Grateful Dead

First, are hearts go out to our brothers and sisters across the pond. Loss beyond words....such an amazing place. Sort of ironic that after WWII etc and all the times someone wanted to wreck it, it was probably someone trying to fix it that did it in....
Was fortunate to go there twice on a family vaca late seventies. Can still picture sitting there first time we visited at that late afternoon time of day with the sun the way it gets then, streaming in through the west window, with some musical performance in progress?, amazing. I was just a goofy teen who generally didn’t care that much about all the cultural stuff and museums and such we were visiting, but even then N.D. really blew me away, especially dug thestain glass windows and the gargoyles when we did the full tour the second time. Sounds like fortunately the Stone/structure is ok so they can rebuild. Of course it will be interesting to see who gets to pay. You’d think the Catholic Church would pony up being one of the richest “nations” but something tells me that won’t happen! Sorry, I digress......back to happy!
Great stories guys, always one of my favorite things here in this space. From bobt’s little nugget to Jim’s awesome tale, to Keithfan, especially your recounting of your first show at RFK, whoa. It’s funny how you get mental ideas of what folks here might really be like, which of course in reality is ridiculous, but the human mind works such that you can’t help it. So Kfan reminds me of I guy I used to work with. Funny thing is I didn’t picture you as a “gun guy” lol. “Goes to show you don’t ever know....”
One of the best things about Jim’s story is how he illustrates just how situational our show experiences are. He says the show was not necessarily the best show he ever saw, but the situation/energy etc played such a big part that it left such a big “smoking crater” .....this is one of the reasons I’ve really been enjoying getting back into the scene and digging deeper into the music. There are still many shows I was at that I’ve still not heard, so when I do get around to hearing them I’m often blown away by how different they seam compared to my sadly rapidly deteriorating memory. There was a time I could tell you every song in order from most of my earlier shows, but eventually shear number of shows and a, ahem, and correspondingly shear volume of supplements made that start to fade. Now add the ravages of time and well, “it all rolls into one, and melts into a dream” But hey, what a mighty fine dream eh!
Anywho, love this place and all the great, different things that you all share here, especially the great show stories!
Speaking of, where’s my bizarro twin?? We miss ya, and Bolo, and Doc etc....and hippie chick! But at least we got Thin back, welcome back brother!
Anniversary. Speaking of April 78, that’s the month that I sorta became more of a dead head rather that just a fan....of course the full transformation didn’t happen for a few more months until I finally got to see my first show. But yeah, 41 years ago, yes-gads where does that pesky time go indeed 😎

Be well and rock on folks!

Wow....wouldn’t have ever even thought about picking this one up without this group. This is really weird, it rocks, and I love it.....

KCJ

Giving this a first spin now....kinda does remind me of a back porch in July...could be San Francisco, but I could argue Kansas City, or Friendsville, MD, St. Johnsbury, VT, or Northvale, NJ....maybe Austin, TX, outside of Philly, not far from London, England, or Jacksonville where the good Doctor roams. Yes sir, wherever a DeadFreak shakes their bones, this one sounds mighty fine!

KCJ

April '78 was pretty hot. I've had this one on my phone for a long time, compliments of the "trove". As I am finished with the E72 show in Denmark, I jumped forward in time 6 years - here it is:

https://archive.org/details/gd1978-04-16.sbd.cantor.motb.81457.sbeok.fl…

This show hails from just one week prior to DaP 7 & DaP 15. They seem to be polarizing shows around here, but DaP 7 was my first DaP, so special place (and whatever else one can say about it, The Music Never Stopped is one of the best (and the reason I splurged on eBay for it). I prefer Jan - April '78 above all else released that year until the material from Shakedown Street came out......I guess that only constitutes Road Trips '78, Rocking The Cradle, and Closing of Winterland.

But back to 4/16 - can't go wrong with a set list containing Scarlet / Fire AND Estimated / Eyes. Unless it's one of those fast '78 Eyesis. Heh, not sure how fast this one is - we'll see. I tried slowing one of them down with this new "tempo" feature on Poweramp. Didn't quite sound right slow either....

So the 10/22/78 Winterland show was on Sirius today at noon... Great 30 minutes of Hamza to start the show and a 21 minute NFA with a Caution Jam in it. Whenever I hear these shows I always think of the Jam before If I had the World to Give from 10/17/78. If you have never listened to it, around the 4 minute mark of space, (or Jam) A woman asks Jerry "I know this sounds crazy but I would like to take banjo lessons" He replies that he doesn't teach them anymore and then she asks again!!! If you don't have the show couple good copies on Archive... This didn't make the cut for the Road Trip release!!! Have a good day... bob t

Edit The Jam didn't make the cut but If I had the World to Give was on bonus disc....

...I started my day with Winterland 6/7/77 & 6/9/77 then I had to throw on Dicks Picks #14 Boston Music Hall 11/30/73 for that opening ‘Morning Dew’ from Jerry and the band, from what happened in Paris’ , I needed a dose! 😢 I think I’ll ride this whole release out for the rest of my day... peace be with you all! 🙏❤️

Been listening to Live at the Warfield in an attempt to dim the images of the tragedy in Paris at Notre Dame: "OUR" Lady . . . this feeling at the loss of part of our collective humanity reminds me of the destruction of The Buddhas of Bamyan or ancient Palmyra – at least this looks like an accident. Great comments everybody!

And what an amazing chronicle of 6/20/83 Merriweather MdJim has unfurled! Haa! Merry-Weather indeed! What an adventure. Couldn't happen these days with doppler radar warnings spoiling all the fun. Thanks Jim! Onward!

Sign me up Keithfan!

Finally, will amazon actually be shipping the RSD LP & CD releases of the Warfield shows in 1-2 months? If so, I guess that pretty much signals the end of Record Store Day. It negates RSD's efforts on behalf of all the very cool and needed, but often struggling, independent record stores across the country. RSD's annual release of all the incredible (so-called) "limited edition"(?) releases once a year will be rendered meaningless.

I really enjoyed your story. We're all so darn alike, I feel like I was there. When I hit the lottery, I'm going to host a Grateful Dead convention, and all the cool dude to hang out here are coming for free. There's going to be a huge replica of the wall of sound, if not the wall itself. And I'm going to hire band member look-alikes to mime to all of the great music I intend to put through those speakers in a 3-day weekend. When we listen to Fillmore West 1969, the band impersonator for Garcia is going to be wearing Jerry's Hockey shirt and sporting the Gibson SG. When Dick's Picks 31 hits the airwaves, Jerry's going to have the Wolf in hand. I'm also going to have a Bill Graham and a Ken Kesey and a Ramrod; you name them, they'll be there. Doctor Rhino, Mark Pincus, Dave Lemieux, and Mary E -you're all invited too. Bear will be there, maybe even Wavy Gravy. And without a doubt, there's going to be a big f****** tie-dye bus was Cowboy Neal at the wheel! This is going to happen. The Lord is going to set me free of my financial constraints and we are going to party like it's the olden days. And skeletons....lots of skeletons....bearded skeletons, coattail skeletons, terrapin skeletons......

Daverock, yeah, sometimes you have to switch up what you're taking in. I really enjoy your posts, I don't remember you always being around, but definitely the past 2 years or so, you've been a regular contributor bringing great insights and Good Vibes. Stay Gold Ponyboy.

P.S. - I am finishing off 4/16 Dead in Denmark now. One thing that is fantastic about this show, is that Keith is very high in the mix most of the time. As I bitched about the other day, he's tragically missing from most of this tour. But we get a good dose of him here so enjoy.

I could have handled that in 83, but not in 2019.

I'll have fresh imagination visuals the next time i listen to 6/20/83.

Keith fan - I smiled when I read that you welcomed a break from listening to E72 chronologically. I have noticed, in recent years, that two shows in any one run is the optimum amount to listen to, for me, in one go. Even for a run as great as this one. Two shows-then I move on to a different era, returning to the original run refreshed and ready to rock. Spread over the year, E72 sounds much better than if you try and crash through it during April and May. In my opinion, I should say.