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    heatherlew
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    "The Grateful Dead picked up their instruments and hit the first note with perfection. They never missed a note for the next three and one-half hours. People followed the flow of the tunes. Down on the floor in front of the stage was a sea of heads keeping time with the music. No one sat still. No one, except the youngsters behind us sat still. They were still and stunned." - The Power County Press

    And what a stunner it was, that show at the Boise State University Pavilion in Boise, ID on September 2, 1983. Dave's Picks Volume 27 contains every stitch of music from this mid-80s show (our first in this series), one that's as good as any other in Grateful Dead history. When the Dead were on, they were ON! Straight out the gate with a definitive take on the old standard "Wang Dang Doodle," the band swiftly switches back to a setlist of yore, firing off 70s staples like "Jack Straw" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and wrapping things up with a terrific trio of "Big Railroad Blues"/"Looks Like Rain"/"Deal" (don't you let that epic guitar solo go down without you). Primed for the second set, they tackle the complexities of "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's" with heart and ease. It's clear there will be no stopping their flow - Bobby and Brent hanging in for a fantastic pre-Drums "Jam" and Jerry and Bobby in the zone on a not-to-be-missed melodic "Space." Not a skipper in the whole lot!

    Dave's Picks Volume 27 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 18,000 individually-numbered copies*.

    *Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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  • 80sfan
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    amazon
    curious what else will appear on that page...definitely worth bookmarking. Hey maybe a Dave's Picks 1 will show up and some lucky guy will be in the right place at the right time (a man can dream).
  • simonrob
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    JeffSmith - "Limited Edition" means what!?
    I fully agree with what you said including the bit where you said "Maybe/hopefully these again-available releases were withheld from initial sale as potential replacements. Who knows?". I hope you are right, but what nobody yet seems to have discovered is if these items actually do have a number printed on 'em. In the past some people who have received replacements for damaged sets have allegedly received unnumbered ones suggesting they are from a back-up stock. It remains to be seen if these WarnerMarket items are like this. There is also the question about when an item is sold out. If it is claimed to be a limited edition of, say, 18000 when do they say it is sold out? When they have received 18000 orders? Surely not, unless they have extra back-up stock for lost-in-the-post and damaged products. These would surely have to be unnumbered. Maybe they shut up shop when they have received 17500 orders and hold the remainder back as replacements. It is something we as mere punters are not privy to so it is hard to speculate on how the mighty Warner/Rhino machine works. Also, this appearance on Amazon begs the question: "Why now?".
  • alvarhanso
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    Re: Back to the future with stereo
    My listen has been on my computer system (good speakers, but not through my studio monitors), and mainly in the car. It's not my ears, it's the tapes. I'll take you at your word that the keyboards are lower on headphones, but I must ask do you really blast a show into your headphones as you would your stereo or in your car? I could check the sound on the living room stereo, but I don't think Jerry's guitar will suddenly spring into focus over Brent vamping, and I also doubt it will remove the Healy effects on the vocals. (I can't believe it took over 10 years of him adding that stuff to question him about it.) Just because somebody recorded something on reel to reel doesn't mean I have to listen to it that way for it to sound good. I don't buy that argument. Otherwise, I'd just find some old blank Maxells and dub this show and try it that way.
  • stoltzfus
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    last night
    went to a "Zoo Tunes" show at (you guessed it) the zoo. X and Psychedelic Furs X RROOCCKKSS. what a great band. so much great rock n roll. Hall of Fame worthy. so good. yes. they should have been the headliners. Psychedelic Furs: some good tunes, and an overall good sound. Richard Butler has a great voice. A band I liked from a distance, but never "got into". overall a great time. of course, these bands formed when I was in 7th grade. 7th grade. 1977. wow. they didn't hit their respective strides until 1980 or a little later. but still.
  • sonomajon
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    Agreed
    I tried again to listen to this show...It is an assault on my ears...Not only is the mix horrific there is no cohesion to the playing at all. The sum is definitely not greater than the parts...I too cannot understand why this would be released...I listened to 5-3-72 to cleanse the sonic palette...
  • twoswans
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    What was Dave thinking
    This show from 83 is without question my least favorite Dave’s Picks. The band is clearly high on mass quantities of cocane. I’ve never heard anything like it. Every song is so fast they lack any groove or substance. Disc three is the only saving grace of this release. The jam out of space with Jerry and Bob is captivating and the band finally eases off on the gas pedal long enough to keep the show in our collection. Maybe Dave needs to get back to the great shows from the 60’s and 70’s next time. Peace
  • thursday's child
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    first listen.....
    ......it's ok. But if this is the best of the mid 80's that Dave can find..........YMMV
  • frosted
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    DaP 27 first impressions
    I listened to discs 1 and 2 in the car yesterday. My car system always sounds worse than my headphones, so here were my first thoughts from the car listening. I'm not much of an 80s fan, but I was pulled into this one by some of the previews I'd heard, and was going to get it regardless because I subscribe. -I liked the energy level -The drums sounded sloppy -Like others said, it was harder than usual to distinguish Garcia's and Weir's guitars -Garcia sounded like he was rushing the vocals and his usual soulfulness suffered somewhat from that. That's aside from the fact that his 80s voice had strained compared to the 70s. -Phil sounded like he was playing simpler lines than usual. Maybe the tune selection on disc 1 impacted that though. -I liked the LLR version, usually not a favorite, but they did some different things with it instrumentally. -Brent's keyboards, again never a favorite, were too prominent for me. Then this morning I listened to much of disc 2 again, plus disc 3, all on headphones at home: -What a difference! Sound is so much better and the instruments much more balanced. I could make out the guitars more clearly. The drums did not sound as sloppy and unfocused, though on disc 3 I did detect a bit of the mid-80's pop music influence big drum sound. -Garcia's vocals sounded better to me on Black Peter and It's all over now baby blue. He took his time, and let his deeper register bring out more of the soulfulness. Those songs are designed to be that way though. I actually liked the Black Peter better than some 70s versions I've heard where it sounds like he's straining. I don't say that about too many 80s shows' tunes. -Brent's keyboards sounded better balanced in the mix on headphones than in the car. -It's all over now baby blue has always been one of my favorite encores. I'd rather end that way than with a Chuck Berry rocker most of the time. This one didn't have quite the deep mystery of some of the 60s versions, but I enjoyed it. Overall, I will probably pull this one out semi-regularly. Though I'll still go back mostly to 60s and 70s, this was a pretty good job for the sound quality issues that the 80s presented. Not at all unhappy with this choice.
  • mustin321
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    #482 has arrived -- (lowest number I've got so far)
    This show kicks so much ass! The entire 1st set is really solid and energetic. Love the Wang Dang Doodle opener. Seems to set the tone for the whole show. New Minglewood Blues really rocks too. What can't be said about the 2nd set? The Help>Slip>Franklin's is a good as any others I've ever heard, if not one of the best. The jam out out of Eyes is absolutely insane...Bobby and Brent playing off of each other in a very unique and energetic way. Gives a great contrast to show considering Jerry was playing so well and throwing down sick solos on every single song, a nice reminder that everyone else was shining that night. And then the Space is very melodic and lovely...just great, interesting, & unique stuff.
  • Cousins Of The…
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    Thin: Bobby Slide
    I couldn't have said it better!Another side effect of The Slide, is that Bobby played it on top of Jerry soloing, at the same volume. But that was mid-78 to 79; thankfully, by 1980, the Slide appeared only for a few solos in Rooster, Minglewood and later Walking Blues.
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"The Grateful Dead picked up their instruments and hit the first note with perfection. They never missed a note for the next three and one-half hours. People followed the flow of the tunes. Down on the floor in front of the stage was a sea of heads keeping time with the music. No one sat still. No one, except the youngsters behind us sat still. They were still and stunned." - The Power County Press

And what a stunner it was, that show at the Boise State University Pavilion in Boise, ID on September 2, 1983. Dave's Picks Volume 27 contains every stitch of music from this mid-80s show (our first in this series), one that's as good as any other in Grateful Dead history. When the Dead were on, they were ON! Straight out the gate with a definitive take on the old standard "Wang Dang Doodle," the band swiftly switches back to a setlist of yore, firing off 70s staples like "Jack Straw" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and wrapping things up with a terrific trio of "Big Railroad Blues"/"Looks Like Rain"/"Deal" (don't you let that epic guitar solo go down without you). Primed for the second set, they tackle the complexities of "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's" with heart and ease. It's clear there will be no stopping their flow - Bobby and Brent hanging in for a fantastic pre-Drums "Jam" and Jerry and Bobby in the zone on a not-to-be-missed melodic "Space." Not a skipper in the whole lot!

Dave's Picks Volume 27 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 18,000 individually-numbered copies*.

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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I disagree, it's a full 10 out of 10. They're priming DaP 27 for national release. I'm changing my avatar to it right now. You're a cute little guy, keep up the spirit!
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You seem locked into that avatar picture somehow.
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Pass me some of that psychedelic licorice. I’ll take the purple. I’ll even take 2, they seem a little small.
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....Bobbys voice was a couple of octaves off for the first two lines. I almost pushed the stop button right then and there, but I trudged on. Much to my delight.
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Just received Vol. 14 It's numbered, but the front of the cover is a little sunk in; it looks like the seam is cut too wide, so when the cover closes there's a gap. These may be factory 2nds, sets with cosmetic issues.
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....this, my friends, ranks right up there with Nessie, alien abductions and Bigfoot. Hmmmm. I was abducted once. At Monterey '88. Then the goonie birds wore off. The real test begins now. The wife and son went to get a new treadmill. They'll be gone an hour or so. The volume on my Onkyo goes to 70. Boise is poised at 53 (get it?). I finally get to crank this shit legit like. Wish me luck!!
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....our wedding song. I'm biased so this would be an unfair review. I love them all. Next!
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.... suddenly, Bobby's singing in a barn. A little more echo than the first three songs. We all know it sometimes takes that many to get the sound just exactly perfect. Jerry's throwing coke infused licks. It is what it is. You can't un-coke it. It's not Norman's fault.
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yeah I was also wondering why we needed constant reminders that phish psucks........sry to those who find listening value?????
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....OK. I'll admit. The harmonies are off, but the music is still breakneck speed. I think Bobby's more off than Jerry. Jerry even throws some growls. Brent is in your face. But I love Brent, so there's that. The train comparison shows up during Garcia's solo. Chugging along. Watch your speed....
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I'm loving this Boise pick and all the debate about it. For me, it is easily tied with Augusta 10/12/84 (30 trips) for my favorite release from 80-85. I think the instrumental mix is almost perfect (except the keyboards might be a teeny bit high). Finally, an 80-85 release where Weir's guitar is right up front in our face where it belongs! Such a treat to hear Weir's early 80's guitar like this. IMO, this is the best sounding recording yet from 80-85 (not counting Dead Set/Reckoning and Go To Nassau). Well, we are all listening on different equipment and are looking for different things, right? Musically, I think it is as fascinating as 10/12/84. Better or worse? I'll need many more listenings of each to decide.
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Thank you. Pulling out 21 tonight. Phish video. Scroll by. Phish video. Scroll by. Phish video. Scroll by. No problem. But very weird.
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17 years 4 months
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....way too fast. 4/10. Not a very solid version. Oh well. Time to sell it.
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....Phil!!! Back on track. Rocking with their rocks out. Nowhere else will you hear "stay right here in Boise" so it's a keeper.
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....I've already sung my praises on this version, so I won't bore you.
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....not bad. But there are tons better. More vox drops. Stay at the mic Bobby Rockstar! The coda is very nice though. Usually is. Here it comes again. I will admit, it's nice to let off the pedal. I'm a huge fan of the thunder effects Healy gave this song later on in the 80's.
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....watch each release you play, and play it slow. Just wait until that Deal goes down. Who knows? On 2.24.21, you might just want to bust Boise out. Yeah, there's some dust, but at least the musics clean. 4:50 mark. The boyz huddle up and get their shit together. You know, the Dead were known to play some rock n roll at times.
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....time to drop the volume down to 25. (sad face).
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I don't think the recording does the performance justice. The limitations of the mix make it impossible to accurately gauge how good they may have sounded that night. I get the impression Betty did a whole lot more mixing in real time than Dan Healy. Forget the cassette tape source, the show can hardly be mixed worse. The vocals on on a few of the July 1978 shows are not nearly as smooth as May 1977, and that's the same band, same songs, a year apart, recorded by the same person on presumably the same equipment. Sure, the band was a much less consistent band in '78, but the July shows are good performances. Yet to my ears, the background vocal mix on some of that box set is lacking, compared to May '77. My point is that I believe some mixing factor accounts for what I hear as inferior vocals in some sections of July '78, as compared to May '77. Even a non Betty from '77 like 4/29 makes the band sound much worse than they were really playing. We don't know what kind of audio enhancement effects Betty may have used on her mixes to provide us with the final products we have today (except the reverb, and look how different a perspective that gives us on the band). Add the same principal 10 fold to Boise '83, and what's the point of discussing how good or bad the show is? There's no way to tell as far as I'm concerned. For whatever reason, Dan Healy's mix here is so bad it does the band an injustice. Apply a mild harmonization effect to the vocals at the mixing board and maybe there wouldn't be so much distance between each vocalist. Anyway, I'm not saying a better mix would turn this show into a replica of Go To Nassau, but it would improve the performance immensely. For what we do have, I felt like many people posted. The music is so inconsistent as to be a distraction. Parts sounded really strong, but quickly turned me off a moment later. I don't think Brent's voice will ever grow on me. It just sounds so ragged and tired and overbearing.
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I've played it, not the best not the worse...It'll sit on the shelf with all the others and I doubt I'll pull it down and play it again for quite awhile...one thing it did do though was have me pull out the Santa Fe Downs Matrix shows and give them a spin...fun to hear those again...my '83 collection is a bit sparse after my first external HD crash from some time back...now I do back ups of back up etc...ya pays your money and take your chances after all...
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Back to my point about people hearing things differently...
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First I got to ask. Is it love Jerry like you love Jerry? Or is it love Jerry like: "What a long strange trip it's been." Love, Jerry I kind of noticed the same thing you mentioned about July 1978. Not quite as smoother than smooth as May 1977. I would love to get Betty sat down for an interview. Anyway I think your point is well stated and very accurate. For the people who are loving this release, I'm sure it would rank even higher with better mixing. I teach chorus, and it's very difficult to mic up the kids for the spring and winter concerts. For people who don't like this release, a great mix may have made all the difference. But oh well what can you do it is what it is. As far as the series goes, I think this is definitely subpar, but it's the only way they ever would have moved 18000 units of a show that sounds this way. Also agree with your Brent comment. It seems in the Grateful Dead circles he has a love it or hate it voice. I love it when it's real low in the mix. Or not at all. Eagles fill the sky, blecchhh. I cannot So what will they pull out for the fourth quarter? Can't be 1971, unlikely to be 72 73 or 74, impossible to be 75, also unlikely to be 77, although I would love to hear that swing Auditorium show from February. I can't see it being 1978 either, but maybe. I think some kind of 69/70 mix like Vol 6 maybe. I'd be great with that. 1976 is due. I would be surprised if Dave reaches into the 80s or 90s twice in a row.
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don't make me laugh, move along now
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I tried for years to like Phish.. bought tons of releases and saw a bunch of shows - but THIS is what they sound like to me now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNHIFM0Y87c Impossible to watch the whole thing without cracking up. The vocal bits sound like red-stapler guy from Office Space. TAlk about "hearing things differently"....
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for name-calling, why? I think an intelligent conversation is better than whom ever calling whoever uninformed or someone else calling them illogical. There are just a few unkind folks on this site. I don't care much for this release, but if you do, far out. The band didn't go to Idaho, or Montana often (once each?) but both of those shows are now released by Dave, maybe he's just trying to get unheard or not often heard releases out there for the faithful. Can't really blame them for not going to these places again, beautiful scenery, but not a very hospitable atmosphere for hippies.
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Hey, it’s 8/4, so why not 8/4/76? Someone mentioned Dekalb, there’s a Betty Board of 10/29/77 in the vault- that would definitely be a treat. Lots of talk of 79, which would be nice, but why not another 80s/90s? Su91, anyone? Mmm. Sp/Su 93? Yes, please. Although maybe these contradict the seeming mission, in ways actually that 9/2/83 did not, in releasing more relatively unknown and less heard of dates. Who knows?
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I like this Bobby, Brent and drummers jam out of Eyes! Good stuff. Also, if you like this little jam check out the Bobby, Bruce and drummers jam from Dicks #17 aka Boston Clam Jam!!
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What he said! You got it “just exactly perfect” Enough already. STFU and just sell the dam thing....don’t worry, we’ll be back to 99% 70s soon enough!
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(such as Chicago, the Bay Area, or NYC) more people would be more open to this release. Boise is indeed one of the strangest of places to have a GD show. "well it's 8:00 in Boise Idaho"
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thanks for the laughs Phish: I do appreciate them, but rarely listen to them. the thing that drives me crazy about them is the cutesy stuff they do. but they can jam when they want to.
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80s Dead just isn't my thing...to each their own. My DP 27 has been sitting unopened as I pondered what to do. For those who want but missed out, I just want to cover cost plus shipping, no EBay style gouging involved, maybe some interesting 70-73 trade? PM interest...
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Jerry's soloing on this version is phenomenal. His tone and harmonics jumps right out of the mix. Awesome.
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Got a last minute present to go to his show last night in Toronto. Only know some of the Talking Heads stuff from way back. Was blown away by the show - top notch production, uniqueness and grooves. Had a bunch of the age 50+ crowd on their feet and dancing from 3 minutes in. Highly recommended if the tour hasn’t passed by your city already. Will definitely be checking out his solo catalogue in between Dead releases. Maybe he appeals more to the Phish crowd than Dead, but the guy is quite an artist.
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he was in town re his and Fatboy Slim's musical "Here Lies Love".she went with a friend. on the way out, he was standing right there, so she said "hi", he greeted politely back, and she went on her way. he has been part of my musical landscape since I heard/saw Talking Heads on SNL in 79. love deez: More Songs About Buildings and Food (not about Fucking, though...tip of the hat to the poster who shared Big Black with us ;)) Fear of Music Remain in Light attended a concert of him solo in 1992 during the LA RK riots. "Burning Down the House" took on a whole new relevance
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....came through Vegas recently. I didn't even know.
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For those who think the sound sucks, what type of speakers did you hear it through?Obviously, computer speaks are the wrong tool for this job. For those who think the sound is great/good/acceptable, what type of speakers did you hear it through? I suspect that SpaceBro has a Wall Of Sound replica in his house. Combine that with his unbridled enthusiasm (Seinfeld reference) for the era, and he’s in pure ecstasy. I’m using Bose 301 speakers that are about 5.5 feet in the air on stands (helps to fill the room), an Onkyo subwoofer, Onkyo receiver, Onkyo 6-disc changer. I do have to turn the volume up past the ‘normal’ point for DaPs. Most DaPs are pretty consistent in the sound level on my system, ‘40’ on the Onkyo display. For DaP 27 CD1 starts at 44 but I just had to turn it down to 42 during Deal. These numbers are a little arbitrary and are influenced by how much I want my neighbors to hear the GOGD. Just turned it up a tad to 43 for H/S/F. It’s Saturday afternoon, not like it’s In The Midnight Hour. I can clearly hear all the instruments on Slipknot!, with Jerry right up front.
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....I use two tin cans and 15' piece of string. Am i doing it right?
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I'm listening on earbuds that I have suspended from the ceiling about 6 feet above the floor. The sound doesn't bother me at all.
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