yeah, this was the fabled Promised Land perhaps my only solid memory from this show besides laying underneath a car like a dog and trying to beat the intense heat.

That was priceless we were all dancing and halfway though the song music comes to a grinding halt and I was thinking oh man the folks in charge pulled the plugged because of the idiots running down the hill that stormed the field and all the cops that lined up to stop it and that was disturbing....it was sooo hot that day. Certainly wasn't the greatest show on that tour and saw most of them but it was definitely an interesting day....as I recall when the idiots were running down the hill Brent was singing we can run....synchronicity once again.

I remember this day like yesterday. It was my first show. My friend and I had a sugar cube each which was soggy. It was so hot when we arrived. A guy was handing out wet paper towels from a cooler filled with Ice water to cool us down. We walked around the carnival of sights and sounds( and smells). We took a tour of a double decker "hippie" bus, saw friends, laughed and entered the stadium while Bruce Hornsby played. The greatful Dead started, and we were flying by this time. A rain storm was brewing on the horrizon and a beautiful thunderstorm rolled in and cooled off the crowd. I asked a girl if the Dead was going to cancel for the rain and she assured me that they would play on. There was an interlude and the Dead came back on stage. I remember that the lightning show and thunder matched the music as if god himself was tapping his foot to the music. There was a big grassy hill behind the field seats and the stadium seats and one guy was filled with the spirit and jumped the fence. The stadium was cheering for him, but he was tackled by a few highway patrolmen. The whole stadium booed. He broke free again and started to run with his arms in the air, fueled by the crowds wild cheers, but alas was caught again with more boo's from the onlookers. A couple of more revelers were inspired and jumped the fence, then three, then a dozen then hundreds rushed the field. My friend grabbed me and said " lets go", we ran to the grassy hill and slipped and slid on the wet grass, and danced like possessed banshees. The feeling was electric. I remember when ( so we thought) the final song played; Not Fade Away, and we started walking out while continuing to sing " know our love will not fade away" clapping with all of our hearts with thousand of others and the song went on forever. We sang it on and on even in the parking lot as one big group, on and on and on. I went to many shows afterward, but will never forget the vibe, the celebration and the joy. And to this very day my love has not faded away. Rest in peace Jerry and thank you for a fine afternoon

Strange how people perceive things differently. I was close to the stage and didn't see the gate crashing so I didn't perceive any negative vibes at all. It was hot. The whole tour was as hot as I can remember it ever being. Over 100 degrees in DC. I'm a huge fan of the 90 summer tour. Jerry sounds the best he had in years and he and Brent had something magical going on. The show wasn't a barn burner but beautiful and whispy. Love the loser, Friend of the Devil, Stella Blue. I think the mellower shows tend to get rated lower. I thought it was great but Buffalo to me was the highlight of the tour.

two things i remember or 3 maybe from this show was how nice the folks in Raleigh were stayed in a college house wouldn't call it a frat had a great time the night before the show with these folks number two was hot both ways heat and the other heat and in those days wasn't quite as law-abiding as i am now so i recognized both lol and third power outage during Promised Land only one i can recall in my 8 years of touring to that point
i enjoyed the Birdsong and Iko-Iko as being strong but all in all wasn't even close to the better shows on this tour 7/4 7/8 7/12 7/16,18,19 and of course the 23rd great tour though and cuz of the fun i had in N.C. i'll give it a 3

I remember the great thunderstorm and the power outage and how the band started back up after about 20 minutes on the exact note they left off on. Can anyone confirm or deny my foggy memory that the roadies brought out life-size cardboard cutouts of the band and stood them up at each members spot until the power was restored? Maybe some other force was at work that caused us to think that we saw that...

I remember this show specifically out of a difficult tour (see below) This was a great show, and I’ll never forget sitting up in the stands of the stadium in a spot with good sound, watching a heck of a summer thunderstorm building and approaching us from behind the band. It was there without hitting us for quite a while, with tremendous amounts of lightning effects backing up the band. A good bit before the rain hit us (I can’t remember if the rain ever did actually make it to us,) a huge strike in the distance blew out local power momentarily during Promised Land. A bunch of us could actually see the strike off in the distance, then see and hear as a series of 4 or 5 power transformers blew up with a flash followed seconds later by a bang. They kept coming closer until they reached our area. The noise made by the sound system when the power blew was incredible – I guess it took a few seconds for all the amp capacitors to discharge, but whatever, it sounded like a mixture of beautiful music and the dying wail of some enormous beast – it really blew our minds, no pun intended. The electricity in the air both before and after that was palpable, and the band & audience both picked up on it and created a very enjoyable show.
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As for the 1990 summer tour, we called it the "BLUR TOUR '90" - one show per city, one day off, and one show in another city FAR AWAY. It almost seemed that the rumors that the band was trying to discourage touring were true – at least for that summer. Here’s the tour schedule: (Do YOU think this was KIND?)
7/4 Bonner Springs Kansas ->
7/5 Drive ->
7/6 Louisville KY ->
7/7 Drive ->
7/8 Pittsburgh PA->
7/9 Drive
7/10 Raleigh NC->
7/11 Drive ->
7/12 Washington D.C. ->
7/13 Drive Really Far ->
7/14Foxboro Mass. ->
7/15 Drive
7/16 Buffalo NY ->
7/17 Drive ->
7/18&19 @ Deer Creek, IN (Finally, 2 SHOWS in one venue!) REST!!!!
7/21-22-23 Chicago, IL.

The 23rd was, sorrowfully, the last time we saw the incredibly soulful and talented Brent Mydland before his departure from this particular station. I remember noticing something up with Brent throughout that tour, at least 5 times I was near the backstage fence when a helicopter came in to bring in a Band member, and every time it was Brent, carrying a briefcase and looking like he was somehow ‘out of phase’ with everyone & everything around him. A number of my friends commented on the songs he was breaking out and wondered what was up, there were a lot of roumors - but there always are. I pray his journey onward took him to a beautiful, joyful place

I was the only one in the car with a valid driver’s license, so I had to do nearly all of the driving. Many paper cartoon Woodstocks to keep me going. By the time we made Foxboro, I’d had enough driving, so I took a few Xanax, laid down in the back seat, and told the others to wake me up in Buffalo.

O my gosh was it hot that day !!! As a major beer drinker in those days and in my mid twenties, all I could drink was water (and more water)! I even had to drendge myself with water just to even survive!

The show was probably the beginning of the end for OUTDOOR shows for the Dead. Never had I seen so many newbies and simply concert goers until this point - almost ... (I can easily mention others around this time, or earlier, but won't here).

The first set was cool, and the electrical power issues only intensified the croud - and here I was simply going to another show.

The second set was OK, but did not even come close to Pittsburgh the day or two before.

They played some great tunes and played them well. Perhaps they were more comfortable behind stage :-)

When the rain did fall, of course it was intense, but it was my first sight of seeing topless girls at a Dead show. Nice to see :-) The rain cooled everything off so much that I thought I was back in Hershey, PA in '85.

All in all, not bad -- Brent was awsome, as usual, and Bob seemed to be really into the whole atmosphere.

Yes, I have the tape!!!!!

This was my first show. My friend who took me was the first one to go down the hill. Security actually brought him back up and they found me, and asked me to please try and keep my friend from going down the hill. We all know how that worked out. They took him to the first aid tent after his second trip down the hill. To my surprise, the state trooper released him to me 15 minutes later after they got him re-hydrated, just in time for the power failure. I could barely even speak to the police at that point.

Being from NC, and knowing the troopers reputation back then, this could have been a lot worse.

My friend appeared with a friend of a friend's attorney in front of a judge a few months later for the trespassing citation he received. The judge dropped it because him and the attorney were at the show together. Unbelievable!

I think that whole thing was a lot more innocent than what started happening a few years later (Deer Creek, DC etc.)

The fire department was a big help with temporary showers and fire hoses to cool us off.

Having been to dozens of shows after that, Carter-Finley was one of my craziest experiences. It was indeed a strange evening, but loads of fun. Mother Nature definitely had a hand the days events.

This show was decent.Before the show it was very hot,then a thunder storm came during the show.I know a lot of you had fun sliding in the mud,but that is probably why they never played Carter-Finley stadium again.By this point too many folks came to shows for reasons other than the music.

There's this buzz that Jerry Garica was unidentifiable at the time of his death and that his guitar (the alligator) belongs to some chap in Southern California.

what a fun night!!! enjoyin streaming this at work!! cant wait to hear the crowd during the masterpiece!!

I vividly recall the oppressive heat and the "dry" summer. And I was so psyched to be heading to the show (thanks for the ride, gil) to end the dry spell....Not to be. I recall a pretty generic show, and sort of negative vibe. Only two weeks later Brent was gone. Miss him a bunch!

Beastly hot and humid, and then the storm clouds really DID look scary. Bruce Hornsby warmed up, but the heat did me and my friends in, and we were unable to muster more that a faint cheer for him. The crowd around me, perched on the Jerry side, had a full view of both the thunderheads boiling over top and the hillside cop/deadhead scramble during the first set. The vibe around me was full of bad nervous energy. Once the Deadheads took possesion of the hillside slope and the storm blew through, things mellowed out. The most memorable sound I heard that evening was not from the band, however. It was the sound of 50,000 people going "Awww??!!" when the sound cut out in the middle of Promised land. Iko was nothing more than tentative, a shuffle to get things going. After that, significant weirdness both from the stage and the crowd. Neither a stellar nor a bummer show, this is just another day on the job for the Boys. Post drumspace, it was pretty much rote. Even Brokedown Palace's "Fare thee well, I love you more than words can tell" seemed to have a sarcastic ring to it, and the end of the show had a prefunctory air. The welcome mat at Carter-Finley got wore out, and to my recollection the Dead were never able to play there again. I love the Dead, and am forever grateful for all the shows I saw, but this particular one was no jewel, and for me it foreshadowed all the trouble that lay ahead, where the greatest band in the world had trouble finding venues that would have them.

I am really suprised to see this show getting such rave reviews. I thought it was extremely bland. It's not bad, just mediocre. The first set is pretty much by the numbers until the power dies during Promised Land- it was pretty funny the way they picked up where they'd left off.

Second set offered a few moments of hope for things to rise above the oridinary- the post-UJB Playin' tease/jam/whatever it was was pretty cool -but the post drums was pretty much a mail-in job.

This board may appeal to some who were there or are big fans of this particular year or tour, but otherwise it's nothing you'd return to more than once.

This was my very first Dead Show. Still gives me goosebumps when I hear it. This was all it took for me to become a head. I didn't really know what to expect. I wandered around the parking lot and realized, "There are people just like me in the world" I was then and forever will be a true deadhead. The experience changed me forever. The energy, the attitude, the show, the lightning, and of course the dead not even missing a beat when the power blew. Still amazing after all these years. Thanks Phil, Bobby, (Jerry), Mickey, Bill, and (Brent)(was also my only Brent show). I owe them the great person I am today.

This was one of the strangest shows I ever got to see. When Heads talk about how hot the day was, they are not joking! O.K. the show- 1st I recomend a GOOD audience version. It gives a better feel for what all was happening. Straw, good Loser. Things started to get weird during Friend of the Devil. One of the first hill sliders slid down and a cop bulldoged him to the ground. Bummer. Then during Masterpiece, the floodgates open and hundreds start to slide down. You hear it really well in the aud. recording. Masterpiece went perfect with the sight of all these Heads tumbling and sliding down the hill. One of my favorite memories of Dead shows. I never saw anyone crash the gate. Next, during Birdsong LOUD lightining claps that seem to also go with the music! Again, you can't hear it on the soundboard. So, they go into Promised Land- and the power just dies! At this point, I'm thinking the cops pulled the plug on 'em because maybe they thought things were getting out of hand. The band comes back and finishes the song. End of 1st set. 2nd set- Iko starts and we are dancing and the vibe is happy, etc., then it's like the band said, "We will give you WEIRD!" Playin'> UJB> Playin'> Drums> Space> Jam> Other 1. I was melting, hanging in there like a loose tooth! A soothing Stella, NFA. I got my happy face back on. Brokedown Palace had never been more appropriate. Alot of fun, but STRANGE, man! I'll give it 4 stars.

got there, sweated, got some baloons in the woods, peed in the woods, hit the hill, enjoyed the lightning, pretty scary though,great show.

Wow!! This was a life changing experience for me in more ways than I could have ever expected or explain. This was my first show, and I had no idea that the Dead had a following like they did.Nor did i know what a "show" really was. I just thought I was going to some rock concert. I had seen one concert(REM) before this one.The only music of the Dead I had ever listened to before this show was skeletons from the closet and Europe 72'. Thats it. I was clueless as to what to expect. Thank you!!! Out of the 4 people that took a van to the show, only one truly "got it" so to speak and continued to do so. How the others never got into it is beyond me.
This was my friends Lauran and Priscilla's first show as well. RIP Priscilla T. I still miss you very much.

Out of every show Ive been to I have the fondest memories of this one (aside from the God awful heat).
I thought the lightening was totally awesome and added to the show like all of nature was with us.
I remember during drums being transported to the Serengeti ( with help from the visuals on stage) and most of us cheered the gate crashers. I could have sworn that Uncle Johns Band was playing as they ran towards us (come to take his children home) but I can see by the set list that was in my mind!
Masterpiece is always awesome to hear. It was such a perfect show, I danced until I couldnt stand and we cried when it was over.
****TOTAL BLISS*****

This recording has a splice during promised to fix the power failure time out. I remember thinking at the time that the people in charge had stopped the show because of the field crashers. My favorite moment was when the security guys gang tackled one of the mindless pricks who made a run for the field. The overall measure of a good show experience does'nt include on edge state troopers with one hand on their night sticks wondering if they need to call for back-up to keep sheep from responding in a herd mentality. My bro and his girlfriend had a healthy headful prior to showtime and were in the upper level first row trying to keep it together with lightning bolts hitting very close. He said they were both holding on to the metal railing for a while before he noticed that as far as he could see in either direction they were the only ones holding on to the metal railing.....just then the lightbulb in the brain flashed....metal, lightning, highest point in the area, bad idea.....let go and back away slowly.....Bruce and the range opened this night and hornsby sat in with the dead on squeeze box for a good portion of the show. During space on this tour they were projecting some sort of twisted, shrieking, tortured, puppet? on the stage screens and one of the two straight mom-types beside us told her friend that it was terrifying......hard to argue.

My recollection is that I was the 5th? person to hit the grass. Just before me two guys jumped the wall. I was spinning from the heat and felt so clammed up in the seats. The grass looked so cool, fresh and clean. I couldn't resist it. I went for it without thinking twice. Shocked, Brian, my friend sitting with me, came barreling down after me. We were thrilled to see the hord that followed once we jumped the fence. FREEDOM to dance!!! It was an absolutely electric moment for me. Well, the electricity seemed to be flying that night. Didn't it? Awoke the next day with best friends by my side and parkinglot gravel impressions up and down my body... and it never felt better.

The Bird Song is really where the show gets going for me. The backstretch is pretty strong straight thru.

It's amazing to find it online like this. I was on the floor, right in the middle, drenched through the first set. The heat lightning through the second set was amazing. I was out of my mind. This show changed my life.

Many of the other reviewers have done a great job describing this show. The HOT, hot afternoon transitioning into a Carolina thunderstorm filled evening. The scary/awesome way that the thunder and lighting collaborated with the music a few times. Hmm, was it an accident or were the Dead and and nature in-synch?

I vote for the latter. Very groove heavy second set. Bill and Mickey were locked in tight and Jerry was obviously having a great time.

BUT, I have to straighten something out, once and for all. The storming of the hill situation.
I had a great vantage point in the upper deck (until we went and joined the fun on the hill itself) and saw everything.

Here goes, NC State had decided that they were not going to allow people to sit on the grass. Why? Dont know. They had a half dozen or so state troopers and a lot of police tape closing off the hill at the top of the slope where it meets the concourse. All that comfy grass with great sight lines and a superior sound mix was empty.

A few brave souls began to run under the tape and were quickly hauled off by the cops. Other people began to gather around the lip to watch the fun and try their luck. The police were in all honesty, just doing their jobs, there were not beat downs going on. After about 30 minutes of mini solo skirmishes and lots of running around, a large group gathered and ran/slide down the now wet grass together.

Too many to stop!!! The stadium roared its approval, you can hear it on the tape. The people had won a small victory over silly rules. It was a truly great Deadhead moment.

A mud slide then formed down one side of the hill that the most energetic kids used as a slip-in-slide. A few did slide right on past the troopers that had relocated to the bottom wall around the field. But that was quickly stopped and most people just played. My girlfriend and I and the friends we came with moved down to the hill and joined the happy folks who had done the dirty work.

There were NO GATE CRASHERS. Carter Finley is a stout football stadium with good security around the perimeter. The people who stormed the hill had tix. There was none of that bad vibe stuff going around that day. It was just a good natured contest between those who wanted to sit on a nice, cool grassy slope and those that had been told not to allow it.

All in all, a great show and a fun experience. The band, the weather and the crowd all working together!!!

Ahh, the good ole days.

I was on the grassy slope at the end of the stadium (opposite end from stage)during the show.

What really happened up there began with the rain slicking up the grass on the slope. A bunch of people were taking running starts and then dropping and sliding down the wet grass.

Good fun.

Then, all of a sudden, a bunch of people ran and slid down the slope on one side, jumped over the wall and made it onto the field before the cops doing security could react.

I was way across on the other side of the slope when it began, and as soon as I realized people were overwhelming security and making it onto the field, I ran over, got a good running start and launched myself into a really good long slide dwon the hill.

Sad to say, my slide ended with me coming to a stop right at the feet of a state trooper (actually bumping into his feet with mine)- one of many cops who rushed to make a cop barrier across the bottom of the slope, effectively ending the rush. I looked up at him, grinned, winked and suggested he step aside for a second and let me "slide"..., but he wasn't having any of that! I did make him laugh, though.

It was a great show, but the heat sucked.

Because of the constraints of the venue (Carter-Finley won't even let you bring in a freaking water bottle!) and the heat, I stayed outside for
all of Hornsby's show. That way, I could hang out in shade, drink beer, smoke ;-), and miss the blazing midday heat.

One of the really trippy aspects of this show was Mother Nature's collaboration on Drums and TO1.
Rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning as the storm passed over seemed to almost perfectly mesh ...hmm, mesh with Lesh? Well, it meshed with my head :)!!!

Funny how some really good shows involve getting wet and muddy. This one sure did. I enjoyed it, even if I didn't make it over the wall.

Nowadays, the grassy slope is gone, replaced by seating. Too bad. It was nice to lay back on the slope.

I wonder if anyone else who was doing the slip'n'slide that night has posted to this comments section, or will?

By the way, the people who rushed the field were not gatecrashers. They were ticketholders like me. Seating/tickets for the show were field and grandstand, and field tickets sold out way before grandstand.

Who cares, anyway? Not me! Anyway, I almost made it, and I've got to say sliding into the feet of a cop and making him laugh about it was high fun indeed! And, I enjoyed the show quite nicely up there on the good old grassy slope.

Peace,
Tim O'Leary

my recollection of this sultry day and night in Raleigh starts with a great scene all around. the heat was on you hard this day, as it was in louisville the few days prior. I had done a TON of driving that week - atlanta louisville atlanta raleigh yowzaaaaaa. Although there wasn't much asphalt in the big grassy parking lot surrounding the stadium -it was hard as hell to beat the heat. I remember a fire-hydrant like experience with a strong hose during the day's trippy summer afternoon.

the show for me that night was quite memorable to say the least.

the first set was a bit of a blur, as I spent most of it comtemplating the insanity of assembling with 34,000 or so of my close friends in an open- air stadium (all-metal structure, of course, with 100 foot metal spikes - stadium lights - everywhere you looked ) as the most wicked storm you could dream up was brewing overhead. the winds the lightning the thunder - no rain to start the set - but it was really scaring the shit outta me.

towards the middle of the set, I think, the skies just opened up in a deluge - and then the rest of the set was spent getting a ritualistic cleansing with much, much energy being diverted from the music and the band to the hill area at the back of the stadium. there, serious gate-crashers (who tore down the back chain-link fence even though they had a great view and sound behind the school's property for free anyway), and the law tried to control the hill for about one song. you will hear the moment when the heads took the hill.

anyway, about half way through a smokin Promised Land the bolt that I'd been fearing arrived - close enough to grind the sound to a halt and to make me piss myself ....

after a few tenuous minutes, the boys fired it back up and fininshed the damn song ! it was reassuring to say the least.

I was sitting in the side bleachers Jerry side and pretty much side stage. right before the end of the set break, the rains let up and the storm blew past. just then, a juggler a few rows down from where I was sitting started this amazing run and soon the energy of the entire area was becoming focused into the one space. the crowd really started to feel it and soon it seemed that about half the front part of the stadium was cheering this guy on. and then BAM - the band walks out and we all start out on this amazing set of music.

i don't remember much of the specifics except to tell you all that Mickey and Billy made it rain again during their jam. it was crazy.

When I finally made it back to my apartment in Atlanta the next evening, a storm of similar intensity arrived at my doorstep to remind me of the amazing adventure of the night before. a stray kitten also arrived on my doorstep that same night - and he immediately became my housemate for the next 7 years. and yes, I named him Raleigh.

thanks for this place to share my appreciation of the trip !

This was my first show after listening to many enjoyable hours of Dead on tape. I remember Steal your Face being my favorite release, and this show seemed to be a double or at least I remember it that way on 14 hi....of unbroken chain. About a third of the way through of Promised Land a lightning bolt hit the back of the stage and knocked most of the power out, I believe Phil was still powered up. A coincidental happening? I tend to say no. Seems like I could never find anything more majical and freeflowing as these summer shows, thank you boys!!!!!

remember during Bird Song when the heads took the far slope-people were slipping on the grass trying to run from the cops-everybody was cheering for them and the cops finally gave up and let them have it. This is one of my favorite shows-it definitely has an energy all it's own. I thought Jerry was crying during Stella Blue.

This will always be one of my all time favorite shows. RFK tends to overshadow this gem, but whereas RFK was very spacy and mellow, Raleigh was rockin' and cracklin' with energy. This was only my second show (Greensboro '89 being the first) and boy did they put on a clinic! The Playin' and Playin' Jam are a perfect example of just how far and deep these guys could take a simple musical theme. I was very close and will never forget Jerry just looking at the boiling, stormy skies with an unbelieving grin on his face during the Space > Other One. What a show!

A great day in Raleigh. Overall the crowd was ultra-jazzed, good atmosphere, nice grassy lot to roam before & after, solid show. Before Masterpiece, notice all the crowd cheers for the people sliding down the muddy hill at the back of the stadium. Looked like fun, but most were gate crashers. Nice recording.

It was a HOT Carolina Day. The lot was a dustbowl. But as we filed in, rain clouds appeared out of nowhere and it began to pour. Now cool, the storm moved directly behind the stage as it began to thunder and lightning and the band began to play. It was unbelievable. Granted the power went out, but I didn't have anything else to do but wait, and wonder...

Classic summer '90 show with Bruce Hornsby on accordian for a handful of songs. Band on great form throughout. Masterpiece is however quite badly cut at the end - probably a minute or two missing. A great listen all the same - especially with Hornsby.

There is a PA dropout in the middle of Promised Land due to a power outage. Without a break in the tape, the timing of the song would appear correct because after a 5 minute break with no lights, the boyz started off right where they left off before the power turned off. If you weren't at the show you might think that someone just messed up the recording. I remember being completely awe struck how they picked up just the song where they left off without a thought. The sound on this recording is very good, but a few seconds of Masterpiece is cut. You will have to rename some of the songs at the end of the show if you download, just follow the set list provided and the Drums/Space is one track.