Robert F. Kennedy Stadium
July 06, 1986
Washington, D.C., DC US
Notes:
Dylan, Petty & The Heartbreakers opened
Set List:
Hell in a BucketSugaree
Me and My Uncle
Big River
Row Jimmy
Cassidy
Althea
Let it Grow
Saint of Circumstance
Iko Iko
Looks Like Rain
He's Gone
drums
Stella Blue
Throwin' Stones
Not Fade Away
Brokedown Palace
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Robert F. Kennedy Stadium - July 7, 1986 »Attendees of this show
It was so hot on the field. Dyan & The Heartbreakers were lots of fun. The Deads' set was cool, but it was not a good night for them. I think the heat differently got to Jerry(may he rest in peace).
Peace and Love,
Steve-o Stabile
Dylan came on in a black leather jacket, and when they sprayed the groundlings, he said, "That's a waste of water." A nude asian man ran up the aisle beside me. Dylan added, "We like to be hot." About three hours wait between Dylan & TP and the Dead. Night fell. Jerry walked up to the mic and said, "This fuckin' thing's broken!" And when Bobby sang "Let It Rain," it did. I drove from DC to Tuscaloosa the next day--14 hours entirely in daylight! And Jerry played his last show before the coma that day (Was it Sunday?). After that the crowds got a lot younger and higher, and nobody really felt like doing it any more.
This was my 2nd show and it was unbelievably hot! I remember being in the press booths and yelling down to Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. They all looked up but Jerry was the only one to wave.
After the show I remember helicopters telling us to leave the parking lot. People were shooting bottle rockets at them and they were hitting them. That was pretty freaking crazy.
I remember some of our friends made t-shirts to sell ... the shirts said "Estimate the Profit ... Dylan-Petty-Dead". Not sure how well those sold! (Dave and Libby???)
I didn't enjoy the show too much because of the heat, and I didn't care to see Dylan or Petty. But I looked down a few rows and saw a girl with whom I went to high school (a thousand miles away in the midwest!) ... we had a good laugh at the reconnection ... funny how small a world can get at a Dead show!
It was about 120 degrees in the shade and my birthday show. The friend I was with was having a heat stroke, we were already in the show; and I sat her down on the cool concrete by the concession stands, out of nowhere one of the (what I think was a) crew member came out and asked me if I needed help. This is when other people were running away, not wanting to get involved; they brought me a cup of ice. I decided to get my friend back to the hotel. We no sooner get back to the room and she wanted to order a pizza, so I knew she was OK; I went back to the show, the security guard let me back in after I told him what happened and showed him my ID that had my birthday on it.
... 9 mile skid on a 10 mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside :-)
In The End, We're All Dead!
Me and a buddy drove to DC from Richmond in the middle of the night. Neither of us had ever been yet we drove straight to the stadium with no directions. We got in a line we saw not knowing what it was for. It was for a convenience store and he was selling beer. We each bought a case and started drinking before sunup. After partaking in some happiness we went in RFK Stadium barefoot with no shirt. It was wild. Remember the chick getting naked and running around the baseball diamond while everyone kept the cops away from her? And the best part was watching people jump the gate to the field. It was like ants swarming.
Locations
At the start of (I think) the 1st set -- it might have been the second -- Bob's wireless connection to his amp stopped working. While he fiddled with it, Phil started giving him a hard time: "Bobby's new-fangled radio transmitter done give up the ghost - he's gonna have to use a cord like the rest of us!" And then, to my amazement, Jerry got in on the act -- I'd been seeing shows since 1983 & had NEVER heard him speak a word on stage, but that day he was in a great mood (so it seemed), probably more clear-headed than he'd been in ages. So he says: "Bobby's having trouble with his electric guitar! Seems the fuckin' thing is broken, man!"
It was hilarious. We all laughed. And then, for some reason, it occurred to me that Jerry's newly-found stage energy seemed like he'd just woken up, so I shouted: "Yeah! Jerry's not in a come anymore!"
A few days later... man, I felt so bad -- not insane enough to think I caused it, but to have made a coma joke a few days before he went into a coma? Seemed karmic, at least, ya know?
Other than that, my most vivid memory of this show -- beyond the heat -- was getting extremely silly while dancing & hugging with an incredibly hot girl I went to the show with during Aiko, saying how we were "best X friends" now (for obvious reasons). A pleasurable day to be sure.