Dave's Picks Volume 32: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 3/24/73

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October 22, 2019 - 7:44am

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clayv

Joined:
March 14, 2018

"Cause it's always like that with the Dead, you know - it's always the whole thing." - News Journal

As we close out the 2019 Dave Pick's series, we deliver on our promise to give you the "whole thing" with the complete performance from The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 3/24/73 and what a show it was! An upstanding "musical eulogy" to the recently departed Pigpen, the Grateful Dead conducted a potent study in contrasts on this bittersweet night. They found easy balance between tidy jams like "They Love Each Other," "Wave That Flag," "Playing In The Band," and introspective moments on "Stella Blue," "Sing Me Back Home," and a poignant "He's Gone." It was all laid down with a discipline and a polish unheard of in any of the truly exceptional shows that had come before it. Yes, you might say, they cleaned up nice to carry on the legacy as Pig would have wanted.

Limited to 20,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 32: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA 3/24/73 has been mastered to HDCD specs from the 7" and 10" reels by Jeffrey Norman.

GET IT WHILE YOU CAN

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

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January 10, 2020 - 4:44pm

#281

stoltzfus

Joined:
January 13, 2010

ok, just listened to Hemispheres and 2112 side one

every time I hear the last few minutes of 2112 side one, I get goose bumps and chills. every time.

every time.

RIP, Neil.
January 10, 2020 - 3:37pm

#282

icecrmcnkd

Joined:
October 20, 2015

That sucks

Adios Neil
January 10, 2020 - 3:09pm

#283

P Hill

Joined:
June 24, 2017

rip neil

03 03 92 the omni
https://archive.org/details/gd1992-03-03.nak300.carpenter.andrewf.92897…

Excerpt from Peart's book, "Traveling Music" --

"In 1990, Mickey had co-written a book (with Jay Stevens) on the history of drums and rhythm, artfully interwoven with his own autobiography and some of the Grateful Dead’s history, called ‘Drumming at the Edge of Magic.’ When [Peart's daughter] Selena was looking for a topic for a junior high science project, I suggested something I had learned about from the book, the “Theory of Entrainment.” The theory held that any two mechanisms, including humans, tended to synchronize their rhythms, to “prefer” them, as compared to beating against each other. Thus two analog clocks placed in proximity would eventually begin to tick in sync with each other, neighboring heart cells tended to pulse together, women living together often synchronized their menstrual cycles. And thus, thought Mickey, he and the other Grateful Dead drummer, Bill Kreutzmann, should (and did) link their arms before a concert, to try to synchronize their biorhythms with the Theory of Entrainment. Selena put two old-fashioned alarm clocks, with keys and springs and bells, beside two digital bedside clocks, and made a poster to describe the principle. I think she got a good mark.

"For my part, I was so impressed with the scholarship and artistry in the book that I wrote Mickey a letter of appreciation, and we began to correspond.

"Later that year, in 1992 it happened that both our bands were playing at the Omni Arena in Atlanta on successive nights, the Dead one night and Rush the next, and Mickey and I invited each other to our shows. On our off night I went to see the Dead play, accompanied by our tour manager, Liam, and what an experience THAT turned out to be.

"Liam and I arrived just as the show was starting, and gave our names at the backstage door. One of their production crew gave us our guest passes and escorted us to our seats – right behind the two drum risers, in the middle of the stage! Liam and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows as we sat down, and noticed that right behind us was the production office, with telephones, fax machines, and long-haired, bearded staff dealing with communications and logistics (presumably, though the production office is normally a room backstage, where such work can on APART from the concert), and we also heard there was a telephone line run through the crowd to the front-of-house mixing platform. Catering people walked across the oriental rugs that covered the stage, delivering salads and drinks to various musicians and technicians, even during songs, and meanwhile, the band played on. Lights swept the arena, reflecting off white, amorphous “sails” suspended above the stage, and clouds of marijuana smoke drifted through the beams and assailed our nostrils with pungent, spicy aroma.

"My familiarity with the Grateful Dead’s music began with their first album, back in ’67, when my first band used to play several of their songs, “Morning Dew,” “New New Minglewood Blues,” and “Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl.

"And they played and sang really well, too, augmented by the soulful keyboards and accordion of Bruce Hornsby. The drummers, Mickey and Bill, became an interlocking, mutually complementary rhythmic unit, right out of the Theory of Entrainment.

"Liam and I couldn’t see much of the “front line” guys, the guitarists and vocalists, because of the wall of amplifiers, but occasionally, on the stage-left side, the spotlights caught an unmistakable bush of gray hair that could only have been the legendary Jerry Garcia.

"During intermission, Mickey invited Liam and me to his dressing room in the familiar backstage corridors of the Omni (each band member had a separate room, which hinted at certain “divisions” among them; after Jerry Garcia’s tragic death, I read a story asserting that he hadn’t enjoyed touring very much, and when the others wanted to go on the road again, he responded, “What, they need MORE money?”). Mickey was a friendly, outgoing man, with an engaging smile and an intense, joyful enthusiasm for percussion. With all my African travels and interest in African percussion music, and Mickey’s musical explorations in print and on records, we shared a few things we knew and cared about, and had a good conversation until they were called to the stage to begin their second set.

"Liam and I returned to our center-stage reserved seats, and I noticed that not only did the band members have separate dressing rooms, but the wings of the stage were lined with small tents of black cloth, one for each of the musicians to retire to during the songs on which they didn’t play, and have some privacy. During an acoustic number in the second part of the show, Mickey disappeared into his little tent, then motioned for me to join him. We talked for a few minutes about drums and drumming, and I told him how much I was enjoying their performance, then he went back up to the riser and started playing again.

"Next night, the positions were reversed. That tour ('Roll The Bones'), we had a metal gridwork runway (dubbed the “chicken run” by the crew) about four feet high, running across the width of our stage behind my drum riser, where Geddy and Alex could wander while they played. During the show, I looked back and saw Mickey, under the chicken run, smiling out between its black curtains. He was just as close to me as I had been to him, and he seemed to be enjoying himself."
January 10, 2020 - 2:39pm

#284

stoltzfus

Joined:
January 13, 2010

NEIL FREAKING PEART???

wow.

not a major Rush fan, but the Hemispheres LP and side one of 2112 are tattooed into my soul.

wow.

Death don't have no mercy. at all.

FUCK.

[V. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance]
I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold

Man. Actual tears. I didn't get tears when JERRY died.
January 10, 2020 - 2:33pm

#285

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

Re: RIP

Wow.. didn't see that coming. Lowering the freak flag to half-mast.

Sad day..
January 10, 2020 - 1:41pm

#286

LedDed

Joined:
February 16, 2017

R.I.P. Neil Peart

I don't think it's in poor taste to suggest that that is why Alex and Ged haven't done anything, out of respect for the master. Boy did they keep that under wraps.

Maybe something with Portnoy is in the cards. Anyway, this guy was one of the best I ever saw. And a class individual. He will be missed and never replaced.

\m/
January 10, 2020 - 12:41pm

#287

stoltzfus

Joined:
January 13, 2010

be ready for Daves33

1/22 at 10 am PST

komplainink vill not be toleratet (said in German accent) if you miss it

reeeeeeally looking forward to this one.
January 10, 2020 - 12:08pm

#288

bob t

Joined:
November 21, 2007

Dave's 32 last offer before i forget and find it in 5 years

I have an extra unopened Dave's 32 when i double ordered subscription last year. Cost plus shipping if you want it. bob t
January 10, 2020 - 10:18am

#289

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

..the few

Dennis, my Billy Holiday collection just doubled! How long until someone digs up a song the Dead covered from this treasure trove..

Somebody went through a lot of trouble to translate 78's to digital formats. They mostly sound pretty good considering... Like mhammond said yesterday, the things you learn here. ..and the things that get deleted. :D
January 10, 2020 - 10:14am

#290

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

32

Definetly has some ruff patches early on, but remeber many of those songs were new or were new as far as vocals/harmonies, and I’ve heard worse. Of course as they get their mojo going the show morphs into a stallion.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

"Cause it's always like that with the Dead, you know - it's always the whole thing." - News Journal

As we close out the 2019 Dave Pick's series, we deliver on our promise to give you the "whole thing" with the complete performance from The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 3/24/73 and what a show it was! An upstanding "musical eulogy" to the recently departed Pigpen, the Grateful Dead conducted a potent study in contrasts on this bittersweet night. They found easy balance between tidy jams like "They Love Each Other," "Wave That Flag," "Playing In The Band," and introspective moments on "Stella Blue," "Sing Me Back Home," and a poignant "He's Gone." It was all laid down with a discipline and a polish unheard of in any of the truly exceptional shows that had come before it. Yes, you might say, they cleaned up nice to carry on the legacy as Pig would have wanted.

Limited to 20,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 32: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA 3/24/73 has been mastered to HDCD specs from the 7" and 10" reels by Jeffrey Norman.

GET IT WHILE YOU CAN

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

6 4 77

Tres bien

Sports....

Uhhhh......

You want your team to win
And you watch them suck
And you wonder how Aaron Rodgers can be so good
Year after year after year

And then your team gets called for pass interference

And offside

Icky

GSTL

Jim, funny you mention only giving the GSTL box a single listen. I had only given it a couple of cursory listens when I first got it, probably a few more listens to the 5/9/77 Buffalo show for the Help-Slip-Franklins over time. Recently I couldn't decide what to listen to and figured I'd run through the GSTL box again from start to finish. This time through it really hit the spot, clicked for me on a whole different level than my prior listens. Anything May '77 hits the spot, but this time through GSTL it was just about perfect. All depends on your mood at the time I guess. I'd be curious what you think on a second listen now that the hype has worn off.

On the same page as Deadvikes with anticipation for the upcoming DaP33 and DaP 34, particularly the '74 show on 34. Have to agree that DaP 13 is possibly the best '74 release so far, everything about that release from sound quality to show quality was spot on. DaP 9 is also a good '74 release, but it just doesn't quite hit the same level as DaP 13. Maybe I just prefer that cool, jazzy Dark Star on DaP 13 to the more chaotic Dark Star on DaP 9.

Last Five / What I'm listening to....

Signals
Presto
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
Roll The Bones
Focused on Peart on all five. He was really, really good. Duh.
Come to think of it, I haven't listened to the GOGD since new years eve. That's a record I think.

Another May 1977 - Daves 1.

I decided to go through Daves Picks from the first one, in order, today. (not playing them all today, I hasten to add).Which naturally means that 5/25/77 gets a rare outing. I am impressed, I have to say. 1977 isn't a favourite year for me these days. There seemed to be a massive change in feel to me from the pre to the post retirement years...all the elements remained, except the most elusive - the magic.

But I digress-this 5/25/77 starts off beautifully with Mississippi and flows as smoothly as silk from thereon in. I'm still only in the first set, but everything is in place and locked together straight away. A nice aperitif for 10/29/77, too. Like my memory of other 1977 shows, it skims along very nicely on the surface, but I would be very surprised if it drops down into the subterranean depths visited in the years up to 1974.

Dave's 33 filler?

I'm curious to see what Lemieux et all have selected to fill out the third disc for Dave's 33.
Both of the shows already released from this tour had a full disc's worth of filler material (Dick's 34: Rochester and Dave's 12: Hamilton)
The night following DeKalb, 10/30/77 has a very nice second set that features no repeats. I gave the whole show a listen over the weekend and that second set would make a very fine addition to the DeKalb show.

Re: subterranean depths

Ha..

..agree, I older I get the more willing I am to be dragged down into strange subterranean depths.

As for Dave's 33 filler.. it seems they have been less willing to add filler in some of the newer releases. It's been a while since Colgate was released. Good question, time will tell but I am not sure this is a given.

Althea

Forgot to mention..

Was watching Larry David on The Late Show last week and clear as day the late night band was playing Althea as the welcome music to introduce the guest.

Pretty cool.. sort of an obscure studio reference coming from the mainstream. I'm not a GD studio aficionado, but Althea worked pretty well in the studio (and later live).

And Now...

...for something completely different. I decided to spin 4/27/71, in honor of Doc and his unadulterated support of '71 shows. This show is known for the Beach Boys coming on during the second set, but even if you want to skip that silliness, there are highlights aplenty. Set1-Loser, a GREAT Hard To Handle, China/Rider, & Casey Jones all back to back.
also, a nice early Bird Song, followed by Playing & Dire Wolf. Second set ends with Sing Me Back Home, Uncle John's Band, and a VERY nice Lovelight (although the end is clipped). Well worth a listen, if you want to mix things up!!

Althea

There's a lot of embedded wisdom within Dead songs. Perhaps none tops this:

I told Althea
I'm a roving sign
That I was born to be a bachelor
Althea told me
Okay, thats fine
So now I'm trying to catch her

*Re/ Daves Pick #2

...thank you for the feedback on Daves Picks #2. I have this pick along with a copy of a copy of the Bonus Disc from a grateful friend on the message board, it is a greatful Bonus Disc to say the least, I’m it’s great all around. The audio is as primo one can hope for from the magigical fingertips of Of Norman and the whole team & the song selection that comes along with it!💀🌹💀🌹 I posted this show before the 2020 Release announcement of their future pick from 74’.... I’m pretty sure I have second copy in primo shape but minus the Bonus Disc. Pm me if anyone is interested in a copy., drop me a pm. Peace be with you! 🙏❤️😎💀🌹💀🌹
*** it took me a few listens completely straight thru for myself get all the primo grateful love contained in this Daves Pick #2 ,pretty early The the series. Oh I can’t wsit for this next 74 ‘ Pick 🙏❤️

Mr Ones/4/27/71

What a great show that is! I wish they would release that whole Fillmore East run as a box set. I know that some of that material has been released, but I think most folks would love a box set of that whole run. Or maybe a Fillmore East/Fillmore West box could be put together.

*Daverock

... hello old friend, I smiled when I read you are on the journey of listen to the Daves seisris in order. I myself am doing the same , lol too funny! 🙏❤️😎💀🌹💀🌹

misheard lyrics

I always hear Althea as

I told Althea I'm a roving sire
I was born to be a bachelor
Althea told me ok that's fine
so now I'm tryin' to catch ya

a nice lil' show

8/5/71

heard disc one this morning
got through Truckin' on the way to work and part of Loser

Billy The Kid

I would take ANY Fillmore box, and just in case Dave is looking in here, I would pre-order that box in about 1/1000 of a second!! C'mon Dave, you know you want to!!

Althea

"Roving sire" makes a lot more sense, actually. I got "roving sign" from some lyrics website. I'm never sure what that word is when listening.

best made plans

LMG...my PLAN is to listen to the Daves Picks in sequence, but I am as hopeless following a pre determined plan listening to the Dead as I am following plans with more serious matters in life. If there are any.
The temptation now is to listen to another May 1977 show rather than Daves Picks 2...and if I get as far as number 2, the chances of getting to number 3 before exploring more 1974 are virtually nil. Its a win win situation.

*Re/ Daves 2020 Picks

Daves Picks 2020 Series ...
...anyone else in the mood for another 80’s ‘Matrix’ Release/mix for a 2020 Daves Picks Performance?! 🙏❤️💀🌹💀🌹

and another thing....

Stumbling around still on the archive/ the brass lantern shows and found a show from a group called "codename", might not be around anymore. This recording is incredible. Worth a few minutes at least.

On the funny, but should have been expected side. When ever they released the picture disc/limited edition/50th anniversary grateful dead album. I saw talk about it and couldn't remember if I bought or not. Looked high and straight, no go. Ordered another where it not sits. For reasons too numerous to say, I needed to enter "THE CLOSET", you know the one. Emptied out a ton of crap and re-aligned. Low and while high, there was the first copy still in the original cardboard sleeve. A quick chuckle and then the flash, maybe it's gone up a ton in value! Type, type, type,,, no seems to be selling for less than I paid!

Only question left,,, is it better to stumble, shamble or meander around the archive?

so now I'm trying to...

CAPTCHA!

huh? huh? pretty good, huh?

huh?

Spring and Summer 1988

Really cool you were at the April Fool's shows Jim. Would love to hear more about that. Great shows!

I was at Alpine as well that year, maybe we crossed paths? The drought summer, that was a crazy June.
We went to the show at the old Met Center in Bloomington MN on June 17 and then headed down to East Troy WI. My third year at Alpine. We rented a RV, with a toilet, which was really nice for Alpine. Don't ask how, because we were just 17. I remember tons of people coming to us looking for water. So hot. I don't know how we made it. We would drive into Lake Geneva during the day. And of course the music, to my memory was unreal. Always love these shows and I look forward them coming out someday.

Ooops.. April Fools '88

Well.. I somehow confused or conflated the 4/1/88, Meadowlands Road Trips show (which I did not attend) with 3/27/88 Hampton Download Series #5 (which I did attend). Hampton was a little closer and certainly cheaper and less a hassle for me to get to back then. With few exceptions, until GPS came to be I used to avoid or evade driving in and out of NYC. These days it doesn't seem to be such a big deal.

In my twisted mind I had the jester/clown artwork attached to the show where they did So What, a great Dylan inspired first set and that mighty fine second set opener of Sugar Mag>Scarlet>Fire>Estimated>Eyes.

I do like the Road Trips they released.. but I admit it has been some time since I listened to it.

9/23/82 New Haven on this weeks Tapers Section!

Wow!!!! Always love the Frost shows from 10/9 and 10/10/82 especially the Throwing Stones>Touch of Grey. This is Althea>Let it Grow end of first set and Touch of Grey>Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance from start of second... the sound quality seems very good... Not my bailiwick year either, just caught my attention!!! Thanks Dave... bob t

Also I was at the 9/13/87 Capital Center show the third show of the week on Tapers Section, which people tend to favor the shows we attended, and New Haven blows it away!! giggity...

home is where the heart is

on the bus

summer 90 box set

my best friends sisters boyfriends brothers girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid whos going with the girl who etc

DaP filler

We got 2-27-77 as filler because that was all that existed in the vault, and it fit on CD3.

I had 10-30-77 on cassette and played it a lot. Would prefer that it not be chopped up to be used as filler.
Since it fits on 2 CD-R’s, it should be combined with another 2 CD show for a 4-disc DaP. Or be included in a forthcoming Box.
Or, better yet, be the bonus show you get when you pre-order the Winterland December 77 Box (hint, hint Dave).

misheard lyrics, DaP 33 filler

Never could read shit, just slips away when I try...

Re: DaP filler 10-28-77 has some nice moments including an inspired reading of Candyman (right near the holiday of Halloween). From what I can remember, the end of that show is cut on the master tapes, too.

DaP33 on sale 1/22 10am PT

Just putting that out there for the people who will complain that they read the email announcement on that day after it was sold out.

Thanks Cone Kid

..but I'm not worried. I am using Friday's paycheck to get the subscription. Always a safe bet.

Where did that link go for the subscription anyway? Did they announce it already??

...how about ....

How About ...
...how about a performance from 83’
So, I've I just realized the fall east coast tour of 83 10/8/83-10/22/83 doesn't have a single show I don't just love!!Love 83-85 but a whole tour that keeps me happy is unheard of for me! Funny how they don't release much of 83-85 compared to other years. Oh, also love a LOT of 1984. 🙏❤️😎🌹💀🌹💀🌹

Just to prove I'm not a boring dad....

....i went and got a new tattoo. Showed the wife.

Her: Oh, cool! It's.. uh?

Me: (proudly) It's my thermos! From work!

Her: (reaching towards me) Well, uh, the line work is certainly..

Me: (slaps hand away) Don't touch the thermos tat.
.
.
Simply beautiful.

*

V

I'm picking out a thermos for you. No ordinary thermos for you.

misheard tattoo's on the bus

One of my all time fave misheard lines...

" I had a hard on, running from your window"

Vguy, you had the bad guy from the Marvel movies tattoo on you. Full size back tat?

P Hill; home may be on the bus, but here comes the ice pick in the forehead.

Is it time to order Dave's already,,,, I thought that was in November,,, early this year!

Been Awhile

Good morning. Haven't been around much lately, just due to time constraints.

Sixtus I read the post about your dad and I'm real sorry. And in all that, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in your thinking of me when Neil Peart died. I haven't really caught up on any of the posts lately, but I did see that one.

Yeah, Neil was the man. Last night I went Tour by tour... Wow I just said by-tor... that was a little freaky. Anyway I counted how many times I saw them, and it was 26. I first saw them on the power windows tour, and never missed a tour after that. In the days when they used to play Philly twice, used to go both nights. I peeked out on the test for Echo tour: saw them in Philly, Camden, East Rutherford, and Jones Beach. This was a pretty significant or because it was the first that day started playing two sets adding up to roughly two and a half hours, probably a little bit more. It was also the first time they played 2112 in its entirety. Watching Alex lifeson play Discovery into Presentation was worth the price of admission. I will never forget the 14 or 15 year old kid sitting next to me, got up to go to the bathroom during that part. I said where are you going. He said he was going to take a piss. I asked him if he knew what they were playing. He said no. I told him to sit back down and either piss in a cup or wait 5 minutes, because the best part of the show is coming up. He took my advice and used his cup. Hey I guess everyone has a first Rush concert. In any case that was really the first deep cut that got me into Rush. It took 10 years and 6 tours to finally hear them play it live, but it was worth it. God bless Neil, agnostic though he was.

1970

Was pawing through my Dead cds last night and came across 3/24/70, Pirate's World, Dania Florida. Seemingly a one set show. I must admit that 1970 is probably the year I know least about. We DO have a small handful of GREAT shows from 1970 (1/2 & 3, 1/23, 2/2, 4/15, 5/2, 10/4, & 12/31-partial from UK '70 box, and more you all will remind me of).
However, this March 24th show is very unique (to me) in that it's almost as if they tried to squeeze a 2 1/2 hour show into 83 minutes. Yes, the beginning of Dew is cut, but you get a relatively short Good Lovin', a 12 minute Dark Star into a 5 minute Other One, into St. Stephen, followed by a short Drums into Not Fade Away, into a really nice 13 minute Lovelight, with a Me & My Uncle closer. Also in the mix, you have Mama Tried, Don't Ease Me In, High Time, & Cold Rain.
The Dark Star is maybe the most unique that I've heard, mellow and almost poppy (??). I feel like to get from '69 to '71 had to be a complicated transition, and this disc proves it to me. I got the cd from Amazon UK about a year ago. If only we had a Forensic Doc for the year 1970. Anybody??

DaP 33 filler

Maybe we will get the rest of 11/2/77 Field House

Set 2:
Samson And Delilah 6:44.11
Ship Of Fools 6:27.74
Good Lovin' 6:09.59
Sunrise 3:49.04

Dave said he would get the rest of this show out some day.

Re: Anniversaries, Thermos

I get on and off anniversary kicks, I somehow seem to even miss the ones of the good shows I attended.. but there is one I seem to never miss, it has become one of my go to 69 shows and that's Big Rock Pow Wow. So in honor of it's birthday I am spinning it now.

What? yes.. I know, 5/23 and 5/24 but being as bad at remember birthdays and anniversaries myself, you cannot suddenly be accurate when it comes to dead shows and completely miss the mark when it comes to important dates of the people you love.. besides, it has that psychedelic springtime groove to it, and aren't we all in need of a little psychedelic springtime groove right now? In honor of Neil and Buck, He Was A Friend of Mine.

As for Thermos, interesting tat idea.. I was unfamiliar with this concept so I had to google some images and now it makes perfect sense.

https://www.thermos.com/kids/kids-food-jars.html

Speculating the Mr. Incredible thermos? :D

Dave if he was a bird...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/animals/listen-to-this-talking-parrot-w…

Ha..

True..

If Dave was a cartoon dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhTwefXcMs

80’s ‘Matrix’ Release/mix for a 2020 Daves

9/6/80?

Mr Ones

+1 on 1970. I always find myself listening to 1970 a lot early in the year. For whatever reason, there are more good releases from Jan 70 than from any other Jan. The two Dave's, 1/18/70 DL series, then you've got the Busted on Bourbon Street shows, Daves 6 (2/2/70), DL series 2/4/70, peaking with 2/14 at Fillmore East. Such a great run to keep the winter blahs away.

Ima have to check out the spring 70 run a little more. Dicks 8 is great of course. We should get the special 50th editions of American Beauty and Workingman's this year also. Interested in what the live bonus discs are gonna look like.

1970 is Magical

Too bad they didn't record all of it.

I have been pondering something for years.. and think I might have figured it out. To my ears, the acoustic stuff on 5/15/70 sounds better, by far, than any of the other 1970 acoustic stuff with the exception of Bears Choice. So my question or hypothesis is.. did they plug in the acoustic guitars or were they playing to the mics and the mics were wired to the reel to reel mix?

For Warfield/Radio City they must have had pickups on the acoustic guitars, they sound so clean and were recorded on multi-tracks. ..but most of the 1970 acoustic sets sound muddy to me.

Does anyone know the answer to this? My hypothesis is they were playing to the mics in 1970 but it's not a well informed hypothesis. For a point of reference, on the 1987 Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band run at Lute Fontaine, David Nelson's guitar was picked up by the mics, it was not wired directly to the tape mixing board.

1970 is Magical (at least the good shows :D )

..as for 80's Matrix releases, I agree Dave's Picks 8 Matrix (11/30/80 Fox Theatre) sound great and is an improvement from both the soundboard and the audience (at least to my ears). It's a win/win. I can imagine redo's of this are more problematic than one might guess. First, we need absolutely killer audience tapes (Thanks Dr. Bob.. that Wagner source is sublime) and second, there must be a willingness from all parties to do this, likely meaning the audience masters need to be donated for the cause. Then there is the remastering process. I bet it's tricky.
Fingers crossed though, #8 is great!

JiminMD/ acoustic dead

The Dead just played to the mics in 1970 and in 1980 they were plugged in. I read an interview with Garcia and Weir saying how they got sounds that were not really musical while playing to the mics, maybe they were referring to feedback. I personally liked the 1970 sounding acoustic guitars more than 1980.

Thanks Billy

That's what I thought. I have to admit.. I like the clarity of the 1980 acoustic sets but I often wonder how the older stuff might have sounded if it were better recorded.

..but that's just me. Still glad they did it. 15 years before MTV Unplugged you have the Grateful Dead.

Acoustic sounds

Back in the day they only had mics, pickups were not usually used on acoustic instruments. In 1980 they were and more importantly the technology had improved greatly. Even better is the use of both mics and the direct line pickups. That’s what they utilized in 1980. Also, the mics they used back then probably weren’t as high quality like they used later on....
The signal path back then was probably a passive splitter with one leg to the main mix/PA board and another to the tape system, or possibly only 1 feed to the main board with some kind of Aux mix out to tape. This is hard to do because your trying to mix 2 completely different things with just one board so the EQ is usually not good on at least one of the mixes...unless your aux is before the EQ stage. But I’m not sure they had that kind of functionality back then?
In 1980, it overall would have been the same, but most likely using an active splitter and much more processing etc.
The old stuff sounds so bad mostly because they were trying to get acoustic instruments as loud as drums and electric stuff I.e., the bass, and there is no good way to accomplish this, especially with the tech back then. Thus the mixer would often roll off certain frequencies to try and get more gain without feedback, but that’s why they often sound bad; sacrifice tone for hall volume etc..Today there are feedback suppression devices which help too.

Oroborous

It’s Hopslam season.
Watch for it in a store near you within the next few weeks (hopefully it makes it to your area).

https://www.bellsbeer.com/beer/specialty/hopslam-ale

Still drinking Two Hearted?
Two Hearted River:
https://youtu.be/wO08WJMp1FQ

The drummer wrote the lyrics!!!!!!

Still doing Rush observances,
Just finished watching the Time Machine BluRay.

Rush's Time Machine tour....

....thats the one I went to!
Getting back in some Dead after a self imposed sabbatical apparently. Been binging on South Park big time so forgive me.
Postcards Of The Hanging got my attention, so I answered. The only Dylan that is better than Dylan is the GOGD doing Dylan.
And if case some didn't get my dad joke the other day....Thermos Tat. As in thermostat! Don't touch the thermostat! I'm guilty of saying that quite often, but I'm a dad.
And yes. Neil Peart was Rush's primary lyricist. A lot of people don't realize that.

Hungry?

Here's a tasty little Dancin'>Wharf Rat> Dancin' sandwich:

https://archive.org/details/gd1976-10-14.143276.set2.sbd.goodbear.shnf

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