https://archive.org/details/gd94-06-17.nak700.ladner.9774.sbeok.shnf/gd94-06-17d2t01.shn
June 17, 1994
I can remember standing in the rain and the impatience of the crowd as the band tuned up and seemed to be hesitant to play. The rain had been consistent since the first set and the atmosphere was electric – birds circling Autzen stadium, tie dyed flags waving in the cool wind. It seemed too cold for a June day, and it didn’t help that we were all – forty thousand of us – absolutely soaking wet.
But then the band launched into Rain by the Beatles, and what I remember is everyone smiling, cheering with recognition of the tune, and then dancing for the whole second set.
The moment that I can still see crystal clearly in my mind’s eye is half way through Rain, I was on the field and I looked up at the stands to see forty thousand people dancing in the rain and thinking that the band had taken the place from a tense, edgy vibe to a great shared moment. I can still feel that. It was magic. It was transformative.
That is what I loved about the Grateful Dead.