Grateful Dead

I always enjoy reading critical assessments of the band on here from people who obviously know what they are talking about. People who all think the same way - uniformity in any field always turns me off. Indiscriminate positivity does, too. It just doesn't ring true for me. Its quite patronising to label others as "naysayers" or "haters" if they don't like something connected to The Dead.
Recent posts by Doc and Dark Star have surely been well worth reading. Whether you agree with the sentiments expressed in them is beside the point.

So predictable you can set your watch to it > New Release, then a flood of narcissism.

I can find something I dig in every era of the Dead's music, every year there is something they played I can find I enjoyed..

Just listened to a few tracks on SiriusXM, Dave's usual preview special. This music is great and special as promised for the songs he presents however they went overboard with adding in fake crowd sounds since it came from a soundboard. Its overbearing, unnecessary, clearly unauthentic and nonstop. Its like listening to an old TV sitcom again once you've gotten used to no phony soundtrack. Please remove else I won't buy it. You've been warned. Thank you.

Dave:
Thanks for two more shows. To the judges/experts who wish to share their self-important critiques about the shows about to be released, thanks for sharing. I’m sure others on this board can’t wait for your next review so they can make an “informed choice”. From me to you, f**k off.
Thanks for the shows Dave. Let the music play.

The sick looking whales are a tribute to the WHA/NHL Hartford Whalers hockey team that used to play in the building. Great logo and supported by a smaller city, sad that they were whisked away for the almighty dollar.

Hartford is known for being the insurance capital of the world, not sure how books come into play.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_Whalers

It adds nothing to the discussion and reflects badly on the poster.

It amazes me how aggressive people can be to each other on this board. I have a friend who swears you can tell who is voting for who by how narcissistic and combative they tend to be, even in general discourse over a pleasant topic like music.

I trust Dick's ear and love whatever he's serving up. Yes, I'm a '73, '77, '72, '70 fan (in that order), but I love the diversity. 2 80's DP's on a row? Awesome. 2 shows in one "DaP"? AWESOME AWESOME. (So technically 3 80's shows in a row). 2 "Esau's" in consecutive picks, YES! Uncle John's >Morning Dew Jerry two-fer? YES! "Push Comes to Shove"? - well ya gotta eat your vegetables.....

Happy for Spacebro and RV3 (is he still lurking?) for the 1-2 punch of 80's DP's.. You've earned it!

Can't wait to get this and give it a spin!

Hi guys. I haven't posted in awhile so it is nice to be back.

I am pumped for these two. After all, the last '87 we got was the Giants Stadium show which I loved! I was at the 3/26 show. (Could not make both since we had a 1 year old at home and I could not abandon the wife for 2 nights!) Loved the Midnight Hour opener and the China > Rider was killer. Quinn as the encore was great!

I will not preach to anyone, but I am grateful for something new & different. The last matrix release in the DaP series was excellent. I love to hear the audience some! Really adds to the ambiance. If you don't want these shows just pass them on. You will have no problem selling them on ebay if you wish. But let's all stay friendly & respectful.

Rock on

Dear, good afternoon. Since yesterday I am trying to finalize my purchase and I only had an error in the processing of finalizing the purchase on the website. Today there is no more stock .. any forecast?

This has gone pretty much as expected. Dave explains in the video why the show is worthy and acknowledges his bias since he was an attendee and it was his first show. What more do people expect?

This to me is more exciting than a '77 show. I love '77 but we have almost every show now. The more I hear '87 the more I like it. And I love the Pig era, but how many 20 minute good lovins with Pig doing the same ol rap - get yo hands outta yo pockets - do we need?

Nice to see some new ground being covered. To clear up a few things:

Other003 - No one has said anything about 50 Dave's Picks. You just made that up. How about having some basis for saying something like that before you put it out there?

Joshua - The crowd noise is not fake. Its mixed in from other recordings of the same show.

If you've paid for a subscription and you don't like the shows Dave puts out, I get it, but the formula has been pretty well set. Criticism is fine. I hear what you are saying. No problem. Not every show they put out ranks # 1 for me and some don't get much replay. But, if you really are upset, don't subscribe and take a chance on buying single shows when they come out. With the new 22,000 limit, it's worked for me. Also, don't we all have plenty of great GD from each era already? (NO WE DO NOT - Dave's Picks has definitely dropped some surprise gems on me and I do want more of that!)

I've seen the Stones and JGeils live more than the GD but I don't need 100+ live shows of those bands. There were some great shows, I had a blast, but both see themselves as entertainers and put on a good show - meaning every show is an identical copy of the previous one, every solo is the same - or pretty close.

The GD as we know were a whole different deal. If they played Bird Song in '89 the same as they played it in '73, then truly they would have been a cover band. For me, the circumstances decide on what GD I want to crank up. Some times call for a deep dive into some spacey '73 or some hard charging '72. Some times call for cracking some beers and blasting some '87 or '89 coliseum GD with Jerry ripping on the Tiger. They wrote some great songs late career that I want to hear. I wish this was the worst problem we had. Be safe - be well. Let the music play. Thank Dave! Keep 'em coming!

Always looking forward to new releases. I got the Hartford Whalers reference, but what's up with the books? I know there is or was insurance companies based in Hartford and United Technologies has a bunch of facilities out there, don't get the book reference. I went back a few pages but the vitriol that's been keeping me away is still present.

Stay safe, wear a mask and vote! This Darkness Got To Give

And if you're not checking out Bobby's FANs releases on his birthday, you should...

More releases please!!!

"Please remove else I won't buy it. You've been warned."
"From me to you, f**k off."

Someone asked about RV3; where is Patagonian Fox?

"Count me in as skeptical. This release seems like Dave’s gift to himself. I saw six shows of this tour, including the first night of Hartford. None of them were overly memorable. More like a few highlights here and there. Have not listened to any of that tour since seeing the shows. If I recall, 3/26 had a cool Midnight Hour/Cold Rain opener, a nice Birdsong and a high energy China/Rider.

Dave has done a superb job, but the supply of quality shows is certainly dwindling. I will give the subscription one more year and then likely revert to a la carte."

This is my post from a couple of weeks back. Essentially saying the same thing as Doc, just maybe not as eloquently.
I'm a math guy, not an English major. I wasn't attacked. Even if I was, I could care less.

Not bashing the band or anyone's favorite era. Just stating an opinion and my preference. I only saw the band in the 80s and 90s. Brent was without question the driving force for many of those years. As was said, seeing them live, his keyboards never seemed to overwhelm the band. Now that I hear the recordings years later, I can't tolerate that plinky, overbearing sound. Simple as that. And I certainly don't want to pay for it. To me, the MIDI and all the other gadgetry makes it even worse.

Folks on here comment about Donna's shrieking, yet they rarely if ever get criticized. I was never able to see the band during that era, but I doubt it came across that way live. Regardless, it was how the band sounded at the time as they evolved. I'll stick to that era and earlier.

One other thing that was correctly pointed out. Dave played these shows on Sirius earlier today. If the crowd noise is as prominent on my stereo as it was on the radio, no chance these shows ever get a second listen.

For all you later era fans, do yourself a favor and write down a list of your favorite songs. Then right along side of each one, jot down the year it was first performed. Things get pretty sparse after 77.

Just remember, as I was told many years ago:

Don't listen to the band through rose colored speakers.

AND

The scene was always better before you got there.

Enjoy.

If you pretty much only like the dead from years 68-74, then you actually dislike them more than you like them. And that's OK!

I took a deep dive these past couple of weeks into Oct. '84 and was rather surprised by how much I liked it, especially the dark Playin' jams. I did the same with Oct. '94 last year. Really dug those shows. I honestly feel like 10/1/94 ranks among one of the best shows from all of the 30 trips.

At any rate, I subscribe because I want them all. Still waiting for the Vince era shows, by the way. Perhaps next year? In the meantime, I'll gladly take the '73, '74, or '77 that seems due to kick things off in 2021. 

1- 77
5- 73
9- 74
13- 74
17- 74
21- 73
25- 77
29- 77
33- 77
37-  ??

Throw on 10/16/89. Another superb October, btw.

I see people asking about the Cover Art and "books" reference. Noah Webster the "Father of American Scholarship and Education" was from Hartford, CT. Apparently his "Blue-Backed Speller" books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read. I would imagine he is the inspiration for the cover, however Mark Twain also lived in Hartford for a period of his life.

Considering no one likes the 80’s this set sold out really fast.
Everyone has a choice. If you only like a subset of the band then don’t subscribe and pick up the shows you want separately. You then take the chance that you won’t get them and you will pay over the odds on eBay, Even if you do get them at dead.net then you’ll pay the going rate at the time. Subscribing at the early bird rate is the cheapest way of getting the DaP series but you will get shows from eras that don’t excite you.
I subscribe because I want them all even if some are better than others. They all have some interest to me. Of course, I never saw any shows so what do I know.

Crikey...maybe I'd better subscribe again after all !
Mcgrupp- liking The Dead from 1968-1974 only doesn't necessarily mean you like them less rather than more. Their music in that timespan transcended measurable limits. A bit like how the Tardis, in Dr Who, looks small from the outside and is vast inside.

First.. great Noah Webster reference Jimbobwe, I bet you are right. I thought of Hartford Court Publishing (didn't they make school books?), but I did not research this and have no idea if there is a correlation, I bet you are right. I assumed they were claims manuals and volumes of insurance policy and procedure manuals. (kidding, but the streets in Hartford are paved with insurance money).

I'm not terribly surprised this sold out. A little quicker than I might have thought, but I suspect subscription sales were high this year. It seems like each subsequent release though the course of the year sells out more quickly.

It will be interesting to see what this does to subscription sales come November and December. ..not that I care, I'm sure to pony up for another year come November.

& that's that!!!!

I have a friend who has EVERYTHING. Once a year he asks me for $100 for blanks and postage (B&P), and then he goes through his thousands of tapes and picks out four shows that really float his boat. He's busy, so he can only send me a copy of a show every three months or so. He does his best not to burn me out on any one period, so he avoids sending me, say, three June 1976 shows in one year. If he does get really excited about those three 1976 shows, then he gives me the option of sending more B&P money.

When he does send the shows, he has his friends do some sweet art on the inserts, and goes through his tapers circle to find the lowest-gen copy out there. He routinely upgrades the equipment used for making the copies. For the sets that are all from, say, July 1978, he puts them in crazy-cool containers and loads the containers with old ticket stubs and tour programs.

What do I do when I get the shows? I complain.
I complain that the show isn't from my favorite year, even though he's sent me 26 of the 40 shows from 1974, and 32 of the 60 shows from 1977. 1972? Only 34 of 82.
I complain that the sound could be better.
I complain about the art.
I complain that he's too corporate.
I complain that he's charging too much.
I complain that it took many days for the shows to reach me.
I complain that he gave me only two months to send my B&P money.

Despite all that complaining, he sends me a song a day for all of November--free! He gets excited about nuggets he's heard whilst perusing his shows, and just sends me a treat every day for 30 days. My B&P money ensures that he can maintain his tapes and keep sending me songs and shows and sets, but I sometimes feel like I should begrudge him that $100 (although, come to think of it, I spent $100 on a mediocre restaurant meal just the other day . . . ) or that I should stop sending him that money, but just hope that his interest in the project continues. Maybe I should require him to tell me in advance which shows he's sending before I'll give him a nickel?

He's enriched my musical life beyond anything I could have dreamed of, but I often get this nagging feeling that he's really out to screw me.

DaP36? Believe it if you need it . . . if you don't, just pass it on . . .

Caveat of bias: I attended both shows and several others on this tour. The Spring '87 tour was very high energy, and reflected Jerry 'rising like the Phoenix from the ashes of his opioid-induced haze culminating in his diabetic coma. The shows were all short, but many were very well-played.

The first night of Hartford was one of the best played nights of the tour, others including the first night of Philly, the first and third nights of Worcester. Every song in both sets is played pretty much flawless, albeit too short. This was typical of that tour. Short but sweet songs and sets. Highlights (for me) were the Midnight Hour opener, a really powerfully sung He's Gone (Jerry's vocals throughout the first night are really strong), and a gorgeous Black Peter.

The second night was the night for "Touch-heads." It was a party atmosphere, and the setlist was standard. Hard to complain about a second set Cumberland though. The post-Space Uncle John's>Dew with a JBG encore was a great way to end the second set. Overall, the second night was less "on" IMO, but was really fun. The Touch of Grey, however standard, was inspiring because we all knew Jerry was BACK.

The circulating boards have always sounded like a matrix to me, and the brief sample I listened to seems to indicate the same matrix source material. Am hoping the discs sound better...

… especially when we’re talking about music. With our relatives.

I expressed some criticisms of this set earlier in this thread (excessive crowd noise, mainly), and I stand by them. But I’m glad it sold well, and I’m glad so many people are getting some joy out of this release. It ain’t a contest, people. You can like what you like, and I can like what I like, and we actually have a lot more in common than we have differences. Weird how some people get aggressive about this.

“Taste great! Less filling! 1977! 1989!”

There was a time when I wasn’t interested in any show that didn’t have Pigpen. That changed. Thankfully. Someday I might come around on these shows. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, let's be nice.

Also, I got to remember to subscribe for next year.

I'm pining for when the DaP series releases a great Shakedown Street, Althea, Standing on the Moon and believe it or not a Victim or the Crime.

I think these will be energetic, fun shows that I will listen to while working, or maybe while watching a game. Probably not shows for zoning out late at night with a buzz on.

And thats okay.

Not many other bands can deliver on both of those scenarios.

This looks like a amazing set. I always get excited when these Dave’s Picks come out. I’ve never been disappointed. I will be subscribing again for 2021. I’m sure it will be most excellent.

It is interesting that this sold out as fast as it did. Similar to the Giants Box (which I passed on, for what it's worth). Meanwhile, PNW '73-74 and June '76 are both still available and July '78 only recently sold out (all three of which I do have).

Idk, DAVEROCK, I guess this becomes a philosophical question at a certain point. An example of a band still doing it live: Phish. If I only like them from "peak" years 93-99 and don't like anything they've done in the last twenty years - then do I really like them, after all?  Does someone like (love) their husband/wife if they only really like (love) them from their courting and honeymoon phase?  It also becomes a practical question: Should I subscribe to a series that is committed to releasing shows from the entire (roughly) 30-yr catalogue? 

I like the way DEADHEADBREWER puts it, which maybe explains why I see things the way I do on this: It brings me back to a bygone era, as the series is basically annual GD B&P spread out quarterly, and I love it! I want the variety. (At the same time, I would still subscribe if it was a 66-75 series. Same if it was 76-85 and 86-95.)

excellent post

it's been 19 years since I heard anything through rose-colored speakers. my speakers are now either straight or green. I still taste the rose color, though.

Good deal!

I attended the three Alpine Valley '87 shows and they were top notch performances. Sadly Dave says the vaults tapes aren't all that great in fidelity. If a pristine record I g of the 1st night existed it would rank as one of the top tier of their 30 year run. Truly spectacular performance.

The best recordings from this Alpine 87 run I've had were from the middle show. Opens with a great Aiko. A great Esau. Nice second set.

Red Rocks 87 is an epic run. Throw in Telluride and Compton Terrace and that would make a spiffy box.

I was on record with initial disappointment, was really hoping for Pigpen era, but came around to these shows. I have heard plenty of good '87 shows and these shows look like good ones. The listening party sounds good, like some of the good tapes I had "back in the day," but better. One of my go-to China-Riders used to be Alpine '87 and I am hoping this version brings the goods like that one does.

Lots of us cut our chops on late 80s Grateful Dead and they were good shows-- lots of good times were had by us all. Did we get huge 25 minute (or 45) Playing In the Bands? Nope, but we got nice, tight 12-minute Playings that explored some good areas without going into dissonant space and frequently heading into a nice UJB.

So, we get here two shows of good In the Dark era GD. It isn't the 'Big Jam' GD, but the tight, focused GD that was happy to be playing with our man, Jerry Garcia, alive and clean. I am actually looking forward to these shows now.

Bill Graham, Egypt 1978

9/16/78, I think.

Yes Bolo, 3/28/81. Excellent show. It would be releasable, too, if it weren't for that meddling guest artist, Pete...Donaldson, is it?

Malachi Constant

Mark Twain House& Museum in Hartford, but kinda reaching there.

Saw the Dead in Hartford for the April 88 run. Good times! Missed 87. Thanks for the shows Dave and Co.!

I just listened to that Scarlet Fire from Dave's 35 and Jerry is smokin and the whole band is with him. I listened the the jam out of Scarlet twice.

Give me ANY two shows over four discs that I don't already have and I'm elated. These releases all sound so good and I love fitting new Dead music into the soundtrack of my life.

Sitting here on a gorgeous, crisp fall afternoon playing my Eddie Van Halen guitar along with a beautiful 3/24/70 Dark Star, Dania FL, Pirates of the Deep South. Off that "Little Box of Grateful Dead" currently available elsewhere. It's outstanding and helps keep me going between official releases.

Mcgupp-yes, good point. But it seems quite reasonable to me that people would like some eras and not others. They covered so much musical ground that its inevitable in a way, I would have thought. My favourite era-without a shadow of a doubt-is 1966-1975. But even within that timespan they covered a lot of different styles of music. I was listening to Historic Dead, the live album from 1966 this afternoon. And a great record it is to me - but it bears little relation to the music they were doing two years later on Anthem. Which bears little relationship to two years on with Working Mans- which sounds nothing like Europe 72, which is different again form Blues For Allah. It would make perfect sense to me if someone who said they liked the band liked one or two of those styles-but not necessarily all of them. And there were another 20 years of twists and turns after that ! If the difference between 1966 and 1968 is vast, then the difference between 1966 is 1995 is astronomical.

This may have been posted already, there is a fan based Bob Weir Birthday Celebration all day here

https://www.jambase.com/livestreams/playing-in-the-band-celebrating-bob…

There are so many great comments on this board, about not only this release - a clearly contentious one - and all the others. The writers in this community tend to be passionate, erudite, knowledgeable, and present salient pro & con arguments, most that give pause. However, if they ever complete a Deadhead Compendium of all the best narratives, DHBrewer, yours would be under “Required Reading”. You hit the proverbial nail on the head!

Bob Weir. Be safe, stay healthy .

you're 72,: no, wait, 73
come shine or rain

I absolutely love the ultramatrix recordings. The use of the ultramatrix recordings from 87-90 are awesome. I’m fired up that this release is the ultramatrix recordings instead of the pure soundboards. The listening sample sounds great, I couldn’t be happier with this release. What a nice surprise

Sold out in less than 24 hours. That is a record for this year with 22,000.

Pearson Healy, now we are talking.

Stay well out there.

Life is about enjoying the ride; sometimes it's perfect and other times not.

Every release is a new ride...and we always have the choice to not buy a ticket.

Keep 'em coming Dave. Thanks!

I love late eighties shows and enjoy the matrix audience noise in these recordings. Nice to see more content from this era. And the album cover looks pretty cool too.

Really is remarkable when you think about it like that, the vast difference between eras- even within so-called eras! 
 
When asked, "What was the best part of the Grateful Dead's success for you?" Lesh responded: "It was wildly successful for me until we took the break from touring [in 1975]. When we came back, it was never quite the same. Even though it was great and we played fantastic music, something was missing.... It’s hard to pin down – a certain spirit. It would come back now and then, on some awesome evening, some particularly great performance. But that was even more frustrating, because it would disappear again for X number of shows, just disappear.” 

Take that together with Weir's known proclivity and fondness for summer '89, Kreutzmann's praise of spring '90, and - well - I guess you're left with a band beyond description. No, but seriously, Joseph Campbell caught a glimpse in '86 and walked away enraptured. On March 11, 1993, Ken Nordine, sitting in on Space for a recitation of Flibberty Jib and The Island, presented the dead to the audience as "the greatest band anywhere in the universe!" 

So many roads, indeed.

....so you all know I'm a happy camper. I'll take a matrix all night long.
A highlight in a rather disconcerting year. Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
I still have the first show on tape. I recall it being pretty good.
Happy Birthday to Bobby and John Mayer.
Now I need to get caught up on this thread. I already recognize familiar faces and hope you are doing well and staying safe. Playing the Grateful Dead, no matter what era, will serve you well.

When phil said something was missing after the '75 break, he might have reached the age that after a certain period of time things are no longer new and exciting like when we were young. For me I started to feel as abbey Hoffman felt when he said " I lost my youth and that's all I have and will ever have." Abbey committed suicide around 53 or 54 because he hated getting older. I'm not trying to bum everyone out but reaching a certain age sometimes changes a person's outlook on music and life. On a positive note, the early bird is just over the horizon.

Does anyone know exactly when this sold out?
Pretty impressive...