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    clayv
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    Hold on to your hat, we're coming in strong with one from the Windy City that'll have you movin' and shakin' from start to finish. DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 31: UPTOWN THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL 12/3/79 signals a true rebirth of the Grateful Dead, reimagining classics and foreshadowing their 80s sound. This is as much in part due to freshly-minted member Brent Mydland bringing the organ back in as it is to Jerry finding new vivacity with his custom Wolf guitar. New guy, new guitar - it all makes for a heck of a good time!

    Set One rolls like never-ending thunder with one standout after another - truly epic versions of "Brown-Eyed Women," "Ramble On Rose," "It's All Over Now," "Althea," and "The Music Never Stopped." Set Two hits with a crack of not-so-lazy lightning, barreling through an outrageous 28-minute "Scarlet>Fire" to a unique “Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance” and wrapping with a "blow the roof off the place" version of "Truckin'" and a rippin' "Johnny B. Goode." Ready for some quiet after the storm? You'll have to wait a just a little bit longer - we've filled in the gap on Disc 3 with a sprinkle of 12/4/79 - "Estimated>Franklin's Tower>" and an incredibly improvised “Jam.”

    Limited to 20,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 31: UPTOWN THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL 12/3/79 has been mastered from Dan Healy's cassette recordings to HDCD specs by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering.

    GET IT WHILE YOU CAN

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  • icecrmcnkd
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    Gross incompetence

    Rhino should have fixed the international shipping problems immediately rather than use the ‘tough shit, it’s your problem, we already sent you a disingenuous generic email’ approach that they have been using.

    It’s disgraceful that Dead net allows Rhino to treat Deadheads (who are paying customers) this way.

  • smyler
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    Frank Parry - UPS Invioce.

    Frank, I’ve also received a UPS invoice for £84 this morning. This is what UPS were previously asking me to pay in order to release my double subscription, before I spoke to UPS billing and asked them to bill the sender (i.e Rhino).

    This is a complete and utter pile of garbage on the part of Rhino and it will surely cost them an absolute fortune to sort it all out. Unless anyone has any better suggestions, my approach to this will be two fold;

    (I) Reply to Rhino on the email chain that already exists for this, tell them what’s happened and ask them to pay it.

    (II) Contact UPS and tell them Rhino said they were going to pick up these charges, which is what I told them in order to get them to release the shipment.

    The irony of this is, that this entire fiasco has led to my not really wanting to listen to DP31 anyway now, simply too much of a negative association.

  • frankparry
    Joined:
    Invoice from UPS

    Anyone else had a post-delivery invoice from UPS? I had two pre-delivery requests from UPS for my two copies and thought I’d paid but they never took my money - I thought Dr Rhino had sorted out instead. Now I’ve got the first of what I’m sure is two invoices. Yikes!

  • BillN
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    Warehouse disasters

    Catfish-John, stuck in a similar limbo about the Woodstock box, got an email saying it was on the way, then one from UPS saying they were returning it because of the wrong invoice, then a canned email from dead.net saying don't bother contacting us again, we will send you a dispatch email when we get round to it.
    I'm really shocked by the attitude, not just because this is a really expensive vv limited box, but just the general principle of customer service on top of everything else recently.

    3 weeks and counting...still no new delivery notification.
    Is there anyone at dead.net or rhino who is in any way motivated to help sort this?

  • alvarhanso
    Joined:
    Donna the Buffalo

    Saw them at Merlefest back in 2001. Half the band was arriving by car as they started, apparently having driven from I think Buffalo. So not the best circumstances. A good show. The buddy I was with continued seeing them every time they came around. I saw them at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem once or twice and another festival at some point. They were always good, but nothing too mind blowing. The zydeco aspect is pretty cool, and I like the sound, just never got too into them.

    Last 5: 8/4/76 The Other One as I type, will dig into the whole show next
    3/18/71 continuing 30 Trips dive, weird hearing organ on Wharf Rat, but the Caution is an all timer. Pigpen is fantastic on it. Not long, but very tight and not crazy rambling Pig. Very good show.
    2/22/69 Wow. Love the setlist switcharoo over the Fillmore West run the next week, Doin' That Rag> St Stephen> The Eleven> Lovelight is every bit as good as if Dark Star had kicked off the sequence. Jerry must have hated Rag> Stephen for its overly hard tempo changes in back to back songs. Then a 16 min Eleven?!
    Paul Simon Collection pure musical genius.
    Quadrophenia even more pure musical genius.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Dead Air....

    ....time to prop up my newest favorite band. Again. Donna The Buffalo. I would enjoy some input. Mrs. Vguy enjoys them quite a bit.
    Dive in. Good stuff.

  • catfish-john
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    Shipping and Delivery Problems Every Order This Year

    The new distributor screws up every order I have placed this year. The excuse since March that I have been told is they are changing warehouses. It takes 5 months to move 50 items and a few thousand units to a new warehouse??? I placed an order for mugs on 8/1 and I have yet to get a shipment notice. Customer Service gives me a canned response and hasn't resolved anything. DP Vol 30 didn't even ship until four weeks after release date. So sad. I am considering never ordering again and just having my friends share the ALAC's with me. This is absurd!!!

  • wilfredtjones
    Joined:
    hooray

    Daysbetween - keep us posted as to delivery When not If it happens. Have fingers firmly crossed for you :-)

  • simonrob
    Joined:
    End of story...

    This morning UPS updated the tracking page again to say "Address corrected". Strange, as they had brought it to my front door once before. This afternoon their page was updated again to say "Delivered" and indeed when I got home from work there it was, delivered, nothing to pay, end of story. Finally. Now to listen to it...

  • Lovemygirl
    Joined:
    Rare cuts... & Listening...🙏❤️🤠

    Rare cuts,play it again, if you enjoy 1966 vibes this is the Lp to throw on when you get back home my man🙏❤️🤠 beautiful recordings from the Bear! https://youtu.be/7mxWRVI7SsYLove this song!!!🤠....greetings everyone. Thank you All again for all the get well wishes and positive vibes from this group of beautiful people! Have a grateful day my brothers & sisters! Don’t forget to to stop sometime today and Smile smile smile! Love ya guys. Rock on !
    I’m in the Phile Zone zone today! Another primo release. Love this version, performance of ‘ hard to handle from my man Pig pen! 🙏❤️🤠

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6 years 7 months

Hold on to your hat, we're coming in strong with one from the Windy City that'll have you movin' and shakin' from start to finish. DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 31: UPTOWN THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL 12/3/79 signals a true rebirth of the Grateful Dead, reimagining classics and foreshadowing their 80s sound. This is as much in part due to freshly-minted member Brent Mydland bringing the organ back in as it is to Jerry finding new vivacity with his custom Wolf guitar. New guy, new guitar - it all makes for a heck of a good time!

Set One rolls like never-ending thunder with one standout after another - truly epic versions of "Brown-Eyed Women," "Ramble On Rose," "It's All Over Now," "Althea," and "The Music Never Stopped." Set Two hits with a crack of not-so-lazy lightning, barreling through an outrageous 28-minute "Scarlet>Fire" to a unique “Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance” and wrapping with a "blow the roof off the place" version of "Truckin'" and a rippin' "Johnny B. Goode." Ready for some quiet after the storm? You'll have to wait a just a little bit longer - we've filled in the gap on Disc 3 with a sprinkle of 12/4/79 - "Estimated>Franklin's Tower>" and an incredibly improvised “Jam.”

Limited to 20,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 31: UPTOWN THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL 12/3/79 has been mastered from Dan Healy's cassette recordings to HDCD specs by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering.

GET IT WHILE YOU CAN

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I'm still thinking it will include something from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.

ps. I so thankful that we get these vault release so people have something to complain about. I guess we could go back to the days of third and fourth gen cassettes of really good clean Jerry shows.

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16 years 9 months
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Enjoyable show. Great sound and mix. A lot of whiners on this board. Expect every show to be the best show EVER. I have a theory. Third show of a year is always less known. Fourth show and 1st of the coming year have to sell the subscription. Second show has bonus. Stop the whining. Its a bore.

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10 years 2 months

In reply to by simonrob

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I emailed Dr Rhino yesterday, and got a generic response thanking me for my patience, but advising me that due to the "high-volume of email traffic I will respond to your email within 5 business days."
Looking at the tortuous tracking information last night, I saw that it was still out there for delivery somewhere, with the same expectation of me paying £73 + on delivery for freight charges.

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5 years 10 months

In reply to by simonrob

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Don't build your hopes up!
UPS delivered mine yesterday. Courier said customs paid.
Today I had a phone call from UPS requesting payment £73.92 which I ain't paying.
They're sending courier back out tomorrow to collect. So I expect I'll see it again soon??

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9 years 11 months

In reply to by fourwindsblow

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This makes me very happy that 6/17/91 is getting a solo release; methinks it will be included in this box (although I believe someone had already speculated/potentially confirmed this elsewhere); similar to how they also did a stand alone release for 'Wake up to Find Out' when it was also included in one of the Spring '90 boxes.

drip...drip...drip....
Sixtus

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... I would wait until you see the film before pre-ordering or if your not attending, wait for Reviews to be published/posted HERE or elsewhere, it’s your choice. 😉Imagine if they offered the opportunity to do that with every concert that was recorded both Audio & Film!!! That would be Primo! Lol, it would be a total deffent business model they operate under right now and would Effect Sales. I bet Some fans would pay extra just for the opportunity/chance! Lol ha ha ... who knows maybe after that you won’t be interested in adding this Vinyl/CD release to your collection.
🙏❤️😎
*Plus artwork is Incomplete ;)

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In reply to by stoltzfus

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...stolz. You crack me up! Lol 😂 The Healing Power Of Laughter is always welcomed!

Also
...”I want my $2.00 dollars!”... ha ha

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9 years 11 months
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Ok...so i was reading this article with an interview with Bruce Hornsby just now, and I came across a very interesting reference/mention by Bruce therein; it goes like this (and please note his VERY LAST SENTENCE):

"... Look, I’ve spent my career collaborating and getting calls from amazing people. There was the Dead, maybe the single most amazing collaboration. It was a beautiful, often transcendent experience to do that, and maybe especially earlier with Garcia. I wouldn’t trade anything for that. I was so influenced by them as a songwriter. Obviously, the younger generation of forward-thinking musicians feels the same way, hence this several CD Grateful Dead compilation that was put together."

https://www.stereogum.com/2038972/bruce-hornsby-spike-lee-grateful-dead…

I'd say that's a decent hint as to what's about to blow open with this box.

Sixtus

Yep - probably a hint at what's to come (though he could also be referencing the compliation of GD covers from modern bands that was put out a couple years ago). Either way, it should be an exciting day (and looks like I'm WAY off my prediction of a set from 76)!

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13 years 11 months
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I was really looking forward to it, but was on call and of course 20 min before show time the phone rings. But from what I hear everyone had a good time. However, there was no box announcement here. Apparently it's a U.S. only announcement.

That’s my prediction.

That way everyone gets the announcement at the same time. Tonight’s reveal will show what the Box looks like.

If it turns out to be a high-demand Box, can this website handle the onslaught?

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13 years 11 months

In reply to by stoltzfus

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Yes, it is a medical kind of thing. The only good thing about being on call this week is I've made more than enough to pay for this years box set!!

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17 years 4 months
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Hi you all, who were in the same situation confronted with an extra charge for transportation to europe (esp. Germany). Today UPs stands at my door and delivered Dave's Picks No. 31 without any extra costs. Dr. Rhino has cleared the situation. So all will get well.

The good ol Grateful Dead are my favorite band and have been for forty years. But the fact is is that they were very mediocre quite often, especially in the last 15 years. There are great shows from that period, but this isn’t one. There are at least ten shows from fall 79 that are better then this release. Dissenting respectful opinion should be welcomed and not looked down upon. My opinion is that the Ramble on Rose, Althea and Terrapin and others are painful to listen to. Just listening to the filler from the next night shows a more awake Jerry.
I don’t expect every release to be great, but there are plenty of good shows left in the vault and my opinion is is that this wasn’t one of them. Maybe Dave walked into the vault to grab 12-1-79 and a blue heron flew by and distracted him and he grabbed the wrong show.....I have lots of great shows to listen to, including the first two picks this year and I’m grateful for that. I guess my point is that just because it’s the Grateful Dead and Dave says it’s a great show doesn’t make it so.

People paying and supporting the cause have a right to voice an opinion, as do you. If that wasnt Jerry and the Dead and you heard a live recording of that show I think youd be more critical. This band and Jerry get a lot of slack for the rough nights and its well deserved - they gave us everything they had to the music. When it was a live show I took whatever they had on a given night and was always grateful. It was what it was in the moment. But now that its Dave picking shows and selling goods online 24 years after Jerry left, I think we can request better material or feel free to voice when we think he laid an egg. Sorry that offends your senses - but to my ears, Jerry, sadly, is a total wreck on DP31 . Glad your ears hear it different and that youre enjoying it though - if you want an extra copy Ill sell you mine at face value

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17 years 5 months
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Just got mine. just uploaded to Itunes. I for one know I'm going to love this one immediately so will save my thoughts until after a listen.

Bummed to have to miss the Meet-Up. It will be epic. Not playing anywhere near me withing a 6 hour round trip drive. This is the second time they've overlooked my city. All previous showing played in my hometown. sure, attendance was less than stellar, but the money is in the release. Hope this is the box.

Hope I can afford the box. Hope it doesn't sell out before I can order one. These always seem to come out when I'm between pay periods and/or low on funds. If it is Giants '91, hope the edition numbers are high enough. sometimes they don't print enough copies of these to accomodate demand.

Whatever the case, the movie and box will no doubt be awesome.

Happy Birthday Jerry!

Also, any HQ scans of the cover from Dave's Picks 31up yet?

Thanks! Hope everyone is enjoying your Summer.

Listening to it with headphones - sounds good enough to these middle aged ears. Dave is right - from Oct through December, 1979 is full of fun, energized performances. Really like this little pocket in time and I'm happy to have this release.

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10 years 8 months
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and I still don't remember much from the July 31/Aug 1 GD/Band shows in lovely Roosevelt Stadium. They could've filmed Bladerunner there...

It rained at least one night. And on Aug. 1, a woman riding on someone's shoulders was able to approach the lip of the stage and hand a birthday cake up to Jer. The music? I confess to few specific memories.

The run-up, though, was, in today's parlance, "epic." That was July 26 (travel), 27(soundchecks), 28 (shows) at Watkins Glen. We walked away from the all-star jam as Jer broke into Dylan's Takes a Lot to Laugh... and we got on the road because we had to. Made it home on the 29th. The very next day we go to a two-nighter with the GD and The Band. Guess I had a good time!

Let's do the math... In six days, I saw the GD and The Band play four shows each. Together. Throw in two Allman Brothers shows. So that's ten shows in six days. Probably explains why the first few days were memorable and the second half of the game is a bit fuzzy.

But I'm still on my feet! Confessions, confessions....

On to the movies, the box set and more summer.

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17 years 5 months
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Toggle back, yes there were scans kindly posted recently!

Blue Heron! :-)

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12 years
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I live in Maryland. My subscription Dave's Picks Vol. 31 is still sitting in Rhino's warehouse, "Shipment Ready for UPS". Anybody else with this problem?

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16 years 8 months
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After reading Dave's description of the DP31 first set I was prepared to be blown away by this show. Sorry to say it is not living up to expectations. Maybe unfair to judge having only listened to the 1st set but it's pretty mediocre. Sounds like the Scarlet > Fire may have potential but AARGH. Audience patch in Fire! C'mon, really? Not the first time one of these offerings has been a disappointment through the years. I'm sure plenty of hard work goes into these releases and I will continue to subscribe since it's an easy Christmas gift for my wife to get me but I hope future choices will be more satisfying. BTW, we saw them 3 weeks later in Oakland and they were on fire.

Not quite the same issue as you but according to the tracking, mine has been sitting in the OKC post office for 5 days now! Obviously not Rhino/Dead.net's fault but frustrating.

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10 years 11 months
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DP 31 captures the Dead at a good moment in '79. They were definitely in the groove for this show and it has "that swing". Sit on your porch, open a cool one and let this music wash over you as the sun goes down, remove all negativity from your mind and you will experience the music the way did way back in '79!

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17 years 4 months
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It's not BIG, it's GIANT.

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17 years 4 months
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This box is right in my sweet spot! 5 shows / $167 with shipping & tax. Don't have to break the bank or hide it from wifey. Nice mix. Bring on The Swamp!

Rock on

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9 years 1 month
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Box is ordered, looking forward to seeing what it will look like. Given the source material, I anticipate that the sound should be excellent.
Edit: Actually, I was at the July 12, 1987 show, makes it even cooler. Saw the July 10, 1987 show in Philadelphia at JFK Stadium also that summer.

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17 years 3 months
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Blue ray box ordered - only 6000! Nice size for me and in the range of affordable on my pension so I am a happy Deadhead. Now if I could just get to hear DP31 :-))
Overseas Deadheads have always been here. I traded tapes via Relix adds from the late 70’s. Those that have their DP31 treasure it or pass it on. Peace & love to all.

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13 years 6 months
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Still waiting
Why????
The address on my package forgot to put the apartment #
So now it goes back to the sender
It takes 2 days to respond to a email
Never had this problem before
I wish all releases were digital
I wouldn’t have to deal with this mail foolishness
Also it would stop the “mark ups” on eBay later
Anyway I’ll get the Chicago Dave’ s pick sooner or later
Forgetting to put a apartment # for a Brooklyn Mailing ........madness!!!!!

Had a casual listen to the first set this evening driving around in the Toyota. It’s All Over Now was a standout for me. And I really like the well placed cannonballs in Jack A Roe. Have they had those before? I am assuming they came from Mickey rather than Bill. Maybe he was listing to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 before the show.

Sound wise, I think the vocals mesh better with the instrumentation than last year’s DaP 27 Boise. Could be better, but unobtrusive when the volume is kept reasonable. You can really tell when Jerry leans into the mic.

Looking forward to a close listen of Set II tomorrow.

Carry on!

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17 years 4 months
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Really enjoyed the show tonite. High lights for me were Might As Well and Truckin' > New Speedway Boogie. Great stuff. This leads me to believe that the new box will be delicious!

Rock on

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9 years 1 month
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Dead.net have submitted the missing commercial invoices and now it says mine will be here on Monday. Tracking still showing a payment is due but hopefully it has already being sorted or is about to be...

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17 years 4 months
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Here in the Netherlands I see exactly the same information. On the UPS site, my package is still in Louisville,KY, but instead of daily warehouse scans, yesterday the following appeared: "A missing commercial invoice is causing a delay. / The information requested has been obtained and the hold has been resolved." and today there has been an import scan followed by an export scan. Delivery is scheduled for Monday. The freight charge of 81.88 EUR is still shown. I just hope they don't ask for payment on delivery. Optimism levels rising, blood pressure falling...

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5 years 3 months
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Mine apparently ready for collection from the local UPS delivery point...all charges settled. Let's see this afternoon...

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17 years 4 months
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I saw the bulk of my shows in the '78 - '80 time frame, so I was looking forward to this release very much. I have listened to it once and found that I like it. I will be listening to it continually for the next week as I usually do. I like to really dig into any new release. Are there some ballads that seem a bit more slow then usual? Sure, but it is certainly not the train wreck some of you had led me to believe it might be. Just goes to show that every listener hears things differently.

I sign onto this forum first thing every morning, and check back on it constantly throughout the day. You Dead Heads are my kind of people. So it is with love and caring that I have to say to some here: PEOPLE! GET OVER IT"! Every release will not be Veneta! Just because Althea comes off a bit slow does not mean you have to comment on Jerry's heroin addiction, or his diet, or his traumatic life! Maybe he had a headache or a bellyache this night? Maybe he had just had a blow up with his wife / girlfriend? Maybe he just wanted to try it slower tonite as was his want, to keep changing it up to keep it interesting.

I think we all have the right to comment on the music, but try to keep it to that. Not to pontificate here, but none of us was on stage or back stage that night so none of us knows exactly what happened. All I know is, even when I hear a show that I thing is not up to par, it is still better then 95% of the crap I hear out there today. So I will sit back and enjoy this one and if I come across a show that is not too good, I will put it on the shelf and await hungrily for the next one.

Rock on

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16 years 9 months

In reply to by simonrob

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After 2 episodes of sending the UPS man away after refusing to pay £73, package containing 31 got pushed through my letterbox this morning, so the good Dr Rhino seems to have sorted the problem. Hopefully those still waiting will shortly be rewarded for their patience

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14 years 9 months
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I was in good shape for the first set ;)))

at set break I ate a couple pieces of candy ("green M&Ms", not electric ones)

the theater was 2/3 full, with a lot of space in the front row. so I moved up there and looked up at the screen with full sound.

"Giants Stadium". from my vantage point, it looked like everyone in the band was a 10 foot tall giant.

It was cool.

Phenomenal show. The sound was soooooo good.

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