Dead of the Day: 07-22-1984
Ventura County Fairgrounds
Ventura, California
Through the mid-80s, the Dead played eleven shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, all of them in June and July. For our Dead of the Day, we head out to what is arguably the best of those dates back in 1984. The boys get things rolling with Dancing In The Streets. Gone is any of the disco sound from just a few years prior or the more rhythm and blues feel of the earlier, sixties versions. Instead, we get a more brooding, yet charged rendition. A fairly standard Bertha and Brother Esau come next. Then the boys turn it up a notch further with Loser. Jerry’s voice suddenly emerges, joining his soaring guitar, and Phil delivers some outlandish bombs as he will throughout the rest of the evening. Cassidy keeps up the quality with flighty, airy jamming, and Ramble On Rose is another stellar tune with Phil laying down an incredible bass. The set then heads out with a solid Hell In A Bucket and Day Job.
Bertha
My Brother Esau
Loser
Cassidy
Ramble On Rose
Hell In A Bucket >
Keep Your Day Job
Ship Of Fools
I Just Want To Make Love To You > *
Man Smart (Woman Smarter) >
Terrapin Station >
Drums >
Space >
Morning Dew >
Throwing Stones >
Not Fade Away
In The Midnight Hour
Brokedown Palace
Jerry Garcia – Guitar
Bob Weir – Guitar
Brent Mydland – Keyboards
Phil Lesh – Bass
Bill Kreutzmann – Drums
Mickey Hart – Drums
After the intermission, the Dead come right out with a strong and powerful Samson and Delilah with, again, Phil just carpet bombing while Brent throws in some nice little runs. Jerry then delivers a haunting Ship Of Fools. Following that, Brent breaks out a tune that the Dead had not played since Pigpen took the vocals on it in 1966, I Just Want To Make Love To You. This time around, it is pumping along with Brent throwing his all into it, as he seems to do on all his songs. The funky groove segues perfectly into Man Smart, Woman Smarter, getting everyone shaking their bones. After a short pause, the boys then head into Terrapin, just as a hole in the marine layer opened up, allowing sun to stream down on the band as they told the tale. A deep and face-melting Drums and Space then leads into an incredible Morning Dew, arching off and turning in on itself over and over again. The Dew then transitions into Throwing Stones> Not Fade Away, making for an awesome run of music before finishing off the set with In The Midnight Hour. Then the boys came back on stage for a wonderful Brokedown encore.
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