By the summer of 1985, the Grateful Dead had settled into a muscular, arena-tested version of themselves that divided fans even as it packed houses. Brent Mydland, now six years into his tenure as keyboardist, had fully shed any sense of being the new guy — his Hammond organ and synthesizer work gave the band a harder, more forceful edge than the Godchaux years, and Jerry Garcia, despite the personal struggles that would crescendo into his diabetic coma just days after this very show, was still capable of nights of genuine fire. The rhythm section of Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart (the latter back in the fold since 1974) was as locked-in and physical as ever, and Bob Weir had grown into one of rock's most underrated rhythm guitarists. The mid-eighties Dead were a big machine, but on the right night, that machine could still levitate. Boreal Ridge Ski Resort sits in the Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass on the California-Nevada border, and a Dead show there has an inherently unusual, almost festival-like quality — open air, high altitude, pine-scented, the kind of setting that could loosen up a band and an audience alike. This was not a conventional arena stop or a storied theater engagement; it was the sort of outdoor, off-the-beaten-path booking that the Dead sprinkled into their calendar and that sometimes yielded unexpectedly loose and exploratory performances. The geography alone — nestled in the mountains just hours from San Francisco — gives the show a homecoming intimacy even within a broader summer run.
The one song we have confirmed from this date is "Day Tripper," the Beatles cover the Dead occasionally dusted off as a fun, bluesy romp. It was never a setlist staple, which makes any appearance of it a small gift — a moment when the band is clearly having fun, stretching out on familiar material from outside their own canon. Garcia always made that riff sound natural in his hands, and Weir's chop beneath it could give the song a rhythmic punch the original never quite had. Worth seeking out for the sheer pleasure of it. Recording information for this show is limited, so your mileage may vary depending on what source circulates — but even a decent audience tape from an outdoor mountain venue can carry its own atmospheric charm. Cue it up and let the altitude do its work.