Grateful Dead
Date 1985-04-08
The Spectrum
Philadelphia PA

Set 1
d1t01 - tuning
d1t02 - In The Midnight Hour >
d1t03 - Walking The Dog
d1t04 - Big Boss Man
d1t05 - equipment break
d1t06 - Me And My Uncle >
d1t07 - Cumberland Blues
d1t08 - Down In The Bottom > I Ain't Superstitious >
d1t09 - Althea
d1t10 - Tons Of Steel >
d1t11 - Supplication >
d1t12 - Might As Well

Set 2
d2t01 - tuning
d2t02 - Revolution
d2t03 - Hell In A Bucket >
d2t04 - Touch Of Grey
d2t05 - Estimated Prophet >
d2t06 - Eyes Of The World >
d2t07 - Drums >
d2t08 - Space >
d2t09 - Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad >
d2t10 - Stella Blue >
d2t11 - Around And Around >
d2t12 - Turn On Your Lovelight
d2t13 - Encore Brokedown Palace        +


open the text files for tour stories

+  Start cut three times-missed less than 3 seconds of music

** This is a 16 bit fileset **
Recording Information:
Source: Master AUDCA: Beyer M88's XY > 4th Sony TCD5M in line no nr >
        Maxell MX 90s No Dolby
Location:200 feet from stage 15 feet ROC (RT rear corner of SBD), 15 feet up
Transfer: Nakamichi LX5 > Tascam DR680|24/48 SD
Processing: SD| Audacity | cdwav editor | TLH | FLAC
Recorded by: Executive Crew: Tom Pinney, Kyle Holbrook, JJ Hance, Sean Murtha, Gary Steel, Eric Britt, Mike Davis, Kenny Davis, Mikey
==================================================================================
the tour story
Gary Steel's Birthday, NCAA finals, Grateful Dead at the world famous Spectrum. I could probably end right there, but some of this tale should be written down. Tom Pinney had to teach and was supposed to go home to Syracuse and lend us his microphones. John 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 10 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 game because since John had the game playing on his watchman on the floor of the Spectrum surrounded by at least 40 people, yellow shirt security included, we knew when it ended. The band came on about three minutes later!

Earlier in the afternoon we had tried and been busted trying to sneak a keg of Moosehead into the Hilton. We had already had Seans 100 Watt Kenwood amplifier with very large speakers in the room all weekend. The party was essentially a continuation of the previous night's party, but being a Monday, several people were checking out of the hotel and some of our crew couldn't make the last night of the tour Monday show. We were all partying pretty heavily and Sean and Gary decided early on to not be part of the taping/blocking crew, so we covered for them. Due to the change in numbers, we were unable to secure a spot up front, putting the Beyer M88's on someone elses very tall stand, front row right rear corner of the board in the OTS 15 feet up. Ultimately Sean and Mike D were able to sneak the keg past security with the ol' GD two step after the show.

This show is so well reviewed on archive.org and dead.net I will add just a few moments I recall. Of course, the building was electric, the last night of a long East Coast tour, having sold tour booklets wih a ticket for each show, although it was Easter weekend many people who had jobs or school could not be there. So the atmospere was loose and frenetic at the same time. Then the band decided to have some fun as essentially Jerry and Bobby's voices were pretty shot by this time. The Midnight Hour > Walking the Dog > Big Boss Man opening trio was as out there song selection wise as the boys had gotten in a while, even on this tour, which is historically recognized as a year when the Dead challenged themselves amid heavy drug use and management controversy. On the tape you can hear the crowds ecstatic response and this makes me glad we chose to wisely jack the microphones that high. While not the Oade's version or a soundboard, this recording gives a solid audience experience with the location perspective of soundboard OTS tonality. The first set also included another reading of Down in the Bottom > I Aint Superstitous which Bobby had really gotten down by the end. Our crew had extra exuberance that Tons of Steel was played "in honor of Gary's B-day".

Set 2 was a metaphor for the entire tour. Talkin' about a revolution but landing in hell in a bucket. The band and crew were tired and sick and high as shit. The tour booklet holders for sure, and most heads who did only the three Philly shows were tired and sick and high as shit. Easter weekend, NCAA final weekend with Villanova besting John Borg's Georgetown, Grateful Dead weekend in Philly, cherry topped off by a Monday tour closer. "Mama Mama, many worlds I've come since I first left home." They played a messy Revolution, followed by a standard mid Eighties pre-drums sequence, each song losing steam as it progressed. Poor Jerry's voice, a froggy whisper, could barely eek out Revolution. They soldiered on as did the faithful in the Spectrum through some steady readings of familiar tunes ending with a Lovelight which was almost more of the cry in the dark that the lyrics suggest than the anthem it became in the Eighties. "Without a warning you broke my heart, takin' it baby, tore it apart| And you left me standin' in the dark, shine your love for me was dark".
The Spectrum, the audience, and the band were 'tore apart' and 'Brokedown' for this tour ender. If you were there you will never forget it.

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   138:13.62     1463032120 B                            0.6054  (25 files)


