Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-08-20
Arriving September 18, Summer Magic 1985 is a new 20CD boxed set bringing together seven previously unreleased Grateful Dead concerts from the band's "Twenty Years So Far" Tour, limited to 10,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively from Dead.net. Full of spellbinding moments that fans still talk about more than 40 years later – including a version of "Shakedown Street" from Merriweather Post Pavilion on 6/30/1985 that is "widely considered one of the greatest single performances of any song by the Grateful Dead," says Grateful Dead Legacy Manager and Archivist David Lemieux – Summer Magic 1985 features all three official Grateful Dead 20th Anniversary shows at Berkeley, California's Greek Theatre (6/14-6/16/85); Saratoga Performing Arts Center (6/27/85); Hershey Park Stadium (6/28/85); and Merriweather 6/30/85.
All performances were recorded by the band's longtime sound engineer Dan Healy and mastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Glasser at Airshow Mastering. As of today, "Shakedown Street" (Live at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, 6/30/1985) is now available digitally, alongside an unboxing video offering fans their first look into Summer Magic 1985.
Pre-Order Summer Magic 1985, listen to "Shakedown Street" (Live at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, 6/30/1985) and watch the boxed set's unboxing video: HERE
Celebrating the magical and spiritual fusion of communal energy, musical improvisation, and psychedelic style, Summer Magic 1985's high concept boxed set visually captures the transformative "concert alchemy" of the Grateful Dead's summer 1985 tour. Multidisciplinary artist Marcos Alvarado, known for incorporating alchemical symbolism in his surreal figurative drawings, guides us through an allegorical journey, introducing an array of new characters through striking original artwork that draws inspiration from classic alchemical illuminations. The 96-page book includes new essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether and David Lemieux, photos and more original artwork from Alvarado, with clever design and bonus items adding a sense of continued transformation and discovery that honors the Grateful Dead's enduring legacy.
Also on September 18, Rhino will release complete 3CD, 4LP and digital versions of the legendary Merriweather 6/30/85 concert from the set, featuring favorites like "Sugar Magnolia," "Cryptical Envelopment" and "Shakedown Street," produced for release by David Lemieux and available to pre-order HERE.
Ahead of the release of both Summer Magic 1985 and Merriweather 6/30/85, the latest season of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast is sharing new podcast episodes exploring the music across both collections, while Dead.net's Beginner's Guide to the Grateful Dead Live continues unveiling new installments from favorite Dead Heads and key members of the community, each offering five live takes that they would recommend for new fans getting into the Grateful Dead. Listen and subscribe to the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast HERE, and check out Beginner's Guide to the Grateful Dead Live featuring this month's guest, The National bassist Scott Devendorf.
"The seven shows this box presents...offer a snapshot of the artistic process that was the Grateful Dead, making a powerful statement of the band's project as they marked their 20th anniversary," writes Nicholas G. Meriwether (Executive Director, Grateful Dead Studies Association), in the Summer Magic 1985 liner notes. "This box not only lets us revisit what these shows sounded like at a peak of the band's PA prowess, it lets us finally hear what these shows meant, the alchemy of time and memory finally revealing the gold of those concerts."
