• 8,077 replies
    marye
    Joined:
    Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    5/12/91

    You should check out the latest Miller Rockthing. This is a Healy Pearson and it is spectacular. A+++ for sound quality. Just half through the first set. So good.

    Check it out people.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    AUD Choices

    Ah, Shoreline. This sits right at the end of a big gap for me between September of ’90 and June of ’91. Another round of “Thank You”s.

    Nice variety of sources to keep me busy for a bit. Quick peek at the set list, and Black Throated Wind! Lookin’ forward to that! Post Space seems pretty routine, but who knows?

    To start off, I’m A/B/C/Ding the four audience sources on the Archive using Deal as the bar. They never waste any time digging into this number so it makes a good tune to evaluate the sound.

    The Gesine Lohr Audio Technica 815A source reminds me of the old tapes. A lot of mid-range frequencies. Phil is there, but you don’t really feel the bottom end. The sound is kind of nostalgic, though. Everything is perfectly clear, just not quite hi-fi. Coming back to this, I kind of appreciate the more well-defined bass guitar work with this tape. More of the various drums come through clearly as well. With more mid-range comes more piano, so Jerry’s guitar solo is somewhat falling into a wall of sound with Bobby and the keys (not Bobby Keys, though).

    The Schoeps MK4 source sacrifices a bit of sparkle from Jerry’s voice to emphasize the low end of Phil’s bass, which is something that I kind of expected from an MK4 recording. The guitar solo pops up above the band nicely, though, and on a second pass, the bass is less over-powering, and more well-defined than the other MK4 source. The position is listed as section 102. Having never been to Shoreline, well, that doesn’t help me much, but I’m guessing that is not the Official Taper’s Section, nor is it in Front of the sound Board, but maybe someone can help me out on that. I’m starting to take a liking to this source, even though I had initially switched away from it more quickly than any of the others.

    The Daweez Neumann KMF4 pull may be a little brighter than the Schoeps tape, but still has that Phil bass that you feel as much as you hear. On second (actually third or fourth) listening, The Neumann source sounds like it has the mid range frequencies scooped out. There are lots of bright highs, and Phil booms in here and there, but the drums and keys are kind of lost… which, may suit some, but there is a kind of metallic quality to the highs that feels somewhat aggressive to this ear.

    The Front of Board Schoeps MK4 take, though, I think this has the best frequency balance of the AUDs. Goes to show, you don’t ever know. Must be something about the seats, or perhaps the signal chain. The first MK4 source might have used heavier wind screens. Hard to say. Same mics, completely different sound. lol. Whoa, Phil is shaken’ the room. Deep bass in this one, but Jer’s guitar is shining, and Bobby is right there in the mix. If anything, the drums may be getting a little lost. The keys are coming in and out of the mix, as usual, really. This has both Bruce and Vince, right? The last three recordings have a lot more bass than the first, but it is much less well defined. It kind of booms. Even though the bass is kind of a puddy of low-end, it somehow does not interfere with the other instruments.

    The more I A/B the two Schoeps sources, the less I can tell them apart. lol (T_T) The second source has less info and a CDR generation in the lineage, but somehow feels more… I don’t know, “alive,” as if I can get a better audio picture of the space. I hear more of the venue, but in a good way. It feels more like I’m there, rather than listening to a recording. The similarities in these recordings are many, but the differences are almost hallucinatorily fleeting. I’m going with ID 9402 Schoeps source attributed to O’Connor. I must say, this Deal has kept me entertained throughout this comparison process. Eleven minutes of smoking’ Deal? Don’t mind if I do!

    The only disadvantage of picking up the older submission is that it isn’t Y2K-proofed, and also comes ask SHN, rather than FLAC. No audio quality difference, just a little more trouble to convert for me, and that’s all on me.

    I’ve not yet listened to the latest and greatest Miller SBD transfer.

  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    5/12/91

    Yes! For sure Shoreline 91 sounds fantastic for tomorrow. Thanks Jim.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    > JimInMD
    "5/12/91 for…

    > JimInMD

    "5/12/91 for Tomorrow?" Sounds good.

    Just a few last impressions from 11/18/78

    The instrument/voice balance is definitely much better by It's All Over Now.

    I think the thing that seems unusual about the Scarlet/Fire, other than the clean cut which may be a result of the Archive's streaming system. There's always a short loading gap between songs.

    I was thinking that the jam at the end of Scarlet Begonias seems especially sparse, and then I started wondering where Phil was? There isn't a whole lot of deep bass in this recording, so that may be it. Not sure. I like Donna's off mic reaction to some strange noise that Bobby (presumably) made by accident. ...Ah, I got to the Fire patch. That's the cut that was mentioned. It sometimes feels a touch lackadaisical, but that sort of thing suits the transition into Fire.

    Miracle is ON, right out of the gate. No teething problems with this one. Just struck me that it sounds like Jerry's already using some kind of distortion/fuzz effect on his guitar here. I'm a bit of a gear nut. I'm gonna hafta look into that.

    Dayum. This Other One is waaay out there. Love it! The drummers totally running with it, complimenting the gooey, stretched out psychedelicized sense of time created by the guitarists with a frenzied lysergic background buzz. Still pre-Beast if I recall correctly, but plenty to keep the Rhythm Devils busy... and busy they are. Did someone say, "Go man."? "I knew you were about to come on."? This really is the beauty of the board tapes. Occasionally you get a glimpse into the verbal communication that goes on between band members. They're always talking to one another a lot more than I used to imagine. It wasn't till I started watching how much conducting Phil used to do that this aspect of their playing became evident. Things changed a lot when Phil started taking a less active role in the spontaneous orchestration during shows, I suppose.

    Ollin Arageed, what a nice treat. A little hold over from the Egyptian Vacation. 12/19 is the only post Egypt '78 show I've got in my library, and sadly I couldn't tell you anything about it right now. From there it's to the Godchaux's farewell show, and then Brent's debut or somewhere thereabouts. Again, thank you for filling in this rather sparse zone in my listening experience.

    The word I keep coming back to while listening to this show is "beautiful". I was about to use it again to describe the Wharf Rat. Keith is doing some really nice fill-in stuff between the vocals here. Certainly a sight better than his contribution at Giza (yikes!). .... oops... everybody completely missed Billy's cue to start the ending there. LOL. Oh, well. Carry on lads. :P

    Love how the transition to Sugar Mag thoroughly cross fades. That's brilliant how they kept a bit of Wharf Rat alive while slowly letting Sugar Magnolia develop. A lot of times Jer'll drop the intro of the next song and the others just stop what they're doing immediately for a couple bars instead of letting the songs blend. Sometimes it feels forced when Jerry does it that way, but this one is just about perfect, for my ears.

    One More Saturday Night was one of the more predictable Dead tunes, and I reckon if you were on tour it probably got kind of repetitive, but from a song-writing point of view, IMO this is one of Bob's best songs. It's the kind of built-to-be-a-show-stopper that I wish I could write someday.

    Ok, fast-forward a decade or so to 1991!

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    5/12/91 for Tomorrow?

    I haven't heard this one.. but I believe the run was well recorded.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    Sneakin' in one last Uptown Toodeloo

    Had a chance to stream the Miller sbd last night when I got home, but exhaustion prevented me from hearing it to the end. Early on the recording is so vocal heavy that I can barely make out what the band is doing without riding the volume control.

    Me and My Uncle is in full disco mode. When was it that Bobby introduced it as a Polka? Was that before or after this? I'm confused. At any rate, it sure ain't a Polka here. I like these Rhinestone Cowboy versions, perhaps knowing that they aren't forever.

    There were several comments about song placement, and that El Passo following Sugaree, and there having already been an Uncle > River seems a bit odd, but they had not yet settled into the one cowboy couplet per set routine yet, had they?

    It's All Over Now in the first set, though. That feels odd.

    From the Heart of Me is so beautifully done. I recall Jerry doing lots of really fast runs between vocal lines, but was not taking notes. This is a real gem.

    By the time Music Never Stopped rolled around, I realized that the mix seemed to have been brought to balance between the vocals and other instruments. From the Heart of Me had also benefited from an improvement in this area. Music Never Stopped, though. Wow. This is where the show really gets started. I think someone else already mentioned that. The whole first set is superbly played, but as became the norm the first set closer serves as a precursor to the second set with some nice group improv. Definitely wanna go back to check this out again.

    The Scarlet/Fire second set opener picks up right where TMNS left off. This is another track I want to return to. There seemed to be a somewhat different quality to this one, but at the moment I can't put my finger on it. Another highlight, but it's rare that this pairing is not a highlight.

    The early second set Miracle is definitely another interesting set choice, as pretty much everyone already said. I kept an ear out for the ending jam that was mentioned, and yes, why was there never more of that? I suppose once it settled into its post-space rave-up role, there wasn't much left on the table to fool around with.

    From this point on, I was drawn into the darkness of sleep. I think I'll restart this at It's All Over Now tomorrow and listen to the end again. The recording balance seemed to have improved by the end of the first set, and I missed the whole finale.

    Thanks for another interesting recommendation!

  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    11/18/78

    Nice call on this show Bluecrow. Really good sound quality and great show. Late 78 is so different than the rest of the year. Love these early Stagger Lees and I Need a Miracle. Nice Scarlet Fire. Great second set .Probably will be a while before we get any late 78 shows released, but I am ready.

    Jim, yes, let's hit up some 91. Send us a pick.

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    Whew

    Good to hear. I've been a bit busy lately and I thought I might have been careless with something I wrote.. so all is good with the universe.. a great way to start the week.

    Missed the 78 yesterday, by late this afternoon I should be on track and have some free time. Not complaining though, I needed the and today will mark the 8th day in a row I've had river time. My listening has been heavily tilted to what was already loaded on my waterproof devices with a sprinkle of what they are pumping in the SiriusXM Grateful Dead channel. 1970 (Harpur and FE), 1972 - 1974, 84 and 85. Listened to a bit of 5/10/91 today in the truck.. I think we hit that one a year or so here. Definitely releasable, good quality audio and a good show. Perhaps we could hit another show from that run which includes Hornsby. The previous run, Cal Expo, was good also but alas.. it was sans Brucey.

    In any case.. keep on keeping on the good vibes and good picks. Looks like we are off to a great start to the new week.

  • bluecrow
    Joined:
    11/18/78

    I first listened to this about time PITD was on the 11/24 video. Well played show, really nice sounding board even though its a couple generations down. There are a couple of poorly timed gaps (Fire, Olin Arageed come to mind.) What really perked my ears and brain up was the second set. Tasty Scarlet > Fire, and then that strange set placement of an early Miracle following that and wow Miracle has a blazing extended outro jam (where was that most of the time?) into a sweet He's Gone, followed by a pre-drumz Other One that has some crazy good space as it leads into drums. I really dig this show, this era, and it doesn't hurt that this was in the Uptown Theatre (hometown, though I was elsewhere at the time). Really hope the other two nights surface in similar sound quality and that the masters of this show don't have those gaps. Gotta run. Take care everyone.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    No offense taken. No offense meant.

    > JimInMD No, no, no. Absolutely not, dude. That "Hey man" shoulda been accompanied by " :) ". "Hey man" is pretty ambiguous when left only in text. I was reacting to a comment you made about how maybe you should be more descriptive... that comment was like weeks ago, though. I was tryin' to let ya off the hook, so to speak. :)

    I'm gonna hafta catch up on these recent picks. Goin' out the door for a little overnight at the beach and there's no time to DL and update the ipod. My smartphone has no service, so streaming on the beach is out of the question. My only life line is a flip phone. lol. Definitely gonna be jammin' some Shakedown Street while tossin' a Grateful Mahalo frisbee in the sun, though. The pod is also loaded with Bob Marley, Alpha Blondy, Burning Spear, and Lee Perry. Lost another legend yesterday. Was fortunate enough to see Scratch on a tour with Adrian Sherwood. A bit too electronic for me, but still, it was Lee Perry right in front of me telling me to "put your gadget away" because I was holding my little digital camera on my shoulder tryin' to shoot some fragmented video. The camera was crap, though, so the few seconds I got just sound like noise. Anyhoo... no offense taken. No offense meant.

user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

....end second set Morning Dew followed by a Sugar Mags? Hmmm. Punchy.
They tried to top that Mind Left Body, and actually did it!!
Three song encore. Because why the fuck not?
Stay safe my friends. Wash hands.

. this is a Primo Setlist for my liking, it’s mind blowing to say the least how the Dead played from the start of the performance and then bring everything together starting during the second set and the entire Third Disk!!! “H0LY Toledo” !my brothers & sister’s! This Is the “good Old Grateful Dead” at one of their best musical eras in the bands entire career, IMO at least.
Interesting’Dark Star’ for sure, I dig it!
Love the Morning Dew absolutely Bella!
Rock on everyone, have a grateful day! 🙏❤️💀🌹

user picture

Member for

8 years 10 months

In reply to by Lovemygirl

Permalink

It's been fun to visit Oklahoma City '73 again.

Got Distracted during Set 2 yesterday (damn real world stuff!) so I had to revisit the Dark Star this AM.

Mind Leaving Body right now

It's a great way to start the day.

Oh, the places we can go.. next up Cape Cod '79

Have a Grate day everyone!

Jerry quoting a little bit of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring at 9:18 in Morning Dew.

Huge Morning Dew after Major Dark Star.. that’s some good Sunday Morning Music.

And then as mentioned here… Triple Encore of Eyes > Stella, Johnny B. Goode.

Yeah that’s some majorly good Dead.

Great Pick.

Alright, time to time travel some more.

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

I also went with the Oklahoma Dark Star onwards for this Sunday Morning. Yes, this is perfect morning music. Great catch on the Bach! I would never have noticed that. I'm beginning to understand why this show is so revered. I just needed some good focused listening...

user picture

Member for

8 years 10 months

In reply to by Gollum

Permalink

I wish I could take the credit and that my ear was that sharp to pick that out on the fly.

But the credit goes to Tom Ferraro and his review in the Taper's Compendium Volume 1 (which is great by the way).

He mentions it and then I had fun listening for it and lo.. Jesu was there.

Great way to start the day for sure.

Nice pick today GOLLUM!

Set 1 was a nice follow up to my Sunday Morning voyage through October '73 and I've made it to Franklin's Tower which is a massive 17 minutes long... I'm excited to hear where it goes.

So far so good.

PS - You should check out the next night SBD if you find yourself with time to spare... The Set 2 China > Rider & PITB are EPIC. I plan on listening to Set 1 of that show later and might just listen to the aforementioned songs again. That Franklin is over 21 minutes long for a total of over 35 minutes of Franklin's Tower in 24 hours.. who can pass that up?
(Another nod to the Taper's Compendium, this time Volume 2 for pointing out that tidbit as well).

Have Fun & Good Listening!

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

Thanks for the tip on the Cape Cod 10/28 show GOGD. I listened to the tunes you mentioned and loved them. That show certainly seems at least as good as the 10/27 show. But anyways 10/27 seems mighty fine! I liked the Stagger Lee, Sailor-Saint, and OtherOne-NFA the most. I need to listen to the Dancing- Franklin's jam a few more times. That Dancing jam is queer bird, and I'm not sure what to make of it. So, Brent's getting some weird sounds from his keys the first 9 minutes, and then there's like a loud velcro rip sound, and his keys are back to normal?! I need to listen to it a few more times- it's a queer bird and I need some more time to digest it.

I'm into a 1979 rediscovery phase, ever since the 12/26/79 discussion here a few weeks ago. I always loved the "Friend" and UJB from that show but never got beyond that. Now, I'm finally seeing the greatness of the whole show. It's my favorite Brent show now, by a long shot. (thanks to this forum!) Now I'm giving the 2 fall/winter 79 Road trips some much needed and overdue love.

Have a great Memorial Day, all.

user picture

Member for

13 years 4 months

In reply to by The Good Ole G…

Permalink

I was gone all day.. did I miss a Gollum pick?

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

Yep, you missed the great Cape Cod Clambake. I figured you was probably out white-water rafting though the Blue Ridge mountains again....

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

That's a great Minglewood! I don't know of a better "Stagger Lee" I forgot how much I liked that song...

user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months

In reply to by Vguy72

Permalink

....then they are smack in the middle of a Shakedown Street. Swear to God. They are playing it. Masterful stuff.
At 11:12 they resume the Dancin' theme. That's a Shakedown Jam. At least that's how I heard it, and I trust my ears.

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

Yeah, that's a beauty. Love the thundering Lesh-heavy Other One

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

Great set- exhausting, especially when loud and through headphones. Phil really laying it on thick-mmm...bedtime

GOLLUM: So much good stuff in Fall / Winter ’79 for sure!
It has it’s own unique sound like so many periods of the Dead.
Definitely enjoyed the Clam Bake… CAUTION JAM > THE OTHER ONE! I listened to that like 3 times yesterday, that’s some killer jams.

Speaking of 12/26/79 - I didn’t realize there was a soundcheck of Black Throated Wind in circulation, just stumbled on to that this morning. Gonna listen to BTW from '79 right now. Far out!

Might need to revisit 12/3/79 DaP V31?

BOB T: You’re thinking 6/14/76 today? There is a nice PITB on there…

What’ll it be today.. ’76, ’79, ’88.. so many choices!

...1979 is one of my favorite dead Era’s ! Love Cape Cod 79’ and December 79’ is primo dead for my likings! Brent brought backsome ‘gusto’ to the dead’s music and performances, it’s almost like the dead had come back half circle in their approach to playing their old & new selection of songs and it worked wonders as we can hear in the 1979 releases & recordings, the latest being ‘Dave’s Picks #31 as mentioned earlier! A primo release in the series that I can enjoy over & over again. I swear it will “still your face right off your head!” Is it better than ,Dicks Picks #5,?! I think not but it’s grande in its own way! More 1979 please !
Have a grateful day everyone! 🙏❤️💀🌹

LMG has '79 fever too!

While we're waiting for a consensus in regards to today's pick

'79 talk has me taking a look at the ole collection and I like the looks of the following:

11/6/79 - Philly Spectrum - Road Trips Download - (Started listening to this.. it's good:)
12/3/79 - DaP V31 - I need to relisten as I recall only listening once and moved on.

Also mentioned by BOB T -
6/14/76 - Box Set

And - Thanks for the Dylan tip VGUY. Listened to Postcards of the Hanging last night, never really paid attention to it.. Baby Blue from 12/3/81 is killer!

Probably should listen to some honest Bob.. but I got Dead fever.

What you all listening to today?

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

6/14/76 would work perfect for me. I just listened to 6/10 and 6/11 last week, so it's due up for me anyways. It would be a nice mellow way to end the Memorial Day weekend.

Dave's 31 (12/3/79). GOGD, I also listened to this just once and moved on. I was frustrated by the mix. Bobby's guitar is just too low for me, especially on Scarlet-Fire. That's a big pet peeve of mine. Maybe I should give it another chance -perhaps the ears adjust(?). Maybe I just need to lighten up a bit and go with the flow?! But, aren't we lucky we have the 12/26 and 12/28/79 shows as excellent Betty boards! The Healy Road 79 Road trips also sound great!

user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months

In reply to by Gollum

Permalink

Perhaps my favorite 79...another of my actually good sounding go to tapes back in the day. Used to like to play Bass along w it’s it for practice.

RECAP:
- Vault 1 8/13/75 ✔️ Haven’t heard this gem in forever. Forgot just how awesome and tight this show is. Choreographed sure, but so what, it flows so nicely, and hey, no me & my uncle, lol. There’s a reason this was chosen for the first Vault pick!
- 7/1/78: NOT
- 5/21/74: ✔️ Still haven’t caught up on this box either, yeeshk....
- 5/23/72:✔️ Finally got a copy of most of this. Cool DS of course, but overall they seem a tad off this night, compared to the rest of the tour. Need to hear again as I was ripping stuff while listening...
- 10/19/73; ✔️ I’ve gone on and on about this one so I’ll just say one word today....MAJESTIC....the whole dam show just builds slowly, majestically, to a powerful whole. Majestic jams, majestic DS. Prolly my favorite Dicks
- 10/27/79:✔️ yet another of the 30 trips shows that I’m not yet really familiar with. Still have so much of that beast I either haven’t heard yet, or have only listened in the background. So it was nice to sit a bit with this one from that great funky ass 79 fall tour. Nice relaxed but tight first set. Good second that’s already been covered well here...still think 11/6 is my fav from this tour? I dig 11/9 too, but I’m extremely biased on that one...
So maybe I’ll try to sneak both 11/6/79 and 76 in today? Hup, hup, better get going!

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

I never feel like skipping any songs on these June 76 shows. Each one is a smooth seamless trip. Nice soothing Playin' jam. Heading into the 13 min slipknot.

user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months

In reply to by DeadVikes

Permalink

Spring 90....shoot chip, you don’t even need to ask!

user picture

Member for

8 years

In reply to by Oroborous

Permalink

Throughly enjoyed this one again today. Such a laid back Eyes and Dark Star. Brandford really kills it on Lovelight. Knocking on Heavens Door is sweet. I think I saw them close with this one twice........Man, do I want to see some live music.

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

another one I've neglected. it's going down smooth.

user picture

Member for

8 years 6 months

In reply to by DeadVikes

Permalink

I concure! ...Another ‘primo’ performance from the entire band! ;)

user picture

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

No one chose anything so want to go with this one? Not trying to be the "decider of the day" bob t

user picture

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

Back in I think 1987. It was my 3rd tape with Help>Slipknot on it but my first one with no Franklin's Tower.... I was very confused... Before I had Deadbase... bob t

user picture

Member for

13 years 11 months
Permalink

A quality pick!

This whole "pick of the day" thing is making me realize I have big problems with my collection. So, I looked for the Cow 76 release this morning. I found the case and booklet on the shelf in pristine quality but all 3 CD's are missing - ooftah! I then checked the most likely locations: 3 CD travel cases crammed with Dead CD's. No luck! So the discs must be misplaced among my extensive piles of CD's. A major project to locate them now. At least I have disc 1 downloaded with the great PITB jam.

Another example: I wanted to suggest 6/14/91(View from Vault2) last week as a pick of the day. This might be my favorite show from 91 but I think it is overlooked since it was chosen as a video. I have the last 2 discs downloaded but am missing the first one. I can't find the case or disc 1 CD. So I couldn't suggest it as a pick. Also, it is no longer available as a download. (the Philly 79 show picked last week is also not available as a download)

I think I just assumed the big standalone releases would always be available, either as downloads or in the used CD bin. Not so, I'm afraid! None of these 3 shows are available through nugs, iTunes, or deadnet. Used CD stores are a thing of the past.

Mind you, I am not groveling for copies. There is a fair chance I can still locate my missing shows. I guess there will never be a better time to reorganize than during this lockdown. Till then, there is the archive.

But I digress, on to 12/31/76!

user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months

In reply to by Gollum

Permalink

like so many of the “big” shows perhaps their legendary status can sometimes out weigh their overall performance?
Don’t get me wrong, I love any Spring 90 show, and 3/29/90 is a real Bobbie Dazzler, but after many years I’m wondering if it’s the best ALL AROUND show of the tour? Personally, I think I like 3/24 better, but I’m extremely biased. There was a reason though why they released the 24 and 3/15 as early single show releases...
So 29 has a great 1-2 punch with Jack/Bertha, but 24 has LTGTR, Help>Slip>Franks that are first rate.
I’ll take Loser and Desolation from the 24, but the 29 does have that Bird Song. For a first set closer I’ll take a ONSN over Promised land.
The second set is a little trickier; yes it’s all great, but I think the overall cohesion and playing is better on the 24. Eyes somedays, listening seems to kinda drone on with everyone sorta just playing along with one guy noodling at a time. I’ve often felt this way when they’ve had special guests...nothing against the guests etc, just I think it was harder for civilians to play with the Dead than many realize, so the uniqueness and hype are greater then the performances. Like Estimated even has a rare hiccup for this tour. Of course I’ve never met a DS I didn’t like, and being the only one of the tour it is a big deal, but part 2 is perhaps quick and out, along with the wheel, into yet another Throwing Stones though it is a beast, and a Lovelight instead of yet another NFA.. Nice Knocking to bring it back down after all that energy and send em home peaceful.
Again, great show, but I argue the overall flow of 24 is smoother, tighter, deeper, especially pre drums, with a better Wheel, scorching Watchtower, awesome Stella, and yes, yet another NFA, but a good one that works for this show. A Dew would of been the topper, but you knew that was going to get saved...Finally, I’ll take a Bid You Good Night over almost anything cept perhaps Attics, (never had the pleasure of a Ripple)....
Sorry, just bored and rambling while 12/31/76 Eyes is blazing in the background. Which is yet another of those long lost Chestnuts from my early days that I don’t listen to as much as I should, the ole “aw yeah, I’m gonna save that one for X (fill in the blank), but that day never comes, lol. So much Dead...but yeah, another of the true great all time classics. And a top New Yeats show comparatively! Great vibe too, not quite 76 but not full on 77, that whole transitional thing Daverock et el are always pointing out.
Makes me laugh thinking about how many dumb ass reporters trying to phone it in with usual misinformed dribble: “nostalgic 60s leftovers that basically haven’t changed but continue to hang on the the past, yaddy, yaddy, yadda”
Aaaaaa, how bout you get the shit outta your ears and actually listen? The change might of been subtle and over time, but it was always there! Man, I never believed in dosing anyone but sometimes it crosses your mind...bloody punters!

user picture

Member for

8 years 10 months

In reply to by Oroborous

Permalink

I think I'm feelin' you on this OROBOROUS.

The revisit the other day of Dozin' had me super jazzed on Spring '90, but yesterday I found myself drifting in an out.. and my attention was wandering. I thought maybe I was just over doing it, crushing Dead all day after day.. but after reading your comments I think you might be on to something. IMO 3/24 is the stronger show and 3/29 is good and all but might get a lot of attention based on the novelty of the guest appearance & Dark Star being played vs the performance. Not saying overrated.. but I think I like 3/24 better overall, it's probably the song selection but also the energy in the playing on 3/24/90, made it really stand up and shout for me the other day. Ask me next time and I might pull a Latvala and say 10/26/89 is the best Dark Star of all time!

The 9/10/91 Branford... that show rocks!

Admittedly I'm just spoiled at this point with so much good quality Dead that I can be all Judgy McJudgerson, but yeah that's what we be doing during this here quarantine.

As for 12/31/76.. Love love love this Playing In The Band, and am excited to pop this puppy on and get all critical and shit!

GOLLUM: You're stressing me out.. get that stuff organized ;) Just Kidding!.. kinda

Be Well All and Enjoy those Jams!

You crack me up Oroborous! And I know your affinity for Throwing Stones NFA. Yes, the closing sets in those days, well shit, sure glad they were there. And the 3/29/90 Lovelight was really good with Brandford.

user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months

In reply to by DeadVikes

Permalink

...I was just trying to defrost this place. Conversation versus consensus etc 😉

user picture

Member for

8 years 10 months

In reply to by Oroborous

Permalink

Haha OB

Good move.

How’d the Dead manage to make such perfect music for outside listening from big giant halls?

This Cow Palace show seems made for nice weather outside, currently 70 and sunny here (sorry VGUY). And it’s a perfect fit.

I was tripping on this in April on a similar day listening to 2/9/73 Roscoe Maples Pavilion, growing up I always thought that show was Outdoors cause that music is made to hear in nature’s splendor.

You all ever flashed on that?