Dave's Picks Vol. 39: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 4/26/83

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July 30, 2021 - 9:15am

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Dead Admin

Joined:
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We're feelin' Philly 4/26/83 and its '80s highs. See what we're on about when you pick up DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 39: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 4/26/83, the final show of a three-week tour, played at the venue that the Dead played more than Madison Square Garden (there's your daily dose of Dead trivia). This one fires on all cylinders, with extremely well-played, high-energy tight sets featuring newbies "West L.A. Fadeway," "My Brother Esau," rarities like Brent's tune "Maybe You Know," precise medleys "Help>Slip>Franklin's," an inspired new pairing "Throwing Stones>Not Fade Away," and the Dave's Picks debut of "Shakedown Street." And before you come down, we've got a prime slice of bonus material from the previous Spectrum show 4/25/83 and an extra dollop of '83 from the War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY 4/15/83 (featuring the Bobby rarity "Little Star").

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 39: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 4/26/83 was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.

*2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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August 7, 2021 - 8:20am

#721

icecrmcnkd

Joined:
October 20, 2015

Lemieux and Norman

What’s the scoop?
Is the HDCD logo on the releases just false advertising?

Have you considered doing a few releases of awesome sounding Plangentized reels as BluRay Audio, 24/192?
Led Zeppelin did that with the Song Remains The Same soundtrack.
August 7, 2021 - 8:16am

#722

1stshow70878

Joined:
September 11, 2014

Maybe You Know

Wow! First time I've heard this. I love it. Kind of Loose Lucy sounding. Will have to pay more attention to the lyrics but at first listen was most impressed with Jerry's chording like Chuck Berry. A special treat in a show where Jerry is hitting an amazing number of notes. Arpeggio maximus. How did he just keep getting faster even as his health was declining?
Cheers all!
August 7, 2021 - 8:12am

#723

icecrmcnkd

Joined:
October 20, 2015

Sorry that was so long

I would have just posted the lynk if I could.

It came from a site called audio asylum.
August 7, 2021 - 8:10am

#724

icecrmcnkd

Joined:
October 20, 2015

Thanks for the info

Arthur,
What you posted appears to be from VLC. If you used VLC to convert a 16 bit CD to 24 bit FLAC you just put 16 bits into a 24 bit container. That’s not the equivalent of playing a 720p DVD in a BluRay player that upconverts to 1080p.
If you used actual software that decodes HDCD please tell us what software that is.

Ziffle,
What you said is in line with what I’ve read online.

Simon,
I thought you had a CD player that let you toggle between CD and HDCD.

Since I can’t post a lynk, here’s the text.

Huge misconception regarding HDCD
Posted by Charles Hansen (M) on June 12, 2017 at 23:26:28
In Reply to: RE: MQA vs HDCD posted by Jeff Starr on June 9, 2017 at 02:03:01:

>> HDCD was a way to get 20 bit sound out of a redbook CD. <<
That is what Pacific Microsonics (PM) *claimed* for HDCD. The truth is that was simply marketing hyperbole. PM built an A/D converter designed by Keith Johnson, called the Model One. The later Model Two was similar but added support for both dual- and quad-sampling rates. There were three unique features of the PM A/D converters that comprised the HDCD system:

1) Peak Extend (PE) - was a compansion algorithm that compressed the top 9dB of audio signal during recording into the top 3dB of digital codes on the disc. When played back through an HDCD-enabled DAC or CD player, a "sub-code" that replaced some of the audio signal in the 16th bit (LSB) would instruct the DAC to expand the compressed signal and restore the full dynamic range.

2) Low-Level Extension (LLE) - was a method to automatically boost the gain as the audio signal dropped, starting when the signal level fell to -45dBFS. It was boosted in 0.5dB steps as the level fell, reaching a maximum gain shift of 4dB if the signal ever fell another -18dB to -63dBFS. Again when played back through an HDCD-equipped DAC or CD player, the instructions mixed in the LSB of the audio signal would instruct the DAC to lower the gain (and background noise) by the appropriate amount.

3) Transient Filter (TF) - was a method whereby the A/D converter measured the amount of high-frequency energy in the top octave. When it passed a certain threshold, the HDCD system would select from one of two available anti-aliasing filters (ie, "digital filters"). The original plan was apparently to have a complementary process during playback, but this never materialized. My best guess is that this was because Ed Meitner (then of Museatex) had beaten PM to the punch and already patented a DAC that switched reconstruction filters (ie, "digital filters) during playback, again by sensing the amount of high-frequency energy in the top octave.

The problem is that the claimed 20 bits of resolution is a horribly distorted representation of the truth.. It was one of the greatest marketing misrepresentations in the history of high-end audio. In actuality, both PE and LLE could be *optionally* applied by the mastering engineer, and the instruction manual warned that there were specific reasons for not doing so on certain types of music. Also there never was any way to decode for the TF feature (which was always engaged). However every single CD made with a PM A/D converter would light up the mandatory "HDCD" logo light on a licensed DAC - even when there was no decoding of the disc even possible - apparently in an attempt to scare people into purchasing a new CD player or DAC that had HDCD decoding (and from which PM received royalty payments).

The truth is that PE (*if* engaged by the mastering engineer) could only ever provide a maximum dynamic range increase of 6dB - and even then only if the recorded signal reached 0dBFS. In the very extreme case, this only adds 1 bit of resolution, to 17 bits.

The truth about LLE is even more underwhelming. *If* the mastering engineer chose to engage it, it only became active when the audio signal dropped below -45dBFS. I have analyzed scores of HDCD discs using the tools available in Foobar. For popular music LLE was *only* ever engaged during song fadeouts. It turns out that -45dBFS is an extremely low level, nearly 8 bits below the maximum. Even with classical music recorded using LLE, the gain-shifting only activates infrequently - specifically during very quiet passages when only 1 or 2 instruments are playing. I have never seen an HDCD track ever use the full 4dB range of level shifting, as the signal level would have to fall to -63dBFS, nearly 11 bits below the maximum. The *theoretical* maximum gain shift of 4dB amounts to about another 0.6 bits of dynamic range.

If *both* features were engaged by the mastering engineer, and everything completely optimized in an extremely unlikely real-world scenario, the most that HDCD could boost the dynamic range would be 1.6 bits to 17.6 bits. In more realistic situations, engaging both features would increase the effective bit depth between 0 and roughly 1.2 bits with classical music, and between 0 and roughly 0.9 bits with popular music.

At this date we have all had chances to hear the differences between 44/16 files and 44/24 files. The most common example was the 2009 remaster of The Beatles box set. The CDs were dithered down to 16 bits, while the "green apple" thumb drive contained the original 44/24 files (reduced from the 192/24 tape transfers made with Prism A/D converters). Yes there is a difference in sound, but it is hardly "jaw-dropping" or "transformational". So if adding 8 true bits of resolution only improves the sound slightly, one wonders how much improvement would be heard with only 1 extra bit of resolution - *if* the HDCD features were even engaged by the mastering engineer.

So where did PM come up with the "20 bits of resolution" claim? Simple - they added the extra bits as the A/D converter also had optional dither algorithms. This is where it gets weird. Prior to the PM converters, by far the most common alternative was the Sony PCM-1610. While it did not have any dither built into that converter, the incoming audio signal was always dithered anyway - by the tape hiss present on the analog tape that was being transferred to digital. There is no tape recorder on the planet that has an unweighted S/N ratio greater than 96dB, which is what would be required to create the need for external dither to be added.

The next question is why was HDCD so enthusiastically received by the audio press and many mastering studios? Again the answer is quite simple - it sounded far better than the competing Sony unit. *Not* because of the HDCD features but simply because it was designed to a far higher "audiophile" standard by Keith Johnson, an extremely talented designer.

The A/D converter is simply one box in the chain between the recording microphone and the playback speaker. We have all heard the difference made by replacing (say) a cheap preamplifier made with very old, low cost op-amps, electrolytic coupling capacitors, and low quality parts throughout with a mega-buck preamplifier made by one of the top designers on the planet using fully discrete circuitry, state-of-the art parts throughout, and designed for the absolute maximum performance.

A change like this can completely transform the sound of a home stereo system. And a similar change to the A/D converter can completely transform the sound quality of a CD.

That is the real story of HDCD - a superior sounding product that was sold through deliberately misleading marketing strategies and false comparison setups. For example at the 1997 CES, PM gave out free CDs with "comparison" tracks purporting to show the differences made by HDCD processing. The natural assumption was that the tracks were made with the same converter and simply engaging and disengaging the HDCD processing. But no, instead PM made three tracks with the PM A/D converter and three "comparison" tracks with a Sony PCM-1610 converter.

In addition HDCD was dreamed up to be a money-making machine. The converters were sold to the studios for $20,000 each (I'm unsure if there were licensing costs there.) On the playback side each manufacturer had to pay a $5,000 licensing fee up front (later raised to $10,000), plus purchase a special decoding IC from PM. The IC was priced artificially high so as to constitute an easy-to-track royalty payment for each player sold.

It fooled a lot of people for a long time. There were two separate events that led to the demise of HDCD. The first was that only a couple of years after HDCD was available to the public, both DVD-Audio and SACD offered true high-resolution formats, obviating the need to "hop up" the out-of-date Redbook CD format (by only a single bit of actual resolution). The second was that PM had paid roughly $500,000 to develop their custom decoding IC chip. It was made on a 600 micron process. (By comparison we are now down to the 12 to 16 micron range with semiconductor processes.) By 2002 or so that technology was so out of date that the fabrication house was dismantling the line and halted production. It would have cost another $500,000 to make a new version. There was an aborted attempt to fabricate it as a pre-programmed Motorola (?) DSP chip, but apparently there was only one sample batch ever made before PM sold the entire thing to Microsoft, where it died off fairly quickly.

The only positive note to the whole story is that there are still a good number of mastering houses that still use the PM A/D converters. Even though the Model Two is over 15 years old, there are only a handful of other brands that can compete with it sonically. It is still one of the best sounding A/D converters ever made, just as the Marantz 9 was one of the best sounding power amplifiers ever made. Good sound never goes out of fashion.

As far as any similarities between the 20-year old story of HDCD and the current story of MQA, I will leave that up to the reader to judge.

As always, strictly my own opinions and not necessarily those of my employer or guru.

EDIT: The above post was dashed off quickly and likely contains some minor errors. For example the units used in the discussion of semiconductor fabrication should have been "nanometers" and not "microns". Nevertheless I believe the overall arch is historically accurate. Corrections are highly welcomed.
August 7, 2021 - 7:43am

#725

Dennis

Joined:
November 1, 2012

That Mike and Ornette

Saw Ornette at Town Hall in NYC when he was doing the Song X tour with Methany.

Didn't understand one bit of it!!!
August 7, 2021 - 6:54am

#726

Dogon

Joined:
March 23, 2009

Dennis, Joe and Lee

I dont think you will be disapointed when it arrives.
There is a rumour that a Lee Morgan 60s set is in the works, unfortunately you have missed the Hank Mobley 60s set, but keep your eyes open, it might turn up used, if it does, pounce!
Also in Japan a whole slew of Lee Morgan reissues are being released in conjunction with the Live at the Lighthouse box.
CD Japan is your friend, and if you were to order from them you will be surprised, after dealing with all the highs and lows of dealing with Deadnet, of the smoothness and efficiency of the transaction!
I always pay for shipment via DHL, a bit more expensive, but 2, max 3 days delivery from Tokyo to my door in Sweden.
August 7, 2021 - 4:28am

#727

ArthurDent

Joined:
February 16, 2017

Encoding Info

Artist Grateful Dead
Title Let It Grow
Album 1983-04-26 - Dave's Picks Vol. 39 - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Track 10/10
Disc 1/3
Genre Rock
Year 1983
Rating
Composer
Size 79.88 MB (58% Compressed)
Original Size 189.63 MB
Length 12 minutes 31 seconds
Channels 2 (stereo)
Sample Rate 44.1 KHz;
Sample Size 24 bit
Bit Rate 2,116 kbps (DVD)
Encoder FLAC reference libFLAC 1.3.2 20170101
Encoder Settings
Audio Quality Perfect (Lossless)
Contains CRC, ID Tag [Vorbis Comments]
Channel Mapping
File 10 Grateful Dead - Let It Grow
Type FLAC Audio File (VLC) [.flac]
August 7, 2021 - 2:07am

#728

Forensicdoceleven

Joined:
June 17, 2008

Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat………….

50 years ago today……

August 7, 1971
Golden Hall, San Diego, California

Set 1: Big Railroad Blues-El Paso-Mr. Charlie-Sugaree-Mama Tried-Bertha-Big Boss Man- Promised Land-Hard to Handle-Cumberland Blues Casey Jones

Set 2: Truckin'-China Cat Sunflower-I Know You Rider-Next Time You See Me-Sugar-Magnolia-Sing Me Back Home-Me & My Uncle-Not Fade Away>Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad>jam>Johnny B. Goode

Deadicated to Seth Hollander, Oxford 88, Mr_Heartbreak, gcdeadhead, Shafts Of Lavender, Gratefulpeds, Gbow22, frampton, jpdonn1, chilly1214, and deadyettipa, because nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it…..

Released as part of Dick’s Picks 35 in 2005, one of the so-called “houseboat tapes”, somewhat of a revelation at the time, as not all summer 71 shows circulated. Not the greatest show but I will always take whatever 71 is officially released!!

There’s not a “big jam”---although there is an interesting but short jam between GDTRFB and Johnny B Goode---but it’s OK. What I call “the three R’s of live Dead”----rockin’, rowdy, and raucous!! Needless to say, worth a listen!!!

Rock on!!

Doc
We are imprisoned in the realm of life, like a sailor on his tiny boat, on an infinite ocean……
August 7, 2021 - 12:11am

#729

simonrob

Joined:
June 7, 2007

HDCD...

I have no idea if HDCD encoded discs sound better. I only have one CD player and that has no possibility to turn the HDCD on or off, so making a comparison is not possible. My player, like most, has the DAC built in. A comparison using my player and another with a different DAC and no HDCD would reveal the differences between the DACs as well as any differences with HDCD on or off, making such a comparison pointless. I can only read discussions on this by others, such as Ziffle, who are (or at least claim to be) better informed than me on the subject. I don't lose sleep over this as there is nothing I can do about it- I just put CDs in the player, hit 'Play' and the magic begins.
August 6, 2021 - 9:09pm

#730

Angry Jack Straw

Joined:
October 2, 2012

Satisfaction

Wharf - I believe you are referring to the 8/8/82 Alpine Valley show. The whole show is awesome stuff.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

We're feelin' Philly 4/26/83 and its '80s highs. See what we're on about when you pick up DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 39: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 4/26/83, the final show of a three-week tour, played at the venue that the Dead played more than Madison Square Garden (there's your daily dose of Dead trivia). This one fires on all cylinders, with extremely well-played, high-energy tight sets featuring newbies "West L.A. Fadeway," "My Brother Esau," rarities like Brent's tune "Maybe You Know," precise medleys "Help>Slip>Franklin's," an inspired new pairing "Throwing Stones>Not Fade Away," and the Dave's Picks debut of "Shakedown Street." And before you come down, we've got a prime slice of bonus material from the previous Spectrum show 4/25/83 and an extra dollop of '83 from the War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY 4/15/83 (featuring the Bobby rarity "Little Star").

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 39: THE SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 4/26/83 was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.

*2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

Wow this new space is nice....

.... I like what they've done to the white.

Glass ordered!!! Yeah!!!

Bonus tracks were a nice surprise. Mine should be here Monday.

Once again, happy about my glass. (at least the axe people only had to buy one axe to complete the set!)

Very Excited

I’m very excited for this releases. I decided to hear just around a minute of the few songs that were put up, and it sounds incredible, especially for the 80s. The setlist looks nice too, and the bonus tracks are good to have, glad to see Little Star and Maybe You Know get officially released.

Sequencing?

Looks really good for 83 but why would you go Drums > filler show on disc two and then pick up the space again on disc 3? Maybe there was a reason but that seems pretty disjointed?

Hang up there and shine

:)))

Moons

Moons?
Has that been the delay? Dave’ s on Mars!

#39

Not the biggest 80's fan but I trust Dave, so we know it will be good. Also, really appreciate the filler. In fact, filler for every show Dave from now.

A Surprise

Psyched to have this drop out of nowhere; looks pretty sick on paper and Bakedown Opener.

Crystal ball says passenger pigeons will deliver tomorrow.
Happy Weekend All.

Sixtus

P.S. Crystal ball was WRONG; Shakedown Spinning now! Phil dropping bombs left and right. All is well in Deadland.

Got My Shipping Notice!

Will it be here Tuesday as scheduled?

Well, well, well,

You can never tell!!!!

Sounds Great!

The sound samples sound very good, well, to me anyway. I will thoroughly enjoy this while I eagerly await a September 1979 N.Y.C. MSG mini box or Fall 79 Monster-Box. Alaska 80 too!

39#

Took a long time to shakedown to the street.

Stoked

Looking forward to it. Tracking says arriving tomorrow.

Fresh Ice

Shipping notice received. Likely the 2nd last DaP I’ll have coming in, so fingers crossed.

Beyond that, nothing to say, I just like to be one of the first guys to skate on a fresh ice surface! :)

Glass ordered (fingers crossed)....

....tracking says Philly will arrive Tuesday.

DaP 40?

I know I heard Dave say he had a little tease for #40 but that was it? He never said a thing about it then went into the Jeffrey Norman and Plangent praise. He did say he'd be back, "in a month or two", for another seaside chat where I would guess another box or special collection may be announced as it would be too early for the #40 chat.
So glad to hear that #39 is a high energy and well played show (precise was the word I think). I don't have much '83.
Doing #38 today end to end for the first time. Sixty fourth birthday present to myself. Sorry hon, no TV this afternoon. Took me four listens to get through it when I got that one.
Cheers to all!

I met #23734 in Saint Paul, Minnesota . . .

Home of Sunisa Lee.

Lots of bonus material on here. :) Listening to Shakedown now; sound is quite good for an 80s tape, and the energy is high.

Happy Birthday, 1stSHOW!

I received my copy today in…

I received my copy today in NYC. Haven't listened to it yet, but it looks good. I saw a few shows from that tour including 4/12 83 in Binghamton; one of my all time favorites

Dave mentioned Sante Fe in the seaside chat!!....

....do it Dave.

Thanks DHBrewer!

Appreciate that! Was going in to edit my previous as it is #37 I have cued up for the complete listen. '78 is my era and my first t-shirt and sticker were Shakedown Street. Wish they'd bring that artwork back. Who's that artist, Shelton? With the Zoot suit and swingin' a chain baby! I may not be that hip but I can do hipster doofus all day long (Kramer).
Cheers!

Love me some 80s Dead

Can't wait to get this one. Lately I have been listing to a lot of early 80s Dead. With every Daves Picks release I always wonder, Will we ever see a Deer Creek release? Buckeye lake? I hope. Cheers!

Look'in forward

to this one!!! Don't have much in this era in my collection...

The #39 glass is gone...

You have to set your alarm clock to catch these glasses as soon as they're announced.

I've got the first 2, now I have to make sure I'm ready to "buy" again on the morning of Oct 29 so I've got the complete set.

btw - I had set an alert months ago to be on standby for the announcement of the glass, which I successfully ordered today.

DaP 40

4 discs, 2+ shows of 1967-68 material. In the video Dave says they wanna mix up the eras, how about that for shaking it up? Some primitive Dead, not even primal yet.

Got my glass as well. After finally finding the page where I could access it. That Sitemap button at the bottom of the home page is the only way I can find things sometimes. Especially old product that I'm thinking I may actually get if it's still there, as I did for RFK '89 around Thanksgiving last year with the discount. I don't have, nor do I plan to make room for, an 80s shelf, so wonder where this boxed glass shall be displayed.

ETA: there's some very odd things not allowed in a post, such as the word that describes a clickable text that sends one to a new website, or the hero of the Legend of Zelda...

Re. the Throwin' Stones > NFA

Dave might be right that it started as a show closer on this tour, but at my first show- 9/21/82 at MSG- which was an absolute smoker (e.g, opened w/ Playin'>Crazy Fingers- that's the first set, mind you)- the band came out of space into Throwin' Stones > NFA, then played Black Peter, then Good Lovin', w/ a US Blues encore.
That Throwin'>NFA, particularly NFA was hot, hot, hot! Check out the matrix recording available for this one.
Overall, an incredible show- DK if it's some ragged vocals, or a weak vault recording, but I have no idea why this one has never been an official release. It's an epic show for that era.

We don't want to play huge stadiums……

50 years ago today……

July 31, 1971
Yale Bowl, New Haven, Connecticut

Set 1: Truckin'-Sugaree-Mr. Charlie-Mama Tried-Big Railroad Blues-Playing In The Band-Dark Star>Bird Song-El Paso-Hard To Handle-Loser-Me And Bobby McGee

Set 2: Bertha-Big Boss Man-Me And My Uncle-Deal-China Cat Sunflower >I Know You Rider-Sing Me Back Home-Sugar Magnolia-Casey Jones-Not Fade Away>Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad>”Darkness jam”>Not Fade Away

Encores: Uncle John's Band>Johnny B. Goode

Deadicated to Jeffrey Greenberg, Bob Messina, John Starks, and Rich Petlock…..

So, how did they do???

Actually, not bad at all. Solid if unspectacular show. Little bit of Pigpen, interesting first set Star, unusual Bobby McGee set closer, Sing Me Back Home, a Darkness jam, two song encore. What’s not to like about all that?

Coffee spilled on guitars, executive nannies, homicidal maniacs, rock and roll, Grateful Dead…………

Rock on!!

Doc
……unless we can play them well…..

September’82

Some releases from this run would be fun. I’ve been slowly digesting 9/17, which has a great Touch of Grey>Women Are Smarter. The version of High Time is also really beautiful, and it has a Throwin’>NFA. The Jim Wise audience source is very good, but a matrix is coming soon I think. I haven’t listened to the first set yet, but from the looks of it, it’s gonna be good. September 1982 seems overlooked, but the performances are spectacular.

Out for delivery

Looking forward to playing this tonight.

A cassette master, but Dave did say Plangent was used, and that it was already a good sounding Healey SBD.
According to the Plangent website their process is for reels, but maybe they built a device for cassettes, or just used their skills to clean up the digital files.

He also said “a couple of things yet in 2021”, which I take to be DaP40 and Black Friday RSD, along with the October release of the STL Box.
He was also enthusiastic about DaP40.

And as I type this the USPS truck just stopped at my mailbox. Woo Hoo, heading out to the driveway.

Sounds pretty good

The best sounding Brent DaP release so far.
The booklet credits Plangent for cassette wow and flutter correction, although the Plangent logo isn’t printed on the case.
I like the color scheme of the CD’s.

Playing Shakedown but then have to run errands and do yard work.
Will settle in with some beer tonight and play all the CD’s.

This One

Nice surprise, this.
My first show. I was 18.
Still remember how stoked I was that they played Help>Slip>Franklin since Blues for Allah was (and remains) my favorite studio album.
Guess I finally get to say "I was there, man" on an official release.
I don't particularly love 80s or 90s Dead. But I love that I got to see the Dead in the 80s and 90s.
May the four winds blow you all safely home.

Dylan and Hunter, Together Through Life

I think Dylan's latest came out late April but I didn't hear a thing about it until I was reading the article about Dylan and the new owners of his catalog winning a law suit over the co-writing of "Desire". Apparently this new album was co-written by Hunter (10 of the 11 songs) and they like writing together. Anyone heard this? Got to go looking for this material. Haven't bought a Dylan album since "Desire" was remastered. Might be time for some more!
Cheers!

First Shakedown Street?

OK, I thought maybe this is the first one released in the Dave's Picks series but surely there must have been one in the Dick's Picks series. And don't call me Shirley, but I could not find one at first glance all the way through Dick's #25. My Dick's 26-36 are burned copies so it would take some time to Deadbase all of those shows. Any statisticians out there that know this stuff? Just seems impossible that it isn't on a release already.
My first Shakedown was THEIR first Shakedown Aug. 30-31, 1978 Red Rocks where they debuted 5 new songs after coming straight out of the studio and right back to their new favorite venue almost unannounced. Those two shows were not even sold out as it was a last minute decision that left mail order almost out of the loop. So I got on the bus on the wild last day of the tour, 7-8-78, then they come back to seal the deal at two of the most smooth and precise shows since '77. I know I've asked Dave for these two before but a two show release of Aug. 30-31, 1978 would be a nice counterpoint to the July '78 box. Thanks Dave for your time and diligent research.
Cheers all!

P.S. And while we are checking stats, what other times had they finished a tour then started the next tour at the same venue? Should be some, maybe home turf California shows?

Whilst I wait for delivery each day until 3...

I have shifted from my long, strange delve into GD86 to 7 31 73, a show I have never heard.

Skulltrip is Alive!!!....

....shake the hand, that shook the hand.
"I don't particularly love 80s or 90s Dead. But I love that I got to see the Dead in the 80s and 90s."
That is a conundrum. Interesting.
Hey 1stshow. There is a Shakedown on Dicks 27. Oakland 12.16.92.
There is a Shakedown on RT 3.4 Cornell 5.7.80. And one on RT 4.4 Spectrum 4.6.82.
But yeah. Few and far between. Unfortunate, because I have never met ANYONE who didn't enjoy that song.
Even non-heads. Even my mom likes it.

Istshow - Shakedown Street

Dick’s ‘dex lists it on 5 and 27

It is on Dicks 5....

....I just looked from 27 on.

Thank You Vguy and Colin!

I knew someone on here would know. I missed DiP 5 too.
Colin, you're the fellow birder. I saw a life list bird this week. Least Flycatcher (likely migrating) at about 8000 ft. here in Western Colorado. My 290th life-lister. Only 111 species sighted this year (drought, pandemic). Started in 1982 and average maybe 100-150 species a year is all, as we don't travel all that far; AZ, NM, UT, WY and two trips to the Eastern US in the 80's. Retiring soon and planning a 2022 Pacific NW tour and a TX Gulf tour after that. Bird on!
Cheers!

Shakedown

A couple in the Road Trips series as well.

This one from Philly looks nice and hefty. Too bad mail innovations tracking botched the delivery time. The routing was problematic before the slowdown. Oh well, arriving Monday instead of today.

I mean....

....Shakedown is now the official name for the parking lot scene in general. Even non-jam band bands. Says something.
I recall seeing Slayer a few years ago, and even the fans in the lot called it Shakedown 🤘Just gotta poke around.

Birding

1stshow You should get a lot of life birds when you get to Texas. We (wife an I) have only spent two weeks in the US,in 1989, and saw 275 species in Texas. Most of our birding has been in the UK where we’ve seen a little over 500 species. Over the past 10 years or so we’ve travelled mainly in the Western Palearctic ( Europe, North Africa and Middle East) and have seen c. 790 species there. We had hoped to be over 800 but we haven’t been anywhere in the past 18 months. Of course, this is a minor inconvenience compared to the suffering of so many in this pandemic and we’re grateful to be relatively healthy

Edit My 39 is probably still in the US but I notice the alternative tracking number ends in CH so I wonder if it is heading to Switzerland prior to heading for the UK

My first Shakedown......

My first Shakedown, was 10/20/78 at Winterland, it sounded just like it did on the album Shakedown Street. What a great tune, a song that got better as the years went by.

Good Ol' Grateful Dead

Had a barrel full of fun listening this afternoon. Back when entering college in 1991, the 80's shows were the ones circulating more than anything. Maybe they sounded better on those old boom boxes and portable stereos? I do miss graphic equalizers. Anyway, I remember sitting down one evening to copy a batch of tapes and the deadhead I was with, a little more versed than I at the time, mentioned 'that classic grateful dead sound' while listening to a show around this time period. So that's what I think of when I hear top quality early 80's: 'classic grateful dead sound'. For me at least. Love how Jerry made his axe chime.

For random thoughts on this particular show, agreement here on it being the best sounding of all the Brent releases in the DaP series so far. Was thinking how Esau would have been a great fit for second sets, similar to how Easy Answers was worked in during the 90s. I wonder how many more notes Jerry would play in a single show in '83 compared to any 70's show? Throwing Stones will be listened to again later tonight. That spaciness of the jam.... both lustrous and fantastic. I'll also pull up an AUD recording to get a better idea what those Phil bombs were like at the end of Truckin'. Great stuff and a welcome change from the 70s materials I have otherwise been listening to lately.

Re: VGuy

Yep. Despite prognostications to the contrary, I'm still kicking.
Seems my inherent stubbornness operates on a cellular level as well.
One day at a time...

Filler yes!

Don't post much, but love that we have filler from not one but two other shows. I think the 80's cassette masters kinda demand that, if for no other reason than to fill out three CDs. Thanks, Dave and team!

Dave’s Picks 39 Artwork

Nice detail with the guy in the door of the camper wearing probably Ed Donahue’s most coveted Grateful Dead t-shirt design! Love it!!

Together Through Life

Istshow70878 - an excellent album, in my estimation and well worth checking out. I always think of it as one of Dylan's great albums released between 2001-2012. The others are " Love and Theft", " Modern Times" and "Tempest." Worth buying the set in fact.

They played Shakedown to open the second set, I think, when I saw them in London in March 1981. Top stuff.

Banter

Has anyone deciphered the conversation that occurs in the 35 seconds before Help On The Way on disc 2?? I haven’t used headphones yet, but I obviously need to.

Great 80s Show

I'm in agreement. This is a great sounding early 80s show. Several shows before 1985 in the Dave's series sound just awful. I am very pleasantly surprised with this one and DaP 35.

Shakedown Street and Help-Slipknot-Franklin are terrific. It is nice to hear Throwing Stones in it's early form

Fivebranch, I am surprised that you hear Jerry played more notes in the 80s, especially because this show I thought the exact opposite. If I understood you correctly. He plays some great solos with lots of notes in Franklin's Tower on this '83 concert but a lot of songs he doesn't play nearly as much. When I heard songs on DaP 39 such as Me & My Uncle and Truckin' I noticed he's not anywhere near as active. On DaP 38 he's playing a mile a minute beginning to end. On songs that he does let loose on he sounds as good as ever but he seems to me to reserve himself for certain moments. Almost like he's pacing himself. I don't know I just thought it was strange that I thought the exact opposite. Same with Morning Dew.

Happy Sunday

Hurry up UPS!

Can’t wait to get this one. My copy has been sitting in Morrow, GA since Thursday.

Re: Seaside Chat

Having watched all these release videos / seaside / riverside chats.. I have come to the conclusion that Dave is in fact a centaur.

A happy birthday to Jerry Garcia

We all miss you

Great Show So Far

I’m listening as I write this, I’ll probably edit this once I’m finished with the show. First off, the show sounds incredible. Everyone can be heard pretty clearly, especially Phil. The first set was very good. The vocal jam in Shakedown was very fun, and Jerry, Phil, and Brent push the jam to new places. The Minglewood is also a highlight for me. Jerry, Bob, and Brent are on fire. I generally enjoy some of the harsher sounding Bob solos, but here the sound isn’t as intrusive as other recordings(I’m thinking of 9/2/83). I think it’s great, not as grating as some others. The West L.A. is great too, with Jerry’s raunchy solos coming off great. Let It Grow is also superb. It’s very fast, which, during the 80s, could lead to complete train wrecks(see some versions of Eyes), but Jerry and the boys pull it together very nicely.
I’m about half way through the second set right now. The Help>Slip!>Franklin’s is one of the best from this era. The transition between Help and Slipknot! is played perfectly. The Franklin’s Tower is insane, probably my favorite of ‘83 so far. The peaks are wonderful. The Man Smart, Woman Smarter is a highlight as well. The vocals from Bob and Brent are great, and the solos are well played as well. Drums during this era, at least for me, don’t excite me very much, but I’ve never heard a bad Drums. On the 3rd disk, the Space is insane. I thought Phil was the one who initiated it, but instead it was Jerry using some fantastic guitar effects. After a few minutes of Jerry noodling, Bob comes in with some half-psychedelic, half-hilarious slide work. The back half is the best though. Brent comes in with some synths and him and Jerry noodle around. It’s similar to 11/30/80 in that way. The Truckin is definitely post-Space highlight, with nice group vocals and a fun Nobody’s Jam. The Dew after is great as well. It’s very mellow until the last 3 minutes or so, when it starts to blow up and Phil starts dropping bombs. There seems to be either a small tape flip or other disturbance once the jam heats up, but it’s not an issue. The Throwin>NFA is good as well. These early versions of Throwin Stones are always fun and unpredictable during the jam, and the NFA is always welcome. It’s very fun to hear the crowd chant during the small encore break. Phil comes in barreling for U.S Blues, and Jerry starts the verse right away. This version is very energetic; a perfect way to send everyone home.

When I listen to these I generally save any bonus material after I listen to the main show in its entirety, but the bonus stuff looks real nice. Excited about that Little Star. This is a great release, probably the best of the year for me, maybe even the best ever(at least from all the Dave’s I have, and I’m kind of a sucker for 83-85). Good stuff.

Also, happy birthday Jerry, thanks for everything!

If I knew the way, I would take you home…

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