I love it. First of all, it's a beautiful recording, despite Bobby's guitar being completely inaudible. The Scarlet > Touch > Fire is fantastic. Space > The Wheel has a few minutes of some of the most heart-meltingly beautiful sounds I've ever heard them make. And then, the Dark Star encore! One of my handful of favortie Dark Stars ever. As one reviewer put it in their review on Heady Version, "It's so beautifully sexy!". I agree. This show was enjoyable from top to bottom! Dig in!

The kids today would love this. Up tempo. Tight. Hell, I love it. The mid/ early 80’s are somewhat an acquired taste but damn, once you get a hankerin’ for it, you really like it. Licorice any one?!
Not exactly sure what happened to Jerry’s voice in this time frame. Is there a chipmunk in his chest? Is he stoned? Too many filterless? Persian? It’s so weird that his voice came back in 88.
Anyway, I love the sound. I really do. And his guitar is tight and fast and dirty.
The whole band worked well in this period. Perfect mid 80’s example here.

I usually have a strong preference for the early Dead (though I'm too young to have seen Jerry perform in any era) - but while this Dark Star might not be the most psychedelic, mind-bending one out there, it's a delicate Dark Star, a fragile Dark Star, full of tenderness and pathos, and yes, it is beautiful.

Wow nice combo the whole show is smoking Jerry’s voice sounds great for 84

While 1984 isn’t usually what comes to mind when thinking of incredible tours, this is a fine example of Jerry and the band at their absolute peak in terms of listening to each other and creating a vivid space from which to improvise. Jerry’s health was in huge decline during this period, his vocals often being strained to the point of scorched during most of 1983-1985. It wasn’t until after the coma and return to the road in 1987 that he could croon on a regular basis. However, there were often many great nights of guitar playing pre coma. At this point, he was still performing magically on most nights. The Greek Theatre was always a special place for the band and this run was no exception. This night was the first of a three night run and the first back in their hometown winding down from the long summer tour that started out West, moved to the East and then Midwest. This night among other things was known for the breakout of Dark Star for the first time since New Years 81 and more interestingly played as an encore, While that was satisfying in its own right, I believe the Scarlet Begonias —> Touch of Grey —> Fire on the Mountain was the barn burner of the show. This jam in Scarlet, prior to the move to Touch of Grey, which hadn’t ever happened before this night as far as I know, was intense, full of energy and great band syncopation. Paul and I are constantly looking for that magic in the music and this was no exception. The interplay between Jerry’s leads, Bob and Phil’s rhythmic foundation, the drummers cool fresh sounds and Brent who had come into his own (almost 5 years at this point) was highlighted by this mesmerizing jam. I find this full of energy and fresh ideas that I have drawn from in countless jams. The pace starts out nice and even and then builds dynamically throughout to an interesting crescendo. What always keeps me coming back to this jam is the upbeat nature of it. Scarlet jams could be sometimes short, spacey or even somewhat measured. There might be better ones, but this is pretty cool. I especially like the tease at the end into Fire on the Mountain, which Jerry actually abandons in favor of Touch of Grey.

A buddy of mine that lived in SF at the time was at this show. Unfortunately I couldn't make it. It was either at the end of the 2nd set or before the encore Phil says "We're gonna do a little something special tonight, one night and one night only". Anybody who heard that had a pretty good idea of what was coming. Full moon, Friday the 13th, and some people witnessed a shooting star too. Ironic! (unless it was a mass hallucination - possibly)

I traded the band's press agent and scribe -- Dennis McNally my press pass to the Democratic National Convention underway at the Moscone for a pair of tickets to this show -- my first and only at the Greek. The newspaper back in Boston wasn't too pleased to get a story the next morning that tried to weave the scene in Berkeley with the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as vice-president. This show was the incandescent coda to a weird week that included taking a pee in the men's room at the Tosca Cafe in North Beach beside Hunter S. Thompson (he autographed that same press pass),

But the music.....oh the music.

Nice sound to this 84 gem..This show had everything colliding at the right time...Bam Bezerkely..Is it perfect? I'm not looking for perfection~but what I like is right here!! 3 stars?? Come on give it another listen...Forever Grateful>Forever Dead~~~~Lifer

Without a doubt, the Greek was one of the most desired tickets of the 80s.

My desire to see shows there came from two tapes from the previous years 5/22/82 and 9/12/81. The 5/22 has an incredible Jack>Sugaree and the 9/11 has the best CC Rider (IMHO) ever.

Saw the 83 shows and had to come back for the 84 shows.

One thing that has be noted is the place just boomed Phil's bass.......and he knew it. At any time he could takeover the entire sound system. Never saw anyplace that could so do that as much as the Greek.

Skip forward 28 years to the NYE Furthur run and listen to the bomb Phil drops in the return to Slipknot, only other time I have heard it quite like that.

I lost this tape many moons ago. Here it is again. How cool! Thanks!!!

I was a mere 14 years of age so I was on the other side of the bay listening to Blues For Allah on vinyl for the first time. Epic Show

27 ago... still got the stubb... my favorite!

I was at this Full Moon show and the first set was great, with "See See Rider" for the Moon like one of the other years here, "Dire Wolf", "Loser", "Dupree's Diamond Blues"(except that Jerry vocal mike wasn't on at the very beginning), and "Might As Well" etc.
The 2nd Set had not the greatest I've ever heard at the Greek but that means about as good as most any show, yet fairly exceptional (like even better the next day too) "Percussion" -> "Improvisation" (remember as I always point out that in outer space there is no air). My second of 5 1/2 "Dark Star"s (the first one being the 1/2). This was the best of the bunch!

Augy
San Diego

Does this show really need another review? Probably not, but I'm here to testify like all the rest. 1985, I was in exile in boarding school, having been invited to leave high school (dead shows bled over too much into school, if you know what I mean), and one day I pass by the art studio, where this Scarlet-Touch transition was pouring out. Not my class, and I was brand new to the school, but I had to walk right into the classroom and ask WHAT KIND OF INTERGALACTIC DEAD SHOW WAS THIS. Dead from outer space, Dead from the year 2500 traveling back to us! Thanks AC (the guy who hooked me up with it), and thanks to the cool teacher who abided my intrusion. It has been a favorite of mine ever since. Simply Brilliant, from beginning to end. PERFECT.

I agree with Zaorish...what a beautiful Dark Star. Jerry takes for one of those surreal musical rides, up and down, back and forth, over and above. Oh I wish I could have been there.

I knew I liked '84 for a reason

Love this show from start to finish.....How this 84 Greek run has avoided an official release is beyond me?
The Dark Star in my book is great! I hear a very nice long jam in there.

I used to have a high quality audience tape and loved it, the crowd was hanging on every second. The Scarlet> Touch is maybe "the one", another great choice is 6/29/84. What makes this spectacular is Brent and Phil and how much they are driving it. Brent's vocals and playing are some of his best. Bill and Mickey are right there too. Fire is straight ahead and right on, shorter than you would think, and some gret solos by Jerry. The real sparks fly after a cool space, the transition into The Wheel is nice with Mickey doing some cool bell sounds on the beam, go to 7/15/84 if you want to hear the most intense beam work, and you get a joyous reading with amazing harmonies. They rock out in Miracle and again Phil is a monster! Stella is a majestic version, Healy puts some slight echo on Jerry's vocals and it works out quite well. His solo is very sweet and the ending is nice and maybe could have been longer if not for Bob charging in to Sugar Magnolia, which is a amazing version. Once again they rock out and you get the whole band contributing and great harmonies. They take a longer than usual pause before SSDD and then bring it on home, a joyous highlight. The Dark Star right out of the gate is the best song of the night and is very focused and explorative. The jam is very nice to the "mirror shatter" verse and the ending, which may come as a surprise, is quite beautiful and just like out of nowhere it disappears right before your eyes, like a shooting star.

Yeah you fu#&ing tell em Homer JAY! I'm right wit you hommes, wake up and smell the fresh shizzle... cause its like 1984 duder, not like 1970. heheheheheh mmmmmnnnmm tasty Dark Star.

Here are 2 5 star shows, I have listened to a lot of shows, and it's hard to find ones like these 2, check them out, 10/11/83 Madison Square, and 8/29/83, U of Maine, Phil is excellent, and the sound mix is good, I usually download all of the avaiable recordings to find the best mix. Eyes of the world on 8/29/83, Phil is a rockin'. The Madison show is a true GEM of a show, not many like it. Your post was in 2005, so it may take you a couple of years to come back, who knows, happy trails man. Dark Star on this one is great, 5 star rating on the Dark Star!

Wow! In the late 80s a friend gave me a 90 minute cassette tape of this show which started at Scarlet and continued through Dark Star, cutting it off in its middle (always causing me great misery). It was my first introduction to the dead and altered my music tastes forever. Great to hear the entire show and in particular the entire Dark Star. Keep up the good work Archive.org.

This was the first three day run I made in my dead pursuing career. I was 18 and we tripped every day and slept in the neighborhood with tye dyes in the window of the car. I remember it being a warm eve. Phil came out for the extra long pre encore anouncement and there was some weird lunar landscapes on the film screen or something? I was sold on the dead after this weekend and stayed til the end... thx Jerry

i was at this show, and was locked out. fortunately the dead was kind enough to hook speakers out in the park for all those who did'nt make it in. there were so many people out there dancin it was like bein in the show

A beautiful Dark Star full of sweetness and love. Everyone plays absoltuely perfectly.

i question the sobriety of anyone rating this recording only 3 stars...

seems like a lot of these shows are rated based on the strength of their 2nd sets...

clearly some of you are stuck in the early 70s and refuse to acknowledge any other era Dark Star.. the cascading cymbal crescendo in the beginning says it all... get off the brown acid, freedom rockers, just because it's not 25 mins doesn't make it any less rippin', and put it in the context of the last time played. if this isn't 5 stars then what is?!

Very solid playing all the way through. Took a couple songs to get the levels right, and the mix could use just a touch more of phil. Check it out.

This is the last dark star before a 5 year dry spell. Thanks for a good one!

Over the years I always gave this tape the highest praise. I've been attached to this show for 20 years now, since I first heard an audience tape in college. We spent hours rocking out to this show. In the late 80's we were asked in the parking lot of a show, "is that the coveted audience version of the sacred 7/13/84?" Whoever asked was right on. The snbd is crisp, but you've got to hear the swiss-watch like second set from the taper's section. The momentum is made sublime by the crashing cymbal and the ecstatic audience getting off on the music. I saw many shows between '85 and '95, but I'd trade them all to time travel back and peak at the Greek on this night!

My first soundboard coming onto the seen or so I thought. I think it was really a FM broadcast recording. It was one of those tapes spun to enternity, Scarlet~Touch~Fire. Back in the day of a 8-track casette adapter in the family wagon.
Never made the Greek, but made it at least to Frost and Henry J Kaiser. Not bad for a ski bum.
My favorite thing about the Archive, "This day in GD history" and all you reviewers comments about being at the SHOW!
Thank You Jerry....

I also got a tape of this from the great Sergio of the Southland! The whole second set is brilliant. I love the Scarlet>Touch>Fire and the whole space>Wheel is deliciously tripped out. First set is good stuff too. The Dark Star is hot. Short but sweet. Not the inter-dimensional mind vehicle that some other Stars are, but good nonetheless. No weaksauce here.

This was one of my favorite tapes. It was a sweet sweet sbd copy my buddy Sergio sent me. The "Space" is probably my favorite thing here, just soooooo trippy and spooky in some spots. The Star is beautiful and different and I love it for that. Besides, the very idea of the boys coming back to do an encore and they break out a Dark Star? Damn. I can't even imagine...

great show, epecially the second half and of course the dark star encore, sound quality also very good....i have this show for trade. e-mail me @ alexlagusis@mac.com, please make subject "dead show" or something similar so i do not discard it.

There are great aud's out there of this and plenty of other shows from this time period. It would be nice to have them here so we can be freed of the shackles of streaming format.

And its a nice brain melter at that.

Some of the earlier reviewers knock it for not being "explorative" enough - but this version is PLENTY psychedlic. Try it and see.

Your brain will thank you rather than resent you later. ;-p

The rest of the show is kindly spirited too. There's a vintage "Scarlet/Fire" with a rushed "Touch" tossed in the middle.

Jerry's voice sounds a little nodded-out at times, but his playing is inspired, sharp, playful, and as previously mentioned, he takes you on a kind ride at the end.

Anyone have this show? I downloaded a bunch that I could trade before they took the SBDs down. cringle22@hotmail.com

phishphreak - Alpine Valley '89 had some great brent shows (assuming you're talking about his playing, not his godawful songs) I've got 2 to share.

This second set is incredible, dark star rules,
3 stars my #@$!

Good show, if you like how brent sounded in this one then you must check out 1984-04-26 - Providence Civic Center. Brent was definitly on during sugar magnolia. The show has an interesting dark star.

If anyone can recommend the best brent shows to me please do!

As a non-taper I remember this show well. My spouse used to wait in line early while I was at work just to make sure we had a chair at the Greek. I think this is one of the first shows where they started to show the oil screen. I remember being very frightened by the dark star THE MUSIC WAS A LIVING ENTITY w/ breath & conscience !! and running out of the show w/ spouse in tow very upset that he had left shoes & others articles. But once I got on the bus & it passed it was the one of greatest I've experienced.

Is it me, or is the tempo in Scarlet faster than normal- even for "Normal fast"? It sounds like the are racing to get to the fire. I like the way Phil's bass sounds on this night.

Any help from all you brilliant people and wonderful fans in pointing me to the best recordings where Phil comes through and shines I would be most appreciative

these greek shows are really hot get them all,the dark star is one of the best non spacey jamz i heard in a while.

for an encore, after the boys ripped it up for two smokin sets cut em some slack on the dark star what would you have been happier with day job????

This is far and away the best Scarlet of the 80's...period. I have had various versions of this show since 87 and still play it anytime someone asks me for a "best of" example. It is simple, tight, melodic and full of raw energy. Although Jerry's habits might have been a detriment to his health, his playing at times was simply scorching in the Mid 80's. This is a perfect example of high octane Grateful Dead hitting on all cylinders. A must own!

CC Rider may be the best ever definately up there with 4/18/82 Spectrum and 6/30/85 Merriwether - 1st set is not just ok it is very good.. The Scarlet is definately the best of '84 and one of the best of the 80's. Miracle and Sugar Mag are great and the Dark Star is long and good... There are no gimmicks here this is just solid playing and excellent vibes...

Check out the 11/2 BCT show as well I saw a bunch of '84 shows and do not remember them this hot...

How's about those Phil bombs at the begining of "Miracle"?
gives me chills!

That deep low end bass sounds like Mothra running into the cable supports of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I had a tape a friend sent me (miss you Seth) right after the show and the bass came out fuller on it (amazingly enough) but this is still a great show and a good recording.

I have a cassette soundboard master of this show (Healy let me plug in my Sony WM-D6) I have burned it to CDR, and would be happy to put it up here if someone would show me how! Email me at smarcus@dead.net. You can also see a list of a lot of what I have concerning live shows , Dead and otherwise, at:

www.tapetrader.com/smarcus

The 1st set is OK. The 2nd set is the best performance of the year. Just listen.

Sure, this is not your 60's or 70's dead. The hell with anyone who says they didnt play any good shows past that point. This show rocks from start to end. The scarlet>touch>fire is definately something different. I havent heard this show in a long time, but pulled it out yestarday and gave it a good listen and wondered why its been so long. The sound on this is very good. Cooooooocaine all around their brains!

We were standing in the pit, and I recall Phil talking about the discovery of a crater on Mars which looked like a human face. We knew something was up when they made an [unintellible] announcement at the end of the second set instead of going into the standard encore routine. The buzz in the crowd was very intense with a 'third set?' and 'pre-Dark Star?' premonition. Upon hearing the Dark Star tune up, my wise cracking friend, Chris Forshay yelled out "US Blues!", we had to smack him! :)

This show was played on a Friday the 13th with a Full Moon. Supposedly this was the first time this had happened in 200 years.

The 84 Democratic convention was in town along with the "Moral Majority" convention and the hookers convention.

While waiting in line a guy next to me was talking to some guy who said Phil had seen the setlist and was very excited about the show. I thought what a crock of #%^& but then the guy pulled out his laminate and went back inside the venue. The gates were not open yet.

Good show made better by a great encore. The stella Blue was sweet and you could hear a pin drop in the audience. Try 7/15 if you are looking for a great show start to finish.

The first set definately starts out rough, but the band picks things up by the second set. I first had this show as and audience tape and I don't think I've ever heard a more energetic Greek crowd than at this three day set of shows. The highlight obviously is the Dark Star and although it may not be "explorative" in nature, the interplay between all of the band members is exceptional.

..so I guess three stars is about right. The Scarlet>Touch>Fire is very cool (high energy at the very least), and the Dark Star is certainly a more-than-respectable effort under the circumstances. One of the better shows of a year that managed to offer some surprisingly good music in spite of Jerry's well-known problems.

I remember being in line for a Jerry show in Middletown NY, a bunch of folks who didn't get to attend this show were all talking about how they didn't really miss anything, the Dark Star was lame...so I stealthly popped in the tape I had...without knowing it these guys start with the "thats what D.S. is supposed to sound like" "if I had missed that one I'd be bummed" etc. Well I told them after it ended...and they were now bummed. In the typical fashion, those who miss it rarely want it to be as good as it was...personally I didn't like much of the rest of this show...seemed like the windowpane held off until after Drums....I was high all the rest of the night...good thing since I just sat in line waiting to get into the next days show.

For years I had a really great sounding AUD tape of this...the roar when everybody figures out whats happening is so cool, also the delay at the end before the roar starts is so cool.

A one song show.

while this is a decent show for the era, it is nowhere near a 5 star show. You have a ton of Dead to sift thru if you think so. Scarlet>Touch>Fire, definately fast and outrageous for the time...and un-heroine esk to say the least. Its the 0nly thing I can agree with here. Dark Star...eh, unexplorative, but a nice groove thru-out. Nice recording as far as sound, but thats about all it has to offer.

For those who say the mid 80s are a time of uninspired playing, jerry nodding off in a heroin haze, I submit 7/13/84 as proof that great music can be found from this time period. The 2d set oozes with funked out jamming from beginning to end, the trippy urgency of the Wheel, the plaintiff bleating of Stella, 1984 finds Garcia at both his most vulnerable and powerful. I saw no shows until 1989 when Jerry was in (arguably) better shape, but looking back at some of the photos of the 84 era, you can almost picture fans gasping and praying (at the same time) that this man, who looked like he would keel over at any moment, was able to produce such amazing music.

The Dark Star encore puts this show in another realm and at 17 minutes+ it's a pretty good version at that.

Highly recommended

five stars????????not quite..excellent sound, hopes high from roaring first notes of Bertha..only to find the band not quite together for the rest of the first set..secind set is another story.......i don't know what was ingested during intermission but truly great second set..and Dark Star for the planetary alignment of 1984????oh well.i'll rate this a 4..much better than the other Greek shows in this year's run.......

Ive had the tape of the Second Set for a while now and I cant get over it. They rip all the way through. Scarlet>Touch>Fire is played so fast; they are playing warp speed. Jerry was en fuego. The Dark Star encore is SICK. Possibly my favorite post hiatus Dark Star. 1984 was a Dead Year and this is one of the best shows.

Jerry's jam out of space and into Wheel is the best I have ever heard. It is the Wheel theme but there's all sorts of bizarre electronic bugs buzzing in and out of the build-up; and Jerry plays into Wheel with extra care. I have never heard another Wheel like it. It is only a couple minutes but it is absolutely melty.

Don't get too excited about the Dark Star -- it never really gets out of the theme and into any kind of jam.

This is probably the best of the three shows of this run.

The Dark Star overshadows the rest of this show (and for good reason too) but the Scarlet had a great buildup as this giant beachball landed in front of Jerry. The Scarlet jam goes great into touch but a little less smoothly into Fire. The Stella Blue was also very sweet and the giant soap bubble hanging over Jerry's head during the final part made it even better. The Dark Star was accompanied by a slide show as well as a shooting star overhead. That whole night was legendary

This opening night at the Greek is obviously worthy of download if only for the Dark Star encore. The next 2 shows are even better, especially the 15th. This may be the Dead's strongest run at the Greek. Jerry looked like hell but he sure was on fire throughout the weekend.

Yes it's true, a shooting star did in fact pass over the Greek right before they played Dark Star. The whole 2nd set is sublime. Junkie Jerry sings for his very life on Stella Blue. And just listen to the Sugar Mag jam come together before the SSDD break!

A classic that belongs in your collection.