My 2 fondest memories of the show are when all of us in the stands stomped our feet in rhythm and you could feel that old stadium shaking around us, and how the whole stadium went wild with cheering when the endzone scoreboard announced that the temperature had dropped below 100 degrees. As I recall that was around 9pm. A crowd of about 60,000 can make quite a joyful noise.
My friend Steve was a taper with a microbus and sold silk screened shirts (most of which were confiscated in the parking lot-bummer!) and I think Dave D who went by "Duck" and wore a tie-dyed cape in those days was there. Kind of fuzzy on that memory, it was that kind of day, and hey, 35 and a half years ago is a long time.
PEACE

Heart felt Weir rap in Saint of Circumstance. 702 degrees in the shade. I enjoyed the setlist. Times were simpler back then when I was 20 years old....

I had only begun listening to the Dead earlier this year. My new girlfriend (now my wife of 30 years) had bought 2 tickets, so off we drove 10 hours from Kalamazoo, MI. First thing we see walking in to the stadium is a naked red-haired chick standing on home plate, saying "I'm standing on the pitcher's mound," obviously high as a kite. Welcome to the goddamn Grateful Dead. Like the other reviews say, it was hot as blazes, over 100 degrees, and I distinctly remember the hoses. Only time I ever saw Petty. Funniest memory is that out of 60,000+ fans, I happened to find another college buddy in that madhouse, and only because he was shirtless, hairy as a bear, and sweating profusely. Can't say I remember much about the show, but I was taken in by the whole scene, and it was the start of a lifelong love affair. Jerry went in to his coma a couple days later, so I honestly thought I might never get to see them again.

Truthfully, I remember more about the things that went on before, during and after the shows than the musical events. These were my fourth and fifth shows overall and while I was pretty familiar with most of their songs, the enormity of seeing them in a stadium for the first time was a little overwhelming, along with everything else that went into it.

I mostly remember swimming through the heat and humidity as well as my trip. Somehow I was able to remove myself from the discomfort of the situation and groove on the scene. Let It Grow was the highlight of the first day for me and probably Must Have Been the Roses, mainly because in my ecstatic mood, I became transfixed on a young woman dancing beside me. We shared smiles but I was in no condition to do more than that. A friend found me by the break and took me upstairs back to our group. All I know is I could not leave her there ... but I did.

We slept on the grass in front of the stadium on a blanket, along with hundreds of others. I had to "steal" a drink of water from a spigot of one of the row homes leading up to RFK, despite the protests of the elderly gentleman at his window inside. Those were desperate times, friends!

Went back to RFK 2 or 3 more times to see the Dead but that first trip was the best. I wasn't surprised when news broke a few weeks later that Jerry had fallen into a coma. I feel like my brain has never been the same either after those 2 sizzling days in DC.

This was the first show I ever saw without my parents. I was 16 and lived in rural Maryland, and I knew exactly two Dead songs at the time: Truckin' and Casey Jones. I remember thinking, "This will be great. Now I can smoke all the cigarettes I want."
Needless to say, I saw many, many sights that day for the first time. I remember Sugaree and Aiko and Althea and Hell in a Bucket, though I hadn't ever heard them before.
And now that I am old, or at least oldish, and have made favorites of so many of these songs, I wish I could travel back and hear them again with young ears. Me and My Uncle? Brokedown Palace? I've loved these for so long and can't even remember hearing them for the first time.
Thanks for giving me the chance.

This was also my first Dead show. I can't say that I remember alot about it. Too much pot and the acid was quite nice. I do remember Dylan, Petty, and the fire hose.

Again I can't remember alot about the playing. But with this show I will always thankful. It opened my eyes to a world I had never know. Introduced me to friends I would have never met.

And was the start a very long strange trip indeed!

Several people have mentioned the fire hose but no one has told the story so here goes...as best I remember. The band had not come on yet or it was intermission. We were all out on the field beginning to scortch when they decided to cool us off with the hoses. Well the fellow spraying from left of stage was a young black dude. He was wearing a stadium employee jumpsuit cut in the style of the old car mechanics' and even had the oval name tag on the chest. And the guy's name was Jerry. So Jerry starts spraying the crowd with water and the appreciative folks nearby start chanting "Jerr-rree, Jerr-rree, Jerr-rree". Well I guess the people further off just assumed we were trying to get the band out sooner and soon most of RFK is chanting "Jerr-rree", Jerr-rree, Jerr-ree". I'll never forget the grin on that guy's face as he looked around the whole stadium and everyone was chanting HIS name.

This was my first Dead show. I just finished Frosh year at Univ. MD and landed up in RFK that summer. What a blistering hot day. Thank God for the "fire hose" that they sprayed on the audience/crowd to cool off. It was a blast! So much for the spiral duds given to me in the parking lot. Hanging out with some hot chicks, passing a pipe and watching Bob Dylan jam on the harmonica. A day I’ll never forget. Peace.

My friend Pam who was probably 10 years older than me had been insisting that I go to a Dead show and when the RFK shows were announced she bought me a ticket for July 6th which was also my 20th birthday.Thanks Pam.That show set in motion a spiral of events that naturally culminated with me seeing close to 300 Dead shows and probably 100 Garcia Band shows.Highlights were seeing 2 drummers play together like that, the mass of tie-dye writhing on the stadium floor and a gradual realization that there was more going on than was immediately apparent.
Next stop:
Oakland Dec. 1986

Holy Hell was more like it. I was one of the "lucky" ones that got to spray the crowd with the fire hose. Big mistake. All wet and that sun made for 3rd degree sundurn over my entire head. But I loved the show and have fond memories.

This was my second Dead show and a long road trip to a three-act show that included Petty and Dylan. Dylan was pretty weak; Petty was good, and the Dead were a highlight, even if this is a very ordinary '86 show, not as bad as one might think before Jerry's mid-decade swoon, but nothing extraordinary. It was very hot and humid, and I actually remember the show quite vividly. To me the highlight is the "Saint" and "Looks Like Rain" sequence to start of the second set, because it was one of those nights when the hot dense clouds were pregnant with moisture (maybe a few distant rumbles,) and the rain theme was so appealing to the crowd. The boys might have evened summoned a few drops. Both songs are played with inspiration. "LLR" is quite lovely and Jerry's playing hits its peak for the show there. Good playing in other places -- a few sloppy slow spots in the "Throwing-NFA" sequence, but hearing it evokes the vibe of a lively 80s stadium show. I love the Brokedown encore -- well played here.

To me this is a 2 and 1/2 star show, but since I cannot give it that rating and since I was there, I'll give it a 3 star -- plus it's a good audience recording!

I do not understand the negative sentiment aimed at this show, but that's what makes a horse race. This is one of my favorite shows for two reasons. One, I was there and it was my first show, so for me this was the day the earth stood still. I had as typical and orgasmic a "first show experience" as you could dream of. But, that's not the whole reason. I also maintain that this is a damn fine, high energy show with a wonderful setlist and fine, representative examples of all songs. This is a bone stock, typical mid 80's show, nothing unusual or bizarre, but each song is done well and with real energy. There is one flub on the lyrics to Althea (when Jerry was receiving a transmission from the mothership, we used to say) but other than that each one is spot on target. There is some fun between song chatter including a zinger from Jerry aimed at Bob, and my personal favorite is Phil saying "In case you forgot, we're playing here tomorrow night, and there are still plenty of seats available." He wasn't kidding. Remember that this was before "Touch" came out the following summer, after which such a statement would have received peals of cynical laughter as a thousand fans would wait outside the stadiums, with no hope of getting a ticket. In a sense, it may be said that this is the last of the "old" Dead, before things went boffo and every 14 year old in the country became a Touch head.

Highly recommended as a nice, fun, enjoyable show that I go back to time and again. This has one of my very favorite Stella Blues, a really nice Sugaree, and a Brokedown Palace that changed my life forever. Bon apetit!

Over and over in DC, RFK melt down Chernobyl..stayed in Georgetown with Mike and Marty and rolled up to Deal NJ for Liberty celebration..I think the heat and black shirt almost did in Garcia because he went into that coma shortly after this show...but still he rocked and Sugaree never sounded better...hard to believe 19 years have passed, but we will always have RFK and the Virginia coeds we met and danced with on the turf under water hoses and on the dust in the summer of '86

This was my 1st one - 15 yrs. old. Thanks mom. Very hot, almost passed out during Dylan. I liked his very long set, but I was 15......The main thing I remember was Saint exploding out of the gate, He's Gone.....got the tape years later and it wasn't so hot.....had to hear from high school heads how much more awesome the next night was....great. Feel like a strangler.....

Hot doesn't even come close. Anyone who has seen a summer concert in Dc's concrete jungle knows!! Dylan show really was as sorry as anything I've ever witnessed. Download this is you were ther or if you are collecting but.........

This was a hot show, literally!!!!!!!! It was over 100 degrees on the field that day. The Dead were flat for most of the 1st set. Dylan opener was awful, but Petty saved the day. So hot on the field they had to use the power hose to cool people off.

Yea, came to see Dylan, but who knew? Left with a serious habit for the Dead. That was it. Back to Africa. Changed.