Grateful Dead

Awesome cassette tape!Lots of hours spent listening to that. One of the go-to tapes (before I built a collection of Dead recordings) for driving home after a concert.

Like you, I lost interest in the synth years. I discovered Rush at 2112. Loved them up through Moving Pictures. After that, not so much. Their last cd, however, Clockwork Angels is a masterpiece. Very heavy, great playing from all. I would highly recommend.

ok i've had this tattered list of Eu 72 shows that i knew i'd buy someday, and i at least checked off three of them (on sale Yay!). 4/14 Tivoli, 4/21 Beat Club (I remember digging the meet up at the movies) and 5/7 which happens to be on the Rolling stones list of great dead shows...hmmmm. Anyway looks like i missed out on two of my hopefuls, 5/4 Olympia and 5/11 Rotterdam...damn! must be sold out. I just want to also put a Rush plug in for the Kiel auditorium 1980-show, not official but shouldn't be too hard to find, it's a boot that is a hoot. Full 2112 and fantastic Natural Science. This show is it for me, raw and ripping. peace

Per KeithFan's request (and my delight), I'm reposting one of my very first posts to these here boards; this is in honor of the 44th anniversary of the Europe '72 kickoff; and, specifically, the 44th anniversary of the first Dark Star played on the tour. 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. Sixtus

Single shows from E'72 are still 25% off. I saw the All Music Edition for 25% off yesterday, but by the time I decided it was worth it even considering I already had 8 of the individual shows, it was sold out. Picked up a few of the individual shows that I didn't have and they are still 25% off today. Is this because it is the anniversary of the E'72 tour, or is there another reason?

I wonder if they'll restock.... Thanks for re-posting that Sixtus, it will make a nice point of reference as I get into each show for the 44th. I never thought to rank them. 4/8 and 4/24 are maybe my two favorites, but then again, I'm always picking up new things in the music, and my preferences shift over time. Also doing some prep work for the July '78 box. I have 4/10/78 queued up and ready to go... What will be nice is if DaP 18 takes us all by storm next month -there's nothing I'd like more than a blockbuster from '76 to help me overcome the blind spot I have for that year (as a good friend once described it). P.S. - just read your 4/8 review Sixtus. It's funny you mentioned the hints of Sugar Magnolia, because I heard it myself the other day (it was the bass line), and I thought hmmm, is that Phil letting folks know he's ready to move on...

Whoo Hoo. Thanks KF and Sixtus. (almost) agree w/ your best DS list. 4/14 and 5/4 are among my favorites. There has to be a special ranking to the one I just listened to, its almost always my favorite and that award goes to 4/8. I'm one of the ones that likes 5/11 too. Then there's the honorable mentions. Both Lyceums are outstanding and the sleeper award might have to go to 5/18. ahhh.. its that spring 72 time of the year again when I revisit some of my favorite shows and get trashed in the cold mountain streams as I dust off my kayak and realize how out of shape I have become over the long winter. ______________ Listening to 12/3/81 Madison WI on Satellite Radio. Great show, great sound. I think the Its All Over Now, Baby Blue from Postcards from the Hanging is from this show.

Gah!!! Wish I had all of those shows. I'd love to follow along on the anniversary dates. I do, at least, have today's and 5/11/72. The rest may have to be supplied by Spotify. I will also be playing the upcoming spring '77 shows as the dates go by.

Wow, never expected to see Waldo Jeffers referenced here. What a great song/story, though more than a little twisted, especially as delivered by John Cale. Might have to give it a listen tonight. Thanks Stoltzfus! Back to regular programming now.

...but I do have an Irish Setter.