I think that this show is really great. I love how Jerry makes up for his poor voice. It really shows the talent of these guys that even when they're not running on full cylinders they can still throw together a great show overall.

I agree with Artisan down there, in 95, my parents went to their last show, and it was the best they had ever seen: even before jerry died, and for the number they've seen thats really saying something, it shows that up until the end they had the talent, but it was harder to put out most night.

Chris,

I used to hold the same view towards post 85 shows, but you just need to dig a little further. While the over all percentage of great shows was much lower there are many great Garcia moments post coma.

Check "Downhill from here" for a great stranger, china-rider, more...

Also JGB 7-2-92 is amazing. Sometimes I think once Brent was gone, Jerry liked playing with JGB more. There is also the return of Eyes to it's original tempo somewhere in 90 that was true pleasure to see live.

The fact that he didn't use any emulator effects with the Garcia Band, to me suggests that there was enough there to keep hime interested.

I don't know so much about Grateful Dead, but one thing of sure that, this particulr band changed my entire point of viwe towards life.
Especially the number Uncle John's Band.
In this concert they were sounding a lot different and I think that is essence of the band.
So I'm not making any comment, weather they were suonding good or bad but defenatly they were sucessful keeping their reputation as best live and jam band of all time.

"I usually don't like 1985 and 86 because I was really pissed at Jerry for letting himself destroy himself physically."

First of all, there is no comparison between 1986 and 1985.

Also, it's far more annoying that the band continued to perform AFTER Jerry's coma and effectively became a very bad and unfunny parody of themselves.

I'm listening to Feel Like A Stranger now and it's an objective fact that after 1985 Jerry NEVER played a version with remotely close to the level of confidence, style and proficiency you can hear on this recording. And this isn't necessarily the best version of 1985.

The man ADMITTED that he forgot how to play and, frankly, he never re-learned how to play any better than the weakest imitation of his former self.

Was Jerry's confidence and creativity in 1985 drug-fueled? Honestly, I could care less. Garcia was a remarkable artist. His biggest mistake in his entire career was to continue heavily touring with the Dead in the same old fashion of old. He simply wasn't up to the task and the high percentage of post-coma sophomoric diddling on stage is testament to that fact.

Nice audience tape here, by the way.

Awesome recording for an audience. I used Winamp with the equalizer for playback and it gives it the extra punch it needs. And how great was the crowd that night. I was there and as always the Dead and Philly have a magical relationship.(See Phil's comment in the practice session for Unbroken Chain in 1995. "I want to do it in Philadelphia, man!").

Every solo was greated with huge applause and excitement and even though you can feel the energy while listening, the crowd excitement does not ruin the sound! Bobby and Jerry were going the "extra mile" while singing and playing in response to the crowd excitement. That's the best when that happens. That shit is what makes the live experience so friggin' great! Take this for what it's worth, it's still an audience recording but the interaction with the room makes this well worth the download!

BTW, I am not some late bloomer braggin' on 1985 because I wasn't around earlier and don't have the experience. I go back to 1969 attending shows, but this one has "IT"!

I usually don't like 1985 and 86 because I was really pissed at Jerry for letting himself destroy himself physically. In my mind I can still see Jerry as fat as ever with no regard for his voice and strung out the worst he ever was. '85 brings back those memories and I don't like that year for those reasons. But this show breaks the mold and is really great! Thanks for the room to rant!

~utah3

killer show from the good ol grateful dead

Hey now, get this show. Like I said,it sounds GRATE! An excellent audience recording.
Jerry's voice is shot, so Weir rescues the second half of the second set, notice Bob sings all the songs... Jerry plays his ass off w/o singing!
There's nothing like a Grateful Dead concert!