Well, after having had a top of the mountain experience at Red Rocks in September this was more like a slow motion sinking of the Titanic.
Not that the boys didn't come to play.
1985 had some great freight train jams
Going right from one tune to the next.
The energy of this show was sheer bedlam.
I was pretty close up lower deck
and was going to duck into the hall
to get near behind stage area.
There were folks coming over the turnstiles in a tidal wave..
Add to this Healy was hitting the Chula Vista from mid Bucket onward..
Somewhere late first set it was impossible to get out to the hallways.
So i think I just hunkered down.
Oh, I committed a rookie Deadhead mistake by playing my tambourine too close to the tapers.
By the time Cassidy came around my tambourine got lifted but I knew it was for the greater good as i watched it get passed around the Byrne.
Besides it was actually like part of a drum kit.
Not exactly sure how that happened.
Here is my gripe about this show.
As hot as this show was
and it was a barn burner
Even the 1st two weaker nights of Red Rocks were way more enjoyable, just for being outdoors, up in the mountains, and a million miles from Concentration Camp Byrne.
Not saying the music wasn't right on that Half Step>Rider was Beatles at Shea Stadium type epic.
Anyhow, I just knew as much as possible i wanted my Dead experiences to be tied in with getting out of the big cities and living more freely.
Not an easy task as the band was Headed smack into the TOUCH of GREY -MTV era.
This is a really good recording with all the crazy in between crowd stuff clipped for the Dead Hour.
It might seem like I am giving this show a bum rap but if I compare it to the previous years Byrne shows this one show is more potent than both the Fall 84 shows combined. And I mean this one show eats those two 84 shows for lunch.
Oh yeah the Chula Vista cruiser and the jams on
Used to Love Her got me flashing back to The Continental Divide splitting apart at Red rocks.
This is the perfect way to listen to a show that was utter chaos but heavy on the jams!