Grateful Dead

2 years after my first show, I got on board for this one. I was interested because this is the place I learned how to ski when I was like 5 years old and came here every year since I was little. I never heard of anyone putting on a concert here so I had to check it out. My buddy and I drove up the evening before with no real plan at all. Across the highway from the ski resort is a dirt road that winds up a steep hill. there were a lot of cars and people hanging out so we drive up to the gate where some dude is standing. He looks at us and I say,"we're here for the concert." He opens the gate and we proceed up the road lined with cars, people cavorting, campfires and laughter. We find a spot to pull over and spend the night watching all these trippy people milling around like they all knew each other. A motorcycle drove by with a girl on the back holding a big bottle of Jack Daniels screaming with delight. every 30 minutes or so they would return, driving up & down that road all night. The next day we get to the parking lot, meet friends and check out the scene. T-shirts, veggie burritos, all kinds of nonsense, and acid everywhere you turned. I have never seen as much at a show since then. Anyway, we were tripping by breakfast. There was a handful of musical memories as well as equipment problems but the magic for me was just being there. This was the first Dead show I did psychedelics for and something clicked. The encore punctuated the concert with Day Tripper. That said it all. I think everyone there was ablaze. The show ended and my whole group of friends lost each other in the mind-altered chaos that the night would bring. I ended up with some other friends camped by a river or something. the next day we got lost in Yosemite. The foundation was laid for a lifetime of adventure. November Kaiser shows will cement the deal and from then on I made it a point to be at every Dead show I could get to. 22 years and over 200 shows later, these memories are some of the finest in my life. we all shine on

Not sure how I ended up at this show. I was on vacation with the parents and it just happened. All I really remember is it was DUSTY!!!!

Lookin at the poster as i type, the highest GD concert in the world.& the hotest i might add. a good one....

Listen to smokey the bear and we could have more dead campouts The late dangerous, dobbs as well as the explorer eldarodas did emergency forestry . Respect mother earthmills bless dangerous doug and danno

Boy was it hot alright! I took some great pictures at this show. I seem to remember some commotion about the people on the ski lifts? I remember watching the Dead fly in on helicopters.

A bunch of friends from Santa Cruz rented a car and made it to the highest show ever... After Bob's wrestling with a pesky tech problem the show settles in and Cooked! Everyone dancing and digging the tunes...Watching my friends slowly go grey from all the dust we kicked up was hilarious!..All of us afflicted with lack of oxygen and no lack of altered conciousness...Tripping down the mountain after the show and invading Reno topped it all off... Oh, well, a Touch of Grey...Kinda suits you anyway...

I was living outside of Auburn, CA and drove Foresthill Road for about four hours along the ridge separating the North Fork and the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the American River. Nothing to be seen for miles and miles but wilderness, crossing streams and gullys only to reach Soda Springs at about 10 AM. I met a friend from Silver City NV, but only after dosing in the parking lot and seeing the ski lift towers dancing like puppets. My girlfriend wouldn't go cause she was too pregnant, I wanted my kid to be born there, but no luck. He was born the following Saturday in Auburn. What a long strange trip it was.....and is. What a show...Micky's percussion stage was life changing. Still remember the back-stagers hanging off the deck of the ski lodge.

Went with Butch and had a great time. We had to talk someone down who wasn't having a good time.

highlights... the smart idea to take the taxi from our Donner Summit motel to the ski area... 2 hits of Vitamin A and M at the same time....never did that before but I said "Heck, I'm a big boy now!".... wow, did that make the day a true "rush"...haha... getting there EARLY(a rarity for me), setting down the blankets, and immediately heading for the Alpine Slide.... oooohhh what fun, had to go twice !!! ......the "un"-parking lot fiasco was really funny as people took over 3 hours to get their cars out(think parkers parked everyone one in criss-cross, and left afterwards as a trick) LOL... waving good bye to Jerry as he "helo-ed" away....gosh, the Boys going the Stones route, now if that didn't take the cake....

besides the sound problems 1st set, didn't Bobby climb the speakers(you know, he's a real DIYer..hehe)....was it me, or was there some trip-ups in Day Tripper? lowlights - NONE !!! we were all too high to notice !!

Oh well, the highest GD concert was one for the books !!!

Geoff

"one way or another"-New Speedway Boogie.... and "you need to be kissed often, and by a man who knows how"- Rhett to Scarlet - Gone with the Wind The Big Dog Dad - Schultzie

I flew up on a one way ticket from La...no clue how I would get home..didnt matter..I was at the show.. Even though sound system troubles...great show..very hot... met old friends from upstate Ny selling crystals in the lot..my good friend S Roush...small world.. Ended up getting a ride back with Bob in his purple van...and a load of other heads..good thing I had gas $$$ we took the coast and tripped the whole way back...crashed at his place along the SD Freeway and didnt leave for a year !! LOL

The "conventional wisdom" of this show is that it is considered their "worst ever" gig. So what makes a show the "worst ever?" Most people would say if Jerry was out of it, that's enough to be a bad show. Then the sound problems. Boreal suffered from sound problems, but everything seemed to get resolved by set break. Was there ever a show that was considered bad because of the drummers? I've always wondered. Well if there was, Boreal 85 wasn't it. Listen to Mickey and Billy pound away for all it's worth. They are really alive here. Great drumming from the Rhythm devils.

deleted! Sheesh!

This show was great. A few rough edges but they were smoothed out by the sunshine and snow softener. A unique and unforgettable experience. I appreciated it for what it was and wouldn't want to change anything about it.

I went to this show. Of course there were good parts, but I distinctly remember feeling unsettled at this show. I skied in those mountains from a wee pup, and thought the show would be a peak experience but there was just a strange energy to this one. It was hot and dusty but being able to hike anywhere you wanted was cool. I do recall meeting a long haul trucker afterward who stopped his rig and took in the show, he was pumped that they did Truckin’ . Cool, I thought, he had a good time.
We wandered around for 45 min afterwards looking for my my old bmw2002, finally found it as dusk started settling in, parked between two pine trees.

For more comments there’s further exploration of this show at Archive.org