Bertha, Greatest Story Ever Told, Candyman, Walkin' Blues, El Paso, Queen Jane Approximately, We Can Run But We Can't Hide, Bird Song Foolish Heart, Victim Or The Crime, Crazy Fingers-> Truckin'-> Smokestack Lightning-> Drums-> Jam-> China Doll-> All Along The Watchtower-> Stella Blue-> Sugar Magnolia, E: Brokedown Palace

SBD > MR > DAT > C > DAT > CDR; Seeded to etree by Doug Nawrocki

plus-circle Add Review

comment Reviews

Reviewer: Joshua_me - favorite favorite favorite - January 30, 2011

Subject: Never could reach it.... Shame about the "C" in the lineage... There's an odd high end unpleasantness in this recording, presumably lost in the DAT copy. Phil is barely audible as well....



Still, I remember this show fondly. The very next year the Deer Creek '90 shows were the stuff of legend. It's almost like Jerry remembered the China Doll F-up from the year before and laid down one for the ages to make up for it.



Maybe he did. - January 30, 2011Never could reach it....

Reviewer: sparkyperry - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 30, 2011

Subject: Close Encounters! This was the first of about 20 shows that my friends and I were privileged to experience. We came down from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. If you remember the movie, Richard Dryfuss' charactor was from Muncie... remember his Ball U. t-shirt?! I think this was the Dead's way of paying homage to that and the place went BANANAS! Gotta give it a fiver for no other reason than it was my first! - January 30, 2011Close Encounters!

Reviewer: majordomo - favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 9, 2009

Subject: smokestack is hip i think jerry sounds hip on smokestack lightning. not as hip as hubert sumlin, but pretty hip. yea you right. - January 9, 2009smokestack is hip

Reviewer: reedha - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 5, 2009

Subject: great tonal balance This is what is truly sounds like at the center of the floor...great balance of tonalities, you can hear everything clearly...it brings you right back into the game!!! - January 5, 2009great tonal balance

Reviewer: CLaPorte - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 4, 2008

Subject: Amazing Show GD had a mail order open for this show for 1 day before they canceled it; as they were overwhelmed with all the stadium show mail orders they received. I didn't know the mail order was canceled until after I had sent one in for 4 tickets. I got a call from the GDTS office like a month later. The DUDE on the phoned was like "Hi, this is BAMBI with GDTS we got all our stadium shows mail orders done and we had a handful of mail orders for Deer Creek, so since we had the time we wanted to know if you wanted this Mail order filled?"

I was ecstatic to say the least. GDTS hooked me up with awesome seats and the show was stupendous. There were so many highlights during that show for me; candyman, queen jane, birdsong, truckin>smokestack, close encounters, stella blue.

It was a really intimate show with the GD that summer night, 15k people after being in 60-80k Stadiums. 89 GD is exuberant and it shines through Jerry all over this show. - September 4, 2008Amazing Show

Reviewer: skr213 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 27, 2008

Subject: Good, but not THAT good Overall: sound-wise, this is very good, but has a little something extra on the high-end that makes it slightly less than perfect. And there are intermittent sound problems, unrelated to the recording, in the first set (it sounds approximately like duct tape being unrolled). A good show, but I think Deer Creek shows sort of got a “larger-than-life” reputation over the years for some unknown reason. I don’t actually think this is any better than an average show for spring/summer ‘89 (Greensboro, Pittsburg, Alpine, Cal Expo, Greek are all at least as good, IMO).



The Scene: at this time, I think the venue was brand new. I remember the parking lot looked freshly paved and everything looked like it was in great shape. Obviously, it was the first time the boys had played there. I don’t think we ever found any sort of main scene in the lot this year (the next year I was in the St. Stephen bus parked the back side of the venue and the “scene” was there, so maybe that’s where it was in 89 as well). But, of course, the venue itself was fantastic and over the years it became a favorite for many (I only saw 89 and 90).



The music: as stated elsewhere, there are some sound issues in the first set. But otherwise a really solid set. The Queen Jane stands out as a bit better than average - Jerry, Bobby, and Brent all seem to put a little more energy into it than usual. There’s something about a nice Candyman at a summer show that always made me smile. Bird Song also soars really high (the highlight of the show, IMO). Second set is good, but not quite as good as some make it out to be. Good Smokestack, with Bobby really spittin’ it mean and juicy. I love the China Doll, but China Doll and Stella post-space? That’s one too many Jerry ballads in that time slot, IMO – should have done something other than Stella. Bobby’s post-space contributions are very strong with good high energy. - June 27, 2008Good, but not THAT good

Reviewer: lbforlb - favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 6, 2007

Subject: Deer Creek > Alpine: Nice!!! Unless you lived locally, this was the first time most of us got a peek at Deer Creek. Wonderful surprise. One of the finest venues for sure. Shows were solid. What could be better than heading to Alpine afterwards. Deer Creek > Alpine run was one of the best back to back venues they did in that time period. The band played like they thought so as well. - August 6, 2007Deer Creek > Alpine: Nice!!!

Reviewer: mwfish - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 20, 2006

Subject: great well if you were on the lawn then you realized that their was a huge time delay from the stage speakers and the field speakers(first three songs) i wasnt sure it was really happenning, if you know what i mean, then asken friends in the same shape and were relieved they were hearing the same as me, then in space they rip out close encounters (i guess that was there way of cristening a new venue) thought garcia was calling in the aliens for sure : ) - July 20, 2006great

Reviewer: robertgrimmer - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 11, 2006

Subject: bobg My first Dead show. Not the best, but love it!!!!!!! - June 11, 2006bobg

Reviewer: dmilks - favorite favorite favorite - February 14, 2006

Subject: Crazy Fingers Hearing Bobby take over on the lyrics for Jerry during Crazy Fingers always makes me chuckle. In my opinion, set 1 is stronger than 2, but overall it's a good Deer Creek show, the first of many great years (with the exception of the 95 disaster which included death threats on Garcia and the whole gate/fence incident). Sound quality is not great, overall a 4-. Alpine was WORLDS better. dmilks -- February 14, 2006Crazy Fingers

Reviewer: billtmcdee - favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 19, 2005

Subject: Close encounters I was at this show and am surprised at how many people missed the "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" during space. On this recording it starts at 8:00 during space. Space, its not just for hippies anymore... - November 19, 2005Close encounters

Reviewer: Trannyman - favorite favorite favorite - June 21, 2005

Subject: Crazy... Watch out here if Garcia meltdowns during Crazy Fingers bother you....biggies here. And the China Doll is all over the place too. Too bad, since the balance of the show is good...with the excellent Close Encounters space. Overall, still a decent show. - June 21, 2005Crazy...

Reviewer: Deep Space - favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 12, 2005

Subject: Master Reels In the 80's..? can that be true ?



Fine show - May 12, 2005Master Reels In the 80's..?

Reviewer: Deep Space - favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 12, 2005

Subject: Master Reels In the 80's..? can that be true ?



Fine show - May 12, 2005Master Reels In the 80's..?

Reviewer: markabes - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 16, 2005

Subject: The start of something great at Deer Creek AFter this show we came back to every one while I lived in the midwest and wsas never disappointed. The dead had just been playing stadiums and seemed to enjoy the relatively "small" venue compared to places like RFK and Giants Stadium. First set wsa good, I will never forget the guy walking around throwing Hershey Kisses at people during Candyman. The Bird Song is simply epic. The second set is nice, a bit choppy lyrically but the playing more then compensates, including the long run into drums with the nice Smokestack and the sweet early Midi guitar into the first part of China Doll. Watchtower rips, asdoes hte Sugar Mag, and we knew this was to be a place we bid farewell each year by the end of the Brokedown. - February 16, 2005The start of something great at Deer Creek

Reviewer: RedWingDeadHead - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 19, 2004

Subject: Deer Creek - The Legend Starts This was the best outdoor venue for the Dead. They always had tremendous energy and played great shows at Deer Creek. Bertha was a great opener. I remember listening to Crazy Fingers on the hill and watching fireworks in the distance. A well worth-while download! The sbd is not the best, but well above average - December 19, 2004Deer Creek - The Legend Starts

Reviewer: Alpine7784 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 5, 2004

Subject: Good Stuff! This was my 22nd birthday. I can't really add anything to the review that Schwadust made, but I will comment on the first set: the Queen Jane is triumphant. Strong vocals from everybody, great solos from Breant and Jer, and the song ends with a magnificent Phil Bomb. Check out the way Bobby sings the line, "...all throw down their bandanas and com-PLAIN!" Everybody in my section impulsively screamed. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.



Bird Song is also top shelf here, too.



Get the show.. you'll really dig it.



Sean K. - August 5, 2004Good Stuff!

Reviewer: Johnny C2k4 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 1, 2004

Subject: Good show Only 4 stars cuz i thought 90 was better lol and sdb quality was soso gets good tho after space killer china dolls toys. Thx again archives keep on truckin ........Jc - August 1, 2004Good show