Grateful Dead

Funny.. I've been hitting on some of the older classics this week too. Today's treat was from Dicks Picks 26, 4/26/69. I had forgotten how good some of those transitions sounded.. great stuff. Cryptical Envelopment Drums The Other One The Eleven The Other One It's A Sin I just finished Dicks Picks 22 from Kings Beach Bowl in February 68. Wild and woolly Grateful Dead. Good call on FW 69. Its been a while.

Something random from 30trips: how about cornell 81? its a pretty smoking show I think.

Been on a little break from the Dead, but I think that is over with a vengeance. Had a craving for the classic Darkstar from 2/27/69 from the Fillmore West so I gave it a spin. That is the Darkstar against which I measure all others as it is etched on my brain from repeated listening to it on Live Dead. One of the main things that got me hooked on the Dead in the first place, and now putting me fully in the mood for more Dead. Only question now is what's next? Veneta '72? Arrowhead '78? Maybe something from Spring '90? Something random from 30TATS? Sometimes a little Dead break really sparks the enthusiasm for some Dead when the break is over.

although as much as I love dicks 25 they did flub up Bertha. someone missed a cue that the band was going into a jam so you hear bob go "I got to mooooo-ooooove~~~~~...... (followed by jamming) lol. oh well mistakes happen lol.

Iko-Iko opens the 2nd set! Hey, I liked the whole show, the boys still have it!

DP 10 also has a great New Minglewood Blues. At about the 3:30 mark Jerry's guitar takes on a great tone and achieves that 'interstellar liftoff' we all crave.

Thanks for the China Cats, I'm checking them out. Jimbo, I'very always enjoyed 4/17/72 as well.I also listened to the Hundred Year Hall version almost exclusively in my pre-Dead-Freak days, when one great version seemed like a reasonable commodity. It's funny you mentioned 5/24/72. I always put the China Cat from 5/3 with the Rider from 5/24, because the Rider from 5/3 has all of the studio vocal overdubs that I don't care for; the transition is seamless. I need to check out the entire 5/24 pairing again - I sort of forget which China Cat that one is. I also want to do 7/31/74 again. I just did Dillon Stadium about a month ago, and I remember being impressed with it. I'll have to check out 5/17/74 - don't believe I've heard that one yet. And DP 10, I don't listen to nearly as much as I should. There are some strong advocates on Heady Version of the Road Trips Wall Of Sound performance; I was cranking that one last week in the car.

Right on, couldn't agree more.. and its never too late..

That we have what we have left in 2017 is stellar. If you've been to the shows much of the spirit is there, in the people. John, Oteil and Chimenti are hitting it out of the park on a nightly basis.

Regarding Dead and Company they represent the latest in post Jerry line ups with the purpose of, and I a going to paraphrase another member JimInMD (spelling?). He summed up all the post Jerry line ups as the boys doing their best to provide a public service to all who love the Grateful Dead music. Again as I am paraphrasing, I am sure I did not get exact the words correct but I think the message does get across. I totally agree with idea as it best sums up what I feel is the most important piece. The music that was made by The Grateful Dead was and is completely in league of its own and it does wonders the mind body and soul. I do like a lot of other bands, but no one comes close to The Grateful Dead. I also know I am not alone because even when it gets a little ugly on these boards sometimes, I still see a bunch of people as passionate as I am about this band. That is why the remaining members have kept playing, they boys in enjoy and fans are still passionate about it. Now it hasn’t been consistent throughout the years with tours and members but even in the different incarnations the sum is greater than the parts. Of course the post Jerry line ups are different and they should be, but I still think each line-up has brought good things to everyone. I think all of the post Jerry line ups got the point and truly the music has played the band. I think with Dead and Company they are on more on than they are off. Sure there are some flubs but they really sound great a lot of the time.   For me I am the worst Deadhead…what I mean by that is I got into the Grateful Dead near the end. I didn’t have any cool people around me when I was younger to introduce me to them earlier on, so I only caught a couple of shows in 94 and 95. What makes me a bad Deadhead is that shortly after those shows Jerry died. So I got to be part of things however brief it was, but then it was taken away -  forever, or at least I thought so. Now till this day, not a day goes by that I wish I didn’t catch more shows. If I could somehow just get my hands on a flux capacitor or a TARDIS and maybe then travel back in time, that could be an alternative.  Don’t get me wrong, I am still lucky to have seen a few shows with Jerry. However I see all of these posts where people caught them in 89 for this run or a Spring 90 set of shows. Or there some who have seen them in 73, 77, or 80-81. I always lament that I may have been born at the wrong time and place.   The good news is that I discovered that along with the massive amount of material that has been released there are vast amounts of the shows that can be downloaded and YouTube has so many shows to chose from that has kept me satisfied to some extent. I have seen just about all of the post Jerry line-ups (I missed my chance to see Further due to a crazy work situation). I found that for each of these line ups, I went in with the expectation of just being happy to be there and to enjoy  myself. In many instances I did get some great experiences out of it. This includes Dead and Company, although the last show I saw was a little on the mellow side. The best thing is that it is 2017 and there is still something good to go see. The crowd doesn’t seem to be too bad in terms of behaviors, and I get mostly good vibes all around. My thought specifically for Dead and Company is that I can’t see them going for too many more year into the future. I feel like once again due to the ravages of time, we are the cusp of change (not that I want that). If anyone is one the fence about seeing them, I would recommend giving them a try.     When it is all said and done, I would have no problems seeing a band with Jeff, John and Oteil and some supporting members as I think these guys are stellar. Those guys get it. In the end I hope that what was started many, amny years ago just keeps continuing on into the future. I like the idea of providing a public service to all who love the Grateful Dead music. I know that there are many Deadheads who never got see Jerry and I also know that this music has been passed on through generations. I see no reason why it can’t continue on into the distant future, as long as the point is not lost.