Grateful Dead

It was hot as hell and Jerry was gray as a ghost....pretty scary to have been there...I remember phoning a friend and saying that "it might be the end...."

In addition to the heat and Jerry looking so bad, I remember some guy launching himself into an enormous pile of blue garbage bags after the show.

This was the second of the 100 degree D.C. shows. The infield which was gen admin was totally mud by the second day. I remeber dancing in the Hot mud all afternoon. After the final Good Love of the day - we headed to the Jolly Tinker bar in Georgetown covered with mud and had a few cold ones in the nice AC. My buddies and I set out for NYC sometime the next morning. On the way back, my friend's engine siezed on I-95 somewhere in Jersey. A Trooper pulled up behind us as smoke poured out from under the hood and asked if we had any drugs or guns in the car - we said "No" and he asked if he could search. We were on the side of the road for an hour. After he couldn't find anything he called a tow. At the gas station we were told the car was gone. But my firiend Jaime got them to remove the backdoor of the wagon because it had about twenty Dead stickers on it. Another guy then picked us up - and we brought the backdoor with us which Jaime then kept in his dorm at school. Now that is Deadication!

Poor Jerry....Terrapin was a struggle....Dylan and Petty's sound was much better this day and they actully out performed the Dead......glad this didn't end it all, but it was a very close call...... Rossboy777

After the scorching heat of the first day, one of my evil genius friends figured out that if we went in with a long rope, (purchased at a local hardware store) we could enter the stadium and walk partway up the spiral walkway that takes you up to the upper seats and lower the rope to friends outside of the stadium below. They tied backpacks full of ice and beer to the ropes that we hoisted up and we had our icy beer inside. I think they were selling beer inside, but we were under 21 at that point. I also think taping was not allowed at these shows (Dylan?) because I remember at least one person seeing what we were doing and having us hoist his taping gear in. Does anyone else remember tabs with purple and yellow stripes. Wow!!!

Crazy day - took my mom and dad and many other friends. Because it was so hot they were letting folks bring in thermoses. I talked my way in with one of those huge ones that we used at sporting events (you know the ones filled with Gatorade) anyways I had a bag of ice and underneath the bag were two six packs of Tall Busch Beers. I stood on the thermos when Dylan came on stage and folks tell me I made it on some video (I've never seen it but my friends say they did) if anyone has access to the video they showed onstage I sure would appreciate it.

I have a tape of this show(no taping) and listening to it is one of my favorites esp. when bobby intros the band during the band during good love and screws up. During his rap he loses the flow and says "aw fuckit", " I'd also like to fuck... thank" and goes on to intro the band cleverly. then when its bobby's turn to be intro Jerry steps up to the mike and says"one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Mr Bob Weir" ....and the crowd went wild,yours included

Not sure if it's true or not but I remember seeing or hearing that heat index on the field was 117. All I can say was it sure was hot. Not the greatest shows because of the heat. Actually Dylan & Petty were better that day. One greatest recollection of that show was a very kind gentleman with a water pistol. He politely went around, asking people if the wanted to be dosed. The liquid was so clean, it made a great experience out of a bad show.

remember the fire hoses at rich stadium awsom raibowsthere was no relief from the heat so we all just kept gettin high

~~~> Sadly, the worst Dead show I've ever seen. Later i found out it was only days before Jerry's diabetic coma ... i was too far away from the stage to be able to say what he looked like, but it was the most lifeless Dead show ever. It didn't help that i was so far up in RFK, & the sound system was not adequate to the task of filling the stadium. Dylan & Petty played better, & sounded better, but even they didn't sound that good, so I reckon it was an inadequate sound system as well as an extremely sick Jerry. Thank God he survived that one.

It was a very hot day, Petty and Dylan were great. The Dead didn't play the best show but with an illegal smile and being young I made the best of it by dancing and skipping around the infield most of the day.

Sometime when I have a little more time I will tell you all about my after-show experience with my friend Richard Raffel and Brent. It ended with us taking Brent to the hospital emergency room after he was beatup by a backstage guard...Brent instigated the event... Thank you, and Stay In Touch!

the intro of the band was really unusual just 'cause the Dead never did it unless Bill Graham was present Jerry looked like a ghost but not as bad as he looked in the summer of 1995 when he nearly was truly a ghost Jerry was absolutely terrible at both the 7/7/86 and the first set in July 1995.....funny.....he came out after halftime in 1995 and sounded completely different and opened with a rockin' Iko Iko.......hmmmm guess I need not tell you why he improved so quickly we all know what was goin' down at that point..... but God bless Jerry he said repeatedly in interviews that what he really wanted was....to be part of the audience ! they were having so much fun ! the big guy is in heaven and when i die we will be there together hey mom : say hi to Jerry for me ok ? i know he's up there jammin' with John George and Jimi and Brent and the rest of the spirits.....Pig let Jerry JAM NO HOGGIN' THAT RIFF WITH VOCAL HEAR ?

the intro of the band was really unusual just 'cause the Dead never did it unless Bill Graham was present Jerry looked like a ghost but not as bad as he looked in the summer of 1995 when he nearly was truly a ghost Jerry was absolutely terrible at both the 7/7/86 and the first set in July 1995.....funny.....he came out after halftime in 1995 and sounded completely different and opened with a rockin' Iko Iko.......hmmmm guess I need not tell you why he improved so quickly we all know what was goin' down at that point..... but God bless Jerry he said repeatedly in interviews that what he really wanted was....to be part of the audience ! they were having so much fun ! the big guy is in heaven and when i die we will be there together hey mom : say hi to Jerry for me ok ? i know he's up there jammin' with John George and Jimi and Brent and the rest of the spirits.....Pig let Jerry JAM NO HOGGIN' THAT RIFF WITH VOCAL HEAR ?

I completely disagree that this was the most lifeless Dead show ever. Clearly Jerry didn't feel well, but there were some moments to remember. Particularly the Desolation Row with the two Bobs trading lyrics.A short first set but when would you ever hear a Ramble opener with a first set Baby Blue in honor of Bob Dylan. I will never ever forget this show. It stands out as a moment in time where the course of my life was changed. It was the beginning of the end of my touring days. I loved Jerry so much at this show. This may sound egocentric, but I'm sure we've all felt songs were being sung for us at certain shows. I was close to the stage on the right side. When Jerry sang "but I'll get back.....on my feet someday..." His voice was so peaceful, I felt him touch me in some spiritual way. This was a special night, even though Jerry was very sick. Bob introduced the band during Satisfaction and Jerry introduced Bob. I'll never forget what Bob said "and of course there's old Jer..." Jerry introduced Bob as his "best friend in the whole world" I think.

Just to give an example of how different things are now compared to then. I snuck a 2 foot U.S. bong into this show inside my backpack. It was the first, and only time we ever did bong hits inside a Dead show. Silly anecdote I know, but humorous nonetheless.

wow i went both DC days that summer... 17 year old DC native at the time... two of only three dead shows i ever went to... with best friend first day then girlfriend second day... My girlfirend and I decided we just had to have sex. it was dark by then; so we thought we could get away with it... we went from the field up to the upper deck behind the stage. RFK had those cramped hard chairs with armrests instead of flat benches; so it wasn't exactly comfortable to say the least... Anyway, just when we get started a lady cop shines a flashlight on us and busts us, then marches us all the way down underneath the stadium to some control/station area... She tells her supervisor she caught "these two fornicating", and her supervisor tells her to "just kick them out"... And she did escort us out of the stadium, but forgot to take our ticket stubs; so we just walked right back in for the encore - which just so happened to be an AWESOME rendition of Good Lovin'!!! Great concert moment to say the least... The day before was so hot my buddy had heatstroke and fainted on the field right in front of the stage... A big bearded bear of a hippie dumped a cooler of ice water on his head and he popped right up and we had a great rest of the day... IMO Petty really stole the show that day!!!

Looking back this was a hot one and was relieved when it was over just wanted to get back out west.Which did not happen till October for the Jerry shows at the stone. Here is the Dylan Petty set list. Bob Dylan RFK Stadium Washington, District Of Columbia 7 July 1986 1. Unchain My Heart (James Freddy/Agnes Jones) 2. Positively 4th Street 3. Clean Cut Kid 4. Emotionally Yours 5. Shot Of Love 6. We Had It All (Donny Fritts-Troy Seals) 7. Masters Of War 8. To Ramona 9. One Too Many Mornings 10. It Ain't Me, Babe 11. I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know (Cecil A. Null) [I'm Moving On (Hank Snow)(missing)] 12. Band Of The Hand 13. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky 14. Just Like A Woman 15. Ballad Of A Thin Man 16. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 17. Seeing The Real You At Last 18. Across The Border 19. I And I 20. Like A Rolling Stone 21. In The Garden 22. Blowin' In The Wind 23. Shake A Hand (Joe Morris) 24. Knockin' On Heaven's Door

I remember Dylan's guitar not working at the beginning of Baby Blue. Bob lent him his guitar and walked to get another from the guitar tech. So Dylan is playing Bobbie's guitar during that song, then they switch back for Desolation Row. Dylan's playing could thus be heard so clearly, since Bob's guitar was mixed better, and he had a really nice touch, very cool fills. I hadn't really thought much of his playing before that. I hope someone can post this show some day - it was a no taping show. :-( Yes it was incredibly hot!! Water being sprayed on the crowd to cool down. Nice show with my friend Tim.

I can't remember for sure, because of the copious amounts of lsd in my system at the time, but I may very well have been the guy who was the garbage surfer. My friends dragged me home that night and I remember becoming entangled in some mylar ribbons and laughing my head off but not much else. I didn't smell like garbage afterward, so maybe it wasn't me after all. My first Dead show. I didn't learn about Jerry until much later.

Bob Dylan joined for It's All Over Now, Baby Blue and Desolation Row.

Sweltering, oppressive, muggy, swampy, sweaty, baking, roasting, burnt-out. Jerry sitting down at a couple of points, he and Brent left the stage - it was fucking miserable weather, even in the press box where we somehow ended up. The band was sluggish, and Jerry was frighteningly huge, and obviously not well - we didn't know how not well until a couple days later. If there was a bright side to Jerry's first coma, it took me off tour, which forced me to finish college; 1986 was turning into a year where I was going to leave the straight world to the straights...

The first day the heat was brutal - firehoses cooling down the crowd, the whole thing. Dylan, Petty and the Heartbreakers were great, and the Dead set was fantastic. Only damper was that one of my companions fainted dead out - she'd had a little too much refreshment and heat. Also I hung way too far back in the stadium. 7-7 the heat seemed more bearable - I worked my way up front as soon as possible and met a buddy 25 or 30 people deep right in front - just in time to see Dylan come out for (I'm pretty sure) the first time ever on stage with the Boys. Unfortunately in those days I'd heard, and that day saw, that Bobby D liked to hit the J&B pretty hard straight from the neck the moment he finished his set. I remember, and have since confirmed by listening to the set a few times, that it took him about half of Baby Blue to figure out the key it was in, and it's almost hilarious how bad his guitar sounds throughout. To his credit he rallied big time for Desolation Row, and while his guitar still sounds bad, the vocals aren't quite as lunatic as they sound on Baby Blue - good times.