This was the show I wrote my Antioch College entrance essay based upon. I was admitted at age 16(!!!) so I guess it held some literary magic. I still think of this particular show when I envision what utter bliss is about. Despite myriad shows before and since, this one somehow remains the pinnacle for me of teen DeadHead zen. Listen today after returning from the last Dead n Co shows in SF CA, it really pulls it all together for this 50-something Dead-loving hippie gal.

Was gonna give it after judging the first set but then the half step-rider blew me away so it gets 4. Love the stranger set closer and of course the orphaned supplication

What the fuck are you playing the music on njpg?? This SBD sounds really good. If your looking for perfection..good luck! Perfection is overrated anyway. I was at this show and it was my 1st trip to the Meadowlands and a memorable one at that.
I do remember entering and getting close to the doors that they were letting us in at. The music started and a mad push at turnstiles occurred. Two turnstiles ripped from the concrete and we oozed in. It was insane and I remember security smashing whoever they could over the head with night sticks during the mad rush. Fun times that are forever ingrained in my fragile memory.
This is another gem from a magical 85 Fall tour. Listen to the Row Jimmy and anytime you are looking for something to make you happy.. play the 1/2 Step> Rider! It does it every time for me. GIVE IT A WHIRL!!
FOREVER GRATEFUL>FOREVER DEAD!!!

a rare Feel Like a Stranger set closer.

This is one of my favorite 85 shows. Very crisp soundboard. That Half-step into Rider is soo sweet and what a powerful Rider it is. How many other times was there a stand alone Rider? Can't think of one. I was in Uruguay once at La Paloma a beach in the north and found pounds of cubensis shrooms in the surrounding fields. A huge bag. Tripped for a week on them and this show kept me good company. Forever engrained in my memory. 2-3 stars WTF! Yooz be loco!

shrieky SBD recording.

i never noticed at the beginning of set 2 you can hear Jerry and Bobby laying out the whole set before they kick into half-step another good one from the fall tour i got on the bus at Hampton in the spring and rode it till 92 they always played killer shows at Brendon Byrne can't recall a bad one anyway the scene there wasn't always the best especially coming and going to the shows with the New Jersey state gestapo i mean police around i wonder if the rumor that having a Dead sticker on your vehicle was probable cause to be pulled over or not but sure seemed like it and also agree with the reviewer below gatecrashers do suck they ruined many a great venues over the years
i gotta give this show a 5 if for nothing else the half-step> rider great recording too

OK, so I'm a big fan of Fall '85, having seen a killer show myself at the Kaiser in NOV. This one is crisp, tight and right. Jerry was returning to strength and power that season by all accounts, and man you can hear it. His vocals are sweet and strong, he is present and accounted for, not all spaced.
Bobby is great here too -- I love listening to his work during the guitar break on Stagger Lee, he's not playing rhythm guitar, it's Weir'd guitar, and man it's hot, innovative, original. OK, maybe he could cut the last part of his, uh, solo on the Stones number, but that is a minor gripe.

Great story. You attend enough shows and the stories will unfold. Garcia later..............

Rode into the show from Western NY state with a couple of other heads picked up at last show. I was solo on this tour and had mail ordered and had a ticket for every show, however my new friends did not. We pulled in very late due to a mishap with NY state troopers at a gas station on the throughway and by the amount of heads with miracle signs, thought these two were outta luck. Finally directed to our parking spot and when I got out of my truck, there was an envelope from ticketron on the ground. Much to our happiness, inside were two tickets for that nights show. Great time at the show, and a couple of new friendships. Dropped new friends off somewhere outside Philadelphia a couple of days later. Haven't seen them for about 15 years now. Todd and Jim, remember me in the blue toyota 4x4 and how the trooper thought you Todd, were deceased in the back of the truck in the freezing weather? Loved those times and it has shaped me into the person I am today. Now touring with couple of friends I've had my whole life as well as my daughter. Thanks boys andkeep it going.....Furthur!

At one or both of these shows the lots were dotted with hundreds (thousands?) of small matte black stickers. They ended up stuck all over the place...

Oh man, when Jerry comes in singing "I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train," it's just awsome, so powerful. Strange show. I'd be willing to bet when they started I know you rider, a lot of people we're asking themselves if they spaced out whole time they played china cat.

IMHO - this is an absolutely fabulous SBD! I haven't heard one this good in a long time. Shake It, Shake It, Sugaree!!!!

nice show really for the end of a tour that was up and down. seems i recall the giants had a home date with the pigskin on this day--i was roundly heckled...do remember when i got into the arena at this show i was struck by the sense that the old vibe was way in trouble. confirmed my richmond sense of things. agree with a previous review that a playing jam was often when folks had that epiphany. had mine in hampton maybe 84 or 83 with playing in the band. the group/individual dynamic thing working itself out fluently. something like that.

Arguements about gate crashing at this late date are kind of like trying to get the stains out of Monica's dress.
This problem only got so much worse with time and is such a non-issue today.
I had a ticket which I was never able to give to a ticket taker because the turnstiles got overrun, This show was rowdy and reckless and was a night when the Byrne gestapo security had to admit defeat.
Not how i would prefer to see my shows but it sure made an impression on me that there needs to be some happier medium which i did not find until my first Cal Expo show.
They never tried Half Step> rider again, too bad I
liked the idea even if it was a shock in the moment.

Hey Ridge, GATE CRASHERS SUCK! You should feel guilty. I didn't get to see some Dead shows because of idiots like you. Go "gate crash" a 50 Cent concert you Loser! Anyway, this show is decent... Sorry for the negative message but who the hell would admit they crashed in to a show. Don't tell it to me in person because I might "crash" you!

Hey Dan, I was one of those "rowers" you speak of (or maybe the whole arena was doing it, I don't know) but I like to think my friend Jon initiated that. Anyhow, this show is very memorable as my one and only "miracle" show - we couldn't get tix, were getting ready to just hang in the lot, when we decided to give it one last "college try" and ended up with hundreds (thousands?) of people pushing against these series of doors until - wooooosh - they flew open and we all got swept inside, security be damned, all pie-eyed and scampering for the safety of the dark arena and the warm glow of Jerry's magical touch. How appropriate it seemed during "Around and Around" when Bobby pauses before singing "them old doors flew back." Feel a little guilty about it now, considering the bad vibes and gate-crashing that became more prevalent in the scene the next few years (and the Meadowlands was "ground zero" for some of that). But what the hell, it was a great show, free at the time and still free to listen to 22 years later - God bless the Grateful Dead and the archive.

c4 recordings to choose from. This board crackles and POPS with clarity. A great mix. From the opening moments of the recording when you here Billy and Mickey hitting the drums-I get juiced.
O.K. I was 15 years old and already had a lil' tape collection going when I hit this (my 1st) show. So, the fact that I was able to get a sweet audience copy and a killer board of it soon after was a thrill.
A fairly old school up-beat Touch.A very highclass Sugaree; Garcia pushes the solo. The Cassidy jam and the cool turquoise lights had more to do with my high than the bunk home-grown weed I was smokin'. A great mid-eighties Stagger Lee. As I looked to my right toward the end of Row Jimmy everyone in my row was rowing simultaneously, so my buddy Jeff Sigg and I joined in. Talk about a group that gels-this Stranger closer was the tightest package (even tighter than my package after I dove into Tilicho Lake in Nepal in my birthday suit at 15,200 feet up) Very much a top 3 Stranger for me (3.2.87 another)-SUCH a great 1st set wrap up-right down to Bobby's "Y'all hang loose."
If you turn up the volume really loud in the opening moments of set 2 you can hear Bobby bring up ideas for the set - kinda cool and funny. Not knowing what was happening when after 100s of shows and many years The Grateful Dead were playing I Know You Rider out of a tune other than China Cat Sunflower, I was a mix of scared and confused as the place errupted as if a riot had started (well, maybe not that much); just plain cool now as I L@@K back. I am sure that 1st Playin' in the Band Jam was the real hook for me - 'cus that went onto be my favorite jump,twirl,noodling moments at any show. A nice rare supplication Jam. Comes A Time with the spotlight on Jerome- my favorite artist ever since. I waited another 100 or so shows 'til I caught my 2nd and last Comes A Time 10.9.94. A straight up plain old extremely great Baby Blue to close it up. I am Blessed.

This is very crispy recording of an excellent high energy show.I was at the show and had seats close up on Phil's side of the stage. I remenber Bobby was so into the Cassidy jam/solo he almost forgot to sign the final verse. You can hear the slight pause before he sings "flight of the sea birds". Nice Stagger Lee and Stranger. I always thought Jerry suprised the rest of the band by going into Rider out of 1/2 Step (as they all looked so confused when he started playing it). However, you can clearly hear Billy and Bobby conspiring to play that during the pre-second set tune up.

1st show 14 years old. all i can say is wow!!!!

Touch - too fast
Hell - not jammy
Sugeree - Not bad - heard better
Cassidy - what can you say... it's there
Stagger Lee - Cool jam
All over now - Fun
Row - Slow
Stranger - starts out as a train wreck - pulls together in the middle
Baby Blue - Nice
Half Step > Rider - really nice half step > transition is a little weak but rider ROCKS
Playin > UJB - solid Nice jam after UJB
D/S - Great Drums - Nice space
Truckin - out of space is Really Cool - Rocks
Comes a Time - Jerry's voice is going - bad notes all over - boys are losing energy
Round and Round - sloppy
Good Lovin - They are trying

I can't give this a 3* for just a couple of good tunes. If you have the time - check out the show but you are not missing much

A fun show- Maybe not technically perfect, loads of fun. crank that Mississipi 1/2 Step>Rider, Baby!

this show was one of those nites. the boys were totally dialed in... I managed to score a ride from school in NH ;with tickets waiting for me in the lot with my bro all was well, until it wasn't. in order to get the ride I promised the driver my ticket..I gave that ticket to my girlfriend and about six other people who all took me up on the offer and all hooked up with the same ride. we left late and arrived late. with only about a half hour before showtime. finding the one ticket I knew I had was out of the question. scalpers and miracles were few and far between. my girlfriend and I managed to somehow just walk in without tickets or hassles. I had been trying to somehow illustrate the magic to her when we just kept getting through gates until we were in . fuckin awesome, I love that kinda shit. anyway the place was just humming with high intensity, full on electric air. one by one I started to see all the other people from my school that came with no tix. trippin balls all of them freshly miracled with an open door. the show just burned start to finish...it was clear early on that this would be a nite that would stand up against the best of them. they just ripped it up...in the fashion that only they can deliver.