Grateful Dead
1985-04-01
Cumberland County Civic Center
Portland ME

Set I
d1t01. Bertha >
d1t02. Greatest Story Ever Told        / 
d1t03. West L.A. Fadeaway >
d1t04. Little Red Rooster
d1t05. Bird Song
d1t06. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues       **
d1t07. Looks Like Rain
d1t08. Might As Well

Set II
d2t01. tuning
d2t02. China Cat Sunflower >
d2t03. I Know You Rider >
d2t04. Estimated Prophet >
d2t05. Eyes Of The World >
d2t06. Drums >
d2t07. Space >
d2t08. The Other One >
d2t09. Stella Blue >
d2t10. Around & Around >
d2t11. Not Fade Away
d2t12. It's All Over Now Baby Blue

/    tape paused between songs
**   cut in middle

Recording Information:
Source: 1st Gen AUDCA: Beyer M88's XY > Marantz PMD430 w dbx > 
        Maxell MX 90s No Dolby -lead deck
Location: 50 feet from stage DFC, shoulder height
Original Transfer: Marantz PMD430 dbx on > Sony TCD5M no nr
Transfer: Nakamichi LX5 > Tascam DR680|24/48 SD
Processing: SD| Audacity | cdwav editor | TLH | FLAC
Recorded by: Executive Crew: Tom Pinney, Kyle Holbrook, Chris Kidwell, JJ Hance, Sean Murtha, Gary Steel, Eric Britt 
==============================================================================
tour story:
After the snow from the previous night and this being a Monday show, the vibe inside the tiny CCCC was elevated. The city of Portland was surely getting inundated with people seeking food, drink and shelter, my bet is that most of those establishments did pretty well for a Sunday/Monday event in downtown. The NCAA finals were that night featuring heavily favored Georgetwon vs ultimate underdog winner Villanova. I think our lunch was a sub from D'Amatos, and Eric got a mini tour of downtown, snow and all. 

A solid Bertha right out of the gate! Jerry's guitar playing was so tight on most of these spring shows. Even staples such West L.A. Fadeaway have some fine solos. The Just Like Tom's Thumb Blues was the second time ever the band had played it and this time Phil had his own microphone and Jerry sang one verse with him. It appears this was the only time Jerry sang the verse with Phil during the history of playing the song##. Phil gets about 90 seconds of applause while he got set up at his microphone, everyone was laughing, band and crowd. This copy got cut in the middle and about 20 seconds of music is missing, but rest assured the ending is on it with Phil saying "April fools, boys" and the crowd's reaction afterward is what makes audience recordings so cool.

## Here is the verse Jerry sings with Phil...

Up on Housing Project Hill, it's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you and man, they expect the same

A major side story for this night is:
This was NCAA men's basketball final weekend with Villanova besting John Borg's Georgetown.
Borg had one of the first Sony watchman 3 inch screen portable black & white televisions, and of course snuck it in via the OTS gate check as security were allowing all the audio gear through. The game didn't end until about 11:30 PM, and the band's intermission was almost 45 minutes long vs the usual 25-30 this tour. We assumed they had been watching the first half of the game because since John had the game playing on his watchman on the floor of the Spectrum we knew when they went to half time. After the show ended, John turned the teevee back on, and was surrounded by at least 40 people, yellow shirt security included, so we knew when it ended!

Greg reminded me the event was AFTER the show, when the security was trying to clear the floor and they were so amazed John Borg had this Sony Watchman with the game on it, they said, â€œyou guys are cool you can stayâ€. Brand new technology of the day kept us able to stay on the floor and watch the game until the end. We had already taken all the gear down, backpacks packed, and mic stands being sort of hidden inside of coat sleeves. Iâ€™ll never forget Borg and Tens and Davis and all high-fiving at the end not just for the gameâ€™s final score but because the guards let us stay and watch. The energy and smiles all around was over the top!

Set 2 was almost anti-climactic after Phil singing and the previous night's fireworks. I would typically call that setlist an 'All Grateful Dead performance", but they did add on another Dylan tune with Baby Blue. The China > Rider is solid with a nice long segue into I Know You Rider. The transition out of Stella Blue into Around & Around has so many twists obviously Bobby did not travel to where Phil wanted and we wound up "reelin and a rockin". A bold and ceremonious Baby Blue closed out the two nights in Portland, somehow Maine shows never failed to bring the heat.