This is the best rendition/recording of the Cumberland Blues I've heard so far on this archive. The second instrumental break, starting at 1:48, ranks up there with any horizon I've heard any constellation of this band reach, when they were on. Check out the 30 seconds of music at 2:23-2:53, on the appropriate audio equipment - "Houston, We Have Lift-Off !" ... and I like being able to hear the audience wrinkle when JG kicks the spurs for a crisp homeward stretch at 4:45. 5 stars for '84.

augusta 84 is arguably the last truly great, intimate east coast shows the boys played...phenomenal scene, great playing, loose old time vibe on the cusp of things getting really popular...yeah jerry was bloated and high as shit in 84, but still there were great moments indeed, these being some of them...guy boning motorcycle on hill thursday night and dunkin munchkins dipped in L didn't hurt either...first encounter w/ ben and jerrys ice cream after these shows! fucking great, great times guys.....

Lots of great memories from this one. We road tripped up from MA in two cars stopping to paint our faces and "prepare ourselves" for the real journey that lay ahead. We were so young and every show held such potential. A cool friday night in a small town in upstate Maine. There is such a long history of hot shows in the NE. The Civic Center is the smallest venue that I ever had the pleasure to attend. Capacity around 8000, open floor, there were no bad seats in the house. The crowd going in the doors of the show was literally buzzing with anticipation.

I remember Jerry looked awful, greasy and overweight. But once they kicked into the Stranger opener we no longer noticed. We recorded this on an old Walkman Pro with a single mic that was passed around whenever the holder got tired. Our tape was ragged to say the least. But it preserved this amazing evening in an age when tapes from the latest show were hard to come by. It served as our sustenance for weeks after. We knew we had most likely seen our career-best no matter what was to come in the future. I still have the tape and you can tell when we got too absorbed in our dancing and aim the mike at the ceiling!

The band is at the top of their game for the vast majority of the show. The Stranger opener sends a resounding message, "we are going to get down tonight!" Jerry sings from his soul on the Roses, voice ragged from the ciggs and junk. On the Road Again and Jack A Roe were a refreshing departure from the routine. We cracked up when they hit the bad note before the jam in the Music closer, but listen to where Jerry takes it when he recovers. The reprise jam cooks! Everyone was soaked from dancing so hard.

2nd set Cold Rain is enormous and reminds us that nothing is staus quo tonight! Listen to Jerry preachg it during the closing chorus. Uncle John's was our pick before the show. This one is sung like a hymn with the crowd joining in for the entire song. Instead of steering back into the closing chorus they jam into a minimalist drums. Splitting Uncle John's had become pretty rare by this time and left all kinds of possibilities open. The Morning Dew closer was the climax of the whole thing. I remember seeing Phil actually turn up the volume on his bass at the start of the song. A lone light shone down on Jerry's weathered body. Was he singing to us of his own personal despair?

After the band had left the stage, the lights came up, and Vivaldi lofted out over the auditorium. Everyone in the audience looked around at each other with "that" look in their eyes. We hugged strangers in celebration knowing we had been witnesses to the miracle that is the Grateful Dead when they make their magic.

At the time, the 10/12 show was considered the highlight of the fall tour and one of the best of the year. In retrospect I think it is in the top 10 for the decade. If you haven't heard this one absolutely check it out!

...are what you get with this show and this recording. I'm not sure I have ever listened to an AUD show using the Beyer 160's before, but I sure will look for them from now on! You have to do a bit of tweaing on the EQ (raise bass a lot, cut a little treble), but once you do, look out! These mics give a very crisp, clean sound and you can hear the sparkle of the crowd's reactions just as you can the sub-atomic bass bombs and melodic vocals. Just plain good sound. A must listen if you are an AUD fan like me.

Performance: very good. Highlight #1 is definite the DEW (as someone mentions below), it rips. Also, great energy during Cold Rain and it get's way out there on the UJB>D>S>Playin Reprise>UJB. Check out Jerry on Playin' Reprise>UJB, he is in total control.

Setlist: Lots of goodies. 2 big breakouts (On The Road & Jack A Roe). Decent set one. Again, the meat of the show is UJB>>>DEW. Nice to see a differnt encore as well: Good Lovin'.

Sound=4.5, Performance=4, Setlist=4...4.167 overall. A MUST DOWNLOAD!

Notes don't indicate it, but was there perhaps some remastering done on this one? Seems to be an unusual amount of high end, particularly for an analog cassette master. Or were the Beyers just that way?

As others have said, and it bears repeating, it's all about the Dew. Jerry's voice absolutely rings with power and clarity.

This is an amazing recording, with excellent dynamic range. I would like to have a wee bit more Phil, but if you crank the bass up on your rig it helps. There are a few annoyingly harsh cuts, but only after the music stops; some fade-out would be nice. If you have some good headphones (I use Sony MDR-V6's) that's the way to go.

The boys very clearly had a great deal of energy this night; The first set rocks, and the set-ending double-whammy of Cumberland and Music Never Stopped just leaves you wanting more. Boy, do they deliver for the second set. Cold Rain is like a freight train, just manic in intensity. Lost/Saint is such a joy to listen to on this recording too. Even Don't Need Love, wow, Brent had soul... Uncle John's is among my favorites, up there with 5-5-81 as my all timers. There is a bit of drums cut, which is a shame because they sound so good, but the space into the reprises - Playin and UJB are sweet. Of course, the cherry (Jerry?) on top is the Dew; his voice is so amazing here.

I do agree that this is better than the Oade recording, better range; they are both good but the other one is a bit flat. Just download this and listen, you won't be disappointed! Five stars all around!

J

Never Been a fan of the soundquality that the oades produced.

I remember in 80's when the redrocks shows were getting traded around the taping circles, I never saw so many letters and numbers to describe a taping rig. Ran home busted out the tapes with high hopes and thought I got the wrong recording.


There is more mids than lows an in bass, and the highs are severely lacking. Jerry sounds like he is singing into a tin can.

you like audiences? check out

6-21-80
09-06-80
05-16-81
07-04-81
08-31-81
08-21-83
09-02-83
10-31-83

I believe that tony lochner recorded this show with his Nak PCM, anyone have this handy ? if not I can dig it out of the PCM trunk ? Doug generally didn't like to record FOB, maybe that's why the oade recording doesn't sound as good, he may have been back a ways.

Oh, by the way as far as the 4 stars vs. 5 for aud recordings, in most cases you are right. But try these out some are on archive, saome are not yet. try Doug's 5/2/87 spaced 2s omnis the DEW is awesume, try Silberman's 4/21/84 set2 spaced (40 ft) Neuman U87, Oade greek 85,86,87. MY 8/20/87 FOB CMC44 and 3/26,27,28/88 Hampton spaced 2s's (8ft). These are some good auds not to mention 12/30/85 (lipton recording) and my red rocks 87 FOBS. PEACE OUT

if I remember I thought Good Lovin' was the encore not the opener

This is the best version.

This is the best show of 1984 and I'd love to get a crisp and flawless SBD (the one posted here has too many patches, and they're a major buzzkill). That said, this particular AUD has more "high end" than the Oade recording, the levels feel beefier, and it just plain sounds better to my ears.
The performance by the boys is 5-Star, but I've *never* heard an AUD recording worthy of that rating (okay, call me picky)... net = 4 stars.