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Grateful DeadGrateful Dead Live at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 1985-06-30 (June 30, 1985)

Collection: : GratefulDead
Band/Artist: Grateful Dead
Date: June 30, 1985 (check for other copies)
Venue: Merriweather Post Pavilion
Location: Columbia, MD

Source: Schoeps cmc441 (90deg, 17cm) > Oade M118 > Oade mod SONY PCM-F1

Lineage: Master PCM > DAW (via SEKD Prodif) > Wav > cdwav > Flac (via Darrin Sacks)
Taped by: Oade Brothers
Transferred by: Doug Oade - Darren Sacks
Keywords: Live concert

Description

Mississippi Half Step-> CC Rider-> Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried-> Mexicali Blues, Keep On Growing-> Big Railroad Blues-> Looks Like Rain-> Don't Ease Me In Shakedown Street-> Samson & Delilah, Gimme Some Lovin'-> He's Gone-> Cryptical Envelopment-> Drums-> The Other One-> Stella Blue-> Around & Around-> Sugar Magnolia, E: U.S. Blues

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Reviewer: Diabolical Lies - - August 11, 2009
Subject: Shakedown crowd surge
Regarding the 13:43 crowd surge, same thing happens around 6+ mark. I think it's in response to the jam and probably the lights. It was still light outside, but kinda dark under the shed. I don't recall fence jumping problems until the next night and those were NOTHING compared to what I witnessed in Richmand 4 months later (ass clowns wrapped in sheets running through the plate glass windows of the coliseum).

Reviewer: mikejr41387 - - August 11, 2009
Subject: BEST SHAKEDOWN EVER
boy this is one for the history books! to bad the rest of the show is a tad on the sloppy, but they had it goin on during shakedown. the whole jam is perfection but yes, around that 13 minute mark the tone shifts, and something more profound starts happening... man i can only imagine what it would have been like to be there for that.
For me, this could be the best live Grateful Dead moment ever...
5 stars, for shakedown alone

Reviewer: Silverstein - - April 25, 2009
Subject: apeshit at 13:46
Sounds to me like the crowd is cheering for Jerry's solo. Hard to believe people would cheer for fence jumpers, especially since those kinds of things made it hard for the band to tour in later days. Could be the banner, but sounds like it corresponds with Jer and his gee-tar.

Reviewer: Stellablu122 - - December 1, 2008
Subject: "I'll run your life, steal your wife!"
These were the only two summer shows I saw this year and they were a blast. After my friends went to Saratoga and had their minds blown, we hit the road. When we arrived we had no tickets and my buddy went to the box office right at show time and scored 4 front row seats, we could not believe it and rushed in. The first set was very good and the band was having a blast. The highlight had to be the pre-drums and that killer Shakedown. When they broke out Gimme Some Lovin it was wild, listen to the crowd chant the old harmonies. The second half had some great moments too. The ending was very strong and Jerry,in the spirit of partisianship or lack of, gave us a rousing send off. Columbia was this planed community and we must have not have been in their plans, we were never invited back after two nights of zany antics. Their loss.

Reviewer: deadmyke - - December 1, 2008
Subject: The crowd went apeshit...
...becase @ that moment the backfence on stage left was trampled by the rush of fence jumpers. t was my first show, sorry bout the fence.

Reviewer: tabie - - January 29, 2008
Subject: last night of mda
i am sure that had a huge effect on the crowd that night. I because illegal at midnight. These two shows were so much fun. Personally I loved the second night but i suspect that has to do with my location.
The camp scene was wonderful, different areas denoted by colours. So much unbridled fun!

Reviewer: majordomo - - December 5, 2007
Subject: rick griffin banner
they had the griffin banner up all summer. can't really recall if they unfurled it or it was in place from the get-go, but it was up in cincinatti, blossom, the post and saratoga maybe. hershey not.

Reviewer: Homer JAY Simpson - - November 7, 2007
Subject: crowd response
chris, it might be because of the 20-years/'we will survive' banner being unfurled? not sure if they were doing that yet but by fall '85 they had done it at the 10/28 Fox Theater show.
i remember hearing 'sgt. peppers' on the PA system a show or two during that summer...

"it seemed like a main era."

Reviewer: Chris U. - - April 30, 2007
Subject: What's uh the deal?
Yet another great show from the summer '85 tour (the next night has my all time favorite drum/space).

And yes, the Shakedown is one of the best ever, once they stop the silly singing. Weir is taking his effects pedal to freaking town from ten minutes onwards.

One mystery (at least from this tape) is why the crowd goes apeshit at the 13:46 mark. What's happening? I mean, the music is good, but there is a swell of enthusiasm that seems to erupt from something other than the jamming and which then seems to carry the band along with it.

Anyone there who can explain? Lighting maybe?

------------

Thanks upstairs for the two cents. The thing is that I, too, remember this cassettee "from back in the day." It was a board and I recall the peak moment being more "obvious," which is to say, "more audible." I guess I should try to dig out the tape from the boxes and boxes of tapes ...

Reviewer: Monadnock - - April 30, 2007
Subject: Shakedown
I'd review this show, but I need to check myself into the med tent after listening to that Shakedown.

Reviewer: BryanE - - March 13, 2007
Subject: Here's the uh deal
Chris U, try giving it another listen. It should be clear that the crowd is peaking right along with the jam. Jerry hits the sweet spot, lifts the audience about three feet off the ground, and keeps the people suspended in mid-air for good five to ten bars. They can't help but to scream, as they hold on for dear life. If the lighting was extraordinarily spectacular, then that was just the icing on the cake.

This was one of my favorite cassettes from back in the day when I actually still had any of my old stuff, and Shakedown Street is one of the best I ever heard, the reason being its utter intensity. Coming across this show today, I clicked it on, remembering it as being a firecracker, but all the years do combine, and sometimes it's difficult to distinguish from memory what was hot and what was even hotter.

This show was an "even hotter!"

So, ride out the drive down Shakedown, but fasten your seat belt, because that low-ridin' Chevy you're cruising in transforms into a space shuttle, Captain Trips* at the helm.

There's a lot of really smokin' stuff here: Brown-Eyed Women, Big Railroad Blues, Samson & Delilah, Gimme Some Lovin', Around & Around>Sugar Magnolia. Cryptical Envelopment coming out of He's Gone electrifies the crowd. And if ballads are your cup of tea, then drink in Looks Like Rain and Stella Blue and savor them.


*I know he hated that name, and this might be the first time I've referred to him as that in 30 years. But in this case it is apropos.

Reviewer: Supaslush - - March 8, 2007
Subject: Bathing in the Fountains at the Mall
This is a classic mid-80s show at a classic, classic venue. Wish I'd been there.

Reviewer: Hamal - - July 1, 2006
Subject: damn, i missed it
only shows i saw that summer were at alpine so i missed some great ones. too late now. anyway, this is one i am really sorry i missed. when i heard the tape back then i was blown away by the shakedown/samson and the sugar mag (i agree, definitely underrated). oade quality is excellent, capturing the feel of the pavillion. i deduct a star because the cryptical envelopment is awful, except for the excellent transition from he's gone. the 85 crypticals generally are a let down in my opinion.

Reviewer: darkstar11/11/73 - - February 12, 2006
Subject: beer
i like the burp and beer can opening sounds pre-shakedown.......gotta be phil right? shakedown is the best version ive heard

Reviewer: shnaholic - - June 30, 2005
Subject: it was 20 years ago tonite people
again, 20 years ago tonite i was onstage behind phils equipment looking out at the crowd and they opened the 2nd set with shakedown! hellll yeah! i remember the light bank coming down and shining out on the audience when phil hit those powerchords during the opening notes. ahhh summer 85 was a great time to be on tour yes it was. get the oade auds til the awesome cm sbd comes out. its a true 5 star recording. hahah i almost forgot..i ran into uncle bobo there as he was out walking thru the crowd. he was real nice, but didnt seem to like us when we said uncle bobo. o well, we all got over it.

Reviewer: early 80's meltdown - - June 17, 2005
Subject: you hit on the dot..
I wasn't there but I agree those were the days and this night in particular was peak Dead. You were very lucky to have been in that little dosed out pavalion June 30th 1985. Old school pre-Touch scene everyone partying down before with low hassle untill late 80's War On Drugs crack down. Shakedown is no doubt top 5 maybe 1 or 2? So yea that would of been a trip and a real treat to have been there.
The He's Gone > Crypytical is sublime.

Reviewer: lpenoza - - April 15, 2005
Subject: One of the Best
Here's the whole show in Oade Aud format. This Audience tape captures the MPP atmosphere well, and while it's not for sbd purists, it satisfies those of us who were there. The levels are great, and all the sound is there. You get the Phil bombs on these Oade recordings. Set 1 had some PA problems that can be heard here during CC Rider. I believe Phil had fried a few speakers during the Dew in Hershey 2 nights prior.
Plenty has been said about this show, and with good reason. My wife and I were in the pavillion this night, and there was unquestionably something special in the air. There was a vibe that was wild and kind. The excitement level among the audience from the Shakedown through the MOST UNDERRATED Sugar Mag/SSDD ever, was phenomenal! People were singing along and dancing like it was the last night on Earth. I'll never forget the way it looked in there during that SSDD jam - Every body was *in motion* and the howl of *LOVE* was hair raisingly beautiful. The band shined their light back at us like the yellow rays of the rising sun. The POWER of the music was incredible.
Out of well over 100 GD concerts, this was my favorite. The circus of the Deadheads was at a huge peak just before the word got out to the populace general. We camped in the woods and fields on the venue property outside the gates, and we were left to do as we pleased.
Let the critics have their keith&donna, I'll take this serving of tasty, wild 1985 summer glory anytime.
LP

Notes

Source: Schoeps cmc441 (90deg, 17cm) > Oade M118 > Oade mod SONY PCM-F1

Transfer: Master PCM > DAW (via SEKD Prodif) > Wav > cdwav > Flac (via Darrin Sacks)