I can't tell you the be best performance I ever saw but I can tell you the worst; this one. I re-listened to a great SBD recording of it last night just to make sure I remembered it correctly. Don't let the great set list fool you. There are no standout versions of any song at this concert. Deal, great opener, but this is a boring, short, go nowhere version. That summed up the whole concert- uninspired, flat jams that stagnated and went as close to nowhere as possible. Even the second set opener, morning dew, went no where and is the least memorable version I ever saw or heard. As I was there, and in the tenth row, my impression was these guys hit the stage l-l-l-loaded: stumbling drunk, with the the telltale sweaty shirts walking onto stage for set 1. Weir was just off all night vocally and musically. I think he may have invented a few new notes hitherto unknown to humanity. Jerry had some good moments but hatched several songs. Eyes of the World is literally painful. Mickey and Billy, were all over the place and at a few points walked all over each other. Even the rhythm devils portion was very sub-par. The good part of the show was the post-space portion. I'd guess they sobered up by them. As I was leaving, I heard some Florida natives say, "Jerry Garcia is really good but the rest of the band aren't much. I was glad to hear it's all over now baby blue because I knew the show was over." I saw some reviews praising this show. Those reviewers may have had a great time which can influence one's perception greatly but musically this was way, way below average. Ask every deadhead you know if they even know about this show. Most don't. It's that forgettable. The next show in Tampa was crazy good. Wish I had gone to that one. This is just a rare miss.

I was at this show, and the sound system was simply awful. It sounded tinny and murky everywhere in the venue, to the point where it
seriously degraded my appreciation of the performance.
The Sportatorium is a big nasty box not predisposed to quality sound, but they solve these problems nicely at other performances there
(particularly the 1980 show).

the reason the deal opened the tour and first set is due to the big bust in tenn. a month earlier. remember? she is till in jail today another reason to consider myself lucky to have come out of this lifestyle on top. weir drunk? i doubt it. I think these were the days when anything could happen but drunk nooooooooooooo. Trust me on this one.

There we were Front row right in front of Jerry!! What a great great time for me. Everything went to perfection!! In 1985 I was living in Cooper City and the concert was 15 minutes from my home! We arrived bright and early doing massive lines at sun up in the parking lot. Friends came down from New York State, and some friends from Florida joined us too. My best friend and I each dosed an hour before the show. We were first in line and walked straight up to the stage in front of where we knew Jerry would play. My best friend and I strolled in with an 8 ball and and Z of crypto! The show was magical. What a perfect incredible high. Sooo very high; perfectly that evening!! At first it looked like no one was gonna show up, next thing I knew the crowd was pushing up against us as the front barricade was under my shoulders I didn't need to touch the floor to stand up!! My best friend and I went crazy singing every lyric that we knew along with Jerry screaming out and just having the time of our lives!! Garcia kept peering down at us over his glasses with a grin and wrinkled forehead as his left fingers danced up and down the guitar neck probably thinking where do all these crazy people come from!! Every song we burned a number and did a few more bumps until it seemed we hit the cieling and really couldn't get any higher! Iko Iko Loser Eyes and Oh Yes What a Morning Dew. Perhaps one of the greatest days of my life and oh yes my best Dead show out of all the Dozens I had ever gone too! Everything just panned out perfectly that day. We were home moments after the show and couldn't sleep, so we hit Alligator Alley at about 3:00 am on our way to the Sun Dome and Tampa to do it all again!! 5 stars doesn't do just to this show for me!!

The recording starts out just awful, what happens to the phase (time alignment) with the two sets of mics is just brutal. The idea isn't bad, but you'd want to be real careful that you were right on in terms of lining up the signals from both sets of mics especially when the levels of the two sets of mics are about even.

John Meyer's SIM-I and a very precise (and expensive signal delay (adjusted at a couple spots at each octave) machine could have done this double mic trick nicely in in 1985, but it's hard to think of a lot of other devices from that era that would make this easy to do on the fly. This is the kind of thing we take for granted in the digital era that was just about impossible to do on the floor of a show. It's fitting though to have some experimentation with the recording, as the show seems to mix things up a little (Deal, Morning dew OPENERS?). It must have been a fun Friday in Florida.

What I believe has happened here is that the two sets of mics were just laid on top of each other and mixed to ear). I think by adjusting the levels between the two mics the taper gets it much closer to right somewhere around IKO.

It's not the worst crowd tape you'll encounter but it's not doing this show any favors either, which is why I think this show gets knocked. Deal out of the starting gate has an almost JGB energy to it. Garcia is on (voice rough, guitar loud, pretty typical 1985 tone), and the drummers are explosive. Rooster is good, no Brent "f- with the henhouse" here, instead things spread out with some very solid playing from BrentÃÂs direction. Weir accused of being drunk (Drunk? At a Grateful Dead Concert? How dare he!) by a previous reviewer, is actually quite on his game to my ears. Dire Wolf and Let it Grow are both very strong.

What brings me back to this show is the Morning Dew second set opener. This is a real odd duck move by 1985, but it works well. The Estimated > Eyes is good (there's something that happens as Eyes kicks off that's not quite right), the stretch in and out of drums is very tightly played. Where others have said this show lacks energy, I think that's somewhat intentional on Garcia's part, putting two money songs up at the front of each set. I actually think the effect is lovely and laid back. Only the last minute or so of this dew is explosive, so if you're looking for fireworks, this isn't your show. However, I do think this one has a bad rap, it's a very good show in a lot of respects.

I hope a second set soundboard is out there somewhere, I'd like to have it.

I saw the Dead 64 times between 1982 and 1995. I can't tell you the best show I ever saw but I could get it down to 3 or 4 shows. This show, by contrast, was the worst Dead show I ever saw. I'm pretty sure Weir was really drunk. It lacked energy and the jams went nowhere. Things picked up after drums and space.

Wow, what a high energy show. Sounds like everyone is coked out of their minds. Weir's guitar is way out front in the 2nd set. Not Oade quality, but listenable for sure.

I have had this version for many years and it always sounds like it is slightly fast.
Good to see the show posted, but I am waiting for a higher quality sound.