Grateful Dead

Vinyl is indeed overpriced but certainly not overrated. I do not have a problem with CDs. If record companies are to be believed, they are definitely on the way out but the reality is somewhat different. Very few releases are download-only - with the notable exception of live shows by many artists. That is fine too. Downloading FLAC files, burning 'em to CD etc. is simple enough, but I would rather buy the physical CD. The only thing I have yet to master is cutting my own LPs from analog tapes.

Some songs have sound problems, voices drop out, instruments drop out. I found nine songs so far, including the aforementioned PITB problem. I happened to choose the 5/17/74 concert to listen to first and right out of the gate it has vocal and instrumental dropout on Promised Land. Hope they can make it right.

Mine just arrived. It’s really cool looking, but unfortunately the box lid has an indented line on the top, like someone wrote on a piece of paper on top of it. Much more importantly 14 of the 19 discs have multiple scratches, scuffs and/or marks. Several also have fingerprints or smudges. It’s definitely disappointing, but I’m sure they’ll resolve the problems. Based on this and some of the other comments I’d advise everyone to check their CDs closely.

: ) ----

Hi, Ben68. Please try to locate your ruler or tape measure. Thank you.

Any time I have ever had an issue with any Dead products Dr. Rhino has "fixed" it....quickly. I am sure that has not changed. Nothing is perfect unless it is made by God.I wished my box set had arrived. My summer box set of Dead & Company Summer 2018 Tour has arrived so I have plenty to fill in the time until my box arrives on Wednesday???? Have a great weekend listening to the dead. Mr. Pete-----------> aging hippie

Clear your self space! According to my trusty tape measure, the box is approximately 11 and 1/4 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and 8 ½ inches tall. The lid flares out, so it's the widest and deepest part of the box. I thought it might be the same dimensions as the "Thirty Trips" box, but it's a bit smaller. It could, perhaps, sit on top of the "Thirty Trips" box if you're interested in a low end-table. It's really quite something. Hope y'all enjoy.

Remember if you traded tapes when you listened to 6/22/73 and how laid back it sounded and felt. I'm listening to the first set now after jumping to disc 7. It has that same feeling. So excited by this show because no one had it back in the tape trading days.... Hope everyone has a good weekend... sorry if you stuff has glitches, i got caught in that with the New Haven 5/5/77 show from GSTL... They will make it right....bob t

No. Those dropouts can't be fixed. You will find those anomolies usually at the beginning of the first song of the first sets as they adjusted the soundboard levels. Many of the soundboard shows from this era have them.

That's a great, well thought out article! Thanks for sharing it. I should have qualified my sentiments. The CD IS going down for the count. It won't be digital files that will do it. It will be streaming. The average music listener will not be bothered to do something as work-a-day as download music files to keep. As you point out, they will pay for the service and pay for the same music forever. DVD's are going to take it in the derriere as well. My Comcast rep said their main focus as far as the way they stingily dole out their bandwidth is TV streaming. They care nothing about anything else. They have seen the future and it is streaming. The collector is something different altogether. The "rare" cd's I have found in the past were oddly enough found in cut out bins at a Coconuts Music. Pretty much the CD equivalent to "EP's". And as you adroitly pointed out, the 20-something sniffed at the CD equivalent of "Hum" and wanted the "retro" feel of vinyl, even though vinyl was "executed" probably at the time of his birth. The millennial finds value in things that were popular pre birth and has an ironic "kitsch" value. Something he and his friends can gather around and stare at while drinking their microbrews and put their two cents in about the anthropological value of such a find. I found myself at my very first "Record Store Day" earlier this year. Bought the GD 1969/02/28 Fillmore show on vinyl and an Elvis Presley piece "The King In The Ring". Loves me some "1968 Comeback Special" What is odd about that is I have no turntable nor a desire to even open the vinyl! I suspect the vinyl was mastered from the Fillmore West box set tapes and not a fresh remaster. Same with the EP vinyl, likely mastered from the 40th Annivesary CD box set. Why do I want these things? I have no idea. I think much of it gets back to sentimentality as you alluded to in your article. "But the decline of the CD feels sharp and sudden – and more than a little shocking to those of us who came of age as consumers alongside the rise of the format." We get to "a certain age" and nostalgia sets in. Ironic or not (Less ironic to those of us who grew up with LP's), everything is retro and things that were once common become a tongue in cheek in joke to those if us who remember. Those who don't remember do it as a person my age might decorate their homes with 1930's art deco trappings. Everything runs on a 20-25 year retro cycle.

Not gonna lie, this box looks amazing

I'm aware of first songs from sets having the problem of drop outs and then adjustments are made. That's not what I'm talking about. I've only listened to two concerts and there are other instances. In the 5/19/74 show the sound flat out sucks from Sugaree (the 9th song) through at least CCS/IKYR. If there are more I will be unhappy. The price charged is too much, IMHO, for soundboard problems as I've heard so far.

it's disheartening to hear about people having issues with this release. I hope I get good, clean CDs, fully recorded. Casey > Greatest love it Monday or Tuesday, baby

How do you whisk(e)y?

What people are experiencing is one of the reasons I gave up on physical product. I was always anxious about deliveries in the rain, crushed box sets, skippy cds, etc. I realize GD box sets are like aquiring a work of art. I loved looking at all my CDs and box sets. Gives one a sense of well being. What flipped me was discovering that my E72 discs were getting scuffed from pulling them out of the cardboard cases. Also, we're downsizing and the less stuff the better. I ripped my insane collection and the collection is boxed up. To what purpose I know not. I still buy Dave's Picks cds because there's no other format. Not even sure where I'm going with this. The music in this set is some of the best ever released IMHO.

....isn't that what listening to the Dead is all about? I mean, in the end, isn't that the event horizon? Whether it be physical, digital, DAT, cassette, vinyl, 4th dimension? We all know why we're here. Sad that some have received damaged goods. Rhino makes good in the end though. Time waits for no one, especially a Deadhead. (unless it's Boise '83 to some. Yeah. I jabbed). It's the medicine that cures the ills of my world. Spinning 10.1.94 from Boxilla now. Yeah. A diamond in the '94 rough. If you get confused, listen to the music play....

Exactly. It's going to take me months to digest this release. Time well spent.

.... you digital fans are gonna be lamenting. Lol. Just trying to make my case.Then again, if my house burns down.... And to those who have received the box already, where is the # located? That's a serious question.

I got this show in a tape trade about 30 years ago (Portland 1974), and it was incomplete, missing 6 or 7 songs. A few years ago, the complete show started circulating and we all discovered that those tracks were omitted because the vocals were seriously low and I guess someone thought they'd do us all a favor and leave them out. The songs that were left out correspond almost exactly to the songs you mentioned. Sounds to me like they did everything they possibly could to match them up with the sound of the rest of the show. It'll never be perfect, but they did a hell of a job and it's nice to hear it sounding so much better. There's just always shit you can't fix when you're working with two-track tapes.

This morning I got up and put on what I thought was a perfectly crisp, clean white T-shirt. Imagine my horror upon discovering a stray eyelash had fallen onto the left shoulder, and to top it off a tiny wrinkle was discovered below the right underarm. Then, at lunch my Big Mac arrived shoddily assembled. The cheese was unevenly melted and not at all centered on the patty! And the pickles had been hastily thrown on and I think there may have even been a few brown sesame seeds atop the bun.

I love it when Bob would say that. I wonder if Deadbase lists how many times he spit that out from the stage. It was tongue in cheek, and endearing. This was a raggedy bunch folks. This music was only ever perfect in it's glorious humanness, flaws and warts and all. I play lots of guitar. There's a thing called, "relicing," where you can pay the Fender Custom Shop or some guy in his garage to scuff up your brand-new guitar and make it look old. Like some clown who goes and buys "distressed" jeans at the mall. Please... my guitars get beat up because I play the hell out of them, and except for my Gibsons (only because the string tension against the angled headstock can snap the neck if they fall over), I don't give a shit if one of the kids knocks it off the couch or a drink spills on it or whatever. I love that stuff. Gives an item character. I will no longer even pick up certain people's guitars. I feel they would experience a cardiac event if my nails (I play with a heavy hand) should leave microscopic scratches in the finish. Museum pieces all, never to be - gasp! - really played or used as the medium of expression they were designed for. Just ask the collectors who keep these "investments" in humidors, to be looked at only, and just don't you dare stare too hard in any one place for very long. I bought a brand-new truck in 2002. For months, I would park at the edge of the lot and struggle in vain to keep it perfect. Once I finally let that shit go, it was a tremendous relief. My $100 Jimmy Page coffee table book arrived damaged from UPS, they'd crushed the box and there's about a 1" divot on the cover. So what? Now when my friends thumb through it I don't cringe if they haven't washed their hands. I understand paying money for something and appreciating it being in new condition, but some of this borders on the obsessive and misses the point. Warren Zevon was just like that, with the T-shirts. Joey Ramone. It's OCD and a few other insanities rolled into one. I respect that we are different, and I don't know if I find these gripes with product minutiae annoying or just hysterical... but I guess with the Dead fanbase, you get that in all kinds of ways. One of my discs does have a flaw, there's like a metallic shriek/white noise in some song. Maybe more than one. I wouldn't know which, because with many thousands of songs I just skip ahead to the next one. I can't be bothered enough to care. It's all about the music...

....I don't know what you're talking about LedDed. Now exuse me while I rearrange my bookshelves. It's gotta be just exactly perfect. It's for the grater good.

....the midi flute Garcia plays is beautiful. Then it goes into the mutron tone we all know, then back into a mutron/flute thing. Jerry plays two different tones at once. Pretty neat and pretty incredible. Miss you. I can see how someone's first show being this one could hook you. God bless the GOGD.

I have to laugh at these posts.. yesterday a friend of mine sent me an email he got from one of his friends. It's long.. names omitted to protect the guilty. It was written a year or so ago.. so I'm sure it's floated around a bunch. To the author, I hope it's ok to share. The title was Next Level Obsession. ______________________________________________ I love Deadheads with OCD. Not my post but I appreciate the work. Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:49 pm #1 When I was in high school, there was a girl who would always ask me if I had acquired any new Losers of the “sweet Suzy” variety. And so whenever I received a new batch of tapes from some remote part of the country, I’d note any Losers with the “sweet Suzy” verse and then surprise her with one at the next gathering of our mutual group of friends. These gatherings were almost always centrally concerned with new tape acquisitions or new knowledge regarding the Dead. We were a group obsessed with the band and everything swimming through the vast universe of the band, including apparently any Losers with the “sweet Suzy” line. My memory is foggy when it comes to my findings of the “sweet Suzy” Losers, except one distinct time in which I can remember telling her, “Hey, Shannon, I found a ‘sweet Suzy’ for you.” I don’t know which show it was , but I’m pretty certain it was a 1971 Loser. What lives in my memory is precisely where we were and me saying those exact words to her. It must’ve been a revelatory moment for me regarding the rarity of the “sweet Suzy” Losers, for I have never forgotten that moment after 20+ years. Fast forward to a few months ago, in June of 2017, when I found myself thinking of those great tape-trading days of high school, the discoveries, the euphoria of acquiring a new batch of tapes. And for some reason my mind turned to the “sweet Suzy” versions of Loser, and how I would search out copies of this song without a handy Deadbase at my fingertips, nor a more convenient “etree mobile” app which allowed me to effortlessly flip through shows and fast forward to the two particular instances in which “sweet Suzy” is sung with the simply movement of a finger across my iPhone. Wow, how times have changed with regard to searching for a particular part of a song. So a few months ago I decided to complete the project once and for all. I needed to know when “sweet Suzy” died, and I kind of wanted to arrive at a reason for her death. Sadly, I found her apparent death on October 20th, 1974, then realized she had risen from the dead on January 10th, 1979, only to be buried once again for eternity. Even more tragic is the unknown reason for her death. What I did find, however, is an obscure protraction of her death. Think about all the hours I’ve logged listening to “Last fair deal in the country, sweet Suzy!” and the amount of accumulated thoughts about Suzy, what she must’ve looked like to Hunter and Jerry, what she must’ve meant to Jerry on the nights that he sung her into the song with such love and tenderness and longing, what she must have meant to him on the nights that he abandoned her and left the audience singing her in their own empty words, and what he must’ve thought on January 10th, 1979 when he resurrected her one last time. What drove him to do it? The Dead performed Loser 346 times. Only a few of these shows do we not have the recording. I tally 88 known Losers that include the “sweet Suzy” or just “Suzy” line. Remarkably, of the 54 Losers performed in 1971, only one show did not feature the “sweet Suzy” line. That show is 7/2/71 at the Fillmore West, oddly the last show at that venue. The very first Loser performed on 2/18/71 at Port Chester features a “sweet Suzy” in the first slot and a rare “Suzy”-only in the second slot. All three “Suzy”-only versions were sung in the second slot of the song in 1971, but of the three remaining “Suzy”-only versions in 1972 and 1973, Jerry sang it in the first slot of the song. The first show in which Jerry sings “sweet Suzy” in only one of the two slots is the 22nd performance of Loser on 4/21/71 in Providence, Rhode Island, and it appears in the second slot. There are no other shows or patterns in 1971 of note except to say that toward the middle of the year, immediately following the 7/2/71 Fillmore West show, Jerry starts to exclude the “sweet Suzy” line in one of the two slots more frequently. Between 2/18/71 and 5/30/71, Jerry performs Loser 31 times, and he is fairly regular with the “sweet Suzy” line in all of the Loser versions, singing it both times in all but 2 of the 31 times. But once 7/2/71 hits, the remaining 23 performances of the song are variable when it comes to the singing of the line. Between 7/2/71 and 12/31/71, Jerry sings the line twice during the song only 13 of the 23 times. What this means is that Jerry started the slow death of “sweet Suzy” officially on 4/21/71, booted her from the song for the first time altogether on 7/2/71, and then proceeded to ween her from the song thereafter. 1972 sees the demise of Suzy even more. Of the 39 times Loser is played in 1972, only 4 times does Jerry sing “sweet Suzy” in both slots of the song. 13 times he abandons “sweet Suzy” entirely. 1973 isn’t any better. 25 performances, 7 “sweet Suzy” lines, and none of those 7 times does Jerry sing the line in both slots of the song. 1974 saw “sweet Suzy” virtually die. Of the 10 times Loser is performed (remember, there were only 40 shows this year), only 3 times does “sweet Suzy” make her appearance, the last being on 10/20/74 at Winterland, and it’s sung in the second slot of the song. I fitting farewell to the Grateful Dead at the time and to sweet Suzy, whoever she was. And that is all we know of the mysterious girl called Suzy in the song Loser. For the next 4 years and 45 performances of Loser, not a trace of “sweet Suzy” is found – that is, until the first show of 1979, in Uniondale, New York, on January 10th. Making her appearance one more time – and her last time – was “sweet Suzy” in the first slot of the song. It’s so brief and nondescript. If you blink, you miss it in the recording. There’s no emphasis, no powerful resurgence, no eruption from the audience. It comes and goes in a second and a half. And then it vanishes. Ghostlike. Forever. I knew I had never heard a “sweet Suzy” in the 1980s or 1990s, but I wanted to be sure, and so I listened to all the “Last fair deal in the country….” verses (two per song) of all 169 remaining performances. I sometimes dreamed that I’d find one, hidden within a show that was not on many popular radars. I held out hope that there was a version of the song in the post-Brent era that escaped our listening ears because it was a Vince show. No. I sometimes imagined I heard it because I was listening so hard for it. I truly wanted it to be there. I wanted so badly for Jerry to sing those two words again; I’d even take a delayed and whispered “Suzy.” Alas, it wasn’t going to happen. I have thought about so much along the way. I thought how crazy I am for doing this. I thought how empty this project is. I thought how meaningless and stupid and utterly ridiculous….In short, I thought I had perhaps come to an end of sorts with the band. When I began the journey, I actually was listening to 3/24/73 Spectrum and noticed that Jerry had only sung the “sweet Suzy” line in the second slot. And so I wanted to know what other shows in the March/April ’73 period did this. And then I wanted to know all of 1973. And then I decided I’d do all of the Losers and tally them all up. I searched high and low on the Internet to see if someone had already done this. I found no one. But, above all, I felt like I had to do this. I was reminded of my high school years, and always bringing Shannon new “sweet Suzy” Losers. I simply felt it was my calling to know them all. So, Shannon, if you’re out there, and happen to stumble across this, here are all your “sweet Suzy” and “Suzy”-only Losers. Enjoy… Below are the years and dates in which “sweet Suzy” or just “Suzy” appear. After the date, you’ll see a “1” or “2” or “none,” indicating for that particular show where “sweet Suzy” is sung, “1” being the first slot and “2” being the second slot of the song. “None” obviously means neither slot of the song featured this line. If you see a “Suzy” next to either the “1” or “2,” then that means just the rare “Suzy” was sung. For the inaugural Loser on 2/18, I like that “sweet Suzy” was sung in the first slot and just “Suzy” was sung in the second slot. There are a few shows in which we do not have the recording of Loser: 10/21/72, 11/18/72, 9/12/73 (this one is unclear as to whether the song was player there at all, but I kept it in anyway), 9/28/77, and 2/6/79. Other than those, they’re all here. The penultimate note: the Loser from 5/11/78 does not feature a “sweet Suzy” but rather a Jerry “Yeeeeaaaahhh Arrrrgghhhh” which is the only one of its kind. The ultimate note: I have retained the spelling of “Suzy” as this is how it appears in Hunter’s Box of Rain. 1971 (53) 02/18 1 2 "Suzy" 02/19 1 2 02/20 1 2 02/21 1 2 02/23 1 2 02/24 1 2 03/03 1 2 03/14 1 2 "Suzy" 03/18 1 2 03/20 1 2 03/21 1 2 03/24 1 2 04/04 1 2 04/05 1 2 04/06 1 2 04/07 1 2 04/08 1 2 04/12 1 2 04/13 1 2 04/17 1 2 04/18 1 2 04/21 2 04/22 1 2 04/24 1 2 04/25 1 2 04/26 1 2 04/27 1 2 04/28 1 04/29 1 2 05/29 1 2 05/30 1 2 07/02 none 07/31 1 08/05 1 08/06 1 08/14 2 "Suzy" 08/23 1 2 08/24 1 2 08/26 1 10/21 1 2 10/23 1 10/26 1 2 10/29 1 2 10/30 1 2 10/31 1 2 11/06 2 11/07 1 2 11/12 1 2 11/14 1 11/15 1 2 12/06 1 2 12/10 2 12/14 1 2 12/31 1 1972 (24) 01/02 1 2 03/21 2 03/22 none 03/26 1 "Suzy" 2 03/27 1 04/07 1 04/14 1 04/16 1 2 04/24 1 04/26 1 04/29 none 05/10 none 05/13 2 05/26 1 06/17 2 07/18 1 "Suzy" 07/21 1 07/25 none 08/20 1 08/22 1 08/25 2 09/03 none 09/09 none 09/15 none 09/17 none 09/21 2 09/24 2 09/28 none 09/30 2 10/09 1 10/18 1 10/21 ????? 10/23 2 10/27 1 2 11/14 none 11/18 ????? 11/22 none 12/11 none 12/15 none 1973 (7) 02/21 none 02/26 2 03/16 2 03/21 none 03/24 2 03/28 none 05/13 none 05/20 none 05/26 none 06/09 1 06/26 1 07/31 none 09/07 none 09/11 none 09/12 ?????? 09/17 none 09/20 none 09/26 1 "Suzy" 10/21 none 10/27 none 10/29 none 11/10 2 11/23 none 11/30 none 12/06 none 1974 (3) 02/24 none 05/14 1 06/18 1 06/30 none 07/25 none 08/04 none 09/10 none 09/14 none 10/17 none 10/20 2 1975 None 1976 None 1977 None 09/28 ????? 1978 None 05/11 "Yeaaah arrrgghh" 1979 (1) 01/10 1 02/06 ????? 1980 - 1995 None Thanks, xxxxx

...by the way, has anyone figured out yet who "they" are? The grays? The man? The IRS? At any rate, or so I've heard, "they" say that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Hell, I think it's just being a stone-cold gambler. I buy lottery tickets every drawing, using the same numbers, and goddamn it I'm going to hit big one of these decades. Just you wait and see. I really wish my box had arrived today. Alas, it is not to be and I don't know if UPS delivers on Sunday. I've had those non-descript amazon white vans drop stuff on Sunday though, and that feels like Christmas. Although most of my dead.net WEA product arrives via the Good Ol' USPS, and on our street the mail goes into those group box kiosks. You got your box, and on a special day there will be a key waiting inside for one of the parcel boxes (few, and larger). You're always hoping for a key, and when you see it your heart skips a beat. My theory is that the ubiquitous amazon white vans (Sprinters and the like, windowless) are not adorned with "amazon" graphics for several reasons. For one, they'd attract looters and thieves. For another, we'll all get desensitized to them, and one of these times when one pulls up, you'll run out arms wide ready to embrace yet another Grateful Dead offering, and they'll (it's, "them" again) leap out and pull a hood over your head and throw you in the back. When you wake up, tied to a chair in a cold room with only a single, bare light bulb hanging above you, you'll hope like hell Liam Neeson is about to break in and save your ass. \m/

I've spent my entire life trying to solve this very riddle. I've narrowed it down to two possibilities: Sears Home Appliance Repairmen or Televangelists. Also.. true story, Liam Neeson owes me a lot of money, if you see him please tell him to return my calls. Turned on the TV about an hour or so ago and one of the Crossroads shows was on.. so I let it be. I think it's 2007, has Robert Cray, Mayer, The Allman Bros (playing now, fantastic). I own this DVD.. but hey, it's streaming for free into the big TV and Surround Sound. Sounds great. Can anyone out there hook me up with Liam's cell phone number? Bastard screwed me out of an uber fare. The nerve. I will track him down, I will find him. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad>Whipping Post. Awesome.

Squirrel

Mine arrived today. Scheduled for Monday, but the UPS truck pulled up around 5:00. Odd for a Saturday. I saw the driver coming up the driveway with a big box in hand so I met him at the door. "I wasn't expecting this until Monday." So you are why I am working today he responded, clearly not happy. "Do you have any pot you can sell me? It's the Grateful Dead." He turns and walks away in disgust. Those who got the download are missing out on a nice box. Even the kids thought it was awesome. Vguy, the number is in a classy little box between the CDs. Similar to a small jewelry box or some place to hide a key. It comes with a cool passage, distinct in Native American undertones. Very well done. I'm holding off on listening until tomorrow. Watching some old episodes of Parts Unknown. Tony was no Jerry, but he was a awesome dude nonetheless. 10/1/94 is the only show from TTATS that I have listened to past 87. Even then I have only listened to the So Many Roads. I have said many times, fall 94 was the dead cat bounce tour. Unexpectedly good.

....fuckin' Space Invaders video game effects. Liam would be proud. Pissed off of course, but proud....edit. No weed in the wooden box. :( One can't fail for trying.

Does anyone know how long the 192 download of the 19 disc version will be available?

if you are interested, i have a few historic artifacts and news article up on my Grateful Seconds non-profit site, http://www.gratefulseconds.com/2018/09/companion-piece-to-northwest-box… These 3 night runs in 1973 and 1974 make my heart warm as I really love the 1972-74 Billy turns the corner jams era. I didnt start going until 1976, due to the accident of my birth (1959) dave

Jim, that's just a beautiful post. I love the obsessive nature of Deadheads and this is the perfect example. I actually have wondered about this very topic (I'm sure I'm not alone in this). Now, for this guy's next assignment, I propose a detailed history of the word "little" as sung "both your little ears."

Funny story, AJS, about the UPS guy. I had a similar experience with the 30 Trips box. I happened to be home when it was delivered, heard the truck pull up and ran outside. I told the driver how excited I was to be getting this and he just sneered at me with contempt. I suspect UPS drivers are subject to random drug tests which may filter out some of the more open minded people from that profession (sorry to stereotype, but I'm just sayin').

6/22/73- If you're sitting on the fence with this purchase, I will say so far after playing the first show it was worth the cash. when I think of clarity this mix is what I think of. think less of 3/28/73 maybe and more 4/2/73 or 11/17/73 even. what stands out for me is the cluster of well played ballad songs played back to back with phil interacting with the crowd. good points: the show is four discs makes it a long one for plenty of music bad points: if you don't have time for a long show this isn't the one to pick. if your box set isn't coming till Tuesday just I don't know try to think of something else. note: individual artwork is now posted on albumartexchange.com you will have to register to download the artwork. if you don't you will have a "watermark" on your artwork for iTunes.

Shipping notification arrived by email this morning. Unfortunately, the tracking number is not recognized by the UPS website. Maybe it's because I'm abroad?

Regardless of what happens after yours arrives, a purchased item should arrive intact and unscathed. If I bought a chest of drawers from a woodsmith and he drops it off with a short leg and a giant scratch across the top, I'd expect some sort of answer or fix. I guess if LedDed was the carpenter he would just say "oh well it's only a physical object and who cares man it shows life?!" I'd say it shows you are a shoddy craftsman, a poor transporter, or a fool. Seriously, people wanting what they paid to arrive in fresh condition isn't OCD and isn't to be mocked or given some back handed put downs about how they also probably grumble about stupid mistakes with burgers and useless crap. But, some how if they only realized some pseudo-zen like "epiphany" about happily taking busted up stuff at full price with a shit eating grin will make them a better person.Your stuff is all banged up and damaged but you dont care, okay. If you sell me something all beat up I want a discount, not you telling me I dont get it. Waiting for my to show up Tuesday, no notice but tracking says it's in Kentucky. I guess I just have to listen to this "overrated" vinyl as someone put it, lol. Sounds like the wall is in my house with the record turned up, beautiful sound quality, except those vocals on side C but I that is completely fine with me the music hot!

I also received an email shipping notification this morning. Like for you, the tracking number is not recognized by the UPS website. You think "Maybe it's because I'm abroad?" but I am not sure that that is the problem. In my mail, it also states that it shipped by UPS Next Morning Express. To me it is quite obvious that it will not reach Europe by the next morning so I searched a bit on the UPS website and quickly found that their express service provides "guaranteed next-morning delivery to most business centres within the country" Notice that bit about "within the country"? Unfortunately that cannot apply to us so I have no idea what this means. I'm sure it will all turn out well, but it is surprising that a domestic shipping option has been chosen for international shipping. If everything was clear and obvious, it wouldn't be dead.net now, would it?

Yes, I got the same email. When I pressed the "track package" option, a message came up stating UPS could not locate the shipment details. The message also asked me to "verify my information", which I haven't done as yet. Incidentally, I would hope and expect the box to turn up unbroken, and that all the cds play perfectly. Apparently the vocals drift away a bit during some of the songs on 5/19/74. That I can live with. From all accounts, the music comes through loud and clear, and I wouldn't want any imperfections in original recordings of stellar shows to stop them from being released.

it was in perfect condition and is beautiful. like a limited edition print or some kind of ephemeral card board sculpture, it is something made to be displayed. that being said it will be back in the nice shipping carton and in the storage room today after i finish the book. digipaks for the CDs is a big yes, and they all ripped without error last night. props to Mr Vickers for a beautiful set that adds a new motif to represent the GD. the wooden box contains the certificate of authenticity for the artwork, but might be the only thing that doesn't make it to the storage room and as Vguy mentioned make it into a nice rolling box that will hold papers and some nugs of your smoke of choice.

I'm sure the Music itself will be AWESOME once I can get the Download to successfully complete! I've been trying since yesterday-- I'm on my FOURTH attempt now. I've gotten as much as 35Gig of the total 41.5Gig file before having the Download suddenly and inexplicably abort. And since the entire Download is an 11-or-so-hour ordeal in the first place, this Task has become a bit MADDENING! Don't get me wrong though-- I'm not pointing fingers-- there could just as easily be a hiccup with my DSL connection as there could be a hiccup from the Server. One thing is certain, though-- since this Vendor chooses not to use a Download Manager of any kind, a "Box Set" like this should at least be broken down into more manageably-sized chunks. In this particular NW collection, I'm thinkin' SIX .zip files-- one for each Show-- and all weighing-in at around 7Gig apiece. A few extra clicks maybe but it sure would make a disrupted Download a MUCH less painful event. So I'm not sayin' you shouldn't buy the Download(s), I'm just saying that it _may_ be a painless event (see other Reviews for evidence of this) or it _may_ be an arduous, multi-day slog as it continues to be for me...

Thank you for your replies. simonrob, you write: "If everything was clear and obvious, it would not be dead.net now, would it?", that made me smile because you are absolutely right.

Very cool, thanks for sharing/posting, David!

Back in the early 80’s, we received a weekly package of high quality botanicals. These were of a quality not yet enjoyed in the heart of Maine at the time. The FedEx guy would deliver this bundle of joy around 3:30 on Thursday’s, only to return after his shift was over to indulge in the pleasures he had wrought. Very cool guy. The mailman was not nearly as hip... we received our perforated paper from a skilled chemist who worked at a little college, MIT, I think it was. No return address on the envelope, just a simple note card, no writing and a Cambridge MA (our fair city) postmark. Our landlord had a three legged dog named Kat, who when left on the porch, would keep the postman at bay. When I got home from classes, there would be the usual suspects hanging out, hoping to get their weekend rolling. Crap! No mail! I had to hop on my bike and ride the neighborhoods of Old Town. “Have you got the mail for 36 South Brunswick St?” Grudgingly, postal guy handed over the mail and let me know how much he hated our dog, our house and all of us. I just said thanks and rode off. In my somewhat less active state, I anticipate the arrival of these musical delights with the same giddiness from back in the day. Tuesday is the day!

Killer!

Hey now David, Just wanted to give a shout out. I have been spent some time on your site, and I think it is awesome. I spend countless hours listening to the band, but born in 76, late to the party and never caught a show. I love hearing the stories, seeing the old pics and imagining what it was like! Grateful for the sharing...Thank you! KCJ

I can't guarantee that this will work, but if you sign up for the personalized My Choice at UPS it tracks all of your shipments and gives you other options like delivering to nearby pickup centers (although the shipper of dead.net box sets doesn't allow that option) or delivering to neighbors if you're not going to be home on the scheduled day, which they show you on your calendar. At least the US version of My Choice allows this. I've found it to be pretty useful for shipments in general. Your package might show up that way on the UPS My Choice even if the tracking number doesn't take when you enter it or click it from the dead.net email. Worth a try anyway.

Thank you frosted, but my package does not even appear by being registered with UPS's My Choice service. Perhaps it is necessary to wait a few days for the follow-up of parcels to the foreigner?

I was all excited when my expected delivery shifted from Monday to Saturday. With a weather forecast of rain all day Sunday and having about 4 or 5 hours of work to do in order to catch up from last week, today was going to be perfect to tear into this new box. Wasn't in the cards so I now wait until tomorrow. Can't freakin wait to tear into this box set!

I received my "Good news, Jeff! Your order is on the way." email last night at 9:03 PM. When I searched on UPS just now, the tracking number is not recognized by UPS Tracking ("regular" or My Choice). I suspect what this means is that the shipping folks at dead/wmg/Rhino have generated a shipping label with my tracking number and placed it on my package. Until the UPS system updates with Dead/WMG/Rhino's shipping label info (Monday?), my tracking number will continue to be unrecognized when searched for on UPS. Maybe this won't happen until UPA actually takes physical possession of my package and scans its tracking number into their system (again, on Monday?). My guess is that the packages prepared this weekend will be reflected on UPS tracking when UPS resumes normal business Monday morning and/or picks up the package. Then tracking info and updates should become available(?) Wish I'd ponied up for "Delivery by Drone". . . Whatever – looks like it's going to have been well worth the wait once my PNW '73-'74 catches up with me. Onward.

Hey now! I bought the FLAC version of this box set and am loving it! However, I assumed a pdf of the booklet included in the physical box set would be included in the digital version. That has been the case with other digital versions I have purchased. Is there a download link for the book that I missed? Thanks! -Carter