Grateful Dead

Finished up listening to this for the anniversary. Just a remarkable amount of energy, and the only reason I'm posting really is because it intersects with the guitar discussion. I love the Gibson SG Jerry used in those days. The first Cryptical notes say it all. Raunchy tube amp fuzz. Townshend played the SG in '69 / '70, and as any Live At Leeds or Isle of Wight fan will attest, Pete sounded great during that era as well, along with the Hi-Watt amps ("place is really jumping to those Hi-Watt amps...") I can see why Jerry moved away from the SG and into Fenders, given the direction the music was going. To be honest, I love all of Jerry's guitars in the 60s and 70s, though I'd be interested to know about his amplification in 1978, because the Wolf sounds much louder and distorted in '78 then in the '73 / '74 era when he played it. On the "Comes A Time" discussion - is 5/4 better than Dave's Picks 18, Opium At The Orpheum?

Hey Guys, thanks for bringing that up. I was at both the 8-21-93 show and the 8-22-93 show. I was way up in the stands on the Saturday and way down close (pretty close) on the Sunday. Indigo Girls opened up both shows and Ken Kesey read poetry on the Saturday. I remember this as a REALLY GREAT weekend with the GD. The shows were great, the weather was HOT and the vibes were good all around. Thank goodness for the shade off the stage part way through Sunday's first set. Ah, yes. So much fun!! Hard to believe it was that long ago. Like I say ... great memories from that weekend. Half a mile from Tuscon, by the morning light !!

Yes, I really do wish 5/4 at The Palladium was included, but at least finally we're gonna have 5/5, 5/7,/5/8/, and 5/9. It's gonna be a blast hearing those classics with J. Norman masters off the orig. reels. There's gonna be new little stuff that those of us who've listened to those shows even on good quality CDs/tapes over and over for years are gonna notice. I can't wait to hear 5/9 Buffalo remastered!!! Going to be a real treat....But I still hope Dave picks 5/4/1977 someday!

One of the first things that I found a bit disappointing about the "Get Shown The Light" boxset (although trust me, the disappointment was quite minor in the face of the prospect of finally having pristine remastered boards of New Haven 5/5 and Buffalo 5/9, my two favorite shows of the four) was that it was not a 5 show boxset that started with the simply masterful show on 5/4/1977 at The Palladium in NYC. 5/4 was the final show an excellent 5 show run at The Palladium (a run which one could argue helped the Dead solidify that "magical" communication that is so evident in the four shows included in "Get Shown The Light" that immediately followed The Palladium stand). Which brought me to a bit of a dilemma. Certainly the final show (5/4) of the Palladium stand is EXCEPTIONAL. From Set 1's massive and climactic "Mississippi Half-Step" > "Big River" high-energy opener, to exceptional versions of "Cassidy" and "Deal", as well as a Set 1 closing groove-fest "Dancin' In The Streets" which while not the penultimate version, is quite sensational featuring a tight but jammed out vibe which is very fun and ends Set 1 on a very high note while hinting at a special second set yet to come. As with so many May '77 first sets, each song is performed so tightly that even an "average" performance comes across sounding a bit above average simply due to the level of proficiency the band were leaving on display night after night. As for Set 2 of 5/4 at The Palladium (if you've never heard it) it is everything that one would expect from the four classic second sets of the four legendary gigs within "Get Shown The Light". Set 2 of 5/4 is simply astounding, starting with a typically excellent "Estimated Prophet", followed by the blistering and heaving grooves of a near-flawless "Scarlet Begonias" > "Fire On The Mountain" (a version just as legendary in my opinion as that of New Haven the following evening and approaching the level of 5/8 at Cornell). Next is a simply gorgeous, technically amazing, and soulful "Terrapin Station" which ranks in my opinion amongst the all-time best versions of this epic tune and transitions just brilliantly into a nothing short of phenomenal "Playing In The Band" > "Comes A Time" > "Playing In The Band" (reprise). This amazing sandwich further highlights the telepathic-like communication of the band during May '77 (and throughout their career) and a sense that makes one feel almost like the Dead were playing as if for their lives, such is the seriousness of this performance. The transitions throughout the second set are just exactly perfect and very intricate and adventurous in scope. "Playing In The Band" reaches quite far out levels of exploration (this show features tons of amazing playing by Keith) and some very strange tonal manipulation from Phil. Just as one begins to feel as if they're listening to something from '73-'74 the band eases just effortlessly into a nothing short of masterful rendition of "Comes A Time" (which is in my opinion played a bit better overall than the legendary Buffalo version from 5/9, but does not quite reach the soulful climactic finale of Buffalo, in part due to 5/4's fluid and rad, extended transition back into "Playing In The Band"). May 1977 was simply an amazing month for "Comes A Time"! Likely the single greatest month of performances of this timeless classic. After a patient, longer than usual ending "transition jam" of "Comes A Time", the band expertly and exuberantly conclude the "Playing" reprise, ending a sensational second set of the highest quality and a show which easily deserves to be spoken of in the same hushed tones as the four legendary shows featured in "Get Shown The Light". Which brings up my dilemma. Would it be better for 5/4 at The Palladium to have been included in "Get Shown The Light" OR is 5/4 better served as either an individual release (i.e. Dave's Picks, for example) or better yet as part of a potential boxset of the Grateful Dead's spring 1977 Palladium-NYC performances (4/29, 4/30, 5/1, and 5/3 and 5/4)? This run of performances is both of high quality but also, arguably, of huge historical importance due to what immediately followed this classic NYC Palladium run (of which the simply essential final show of April '77 on 4/30, which features an astonishing "Terrapin Station" encore following two sets of quintessential spring '77 Grateful Dead, was chosen as the FIRST volume of the Grateful Dead Download Series) So in the end, I have no clue if the powers that be will deal with The Palladium '77 shows in a manner as large as a multi-show set, however, I wish "Get Shown The Light" would have included the Palladium 5/4 as well making it a 5 show set. However, I'm quite thankful that "Get Shown The Light" is simply available...period. The four show included are shows myself (and many of you) have been listening to for years (in varying qualities, etc.) and are quite familiar with. To finally hear them remastered, taken from the actual restored Betty reels though will be a true pleasure...And as a Grateful Dead "missionary" (haha), I'm always looking to turn on those in my scene (mainly 70-80's heavy metal, punk & h/c, heavy psych, Krautrock, post-psych hard rock, and any mid/late-60's through the 70's indie underground releases) who have not yet become Dead fans. I think "Get Shown The Light" (in part due to the media coverage surrounding the long-awaited recovery and release of the Cornell reels) will serve as one of the best "recruiting" tools of any Dead release, hopefully bringing interest in the Dead to a new segment of music lovers. There are still shows from '72-'74 which I am much more excited about the potential release of (simply due to lack of full remastered, from the reels versions of high quality soundboard releases) than the amazing May '77 shows (which thankfully I've had quite good quality versions of), however the music on "Get Shown The Light" is simply SO powerful that I'm quite sure the release will cause an influx of new Dead fans. And in my perfect world, some of these new Dead fans will purchase a much needed potential Palladium-NYC 5/4/1977 Dick's Picks OR Palladium Spring '77 boxset... In conclusion, I hope you all enjoy "Get Shown The Light" as much as I know I will, but please do not forget 5/4 at the Palladium. It's a show more than worthy to stand side by side with the four shows which followed it....

Dear ever vigilant direwulf, I simply mis-typed Dick's instead of Dave's Picks at the end of my comment. Also, I'm well aware of Dave's first pick, the 5/25/77 Mosque show in Richmond. I've been a subscriber since that excellent release and received Vol. 21 a few weeks back. Usually I just refer to Dick's/Dave's Picks as DP's to avoid confusion, however YOU get the prize for recognizing the one time I mistakenly typed Dick's Picks. Congrats! R.I.P. Mr. Latvala, and thanks for all your work. Keep on truckin' Dave and please consider 5/4/77 at the Palladium for a future pick...or 7/18/72 Jersey City, NJ or 8/24/72 Berkeley, eh nevermind, you're doing just great as is Dave!!!!

I was at the Richfield run 3/13 (cancelled) and 3/14. At the time, this was the first time I experienced any disappointments between my time of going to shows from '84 through '95. Obviously the cancellation was a bummer, but not much could be done regarding nature. The debut of "I Fought The Law" managed to only piss me off as being a booby prize for the hassle at the time. I was fairly critical of this show for years, yet I felt like the band finally showed up to play when they started into Terrapin > Drumz > Miracle > Stella Blue. The Stella Blue from this show is actually one of the best ever performed go figure. Years later when I came back to this show on the Archive, it was overall better than I remembered. Even though I didn't attend, the Rosemont Horizon run that preceded Richfield in '93 is solid and quite nice. Some of the best shows of the tour, and year of '93. I would not be opposed for an official release of the '93 Rosemont run.

What a magical night at the Capital Centre! I thought the place was going to blow apart when Lucy started! And yes that was a hell of a blizzard in March of 1993

I've voiced before, I think 3/17/93 would make a fine release. The new songs are a positive for the historical record (Eternity in the first set), and it's a really on night for Jerry. The last great one I caught. Don't forget the show opened with a 15-minute Shakedown. While DS, Playin', and TOO aren't epic lengths, they all add up to a lot of space jams (nice Other One buildup after 2nd verse).... And Handsome Cabin Boy adds extra magic to the festivities. (Broken record again, I knew the jam from 9/22/87 out of Space and LOVED the tape, but as yet didn't know it had a name ~ when they went into it at Cap Centre, I grabbed my brother and whisper-shouted..."it's THIS!" Shady Grove cleared it up a few years later ;) FZ unexpectedly covers it, too, on Mystery Disc.

YES, my shows were all 89-95, there was some good stuff in there (believe it or not). 3.17.93 was my favorite show out of the 50 or so I saw, minus the Spring of 90 stuff. Cap Centre (or Crap Centre as we called it) was almost always hot. But you had to REALLY watch yourself around the cops. 6.20.92 (RFK) was another under-rated hot show from the late era. End of the day I'm a 70's guy and really looking forward to this release. I thought it would take a week or two to sell out, so I'm glad I decided to order on day 2 (something just told me I should). That list of returned reels is amazing, hoping for a June of 76 box next year. Burns

How was the Deer Creek show overall? I got off the bus that tour before it hit Indy....I may need to torrent it if available....