Grateful Dead

No picks??

How bout since it’s Friday we do a power twofer: 10/16/74 and/or 9/3/85?

Haven’t heard either…

I have to mention the underrated standing on the moon only because my mind is fresh on that.

Btw, thanks everyone that has mentioned 7-18-76. I never really gave that one a full listen and the multi track glory really shines on the 2020 remaster.

Hey, what are you doing with my levels? 7-28-82 oh so great show with the fake St. Stephen tease :-)

Be well all and stay gratefull... :-)

Ha.. I sort of remember that one, ... the Rain Set. One of the two post 91 shows I saw. 90 RFK was another where it poured for a large portion of the show. It looks like you caught more rain than me and you obviously have a better memory. I need more brain plasticity, my new favorite phrase.

But I figured, so why I “stocked up” last few days!

Don’t recall anything like Woodstock 94!
I remember that little Merriweather dry ditch.
Dead show water parks: can’t remember the year, maybe 89 at Alpine? They had built up the hill to add more capacity and I guess better sight lines, but it was even steeper than it had been, and the sod was still new, so of course it rained so much the sod started giving way etc. Became huge fun for some sliding down that relatively steep hill in the mud, for others, like cousin Pumice and myself much of the time was spent precariously perched on what ever sod was still intact trying to watch the show and not suddenly zipping downhill lol. I can still picture all these little islands here and there with folks trying to stay on them, but every now and then the sod would give way and, woops there’d they go!
Dancing in the rain at Toga was awesome, but my best Dead rain show was definitely Pittsburg 95! Biblical!

LIGHTNING: I believe some poor folks at Giants 95 got hit, but I think they were ok?
Just more scary weirdness on that 95 Death Tour: Lightning strikes, Decks collapsing, death threats and gate crashing, and biblical rain. Definitely something was up with the cosmos…

4/9/89: one of the ones I didn’t but should have. I had a new job that I wanted to keep and thus had to cut into my show opportunities. So Went to Cincy on the 8 (good show!) a Saturday, and was going to just drive back that night. Ended up doing a little X that I just procured in the lot, and wow, best X we ever did but man it kicked my ass so that I wasn’t going to do a 7 or 8 hour drive that night. Somehow ended up in a hotel room in Kentucky with god only knows how many people everywhere. Next day being Sunday we should have gone to Louisville and just taken it easy. In those days I could of easily drove back that night and gone to work, but came home Sunday instead : (
I heard the scene was cool there. I always stayed away figuring the cops etc might be too much etc, but over the years I heard L vile liked the money so we’re cool to us.

Can't do 7/8/82 today, haven't pulled it down and made it my own yet. Anyone care to toss out a pick?

I'm in and out, will start with one of the recently released later era shows I have not hit in a while but have time today.. they are playing 4/9/89 Freedom Hall, Louisville today on SiriusXM. A new one for me. Doesn't seem quite as strong as some of the others from that year, but hey.. it was a strong year. Nice Louisville reference in Louie Louie. Two roses songs in Kentucky Derby town.

saw Boulder, CO "hosting" the Jack Kerouac On The Road conference and pretty much everybody still alive from that very extended scene, with the exception of Gary Snyder, was there. I had no freaking idea. Snyder did send a letter to Ginsberg that included the following - “Jack Kerouac was the wandering scholar troubador storyteller youngest son of the Jack tales in us all. … The voice of the water going over the edge of the waterfall itself.” (I took the quote from the blogpost I mentioned in previous post.)

I know I have told this tale before.. sorry to repeat it.

Back to tripping at a rain show.. the most fun by far I ever had at a dead show was a flash flood event with the epicenter of the storm directly above the roof of the shed (Merriweather 6/21/83). Epic. Lightning struck I believe the venue itself during Wharf Rat taking out the power for a brief moment. Bob quit playing guitar during parts of Sugar Magnolia purportedly because he was getting shocked, everyone was soaked. To get to the parking lot, you had to cross this bridge that crossed this little (typically dry) baby stream. The stream flooded and took out the walking bridge so everyone had to get wet above their wastes to get to their cars/tents. They had to bring in bulldozers (bulldosers?) the next day to rebuild the lawn from the damage. Scarcily clad people had created mud slides as they turned the lawn into a semi-naked waterpark. We walked to this show, on the impaired walk home we had to wade across a flooded highway and take an unplanned detour due to flooded streets and resulting traffic cops as we laughed ourselves into a somewhat spooky oblivion the entire way back. We were on a mission to stay away from the cops, surely they can tell.. they are on to us.

And yes.. mucho fungus was in play and no soundboards exist. The walk back was surreal, absolute confusion and mayhem. Huge fun and highly recommended if you ever get the opportunity.

Big rain can most certainly create a cosmic meltdown. How could it not?

There was a big storm at Delfest (a local bluegrass festival around these parts) about ten years ago where a couple people were struck by lightning. Thank god this never seemed to happen at Dead Shows (at least that I am aware of). That would wreck the cosmic flood vibe.

so the vibe I was picking up while listening yesterday was that this was a complete cosmic meltdown of an '82 show. so back with the headphones this AM and checking out the reviews and show recollections on Archive for the Wise tape. and yep this seems to have been a complete cosmic meltdown for a whole bunch of folks. hard rain through the first set and then clearing skies, mist, and moon for set II. going into this yesterday I had also forgotten the Stephen tease. One reviewer seemed to indicate that Jerry was ready to go and Weir steered them away and later admitted he didn't think they were ready for it. NFA has a really cool groove and I swear Jerry is hinting at Gloria or something similar before it drops into Black Peter. so back to the concept and need for dedicated listening - this is yet another show that really really deserves that relaxed and focused space.

edit - and there is a fascinating context note in review by jpotts3 (Aizen upload of Wise source, not CM upload) - there was a MAJOR Jack Kerouac event in Boulder that weekend and a lot of the old Dead family and Pranksters and assorted old school beats were in the area for this. he has a linque there for an extended blogpost, and that blog has a whole lot more of interest to boot. definitely need to check that out and so do some of you too!

There's quite a few rained out shows without soundboards or soundboards or partial soundboards only. I have to think when deluge crossed paths with outdoor music, Dan had greater concerns than to record.. either that or he got tired of replacing water damaged, shorted-out cassette decks once every few weeks week in July and August.

As for the pre-Shakedown banter.. classic.

before Shakedown. On the one hand i might be sorta touchy about anyone presuming with my gear. On the other hand the response caught on tape is sorta hot. guessing that this is centered around daisy chained decks?

7/28 is a big show and, to borrow a thought, Oro, totally August '82 worthy. Had fun all through Set I and finally got serious and strapped on the headphones at Althea. A mid-set II Let it Grow on a rainy Red Rocks night(?!) > He's Gone > Trucking. Spanish Jam in Space and then Jerry teasing St. Stephen before Not Fade Away. My stream cut out at Black Peter so still got the tail end but the encore is Baby Blue and that says a whole lot