Summer Magic 1985

Summer Magic 1985
A grey design with a lightning flash skull and floral decorations
Live album and box set by
Grateful Dead
ReleasedSeptember 18, 2026 (2026-09-18)
RecordedJune 14–July 1, 1985
LabelRhino
Grateful Dead chronology
Dave's Picks Volume 59
(2026)		 Summer Magic 1985
(2026)		 Merriweather 6/30/85
(2026)
Grateful Dead concert box set chronology
Enjoying the Ride
(2025)		 Summer Magic 1985
(2026)

Summer Magic 1985 is a live box set by the American rock band Grateful Dead, released on September 18, 2026 by Rhino Entertainment.

Contents

Summer Magic 1985 is a 20-CD box set of seven complete concerts recorded from June 14 to July 1, 1985, including their three 20th anniversary shows on June 14, 15, and 16. The box set includes a show recorded at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 30 that will also be released as a separate album called Merriweather 6/30/85. It also contains a 96-page book featuring an essay written by Nicholas G. Meriwether and longtime Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux. It was produced in a limited edition of 10,000 copies.

Lemieux has stated before that the performance of "Shakedown Street" from the June 30 show is "widely considered one of the greatest single performances of any song by the Grateful Dead, up there with '[Morning] Dew' from Europe '72, 'Viola Lee Blues' from Harpur College, and 'Eyes of the World' from 3/29/90."

Concerts

Summer Magic 1985 contains recordings of these concerts:

Personnel

Grateful Dead

Production

Track listing

June 14, 1985 – Greek Theatre, Berkeley, California

Disc 1

First set:
  1. "Dancing in the Street" (William Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, Ivy Jo Hunter)
  2. "West L.A. Fadeaway" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter)
  3. "C.C. Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  4. "Peggy-O" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  5. "Hell in a Bucket" (Bob Weir, Brent Mydland, John Perry Barlow)
  6. "Keep On Growing" (Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock)
  7. "Stagger Lee" (Garcia, Hunter)
  8. "Let It Grow" > (Weir, Barlow)
  9. "Deal" (Garcia, Hunter)
Encore:
  2. "Keep Your Day Job" (Garcia, Hunter)

Disc 2

Second set:
  1. Tuning fun
  2. "Morning Dew" > (Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose)
  3. "Playing in the Band" > (Weir, Mickey Hart, Hunter)
  4. "China Doll" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Jam" > (Grateful Dead)
  6. "Drums" > (Hart, Bill Kreutzmann)
  7. "Space" > (Garcia, Phil Lesh, Weir)
  8. "Truckin'" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter)
  9. "Smokestack Lightning" > (Chester Burnett)
  10. "Comes a Time" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  11. "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter)

June 15, 1985 – Greek Theatre, Berkeley, California

Disc 3

First set:
  1. "Touch of Grey" (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "New Minglewood Blues" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  3. "Friend of the Devil" (Garcia, John Dawson, Hunter)
  4. "Cassidy" (Weir, Barlow)
  5. "Dupree's Diamond Blues" (Garcia, Hunter)
  6. "Me and My Uncle" > (John Phillips)
  7. "Big River" > (Johnny Cash)
  8. "Might as Well" (Garcia, Hunter)

Disc 4

Second set:
  1. "China Cat Sunflower" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "I Know You Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  3. "Lost Sailor" > (Weir, Barlow)
  4. "Saint of Circumstance" (Weir, Barlow)
  5. "Terrapin Station" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  6. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 5

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "The Wheel" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  3. "Gimme Some Lovin'" > (Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood, Muff Winwood)
  4. "Throwing Stones" > (Weir, Barlow)
  5. "Not Fade Away" (Norman Petty, Charles Hardin)
Encore:
  2. "She Belongs to Me" (Bob Dylan)
  3. "U.S. Blues" (Garcia, Hunter)

June 16, 1985 – Greek Theatre, Berkeley, California

Disc 6

First set:
  1. "In the Midnight Hour" > (Wilson Pickett, Steve Cropper)
  2. "Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter)
  3. "Walkin' Blues" (Robert Johnson)
  4. "Tennessee Jed" (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "My Brother Esau" (Weir, Barlow)
  6. "Big Railroad Blues" (Noah Lewis)
  7. "Looks Like Rain" (Weir, Barlow)
  8. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" (Garcia, Hunter)
  9. "Promised Land" (Chuck Berry)

Disc 7

Second set:
  1. "Scarlet Begonias" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "Fire on the Mountain" (Hart, Hunter)
  3. "Samson and Delilah" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  4. "That's It for the Other One" >
    • "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia)
    • "The Other One" (Weir, Kreutzmann)
    • "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia)
  5. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 8

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" > (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  3. "I Need a Miracle" > (Weir, Barlow)
  4. "Wharf Rat" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Turn On Your Lovelight" (Joseph Scott, Deadric Malone)
Encore:
  2. "Brokedown Palace" (Garcia, Hunter)

June 27, 1985 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, New York

Disc 9

First set:
  1. "In the Midnight Hour" > (Pickett, Cropper)
  2. "Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter)
  3. "Little Red Rooster" (Willie Dixon)
  4. "Stagger Lee" (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "El Paso" (Marty Robbins)
  6. "Crazy Fingers" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  7. "Supplication Jam" > (Grateful Dead)
  8. "High Time" (Garcia, Hunter)
  9. "Hell in a Bucket" > (Weir, Mydland, Barlow)
  10. "Don't Ease Me In" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)

Disc 10

Second set:
  1. "Feel Like a Stranger" > (Weir, Barlow)
  2. "Eyes of the World" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  3. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" > (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  4. "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" > (Norman Span)
  5. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 11

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "Truckin'" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter)
  3. "Spoonful" > (Dixon)
  4. "Black Peter" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Turn On Your Lovelight" (Scott, Malone)
Encore:
  2. "Johnny B. Goode" > (Berry)
  3. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Dylan)

June 28, 1985 – Hershey Park Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Disc 12

First set:
  1. "Cold Rain and Snow" > (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  2. "Promised Land" (Berry)
  3. "Ramble On Rose" (Garcia, Hunter)
  4. "I Ain't Superstitious" (Dixon) / "Down in the Bottom" > (Dixon)
  5. "Bird Song" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  6. "Comes a Time" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  7. "Deal" (Garcia, Hunter)

Disc 13

Second set:
  1. "The Music Never Stopped" (Weir, Barlow)
  2. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (Dylan)
  3. "Estimated Prophet" > (Weir, Barlow)
  4. "Terrapin Station" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 14

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "I Need a Miracle" > (Weir, Barlow)
  3. "Morning Dew" > (Dobson, Rose)
  4. "Throwing Stones" > (Weir, Barlow)
  5. "Not Fade Away" (Petty, Hardin)
Encore:
  2. "Keep Your Day Job" (Garcia, Hunter)

June 30, 1985 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland

Disc 15

First set:
  1. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "C.C. Rider" > (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  3. "Brown-Eyed Women" (Garcia, Hunter)
  4. "Mama Tried" > (Merle Haggard)
  5. "Mexicali Blues" (Weir, Barlow)
  6. "Keep On Growing" (Clapton, Whitlock)
  7. "Big Railroad Blues" (Lewis)
  8. "Looks Like Rain" > (Weir, Barlow)
  9. "Don't Ease Me In" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)

Disc 16

Second set:
  1. "Shakedown Street" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "Samson and Delilah" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  3. "Gimme Some Lovin'" > (Davis, S. Winwood, M. Winwood)
  4. "He's Gone" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Cryptical Envelopment" > (Garcia)
  6. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 17

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "The Other One" > (Weir, Kreutzmann)
  3. "Stella Blue" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  4. "Around and Around" > (Berry)
  5. "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter)
Encore:
  2. "U.S. Blues" (Garcia, Hunter)

July 1, 1985 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland

Disc 18

First set:
  1. "Dancing in the Street" (Stevenson, Gaye, I.J. Hunter)
  2. "Dupree's Diamond Blues" (Garcia, Hunter)
  3. "Walkin' Blues" (Johnson)
  4. "Jack-a-Roe" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  5. "My Brother Esau" (Weir, Barlow)
  6. "Stagger Lee" (Garcia, Hunter)
  7. "Let It Grow" > (Weir, Barlow)
  8. "Keep Your Day Job" (Garcia, Hunter)

Disc 19

Second set:
  1. "Scarlet Begonias" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  2. "Fire on the Mountain" (Hart, Hunter)
  3. "Playing in the Band" > (Weir, Hart, Hunter)
  4. "Uncle John's Band" > (Garcia, Hunter)
  5. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann)

Disc 20

Second set, continued:
  1. "Space" > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir)
  2. "Dear Mr. Fantasy" > (Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, Steve Winwood)
  3. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" > (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
  4. "Good Lovin'" (Rudolph Clark, Arthur Resnick)
Encore:
  2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" > (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
  3. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Dylan)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Snider, Mike (July 15, 2026). "New Grateful Dead 20-CD Set Collects Band's 20th Anniversary Shows". USA Today. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Bernstein, Scott (July 15, 2026). "Grateful Dead Loads 'Summer Magic 1985' Box Set with 7 Previously Unreleased Shows". JamBase. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Grateful Dead's Summer Magic 1985: 20 CD Boxed Set Celebrates 20th Anniversary Tour with Seven Unreleased Concerts Arriving 9/18". Glide Magazine. July 15, 2026. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  4. ↑ "New Grateful Dead Box Set Will Revisit 'Summer Magic 1985'". Relix. July 15, 2026. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Grateful Dead Celebrates 20th Anniversary Tour with 20-CD Box Set". ABC Audio. July 15, 2026. Retrieved July 15, 2026.
  6. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (July 15, 2026). "Grateful Dead's Legendary 1985 Berkeley Shows Are Finally Getting an Official Release". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 17, 2026. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Around and Around: Grateful Dead Celebrate "Summer Magic 1985" with Massive Box Set, Standalone Concert Release - The Second Disc". The Second Disc. July 16, 2026. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  8. ↑ Martoccio, Angie (July 15, 2026). "Relive the Grateful Dead's 20th Anniversary Tour With 'Summer Magic 1985' Box Set". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 15, 2026. Retrieved July 17, 2026.