First and foremost - Happy Birthday Mr. Weir! You are loved more than you know!!!

Second, forgot to mention, I met this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nihon Hidankyo, in 1996 in Hiroshima Japan. I was there for education. This was both a school group touring Japan and part of a summer employment internship. I was with the group when he singled me out to give a tour of Hiroshima park at the blast zone. How he could since a kind soul by looking at me blows my mind. Spent 2 hours with him, have a lot of pictures.

Life is strange indeed.

77

50 years ago, Phil sang Happy Birthday to Bobby in an awkward voice (a la Marilyn Monroe)

New Widespread Panic Archive release from 4th of July at the Warfield looks pretty tasty as well. Only have one of their official release, from hometown. They have excellent spacial thickness on their releases. They had help from some GD experts to educate them both on sound and lighting. Of course, Candice Brightman ran their lights and educated others. I know Phish (Chris Kuroda) has incredible lighting but at times I prefer Panic's lights. They create a spacial context in their lighting to go with spacial context in sound.

They played what may be the best 1980s set, at the Melkweg in Amsterdam:

Playing in the Band >
Hully Gully >
The Wheel
Samson & Delilah
Gloria >
Lovelight >
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad >
Playing reprise>
Black Peter >
Sugar Magnolia

Previous night was very good as well.

Btw, it looks like the Archive has been down for a few days now, not sure what's going on there.

4/16/78 Huntington W Va - omfg this is awesome

What happened to that black and white video from Duke ‘78 that made the trading rounds back in the day? My copy was multi-generational but it was a great companion to a very strong show.

? Saw it up last night after watching the GDM thingy?
Are you looking on the GD channel on the toob of you?

It’s pretty good all things considered, at least if you grew up watching what we had as lads! Definitely helps illuminate the approach at the time…

...bc I listened tonight to 4/16/78 for the first time EVER. Rawrrrr strong stuff!

I started at the Scarlet ->Fire because I was in the mood to hear that, and then I just kept listening. It's all been good, but I have to say, what a sublime Sugar Magnolia! Maybe it's because this song was played so often, but I feel like it takes a special rendition to really make me wake up and take note. But this one got to me. I've replayed it at least half a dozen times tonight, mainly for Garcia's work after Weir finishes the verses but before they launch into SSDD.

Tomorrow I'll take the entire show with me to work and give it a start-to-finish playing.

The Duke Show OR 11/24/78

It was on utoob this year.
4-12-78 a few weeks ago and GD Movie + Bonus a couple days ago.

I played the GD Movie Bonus DVD yesterday. Good stuff. Time to remaster all the video from that run to Blu-ray and/or 4k ultra HD and Plangentize the reels.

Give us the goodies and clean them up first.

I'd love to see the whole October Winterland '74 run released to CD in its entirety. Anything they can add to the movie would be great too. Spare no expense.

Sad to say that this was not the Dead's finest hours. A total transition period with very little continuity of song choice as we saw in earlier years. Cocaine had also made its presence highly known during this period, so that probably accounts for a lot of it. I saw the Atlanta show and it was nice to hear Peggy-O and Candyman, but things just didn't seem to quite flow so easy.

I'd rather the complete run be released on cd than dvd. When I am listening I can go anywhere, but when I am looking at a screen I tend not to lose the plot as easily.

It always strikes me as a bit strange that cocaine is often cited as a reason for 1978 shows being the way they were. I got the impression that it became their drug of choice for playing live many years before then. 1974 being a good example, going off reports from the time.

I wouldn't worry about the All the Video Edition. As I understand it, Jerry rode that horse to death, and it almost bankrupted the band (or did it bankrupt them?). I don't think they have the resources to pull it off and even if they did, I do not think they can make a return on the investment.

I even think the All Music Edition is problematic. When Steal Your Face came out (anybody remember that double album?), Bear and Phil complained that the recordings were problematic, something about the original mix being in Quad or the differential mics bleeding through or something like that. I seem to recall the box we got didn't come easy but I could be wrong.

So who knows what if anything we will get from this run, but I still want it. Each and every glorious show, yes to audio. If they somehow cobbled a few more hours of video that would be a cherry on top but I'm not holding my breath for that much new video from this run being released.

As for 78 and cocaine, etc. I find attraction to different years and eras at different times. Some things do not appeal to me but given a different time and setting sometimes they break through, and I get sucked in. On the other side of the same coin, the GD never got everything exactly perfect. They came close but there was always something that ventured off course, seemed astray. Like they were constantly striving for something just beyond their grasp and then by chance when they got there, they didn't quite know what to do with it. And for me, that's the appeal. That's what keeps me coming back. The adventure, not the destination. The willingness to take chances and keep things fresh.

My favorite Brown Eyed Women's are from Spring '78 and some of my favorite Peggy-O's. Was there excess, of course, but there were diamonds in the rough. Go through some of those older boxes or shows less travelled, toss one in the player and don't be surprised if it sounds better than you remembered. Like the Stella Blue on Steal Your Face.

I think SYF was my 1st GD LP. College dorm guy next door was a very knowledgeable CA deadhead and he seemed to think it wasn't a very worthy release at that time (during hiatus) so then I worked backwards to Skull & Roses, Aoxomoxoa, Live Dead, EU72 and by then Blues For Allah came out. Needless to say I was hooked.
Cheers

Oh yes Jim, I remember Steal your face. It was very hard to find in the mid eighties and when I finally got it, I was excited at the time.

I believe they put it together very quick to try and raise some money after Ron split with $650k of the bands money.

I will say the 2004 Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack is some of the best sounding 74 I have ever heard. Love it. So, certainly think they could give us some more. Dave also mentioned (in the 2004 Grateful Dead reissue) that they had more movie footage to put out another movie. Don't know for sure, but again it would be great.

Pinkus has a new unboxing video for this year's box. We owe him a lot and he has been very instrumental in bringing us tons of fantastic releases. Keep them coming!

That was my first Dead album too. Summer 1976 it came out in England. There was one side of the triple album "Glastonbury Fayre" which featured about 23 minutes of Dark Star from Wembley 4/8/72 that I got a few years before that.

I also found numerous skips and gaps even after downloading the flac files twice. Support has been unresponsive. I finally instituted a disputed charge

Count me among the disappointed customers who shelled out hard-earned currency for a very flawed product. I lost count of the number of songs across various shows in the set that were marred by skips and pauses.

When I first reported this I received a quick reply and a new set of download links. There was no acknowledgement of the problem, just new links. I downloaded one of them and it too had songs with skips. I have since reached out again, and now the folks at dead.net/rhino are silent.

I'll provide an update if I hear anything. In the meantime, anyone else who has experienced the same thing with the Friend of the Devils download set, please make your voice heard.

Phil just passed away. It's a sad day at casa JimInMD. I am flying my freak flag at half mast. Phil was a legend, a talented musician, he spoke his mind and he was a kind soul.

I had the pleasure of meeting him once, we hung out and drank beer for four or five hours and talked Grateful Dead and assorted stuff. I will never forget that night.

Rest in peace Phil. Let it be known you made a great difference in this world. Come hell or high water I was going to venture to the Capitol Theatre this March to see his 85th Birthday shows if they could pull it off. I'll have to wait until I get to the other side to make that happen.

Such a bummer.. no smiles for me today.

As I sit down to start the onerous task of shredding Friend of the Devils CD's to add to my "cloud" library, I see the news that Phil has laid his last bomb on this plain. I'm staring out of my den window into the dark, Salisbury Live Fire Range well within earshot, quiet tonight, and I chuckle at the irony.

Here's to Phil. Not just unrivalled at his craft, but also one of the tidiest, most free, incredibly lucid, beyond comparison instrumentalists, Phils is up there in the pantheon of all time great improvisational musicians to ever have played. Phil bought it each and every show... A living oxymoron of precise freeform melody and wildly inventive noise. All performed literally live and without a net. Many a time have I mentally isolated Phil's "space", in awe of the effortless contortionism of his unique antithetical ouvre.

Personally, I think that Phil was to the 'Dead's lower register, what Jerry was to the High side. It seems almost sacrilegious to suggest it, but I'll put my money down and suggest that Phil's space in the band was as pivotal as Jerry's... No Phil, no 'Dead.

Thank the maker that we have all of this legacy music available still. I look forward - should I be so lucky -
to many more years of getting lost in the Phil Zone.

Rest up old boy. You done good! Best to Phil's family and friends. Thank you in absentia to the donors and their families who helped Phil in later life. I hope there's some salve in the legacy and the joy still to share and share again.

x

Like many, I work long grueling hours. Toward the end of the Day, I learned Phil had passed. I finished the day stunned. With no thought, I loaded a Binghamton Show into my car cd player (yup, I still have one). That helped me sort things out on my 1/2-hour drive.
Once home, I went first to my beer fridge and grabbed a choice IPA and chilled glass and headed straight to my living room for my "Friends of the Devil" box. I could almost say I own too much Dead, but I didn't have to give it much thought as to what I wanted to hear. I own the majority of the Dead boxes; I have to say this has been one of my favorites. I have been taking my time and savoring the shows. In truth, I've worked through about 75% of this one. I'm usually a methodical listener. Not last night, I just randomly grabbed 4.16.78 and loaded it into the changer. As I sat and listened, texts poured in from friends, knowing I had to be home mourning. 4.16.78 was a joy, it reaffirmed all that Phil and the Dead were and perpetually are. It was like an IV drip; it brought me back to my center. I couldn't ask for a better life support system. Dave and company, thanks for this box. The doctor doesn't make house calls anymore, but if you are feeling loss right now, take one Dead show and call me in the morning! (Thanks for having been in the world Phil!)
P.S. I had trashed the box artwork before this box arrived, it really quite ingenious.

DOINGTHENEEDFUL

You are correct To me Phil is as much responsible for the "Grateful Dead" as Jerry

Finally getting to Duke and having a great time in 1978. The dynamics of this year are so noticeable. The quiet parts are quieter and the loud parts are louder! Almost like they have that group mind thing down pat. Or like there is a master volume control that keeps everyone in balance. So good. The sound quality of this box is superb.
Cheers

I also decided to pick up where I'd left off - which was 4/11. Good show - especially the first set and the Scarlet-Fire. Drums is now 22 minutes, though, which dissipates the energy a bit for the last cd.

Bit dischuffed that neither the 1st or the 3rd cd would play on my hi fi. But they played okay on my portable cd player, so I am hoping that now they have been played through once they will work on the main one. Maybe I'll do copies of them, and see if they work any better

30 years ago I was up in Oakland to see the Rolling Stones play on their Voodo Lounge tour. They opened the show with Not Fade Away.

I can't say this sort of thing very often, but 34 years ago tonight ( 31st) I saw The Dead at Wembley. And the night before. And the night after.

Awesome Dave!

I got through the box one time, pretty slow for me, and was into 4/10 again when Dave's 52 arrived.
I could not resist, I always have to hear everything right away...
I can't believe it when some people sit on releases for a while.
Anyway, box is on hold for a bit. I really did like Blacksburg so far.

36 years ago I was up at the Oakland Auditorium to see the Jerry Garcia Band. It was the 1st time I had seen him since his coma, He hadn't played with the Grateful Dread yet. They did Forever. Young and it was very cool.

A good sentence to be able to utter!

Myself, I was up at Oakland 33 years ago tonight. Hard to really put that show into words... at least into just a few words. I will say that it does makes me miss Phil all the more thinking about the bass lines he played as Kesey took the stage...

So, during the Deadcast, season 10, episode 03 (Duke) at around 52 minutes, Jarnow says that the recordings in this box aren't soundboards but "special mixes" Betty made using the soundboard feed.
He doesn't say matrix either, and doesn't elaborate enough for me. I think a statement like this requires explanation.

This explains Jerry's vocals at the beginning and maybe, possibly, why some people don't like the sound of the box....

EDIT: So, having thought about this a little longer I think I understand what he meant, Betty was taking the board and remixing for tape, unlike Healy definitely and probably Bear too.
But it was strange the way he said it...

Betty was fed audio - probably pre-mixes of vocals, guitars etc (although I have seen a photo of her with what looks like a 16 track mixing desk) and she would mix using headphones
A soundboard recording is what is mixed for the venue and output to whatever the recording device is

I believe that there is video of it in the basement recording during the GD Movie.

I don't remember that basement scene, have not watched the movie for a few years. I'm guessing since they were recording 16 track for the movie, Betty might not have been recording two track those nights.

Wow that third disc is a doozy. I've listened to that Wang Dang > Dew three times, choice stuff!!

I have the Movie on DVD and watched it a few weeks ago.
That’s why I think I recall the board being shown, although Betty may not have been at the controls.

For the life of me can't get through this box. For me 1978 just doesn't have it. July 78 box hit me same way. I thought the William & Mary Dew show overall nothing.

I got through about the first 3 shows and just puttered out.

Recordings are great, but band sound, playing, arrangements are just plain work to like.

I like the run of shows idea though.

I've been chop showin' this box up something fierce. Most Dead Boxes I do this to for pure fun and infinite playlists. I like making my own 'Road Trips' so to speak. Anyways as for the difficulties folks are having with the box I kinda understand, the Florida run is alright but not stellar yet. I mined mostly from the second and third of the FL shows, though 'Passenger' from 4/6 & 'Sugaree' from 4/7 are nice 1st set songs. Georgia's two shows is where it all gets going on full throtle I feel, from there its on to Duke & VA Tech. With the last show in WV a pretty fine gig too.

A real nice paring with Dave's #37!

It hasn't worked for me either, listening to the shows in this box one after the other. They sound much better for me one at a time, spread over a week or so with other shows and music in between. I haven't listened to them all yet, despite having it for several weeks. The next one up for me will be 12th.

Wharfrat6969, I get the fatigue when diving deep into shows so close together. That's why I'm treating this set as an alternative subscription series like I've been doing with HCS 1973. After making sure all the discs play, I put them away and pull out a new show every three months or so. With DEVILS I started with Durham and plan to finish in summer 2026. As for HCS, I've been enjoying my deep dive into each show so much that I won't even get to the final one, DC 6/9/73, until sometime in 2025.

On a side note, this is why I really like the "stealth" boxes Dave has released over the years. I'm not sure I'd have been able to absorb "Turn On Your Lovelight: 11/2/69 to 2/2/70" if this massive set had been sold in one big box. But since it was issued slowly via DaPs from 2013 to 2022 I've never gotten tired of it.

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Can't believe this box hasn't sold out yet. Just finishing up 4/11/78 from the Fox. Great show, interesting Rhythm Devils into Iko Iko.
Keep these coming Dave. Great stuff!

Just did DaP 37 yesterday to keep in chrono order with the Box and I think Wm. & Mary won that football game. Will go back to DaP 37 after the 4-16-78 show and do the extra material from 4-18-78 to stay in order before finishing with DaP 15 4-22-78. So far I have not gotten the burn out doing them in order and not cleansing between but I have been pretty slow at getting it done so that may explain it. Makes me think the Devil box is leftovers from Dave's research into this era given the releases we've had. I love leftovers! Thanksgiving only two weeks away.
Cheers
Edit: Huntington is a ripper! Loving it!

Ordered.

In at 12, out at 1201.

I tellin' ya, there was no line :-)

Yeah 1stshow, I wonder if 37 was a test to see how’d it go over before committing to the whole enchilada? Test test, tap, tap, tap…
Wonder if 51 was too? That’d be ok if he used better shows from later in the month
AND!
The tapes don’t sound so bad…

I like the idea. I'm usually a hound for boxes in past June 76, May 77, GSTL May 77, etc.

I got the 76' Oakland shows, DP33, on vinyl today, highly recommend. Cheap on Amazon $152.

Have always loved Duke, so not totally down on 78. RR, NYE love.

Just seems to much coke was going around this being the height of it with disco and all.

But I have done the tour in order back in I think 2015. Huntington was my favorite, but I only got one listen.

Will get to this soon.