I will never forget being on the dirt track (a race track that I saw my dad race on several times before). As many have said in the reviews, this was such a great memory.

I was there all three shows and they were all awesome!! The 13th was sold out, and the energy was like no other show Ive been to other than Dec.15 '86 the band and crowd were one, was a beautiful day, what a steal your face backdrop, still look at my pictures. every song was high energy, hello 1st masterpiece loved it.The sea of heads i'll never forget. The music was sublime maybe the shrooms had something to do with it.
Anyway im from New York and caught saratoga 85 and Hershey and plenty of indoor venues. I moved out to Los angeles in 86, caught irvine 87, 88, 89, but these Ventura shows were the BOMB, definetly the pinnacle of all my shows, been to about 40. Loved them, all three shows I still listen to the 12th like its crack. gotta have my ventura fix!!!!!

Some interesting tempo choices on a lot of the tunes. Masterpiece was the fastest I've ever heard, Shakedown did indeed start out like a funeral dirge but eventually worked, Ship of Fools was also pretty damn slow, but Jerry made it work. He really added in some extra emotion and different notes on the vocals. One of the better shows where Jerry (and Bobby) came to sing as well as to play.

These were the days when I still had Arrow with me, my trusted canine companion. Of course I got in...I NEVER missed a Ventura show! The first set was a little hazy...don't remember much. The second set was one of my all time favorites of the 200+ I saw. They opened the second set with Shakedown and we knew "the PARTY WAS ON!" For the rest of the entire set they never let up. I even had to stop dancin just to watch Jerry jam on the Morning Dew. Just like they had done so many times before, they ended such a smokin show with a low key song like Black Muddy River.

1st Set: We join a "Mississippi" in progress that's quite soothing. Geez, the boys are sure in a mellow mood. An infancy "Walkin' Blues" makes what seems like its first '87 appearance. It pleasant, but rather singular in structure as Brent spends most of the time banging the same note, over and over... "Row" is also quite comforting, but where's the 'rock' in this band? Odd innocuous demonic Daisy Duck vocal harmonizing accentuate this 1st ever "Masterpiece." It's decent, and leads me looking forward to increasingly complex designs. "Push" is a tad abover average helped out by Brent's tinkling. "Cassidy" is decent if not overwhelming. Bobby forgets some words midway through the 1st verse. "FOTD" is resigned and concise. "Let" starts out resigned, but Jerry starts leading the crew into a real fun dizzying mid section jam around 5:45...YES! some intensity



2nd Set: "Shakedown" starts out tar-riddled but emerges as a thick mildly funky (4:30) "Saint" is a fairly fine fortuner's find. "Ship" isn't a deeply contoured concotion, but despite his over-enunciated singing, Jerry drove the "Ship" pretty well deep. Yes, next choice just feels right. "Estimated" gets quite intense during the mid section jam, and enters a nether space due to Brent's whacked out synths. Predictably, we head into the 4th 'Wake' tune of the evening, an average, rather short "Eyes" "Drums" come and go throughout the night. Sensing the slight menace through "Space" one could dennote the upcoming "OO." Starts out without much percussive momentum, but after 1st chorus ends up a decent if disjointed 6 minute version. What emerges is the first "Dew" in a while despite being in heavy rotation during Winter '87. The song exists for Jerry to attempt some transcendence... the effort's there, and the climax at 8:56-9:15 is wondrous, but it doesn't make up for the average 1st seven minutes. "Sugar" is bouncy and fun tho the sound is rather thin. Nice Brent work on "SD"
We encore with "Black" which makes one want to squeeze their beloved and appreciate the blessings each of us have.

An admirably worked, generously lengthed, meaty '87 show. 3 1/2 stars, wolled downwards cause it's really not worthy of a Dick's Picks, let's say.

good show good sound , first masterpiece the dead played

Holy shit! I'm glad I'm not the only one who passed out at this show! During Row Jimmy. My first experience with nitrous, mixed with other "enhancers". "Look at Julie down below
The levee doing the dopaso..." I swear I heard it as "doin' the 'Don't pass out'", and sure enough, next thing I knew, I was lyin' flat on my back, with a big ol' grin on my face.

I'm kinda scared to listen to this one again, for fear of the same result. It felt like Jerry was singin' right at me.

Man, I love Ventura. Blistering hot. Great atmosphere. Love the camp-out scene. Man, I miss the Dead!

We were right up front for this one. Before Masterpiece my good friend Jon yelled out "When I Paint My Masterpiece!!!!!". No one was more suprised than he when they actually played it. His immediate comment was "I'm never taking drugs again."

We yelled at him later for not requesting Cosmic Charlie.

I was dead front center for the first set. I collapsed duing intermission and was taken under the stage and taken backstage by a good looking blonde security guard. I might have been sprayed by those mysterious water bottles that were going around june of '87

Of the 180 shows I went to - since early 77 - this show surely stands out. From the first set close, to the full 2nd set. Being 20 feet dead center didn't hurt either. All my friends, they agree -- this show was one for the ages. Ofcourse, great venue & associated fun in and around this epic show added the icing on the cake. If the sound quality is as good as the show was, then a real treat is in store for all.