06-24-1985

River Bend Music Center

Cincinnati, Ohio

Lighting out on a bright and sunny day, the Dead jump start the show with a fiery and aggressive – particularly in the latter half – Alabama Getaway. The GSET that comes next has all the same energy with some funky effects on Bobby’s vocals, which would continue in various forms all night. After a sprightly TLEO, a sick Minglewood comes forth, Jerry just firing with some tasty added fills by Brent and Bobby. The Jed, Esau, and Loser that follow are all solid, but the set culminates with an absolutely magical Let It Grow, packed with rapacious energy. Jerry’s guitar licks are radiant, and Mickey and Billy nail it down with an insatiable percussive groove. While the Dead played out that masterpiece, storm clouds billowed. And, once the boys left the stage, a torrential rain broke out, accompanied by cacophonous, cascading thunder.

Recording info
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Identifier:
gd1985-06-24.mtx.seamons.94663.sbeok.flac16
Source:
Matrix mix (SBD/AUD)
Notes:
*Matrix* —————————————————- SBD(s): Recording Info: SBD -> Cassette Master -> PCM -> Dat -> CD Editing Info: CD -> EAC -> Cool Edit Pro v2.0 -> Samplitude v7.02 Professional -> SHN (3 Discs Audio / 2 Discs SHN) Transfered and Edited By Charlie Miller charliemiller87@earthlink.net 7/28/04 Notes: — Set 2 may be from either a PCM Master or a VHS Master. The reason I say this is I could not find a tape flip and the recording is more dynamic than Set 1. —————————————————- AUDs: Set 1 —– Nak 300 > D5 > CM > CDR DAE and shorten encoding by C. Vinci Set 2 —– Recorded by Jim Oade Transferred by Doug Oade, tracked by Darrin Sacks (dsacks@pcisys.net) Field: Schoeps cmc441 (90deg, 17cm) > Oade M118 > Oade mod SONY PCM-F1 Transfer: Master PCM > DAW (via SEKD Prodif) > Wav > cdwav > Flac ————————————————— Thank you to Charlie Miller and John Lyons for the SBD transfer, to Chris Vinci and Mike Lai for the set 1 AUD transfer to the Oade Brothers and Darrin Sacks for the set 2 AUD transfer, and to Mr. B. for helping me verify the set 1 pitch. Matrix by Hunter Seamons using Final Cut Pro (SHN & FLAC>AIFF>Final Cut>WAV>FLAC) September 23, 2008 Notes: 1) Cuts in the AUD between songs during set 1. I left the SBD portions in for the occasional, interesting stage conversation. 2) Based on C. Miller’s notes above, the set 2 SBD source appears to be a VHS master, since there is some speed fluctuation. Since I used the Oade AUD for set 2, set 2 is a completely different matrix than set 1 that sounds significantly better. 3) One momentary cut in the AUD during Space in set 2. 4) Set 2 is seamless. 5) The crowd after Good Lovin’ seems VERY thoroughly pleased – thank you Oade!
Description:
Set 1 Alabama Getaway -> Greatest Story Ever Told They Love Each Other New Minglewood Blues Tennessee Jed My Brother Esau Loser Let It Grow Set 2 Iko Iko -> Samson And Delilah -> He’s Gone -> Smokestack Lightnin’ -> Cryptical Envelopment -> Drums -> Space -> Comes A Time -> The Other One -> Cryptical Envelopment -> Wharf Rat -> Around And Around -> Good Lovin’ Encore U.S. Blues
Lineage:
Transferrer:
Hunter Seamons
Play
Pause
Back
Forw.
Volume
00:00
1
Alabama Getaway ->
06:09
2
Greatest Story Ever Told
04:42
3
They Love Each Other
08:56
4
New Minglewood Blues
09:51
5
Tennessee Jed
08:19
6
My Brother Esau
05:23
7
Loser
07:16
8
Let It Grow
12:26
9
Iko Iko ->
08:42
10
Samson And Delilah ->
08:29
11
He’s Gone ->
10:05
12
Smokestack Lightnin’ ->
04:18
13
Cryptical Envelopment ->
01:48
14
Drums ->
10:20
15
Space ->
08:27
16
Comes A Time ->
05:51
17
The Other One ->
05:09
18
Cryptical Envelopment ->
00:40
19
Wharf Rat ->
08:32
20
Around And Around ->
03:48
21
Good Lovin’
09:54
22
U.S. Blues
05:00
Choose recording

As the band opened the second half with Aiko, cloud to ground lightning surrounded the amphitheater, but the crowd threw caution to the wind and boogied down. For their part, the boys cooked up a raging storm themselves, especially as they went off on a powerful Samson. As one person present explained on Archive, “it seemed as if they were egging on the storm, daring it to do its worst…when they sang ‘If I had my way, I would tear this whole building down,’ they meant it!” Then the boys turned to conjuring and cajoling the gods with a soulful He’s Gone, vamping with all the vocal effects that Healy could muster before transitioning absolutely seamlessly into Smokestack Lightning, Bobby taunting the powers that be with his delivery. Then the band turns to Cryptical, which had just been busted out eight days prior at the Greek, leading it into Drums and Space. The rhythm devils put the storm on its heels with their own brand of thunder, and the skies cleared as Jerry turned out a lovely Comes a Time, which had also just come off the shelf during the Greek run. At the end, they segue into a frantically joyous Other One before capping the suite sandwich with a short dip back into Cryptical. That latter Cryptical sets up a killer Wharf Rat before they send out the show with a rocking, celebratory Around and Around> Good Lovin’ and US Blues encore.

The music and the storms made for a memorable show in Cinci. And we are lucky to have such a righteous matrix to relive it. To make it, Hunter Seamons took a Charlie Miller soundboard and blended it with two different audience recordings (first and second set) to capture both the music and the experience of the crowd. That all makes for a crystalline sound that lets us hear the boys’ sonic sorcery and the audience’s raucous cheering after the Good Lovin’ and stoked appreciation for the Comes a Time and Cryptical. The matrix, like the show itself, is a joy to behold.

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Comments

One response to “06-24-1985”

  1. Neal Gold Avatar
    Neal Gold

    This was one of my earliest and favorite tapes that I owned – a personal favorite. All about the setlist.

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