John F. Kennedy Stadium - July 7, 1989

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John F. Kennedy Stadium - July 7, 1989
Bruce Hornsby & The Range opened - final concert held at J. F. K. Stadium

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John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Bruce Hornsby & The Range opened - final concert held at J. F. K. Stadium

setlist

Hell in a Bucket
Iko Iko
Little Red Rooster
Ramble on Rose
Stuck Inside of Mobile
Loser
Let it Grow
Blow Away

Box of Rain
Scarlet Begonias
Fire on the Mountain
Estimated Prophet
Standing on the Moon
drums
The Other One
Wharf Rat
Turn on Your Love Light

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

show date

Thu, 07/06/1989 - 17:00

Venue

John F. Kennedy Stadium

dead comment

I remember the water pouring

I remember the water pouring out of the grand stand creating a river in the middle of the field :) Event Horizon of a Grateful Dead show. I'm looking for a picture of this one... Blessed be !p.s What was Phil doing during the Box of rain I remember seeing some cosmic jive on the video screens!!!

The second set was

The second set was absolutely smokin!!!

Heart of Gold Bannnnnnnnnnnnd!!!

The best Blow Away. Played this Scarlet at my wedding. And even though it's short, the Other One is super tight, into a great Wharf Rat and finishing with a Lovelite with Jerry doing the "Shine on me" chorus, a la Bobby in the 60's.

Loved the Blow Away Too

What a shit-hole stadium.......but fun.

My first show

My first show :) _______________ insert obligatory signature here

Last show ever at JFK

That Blow Away was amazing. After the 2nd set started, the staff at JFK opened the gates and left (forever), so everyone in the parking lots and the show were going in and out. I remember hearing on the local news that it was estimated that there were well over 100,000 people there by the end. I have newspaper articles and an aerial shot of the show somewhere I'll post here.

You could feel it.

I remember trying to avoid the rats in the grass while walking to the stadium from our parking area. Our seats were in the concrete bleachers. When Mickey and Bill played drums, all of the concrete just vibrated. It made us so nervous that we ditched our seats and went down in the field. That was the show my husband pointed out some guy by saying, "Hey, look at that guy with the long hair and tie dye, twirling." Of course I gave him a look that said 'are you crazy' and replied... which one! I know it's dumb, but we still joke about it. Liz

Blown Away

Will never forget that Blow Away!!!!!!!!!!!

AWESOME show..weird day!

it was SO hot, and i was standing directly in front of Brent at the beginning of the show when the band started tuning and then playing. He realized he forgot his infamous red cup, gets up, walks off stage, comes back with his cup, sits down and starts playing again! I was laughing my a## off. I also remember the bleachers starting to literally fall to pieces on Phil's side of the stage. it's amazing i remember so many details about this show...it was such a weird day for me - the music was so good, but it seemed like hell was taking over the whole stadium..

first one

What a great first time, it reminded me of the Greek Coliseum, not A seat but concrete bleachers, something very earthy about it. It was a perfect show for me, introduced me to "Let it grow" one of my favorites now. Wharf Rat was a great song before I'd gone that day and was even better hearing Jerry sing it to me live.I remember leaving with the Words "I'll get up and fly away" playing over and over in my crazy head!

photos

That was my first show and I would love to see some photos of any kind. It might help me fill in some blanks!!!

My 1st show

It was my first show, we walked up and my friends friend who told us to come, he walked up to the trailer outside the show just as they opened up with available tix. (a miracle but i wsnt aware at the time) I swear everyone was dosed, even the security. People were walking in and out of JFK. I lost my shoes early on. I just remeber people shouting "Ohh mama" (later I learned of stuck inside of mobile...) At one point i recall stretching like a rubber band for miles into the sky. The wave that started was so cool because of the horse shoe shapeof JFK, once it got to the end to it reversed. I thought of this as a government experiment. i couldnt believe this stuff was legal ( the show, the people, the whole scene was just something I had never experienced.). i had just grad high school a month before and this show really was the start of a new way of life... i found my shoes at the end of the show. Finding my way home was another story. Recently my friend come upon a friend who had a video of the show. It really was an amazing show. Unfortunatley I had no idea who the Dead were, but I knew I was gonna find out. This is where the bus came by and I got on. Still truckin 2day......See you in the Future

1st one

Also my first show, and what a great show it was. I remember driving there on the PA turnpike and 2 hours away we saw heads everywhere going to the show. I felt like everybody on the road were all going to the show. We would all beep and wave, the sense of one big happy family started long before I even got to the show. Once there, I was hooked.

Crumbling Concete

My brothers and I changed out of tailored suits and into tie-dye in the car -- one after the next after the next. Like butterflies emerging. We were standing on wooden benches in the hot sun and then the glorious sunset. Concrete was falling in chunks on the way to the ladies. The music was so incredible I couldn't stop the tears.

That night was magical. I

That night was magical. I still come alive when telling my stories of that night.

Beautiful Music in Hell

DKNJ: What a dump this place was, perfectly suited to the City of Brotherly Loathing. I remember 2 inches of water on the bathroom floor. Classic.

eight inches of p--- and

eight inches of p--- and water in the bathroom, but what a great show. Can't think of a better way to close a stadium.

My last show :(

...the reason? My ball and chain man. I'm divorced now and Jerrys gone. I have my times to remember!! :-) and what a time this was. Me and two others crammed into a little beat up Toyota pick up from the Shenandoah Valley. Bruce was bigger than life. I was right up front for his show and for the start of the Dead. It's funny how many memories come flooding back in as I write this. I love and miss you all

This was the last time the

This was the last time the GD played JFK. Brent's Red Rooster was UNREAL!!! I loved jamin' with the Big Sick Bitch! You know who you are Dude!!! I loved camping and going to the big ass community pool before the show. It was filled our freaks and inner city kids. Man it was so weird but I would not have traded it for the world!!!!

box scarlet fire

RODGER ALLINSON i really loved this summer tour as a rule show for show it was kind but the box scarlet fire and the blow away were some of my alltime favorite versions its no wonder they condemened the stadium after the show

This was only my 3rd show

This was only my 3rd show and what an experience. As everyone has already mentioned it was really freaking hot. Some guy was walking around with a bag of ice on his head and water was just pouring out. My friend and I did, what was called at the time, MX Missile and we were just out of our minds. Once inside the show we attempted to go to the bathroom to find 6 inches of water filling up the place and the pipes were all shaking. It was out of control. I bought a beautiful charcoal from a local... the boys surrounded by hippie women dancers. I still have it hanging, the night I bought it the picture itself danced.

Moment in time

Incredible show, especially for a stadium of that size. If you don't have a SBD copy, find one. The music is as good as you remember. Highlights are too numerous to mention. My moment in time: My friend Paul and I were dancing and digging the 1st set in the middle of the floor during "Loser" when a headbanger dude and his chick come storming back from the front, on their way out, and the guy says, "Let's get out of here. These people are crazy", just before Jerry sings the line," I know a little something you will never know." Priceless.

What a show!!

This was one fun show! I had just found out that we were pregnant with twins :) :) Woot!! Twin girls were born 7 months later!!

drumz

after the blow away the best drum circle formed at the back of the floor. sitting in the bleachers looking down at the crowd around the circle who could hear(est10,000) throbbed as one

They condemned the stadium the next day

I couldn't believe they let 100000 people in there before that! A lot of concerts have blended together in memory, but I absolutely remember that Blow Away. I always loved that song after that. My evil twin ate my signature

Quite a stadium,

I remember walking out under the bleachers and looking up, I could see spaces in the cement between the steps.

Tore that old building down

Awesome show in the crappiest venue ever. Blow Away, Box of Rain, Scarlet>Fire. I felt bad for that Standing on the Moon, which was drowned out by audience chatter. What a time, and that was still just a warm-up for the festivities a little further north on 95. (((summer 1989)))

Tripped my tits off...

99 degrees and crazy lot! Iko 1st set and got dark late w/ Box. Old venue

great show - blow away

i remeber being 5 feet off the stage the whole show - hot hot hot in philly - some guy gave us some of his vodka lemonade - brent was awesome - closest i ever was - magical night. I remeer sprinting down the stairs when the doors opened - and doing a 100 yard dash to the stage - amazing. even better we did the same thing next night at giants stadium. I was there with Rick Genoni

great show - blow away

farewell JFK

I think I saw Amy Carter in line for the bathroom.

my first show too!i was

my first show too!i was ready to run off with them that day!i eventually did the next summer!aloha

Red Bandana

My brother and I were hangin' out in the lot. I found myself playing hacky sack with some fellow heads. They were real cool and had some great fungus. It was time to go in and my brother said if we get separated look for me I will be wearing a red bandana. Right! We get separated and when I walk in on the floor every one had red bandanas on! I was really starting feel fuzzy. I remembered that my brother would always be in the middle in front of the SBD about 30 rows back. I used my keen sence of Jedi direction and found him within 2 rows!!! We settled in for what was a great show. The Blow away is one of the best! the Let it grow was smokin' Loser shined. I really liked the Scarelet>Fire. The boys really streached out on that! The SBD of this show is amazing. Philly shows were always wild!!! Gone are the days!

My 2nd Dead show

My first show was 6 years earlier(6/21/83) and I dont know why but it didnt hook me(despite the set list)THIS one did the trick!I saw my first concert ever(Yes) at JFK and acutlly LOVED the place!After this show it was time to join the GD Family.

My Last Dead Show

And how I wish it wasn't! I guess my interests were taking me elsewhere at the time. Felt like I was gettin' too old to handle such crowds ( I was only 31; what a wuss!). But there were easily 100,000 people there. The only larger crowd I was ever in was the Englishtown show. Only time I was ever in JFK Stadium. I guess it was fine in its day, but good riddance! Oh yeah, the music! ON FIRE! Drums awash with MIDI--I swear they entered "The Other One" sideways!

The Dead closed that one for good

Very memorable show for me. I remember the sun just dipping below the horizon on a scorching hot day when they kick in to that awsome Scarlet-Fire, WOW! That was the last concert ever played at JFK, they tore it down shortly afterward. I guess you could say the Dead brought the house down for good!

we got all the way cooked

we puddeled and during Ramble on rose...which i had always enjoyed but...that song tore my soul up in that GD sort of way....Jerry was singing right to me and when the first verse was peaking Jerry wailed "I know this song it aint never gonna End....lookin at me the whole time and rockin...I knew that time meant nothing and that 7 min song was 1000 life times! I thought it was over and then they jammed ....each chorus and jam and verse was an eternty ....jerry would drop a line that cut to the core of my soul..and sheak his head like...he was disgusted by my troubled heart ...but a second later smilefrom ear to ear and rip out more rockin solos...well by the second "Never gomnna end" i was convinced and the GOODBYE MA MA AND poppaa was the perfect apocolyptic end to a deep and wide moment ...and then i settled down easy with a whole new outlook. when the last note fell jerry looked up at me and nodded in what felt like his approval of our journy...

Come to think of it.....

Came out after the show and somebody had busted my truck window to steal my tap, but left the kegs iced in the kiddie pool under the cover in the back. I'm sure karma comes 'round in a case like that.

So hot, so dosed

I remember a bunch of guys on the floor introducing themselves to each other as "Steve" "Hi Steve, I'm Steve, good to meet ya Steve, Steve Stevens here with ya!" It was so damn silly, I joined in with 'em. Great show! My second show. What's to say about the music that hasn't already been said. Loser, Blow Away, Scarlet>Fire, Other One. All amazing stuff! I got to get a good copy of this show. Searching for the Sound

Last Concert at JFK

Killer show. Attended with a bunch of friends let alone the 100,000 fans who made it in. What I remember most is what happened the following week. On Wednesday, about 1000 Rolling Stones fans started camping out for tickets that were to go on sale Saturday at 10am. Come Saturday morning, The Authorities said that JFK was unsafe for a concert and cancelled the ticket sales until they found another venue for the Stones. I somehow felt abused in that it was ok for 100,000 Dead Heads to have the time of their lives in a very functional venue but was deemed somehow unsafe for Rolling Stones fans. And that's how the Dead became the last concert ever held at JFK. Today, 5/2/09, the Dead will do their last show ever at the Spectrum (#55). Then it to will go the way of JFK and Veterans stadium. Parking lots !!

Standing on the Moon

I'll never forget Standing on the moon that night

One great show, 7-7-89....

This July 7, 1989 show is now know as "Crimson, White & Indigo: Philadelphia, July 7, 1989" US: Rhino GRA2-6015. 3-CD/1-DVD SET. Released 4/20/10. One of my favorite shows.

Great show......CONDEMNED stadium..

I remember after the show, driving over the Betsy Ross Bridge, stuck in traffic, listening to KYW news radio, stating that the stadium was condemned effective immediately. Totally blew my buzz....but a memorable show..none the less!

heard they pulled the

heard they pulled the stadium down 2 weeks later,jerry and the boys certainly tore it down that night they were hot!!!!!!

What a show!

Stuck in traffic on the way in dancing on the overpass on the exit with some new friends. What a start for a great evening. Opening with a good Hell in a Bucket, but following that with a first set second song Iko Iko? It's gonna be a good show! First set rolling along like a freight train. Brent's Blow Away was by far the best I've heard including his impromptu vocals at the end. I needed the intermission just to comprehend that unbelievable first set. Does anybody remember the sunset at the beginning of the second set? What a sun setting on the boys. Could this night get any better? Of course it could. Tuning, tuning tuning is that what I think it is? The Phil Zone goes nuts when we all realize it's Box of Rain! Scarlet>Fire with the bright red sun setting. I think I just peaked. After sunset it finally starts to cool off...slightly. Trying to catch my breath but they just keep coming at me. One of the better Drums i've heard. Great entrance to The Other One. Felt like we were in the middle of it for five minutes but Phil didn't lead us in. Wait a minute here comes Phil dropping bombs. Right into my favorite of all time Wharf Rat. Finally dark and what felt like spotlights bathing the crowd along with "I'll get up and fly away!". Easily the best show I was ever at! The vibe was electric from start to finish and the boys felt it too. They fed us and we fed them right back all night. Definitely a top 5 show in my book. Back down to see the Who at the Vet 2 days later. All I could do is look over at JFK and thank her and the boys for a long, long, crazy, crazy night.

Great concert!

I really enjoyed Box of Rain, Fire on the Mountain and Standing on the Moon that Night. Remenber the rainbut do not thankfully remenber the rats, but i did partake of a few beers so I just forgot the rats lol.

Remember the Rain was not the song I meant to put in the post

I was listening to the song and typed it by mistake, I am not a good typer. It is by my cousin Joe and not a dead song.

Here Comes the Rain

Blow Away!

Freaking Hot. And the show was awsome.

Never do acid on a hot day. But this day was different. This show was special, I'm glad to share it with all of my friends. We did some kind of Bart Simpson blotter hits, and It got colorful from that point on. We started at the Church grounds in Toms River NJ (the usuall meeting point) I still remember Katy under a water hose just getting wet (cause it was hot) and Eric crashing his car on the bridge that crossed the Deleware River. and the cops never knew his mental status, fucking funny. A little downer, but It all paid off at the show. And when the sun went down and I realized "Holy Shit look at all the people" It had to of been a record. Loved JFK show.

"Doing the Wave"

We had fun during the intermission... Doing the Wave.

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brassinthegrass

1 year 3 months ago

Keep the mother elevated, just one more time!
Love reading all these great comments about the memories of that very special moment in time. Even though I wasn't there it seems to me the only thing holding that mother of a building up was the sheer JOY! and POSITIVE SPIRIT! of all the enlightened DeadHeads in the building. Great musically too! Can't wait for the MeetUp!
CCSweets

1 year 8 months ago

My First Show
It was early afternoon and I was on the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension heading South on my way to Long Beach Island to spend the next couple of days with my friend from high school who had moved to LBI for the summer. I was in my 1973 Red Camaro R/S going a little faster than traffic and lo an behold I pass my younger brother in his custom van who I had no idea was going to the show and traveling in the same direction but he was going to the grateful dead show. What are chances you see someone you know on the PA Turnpike, yet alone it being a family member? After seeing each other and laughing together. suddenly my car started overheating and steam was coming out from under the hood halfway through the only tunnel on that section of the road. All I remember thinking was that I lucky to have found him and also be near the end of the tunnel because I knew there was turnpike maintenance area where I could let the engine cool and probably get water. As I pulled over with my brother in the van behind me; we get out and assess the situation and luckily he had two of gallons of water, but that didn't fill the radiator. I was able to find a spigot near the wall of the tunnel, filled up the radiator and engine and we decided to follow each other, at least until to Philadelphia where I would break off and head east to New Jersey; we started on our way. To ease the work for my engine, my brother drove in front of me as a wind breaker; so my engine didn't need to work so hard, just in case. Then all of a sudden he's slowing down, 45mph, 35mph. 25mph .... he pulled over. His electrical system in the van stopped working, the engine had stalled and I pulled over along with him. The starter on his van wouldn't crank and we had another 'oh shit' moment. Being halfway to Philadelphia we knew getting a tow truck was hardly an option; but fortunately he had a long chain in the van so we chained the frame of his van to my Camaro's rear axle and the decision was to get him to the JFK stadium parking lot and then I would continue to LBI after we arrive. Getting on the Schuylkill Highway was hell and with every stop and pull you hear the chain snap with tension; nerves were shot but we got there; I think it was 4:00 - 4:30. With my brother in tow I managed to explain to the parking attendant that I was leaving as soon as we unhitched. Finally, parking decided to pop a beer and relax a little bit and some dude comes walking past selling black sticky opium and I'm like; hell yeah and twenty dollars later I was stoned like I've never been stoned in my life. My bother tells me that he had two extra tickets and I decided to buy one of the two tickets and then he gave the other ticket to someone who was without a ticket for free; a few days later we learned a new term, that's called a miracle ticket. In return for the miracle ticket the person he gave it to gave him a ten strip and because I helped him get there, my brother gave me five of them. Now at this point, I had no idea what I was holding, actually I was quite scared of the substance based what I've learned from war on drugs; I was already pushing it with the black opium. The decision to partake was frightening but I took the chance and popped another beer. Before I knew it the opening band was about to end and it was time to start heading into the concert where along the way a beautiful soul, some girl handed me a fresh rose along the way. I was coming up and spontaneous smiles were unavoidable. Finally making our way to the seating level; a sea of tie dyes, stadium waves and Beach-balls floating on top the crowd were breaching my awareness in levels beyond any familiar comprehension. The band came on opening up with a song I had never heard, Hell in a Bucket and then Iko Iko. Soon I was watching the pedals on the rose which I was holding fall off in sorrow; I actually became sad that I was causing them to break away and soon I found myself picking up the pedals of the rose and folding them in half and watching the cracks in the pedal come alive in amazement; the music kept on playing and people were dancing and twirling all around me; Iko Iko all day... I sat there laughing for no less than utter happiness, Little Red Rooster was the prowl. Soon the the sun was setting and twilight began, that's when the stage lights came alive and the visuals were incredibly friendly if not out of this world. Before I knew it the concert was ending and heading back out to the parking lot preparing to head east. My brother's van started up in a sigh of relief. I headed to the beach, met my friend around 5 am and spend the two nights tripping at the shore until morning light. I have never looked at things the same way ever since. <3
iGrateful

3 years 4 months ago

Remind Me
Remind me to tell you a story about this show one day