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RFK Stadium 1989 Box
LESS THAN 5000 LEFT
The Grateful Dead battled the elements in July 1989, enduring drenching rains and stifling humidity during back-to-back shows at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the nation’s capital. In spite of the bleak weather, the band thrilled the massive crowds both nights with triumphant performances that rank among the very best of a busy year that included 74 shows and the release of the group’s final studio album, BUILT TO LAST.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY STADIUM, WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 12 & 13, 1989 includes two previously unreleased concerts taken from the band’s master 24-track analog recordings, which have been mixed by Jeffrey Norman at TRI Studios and mastered in HDCD by David Glasser. The collection’s colorful slip case features original artwork by Justin Helton and a perfect-bound book with in-depth liner notes written by Dean Budnick, editor-in-chief of Relix magazine. The set will also be available as a digital download in Apple Lossless and FLAC 192/24.
When Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Brent Mydland, and Bob Weir rolled into D.C. in July 1989 for the Dead’s two-night stand at RFK, the band hit the stage running with a stellar rendition of “Touch Of Grey,” the group’s biggest hit from its only Top 10 album In The Dark, which was released in 1987. The following night, the band returned to its double-platinum commercial breakthrough when it opened the show with a fiery version of “Hell In A Bucket.”
“RFK Stadium '89 fell right in the middle of one of the best tours of the last 15 years of Grateful Dead performances, with these shows being the sixth and seventh of an 11-show tour. This tour is widely considered the start of a nine month period of sustained excellence, which ran from Summer '89 through Spring '90. The RFK shows are as good as any of the more famous shows from this period, including July 4 in Buffalo, July 7 in Philadelphia, and the Alpine run,” says David Lemieux, Grateful Dead archivist and the set’s producer. “When Bob Weir has asked me to provide copies of Grateful Dead songs to give to his bandmates to learn and rehearse, he almost always requests Summer '89, and I've often drawn upon the RFK shows for this purpose. It's really that good!”
Both shows feature standout moments, but the July 12 show is notable for a few reasons. Perhaps the biggest is that the first set featured at least one song sung by each of the band’s four lead singers – Garcia, Weir, Lesh and Mydland – something that rarely happened. Another surprise came when the band opened the second set with “Sugaree,” a song that almost always appeared during the first set.
Pianist Bruce Hornsby — who briefly joined the band between 1990 and 1992 — is featured on both shows. He played accordion during “Sugaree” and “Man Smart (Woman Smarter),” with a touch of keyboard-tinkling, on July 12, and then played more accordion the following night for “Tennessee Jed” and “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.”
For fans of Mydland’s tenure with the Dead – which began in 1979 and ended in 1990 with the keyboardist’s tragic death – these stellar shows capture that incarnation in peak form. Among the long list of highlights are performances of live staples such as “Eyes Of The World,” “Wharf Rat” and “I Need A Miracle,” along with rarities like “To Lay Me Down,” which was played only a few times in 1989. The July 13 show also features the band road-testing “I Will Take You Home,” a track Mydland wrote with Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow that would appear later that fall on Built To Last.
oh you're welcome luis
but I would have given you mine:-)
But besides, my post was more directed at Spacebrother and his need to apologize to the people who don't care of Brent.
@ mhammond
Ha!! I Think that was the best post on the subject yet
Don't worry LoveJerry
My comment was just a little irony about all the recurrent situation when this era discussion happens, it's always the same.
Everybody has his own tastes and I respect that. In fact, I prefer 60's and 70's GD. But I like almost all they did. Even there are good 90's shows.
Clearly Spacebro is a fan-atic of 80's GD, and when shows from that era are released he is overenthusiastic and passionate about it. Sometimes to the point to be offensive.
But we are all sometimes fanatics too, we aren't?. It wasn't my intention to create a bad mood.
Mhammond definition of genius is a interesting definition of genius, a definition that it isn't a definition, "can't define it but I recognize it when I see it."
IMO, Just like Kayak Guy said about Blake, genius it's in the process, not in the outcome. -:)
Expecting an apology sounds like a grudge to me
... and grudges don't ever lead to anything good. Some loads should be unburdened by the bearer.
I love ya luis
You seem like a down to earth gentlemen, and I get it. Have a peaceful evening.
LoveJerry
possiblymaybeanother - if it were some offhanded remark by some random person, I would let it go. But Spacebrother has a long history of provoking the masses, and when he does that, he brings down the whole mood of the place, sometimes for days. That's unacceptable. People are allowed to express how they feel about a musician and band without being attacked. For my part, I stopped weighing on Brent months ago (after a PM conversation with JimInMD). But it's not fair that one guy gets to undermine the entire message board. So, I feel it's okay to ask for an apology from a guy who habitually does this. And to be frank, I have an inbox full of PMs from people who feel the same way. When he apologizes to the group, all will be forgiven and hopefully we can move on peacefully (and for my part, I won't feel I've suppressed my disdain for Brent in vain).
Besides, at this point, I was simply responding to luis's post. I didn't log in here today, intent on mentioning the incident. It's a blessing he's not here, and I don't care to invoke him. But you commented, so again, I responded, and recounted the incident.
Genius? Why, sure...
David Foster Wallace, who was mentioned earlier, was certainly a genius. It came with a lot of trouble and pain, and he ended up hanging himself in his garage. His writing does not necessarily reflect this depression, but there was always a cynicism with him. That being said, 'Infinite Jest' is one of the best books I've ever read; his short stories (check out 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - in particular the story "Forever Overhead") are usually great; and his essays are outstanding, in particular 'A Supposedly Fun Thing...' and 'Consider the Lobster.' His range of knowledge, and his command of the English language are incredible. That man is one of my all-time favorites, and truly deserves to be in the genius category.
Zappa- Here is one that I will admit I've either A. simply not understood or B. not given enough of a chance. To be honest, I have listened to a lot of the recommendations I have seen here on Dead.net, and very few have sparked my candle... That being said, 'Hot Rats' is one hell of a good album (obviously,) and there have been moments that have made me happy - Phish covering "Peaches En Regalia" is always awesome. Overall, I would think that it is the former - I just don't really "get" what everyone raves about. Genius though? Sure! There are many geniuses that I totally don't understand... anyone here well-versed in Organic Chemisty? Astronomy? Shit, I have a lot of friends who work at Johns Hopkins and the shit they deal with on a daily basis blows my mind,... are they geniuses too?
Jerry, Bobby, Billy, Micky, Phil, et al? - Perhaps, but they would laugh in your face if you ever had the chance to call them such.
Miles? Hell yeah. That man was a genius, and an asshole - A lot of geniuses seem to be. Love me some Miles.
Others? Hmm...
"Your hands and feet are mangoes / You're gonna be a genius anyway."
Peace
Oh! Grateful Dead Stuff!
My friend just turned me on to this Matrix of 10/19/81 in Palacio de los Deportes in Barcelona... It's got the hotness! Great first set, SMOKING second set! I am a fan of the Matrix, but there is a C. Miller SBD available too...
https://archive.org/details/gd1981-10-19.131801.mtx-fix.dusborne.flac16
If anyone would like the Matrix of this one, let me know in PM :)
Peace
Another Top 1980s Show: Stanford Frost 10-10-82
https://gratefulseconds.blogspot.com/2017/11/best-weekend-of-1982-stanf…
with pictures articles etc etc
Apologies and definitions
If you are comfortable in your own skin you won't need apologies or get your feelings hurt when someone viralently disagrees with you. They're wrong and you're right. If they need to be obnoxious about it they're either trolling or insecure in their perspective. In the recent discussion on genius which I think has been fun mainly because most of the participants have recognized it's just opinions being discussed and when done reasonably who cares if we disagree it's hardly the end of the world. And in that area which seems seems to generate heat the 80's shows who cares because people who believe the 80's are any good are just stupid morons whose opinions mean nothing. Whoa wait I'm just kidding personally there isn't a show that Dave etc don't deem releasable that I wouldn't buy. As for mhammond he was simply making a joke on Potter Stewart's opinion on a case before the Supreme court. That it was pretty right on just made it funnier. Bottom line have a little more faith in your opinion and trivialial issues won't ruin your day and you can save up your anger for important thing like racism. So whether FZ was a genius which of course he was unless you're a know nothing idiot you know that, sorry couldn't stop myself it isn't really very important in the bigger picture. Peace and let's all just agree with the only truly obvious fact which is Donald Trump is a political genius and we should turn over the country to him so we can get all the benefits the Donald's good buddy Duterte is giving his people
You can't stop a good time RFK '89
That was the slogan used by protesters at the venue of these show's objecting to the DC councilman's movement to have them canceled. I remember (and it may be a false memory) of people holding picket signs in front of the venue telling drivers to turn on their love (head) lights in support of letting the show go on. I also remember getting that letter sent by the band to leave only footprints. A stranger I spoke to in the parking lot got a free ticket because someone in the Dead organization saw them picking up trash. Let's continue that same sentiment here and dance together in the rain for 2 days.
You can't stop a good time RFK '89
Speaking of footsteps...
I saw the new Thor movie over the weekend along with a bunch of families. The two families in my row that brought food in from the concession stand left their trash all over their seats. I just don't understand this mentality that "the cleaning crew gets paid to clean it up, so I'll just leave my shit everywhere." And they're teaching their kids to do it.
Awesome story about the miracles to the folks cleaning up. It doesn't matter who's around to pick up, we can all leave the place better than we found it.
Footprints....
....you know what grinds my gears? When I see someone in a parking lot open their car door and proceed to dump their ashtray onto the ground. Sometimes when there's a garbage can 20 ft away. God forbid they walk or something. Even the pigeons give them the evil eye. And if I'm at the grocery store, I always use a cart that's already sitting on the lot. And I'm the self-proclaimed king of recycling. Small things mean a lot. Did someone say Trump? ....Thor was fun. Looking forward to Justice League Saturday Night....
Vguy, grocery carts
As a teenager I worked at a grocery store and rounding up carts in the parking lot was one of the best parts of the job, even in the snow. Don’t be so sure that you are doing someone a favor....Sometimes my friends would hang out in a car on the edges of the parking lot by empty carts, and share treats with me as I walked by.....helped me get through my shift.....
It's pretty good this release - surprised?
I read many posts, and its great getting opinions of serious Dead listeners. I appreciate the diversity of opinions. I appreciate the new insights that emerge. Sometimes we live in a bubble and wonder whats on the other side.
And the band played on...
And on this particularly release, an interesting era of the Dead. I gravitate towards earlier periods, but I also like and am fascinated with the summer 89 to spring 90 period. Admittedly, I was going to shows in this era and it coincides with a certain era of life, but for sheer quality of sonic fidelity, this period has the best recordings. And, the band was playing well, and arguably the last great period.
I have both the Spring90 series, and the Warlocks shows. This fits in nicely with that. I think this is mixed better than Warlocks (Jeffrey Norman is simply amazing - thankfully he is doing this). Not usually a fan of the larger shows, these 2 sound great. They are clearly enjoying playing, and are in exceptional form.
My favorite release has been the Europe72 set, and I think this is the best so far. A peak of peaks, but this set is in a peak period. I am grateful to be able to re-listen to these shows in hi fidelity and they bring me great joy. In the end, this is whats important to me.
So much to explore and delve into, continuously. Every show has fractal dimensions...I love the exploration.
The past is written in stone now, but these shows and the other releases let the stone giants dance.
da Vinci
It was purchased anonymously by a trust, big mistake to outsource the actual buy.. It's not yours yet and I'm not giving it up, thanks in advance for the loan. P.S. It looks great in my office, in between the E72 Steamer Trunk and FW Complete Recordings Box.
Oh.. and yes tsmoore, the E72 box (and FW69 box). If you ask around, I believe this is the consensus...that is until the Fall 70 Capitol Theatre multi-track box set gets released in the spring. :D
$450,000,000?.....
....that's a lot of zeros. For a painting. The only thing I could ever imagine paying that much money for is land. Crazy. ....guess I need to turn in my Shopping Cart Helping Hand merit badge when I leave.
blast from the past
The Grateful Dead in the Age of Reagan
http://www.thehistoryreader.com/contemporary-history/grateful-dead-age-…
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It’s even worse than it appears
But it’s all right.
The cow is giving kerosene
Kid can’t read at seventeen
The words he knows are all obscene
But it’s all right.
...
Some Grateful Dead fans, including Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson, welcomed Reagan’s presidency, and there was some conservative sentiment in the band’s inner circle. Lyricist John Perry Barlow, for example, helped coordinate Dick Cheney’s 1978 Congressional campaign in Wyoming. But Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s lead guitarist, was no Reagan fan. “Oh! Give me a break!” he exclaimed later. “I was shocked when Reagan was elected governor of California! And then, as President, we were embarrassed by the guy. I mean, he wasn’t even a good actor.” The Grateful Dead didn’t orchestrate a response to Reagan, but his decision to militarize the drug war in 1982 was deeply unpopular in Dead circles, and The Golden Road, the band’s key fanzine uncharacteristically exhorted Dead Heads to register and vote against Reagan in 1984.
jam of the week
http://www.dead.net/features/jam-week/november-17-november-23-2017?intc…
10/28/84
Berkeley Community Theater - Berkeley, CA
Set 1:
Cold Rain And Snow
My Brother Esau
Althea
C.C. Rider
Bird Song
Looks Like Rain
Deal
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy
Hey rockers!!!
Day off, up too early, too much coffee, from one year ahgo today:
This is just a test, it’s all just a test…………….
Fellow rockers, we’re totally spoiled by Official Releases, 30 Days Of Dead, and Charlie Miller. Such great sonic quality! But who that hears among us can listen past the sound quality into the true depths of the music? How good are you, really, at listening to the Grateful Dead?
My friends, I submit to you the following:
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?and[]=date:1971-11-17%2A
See also:
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2015/03/november-17-1971-albuquerque-ci…
A fine and very interesting show, marred by poor sound quality of the recording itself. Grateful Dead urban legend holds that it was recorded using a hand-held microphone placed in front of a home speaker during the broadcast. I asked DL a while back if it was in the vault, and never heard back. Did anybody in the Albuquerque area make a proper line recording? What about the radio station itself----didn’t they make a copy? Did alien renegades from Area 51 hijack it on their way back to Alpha Centauri? Who can shed light on this cosmic phenomenon?
Anybody out there who would accept the challenge, and needs their own copy----purely for testing purposes----you know where to find me. On one of the outer rings of Saturn………………….
Just keepin’ it galactic,
Doc
The Universe, so far as we can observe it, is a wonderful and immense engine; its extent, its order, its beauty, its cruelty, makes it alike impressive…………..
Spare Me The Blast From The Past
David Durea, Music is one of the few refuges from politics. Why poison this forum with reminders of our political struggles in this country. This place should be like Disneyland, you know, happy all the time. I don't want reality here.
Albuquerque turkey
If the local radio station did make a copy, then the chances are that they have been approached by the Cypriot mafia who buy up and release all such recordings that they can, on a wide variety of labels. There are literally hundreds, maybe thousands of such shows listed on their website.Under European copyright law (and Cyprus is in Europe) this is all perfectly above board, even though the bands never see a cent from sales. However, some of our American friends view such releases as bootlegs and will not go near them, which is naturally their prerogative.
450 Million Dollars
My wife made me give the painting back. She said "Couldn't 450 million dollars be better spent on upcoming Grateful Dead releases?" And I said "Maybe even a Grateful Dead barstool. OK honey. You're right."
Spare me as well
I agree. Keep your politics to yourself and I promise to do the same. It's bad enough we can't even watch football on Sundays without being punched in the face with political BS.
Please, let's just enjoy and discuss the one thing all here agree on. The Grateful Dead are the most authentic and soul moving band ever assembled.
Peace
Spare Me As Well
I get that people enjoy their free speech, and I'm not saying you don't have a "right" to mention politics, but in the general interest of keeping the vibes good here, I think we all make out by keeping on the topic of the music. It's nice to have an oasis from the world's ugliness.
@ david
Just goes to show you just because someone is brilliant in the area of music doesn't mean he knows squat about other areas. And organising against Reagan in '84 how'd that work out. Oh yea learn the difference between conservative and reactionary. For those who get upset at discussions about something other than GD here sorry NOT. Go to a university safe space
Genius
"It's bad enough we can't even watch football on Sundays without being punched in the face with political BS."
Here, I'll fix that for you: "Because I have the privilege of not being affected by the issue that concerns the NFL players who protest on Sundays, I am unconcerned with it, nay, I declare it is imaginary. And anyone who points out it is not imaginary for others is interrupting my peaceful enjoyment of the human-on-human violence I paid for."
This and other 'no politics' comment are also a strange reaction to a pretty mild, history review.
Speaking of the imaginary, seems to me the level for 'genius' is being set fairly low. Lots of the people mentioned are right (high level) talent at the right time at the right place.
And if I had to vote, I might put Don Glen Vliet above Frank Zappa--Captain Beefheart more fully realized his peculiar vision, whereas Zappa (to me) never could quite reconcile the juvenile/adult and sarcastic/serious axes, among others, in which he found himself. I love Zappa, in many of his incarnations, yet in the end he was a traditionalist revolting against his perception that the classic was being forgotten/degraded, while Beefheart was building on and then finally rocketing away from his loved tradition (Zappa more classical and doo-wop, Beefheart the blues). Zappa certainly produced more, in more different directions. A Zappa concert was interesting, energizing, and invoked wonder; Beefheart ('68-'73) changed your life.
...but don't spare me
I was interested in David's post about The Dead in the 1980s. Music doesn't exist in a vacuum, and I always find it helpful when someone describes a perspective on how the world was, at the time music was created.
To say this place should be like visiting Disneyland doesn't appeal to me. To me, getting into The Dead, and music in general in the 1970s was part and parcel of dropping out of mainstream society. I definitely dropped back in again-but I was a very different man when I did, as a consequence of my experiences on the outside. Me and millions of others. If this hadn't been the case, we would still be living in the 1950s. To liken the culture of The Dead to Disneyland seems hugely reductive.
I have also never been a big fan of so called "good vibes". It always reminds me of people who say "Have a nice day". Insincere and shallow. An honest exchange of disparate views amongst people who respect each other is surely preferable. Who knows, we might even learn something.
'89 RFK Box Numbering
No rhyme or reason as I ordered half dozen for my crew just last week, delivered 2day....all 11000+
David.., I agree
RAYGUN won the pres when I was attending SDSU. I remember thinking..."The world, as we know it, is over." TG 4 Jerry and the Boys!
Political and musical climate in the '80's.
For the most part, music in the 80's sucked. The entire political climate in the '80's sucked.
The Grateful Dead were clearly the best thing happening in the '80's musically and socially, and they stepped-up to the plate and delivered big time, despite the time frame. The Dead were able to channel the shitty represive climate of the 80's and create something beautiful.
Perhaps some of the ill will towards the Dead in the 80's is motivated by the fact that the Dead stood up in the face of a shitty sociol-political climate and delivered some of the most inspired and well played performances of their career.
On another note, I make no apologies for making an honest assessment of how I see things. If someone expects one, don't hold your breath.
Confused...and disappointed
I am confused and not a little disappointed that a significant number of people who post on this site are totally unable to either take any sort of criticism, however mild, or to accept other people's points of view on various subjects without feeling the need to verbally lash out in all directions in a (dare I say it) Trumpo the clown-like manner. This, naturally, only demeans these people themselves but it does make me wonder why people are so intolerant of the views of others these days. It doesn't bother me if people post mildly political posts or suchlike on here. It bothers me far more that some people react to them in a manner that suggests that they themselves have some underlying personality defects which they are unable to control.
PS: I agree wholeheartedly with Spacebro's assertion that for the most part, music in the 80's sucked. The Grateful Dead were also not immune, but their music did suffer less than that of most of their contemporaries.
@LetsGoCaps
"...being punched in the face with political BS."
"Nothing about that NFL statement takes a side on the issue."
Something is not like the other.
Maybe you meant to say: "Even when I turn on NFL football, people are engaged in political talk and activity, and I do not want to deal with it. I want to separate my entertainment and my politics." Which is fine, and takes no side.
But I responded to what you did say--violent, dismissive, deriding, and contemptuous. If that is not you, all to the good. There won't be comparable things written.
disneyland
"This place should be like Disneyland"
Never got to see it. When I lived in SoCal 50 years ago they wouldn't let me in because I had 'long hair'.
re: "The world, as we know it, is over."
I know the feeling. I was attending Pasadena City College when MLK and RFK were assassinated and felt the same way.
MadDoc
Do tell..
I'm envisioning winding up in the Disney Brig, three floors below crowd above in the belly of the theme park.. being berated by Chernabog.
There's a story here just waiting to be told.
I know when the Dead played at Hershey Park in 85.. lots of people dosed and played the day away in the theme park.. I bet Dennis remembers...
Ronald Reagan Blvd.
On an early summer evening in 1985 my brother and I were driving around the back roads with our friend Scott, deciding what to do with the night, when we decided to make a quick stop at some unfinished office buildings to answer natures call. Unfortunately the police were also cruising around the area and pulled up to investigate, subsequently making us the first to be pulled over and cursorily searched on Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Warwick, NY. My friend and I were just of age, but my brother was not and there was casual discussion of the idea of charges relating to corrupting a minor before they confiscated our beer. Good thing the search was cursory or it might have really derailed the evening.
That same friend and I used to talk a lot of shit about a young actor around that time or a little later, a young guy named Johnny Depp making it look cool to be some kind of narc arresting high school kids on 21 Jump Street, a show doing what looked a lot like propaganda for the 1980's drug war. Just some random recollections sparked by the earlier Reagan posts.
Disney and D and Co.
hard to believe someone said the T word and said he was the greatest. If it was a joke, it's not funny. I'm sure they are the same ones who said that Reagan was a great guy. Anyone who was not a child during those years knew how bad Raygun really was, but if you were a child, well, read history books and not the ones they gave you in school. Dosing at Disney was the best time I ever had there, altho it was not Disneyland, but Disneyworld. Space mountain was a real experience as was laughing at all of the tourist in their tourist outfits. Had a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat. (sure would like to try it again on those red dragons or gold dolphins) The Police came out of the floor at the tomorrowland theater and blew us all away. Giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon....
Caught D and C last night on Colbert, wow, who was out of tune and off key and flat? Way too slow. These guys really need to work on their tempo cause it's just off. Sure hope they get it together before the Fla shows, would not be good if they got booed or worse yet, people just got up and walked out. It's all ready obvious that they are not selling out these shows, which must be a real surprise to them. I realize they are old and slowing down, but this is spoon fed Dead if I ever heard it, sure can't say without a net anymore, more like with a net and pillows. I realize they only had 5 mins to do a song, which just ain't enough time to do a Hunter/Garcia tune and do it right. loved Mickeys wig, the only one who was weird, which is a good thing in deadland. Bobby looked good but as my wife said, "he's not young anymore, hope he doesn't wear shorts at the fla shows" lol.
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