I too was at this show and am listening to my original cassette recording that was transferred to cd. Cumberland Blues is smoking hot as were many other songs played that evening! At this point in time it was obvious that some nights were better than others for this band but I have to say while far from perfect this show is good. I get an amusing kick out of the reviewer that calls himself a real deadhead. What a pretentious asshat. Those are the folks that could turn anyone away from the Dead. Sure there have been better shows but I can tell you the Spectrum was electric that night and I would like to believe that the band and their jamming played an important role in making that happen.

I saw this whole tour, the best shows were Nassau and 4/7. The tour was real good those just stood out for me. This show gets overrated often. A high energy night and a good first set but not much else. This is not a good board either, no Weir and minimal Lesh.

The 1st set smokes.I agree with others that the show falls apart a bit in the 2nd set.Out of over 200 shows I attended this 1st set is in my personal top 3.PHILLY ROCKS

jerry is really behind on his one

I was at this show too and while the first three songs were a surprise the rest of the show got progressively sloppier. By the end of the night it left me disappointed to wonder how good the show could have been if they took those first three tunes and ran with it! But as usal the Dead did not. I loved being there, but c'mon everything is not a 4/5 stars!

Show is smoking. Was there. Don't listen to Mutt and Jeff (aka Jrimlik and Sbrew) below. Great show, great energy, killer set list. Period.

Agreed sbrew, some of these reviews are absolutlety worthless and frankly embarrassing to us true Heads.

And none of us on that tour called it "Midnight>Dog>Man", trust me.

I saw a guy in another source for this show say this was the best Big Boss Man ever. Now that was a stunning comment, it makes you wonder - do any of these people realize Pigpen used to sing this song? And even Garcia himself probably wuld have said hs versions never came close to Pig's? The best Garcia version was probably New Year's '81.

The best night of this run is easily 4.7, stream this night first set and all of 4.7, THAT is a classic show, I was there and loved it, saw 27 shows in '85, all great except this one and 4.6

Reviews are contagious and sadly unreliable. This show starts off with some nice moments but just degenerates into sloppiness and sludge.

It's just sad after hearing a show like this, to see all these rave reviews about how the band was "ON" and how Revolution was a "masterpiece". Wow, it honestly was a mess.

While the show certainly has moments (mostly in set 1), it's just dragging itself the rest of the way, sloppy, and with Garcia gasping for air.

Anyone uninitiated, reading these delusional reviews, then listening for him/herself will just have more fodder to claim that the GD are a joke and that the fans are clueless. Neither is true, though these reviews would lead you to think otherwise.

The band has put out a slew of wonderful shows and there are so many better ones than this (and better ones from this tour, too). This show may be worth hearing for some, but why do we keep claiming rave reviews for moments of total wreck? Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome perhaps?

Finding this nugget while browsing this way cool site, sparked memories of me and my Buds road dogging the whole spring tour, of pulling into Philly for the last three night stand. We all were a little tattered and road weary, but were busting at the seams with excitement cause....well it was alot of fun as you well know. This last show of spring 85 proved to us once again that there is nothing like a Grateful Dead show. check out that opener...Midnight>Dog>Man....Whoa!!!

boy you can sure tell jerry and Brent were smokin' before this show...deeeeep vocals and some missing lung capacity. either that or they smoked between sets. definetly between sets tho, listen to eyes and youll hear what im talkin about. 4 stars for setlist and grate licks throughout the show. not the best from 85 by far.

I got tapes of this show very early in my days of tape collecting..nice to hear it again. Loved the R and B openers..


Jim

Although the other version has been downloaded the most, try this version out , I think it sounds better. It takes a couple minutes to warm up.This particular sounding board has been around since back in the day. later.

to our previous reviewer.... When it comes down to the jerry/bobby duel in the outro of drums, into GDTRFB jerry is playing the opening lick of going down the road, while bobby sounds like he's teasing lovelight, with that 3 chord riff, as in "shine on me"..... Who knows, that's just a guess..... show is decent, nice tempo to the tunes.... sound if above average if anything..... stream it boys and girls...

(A re-post from a different version...)
This show was among probably the top 3 or so that I've seen between 1983 and roughly 1993, (the other notable one being 10-11-83, return of St. Stephen). But I have a question for anyone who's listened to this closely. Going into GDTRFB there was a little "battle" between Bobby and Jerry. I think Jerry was playing the GDTFB lick (and obviously won) but Bobby was playing a three-chord riff from something else. 20 years later, I still can't figure out what it was, and it still drives me nuts when I hear it. Had it been that "other" tune, I think this would rank as a top-10 show of all time. (In my little universe anyway!)

4/8/85 - I was there - 6th row - last show of a 3 night stand - saw all 3 - this one was so cool -
the boys were ON from the word go - 1st set felt almost like a 2nd set - check out the vocal echo in "Walkin' the Dog" - crowd went crazy for that - so what if Jerry forgot a few words, it didn't matter - his guitar was incredible - I was at over 150 shows from '71 to '95, & this one is in my top 10, always will be. Thank y'all for this website - it's the best I've found for high quality downloads - keep up the fine work!

Wonderful first set the highlight is the above - Set II is solid and I am certain this was an off the charts show to be at but some of the songs a little wobbly...

I am constatly amazed by this site(a thousand blessings on the keepers of this marvel)and of course by the Dead. The opening few songs... well...
WOW.Sound a little muddy? SO WHAT!! Its a great show and i think the sounds just dandy!So are you D/Ling already??

Peace:Skippy

this show is muddy throughout.

This is a very nice show indeed. Sound is great and the boys are on. Althea is very nice in the first set, and Revolution was always a crowd pleaser. Jerry doesnt do the lyrics much justice (see , he flubbed as bad in the 80's as he did in the 90's !) but the heavier grungy version makes up for it . He finishes it on a much stronger note.
If you want a nice treat , listen to the lovelight. Unlike many later versions that almost seemed to be filler at the end of the sets, this one is vivrant and full of life. They are enjoying playing the song. Its great to hear this snapshot in history. One to hear for sure. Let it shine shine shine !

I was at this show and what stands out about this show is the energy level in the audience this night, the crowd was way fired up for this one and the first 3 songs really gets the Spectrum rockin. I remeber Bobby falling on his ass during Estimated when he tried to kick a beach ball off the stage, truly hilarious! as for the show, it is is a keeper, definetly worthy of a download!

You aint so bad..You just talk thats all...
Tell me Jerry wasn't the original Mack Daddy Boss
He creams the crowd with that "surfy- waterfall" solo. He had that crowd banging.My gosh he the shit. What a time that show would have been. This 3-night run is high up on my "I wish I was there list".
The band is just rollin song after song. The Althea,Midnight Hour,She Belongs to me,Morning Dew etc.

Check out Jerry quoting Sly Stone's "Everyday People" in the "Midnight Hour" solo.

Great show! The Althea completely rocked!

Sweet sound quality too. Good stuff...

To the previous show reviewer: sorry, but there was no slow friend of the devil played during this run. There was a fotd played in Providence at the show immediately preceding the Philly run. Also, there was a fotd played at the Philly Civic Center the previous spring (4/84). I hope that was helpful.

For the show, I think the 4/8/85 show, particularly the first set, was one of the top 2 or 3 shows of a year, which is my favorite of the decade. I know that 11/1/85 gets a lot of pub. - hence the Dicks Picks selection. However, that show can better be described as "tight, with an interesting song placement/selection [e.g., Lost Sailor; D/S; Saint]" than a "rock the house down effort" displayed on this fine evening.

Actually, the 7th of May was the final show of 3 that weekend. I dont see the slow version of Friend of the Devil here either. Anyone who has the Sunday show, please contact me at lmsconsult@yahoo.com. It was a good show and a great weekend. The show listed on page 7 in this archive didnt have the song either. See my review there.

Very out of the ordinary set list, though very hot. Jerry's voice was a little rough Spring 85 but the band was on fire. Solid 11 song first set!! Midnight Hour > Walking the Dog > Big Boss Man was a hell of a way to open the final show of the tour. Nice Cumberland as well. You can hear Jerry calling for it on a good SBD. A rare Revolution opens the second set. Bucket > Touch is real nice also. Spring 85 was a treat.

Fun show but sounds much more AUD than SBD.

This is an amazing show, they come out of the gate just kicking ass. A sterling 85 show.