I am listening to every 1994 show in order, mining for gold.

This show is usually found on best-of lists for the 90s, and it is notable for the "Rain" 2nd set. Having experienced the highs and lows of the spring tour and the resurgence of Summer '94 up to this point, let's see what this offers.

1st Set Highlights: The Stranger with MIDI Phil is very good. MIDI bombs! Lyrics die in High Time, but it still comes together nicely. Phil debuts a solid Childhood's End. Jerry belts out Don't Ease Me In.

2nd Set HIGHlights: The "Rain" set: Box of Rain, Samba in the Rain, Looks Like Rain, Here Comes Sunshine. Corrina>Mathilda is very creative, with a nice transition jam. Space is interesting, opening up with a Bobby solo. UJB>Miracle>Dew, all quite good.

Best of the year? Not really. Maybe at the end of my trip through '94 I'll put together a collection of the best cuts from various '94 shows. I'm not usually a fan of the Road Trips approach, but for 1994, the playing was so inconsistent across most sets, it is needed.

If this was indeed the Show of the Year then 1994 was a disaster! But I know I’ve heard much better 1994 shows here on the archive, so there’s that. I don’t doubt that folks who attended and were properly dosed had a great time, but objectively this is really tough in several places. High Time, awesome song butchered. Samba in the Rain - who thought that was a good addition to the meat of the second set? At least there’s a decent Morning Dew to provide some sort of redemption.

jerrys playing and his singing as absolutely terrible.
i went to all 3 of these shows, but this one is horrible.
he flubs not only the lyrics all night , but it sounds like he is missing his picking all night to, just terrible.
good quality recording, to bad it wasn't of a good show

I sang a little while and then flew on.

It's obvious anyone who gives a bad review on this night certainly wasn't present physically or spritually and could only wish they found the dosage we all experienced together! Even the cops were dancing and the center isle at Deer Creek that weekend was a true gift from the universe. I'd love to explain if i could put it into words... but pure magic trancended on that cornfield and made me glad i existed during this time in the bands career! This sound quality is crisp and impressive for the 1994 shows i've heard and im so happy i can close my eyes and imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and energy of that crazy day when i was still young and full of joy✌

After reading the reviews, I had my hopes up high. But at the end of the day, the only thing stopping this from being a typical 1994 show was a strong post-drumz song selection, a strong Morning Dew, and a fairly energetic Johnny B. Goode.

I believe this was show of the year per deadbase back in the 90's for those who discount this show. I was front row and Peggy-o (the place was dead silent and sounded so sweet) HC Sunshine out of left filed---well the rain songs did give way to the sun, so perhaps to on original setlist (anyone know)?
Nice Morning Dew

Just a mix that really pleased my soul!!

Drum Circles and orange bud. I also went back to glow wood campsite and listened to the entire show after. I was able to patch into someone with my portable tascam and get the tapes after each show which was great. The drums really resonated in my ears all weekend. All that great sound coming from the band and walking across the field to the show. It was an awesome time for sure. My birthday was the next day but this was the show which stood out. Now it lives on for me as I listen to the tapes.

Best-sounding recording of a no-point show.

Known as the "rain show" with HCS and the sun breaking out after horrific storms in the area, unreal! After being paralyzed this was my first show back to Deer Creek where the local farmers loved when the circus came to town. Always ranked up at the top in Deadbase as shows and venue. If Im not mistaken, this WAS Deadbase's top show of the summer tour, for what its worth. While they missed some lyrics and fumbled through at times, wasn't this all part of The Dead's mantra as it pertains to life. Hate hearing the so-called "Heads" who expect perfection of a live show.

I was let to roll on down to the front row. Jer singing of Peggy-O was my highlight, it became so quiet during his playing it sounded sooo sweet, along with the Morning Dew. HCS out of the rain songs and the UJB out of space, nice. 1st Mathilda

The opener, Feel Like a Stranger was eerie - how fitting after having missed almost two years while rehabing my way back into a new life. How much stranger could it have been for a guy to be back and have them pull that out to welcome me home!
One Ill never forget.

departed in 01/09, this was my mom's show, she went with my departed brother fred (08/07) and i to this show. it is new year's eve now turning into 2012 and i must say the fabric and stickiness this show has for me is dear dear to my heart. in the lawn at deer ck. while jer was singing peggy-o, i was as well into helen's ear. she was elbowing me big time as she finally understood while i was always broke, ha! to any negative reviewers or experts about the good old grateful dead; allow me to remind us all (me too now) that: "they are not the best at what they do ... they're the only ones that do it." peace.

with off-key notes and blown words. I've never heard Jerry mess it up like that. They screw up the first chorus. Painful. Vince and Phil try to save it, and Jerry tries to compensate with vocal emphasis on the second verse but he's too out of breath to really pull it off, and it ends abruptly. The Dew isn't much better.

The recording quality is great, though, except some weird low-end noise during Stranger- sounds like some kind of electronic difficulties onstage.

thats troo

I loved the 1st set. However when I had to endure Samba, Corrina, and Mathilda in the second set they lost me. I love almost every song these guys played but those 3 are substandard IMO. Sound quality is excellent.

Any show I saw or have reviewed automatically loses one star when Samba In the Rain is plaed. That tune sucked. I don't what The Dead where thinking when they hired Vince, except that he could sing the higher harmonies. He may be a nice guy, but Samba In The Rain sucked. Especially if it was already raining during the show. It was worse than a Dayjob encore after a great show (11-01-85 Richmond)

Alright. I admit it. I have an irrational fondness for this Childhood's End. Not even my favourite song...but as I age it grows on me, digging up all those sad memories latent in my soul.

Thanks Phil.

Okay, maybe not the best, but it's golden in many spots, and sums up the Spring and Fall tours of '94. The band (specificall Jerr) was resurging for a while - only to fall back into their wild hit or misses in '95. But this show is a good example of strong, rich performances in '94. A good first set with great features - the BIODTL was rockin', and High Time was a nice little treat. Nice theming in the second set with a celebration of rain, followed by a "rain, rain, go away" version of HCS. A pretty cool space leading into a rare post-space UJB, a nice 'welcome-home' from that tripped-out terrain. And to those who say Jerry's voice was going and that's why Phil and Vince got so much play, I say "Peggy-O". And then I say "Morning Dew." And then I say, "Ahhhh." We may be in the shadow of the eventual downfall here, but it's yet to come, and this show does have it.

This show was amazing. No, not the best, but you just had to be there to appreciate it. Three consecutive rain songs and then Here Comes Sunshine. Everyone went nuts. It felt like sunshine breaking with the first notes.

Anyone here remember Jerry bumping his head against the microphone at the end of Morning Dew? He was jamming so hard during his solo, that when he raised his head to belt out the final "I guess it doesn't matter....", he smacked loudly right into the mic!!! He smiled as he recovered and sang it.

True magic that night. Listened to the whole show again that same night back at Glow Wood.

bobby on acustic in LL rain

IMHO, this show sounds very good, nice crispy high end, lots 'o' low end, nice separation on instruments, vocals are all very clear and present. The actual performance itself leaves a lot to be desired. Jerry sounds really wiped both vocally and musically. If you were there, grab it, if not, your bandwidth is definetley better spent somewhere else. The 3 star rating is for sound more than performance.

I just read another review that said that DeadBase called this the best show of 94....Even of the shows I saw in 94, which wasn't nearly all of them, I find it VERY difficult to put this show even in the top ten. 94 highlights that blow this outta the water in my opinion are as follows: 3-16-94, 3-21-94, 3-25-94, 3-27-94, 6-13-94, 6-26-94, 10-5-94. Just my opinion though......

This one really has a great sound overall and a very interesting set list. Very good dynamic and good different flavored show. Worthy!

this was one of those shows that made you realize how f...ing good these boys are. this night will live in my mind forever....long and crazy night! box>samba>llrain>hc sunshine!!! this is by far one of the GREAT shows, from any decade. got in all 3 night this run, changed my world. thank you boys!!!

Heh heh... man... remember this show very fondly. Please do not be misled by erronious accounts of bad sound quality- it's very nice and crisp, and Jerry sounds just fine- remember the dude was 53 years old at the time, man! :) Jer and the boys rip it up in old school fashion to a wonderful evening of music, rain, and even a non-torn down fence. Even the Samba was nice (it's raining, it's a samba... it's a Samba in the Rain!). Grab this one- it's truly worth it.

I was at this one so I am kind of biased towrds this but what the hell- this was really a good show! Theres something about Jurrys acoustic sound from 94. I don't think it was that bad a year and I'm a early 70's guy!
Sound is pretty ON and rather warm and enjoyable. Highlights for me are the Peggy-O and Childhoods End along with all of set two. This is where the meat is due the Rain Set. Even Samba IMO is a welcome treat. Wish they would have played Rain as well but what the hey...Here Comes Sunshine is a great treat and the Corrina > Mathilda is jaw dropping and Space > UJB is awesome!! If you were eget this! You know what I'm talkin' about! If not, just stream it for yourself and listen to the crowd go nuts when the break into Morning Dew and then add it to your personal archive!.
Like I said, I'm more into early 70's Dead but this one will always have a special place in my heart. Truly incredible!
Man this one brings back great memories....

This date was simply one of my favorite Dead Days of all time. Great trips, with my best bud, and nothing but trees and cornfields in sight. The weather was blazin' hot all day and then about two hours before showtime a mad downpour ensued.

But the clouds broke and a cooler sun shined again about 30 minutes before the Stranger opener. Peggy-O was gorgeous and a rare BIODTL (with about 20 "beats" to kickstart her) got us all shakin' and groovin'. Jer teased Dire Wolf next but then made a wiser choice and went with a different rare selection--High Time. The first ever Childhood's capped off what for me is still a memorable first set.

The second set, as usual, is where it all hit the fan. Three Rivers in '95 gets credot as a supreme rain set because the skies literally opened up on the first note of "Rain", but this set is still superior to me. The opening rain tunes were all fitting but the middle-of-the-second-set HC Sunshine, totally out of nowhere, was an all-time highlight. I still vividly remember freaking when I heard the opening chorus fourth song into the 2nd set. The Corrina was perhaps the best ever with the jam that followed. Mathilda was icing on the cake and that's putting it mild. By then we all new it was a special night. Of course out of space you have what was currently (for the 90s) a very rare Space>UJB>Miracle, only to be capped off by an juicy, inspired Morning Dew. A long, joyous, tiring, and spiritual night of music. There's so many other side anecdotes to add but I'm already carrying on. The sound quality's great and perhaps the best playing and song selection they had to offer during this era, even for the Creek. Get it on the Download now and thank me for a real good time!

Great memories from these shows.
Thought Phil and Bob were nice and loud.
Top 5 show of the year.
89-95 deercreek!!!!!!!!!!

To all that appreciate the fat sound of a digital soundboard this one won't disappoint. A solid groove throughout. 94 wasn't all that weak sometimes. Beware: Stranger is cut. 5 stars for sound.

Very solid. Jerry is far from fiery, but picks his spots well. The Rain-Rain-Rain-Sunshine in set 2 is very cool. 'Uncle John' out of 'Space' was quite beautiful. Good SBD recording.

You may not agree but it is good!