This was my first show. I was 16 and took a blue bird bus with my buddy from Olean, NY. We were some of the first people onto the GA floor. As most inquisitive rockers, we searched out two hits of acid. I dropped my--- buddy said "no thanks." After the Brown Eyed, he asks "got that hit?" I was like "nope I ate the other one." He never went to another GD show and I literally never stopped and went to hundreds seeing the last two at Soldiers Field in '95. I was "on the bus" from the first note.
Shakedown was great, the jam at the end of Stranger is truly unique.

It is interesting how Jerry jams on Stones as Weir hadn't developed the scream scene on this song yet. Stones>NFA>R&R>JB Goode? Who could ask for more.

I remember walking out of the place (pre cell phones) and was supposed to meet my sister after the show....no pre established meeting point. I didn't know her address, she didn't go the concert or know anything about the Dead....walking down the street taking it all in and bumped right into her.

Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. The first of many rippin' shows in Rochester. War Memorial 1985, Silver Stadium 1987,1988....

Love the Senhieser audience tapes...very "live" sound...

I have to say if someone out there wanted to know what it was like to close your eyes and be inside a Dead show your review captures it to a tee.
This show was a hot one 2nd set was tight and hot. 1st had great selection Shakedown and lazy lightin supplication . I keep coming back to this tour which was so much fun. so lucky to have been onboard back then.

That is one of the best descriptions of what a Dead show can do as I have ever read.
P.S. I went to Buff State
LTGTR

baba,
thanks for the great review, especially detailing the scene. i was born in Roch and was 10 at the time this show took place - would've loved to have been there even though i didn't get to my 1st show until Roch 87!

An excellent performance and a nice audience recording,jerry rocks gdtrfb! Instruments are well balanced with one glitch being a cut between GDTRFB// and Around & Around. Thanks Tapers!

At noon on Friday April 12, 1983, I was returning back to my apartment from classes at Kent State University when my classmate Jon from Scarsdale, NY (Jon, are you still out there?) said his two pals at U. of Buffalo had an extra pair of guest passes for the Grateful Dead concert that night in Rochester and asked if I would be interested in driving up to Buffalo to pick up the two pals, then drive to the show. As as extra, "carrot on a stick," Jon and his friends would pay for the gas and all forms of food, libation and recreational sitmulation.

Being it was the start of the weekend, and feeling a bit adventurous, Jon and I jumped into my 1979 Ford Pinto and drove four hours up to Buffalo, where his friends treated us to sandwiches, Jack Daniels, Coke (not the drink) and magical Snoppy blotters. Feeling quite elevated and doing a bad job of hiding our illegal grins, we literally floated to Rochester.

The details from there on are kinda sketchy but I do recall moving past the ticket takers, hearing the opening chords of "Shakedown Street," seeing lots of twirling fabrics of purple and lavender and the scent of patchouli and body oder was everywhere.

All of a sudden, I looked around and realized that my fellow travelers were gone and I was alone, stoned out of my mind 8 hours from home and feeling a bit apprehensive (no, make that VERY apprehensive). As I moved amongst the mezzanine masses performing their twirls and pretzel bending exercises to the rhythms of the Dead, I suddenly felt like I was surrounded by close friends who made me feel like "it's cool, enjoy!" I couldn't stop grinning; it was as though I had discovered the meaning of life and how to complete the Rubic's Cube all at the same time. I now had focus-ness and knew it was time to witness The Dead!

In what I only call to this day as devine intervention, I was suddenly tranported inside the arena bowl, witnessing Garcia and Co. casting their musical spell with "Brown-eyed Women," turning to my right and finding my traveling companions standing next to me. We congratulated one another for our good fortune (they especially since I had the car keys) and we partied along with the Dead and 15,000 close friends for what seemed like hours and hours.

When the second set started with "Feel Like A Stanger" and "Sampson and Deliah," it felt like someone had pushed the pedal to the metal and the show moved into hyperdrive, the whole area in unison singing "crazy, crazy night" and "I would tear this old building down" along with Bob.

The most memorable moment of the evening had to be when the final "nothing's gonna bring him back" of "He's Gone" dissolved into "Bob Star." The people around me were stunned into utter disbelief. Not until after the show was I told how foutunate I was to have witnessed such a unique event; according to deadlists.com, Bob Star was performed live only 3 times. I later recall being introduced at parties around Kent as "The guy who witnessed a Bob Star," which made me a minor celebrity and was the cause of some jealousy by people who had seen the Dead 37 times and I saw Bob Star at my first show but that's another can of worms.

During the drums and space portion I was wondering if this was how colors and shapes would sound if they could talk; I started laughing out loud and people around me were laughing right back, even though I never opened my mouth. Perhaps they were having the same revelation! Hmmmm!

Eventually, the pieces of sounds regained a sense of cohesiveness and Bob and the gang were singing about kids dancing and shaking their bones, which then morphed into "NFA" and a very tasty "GDTRFB."

At the ending solo of "GDTRFB," it sounded as though the set was about end when, suddenly, Garcia put the show on his shoulders (must have been some good speed or something) and he literally dragged the band and the entire audience (twistin, shoutin, screaming and laughing) into "Around and Around" and ended the set with "Johnny B. Good." Bob sang but Jerry was definitely the driver of this bus!

The band left the stage as the audience (moi included) was physically and mentally exhausted, delirous and haywired. A few moments later, the band returned to encore with Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," a nice counterpoint and ending to a job well done and not just by teh Dead; it was at this point that the whole X-Factor concept that I was told about before the show between band and audience made complete sense.

When the arena lights went on, I sat stunned, amazed and drained by what I had just experienced; my companions and just about everyone else in eyesight had the same look that I felt.

The evening ended with a drive back to Buffalo and staying up until 6 in the morning listening to one of Jon's friends jamming on his acoustic guitar to Dead bootlegs.

The ride back to Kent on Saturday and later that night describing my experience to friends (and trying to read the scribbled notes I made of the show's set list) also brings back the illegal grin 21 years later.

Junp forward to the year 2001: I searched through some Grateful Dead internet forums and contacted a friendly taper who hooked me up with a cassette of the 2nd set from the 04/15/83 show, which wasn't the greatest quality but at least it brought that magical journey of years ago out of the closet and proved that it really did happen, warts and all!

It should be noted here that I was familar with the Grateful Dead via radio and bootleg tapes before the 04/15/83 show but never had the opportunity to see them live, even though they had passed though my hometown of Cleveland a number of times. After my Magical Mystery Tour to Rochester, I did see the Dead live about 10

more times, not alot but enough to keep the vibe going. I've also listened to the Grateful Dead Hour radio program over the years and have collected and enjoyed listening to taped Dead shows on cassette and CD-ROM. But there is something truly special about your first Grateful Dead concert!

Now, jump forward to today: Thanks to Archive.org, the entire 04/15/83 show lives on in my consciousness,

and in clear soundboard clarity in my CD player, no less!

I am truly "Grateful" to Archive.org for helping to bring my Dead memories back to life, side effects, illegal grins and all the rest, and for turning me on to many shows that I missed, as well!

Major Kudos to the folks at Archive.org! Thank You Very Much!!!