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    clayv
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    Pacific Northwest ’73-’74: The Complete Recordings Boxed Set

    WHAT'S INSIDE:
    6 Complete Shows On 19 Discs
    • 6/22/73 P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C.
    • 6/24/73 Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
    • 6/26/73 Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA
    • 5/17/74 P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C.
    • 5/19/74 Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
    • 5/21/74 Hec Edmundson Pavilion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    Mastered in HDCD from the original master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering
    Masters transferred and restored by Plangent Processes
    Original Art by First Nations Artist Roy Henry Vickers
    Photos by Richie Pechner
    Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 15,000

    Includes an immediate digital download of "Eyes Of The World (P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada 5/17/74)"

    "We were in the Pacific Northwest...between somewhere in Washington and some other where in Oregon. The road took us to the lip on a ridge, from where we could see around us for many miles in all directions … It was breathtaking to behold, but as we watched, we had a firm realization that we were witnessing something even more beautiful than our eyes could ever take in … Life causes life. Heaven and Earth dance in this way endlessly, and their child is the forest. And so there we were, epiphanously watching that grandest and most glorious dance of life—of which we are just a tiny part—awed by a magnificence without beginning, without end..."

    Bob Weir, “Sell Headwaters—Everyone Wins,” San Francisco Chronicle

    The Pacific Northwest offers up a rich feast of land, sky, and water. It is ripe with influences, abundant with symbols, deep and spirited. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the Grateful Dead played some of their most inspired shows on these fertile grounds. It does, however, sometimes take a breath for the elements to re-align years later. It seems for us, they finally have and we are able to present not just a glimpse of the band's extraordinary exploratory tour through the region, but a two-tour bounty as the PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS.

    For PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, we've paired two short runs made up of six previously unreleased shows - P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C. (6/22/73); Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (6/24/73); Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA (6/26/73); P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada (5/17/74); Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (5/19/74); and Hec Edmundson Pavilion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (5/21/74). Each show has been mastered in HDCD from the original master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. The transfers from the masters were transferred and restored by Plangent Processes, further ensuring that this is the best, most authentic that these shows have ever sounded.

    PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS comes in an ornate box created by Canada’s preeminent First Nations artist Roy Henry Vickers (more on this tremendous artist soon). To complement the music, the set also includes a 64-page book with an in-depth essay by Grateful Dead scholar Nicholas G. Meriwether and photos by Richie Pechner.

    Due September 7th, this release is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively from dead.net. You'll want to grab a copy while you can and sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks.

    Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day. You can pre-order it now too.

    Get it while you can.

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  • Dennis
    Joined:
    Mule Skinning Dylan Fan
    First let us know when next Dylan comes out. I'm still digging Bootleg V13, I love all the different arrangements of the songs. (I assumed you're talking about a Volume 14?) Next naming conventions. Anal also. I shorten Lovelight, to Lovelight. I also shorten It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It takes a Train to Cry, to It Takes a Lot to Laugh. Me and Uncle is Me & My Uncle. I agree as long as they're all the same. I shorten some names because the full file name can get too long for my backup program to handle. (something like - the collection/grateful dead/shows/yyyy-mm-dd - venue - city/soundboard/05 - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry) Not sure what the length is, but you can see where length can come in. Doesn't happen often, but has happened. Also too some names are just too fuckin long (train to cry for one)! I've been labeling every JGB show ever done (feels that way for sure) and I've come to the conclusion Motown songs have the longest titles, half of which are always in parenthesis! Another odd naming convention I've noticed is on rap albums, a shitload of them always have an "intro" and "outro" tracks at the beginning and end of the album, odd, but whatever, just don't see it in other music genre.
  • muleskinner_blues
    Joined:
    ..And Leave it On Revisited
    Oh was going to mention a few listenings: Just got the Anthem release, I've sampled a few of the Winterland show but haven't dug in yet. That Gibson sounds heavy heavy. Big Miles Davis kick here lately, just finished his autobiography which is awesome and hilarious. Highly recommend. Listening to the mono releases of his first Columbia LPs currently. New Punch Brothers today, haven't listened yet. Not a huge fan of their records necessarily just as much as their talent, Chris Thile is fantastic. Randomly had 4/2/90 second set come up so listened through that into 4/3/90. Maybe was just in the mood for some 90s, but really enjoyed both. Never realized each of Jerry, Brent, Weir take a verse on that last version of Death Don't Have No Mercy. Sweet!! Rumor / pseudo-confirmation that this Fall's Dylan Bootleg Series will finally revisit Blood on the Tracks. They released an acoustic Meet Me In The Morning on RSD back in 2012 when BOTT was planned for Bootleg Series 11 (even said so on the sleeve) but got shelved for a few years. Love the idea, though I'm really curious what is in the vault for that one. The outtakes we do know are limited..several outtakes of the released songs, but Up To Me, left off the album, is a killer. Though, I had never heard rumors of that acoustic Meet Me In The Morning so this could get interesting... Listening to Dead & Co jam on Lovelight from 6/10/17 now. Or is it Love Light?
  • muleskinner_blues
    Joined:
    ..And Leave it On
    Excited for both this and DaP27, looks to be alot of quality stuff. Very glad to see the Dave's get outside the well-mined era. Not very familiar with '83 other than 10/21/83 Worcester from 30 Trips and for some reason I also have 5/13/83, Greek Theatre. I'm trying to remember why...first Hell In A Bucket? As for the PNW, I picked up Winterland '73 right when I was getting into the Dead and listened to it on my trip cross country to see Dylan in Seattle, so '73 and the Pacific Northwest have been inextricably linked for me from the get-go. I know we've discussed track labeling and ID3 tags here before, some funny discussion that doesn't make me feel alone in the anal retentiveness of my collection. On that subject, I am OCD that every iteration of a given song is named the same..having both Me & My Uncles and Me and My Uncles in the collection disgusts me. So current conundrum - Turn On Your Love Light or Turn On Your Lovelight? My go-to is always go back to the original recording or release of a song and see how it was listed at that time (this approach led to me changing 137 versions of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright to Don't Think Twice, It's All Right) and the original Bobby Blue Bland release in 1961 on Duke is in fact Turn On Your Love Light. But for some reason, Turn On Your Lovelight looks better to me, and I feel more used on Dead releases (though they are inconsistent). Any thoughts? Or I also understand not making eye contact with the crazy guy on the subway. My other request/question - Any good recommendations for a console CD player? I know it's not 1994, but my 300 disc Sony changer has crapped out. I'm going to take a look at it, but thought about finding another, maybe a 5-6 disc changer. I don't use the full 300 but thought more than 1-disc would be good for these sets. Surely someone here still listens to these quality CD releases on their home stereo. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
  • Slow Dog Noodle
    Joined:
    Sell Outs
    We don't know how many subscribers there are on Dave's Picks, but production is capped at 18,000 per release. Based on the speed of sell outs i'm guessing there are between 15-16k subscribers, leaving only a few thousand up for grabs when they're announced. Again, that's a guess. There could be 17,800 subscribers. As noted, there are 15,000 units of the PNW box. I too am a little surprised its not sold out yet. I agree it's probably a combination of the fact it can be downloaded rather than physically delivered, combined with the higher (but by no means unreasonable, given the price per show) price point. I'm also shocked by the availability of the Summer '78 box set, given the quality of the shows and recordings, and the price point.
  • hbob1995
    Joined:
    Not sold out
    Do to the fact that you can buy downloads Plus almost all of the Dave’s Picks are sold during the subscription sale Rock on
  • hendrixfreak
    Joined:
    it's simple, roccodh...
    A $30 DaP is easier to purchase than a $200+ box. The good news is that any true Deadhead can stop in and buy (3) 1973 shows and (3) 1974 shows just as fine as you please.
  • roccodh
    Joined:
    Not Sold Out
    Can someone explain to me that DP27 sold out in a matter of minutes, but the Pacific 73 - 74 haven't sold out yet and on sale for a few weeks. I personally thinks these shows are gonna be awesome and I snatch up the box set as soon as possible. Peace
  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    Wild Turkey et al
    Hmmm.... thanks for the cautionary words Jim & Dennis. I should make clear that I was not advocating a course of action, just reporting on something that happened 45 years ago. Stevie Ray made well known Guitar Slim's song: Things that I used to do, Lord, I won't do no more. Ain't it the truth, that was a one timer. At the time, it seemed like a good idea given that none of us really drank hard stuff, we were barely adults with a small tent and a cooler walking into who knew what. We did not know 600,000 would show up. The best beers we could find at the time were from Germany, Holland and Scotland. But they were so expensive! Bulky! St Pauli Girl, Spaten, Heineken, MacEwans. We loved beer but craft brews were yet to come. President Carter does not get enough credit for sparking what would become craft brewing by signing new law in 1978 and it would take at least ten more years before craft brewing began to take off. It was illegal to brew beer at home in some cases! Just think about how far beer has come in the last thirty years or so. We thought dosing a bottle which no one would dare chug (101 proof, right?) would be a convenient way to keep track of and merge little tiny dots or pieces of paper, which were sometimes notoriously variable in strength. Bourbon is for sipping! Jim's comment made me chuckle, what could possibly go wrong? Whatever can, often does. The sheer number of people and the weather that Saturday was the biggest challenge. Fortunately we escaped unscathed. I will refrain from any further comments involving attitude or altitude adjustments by external means, other than music. However, as you might imagine, there was a lot of availability on site of unknown provenance and authenticity. Be prepared was our Boy Scout motto. Safety First! See the cover for Only a Lad, Oingo Boingo for more details...
  • KeithFan2112
    Joined:
    Here Comes Sunshine 12/6/73
    16 minutes, from the show that brought us the monster 43 minute Dark Star on the 2011 Road Trips Bonus Disc. I had two versions of this soundboard. One sounded really good, but had an audience patch at the end; the other one didn't have the audience patch, but it sounded extremely rough in the beginning. I combined the two at around 15:27 for one complete good sounding track (38MB 320kbps mp3 converted from WAV) Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1t-DyrL7b9q6VvSw51B44caLcxxIw09mW
  • fourwindsblow
    Joined:
    Unboxing?
    In addition to the 30 shows the CD set includes a gold colored 7" vinyl with a 1965 Caution and a 1995 Box Of Rain (7/9/95)
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6 years 7 months

Pacific Northwest ’73-’74: The Complete Recordings Boxed Set

WHAT'S INSIDE:
6 Complete Shows On 19 Discs
• 6/22/73 P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C.
• 6/24/73 Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
• 6/26/73 Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA
• 5/17/74 P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C.
• 5/19/74 Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
• 5/21/74 Hec Edmundson Pavilion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Mastered in HDCD from the original master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering
Masters transferred and restored by Plangent Processes
Original Art by First Nations Artist Roy Henry Vickers
Photos by Richie Pechner
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 15,000

Includes an immediate digital download of "Eyes Of The World (P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada 5/17/74)"

"We were in the Pacific Northwest...between somewhere in Washington and some other where in Oregon. The road took us to the lip on a ridge, from where we could see around us for many miles in all directions … It was breathtaking to behold, but as we watched, we had a firm realization that we were witnessing something even more beautiful than our eyes could ever take in … Life causes life. Heaven and Earth dance in this way endlessly, and their child is the forest. And so there we were, epiphanously watching that grandest and most glorious dance of life—of which we are just a tiny part—awed by a magnificence without beginning, without end..."

Bob Weir, “Sell Headwaters—Everyone Wins,” San Francisco Chronicle

The Pacific Northwest offers up a rich feast of land, sky, and water. It is ripe with influences, abundant with symbols, deep and spirited. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the Grateful Dead played some of their most inspired shows on these fertile grounds. It does, however, sometimes take a breath for the elements to re-align years later. It seems for us, they finally have and we are able to present not just a glimpse of the band's extraordinary exploratory tour through the region, but a two-tour bounty as the PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS.

For PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, we've paired two short runs made up of six previously unreleased shows - P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, B.C. (6/22/73); Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (6/24/73); Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA (6/26/73); P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada (5/17/74); Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR (5/19/74); and Hec Edmundson Pavilion, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (5/21/74). Each show has been mastered in HDCD from the original master tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. The transfers from the masters were transferred and restored by Plangent Processes, further ensuring that this is the best, most authentic that these shows have ever sounded.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS comes in an ornate box created by Canada’s preeminent First Nations artist Roy Henry Vickers (more on this tremendous artist soon). To complement the music, the set also includes a 64-page book with an in-depth essay by Grateful Dead scholar Nicholas G. Meriwether and photos by Richie Pechner.

Due September 7th, this release is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively from dead.net. You'll want to grab a copy while you can and sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks.

Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day. You can pre-order it now too.

Get it while you can.

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7 years 7 months

In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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Most of these shows circulate.. you just gotta poke around.

Even though I gave up my iPhone and switched to a Galaxy I still use iTunes to manage my digital music. There is a gapless playback option.. and all my other devices including my phone play without that annoying gap.

Most of these shows circulate pretty freely.. you just gotta poke around. Find a show you like using the archive and built an inventory of the lossless digital files. Just say NO to MP3's.. Flac, Alac or Wav's... a 4TB external drive is like $89. That's enough space for a lossless copy of every dead show ever performed.. and then some.

I know.. sounds easy, but poke around a bit and if you are a digital novice.. it's not that hard, a little patience until you climb the learning curve and then it's easy.

Hey.. D&C are playing in Mexico tonight, I think.. mmmm

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The individually numbered certificate is in the small wooden box.

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7 years 11 months

In reply to by Alain

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Thank You, Unfortunately the small wooden box was empty.

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7 years 7 months

In reply to by mmckenna

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Mine came packed with a small but potent bud and a little teeny tiny vial marked blue cheer. Wonder what that's all about?

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7 years

In reply to by MDJim

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Jim,

I would be happy to do an investigation for you. I think you have my address. Just forward the box and all contents my way. I will run tests and let you know what it is.

KCJ

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16 years 2 months

In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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The small wooden box that came with this set has your limited edition number (my #: 11593) open it up and you've got some more artwork and a note from Roy Vickers. The box could be useful in several ways just as long as you keep it in the larger box: bud stash!
I like it.
All the music contained in this collection is fantastic. a great box and I am grateful for its release.

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10 years 3 months
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2,154 Left

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17 years 5 months

In reply to by Automaticslim

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You guys are Grammy winners in my book... no doubt! This Box is spectacular... I thank each and every one of you that had a hand in bringing this complete package to my doorstep. It is proudly displayed in MY house as if it were a Grammy! I look forward to your next creation.
iG

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6 years 6 months
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I still regard myself as a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to knowing about the best of anything but I would seriously die a happy man if the last piece of music I heard was the bridge between China/rider from Portland 5/19/74 . It gives me goosebumps just writing about it 🇨🇳😺🚴‍♂️

If you are a bit wet behind the ears, Perithecat, I wouldn't think of checking out just yet-you have a long and happy future ahead of you.

1. GD - DaP 29 Swing Aud.
2. Strawbs - 1st album to 'Nomadness' on shuffle
3. Caravan - In The Land Of Grey And Pink
4. GD - 2/21/71 Capitol Theatre/Port Chester, NY
5. Doc & Merle Watson - Never The Same Way Once (too many good shows to name just one!)

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Good morning Heads! Not sure how many people are keeping up with this thread as there’s always something new to ponder and get geeked about!! First, I think this box is pure joy and delight and find something new everytime I pick a show to groove to and dissect. Has anyone else experienced the vocal track fading out/pretty much dropping beginning in Sugaree in disc 14 from Portland 5.19.74? Thanks for letting me know. I’m not sure if it is the system I am playing it through or fault with the recording. Your insight is most appreciated. Enjoy the day and weekend!

Sadly it’s in the recording , but don’t let that put you off it’s a truly wonderful show , I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the bridge between China/rider gives me goosebumps just writing about it let alone listening to it 😸😸😸

Sadly it’s in the recording , but don’t let that put you off it’s a truly wonderful show , I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the bridge between China/rider gives me goosebumps just writing about it let alone listening to it 😸😸😸

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In reply to by perithecat

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Thank you so much for your response. I’m kinda just a bit obsessive about sound, aren’t we all on these threads!, 😀 and glad to know it is not just me but the master tapes. It was your comments about the China—>Rider bridge that made me go back to this show to hear it again. Peace and thanks.

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In reply to by TLEO 77

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Got it on vinyl recently.
Sounds awesome!
And yes, the vocals drop out is there too.

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10 years 2 months
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Did anyone get the Playing in the Band from this show that came out on vinyl last year? I saw it on ebay in the early hours and had a poke round to see if there were any references to it. I couldn't find any, so I decided to take a punt anyway. It reminds me of the Dark Star from Paris 5/4/72 that came out on vinyl a while back, in that it is just that one track, split into two sides during drums. That works for me, so I have high hopes for this one.

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In reply to by daverock

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I got it, I think it was $20 or $22.
I don’t recall that the flip is during Drums, I think that it’s between a slow, low volume section.
I do recall that I enjoyed listening to it. :)

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In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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Yes, that makes sense - Playing doesn't normally feature drums anyway. I think you got a real bargain-I paid the equivalent of 26 dollars, which was still considerably cheaper than everyone else was selling it for.

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5 years 9 months
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6/24/73 is so smoking to me , this dark star into eyes is AMAZING! I’m surprised the dark star didn’t make the cut for the compilation but it’s still an amazing selection from these 6 shows to create the 3 cd compilation. Some incredible mind bending jams inside this treasure chest!;)

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No vocals on "El Paso" some how they must of had Bob's mic off or way down May 17, 1974 – P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia Disc 14

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5 years 1 month
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Ordered this 12/2 for a Christmas present. Has not shipped yet! Keep getting useless auto replies. Very frustrating. Highly disappointed in the customer service and the experience

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4 years 9 months
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Waited over 2 months to get this and when I went to go listen I was missing disc #15. Have tried emailing costumer service and haven’t received any response. Please help! Would really like that disc.

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4 years 10 months
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May the force be with you, brother, sorry about your missing disks. I have a couple of defective ones and 2 months later, no word of a replacement.
Theres an interesting article on the web about a company by the name of Direct Shot that most of the major labels have put in charge of all physical media distribution. About the same time this happened, Dead.net customer service went straight in the toilet and has not emerged - “warehouse consolidation” indeed. What is disappointing is that nobody at Dead.net has made a direct statement (at least that I have seen) that they are aware of the problem thats been allowed to drag on. The loyal Dead fanbase deserves a straight answer about the problem and when our outstanding issues will be rectified.
Jerry would be very unhappy about how we’ve been treated.

Here’s the statement that was emailed several weeks ago.

—————-
Cause when things go wrong, wrong with you, it hurts me too
It's been quite a year and we know how patient you have been, how patient you still are. It has always been, and will always be, our mission to provide the best service to you, the fans. As you are more than likely aware, a complex warehouse move resulted in a significant backlog of orders and while that warehouse is working as quickly as they can to deliver, we've turned 100% of our focus and dedication toward a new facility which promises to restore peace to the Dead.net community in the next few months. Trust us, this steam locomotive is rolling down the track!
————

You can try sending a PM to Marye now,.

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4 years 10 months

In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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(I think) I have successfully sent a PM to MARYE kind of hard to tell, pretty strange PM system on this forum - thanks for the suggestion. We'll see what happens.

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4 years 9 months

In reply to by aardvark2300

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Yeah, this PM system is a little weird. I was able to message Marye and got the missing disc. Have really been enjoying these shows. Good luck resolving your issues!

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13 years 6 months
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I have had two Dave’s Picks go everywhere but to my address........which for some reason didn’t include my apartment # ............therefore no delivery..........One arrived months later.......and a second one #32 is in transit supposedly and maybe arriving shortly. I had to file with the Better Business Bureau over this foolishness. Which seemed to get a quicker response from The Dead Store......To which I say good luck to all whom have problems with The Dead Store Customer Service.......I have been through the phone calls .....the emails........and calling Warner’s main office to no avail.......it is a sad situation.........

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10 years 6 months
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Check out Rhino for sale through this weekend

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Testing with Lossless Audio Checker shows the June 1976 FLAC download in 24/192 format ( https://store.dead.net/music/digital/june-1976-flac-192-24-1.html ) and the Pacific Northwest '73-'74- The Complete Recordings FLAC download in 24/192 ( https://store.dead.net/music/boxed-sets/pacific-northwest-73-74-the-com… ) to be "Upsampled." I have notified Jeffrey Norman and Rhino. I sent Jeffrey the logs of the LAC test results showing 80% of the June 76 files being upsampled. While he was very nice in his response, he had no explanation for the finding. Rhino has not responded to any e-mails. It is important to note that the files on both test “Clean” after downsampling to 24/96, which, likely, means the files, were originally digitized at 24/96 or digitized at 24/192 and downsampled to 24/96 for mastering. Whatever the case Rhino needs to disclose this fact on their web site or change the files for sale to 24/96.

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The hour or so of music from He's Gone through the end of Wharf Rat is one of the top 5 hours of music the dead ever played.

There, I said it. This box is worth every penny for that hour of music alone.

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... just wanted to share how delighted I am with the music in this set, and encourage anyone who’s not taken the plunge to just go ahead and get it already.

There’s been some chatter in another thread about how long it’s taking to sell out this box, and all I can say is that, as much as I love ’73 and ’74, I didn’t order mine till Rhino put it on sale. Maybe some people are settling for the 3-disc version, which is understandable, given the difference in price and given that they did manage to include some very high highlights (including the 45 minute PITB!) in that set.

Also causing some hesitation for me was the packaging. Don’t get me wrong: it’s beautiful! The art work is amazing. But speaking as someone who already has problems finding shelf space for my CDs, I wasn’t sure where I’d put this giant box. (In case anybody upstairs is listening: I thought the June 1976 box really hit the sweet spot between packaging that was elaborate enough to make the box feel special but also small enough to not cause problems.)

Anyway, the music. The MUSIC. For me, this era was flat out the best the band ever sounded, and it’s an incredible joy to hear them in such fine audio. There are a few “surprises,” the kind of vocal drop outs and oddities in the mix that would’ve rated a “caveat” back in the Dick’s days. Mostly, these are very temporary, and in all cases the sound is really really good once everybody settles in. As usual, Jerry’s louder than Bob, but you can hear them both very distinctly, and they constantly (constantly!) are playing their asses off. Phil’s on fire throughout. And BK? He makes a solid case here that the Dead never needed another drummer. Keith comes through nicely, and plays well. I suppose we could say that the vocals were erratic during this period, and I would admit that’s true here. But the singing is mostly good to great, and man oh man, the band sounds fantastic!

I’ve only listened to each show once so far—given the complaints about missing discs and whatnot, I felt like I should make a point of listening all the way through to make sure nothing was amiss—so I’m not really ready to call out a favorite show, or even favorite tunes. But I will say that the PITBs, the Bird Songs, the Eyes, the China-Riders are all, for me, as good as they get. Their playing was so spontaneous, so open, so powerful, so much soul, so imperfectly perfect.

Yes, I suppose there are other, equally worthy eras. But man, ’73 and ’74 were beautiful.

I keep going back to this box - superb. Especially the 1974 shows. I went so far as to get 5/19/74 and the Playing in the Band from 5/21/74 on vinyl. There are a few problems with vocals on both, but this matters not a jot. The playing, as you say, from all band members, is absorbing. After 1970 they only needed Bill on drums.

I also agree with icecrmcnkd - a box of October 1974 with bells and whistles would make a great release.

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17 years 3 months
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I just received my edition of the Northwest Complete Recordings 73 74. Showed up without tracking or any email confirmations . So Glad You Made It. Can't Wait.

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3 years 4 months
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Is this box now sold out? They list it, but it seems like that is just some old data. Great set. I love it, but I don't have it physically. Not a huge deal, but it is very lovely.

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