Grateful Dead
Date 1984-06-09
Cal Expo Ampitheatre
Sacramento CA

set I
d1t01 - Iko-Iko        ++
d1t02 - Hell in A Bucket
d1t03 - Loser           #
d1t04 - Cassidy
d1t05 - Duprees Diamond Blues
d1t06 - CC Rider        //
d1t07 - Deal

Set II
d2t01 - I Need a Miracle >
d2t02 - Bertha
d2t03 - Playin' In The Band >
d2t04 - China Doll >
d2t05 - space >
d2t06 - drums >
d2t07 - space >
d2t08 - Playin In the Band >
d2t09 - Black Peter >
d2t10 - Sugar Magnolia >
d2t11 - One More Saturday Night
d2t12 - Day Job (encore)

Notes:
The PA was having issues all show. The first three songs especially.
There is more tape hiss than usual for these takeoffs; apparently the Masters were a bit low volume-apologies.
# vocal mic out for first verse.
We had to keep the mics below shoulder level, raising and lowering them periodically,
so the sound quality varies.
++ There was a LOUD guy rambling through the Tapers section at start of tune
// Tape Flip


MAUD CA: Beyer M88's XY > Sony TCD5M|Maxell MX90 x2 no NR
Location: 40 feet from stage head height
Transfer: Nakamichi MR2 > Marantz PMD661|SD
Recorded By: Executive Crew - Tom Pinney, Kyle Holbrook
Transferred: Kyle Holbrook

shntool:

    length     expanded size    cdr  WAVE problems  fmt   ratio  filename
     9:37.027     166183724 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.6806  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t01.flac
     6:15.240     108069164 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7089  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t02.flac
     7:57.307     137464364 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.6875  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t03.flac
     6:05.173     105169964 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7070  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t04.flac
     6:11.720     107055404 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7059  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t05.flac
     7:58.000     137664044 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7143  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t06.flac
     9:31.496     164591018 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7137  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d1t07.flac
     6:01.053     103983404 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7060  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t01.flac
     6:54.387     119343404 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7115  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t02.flac
    12:32.547     216733484 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7039  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t03.flac
     6:25.013     110883884 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.6972  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t04.flac
     6:17.880     108829484 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7020  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t05.flac
     7:05.787     122626604 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.6904  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t06.flac
     8:24.000     145152044 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.6903  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t07.flac
     5:41.280      98288684 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7082  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t08.flac
     9:01.187     155861804 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7045  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t09.flac
     5:14.907      90693164 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7259  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t10.flac
     4:56.600      85420844 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7278  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t11.flac
     4:37.888      80031896 B   cxx   --   ---xx   flac  0.7241  gd1984-06-09beyerm88-24d2t12.flac
   136:48.491    2364046382 B                            0.7042  (19 files)


==========================================================================================================
the tour story:
I had a brand new 1984 Honda Accord which Tom, Lynn and I drove from Syracuse to Sacramento. It took about 2 days with great cross country sights, including huge summer storms in Utah as we headed West. This was the summer mini tour opener and also the first year they sold GDTS mail order tickets (Spring 1984 was first tour) so of course we mailed in for the entire summer tour. We did not get Cal Expo tickets, but we did get the rest of the tour. You can see the ticket stock in the jpg is the standard Ticketron style.

The PA was having major issues in the hot Grass Valley weather, during the first set the vocals drop out several times for extended time periods. Phil's bass is absent for a half a tune, other PA oddities are documented on the recording. I bet it is a bummer to be onstage playing away when the vocal mics die, or the guitar amp dies and this was one of those days. The roadies were onstage for quite a while this set. as such, the music is predictably flat. Iko-Iko opened and had great promise but the PA issues subdued the tune and kept it relatively short. Trying to push past the sound problems they play a nice Cassidy, a Duprees Diamond Blues ending with a Deal which had Jerry showing his obvious frustrations with the situation. One funny note: at the beginning of Iko-Iko you can hear a guy walk into the Tapers section seconds before the music started talking and shouting; someone asks him "do you know where you are?" "Of course I know where I am" proceeding to be loud and boisterous. His friends must have noticed their location and persuaded him to move at which point he lets out a LOUD aaaaaarrrgghhhh which can be heard about 30 seconds into the tune.

Second set was much better PA wise, with very few annoyances coming from the sound. Of course, the small size of this outdoor venue contributes to the experience; wooden bleachers and all. Cal Expo in those days was set up very slimmed down with just a few local food vendors in the back with the merch booth. The heads were twirling up a storm in the dirt bowl section between the soundboard and the back of the field. That tunnel going back through to the food was filled with heads cooling off from dancing and meeting friends. The boys led us through an odd combination of second set pulling out a spirited Miracle > Bertha as a rare second set offering as each of these tunes is typically in a first set slot. They meandered through Playing in the Band with a funky end jam leading into China Doll. As the bumper sticker gets paraphrased, "A GD show with a China Doll, is still a better show than if no China Doll" every time. While this is not the strongest rendition, they seemed to inspire the crowd and my recollection listening back was this Playin > China Doll > Rhythm Devils > Playing sequence was intricate and sweet. The ending was good ol Grateful Dead with a Day Job encore which was becoming its spot in the lineup after putting it in the opening slot or close of first set slot through the 1983 tours. A solid show and being the first of a two night run we were out the funny turnstiles and heading for a party at the motel.


