The Grateful Dead – The 1985 Tapes On The Internet Archive

The Grateful Dead Concert Tapes On The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive’s Grateful Dead is a great collection of concert tapes. There are over 2,000 unique concerts. There are multiple recordings of most concerts. This series attempts to provide a simple interface to this collection by selecting one recording for each concert on a given date. Preference is given to tapes processed by the great Charlie Miller and sound board tapes. Not all shows are well recorded but the there are great moments here. Dig in and enjoy! You didn’t have to be there. Good Luck.

The Grateful Dead Version 2.0 ( 1979 – 1990 )

With the departure of the Godchaux’s in 1979, Brent Mydland joined the Grateful Dead on keyboards starting on April 16, 1979. Brent continued with the band throughout the eight’s and played his last show with the Grateful Dead was on 23 July 1990. The Grateful Dead, although dominated by the (non-leader) Jerry Garcia, are always defined by the keyboard player and how he interacts musically (on keyboards and on backing vocals) with Jerry. With the addition of Brent the band moved from the bluesy, slow, highly controlled style of the 1970 to a more open, faster and ultimately funk / R&B approach. Just listen to the transformation of Scarlet Begonia / Fire On The Mountain from its classic form in the late 1970s with a version played later in the 1980s. The crowds and arenas were bigger with 10s of thousands packing in to show. The sound system and the sound board recordings improve dynamically, especially with the introduction of digital recording technology (DAT). Jerry was hospitalized in 1986 in a diabetic coma induced by bad life style choices (to say the least) and with the help of Merl Saunders had to learn to re learn how to play the guitar.

In This Series:

____	1970	1980	1990
____	1971	1981	1991
____	1972	1982	1992
____	1973	1983	1993
____	1974	1984	1994
____	1975	1985	1995
1966	1976	1986	____
1967	1977	1987	____
1968	1978	1988	____
1969	1979	1989	____

Additional details of the Internet Archive Collection and how these lists were generated can be found here.

My blogs on individual Grateful Dead show can be found here.

A list of all soundboard tapes of Dark Star performances on the Internet Archive can be found here.

A list of all soundboard tapes of Scarlet Begonia -> Fire On The Mountain performances on the Internet Archive can be found here.

The 1985 Concert Tapes

1985-02-00 – Twilight Zone Sessions Listen

1985-02-18 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-02-19 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-02-20 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-03-09 – Berkeley Community Theater Listen

1985-03-10 – Berkeley Community Theatre Listen

1985-03-12 – Berkeley Community Theatre Listen

1985-03-13 – Berkeley Community Theatre Listen

1985-03-21 – Hampton Coliseum Listen

1985-03-22 – Hampton Coliseum Listen

1985-03-24 – Springfield Civic Center Listen

1985-03-25 – Springfield Civic Center Arena Listen

1985-03-27 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Listen

1985-03-28 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Listen

1985-03-29 – Nassau Coliseum Listen

1985-03-31 – Cumberland County Civic Center Listen

1985-03-39 – Nassau Coliseum Listen

1985-04-01 – The Cumberland County Civic Center Listen

1985-04-03 – Providence Civic Center Listen

1985-04-04 – Providence Civic Center Listen

1985-04-06 – The Spectrum Listen

1985-04-07 – The Spectrum Listen

1985-04-08 – The Spectrum Listen

1985-04-13 – Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre Listen

1985-04-14 – Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre Listen

1985-04-27 – Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University Listen

1985-04-28 – Frost Amphitheatre – Stanford University Listen

1985-06-14 – Greek Theatre, U. Of California Listen

1985-06-15 – Greek Theatre – University of California Listen

1985-06-16 – Greek Theater, U. of California Listen

1985-06-21 – Alpine Valley Music Theatre Listen

1985-06-22 – Alpine Valley Music Theatre Listen

1985-06-24 – River Bend Music Center Listen

1985-06-25 – Blossom Music Center Listen

1985-06-27 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center Listen

1985-06-28 – Hershey Park Stadium Listen

1985-06-30 – Merriweather Post Pavilion Listen

1985-07-01 – Merriweather Post Pavilion Listen

1985-07-02 – Civic Arena Listen

1985-07-13 – Ventura County Fairgrounds Listen

1985-07-14 – Ventura County Fairgrounds Listen

1985-08-24 – Boreal Ridge Ski Resort Listen

1985-08-30 – Southern Star Amphitheater Listen

1985-08-31 – Manor Downs Listen

1985-09-02 – Zoo Ampitheatre Listen

1985-09-03 – Starlight Theatre Listen

1985-09-05 – Red Rocks Ampitheatre Listen

1985-09-06 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre Listen

1985-09-07 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre Listen

1985-09-10 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-09-11 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-09-12 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-09-15 – Devore Field Listen

1985-10-25 – Sportatorium Listen

1985-10-26 – Sun Dome Listen

1985-10-28 – Fox Theater Listen

1985-10-29 – Fox Theater Listen

1985-10-31 – Carolina Coliseum – University of South Carolina Listen

1985-11-01 – Richmond Coliseum Listen

1985-11-02 – Richmond Coliseum Listen

1985-11-04 – The Centrum Listen

1985-11-05 – The Centrum Listen

1985-11-07 – Community War Memorial Auditorium Listen

1985-11-08 – Community War Memorial Auditorium Listen

1985-11-10 – Meadowlands Arena Listen

1985-11-11 – Brendan Byrne Arena Listen

1985-11-16 – Long Beach Arena Listen

1985-11-17 – Long Beach Arena Listen

1985-11-20 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-11-21 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-11-22 – Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Listen

1985-12-30 – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Listen

1985-12-31 – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Listen