The previous month in Laguna Seca they had played a kind of sloppy China>Crazy Fingers>Rider. In Tacoma (my only "hometown" show) it looked like Jerry was trying to do this again because in the middle of the mid-China>Rider jam Weir was violently shaking his head back and forth as if to say "We are NOT doing that again."

I recall the boys crashing and burning during Good Times Blues, creating quite an opportunity for some wild music. This venue had the worst acoustics I've ever experienced. Fun, though.

Santana was fabulous. But this was the worst of my Dead shows. The sound was terrible and the boys seemed to be disinterested as a result. I always remembered it as a show they cut short, even playing just one set. My buddy set me straight a few years ago, but I seem to recall an unceremonious withdrawal from the stage at the end of the night. Wonder how I coulda misremembered that???

Santana and the Grateful Dead in the NW. Closer than ever for us rusted folk in this corner. But yes, my sights were set on Eugene pretty early in. For having a wooden roof, this dome was stony cold for acoustics.

I was so bummed about the terrible sound quality that it kind of overshadowed the fact that it was Santana and the Dead together in one show. All of that was made better though by an amazing day of sunshine that followed in Autzen Stadium watching Jimmy Cliff, Robert Cray and Good Ol' Grateful Dead as they sprayed the crowd with the hose to cool us all off. It doesn't get much better than that.