Boxed and Ready to Go!
Sound the imperial trumpets! Bang the drum! Pop that champagne! Another Grateful Dead box set is comin’ your way! Yes, in the grand tradition of the beloved Fillmore West 1969 and Winterland 1973 boxes, comes Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings, a 9-CD box set that is sure to knock your tie-dyed socks off.
At this point, we probably don’t need to hype you on the glories of ’77 Dead. It was a magical time for the band, which was reinvigorated by a plethora of great new material—“Terrapin,” “Estimated Prophet,” “Passenger,” “Fire on the Mountain”—and really hitting its stride again following the October ’74 to June ’76 performing hiatus. The group spent much of the first three months of 1977 recording their Terrapin Station album with producer Keith Olsen, and Garcia also managed to find time to complete the much-anticipated Grateful Dead movie (which opened June 1, 1977). The third week of April, the band embarked on what most Dead Heads agree was one of the greatest tours ever: 26 concerts in the East and Midwest in a little over a month—an awesome stretch that produced so many great shows, a few of them already released in the Dick’s Picks series and subsequently (and more, no doubt, destined to come out down the road.)
So when the Dead returned to San Francisco’s Winterland for shows on June 7, 8, 9, they were pumped up and feeling good! They treated their hometown fans to three superb concerts that included excellent versions of much of their current repertoire, from the new combo of “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain,” to a truly colossal, more than 30-minute “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower,” “Saint Stephen,” “Terrapin,” “Good Lovin’,” “Not Fade Away,” “The Other One”… too many favorites to mention (you can see the complete song lists here). Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings contains every note recorded from the three shows, more than nine hours of prime Dead, all taken from the master analog tapes, restored using the Plangent Processes, and mastered in HDCD by that inimitable sonic tweakster, Jeffrey Norman.
The nine discs are packaged in a beautifully designed box that includes artwork by Emek (you loved his crazy Winterland ’73 phantasmagoria); a 28-page booklet featuring a wonderful and illuminating new essay by Rolling Stone senior music editor David Fricke (who dubs this a “box of paradise and circus… six complete sets of inspired risk and collective explosion”); lots of great Winterland action shots by noted GD shutterbugs Ed Perlstein and Bruce Polonsky; and a couple of little pieces of period memorabilia we won’t reveal here.
—Blair Jackson
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These guys are cretins
Okay, this is officially the end of my relationship with you guys. I had posted that I refused my package because the customs charges - for whatever reason, either Rhino's or UPS's - were exorbitant. So I get an e-mail today telling me that I'm being refunded $22.50. Now, first, I never got a confirmation e-mail telling me how much the total was, because of the shipping stupidity. But if the box set cost about $100, I'm guessing the total was something like $115.
So what's going to happen is that I'm going to have to go to my bank and contest the charge, and go through a major hassle because of these fuck-ups. I won't buy any Grateful Dead stuff again; I'll just torrent it. You've treated us like pieces of shit, and you've acted like Beverly hillbillies the way you've handled this whole thing.
I'm going to do my best to charge you guys with mail fraud for the time I've spent on this bullshit. Sorry to be so rude, but you have screwed up from the first minute, and I'm fed up with it. I was probably one of the first peopel to order, placing my order as soon as I got the e-mail, and I've gone through a series of incompetent manouvers since I placed that order.
Calm down and check it out, Kirk
You say you got a mail telling you that you are getting a $22.50 refund. Marye said earlier that refunds would be given for the shipping fuck-up. The "Rush" shipping was... $22.50. I suspect that they have refunded the shipping and not yet had time to sort out what to do with the package that you refused/returned. Maybe they haven't even received that back yet. Read the mail well and see what exactly it refers to. On the other hand, mybe they are cretins... Stay cool.
P.S. Kirk
As you seem not to have received aconfirmation mail and do not know what the total order cost was, maybe i can help. As we both live in Europe, the chance is that we both paid the same. I assume you chose "Rush" shipping, as "normal" shipping was more than $100 when you ordered. The order breakdown for me was as follows:
Winterland June 1977 (1x): $99.98
Shipping (Rush): $22.50
Tax (That VAT thang): $4.28
ORDER TOTAL: $126.76
I hope this helps.
Simonrob
The thing is, I never got any confirmation of anything, other than the original order the day I placed it. I recall them saying that the shipping was something like $12 by USPS, and that we would be charged that shipping amount.
Yea, I should stay cool, but this pisses me off. What a bunch of amateurs.
Amateurs have some idea of what they're doing.
Whereas this bunch of muppets clearly do not.
What makes it even worse is that no "valued customers" ever seem to have the same (bad) experience. It is different for everyone - except that it is always BAD.
the email confirmation thing
We're pretty sure that quite a few of them are getting caught in spam filters, because they are now coming from a whole different server. It might help to check your spam folder. (Might not, too, of course,) Not a fix but fwiw.
Hey! Now I got a refund too.
I just got a mail saying I was being refunded $10.51. Even though it did not say what the refund was for, I guess that this is for the difference between "Rush" and "normal" shipping. If so, "normal" shipping (to Europe) comes in at $11.99. Still waiting for the package, though, but as my card was charged a few days ago, it should be here soon. I wonder how much I'll have to pay the UPS man. Refusal does not seem like a reasonable option - I have had it with hassles this time around. As always, grateful thanks to Marye, as I asked her for help yet again and it seems highly likely that she sorted it.
kirk, simonrob
I bang my head on the desk and apologize profusely.
It does sound to me like there's some merit to Simon's theory, in fact that was my first thought too. I'll pursue this.
UPS Charges?
My box arrived unexpectedly (no email shipping confirmation) today here in Canada.
The sweetness of the arrival was considerably soured by the additional $55 in customs charges imposed by UPS. Any other Canadians get nicked like this? In the 5 years I've been ordering from here, I don't think I've paid more than a few dollars here or there.
Add me to the long list of those completely frustrated with this experience. It's genuinely sad what Rhino has done to the Dead's name.
MaryE - I've emailed orderproblems@dead.net and eagerly await their response.
6/8/77 DISC 3 problem
I've found a problem with the set of discs I received yesterday from dead.net.
The 3rd disc from 6/8/77 (DISC 6 in the package) is labeled as such but in fact has the contents from disc 1 from 6/7/1977. I'm missing the end of the second set from 6/8/77.
anyone else notice this?
AHHH!!
I'm Starting to wish I never ordered this box set. Its adding so much unneeded stress in my life when it should be such a simple thing.
I have no idea if I'm even gonna get it anytime soon and then I have to worry about that fact that the bonus disc could be missing or that disc six is the same as disc one. AHHHH!!!!
Australian delivery
I note a few orders have made it to Australia. I couldn't get to order this despite the (now legendary tales) trying about 500 times using different cards, servers, swearing etc. Had a heap of problems with last Raod Trips which was fortunately bought for me by cool dude in Melbourne. This time I got my partner (who doesn't even like the Dead, poor dear) to order this box... the money's been deducted from our account so we're hoping it's on its way .... but we can't track it and customer service, as you all know by now, has been a joke.
Winterland77
I am still waiting up in Oregon - ordered it with some of the usual problems described here, on the first day it was advertised. anyone else in the Pacific NW gotten theirs yet?
I held my breath...
....the box arrived here in scizophrenic Northern Cal and I have to say, I think I was one of the lucky ones - all discs play what they should, the bonus disc made it and I'm gonna have a listening party with accoutrements in the very near future....
Cost Needs to Come Down
I just spent, with discounts, $145 total for the entire Beatles catalog remastered. The whole catalog represents months if not years of work in studios by the band. And, then I look at this, which is a great run from Winterland, but represents probably about 10-11 hours of work by the boys. How can you justify charging $100 for this, plus shipping. You need to get real with the pricing in the future if you plan to put out more. There's no reason that this package should cost this much, I don't care if it is 9-10 disks.
When Should I expect this package to arrive?
Mary E:
Should I have more patience about my package arriving or should I have received it by now?
Good News, Bad News, YEEEES
Good news e-mail from the store for $10,35 refund
Bad news UPS delivery wants £20.09 ($35.000
YEEEES at least one complete box set makes it across the pond to England all intact and as it should be.
Now to find the time to listen to it all.
shipping issues and now quality issues
With all the shipping issues now a quality issues has surfaced with one customer. See neo levo's entry on page 26 [The 3rd disc from 6/8/77 (DISC 6 in the package) is labeled as such but in fact has the contents from disc 1 from 6/7/1977. I'm missing the end of the second set from 6/8/77].Now if you are lucky to receive your Winterland 77 set, you have to worry about quality issues and trying to get a replacement if there are disc problems.
I remember the quality issues with disc 2 of the Winterland 73 release. It took me three months of phone calls to finally get a resolution. Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating.
neo levo, please let us know if you get this quality issue resolved.
Quality issues
What's weird about these reports is that only some people have problems. I didn't have any problems with the Winterland set, and I know others who got it with no problems as well. There are reports here of a bad disc (disc 6); has anyone gotten a disc 6 with the right contents? Or are all sets affected?
how much worse can this get?
like many, I'm wishing I hadn't bothered with ordering this. No refund of the $US4 tax charged, no reduction of the $US22 postage. And to cap it all, UPS tried and failed to deliver to my home here in Wales UK today, and will not re-deliver until Monday, when they will expect £20+ in additional charged (about $US33). So if and when I get this box set (with or without the correct disc 6) I will have paid around $US160. Never again....
Odd things on discs
Nothing to do with these current issues, but some years ago I bought a copy of Terrapin Station from some mail-order source...the disc arrived, popped it into my CD player and was treated to some very-unexpected classical music. I got a replacement, but so far I've never been able to identify exactly what that music is on the Terrapin disc.
Of course, none of my friends are into classical music, so the fact that no one can ID what's on the disc is not exactly shocking.
Just realized that I've never tried sticking it into my computer...maybe there's some metadata there that will pop up on the screen. Early-generation cd, but perhaps the mystery will be solved.
Still waiting for the box. My credit card has been charged, so I hope that means that it's in transit...
response to kirkmc
Let's hope all that all the sets were not affected with the disc 6 problem. Could you imagine trying to get even one resolved, let alone all the sets. Everyone would be out of luck at that point.That is a problem with the bonus disc. You order early to get the bonus disc (unless the scalpers bought them all up) and then you get the early quality issues. Waiting until later you pass on the bonus disc and get better quality product.
I got mine
arrived here in France with a colossal customs and UPS handling charge. I have checked all the discs and they seem to contain what they are supposed to do.
Listening now and it is a real treat with the usual great sound. But you know all this BS with ordering and delivery takes a little of the shine off it all, which is a pity. The arrival of a new set like this should be a time of celebration not one of anxiety and desperate relief.
There are lots of companies in the US that run fast ,efficient, low cost and customer friendly mail order operations, even when shipping to those obscure parts of the world that are not the USA.
Please don't blame the Indians for the mess; they are the low paid foreign workers trying to clean up the shit created by better paid others who should know better (ain't that always the case). Nearly 3 years now of mail order with the new store now and its still a shambles. Why not put a bit more effort into getting this handled by professionals and a bit less effort into stuffing the box with pointless flim flam like the reproduction GD Movie postcard.
Anyway back to the music....it's supposed to be about that and it's really good!
cosmicbadger
Did you get a EUR 40 customs charge? Just curious; I'm in France too, and that's what they wanted for mine. But I couldn't see on the bill what the costs were for (because VAT only represents about EUR13).
French tax
kirkmc
The facture given to me by the UPS guy says
Customs charges EUR 23
Other charges EUR 13
VAT on the charges (VAT on VAT???) EUR 2.55
TOTAL 38.55 EUR
Previously I have had merchandise shipped by USPS and delivered by La Poste here in France and have never been asked for any customs charges. They just can't be bothered. I just ticked the wrong box this time and it cost me 5 bucks.
Anyway here's a suggestion for us lucky enough to have the box set now. Let's all try to balance every complaint with something about the music. Just got to the end of Disc 2. I'm a sucker for a good 'He's Gone' and this one is just that!
French tax
Hmm, so your charge was EUR 1.50 less than mine...
But it's bogus. Because the customs charge - the VAT - should only be about EUR13. I think UPS is simply taking as much money as they can.
As for the post office, generally if something is big, or if the declared value is more than EUR 100, you'll get hit for customs charges. It's happened to me twice in 25 years of living in France.
Something good about the music? Well, I don't have it yet, but, hey, 1977. Nuff said!
Charges
Two separate charges is correct in my experience. On packages from outside the EU which have a high enough value to attract the attention of customs (above about $50) I usually have to pay two charges. The first is the inevitable VAT. Here in Holland that is 19%, but it varies from one country to another so the amount charged will also vary. The second is import duty. I do not know if all countries levy this, but here in the Nether-Regions they certainly do.
Over the years I have read many posts about discs that skip or have other problems. So far I have never had a problem with any discs from here - once the glue has been removed.
As for Gratefaldean's problem where his Terrapin Station disc contained classical music, all I can say is that at least he got music. I once got a Hacienda Brothers CD from Amazon (in the US) which, instead of music, contained a seminar on water managemant. In the context of customer service - currently a hot topic here - I mailed Amazon about it and they sent me a replacement straight away and told me it was not worth my time and effort to send the defective disc back. Thats the way it should work.
For sale: 1 Hacienda Brothers CD. Only played once. Offers.
Another potential UPS Brokerage Victim
I'm in Canada, and awaiting delivery of Winterland purchase. According to the tracking, it was sent via UPS, and after calling them, I learn I have a $50+ charge to be paid. From what I understand, part of it is a customs charge, which I can accept, but the rest is a brokerage fee that UPS charges.
Deadnet shouldn't be sending stuff via UPS unless it's understood by the customer that additional charges with result. Since they didn't warn any of us, they should be responsible for the resulting charges. If we refuse the items, Deadnet will still have to pay UPS to get the product back, won't they? I would assume there will be a fee for "return to sender" shipping, so it makes sense that they should be picking up the UPS brokerage fees, and keeping their customers happy. They can do this via UPS itself I would imagine, or by crediting our credit cards with the difference after the custom charges are subtracted.
I've had nothing but shipping problems from Deadnet for the last year or so...it's hard to believe that the level of service I remember from the 80's/90's mail order days has declined so dramatically.
I'm currently awaiting a return call from customer service, they have "escalated" my complaint. I told them I wanna hear from them on how to proceed BEFORE my UPS delivery arrives, because I won't be paying for it without a clear indication of how this is going to be resolved.
Good luck to everyone who's going through problems with their orders!
review
Tired of all the negativity so I thought I would log in to say I've listened to the first 2 shows and the first set of show #3. So far these are great sets and I'm glad I got them. For what it's worth, after 1 listen, I think the first show is the better of the 2 with a real tight scarlet > fire and a fantastic Music Never Stopped. Actually the set closing 'peggy-o, el paso, fotd, music' is really off the hook. This is why full shows are the way to go because in a comp. the el paso would have been yanked for sure, but I gotta say that this one is surprisingly rocking and worth hearing. Love the terrapin>dew combo, as well. Night 2 I think is a little over rated with a very avg. 'bertha>good lovin, ramble on, estimated' representing the bulk of disc 5, but disc 6 is a monster, so for those who have the corrupt file, get it straightened out asap, you are missing out. Awesome gdtrfb and you can never go wrong with a 77 wharf rat... this one's a beauty.
This rocks
Got it down here in ft.lauderdale florida no hassels.Jerrys kickin ass on this one nice and loud.Excelent quality all the way around very pleased.Now can we move away from 77 for a while.Lets do some 80s box sets.How about some dvds and no 75 bucks for the scrap book just to get a teez put out giants stadium both nights 89.
I received the box!
After ordering teh box September 14, I received an order confirmation teh day after. Today, October 2, I received the box, including bonus disc, button, notice about the movie and a card.
Also, I received an email by customerservice @deadnet informing me that they would refund %10,51, presumabluy having to do something with the shipping charges.I did have to make a new account, but hey, that may be safer in the long run anyway
All in all, a pleasant shopping experience, BUT for the stories I read here. I may be lucky, and perhaps I'll always be lucky, but reading about your experiences here makes me doubt if the whole process is really under control. Right now, I'd say Hang in there and pray for teh best.
I agree with most members that other years would be welcome. Apart from the Holland 1972 box I mentioned earlier, more of the 60's would be welcome and I think the mid-80's (before In tthe dark) are under-represented. Ciao!!
Oh, Disc 6 is OK
Just a remark I read while scrolling the stories...
haven't received mine yet in nj
but i call 1-800-cal-dead and spoke to a very nice, um, foreign sounding lady who assured me that it was on its way.
just wish that i had received the shipment confirmation e-mail that was promised in my order confirmation e-mail. i'm smelling something funny in the air at dead.net, and it isn't making me happy...
No confirmation of shipping?
Thought this was to ship by October 1st, but haven't recieved an email? But it looks like some have gotten theirs already?
What's going on?
as previously noted
we think the problem with the confirmation emails is signficantly due to the fact that they're coming from a new server and apparently triggering spam filters at various sites, which of course generates no message to us. This is not something we control, and the same thing has kicked in with regard to emailed password confirmations.
Nonetheless (speaking as one who had to create a gmail account to get a password here...) I feel your pain on this and I'll pass these reports along.
FIRST LISTENING
I received my box today. I live in Argentina, so I thought it was going to take longer! I had to pay some extra taxes, so all in all I ended paying US$150 more or less, including shipping.1977 is simply great. I have to admit I would have prefered some material from the European 1972 tour or something from 1973 or 1974, for those are the top years for me. Anyway, anything recorded between 1966 and 1978 seduce me and I think you simply can´t go wrong with that period of time.
The booklet is nice, though the pictures are not that great. The painting of the band members is quite ugly, I would say. But, anyway, we´re here for the music. When I received my Winterland 73 box last year I listened the discs in order, night by night. I could not resist with this one and I went straight to the run´s last night´s HELP ON THE WAY>SLIPKNOT!>FRANKLIN´S TOWER. Jaw-dropping experience. They were not the best at what they did, but the only ones, as Bill Graham said. Well, sometimes I think they were the only AND the best too.
And I still have so much to listen too, including several versions of "Terrapin Station"!!!!!!!
Long live the Dead!
Spam?
No, I don't think they're getting spam-filtered. I'm in charge of my own server - at my host - and I have no spam filter on. That's not the kind of thing that would get filtered anyway; most people never have trouble getting that type of message. It might get filtered in a company spam filter if people are getting e-mail at their place of work, but I doubt it would get filtered elsewhere.
I used to get 'em - years ago
I used to get shipping confirmation mails, but that stopped years ago - long before the current situation. If a spam filter is going to pull the shipping confirmation mail, it would almost certainly pull the order confirmation mail as well, but I always get those.
As simonrob said...
I, too, got an order confirmation mail, so the spam excuse doesn't hold up.
our (corporate) dog ate the...
... shipping confirmation mails? will that fly?
This must be a great show.
Sadly I cant not aford $100 on music like this. I used to spend a lot on my crdit cards but now im in so much debt. I spent $4,000 on music down loads, too bad it did not come out sooner.
Box arrived
Disc 6 has the correct stuff on it. A little sad that the first thing I did was pop that one into my computer to make sure there wasn't a problem with the disc.
And confirmation emails? I always get the order confirmation, NEVER see a shipping notification. I normally check on my credit card...when the charge shows up, I then hope that it's a sign that the merch in is the mail.
In any case, let the listening begin!!!