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I haven't heard a better Scarlet and the Dew was one for the ages.

The Dew! Dougles

This SPAC Dew was damn amazing... I ha to be back on Long Island at work by 12 a.m... choices to make. Stay? Go? Stay? Go? I knew the answer when Deal wrapped up the end of first set. And still, life went on. Like how that happens. Grateful Dead 1, Work Ethic 0 Michael Nothin' left to do but smile… smile… smile!

First show 24 years ago today ! It was a goody!

We ended up hitchhiking back home.

scarlet fire was awesome! The day after my 16th birthday. The rest is history and fond memories.Jon

I remember seeing people dancing on this big tree limb during Scarlet/ Fire. And the Wheel...during the thunder and lightening storm. Wicked cool!

Poor people of Saratoga, had no idea what they were in for..... Jerry's amp broke, Bobby forgetting the words, lightening during the wheel and as mentioned "what a dew" Visited recently and they still talk about that show...........

Great show, Phil was clear as a bell. I snuck the old 550 in the bottom of an icechest, and when asked what it was by security, said it was "mommas best meatloaf". Glad the deck got in!

Ah, remember the marshmallows?

best damn Dew i ever did see nuff said - SPAC rocks! CozMikSig "Between the two slices of bread in the sandwich of hypocrisy, there is often more than one sandwich, making it difficult to eat in the dark. However, there is always a flashlight in the Thermos!" - R Hunter

holy crap what a show! but the set list is incorrect- I remember some naked guy getting roped in by the park staff on the center bridge during "little Red Rooster". After the show I was too busy getting my brother from the hospital....first some naked gal came through the crowd, then my brother screaming "NO!" ove rand over... seems he thought everybody were demons... (and he told me to be careful what I took... LOL)

This being in my backyard was insane. What a night. They were on it. the weather was nuts, Everyone has the same highlights. Scarlet/ Fire , the lightning during the Wheel and the monster Dew. It was one of those shows you had to have been there to believe it. Double encore too which became a staple for all Dead shows at SPAC to follow. Saratoga was always a special place to see music but the Dead made it really special. Also they broke an attendance record that night previously held by the Who since 1971. In the rain no less!

Grateful Dead, Guitar, Mamajuana (Rum and Red Wine discovered in the Dominican Republic this past January),Hacky Sack,Parties and Women. Any "High Nooners" from the old URI days still out there? Lupos Heatbreak Hotel (The Original One)? Gypsy Blue?

Man, what a show it was! It was the day I "got on the bus". 2 hippies got naked and took a bath in the stream in the state park next to the SPAC grounds. What a trip! I just knew that you could be anything you wanted and you would just fit in. Peace! Puff ~Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools!~

after 3 hits of purple I thought the Dead were not only doing a great light show, but, were controlling the weather too..remember, it was hot, nasty drizzlin durin hot nasty songs...then scarlett/fire brought a cool breeze and the rain would stop for the song........it couldnt have been just me.i swear the Dead were doing the weather too.....

Saratoga WAS special.I was just inside the arena, barely out of the rain when the show started. I knew it was on when the band ripped through the Jack Straw/Bertha opener. I was thinking what with the drums and bass chugging through these songs, and the lights and the crowd, it was like being at a bizarre train station with the locamotive rolling in. And I"m not kidding,at that point, I saw what looked like an old man with a coat and hat and briefcase walk by. My friend and I looked at each other, shrugged and just kept dancing. By the way, the Red Rooster and the "cream puff war", the marshmellow fight, was in "85". Another crazy night at SPAC

I agree that the Dead controlled the weather at this show!Best, most intense show I ever attended!! Just two months before this event I was a 20 year old art student who had chewed up the streets and club life of NYC for 5 years, but had never left the city...until the Dead came and saved my a**, and took me to the promised land. Now I was back on the East Coast for what promised to be (and was) a very special tour. I spent the 17th (my 21st birthday) working the parking lot. Never had a better birthday in my life! Being a hippy in the late 1970's I didn't quite fit in with the Metal/Punk scene in a way that satisfied my soul, but now I felt I had come in to my own, and that I was home, socially, and what fun I had, chatting up scores of people...what a show...great first set, classic beyond classic 2nd set...really, really hot, smokin' , as befits the title, Scarlet Fire, then coolin' us down, and I too swear the Dead controlled the weather, because AFTER the Dew started, a beautifully refreshing and cooling mist settled upon us as we danced, rejuvenating all us excessively overheated dancers for the remainder of the show. I believe all who experienced this felt that the band had definitely influenced the weather, and you have to remember the band was playing under a large covered area, and had no direct experience of the sublte changes of weather that were going on. After the show was very magical, too, in that people ran around for hours after the show on the beautiful grounds like small children in a magical fairyland. People frolicked in the small stream that ran through there, and I constantly heard snatches of conversation that went along the lines of how beautiful, incredible, magical and fulfilling the whole experience had been. For me this show was the absolute highpoint of my personal Dead experience, and I'm not surprised people there still talk of it, because it was a seminal moment for many of us that were there: we experienced the breathtaking beauty that we felt we were all capable of, but were lacking the appropriate venue to express it in. This first Saratoga Springs show fit that bill to perfection, and we were all blessed by it in life changing ways! Thanks, boys!!!!

hey now people it is so good to hear y'all talkin about that show! It was my first dead show (tho i grew up in San Fran) and I was double-dosed on cid and shroom. If one of those naked gals was seen making love to the mudhill, that was me (my belated apologies to whoever's white merc I decorated outside the stage door--probably Jerry's!--but that thing was just too white and shiny with the dew...I had to love it with mud, ya know?)...I'm telling you, ya ain't lived til you've tried on a pillowcase dress...Of course it was a life-defining night for me, but I never knew others felt it too. Saratoga is a magical place, I think...I do remember little red rooster, tho. And an AWESOME Bird Song! God I love those guys!!

I remember spending the majority of time before the first set sitting against a big tree in that huge area behind the pavilion that was like a park. I was way too high to move.I just needed the music to occupy my mind and make things alright. It was VERY surreal. There were many shows where the band coming onstage was my rescue. It was my 6th show. When the music started I was washed with this feeling of complete euphoria. It was so intense and so beautiful, I think I was in tears for part of it. This first set still seems like a waking dream for me. I was able to reconnect with my travel buddies during the break long enough to recap what had just transpired. As the second set started I broke off into the void once again and was blessed with one of the best second sets I ever saw at Saratoga. I was in my early twenties. It was summer. I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience so much joy. The happiness continues.... Love music and love life !!

Thanks for helping me remember the scene after the show. We hung around the grounds partying for hours after the show. It was such a great time.I had a brown ragtop CJ-7 Jeep Renegade. I don't think we slept that night...we just drifted around 'till morning, then got in the Jeep and started driving south to Maryland.....another story entirely !

It's funny how some of us saw so many shows at Saratoga, we can't quite exactly remember the year a certain circumstance occurred.I was there three years in a row. All memorable shows of course.

Saw this show as a 16 year old, my second Dead concert. First set I remember being cloudy with sprinkles; we were out on the lawn, not one of the lucky 5,500 with covered seats. It just seemed like a warm-up.Second set is what I really remember, though. It changed the whole mood of the place. I remember the Playin' in the Band jam going on forever and ever - seemed like nearly 30 minutes; Morning Dew was just a great experience - best I've heard from any album or other concert, mistakes and all. Garcia stumbles at the beginning of the "thought I heard a young man born this morning" verse, but in the second stanza he bursts through and belts out the line, with Lesh punctuating it with sonic double-stops that I remember blowing my ears out; the crowd went crazy when he sang that line. Just an incredible moment; there was something very human and desperate about it and I still remember it well all these years later. It rained during the Playin' in the Band jam, and we had lightning going over our heads during The Wheel. Fortunately no one got hit by lightning. I remember leaving the show exhausted but so glad I was there. What a great experience for a teenager.

At the start of Scarlet and and the start of Fire brent plays I can see clearly now the rain is gone. Always loved this show even though was soaked to the core

Show was a revitalizing strange rain energy vibe

I am SO GLAD that someone, other than me, felt that the heat/humidity/rain/cool breeze's were being controlled by the Bands choice of tunes. It was an INCREDIBLE nite there. My Aunt & Uncle owned the PLAYMORE FARMS MOTEL just south of the venue on the highway in Saratoga. We had planned on stopping there but were too wasted to make an appearance to relatives. After the show ended I was waaay to far gone (3 hits purple acid) to find my way back to the Falcon Stationwagon we came up in and ended up sitting around someone elses gathering...till the sun came up.....what a nite....the kind you NEVER forget.

The Purple tabs were wicked strong...got three for $10.00 and went to cartoon land. I actually thought the Dead were controlling the weather with the tunes they chose. Came to at sunup at someone elses's campsite.

My first time to SPAC, what a beautiful place. We're so lucky they kept inviting the Dead back a few times. I was lucky enough to be under cover for the whole show and up close for the best Morning Dew I've ever heard. I can't remember if we drove home to Mass. that night or camped somewhere.

Birdsong is the third song in...love it. My sense is that this is not in the vault, so probably won't get the official treatment. But if it did, I'd get it quickly.

I remember Brent playing 'I Can See Clearly Now' like it was yesterday. The energy was off the charts. The weather commanded the first two shows of that tour and led to some of the best Grateful Dead music I have ever heard live.

Awesome show.

back when toga had huge trees in the lawn section ... remember lightning and downpours ? .. they didn’t last .. .. Morning Dew !!! ... still, one my favorite shows

Was there 40 years ago,going with my son tomorrow for Father’s Day.gonna try to relive a little of the magic.

This was one of the more memorable days. At least during the day. The evening is a little fuzzy! But wow. I know that this was practically Woodstock for many of us who had just graduated from High School. Camping in the parking lot, splashing in the stream. All of it. Why not release this - it's a pretty strong show in arguably the best year (83) of the 'dirty' era.