Grateful Dead

I had no idea they ever played a show in Jamaica... I'm currently listening to this show and I'm up to the middle of Men A Smart, Women are Smarter... can some please tell me what's wrong with this show? It sounds pretty good to me... EDIT: I'm on Althea now and its certainly as good as ever.

100% will have a subjective opinion on the music based on their tastes0% have a right to question the subjective opinion of others

Forgot to mention that I love the slight variation of stealie for this boxzilla set and hope we see some other cool artwork.

Excellent write up. My memory is a bit hazy, but I do remember very fondly what a great scene it was. Good vibes were all around. For me, GDTRFB always evokes memories of late night driving on the turnpikes, heading home after a show.

I had the great fortune to attend three of the shows in Boxzilla: 83, 84 and of course Oxford 88. The Oxford shows hold weight on many levels: the setting and scene were unique and never recreated, these were backyard shows and I knew that this was the end of my road as the adult facets of life were kicking in. The owner of the speedway was approached by a regional promoter to host two music weekends: the Monsters of Rock with Van Halen and a week later, Dead/Feat. Sure... we will just cut down a hundred acres of trees to create a "campground" and we should be good to go. With very little infrastructure or notification to the locals, the Monster fans rolled in. They were rowdy, brawling and left a stream of garbage and bad vibes for 30 miles back to the Maine Turnpike. As the Heads rolled in on July 1, the locals were better prepared: some selling ice and beer, others setting up camping spots, more than a few sitting in their yard with shotguns in their laps (true story). Most of the Heads were coming from Saratoga. By the time the rolling circus had reached the Maine border, 95 was a parking lot. The party crept for 3 hours to the exit to Oxford. We got into the camping area, set up and kicked back. One of the unique features the bulldozers left was a set of dirt piles, 15 feet high spread all over the grounds. These served a great purpose as people scrambled to figure out where they were. Flags and other markers were planted in the mounds as neighborhoods and thoroughfares were established. By July 2nd the scene was set. It was rumored that 80,000 tickets had been sold but more than 100,000 people were on the grounds. Not Watkins Glen or Woodstock, but still pretty amazing. My wife and I walked over to the shower area to find a crew of carpenters scrambling to build a 2X4 and tarp group shower arrangement. The plumbing was in place and the water truck turned on so we jumped in with maybe 20 other people. It slowed the carpenters down a bit as a parade of young women disrobed without hesitation. Everyone was respectful and hammers were passed over the tarps to bend down errant nails. People took it upon themselves to monitor the trash, cans and bottles (redeemables were big business). By noon, the pop-up city was established and rolling along peacefully, with live music everywhere, vendors selling their wares. Rather than a central Shakedown Street, there were neighborhoods with people asking where to find the shirts with the lobster Steal your Face, etc. The only real bummer was the huge amount of nitrous, which generated a ton of noise around the clock. Having watched a guy hauled off dead at Chief Hosa campground in 87, I was not a huge fan of the nitrous scene. Getting in and out of the shows was beyond an adventure. Originally, coolers were allowed, but the Monsters blew that one, so we abandoned our cooler about 50 yards from the gate, gave away our beer and water and got into what became known as the birth canal. The entrances were 5 feet wide with iron pipes on either side. When my wife and I were about 40 feet from the gate, the crush (or contraction in her words) hit and we were lifted off the ground. We could only hold hands for so long as we got horribly smashed in different directions. I literally burst through the gate, landing about 10 feet from the fence, my ticket intact. Security made the right call to just get us in. I am pretty sure they saved lives with this simple decision. My wife made it through about 10 minutes later. The first show was magical, with incredible weather and skies, the famous ultralight during Birdsong and an epic (not a word I use lightly) second set. I hope 7/2 didn't make this box due to future release plans. 7/3 was really a different show-not as cohesive as the first night with a set list that was not my favorite. From my enhanced mindset, it was a really good show. Jerry was in good form with two first set monsters (Sugaree and Birdsong). The second set was loose but really fun. As had started to occur more often, there were fewer Jerry tunes in the second set of back to back shows, but that was okay as he played hard and was in great spirits throughout. Now came the tough part. My boss allowed me the week off to catch four shows, but I had to be back at work at 8:00 am on the 4th... I was the only one in our rig tripping, so I was not allowed to drive. My wife took the first 3 hour shift, which got us to the highway only 30 miles away. Crispy took the next shift to a rest area around Portland. By this time, my wife was asleep and Crispy was done. Relying on that last bit of wire but thinking and seeing clearly I took over. With "I Will Take You Home" and "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" ringing in my ears, I got us to Massachusetts by 7:30 am. I hopped in the shower, went to work, prepped and was grilling burgers and dogs poolside by 10:30. One of the kids I served that day was my son's 8th grade teacher this year (and a big Head).

Compelling case kev jones makes for a 95 show. I'm going to have to check it out. Speaking of Omni shows, I listened to 4/1/90 last night for the first time. Wow I didn't expect it to be that good. It doesn't get as much attention as other shows from that tour. But the first show in Atlanta smokes from beginning to end. The Candyman, Althea, To Lay Me Down > The Music Never Stopped, China Cat > Sunflower > Ship Of Fools > Woman Smarter, Stella Blue are all outstanding killer versions. Can't wait to listen again.

Did anyone else notice that Neptune's the only Planet not represented on the cover (except of coarse for our dearly decommissioned Pluto)

During Space: 15% will love it 15% will hate it 10% will be hanging on for dear life 10% will be melting down 10% will not care 20% will be in the bathroom 20% will be getting munchies

During Drums: 20% will love it 20% will hate it 20% will not care 40% will be in the bathroom.

"Anybody have any stories from attending any of the shows that are going to be in the 30 trips box? I'd love to hear them." Yup, went to the Zenith show in Paris. It was the first time I'd seen the band since the Rainbow shows in London 9 years earlier and I went on to return to the UK and see the final 3 shows of the Europe tour. I went 'on the bus' with a group of UK heads who were also readers of the UK magazine Spiral Light. Firstly, I love Paris - even being born and raised in London my favourite city on the globe is Paris - so I already knew I was going to have a good time. It was a little wet though, but I didn't mind that. Zenith was on the outskirts of the city and not really representative of the kind of place tourists expect of Paris, but what the heck! It was actually a really good place to see the band. Great sight-lines from wherever you were and good acoustics. It wasn't full but there was plenty of atmosphere from the crowd. The Hell in a Bucket opener was absolutely electric - I remember hearing the first notes as the lights burst into life and thinking it was going to be a great show and it was. The energy levels were high for the whole show and most everyone went out feeling that they'd witnessed a tremendous show. I certainly preferred these shows to the ones I saw at the Rainbow, but obviously there was a tinge of sadness hovering over the proceedings with the death of Brent still very fresh in everyone's mind. The second night was good, too, but not as bright as the first. It wasn't long before the tapes started circulating and I remember setting out to listen to them to see if they were as good in retrospect as when I experienced the shows live. They were. I still hope that Dave releases the Berlin show from that tour - the Shakedown Street played in honour of the recent fall of the Berlin wall was simply stunning!