Call it a "near" Darkness Jam coming out of WX report prelude you'll hear a hint of the main theme about 1:12 in & the rest is just exquisite

Ripping right out of a sensational (& underrated Shakedown) this equally shines w/fast flowing Garcia licks typical for the year & Brent on fire too

Maybe b/c it's w/New Riders but one of the best acosutic versions ever should be here! Riders w/great backing vox + Jerry on pedal steel!

The new DaP release showcases how good this, especially w/Keith way up front in the mix & kicking the tune into ragtime jazz gear-a fantastic version!

Don't sleep on this one. Brent's sweeping fluorishes permeate + a nice epic coda. Overlooked tune from a sleeper show now w/more looks due to DaP#47

^^^backing up what mattiace said here about Phil monsterizing the opening stanza--not just Rider but the Cat too--thick, whomping, out-front-in-your-phace-Phil to get this excellent and somewhat overlooked version chugging hard out of the gate....then it's a cool, nuanced, almost laid back Garcia jazz-rock fusion clinic to follow. The Rider is as others have said super tight & focused. Very good entry here.

Slow, slinky, syrupy Jerry licks in between the verses. Billy just spot-on with every punctuation. They give Keith space to shine in the quiet parts of the main chorus, too. This song in general seems to get overlooked except for those who really love it and seek out great versions--if you're in that grouping get your ears on this one,

Gave this one a spin based on the reviews & the fact that another '85 from just about a week earlier (6/15/85 from Greek Theater) is also among the overlooked cohort of 1985 ChinaRiders --it smokes--as does this one. I'm not a big fan of this year in general--as too many tunes are played choppily and Jerry's voice is usually in frog-croak range, but not so on this combo of tunes and this one really delivers the goods--a confident, everyone in sync bridge jam into Rider, which charges headlong to a great crescendo and deserves more ears. (and if you do like this version check out the Greek as well--a bit mellower but spot-on tightness and a lot of flavorful licks along the way).

Just as good as the higher rated version from the following night. Both contain spectacular outro jams--excellence at both ends of the Rainbow room run.

it does indeed. Big drums in this version too