Grateful Dead

In the photograph, Jerry is seen with a beautiful shiny hairdo, in a semi-profile which emphasizes the pootched out succulence of his insolent pouting rictus, the sight of which will be certain to drive the helpless young deadheads mad with desire!

As I await Boxzilla like the rest of us, I have been finding a pleasant home here on these boards, reading through the myriad comments, hypotheses, favorite moments and all- around interesting anecdotes related to our favorite band. Also as I wait, I decided to look a little deeper into the Dark Stars from the Europe 72 trunk and do my best to qualify them to find, at least in my estimation, what is the best jamming the boys pull off - and most specifically - those Dark Stars in which they bust out the Feelin' Groovy Jam, a harbinger of intensity, melody, and mind-melding. Below is a short synopsis for each of the eleven Dark Stars from the trunk, followed at the conclusion by my recommendation for the most intense and enjoyable foray that can keep your toes tapping. While off topic of Boxzilla, I thought since I put the time and effort into this search, others may find it interesting or of value. I had looked for something similar previously anywhere on the interwebs, but to no avail. Here goes.... 4/8/1972 - Wembly Empire Pool, London - 32 mins; intense/fast paced first leg up til about 10 mins then returns to DS theme for 1st verse; spacey post-verse til ~17 min, then pace picks up for a few minutes, followed by a brief meltdown; additional spaciness around 24 mins followed by another full meltdown; interesting groove established around 28 min that has hints of Sugar Mag (into which it segues, flawlessly). No second verse. 4/14/1972 - Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, DK - 29 mins; loose first 10 mins not overly spacey; gets spacey around 11 mins; interesting groove establishes around 16 min to head into first verse w/interesting beat; heads off into intense nearly 7-minute jam inclusive of a very tight and fast Feelin Groovy jam; final 3 minutes are a meltdown. No second verse. 4/17/1972 - Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, DK - 31 mins; spacey opening to about 7:30 when first DS theme emerges leading to 1st verse at 9:45. Spacey post-2nd verse tries to take off but melts further around 19 min; returns to a partial groove around 24:30 and closes out with spaceyness in the last 2 mins. No second verse. 4/24/1972 - Rheinhalle, Dusseldorf, Germany - Split by Me & My Uncle; 26 mins 1st half, 14:30 second half. Spacey opening until about 8:45 where it coalesces and falls into first DS theme around 10:15 followed shortly by 1st verse with slow, sparse notes. Spacey feedback following verse until 15:45 and then picks up into an intense, fast paced jam for just under 2 minutes before it becomes dissonant again leading to major meltdown which eventually heads into Me & My Uncle with ease. Second half: spacey reintroduction persists until about 7 mins, where Keith leads-in with some piano phrasing and then the band follows into a tight fast paced jam where Jerry plays some lines back and forth as if in conversation with himself and then maintains an intense level effortlessly segueing into Wharf Rat. No second verse. 4/29/1972 - Musikhalle, Hamburg, Denmark - 30 mins; spacey opening for ~5 mins, then enters a groove and Phil hints at the Feeling Groovy jam until it finally is joined by Jerry a minute later until about 8:00, then the floor drops out into space. DS theme appears at 14 min which leads to first verse. Spacey post-verse noodling leads to major meltdown, settling in at 22 mins with a fat, fast-paced Keith-led groove. Final 4 mins are spacey & lead to major melt #2, dropping into Sugar Mag as DS finally melts away. No second verse. 5/4/1972 - Olympia Theatre, Paris - Split by drums; 19 mins 1st half; 17:34 2nd half. Spacey opening til about 6 mins when fast paced jam kicks in until 11:20, slowing down then resurrecting the DS theme into the first verse. 4 mins of space leads into drums. Second half post-drums is very spacey until 7 mins, then kicks into overdrive with a very high energy jam leading to a phenominal Feelin Groovy Jam for several minutes before settling into the second verse. DS dissipates into the Sugar Mag from E'72. 5/7/1972 - Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, UK - 19:49 mins; decent, coherent jamming for the first several minutes that congeals nicely around 8 minutes. Bottom falls out around 10 mins and leads to some light noodling, cymbal fills and space. DS theme emerges at 14:23 and heads into 1st verse. Space fills the air through the remainder of the song until it totally breaks down into drums. No second verse. 5/11/1972 - Rotterdam Civic Hall, Netherlands - Split by drums; 13:45 mins 1st half; 30:34 mins 2nd half; Opens with a light, airy jam that persists to congeal into a decent groove as it treads in and out of spacey phrasing. This settles into a mysterious sounding jam that grows with intensity without a return to the DS theme before dissolving into drums. Emerging from drums, Phil and Billy duel for 2 minutes before Jerry joins back in with some complimentary thoughts; the DS theme appears around 5 min followed by 1st verse. A few moments of spacey feedback give way to spacey noodling that devolves into a full blow chaotic meltdown, only to emerge around 19:30 into a very nice, fast paced groove that hints at Caution and PITB jams. This eventually dissolves and a light, sparse outro ends the song as it heads off into Sugar Mag. No second verse. 5/18/1972 - Kongressaal, Muenchen, Denmark - 28:20 mins; almost 2 mins of noodling before opening notes from Phil; a loose jam ensues around the DS theme for the next several minutes and then decays. At ~9 min an interesting jam emerges, which eventually settles back into the DS theme and 1st verse around 14:30. The remainder of this DS is borderline chaos as it treads in and out of varying degrees of a meltdown until it settles into Morning Dew. No second verse. 5/23/1972 - The Strand Lyceum, London - 30 mins; Spacey opening minutes lead to tight fast paced jam commencing around 3:30 for two minutes and then it settles into another spacey jam digressing to almost…nothing. Billy and Phil then have a small duel until ~13:30 when the rest of the band fills back into a delicate groove which grows to into a jam reminiscent of the post-Truckin' foray from E'72 until about 17 mins, when they drop into the DS theme and 1st verse. Ensuing is additional delicate spaciness that transgresses into a frenzied meltdown madness, and eventually settles into Morning Dew. No second verse. 5/25/1972 - The Strand Lyceum, London - 34 mins, out of Wharf Rat. Strong opening with a groove almost from the beginning, no noodling around here in the first 7 minutes. Then turns very spacey until 15 mins when DS theme appears, and heads off into 1st verse. Post-verse finds a Billy, Phil, and Keith duel for several minutes. At 21 mins, Phil institutes a mellow Feeling Groovy jam, soon joined by the rest of the band until ~25 mins. Final minutes are dominated by space and then a monumental meltdown before heading off into Sugar Mag. No second verse. Final Verdict(s): It is a very close tie between 4/14 and the second half from 5/4. I put these on the pedestal due to the crazy, intense jams surrounding the Feelin Groovy sequences. They are just interstellar. Part of me also wanted to simply catalogue which Dark Stars included a Feelin Groovy jam from the '72 trunk, so I feel my work is done and I can rest easy. I'd be delighted to hear if any others had similar, or more excitingly, differing thoughts. Happy Thursday to All. Sixtus

$25 + change, free shipping, on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grateful-Dead-30-Trips-Around-The-Sun-The-Defin…

Picked this up at Barnes and Noble for $30 and some change. You have to be a member ($25 a year) to get it at this price. The sound quality of the discs are MUCH better than the stream. Then again, I'm streaming the music thru A/V cables.

"the wheel is turning and you can't slow down" (apologies: rather than a clever retort, GD lyrical quotes just seem kind of banal around here). Anyway, I don't regulate ticket sales to this particular attraction; but, as Uncle Pinkus is fond of saying, "If you be payin', then you'll be playin'". Bob, among the great unwashed horde, life is reduced to series of hard fiscal choices. If it's any consolation, last night - over a snifter of Courvoisier L'Esprit and a Montecristo #4 - David told me the 30 Trips book contains a highly detailed glossy centerfold of Jerry, circa 85, sporting black, Lauren, tent-wear whilst affecting a seductively contemplative chin-on-chest pose and dewed in a provocative sheen. Now you say, "Gisele who?"/p,K P.S. Because I know you're asking: 'yes, thank you, I do enjoy the occasional cigar'.

I'm going for the 30 trips... Wonder which will ship first?

This page says mid-October but when you order it, it says October 31. How about some more pictures of the box set so we can see more of what we've been waiting months for? Trying to save some listening for when I get the box, but was hard to stop once I heard Shrine 67. I was originally hoping for an early 72 Pigpen show for 1972, but that doesn't diminish this great box set of shows.

Stop the ride... I want to get on!

Sorry if this topic has been previously run into the ground, but what exactly are the problems causing this delay in shipping? Anyone know? At least we can stream it, and it all sounds awesome. I've just been bouncing around, tripping on different songs from different eras, not yet concerned about the chronologic fortitude, if you will. So, this is going to be a wooden box, no? Putting the names on the side is super cheesy, but oh well. Gimme enough swag on the inside of the box, and I'll get over it.

Just picked up a brand new 4 disc 30 trips box set for less than $32.00. Much cheaper than here.