Grateful Dead

It's a real bummer to hear Lovemygirl needs to part with his Europe '72 CDs. Maybe some of us can help him out and buy a few of these amazing shows. If you don't have all of 'em yet, now's the time – they're becoming very hard to find for a reasonable price. Only 2 are still available here on http://www.dead.net/store/music (4/8 & 4/14) Lovemygirl listed his offerings by show number. Here's his list with venue and date added (** = sealed/unopened) 1. April 7 Wembley Empire Pool, Wembley 3.** April 11 Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle 4.** April 14 Tivolis Koncertsal, Copenhagen 5. April 16 Aarhus University, Aarhus 7.** April 21 Beat Club, Bremen 8. April 24 Rheinhalle, Dusseldorf 9.** April 26 Jahrhundert Halle, Frankfurt 10. April 29 Musikhalle, Hamburg 12. May 4 Olympia Theatre, Paris 13.** May 7 Bickershaw Festival, Wigan 15.** May 11 Rotterdam Civic Hall, Rotterdam 16.**May 13 Lille Fairgrounds, Lille 17.** May 16 Theatre Hall, Luxembourg 18.** May 18 Kongressaal - Deutsches Museum, Munich 19.** May 23 Strand Lyceum, London 20.** May 24 Strand Lyceum, London 21.** May 25 Strand Lyceum, London 22.** May 26 Strand Lyceum, London This post is totally unsolicited. I'm fortunate to have a trunk. Just hoping we can help out a brother. PM that boy! Onward!

FW'69 is the highest height the GD ever achieved. All the other peaks ('72, '77, '89) don't come come to the visceral energy and spontaneity this run achieves. I can only imagine what fans of, say, Jefferson Airplane (with their 40 minute concerts and cutesy 3 1/2 minute songs, even when live) thought as they watched 2/28/69 unfold. Agreed that the FW'69 shows are like E'72 in that they are so consistent that each show is almost indistinguishable from the others, which makes sense since both these runs were planned and multi-tracked for the explicit purpose of creating a live album. I think there first two shows slightly better, though I love the 23-minute jam on 3/2/69 that seems to sample 4 or 5 different songs instrumentally in one long piece, kinda like how movie soundtracks now do.... but they did it spontaneously - amazing. As for the notion that they might re-release FW'69 because "Hey they promised a one-time release but that was 13 years ago - times change". No, they don't, any more than I can say to my wife "of course I've been f__ing my assistant at work... our wedding vows are 16 years old! Times change, babe! What's for dinner?" Luckily Archive.org DOES have the amazing SBD's (not just AUD's), so there is no need to waste a release on a re-issue for the few who missed the first pressing. Listening to 2/28/69 on Archive right now on it's 49th anniversary, and the sound is amazing!

Yeah. I missed the initial release. It wasn't until years later that I came across it. Rhino said no more copies would be released and I believed them. Silly me. But you know what? I didn't sit here and complain. I didn't ask for a re-release. I did something about it. Hunted around for quite some time until I found a copy at a "reasonable" price. And I bought it. You see, copies are available. You are simply making the decision not to pay the amount asked. Which is fine. But, please don't come here to whine about it. Hell. The total cost of one D&C show these days is almost the same price as one of those boxes. How many folks go to those? Me. I'd rather have the box. Here's a thought. Why not sell your copy of DaP 1 for the going rate and you will have enough money to buy two copies of FW69? And yeah, 2/27 is the deal. The band got it right on the first try.

Seinfeld

"If a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them." Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow

I take your point about the value of keeping your word, but in the case of the FW box, the word was issued about 13 years ago. My own life was completely different in 2005 to what it is now, and I would hate to be held to account for anything I might have said so long ago. Granted there are statements made in the past that still hold true today. But there are just as many, if not more, that could now be discounted as a product of their time. I can't imagine the place where I used to work in 2005 worrying too much about contravening any of my principles in this day and age.

I think it would be excellent if you made the decisions.The ARK box shouldn't be issued instead of the Fillmore 69 box, but as well as.

Keep the audio as it is. They sound fine to me as is. Via Wikipedia page on remastering: Remastering music for CD or even digital distribution first starts from locating the original analog version. The next step involves digitising the track or tracks so it can be edited using a computer. Then the track order is chosen. This is something engineers often worry about because if the track order is not right, it may seem sonically unbalanced. When the remastering starts, engineers use software tools such as a limiter, an equaliser, and a compressor. The compressor and limiters are ways of controlling the loudness of a track. However, this is not to be confused with the volume of a track, which is controlled by the listener during playback. The dynamic range of an audio track is measured by calculating the variation between the loudest and the quietest part of a track. In recording studios the loudness is measured with negative decibels, zero designates the loudest recordable sound. A limiter works by having a certain cap on the loudest parts and if that cap is exceeded, it is automatically lowered by a ratio preset by the engineer. Criticism Remastered audio has been the subject of criticism. Many remastered CDs from the late 1990s onwards have been affected by the "loudness war", where the average volume of the recording is increased at the expense of clarity and dynamic range, making the remastered version sound louder at regular listening volume than an uncompressed version. Some have also criticized the overuse of noise reduction in the remastering process, as it affects not only the noise, but the signal too, and can leave audible artifacts. Equalisation can change the character of a recording noticeably. As EQ decisions are a matter of taste to some degree, they are often the subject of criticism. Mastering engineers such as Steve Hoffman have noted that using flat EQ on a mastering allows listeners to adjust the EQ on their equipment to their own preference, but mastering a release with a certain EQ means that it may not be possible to get a recording to sound right on high-end equipment. See also: Loudness war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war Bottom line: I'd go with a repackaged re-release of all 4 shows individually and the bonus disc and booklet as yet another individual stand alone release. Bonus disc & booklet: early January 2019 All four shows: mid-February 2019 Dave's Picks Volume 29: Subscriptions scheduled to ship February 1, 2019 (Friday) and the remainder at the same time.

Yeah, I missed out on the FW 69 box set too. I also missed out on the Renaissance, investing early in Starbuck's, Lincoln's presidency, and seeing "Deepthroat" in theaters. Life's unfair. Moving on...

The Fillmore 69 box is definitely the one I consider to be the best release so far, more so than boxzilla, either of the 1977/1990 sets, or even the winterlands 73/77 etc. I agree that everyone should atleast hear those 1969 shows, and I think it would be alright if TPTB did some sort of download only reissue or something of that nature. I got the audio files from a friend, that's probably the best way currently to get the box, though there are torrents and blogs etc. I will add that all those shows are free to listen to on the archive in excellent quality, with multiple audio sources. And that the boxset's cds have also been on youtube for 4+ years. 1969 may be well represented, but I'll always be happy to see more from that year. Personally I would be fully on-board with Dave choosing to only release 1969 recordings until there were no more to put out. Dave then could move on to only 1968, followed by whats available from 1970 and then all that's left of 1973... it's probably a good thing I don't make the decisions.