The nice, 16+ min Playin' is the star of this one. I always looked forward to Playin' and hoped it would last like this one did. I got treated to a few 15+ min versions in my show-going experiences. China>Rider is pretty solid, Drums>Space is the usual, and the later 2nd set is pretty spot on other than some weirdness in the Playin' reprise which is actually kind of fun (Bob throws in some nasty licks). OTOH, the first set is 11 songs because they're short songs -- no jams to speak of here.

But come on, people, nothing in the 80's, except for maybe the very end of the 80's when they brought back Dark Star, compares to 72-74 in terms of deep, exploratory jamming, nor did their singing sound as good (Donna aside). Funny how as their voices got harshed out, they insisted on singing more and jamming less. I don't think there's a single 84-88 show that deserves more than 3 stars -- maybe the Greek Theater show in 84 with the Dark Star encore. Maybe 9-18-87. But that's a stretch. I may have given a few 4 stars from sentiment. Sure, the shows were fun to go to and nice to listen to, but for a real in depth musical experience, go back at least to early 78 or forward to 89-91. For most of the 80's, you have to settle for the occasional kinda deep jam on a song here and there, unless the Drums>Space is your thing.

I ve been looking for this concert for a long time. My ole bootleg of this concert was labled "Cuyahoga Falls", 1985 is a great era for the dead, the concerts sounded so crisp with great playing and playfully trippy vibe. This is a great example of this.

was thinking i'm being too generous w/ stars for this summer '85 run, but no, this show another smoker following cincinnati -- besides the pristine sbd quality 1st set big river, big rr blues and jackstraw crank. 2nd set china>rider and rest of show that follows crackling with energy. very powerful playin' outro jam and killer reprise>china doll> sugar mag... whole band plays great, but jerry so on top of his game

This show is not only memorable for it's 11 song 1st set.
I was at every show that summer and It's arguably the best of the tour, with the exception IMO of 7/1/85.

Played here in 84 also to the reviewer below. Both years were enjoyable to me. Summer tour in Midwest and the band I love can't go wrong . I think this show here was a blast coming off the show before this one might of thought no way no how can the boys pull another smoker out well wrong they sure did. Trippy as can be for a later years G D Playing in the band was our Dark Star in the 80'2. 4 stars only because I reserve 5 stars for those night. we all had those night. Boise Lake Placid Kaiser in November of 85 BCT in 86 trippy out there shows.

Although this is as close as the Dead ever came to playing "in my backyard" I was only eight years old on June 25, 1985 and not in attendance. BUT, for the Heads of my region, this show was the Holy Grail. I dispute every disparaging review written about this show. The boys were ON. How could they not be?

Anyhow, here's the legend of Blossom, how it got passed down to me, as a young Head, getting high at a kitchen table in Cleveland. The older Heads (as I am now one of) always loved to burn the tales of Dead shows gone past. This was a favorite, one they never tired of telling and one I never tired of hearing as the tape deck blasted us through two and half solid hours of classic Dead.


The legendary Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on June 25, 1985 (that's pronounced "cuy-a-hoag-a"). Day Tripper to open, Might as Well to close the first set. It was the only time the Dead ever played Blossom because the hippies shut down the entire Cuyahoga Valley Recreation Area for three days- just parked their VW vans in the middle of the roads, set up tents and partied. Eventually it took a joint cavalry of the Cleveland and Metroparks mounted police to clear them all out. Thousands of Heads, high on mushrooms, fled into the forests and surrounding hills, turned into elves and continue to live there to this day, at least according to legend. The Dead were never invited back.

Enjoy the show.

I have fond memories of this show, although it was not as great as some are saying. We saw the two shows at Alpine Valley that were fairly average, skipped Cincinatti (which was a mistake becasue that was great show) and then hit this one. I rememer Day Tripper was pretty fun although a lot of the 'heads somehow kinda bummed on the Dead for doing it. West LA and CC Rider were good, then they kinda went itno cruise control for a while - I agree the Row Jimmy was barely average. The first set was however pretty remarkable in that we were all sure Jack Straw (which was excellent) would end the set and then Jerry kicks into a really rock'in Might As Well - definitely THE song of the night - and one of the most fun moments I had at 40+ Dead shows. The second set was pretty average although I remember some pretty out-there moments in the space jam.

This is a really good recording - way better than the one we made - a definite keeper for my collection.

It's a beautiful place almost literally in my backyard...Jerry is sublime on many songs... Brent adds nicely...2nd set definitely a keeper... To each his own but too many smiles for a bad review!

My fondest memories of this show include us having to change the oilpan on a VW bus in the parking lot so we could get the rest of the tour in.
I had 4th row center seats, remember the old "Tour Package" tix for us road hogs?? Always good seats. The problem was I couldn't dance so I went to the apron behind the seats to dance the night away. The first set went on forever, no 8 song 50 minute job like the rest of the tour. That whole tour was fantastic, but marked the beginning of the end for ol' Jerry and his addiction and health.

Not only was this my second show, but the ticket was 3rd row right in front of Jerry. Those of us in the first several rows were given indivdual plastic chairs which we immediately stacked up and pushed aside. It was the first time in my life I ever felt like I could dance.

I recall having a great time, but I had too little reference to rate the show. After having the great fortune to see "The Boys" in the flesh a few dozen more times I can now say this was one of the better ones I was priviledged to have participated in.

In my mind I can clearly see "Bobby The Rock Star" jumping on top of Brent's leslie speaker cabinet during "Sugar Magnolia"; I believe he was wearing a pink golf shirt.

They played well that night, be sure to hear the superb China>Rider.

I had a hell of a good time.

Overall, this was a good month for the boys, and this show is one of the stronger ones from this period. Definitely a rockin' show. Not to be missed, an '85 essential.

Now, how about an official release from this month of wonderful shows? Great tapes exist!

Wow! Although my opinion is slightly biased due to the fact that I was born and raised in Ohio not twenty miles from here, but this show gives me the major Jerry bumps! Any one who disagrees is out of their mind or just doesn't "get" the dead, I don't know what it is but please figure it out. Behold!

"Just recently has a consensus grown over the many masterpieces of 1995"

Crack is a very dangerous drug and we strongly advise against abusing it.

Thank you.

Verylazylighning has it right. The boys clearly enjoyed themselves this night. I was fortunate to be there. A friend had moved to Ashtabula, OH a few months before and I flew in on the old People Express airlines - was more like Deadhead Express out of Newark that day. Bobby actually jumped on the keyboards during Sugar Magnolia. A taper had set up his equipment in our seats and we ended up in the 11th row on Jerry's side. Will never forget looking back at the crowd during both Sugar and Touch and seeing the multitudes in motion on the lawn, just dancing, dancing dancing. It was one of the magic nights when the music clearly played the band. From my first show in Madison, WI in 2/73 to my last in Philly in 9/88, this was my favorite. Maybe not the tightest hearing it now, but the Dead shows were always about that moment in time, that night, not about 22 days or years later. It all existed only for the night and was gone. But the magic memory lives forever. By the way, this setlist is slightly out of order. Touch of Grey was the encore.

Ah... my first review I am excited. This is a good average show in my opinion but it does not fare beyond that for me. Touches of excellence and great quality board but the show doesn't go beyond average.

Got to say that just the fact that I am hearing this wonderful music is great. I saw the Dead about 50 times between the years of 88' and 93'. Fun the whole time. Have to agree with some of the more hard heads about the early 70s'... Damn I won't even fool myself. I have to say that the whole 70's vibe is my fave. Still any show with China Doll and The Wheel have my favor. Thank God For The Grateful Dead....
Peace
Michael Thomas

Great output ---
Super crisp
Energy's explosive
Fun stereotypical 85 show -- this is one of them

Man, is it sooooooo crispy..
---

God bless the 20 year aniversary ---
God bless the Greatful Dead

Let us combine grendelschoice and Busted Flats respective 2 and 3 star rating for the rightful 5 STAR rating this show really deserves. That solves that confusion for any future listeners. This is full tilt Dead, people. No ifs and or buts about it. Besides the music being top notch, you can SOOOO hear the proverbial sum of these guys equation, so to speak. This is how it is supposed to sound!! Great, great upload, Man. Danke schoen!!! Fast and FURIOUS!! WOW!!

Hey Now, What a treat to find this today. I was overseas at the time and missed this show. I love the crispness of the recording. Blossom is the home of the Cleveland Orchestra, you can hear the excellent acoustics. This was pre-coma Jerry, I think it's an excellent show. Opening with Day Tripper, This was special. A keeper for me.

I have made something of a side profession out of hard-selling obscure or under-rated Dead shows
to very serious DeadHeads who have earned the right to air their views on the quality of a show.
It's something I takes a contrarian's delight in
doing. I also think it's a sacred duty of anyone committed to the preservation of this music to further the cause by evangelizing neglected or forgotten performances. I still stump the lonely streets at night imploring total strangers to
give Richmond '84 one more listen - and after twenty years I'm getting gratifying results. People have over the years have finally thanked me
for tying them up in ropes while I made them listen to the Merriwether '84 Morning Dew dozens of times over.

This show is another rare beauty that should stagger the experienced aficionado. Everyone seems to agree on the energy level, but Garcia's playing is inspired, almost divine. Check out the transition into Rider, where his guitar bellows like a blazing bugle. Consider the brief, but exquisite solo in the China Doll - so masterfully understated, but speaking volumes.

The recording here is remarkably professional. Rather than revealing the flaws of the musicians,
I think it brings to the forefront the blistering,
crackling intensity of their fingerwork and exploratory forays. Rare is the tape where each
musician can be studied in such detail! Actually,
the mix is somewhat evocative of Owsley's '78 philosophy.

1985 was a problematic period for many Deadheads. It also is the year for which I have the most tapes and saw the most shows. It was a very good year then and still is.

It is pleasing to see the monolithic tendency
to lump together shows in terms of quality by
year, a serious misapprehension that is finally
disappearing as our understanding of the Dead
experience over 30 years grows. Just recently
has a consensus grown over the many masterpieces
of 1995, and a careful analysis of 1974 will
reveal many songs played carelessly and wholly
out of tune.

Finally, judging from the interplay and effort
displayed, it certainly seems to me that the Dead
very much enjoyed playing this show. What else
needs to be said?

Gotta agree w/busted Flat on this one. I keep re-listening to this show, trying to see what everyone's raving about and I still don't get it.

Perfect example is the Row Jimmy, often cited as one of the better ones. Good heavens, no. RJ is one of my top ten fave Dead tunes and here it's just butchered lyrically throughout by jerry and is generally played at a snail's pace w/no remarkable licks until the very end w/the repeating of the 'I say Row..." verses. Fine, if you want to judge the song by its final 3 minutes but the Dead never played this song better then they did when it debuted in the early 70's and this version just doesn't change my opinion on that.

I should also say i'm not one of those 80's Dead show snobs--I saw the majority of my shows between '81 and '89 and attended many of the '85 shows as well, but fail to see how they can compare to anything from '72-'74 or '77 or even '79-'81.

this Board DOES sound excellent but the playing is choppy (BustedFlat is correct that the pristine sound reveals the flaws) and just not as smooth as many many other shows you can find on the archive.

Best you can say is that there are 'moments", like Jerry's licks in Uncle and big River, but he just about always blazes those.

The "energy" factor is, i admit, evident, and for that i add the extra star to make 3, but otherwise I'd really give this a 2, as I would many shows between '85 and '88 before they resurged with some amazing performances in the summer of '89 right through '91.

sorry for the dissent but I gots to call 'em like I hear 'em. I'm sure i'll face some wrath but that's what makes horse races.

Anyone who doesn't love this show and the quality of this board should just give up on the Dead. Back in the late 80's this was a must have and if you don't agree, start listening to the music instead of just burning disks and building your collection! DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND BE A DAY TRIPPER WITH THIS ONE!!!!!!!!

We Deadheads are hegemonic. All of us remain blisteringly right, correct, and decidedly more bitchen than the next Yo-Yo. Give it up for the BOYZ! I believe that we can all agree this is quality GD. P.S.-GO DODGERS!

...respond to other reviews, but I cant help but wonder what the previous reviewer thinks is an example of a good grateful dead show?? Tepid? Try blisteringly hot

1st set is tepid at best. I do admit it's a great Playin'>Drums>Space etc. But don't let these other reviewers fool you. The killer soundboard betrays the band a bit. It's too easy to hear how sloppy and downright bad they get at times. Everyone who surfs this site loves the Grateful Dead. That said, I think it's too easy for all of us to jump to 4 or 5 stars on a lot of these shows. I give this 5 for sound, 3 for performance. However mean it may be, my official rating is 2 stars, if only to bring the average rating down a bit. Download the 2nd set only, if you must.

This is one of the best performances the Dead ever pulled off. Should rank right up there with 5/8/77 and the '72 Veneta show. For Playin' fans, you won't want to miss out on this one.

This is by far one of the best recording of this show. I was there and it was a high energy show and probably the best show of that tour. The sound quality of this copy show is sweet. Thank you Jeff for such a great copy of this show.

Two days before my indoctrination to the Dead at SPAC. This is the version you want...much better bass extension than the other sound board version offered. FYI