Grateful Dead

Fivebranch.. well said.

Sixtus, we are mutual fans of 4/16/78, Huntington WV. One of two times played the Mountain State.

Ha.. if I had to keep just six Europe shows. Well.. I'd opt for the cyanide pill and be grateful for a life well lived. You can't limit yourself to just six shows from that tour, it's simply not possible.

So I’m finally getting around to throw out a few thoughts on June 1976 (Michigan's Stay at Home Order has made me oddly withdrawn from internet life as well... I guess I feed of external stimulus in ways I don't even realize). Hopefully I'm not repeating what has already been said!

For the first set material, at times I found myself so absorbed by the nuances that I would briefly ‘forget’ what song they were actually on (jams in 6/19th’s Franklin’s and Tennessee Jed being memorable examples). And then some renditions are just executed masterfully, finding that perfect balance between structure and looseness (try 6/10th’s Cassidy, which is the first track in the box that I had to immediately listen to again). No doubt the clarity of the recordings helps tremendously to pick up the subtleties. Samson though took a few attempts before getting the groove dialed in (the 16th finally pulls it off but the previous are fledglings).

For the second sets, my favorite GD shows are those where once the band steps up on stage, everything that follows rolls together as a complete performance and you would never want to skip or add anything. And you are starting to hear that in 1976 second sets. Perhaps it was the new momentum from Hart being back. I don’t think its coincidence that the last time they had this approach was back in the late 60’s. I honestly find ’72 – ’74 shows to be too long and I rarely listen to any front to back, as I do for shows from 1976 onward. Instead I look for great segments that can be lifted out for a splendid 80 minute sit-down.

I was really looking forward to this release and its everything I hoped for. It captures such a distinct year for GD with Jerry’s new tone, the new songs, Hart being back, the fresh approaches after the hiatus. I’ll be returning to it a lot. If there was one song I wish they had in rotation though it would have been Bird Song. I’d love to know how that could have sounded seventy-sixed! I guess Crazy Fingers kind of filled that slot.

[Side note: I’m a big fan of Aarhus, the jam after Truckin’ that eventually lands down into TOO is sublime, the entire Disc 3 is a great example for what I’m talking about above]

As I am wont to do on this date, I've taken-in this bad boy today and I would like to encourage others to do the same. Would love to see this one some day, officially; it's among my personal favorites for a '78:

https://archive.org/details/gd1978-04-16.sbd.miller.82273.sbeok.flac16

Be Safe and Well, All

Sixtus

P.S. Aarhus ain't too shabby either, for a Sixteenth.
Good one, Stoltzfus. I see what you did there.

with two tour buses in the yard

I did exactly the same for Aarhus 16/04...and I love this show; I bought E72 à la carte, so a few shows are missing.
if I had to save 6 lyceum 05/26 -Frankfurt 04/26 Tivoli 04/14 Paris 05/3or4 Amsterdam10/05 and Wembley 04/8
(with good mention Rotterdam, Newcastle, Aarhus and underestimated Luxembourg)
I found this interesting blog for Europe 72 ,
http://bozosandbolos.blogspot.com/
Now I am relistening the "small shows" Newcastle, and soon Hambourg, & Munich
For June 76 Nothing on the shoreline...

I use a Laptop with Foobar HDCD decoder witch allows me to cut the output volume even if peak extension is not enabled. This allows for more headroom and not brickwalled. Newer releases do not have peak extension enabled so it's good I still have the option to cut the output volume.

Foobar HDCD decoded(halve output volume)to a USB SPDIF 24bit converter to a Marantz sr7005 DAC

4/16/72 sounds pretty good I like these shorter PITB's they go far-out fast.

Would Always welcome more 1978! 💀🌹

...we do songs to _death_."

- Jerry Garcia

I am starting my walk through the woods with 4/16/72. This was the first Europe 72 CD I bought. I read it in the Rolling Stone top 20 list where it was noted that Donna was absent. This was a few weeks after I discovered Sunshine Daydream / Veneta and graduated from casual listener to hardcore DeadHead. In those days I didn't like the Donna vocals on Playing in the Band so I had two reasons to get this one first. I've done a 180 with Donna since then.

This box that really is the gold standard. It was the perfect merging of excellent sound quality in excellent playing (not to mention great setlists). I really wish they had some multi-tracks from 1973, but I guess the closest we get is Winterland '73 box set. I always forget what the recording difference was on this one, but it's stated the liner notes - I believe it was wider tape at a faster speed + Plangent. Sometimes the mid-range comes through a little high, but that's what the equalizer is for.

I really like Pigpen's organ chops on Sugaree. The whole Hammond / grand piano combination of PigPen pen and Keith is just sublime. Add Jerry's Stratocaster and Billy - I mean really, has anyone gotten more out of three drums than Billy? Okay maybe four drums. Donna was used just the perfect amount in my humble opinion. I think she was a little over involved in some of the post hiatus classics, but she's pretty much always right where she needs to be on this tour ( indeed, it's the last time you can hear Sunshine Daydream without her until 1979, boring that shows she missed during pregnancy oh, but you get my point). When Bobby was able to get his own screams down that song sounded incredible in 1971 and 72. This is actually the only show they didn't play it, come to think of it.

This April 16th show is actually kind of an odd one for Rolling Stone to pick, considering there is no Dark Star and a very abbreviated The Other One. They really could have picked any show from this tour (I think they did pick Bickershaw as well in their list).

My June 1976 t-shirt arrived. It's as good as it looks. It's cut and stitched like the Pacific Northwest t-shirt, which is a good thing. Excellent quality.

I'm doing my Europe 72 run a little bit differently this year. After the full listen, I'm going back and replaying the highlights, which inevitably includes all of the Dark Stars and The Other Ones.

I also have one of Doc's April '71 favorites queued up next - 4/8 at the Boston Music Hall. This is a great 15-minute Dark Star that goes into St. Stephen. My PhD is not in Dead '71, but I have noticed that the St. Stephens started rocking out after they dropped the William Tell section and the Mickey Hart. The instrumental outro that leads up to the "answer man" vocal is kick-ass, and some of Bobby's best chord playing. The first rule of 1971 is 1971 St. Stephens are not to be missed!

Well it's almost time to work so I have to wrap up this walk which was all too short. Fortunately I don't live in the city or anything so I have not seen a single person. It's 45 degrees sunny and no wind. I'm surrounded by huge pine trees (which only fall occasionally) and the 4/16/72 China Rider is playing on my headphones. This is one of the best of the tour. Jerry and Keith are extra busy.

June 1976 t shirt. You're going to want that cowbell. I feel like I'm on the Oakland A's or at least part of the Dick's Picks 33 album cover. Speaking of the Dick's Picks 33 album cover - do the last 5 seconds of the Breaking Bad opening credits evoke that album cover image in anyone else's head besides mine? There's something about the color and the drifting smoke the triggers the DP 33 imagery. Every time. Kind of like every time Jack Straw ends, I expect the opening chords of Franklin's Tower to start up; this is because Grateful Dead go to Nassau was one of my first Dead CDs.

Strider88 - I saw your comment about the Gibson SG. It sounded like you actually saw the February 18th 1971 show at Port Chester? Did I catch that right? If so... I'd love to hear some stories about that one.

With all the tape they use throughout their career to record the shows, it would have been cool if they had spent 60 Seconds after each set to comment about how things went. Okay maybe I'll just stop being greedy and be satisfied they recorded the shows at all. This was just an unheard-of practice. We're so blessed.

Vikes, et al. Interestingly enough, the Marantz HD-CD1 does NOT decode discs encoded with HDCD format. Finding HDCD players is getting more and more difficult, unless one searches the used market for older equipment, or unless one spends boku bucks.

After doing some research and trying some listening experiments on a Cambridge Blu-Ray player I purchased on EBay (ended up coming from a Head, who kindly hooked me up with stickers and shows when he saw he was shipping to "DeadheadBrewer"), I determined that I no longer care about HDCD. On the Cambridge one can choose whether the HDCD decoding is on or off, and I used the RFK box with its immaculate sound as a test to go back and forth. I'll be darned if my 50-year old ears can tell one iota of difference.

So I learned to quit worrying about HDCD, and now just enjoy the music coming through the Maverick tube DAC (no HDCD decoding), which has a DAC that is much newer/better(?) than most DACs in older players that DO decode HDCD. A guy at a boutique audio shop told me that the new DACs are so improved as to render older "tricks" like HDCD meaningless. Your mileage may vary.

As I mentioned previously, I also could not discern any difference between the SACD layer and Redbook layer on a DVD player that allows me to choose which version to listen to. And I "failed" a blind listening test I set up, whereby my wife randomly played me Mp3 and WAV files of the same song. I guessed which file it was five times out of ten.

If HDCD makes a difference and someone can appreciate it, then more power to her/him. I've decided to never give another thought as to whether my equipment decodes it or not. Buy better headphones and speakers, and ignore nearly everything else is my new audio mantra.

Be kind, rewind.