MO: crisp DIRE WOLF & CASSIDY, which points skywards, as do some bright MUSIC NEVER STOPPED shreds. garcia really not having the best night vocally, though. 2nd set opens with 11-minute THAT’S IT FOR THE OTHER ONE, the final version of the full suite. both halves of CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT are pretty lifeless vocally, but the outro jam briefly flares. 10-minute standalone EYES OF THE WORLD is chill 117bpm but doesn’t do much, garcia bailing before 1st DON’T NEED LOVE of year. 43-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > NOBODY’S FAULT BUT MINE > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > COMES A TIME > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. SPACE leaks into 1st NOBODY’S FAULT since 5/81 (& 2nd since 1/79). weir sorta faceplants the LOVELIGHT rap even more than usual, but then somehow channels some of pigpen’s matchmaking shtick & gets band into corresponding fun place, too.
9/5/85 red rocks: sleepy 1st set, besides LET IT GROW. 20-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS feels a bit sunbaked. 49-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’ > WHARF RAT. garcialogue entrance & exit to mega-chill (if messy) 100bpm EYES, outro threaded gently to hart’s balafon. extended beam drone, oozing into SPACE, fun example of garcia/weir/lesh as ambient trio. garcia starts BROKEDOWN PALACE in wrong key (i think) & has to restart.
9/6/85 red rocks: hart razzes weir before HELL IN A BUCKET, “not too fast, bobby…” way too short 8-minute BIRD SONG with only brief question marks, weir’s guitar tone moving into ugly years. mydland leans into EL PASO polka subgroove. burp sample at start of IKO IKO. strictly lo-cal 2nd set. 44-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > BLACK PETER. garcia-less SPOONFUL. half-scattered group SPACE with slide bass. drummers lead NOT FADE AWAY chant, now fully modernized.
9/7/85 red rocks: show opens with extended tech break in which weir yelps THE FROZEN LOGGER (1st time since ’72 & last ever) with mydland/lesh/kreutzmann/hart goofing along on rubber ducks etc. & healy tweaking into impressive weirdness. nice 1st set with neither cowboy tunes nor slow blues, plus surprise ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT closer. garcia takes rare double-slots in both sets, including not-quite-segued SHAKEDOWN STREET/CRAZY FINGERS, the latter with gorgeous spirographing guitar. 59-minute UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY/HEY JUDE CODA > TRUCKIN’ > COMES A TIME > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. nice melt across PLAYING/DRUMZ/SPACE, deep & droned. ambient SPACE percussion. DEAR MR. FANTASY slips into HEY JUDE coda for 1st time. fun when spontaneous, but a bit cringe to me when it became regular in ’88. garcia steers into fast locked-in TRUCKIN’ & stays committed on COMES A TIME (& BABY BLUE encore). weir’s LOVELIGHT game improving.
9/10/85 kaiser convention center: with old school liquid light show for 1st time in years. zooted JACK STRAW opener. mydland ad-libs some toxic vibes in LITTLE RED ROOSTER, “hey little red rooster, well, you ain’t shit to me/you think you’re a stud, boy, well, you will never be/the way i’m gonna fuck with your head/i’m just being neighborly…” garcia turns on gas during RAMBLE ON ROSE (& even MEXICALI BLUES before). pretty lit CASSIDY, garcia & drummers raging, wish it jumped into improv mode, but so frenetic it would probably collapse. 10-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER gets into fun chaos at transition. 48-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > GOOD TIME BLUES > DRUMZ > SPACE > CHINA DOLL. EYES gallops around 140bpm, superfast & janky, slipping into weir-led jam after garcia & lesh bail, headed into 1st GOOD TIME BLUES since 6/84, pretty blech & also messy. some DRUMZ burble in SPACE, but not many question marks. weir climbing scaffolding during SUGAR MAGNOLIA, per one report.
9/11/85 kaiser convention center: garcia’s voice sounding ugly tonight. 42-beat BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE intro for hart’s birthday, longest ever (pinning PROMISED LAND on end). bright flares in set-closing LET IT GROW & DEAL, but show feel scattered & little autopiloty. 52-minute MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER > DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMMIE SOME LOVIN’ > STELLA BLUE > GOOD LOVIN’ is a bit party cover-heavy for me but DRUMZ weirdness pulses chaotically & deliciously through long action-filled SPACE.
9/12/85 kaiser convention center: garcia’s voice often difficult, but also some great wounded vocals, including maybe-too-long 11-minute ROW JIMMY (nice instrumental weaves, too) & BLACK PETER (at least until crashing a verse). pretty rippin’ 2nd set for the era with no goofy classic rock covers. with baying wolf sound as they start, 22-minute HELP ON THE WAY > SLIPKNOT! > FRANKLIN’S TOWER is 1st since spring & last until 10/89. some iffiness, but SLIPKNOT! is convincing & deepish. 61-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE OTHER ONE > BLACK PETER > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. in a twist, garcia engages far into PLAYING & everybody else feels like they’re ornamenting until they find/surf cool mini-pulse into good DRUMZ transition. 3-minute OTHER ONE (shortest ever?) started minus drummers, who join at 1st chorus. for 1st time, audience keeps clapping NOT FADE AWAY & band picks it up for encore, quite enthusiastically, with proper bop-bops at the end.
9/15/85 chula vista: rare 1st set SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING, where i like it more than as 2nd set jam replacement. after soundchecking it, intentional TWILIGHT ZONE THEME opens 2nd set with big noise from mydland (or healy) leading into 23-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN. as jam starts, mydland briefly hits SCARLET riff on noisy sampler/synth. bright garciaing at transition & big FIRE flares. lovely SHE BELONGS TO ME (on “postcards of the hanging”), though wish it was 1-drummer. rare pre-DRUMZ appearance for TRUCKIN’, but dies on the vine after a few peaks & set turns topsy turvy in the form semi-awkward 33-minute COMES A TIME > AROUND & AROUND > DRUMZ > SPACE > U.S. BLUES, all pretty much out of their usual slots. garcia starts COMES A TIME solo, which is sweet but wounded & weir leaps into the usually set-closing AROUND & AROUND. mydland (i suppose) gets into some moog-bleep SPACE duo with garcia. SATISFACTION almost perfectly dumb.
10/25/85 pembroke pines: rare & final DEAL opener (1st since ’77 with the dead, ’80 with garcia band), a perfectly smokin’ place for it with solo that’s both fireworky & grungy, which seems to be tonight’s keyword. LITTLE RED ROOSTER even reaches density. very present garcia on DIRE WOLF. set-closing LOSER & LET IT GROW edge into power dead. slightly-less-rare MORNING DEW 2nd set opener, more common pre-’75, 2nd of 3 ‘80s occurrences. and then right into jam land: 58-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > I NEED A MIRACLE > BLACK PETER > SUGAR MAGNOLIA (sequence repeated in april in providence). pretty joyous cascade from ESTIMATED into hyperfast ~135bpm EYES, which dissolves nicely into balafon DRUMZ, rolling up to thunder & down into The Beam & gongs & good round garcia SPACE-tones before crashing into MIRACLE. SUGAR MAG seems like it’s teetering.
10/26/85 tampa: weird energy that’s part the mix, but i think musical too. vocal mix already a little skewed & occasional blasted bass, but a few near-crashes (including some audible garcia/weir miscues in GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD), drums disappear at one point (in STAGGER LEE), garcia’s voice in full ’85 frog mode by DON’T EASE ME IN. 11-minute CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > I KNOW YOU RIDER remains reliable with new-feeling transition turns. 55-minute HE’S GONE > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > COMES A TIME > THROWING STONES > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT. garcia bails after many-outro’d HE’S GONE. vaguely SLIPKNOT!y garcialogue SPACE. excellent wounded COMES A TIME. weir (cleverly!) starts singing GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD over THROWING STONES’ end & band hits rare vocal segue. horrific crash into SATURDAY NIGHT. MIDNIGHT HOUR encore has call/response with mydland & rare direct thanking of crowd.
10/28/85 atlanta: their last stand at the fox theater, marking (almost) the permanent end of the small venue era. the “blues for allah” backdrop reappears, unfurling during rare-for-dead SUGAREE opener. weir asks “i wonder how many of you were watching TV last night” before debuting leiber & stoller’s KANSAS CITY the day after the royals won the world series, played one other time that fall. garcia takes gnarly solo, turned incomprehensible when weir adds slide. weir blues/C&W-free set, with rare-for-era PROMISED LAND closer. 14-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > TOUCH OF GREY kinda short-circuits the SCARLET jam but admirably smooth segue. 55-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING > STELLA BLUE > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’. satisfying TERRAPIN coda with weir going hog & hart on balafon. deep DRUMZ noise/beam abstraction, though wish it lasted longer. good collaborative SPACE with a few para-ambient passages, nice burst into TRUCKIN’. good ol’ crisp DAY JOB encore.
10/29/85 atlanta: good casually stretched FEEL LIKE A STRANGER pocket. 9-minute BIRD SONG floats in drifting flutter-shuffle. SPACE burst before 1st MISSISSIPPI HALF-STEP/FRANKLIN’S TOWER pairing since 10/82. 54-minute CRAZY FINGERS > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THE OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > JOHNNY B. GOODE. messy CRAZY FINGERS stumbles through OTHER ONE-y zone, blooming into dense/weightless fun, hart on balafon & mydland on synth marimba. ambient bio-musical SPACE.
10/31/85 columbia: jack o’lanterns onstage. thick halloween SPACE spookiness & fairly developed FUNICULI FUNICULA before lesh howls (& healy processes) as prelude to 1st WEREWOLVES OF LONDON since 7/78 (apparently at kreutzmann’s demand), its first of many seasonal appearances through ’93 with the dead & garcia band. sloppy but fine (& their hair was perfect). especially over the top healy-aided LOOKS LIKE RAIN. 15-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET 2nd set opener gets rich. wonderfully jammy & hard-to-annotate 2nd set. let’s call it a 52-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > SHIP OF FOOLS > SPACE > DRUMZ > JAM > DEAR MR. FANTASY > NOT FADE AWAY. after SHIP OF FOOLS, statement of PLAYING theme melts into SPACE (with light percussion) & actual individual solos by hart then kreutzmann, kreutzmann’s flowing into thrilling (hart-less) quintet improv, which i didn’t think they really did this far into the ‘80s. not sure i have any noted since 1/79?
11/1/85 richmond: more covers than originals tonight. “summer’s gone & the time is right…” in DANCING IN THE STREET opener. james brown “it’s got to be funky” sample before SAMSON & DELILAH to start mega-subdued 2nd set. HIGH TIME has rare-for-song solo & cheers for “come in when it’s raining…” presumably for hurricane gloria outside. 59-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > COMES A TIME > LOST SAILOR > DRUMZ > SPACE > SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE. very little jamming & only split-up SAILOR/SAINT. fun & clangy garcia/weir SPACE. always-welcome SHE BELONGS TO ME in an unusual deep 2nd slot, sweet & dependable. to mark hurricane gloria, weir closes show with GLORIA, the last of 5 ‘80s versions, gone ’til ’92, pulling hilariously stupid “now-wait-a-minute!”s & self-interrupting the spelled-out build. almost completely crashes near the end.
11/2/85 richmond: properly raging 10-minute LET IT GROW, weir’s voice well into sultry/scratchy/slurry era. very jerry 52-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > CHINA DOLL > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW. bright otherliness near end of UNCLE JOHN’S. no CHINA DOLL jam, inconsequential PLAYING quote melting into DRUMZ. short rumble-SPACE with blippy weirdo densities, begetting MORNING DEW. can almost hear ’66 garcia in pre-peak clean tone. kinda dinky 4-minute TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT.
11/4/85 worcester: 3rd & last IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE ROSES of ’85, garcia sounding rough. 1-hour PLAYING IN THE BAND > TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > TRUCKIN’ > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. hard to believe sequence only happened 1x! PLAYING builds drummerly steam just before segue. dramatic/noisy TERRAPIN outro with Beam (a 1st?) landz in DRUMZ. somewhat static SPACE. rough late-set transitions, drummers trying to will segue into existence from THE WHEEL. big SUGAR MAG.
11/5/85 worcester: final version of weir-sung leiber/stoller’s KANSAS CITY. bird sounds in 9-minute BIRD SONG, perhaps (if band can even hear them) helping jam get to nice moment of spareness. band sings HAPPY BIRTHDAY to bill walton before 2nd set for his 33rd. healy (i think) adds big swell of noise during intro to thick 11-minute set-opening SHAKEDOWN STREET, excellent jam pocket, good garcia flows. mega-fast MAN SMART/WOMAN SMARTER, with a stage-crasher hugging weir, maybe. 15-minute SUPPLICATION JAM > PLAYING IN THE BAND JAM > DON’T NEED LOVE. this ain’t PLAYING reprise! just getting deep when garcia is (perhaps) half-tricked by jam momentum into staying for mydland’s tune, only his 3rd tentative time (of 13 so far). 16-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > JUST LIKE TOM THUMB’S BLUES. TOM THUMB a few clicks faster (& less chill) than before; lesh cues solo, “garcia!” during BROKEDOWN PALACE encore, woman crashes stage & drapes towel on garcia, where it hangs for duration.
11/7/85 rochester: weir watch: “way out in space, dancin’ in the street.” does 7 covers vs. 3 originals. off-mic, kreutzmann suggests TONS OF STEEL &… TONS OF TINY DANCER. “maybe later in the set,” sez weir. fun blown-up too-fast power-dead with CUMBERLAND BLUES, BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE, & DEAL, rolling into 2nd set with cranked TOUCH OF GREY & SAMSON & DELILAH. garcia tough to listen to on HIGH TIME; in better shape for late-set STELLA BLUE with glistening solo. 55-minute LET IT GROW > DRUMZ > SPACE > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > STELLA BLUE > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. rare 2nd set LET IT GROW comes to almost full ending, trickling into quiet DRUMZ start with fun off-beat clapping. can’t tell if kreutzmann is goading audience or monitor mixer. cool balafon delays/bends bleed into rich SPACE with bright swirl from mydland? healy? 2nd show in a row half-barreling into a lesh cover. drummers lead another pre-encore clapalong.
11/8/85 rochester: weir watch (part 1): “we need a show of hands, how many people out there think that the rajneesh, the bhagwan, would classify as a tragic hero? it’s just a simple matter of curiosity.” WW (part 2): sits on stage-lip for LITTLE RED ROOSTER slide solo. solid PEGGY-O & BROWN EYED WOMEN. last (of 3) mydland-sung versions of BABY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO. WW (part 3): “ladies & gentlemen, tonight’s a very special night… it’s nobody’s birthday, nobody in the band.” last REVOLUTION ’til ’90 (bookended by SATISFACTION encore with drum break, big bass, & goof-off). crisp flow thru 57-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > THE OTHER ONE > I NEED A MIRACLE > SHE BELONGS TO ME. fun ESTIMATED weir co-leads. not lightning (but not chill) 125bpm EYES, smooth but jamless crossfade into DRUMZ. good-for-the-era OTHER ONE with thoughtful SPACE build & short jam. beautiful SHE BELONGS TO ME. weir watch (part 4): all over stage during last songs.
11/10/85 east rutherford: fast-flurrying SUGAREE peaks. no C&W/slow blues. soaring CASSIDY on “so many roads,” though the set gets a little sleepy in the back half besides pretty fire FEEL LIKE A STRANGER closer. fun 13-minute MISSISSIPPI HALF-STEP > I KNOW YOU RIDER opens 2nd set & feels half-accidental, the band landing & garcia hearing an opening & just going for it, except you can hear garcia laying it out off-mic before set starts. 1st CHINA CAT-less RIDER since ’73. another patient-for-the-era jam sequence with 58-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > UNCLE JOHN’S BAND > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > COMES A TIME > AROUND & AROUND > GOOD LOVIN’. a quiet PLAYING blur-out has good pickup into UNCLE JOHN, which has fiery middle jam & stretched-out garcia/weir dissolve, too, featuring brief SUPPLICATION quotes. unusually, mydland ducks out first. brief but big SPACE beamin’. weir nails segue from COMES A TIME, but starts singing on wrong bar.
11/11/85 east rutherford: rare (public) WALKING THE DOG, warlocks era cover, & also-rare early set DEAL. energetic & flaring 9-minute BIRD SONG, occasionally jumpy/lumpy, with audience patch at peak. 20-minute SCARLET BEGONIAS > FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, hart on hand drum for a nice variation, though feels a bit sluggish. the 24th of 27 times it set up ESTIMATED/EYES & last until ’87. 58-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > DEAR MR. FANTASY > GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD > THROWING STONES > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. leisurely clomping 105bpm EYES, right in the early ‘70s range, with a bit of gentle roll-out jam. very little action in DRUMZ/SPACE, besides a few SLIPKNOTy runs. no garcia ballad. weir gets into some “darkness darkness” shtick in LOVELIGHT.
11/16/85 long beach: rare post-’74 2nd set TENNESSEE JED, last time as set opener, more juice than usual; same for CUMBERLAND BLUES, a lesh slot. 57-minute CRAZY FINGERS > DRUMZ > SPACE > COMES A TIME > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER > GOOD LOVIN’. shaky CRAZY FINGERS lyrics, but deep wounded COMES A TIME holds achingly steady. solid Beamin’ melts to thoughtful garcia/weir SPACE. GIMME SOME LOVIN’ vocal jamminess. weir takes mic off stand & wanders for GOOD LOVIN’ rap.
11/17/85 long beach: good age for CASSIDY & LOOKS LIKE RAIN, thunder rolling bigger & bigger on both. graceful allmans-y ribbons at CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER/I KNOW YOU RIDER peak. 19-minute HE’S GONE > SPOONFUL > GOOD TIME BLUES. HE’S GONE jam starting to sweetly molt before weir takes over; not-bad by SPOONFUL standards. garcia splits before mydland’s tune. 35-minute DRUMZ > SPACE > THE WHEEL > THROWING STONES > NOT FADE AWAY. fun underwater circus-y garcialogue SPACE.
11/20/85 oakland: *no*-beat BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE intro, weir just hits 1st line & all jump in, maybe more effective. weir watch: philosophizin’ in LOST SAILOR/SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE (“there’s freedom from & freedom to…”). 53-minute TERRAPIN STATION > DON’T NEED LOVE > DRUMZ > SPACE > STELLA BLUE > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. rare TERRAPIN outro with 6 minutes of developed jams! comical how fast garcia vamooses as DON’T NEED LOVE starts. guitar cloud SPACE. weir climbs speakers during SUGAR MAG.
11/21/85 oakland: warlocks nods for 20th anniversary, including last dead versions of BIG BOY PETE (way fun garcia/weir duo; unplayed since ’78, itself the 1st since ’70), SHE BELONGS TO ME (sung by weir in ye olde days, now garcia), & briefly/barely revived WALKING THE DOG (m0ar garcia/weir fun, with weir encouraging garcia’s solo); not final versions, but weir’s MIDNIGHT HOUR also counts (with call/response with mydland/crowd, plus healy delay), but not lesh/mydland’s GIMME SOME LOVIN’. double-garcia to open set, 12-minute SHAKEDOWN STREET (laser wah-wah bounces into tight ecstatic conversation) & 7-minute CRAZY FINGERS (wobbly vocally, unassertive jam) as prelude to 58-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > SHE BELONGS TO ME > DRUMZ > OTHER ONE > PLAYING IN THE BAND > GIMME SOME LOVIN’ > MIDNIGHT HOUR. PLAYING feels substantial, flying into no-time & landing in sweet garcia/mydland ambiguity. healy makes balafon DRUMZ loop. no real SPACE, garcia/weir in OTHER ONE mode from drop.
11/22/85 oakland: 10-minute kermit-voiced SUGAREE flares with garcia lighting. subtle vocal warpage by healy in set-closing 12-minute LET IT GROW, weir getting gnarly while garcia shreds. 61-minute ESTIMATED PROPHET > EYES OF THE WORLD > DRUMZ > SPACE > MORNING DEW > THROWING STONES > TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. dramatic vocal echo on ESTIMATED, soundboard really highlighting weir/mydland dialogue. mega-fast 140bpm EYES has a rare full-band outro jam. even rarer, garcia stays longest before yielding to drumzers. groove-trance hand-DRUMZ with jose lorenzo of brazilian ensemble bacuje (also on hart’s dafos) on berimbau before building to bigger noise. weir playing changes from his “heaven help the fool” song THIS TIME FOREVER in SPACE, which is neat effect as prelude to solid DEW.
12/30/85 oakland coliseum arena: GIMME SOME LOVIN’ opens, band/crowd lit, but mega-sleepy 1st set (despite absence of C&W + blues). garcia debuts QUINN THE ESKIMO, way fun singalong. 58-minute HE’S GONE > I NEED A MIRACLE > CRAZY FINGERS > DRUMZ > SPACE > OTHER ONE > WHARF RAT > SUGAR MAGNOLIA. CRAZY FINGERS briefly quests into balafon & DRUMZ. big noise before coherent SPACE shimmer, pulsing ambient drums. weir takes quiet no-strum approach to 1st OTHER ONE verse. big WHARF RAT peak.
12/31/85 oakland coliseum arena: handout encourages crowd to clap/chant NOT FADE AWAY as band hits stage & they succeed. 11-minute NOT FADE AWAY > TOUCH OF GREY opener. cool crossfade segue, if a bit hyped. 1st TONS OF STEEL since 4 in spring, now going into rotation; appreciating it as ‘80s bakersfield dead. weir watch, before LET IT GROW: “we’ll all join now in invoking the deities & the powers that be in helping the rhythm section not get too busy on this one.” at midnight, bill graham rides in on a 20th birthday cake while “ride of the valkyries” plays. the video is pretty charming, narrated by fr. guido sarducci & a lit-up ken kesey. float has giant papier mache heads of the band members, which kesey interprets, uh, differently. some properly surreal/collagable samples to be pulled from here, if anyone’s looking. garcia & band find comfy MIDNIGHT HOUR groove while weir welcomes television audience. some charged new year’s energy gives extra punch to SUGAREE, but not much jamming. 46-minute PLAYING IN THE BAND > TERRAPIN STATION > DRUMZ > SPACE > TRUCKIN’ > BLACK PETER. only the briefest of PLAYING jams & SPACE coalesces quickly. olatunji joins for THROWING STONES/NOT FADE AWAY. crowd keeps clapping after the set, with one more chorus of NOT FADE AWAY before TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT.
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