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  • hendrixfreak
    Joined:
    We have a winner!!

    And the trophy goes to Oroborous for "fungal foxtrot" -- my gawd man, you should be a writer. Oh wait...

    Another story: Roy Buchanan. We first caught Roy at Carnegie Hall in spring '74 and probably caught him a dozen times across that year into fall, most often in small theaters and clubs. (See: Roy Buchanan at Town Hall 1974...) At many shows, we had purchased "seats" and we sat in them -- for about the first 15 minutes. Then a half-dozen of us would emerge from our sometimes scattered seat assignments and basically make our way to the lip of the stage. It's not a Dead show and most folks remained seated while we formed a small cluster in front of Roy. He would smile to himself. His drummer later told me that the band referred to us as "Buchanan's rabbits," because we were always "popping up" at the lip of the stage. To this day, I've got more hearing damage from Roy's Tele and Twin Reverb (maybe 75 shows, 1974-1986) than from a roughly equal number of key GD shows (1972-1992). (Key shows: RFK '72, Watkins Glen '73, Capitol Theater/Passaic '76, Englishtown '77, Red Rocks '78 and every single subsequent GD Rocks show.) Not braggin', just happy lookin' back.

    One such event featured a double bill of Roy and Boz Scaggs w/Les Dudek on slide. We were in the first 10 rows and it was so loud, no need to get closer! After both bands played, Boz, Les and Roy jammed at supersonic volumes...

    Not to mention the many times we spent the day on the east stairs at the Rocks, then dashed in to actually cop front row (one behind the actual front row, reserved for handicapped) and at one ABB show realized that we had WAY better seats than the fairly large contingent onstage in the wings.

    Basically, my life has been one dash for the front or a judicious stance near the soundboard when I wasn't working, going to school, chasing tail or poking around the backcountry. I'm semi-retired from the big shows and, looking back, pretty effin' happy with the way I misspent my youth.

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Up Front when it was cool

    The first six or seven years we’d go up front any chance we could if it was GA and we got there early enough.
    Half the fun was hanging out with the heads all afternoon waiting for the chance for the mad dash to the front.
    We’re talking small Auds we’re up front you were often less than 10’ away from them and the stages were often only 4 or 5’ high, very intimate! And the stage sound was amazing.

    Speaking of the dash: At the 7/1/92 show that we worked production, we were on the stage when they opened the gates and it was wild watching the throng come swarming over the hill and down toward the stage at Buckeye as Healy blasted the Horse race Trumpet Fanfare lol. Like some kind of psychedelic scene from Braveheart!

    It could be physically brutal and grueling though, especially if you weren’t in the very front row on the rail, where you could sorta lean and push back against the throng. Better ventilation too. Basically, it was on the wall or nothing, with the wall being only about 4’ high.
    If you knew what you were doing, and the circumstances were right though, there was nothing like it, but nothing comes for free so it was often a long grueling day, but we were young, prepared and it didn’t really phase us, especially once we got electric!
    So early on it was all about up front. Yes the vocals weren’t as prominent but you got the golden pure unfiltered sound of their amps/speakers, and in 83 when they started using the Meyers stuff full time they’d put small monitors on the stage in a half circle pointing out to help fill in the vocals better.

    But besides the sound it was like going to school to be able to see how they played things and to check out all that marvelous gear out up close! “Oh, Finger Ease, that’s the stuff Bobs always spraying on his axe”, like going to school!

    Perhaps the best part was the eye contact. If you were really paying attention you could see them communicating non verbally and they’d pick up on if you weren’t just some stoned civilian, but could tell if you were really catching all the little things they were doing. It was like you were in the band and if they picked up on you, they’d watch you and see if you caught little things they’d toss about. They seemed to really dig folks who could properly pay attention to all this, especially if they made a mistake!
    I can still picture any of them throwing some musical little tid bit out there, and watch your reaction, and then smiling because they knew you caught it, PRICELESS!
    It was big fun to joke around between songs with them too. We used to pick on Bob about songs and Phil especially always had a good time with that!
    Sigh, those were the daze!
    BUT!!! learning the fungal foxtrot in front of the SB was pretty damn sweet too lol.
    And aw those awesome summer nights outside with a big ole moon during a hot Terrapin…
    Sigh, yep, those were the daze my friends, we thought they’d never end…

  • hendrixfreak
    Joined:
    Getting close...

    So apart from Watkins Glen we had partaken of the GD/ABB gathering at RFK earlier that summer, the first day. The GD went on first, I think because Jer had an Old & In the Way show in Boston that night -- that's what we heard. (He 'coptered from DC to Boston with Peter Rowan, according to hearsay.

    So a good friend who had not eaten the blotter said, "Let's go up front." Plenty of room to manuever that day. We got real close -- definitely whites of their eyes -- and several things unfolded, no longer sure the sequence. First, some Deadheads being assholes, a few miscreants were tossing fireworks around. Some genius lobs an M-80 onto the stage and it lands at Jer's feet. He used to do a little shuffle when he was jamming and, without skipping a beat, he kicks the M-80 (prior to explosion) back into the crowd with one smooth movement. When they started He's Gone, the crowd moans and boos -- the feral animals on acid syndrome. But Garcia carries it off and I think they closed the set with China-Rider. (Just looked at the Setlist Program, and that's backwards -- set closer with China-Rider, 2nd set opener He's Gone.) During China Cat I get acid-confusion. Bobby is playing a Gibson SG (I believe) and Phil is playing a big brown hollow body, but in my youth and ignorance I always associated the solid body with bass and the hollow body with a Gibson guitar -- so I'm like, wait, which one's Bobby and which one's Phil?? (I knew from photos who was who, but go figure in that "special moment"...) I said nothing, but I think my buddy realized he was leading a potential casualty around and we retreated. Also, when you're 15, although tall, you are rail thin and still getting initiated, so we did not make a habit of pressing forward. It was a foray only.

    In 1976, during their theater tour, I had something like 7th row center, 3,000 people, I could the band quite well right in front of me and discovered for the first time the buzz of the amps in the back line. I was much closer in May '73 for Old & In the Way: 3rd row, audience left, right by Jer and his banjo.

    If that's not a great way to grow up, I don't know what is.

  • 1stshow70878
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    About 20 rows up at red rocks

    Is just exactly perfect. My first show 7th row middle was too close for the best sound. Got there early as HF suggested and had our pick. But it was so loud I had to sit some just to give my ears some relief. Next two times there we figured out, as Vguy notes, the balance and full bass effect was better about 20th row middle. A few rows in front the tapers section and soundboard (duh, that's why they put it there). For Brent's RR debut in '79 we got back closer to 12th row as we wanted to see the new guy and the sound was pretty darn good and it seemed the crew had figured out the Red Rocks by that third visit and how to bounce Phil off them. All my other shows were pitifully far back or to the side with McNichols '79 the worst sound of all, upper deck right side and an echo chamber. The Denver Coliseum, where I saw a few other bands, had terrible acoustics. College halls that were designed for good acoustics like C.U. Boulder's were ideal. Pin drop perfect for the Chick Corea/Gary Burton show. You could visually see the notes, no wait, maybe that was the shrooms.
    Cheers

  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    close up Newcastle May 1970

    Probably late to the party on this, just discovered on utube , lengthy (almost two hours) coverage of the Dead's May 1970 trip to England, rough cuts, casual interviews, a few tedious moments, loaded with inside looks and about 35 minutes of concert footage from 5/24: "Grateful Dead England 1970 (The Lost Film)"

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Seeing the whites of their eyes

    As I remember it, it was quite easy to walk up quite close to the front of the stage when the Dead played at the Rainbow, London, in October 1981. It was standing room only down there.
    I was even closer the first night on the October 1990 run at Wembley. Brilliant! Seeing people you have read about and listened to so much, for so long, at such close quarters. Prior to this night it was hard to believe that they actually existed. Nobody I knew had ever seen them, or even heard of them. Like living in a world of your own. Which, given the alternative, might not be a bad thing.
    The last night I was up the balcony to the right, and that wasn't as good. I'll never know what was me - I was high as a kite - and what was really happening. The people around me appeared to be dancing and cheering before the band came on. It was like they could hear something I couldn't. When the band did come on, the only instrument I could clearly hear was Bruce's piano. I went bombing downstairs to try and get in to the stalls, but was easily ejected and went back to my seat. The balance improved during the show - but it was an odd sound. And as I have said before, drums and space was incredible.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Being really close at the Dead....

    ....only twice. Vegas '91 and Portland '95. Sound sucks up there anyways.

  • Angry Jack Straw
    Joined:
    Getting up front

    Was fairly easy early on. Then it became a headache.

    Back in 93 or 94 we decided to go to the Spring shows on Long Island. You were still able to call in for tickets back then and somehow I got right through. To the customer service rep - I need tickets for Thursday and Friday, but purchase Friday first because that will sell out quickly. Of course when she reads the first order back it is for Thursday. Annoyed, but I got 6th row. By the time she put in the Friday order, we got the farthest section back in the upper deck. That was the last time we got up real close. Of course as any seasoned head would do, we brought our Thursday stubs to the Friday show. The usher gladly showed us to our seats right up front soon after the lights went down.

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Up Front

    Pretty much gave that up around 85-86. Combo of no more GA, getting a little older, and most of all…discovered the Lysergic shuffle which requires proper floor space lol

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Phish fans....

    ....yup. They have changed a lot since I first saw them in 1994. People up front on the floor tend to get very territorial. Throw down huge tarps and will say they are "holding spots for their friends" and will get hostile sometimes. A lot of times I never see their so-called friends ever show up. Sad really. I don't go up front anymore.

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I think I went "Woo-hoo" when they announced the July '78 box.
I had some good quality tapes but to have my first show on CD was like manna from heaven to get me through the 40 years in the desert. An anniversary gift to honor when I got on the bus.
Cheers

the one missing is THE ONE that you want, that you really really want.

C'est la vie

Like losing one's virginity? very much alike, yet completely different.

One was unexpected and in a big crowd of strangers.

One was planned out.

Which was which? That is your question of the day.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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on my way to work today
I put in a CD marked "'66 #2"
Viola Lee Blues with daylight slowly creeping in
Cascade Mountains and some cloudscapes being illuminated by the rising sun to the east
yes. yes. YES.

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In reply to by KeithFan2112

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Keithfan, the version I have of this show - supposedly from the master reel - has multiple cuts, including one in the back half of the Dark Star. That could be the reason for selecting the night before.

I'd love to see a box set of "fragments", with multiple versions of songs, half acoustic/half electric, with perhaps even a few identical "setlists". I imagine a guitar themed box case. Simply named, Acoustic-Electric (or some nifty guitar term) And all those random bits could find a home. And I concur with the others about those choice nuggets in the So Many Roads Box Set. (ahem, Whiskey in the Jar!)

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I lost my virginity unexpectedly in a large crowd of people?

What then??!!

And hey, I don't want the missing reel -- I want the five freakin' reels they have!

Aren't we a tad, just a wee bit smug, now that YOU have your first show released?

KIDDING!

If that’s all that exists and it is of good sound quality, then those fragments should be released.

But cutting up a complete show just to save some disc space should not happen.
In fact, I’m proposing a new series of releases, to run in parallel with existing release models, called the D&DMC Series (Dick and Dave’s Mea Culpa Series).

Previous chop jobs will be Plangentized and Normanized, then released in their entirety (or as much as exists).
Starting with 12-19-73, and pairing it with 12-18-73 in a 2-show Box, or larger.
Followed by 10-31-71, then 6-16,18,26,28-74 (wouldn’t that make a fine Box).
Then all DP and RT chop jobs.
5-19,21-77 can be skipped, there are only a few songs missing that can be included as filler with 5-18-77.

Edit: maybe I’m thinking of 5-22-77. So add those missing songs to 5-18-77.

I’m not opposed to moving a song or two to the next DaP as a way to get a complete show released, especially when it is because we already got 2 shows on 4 CD’s.

If HF’s first show was a good show and the 5 reels sound good, then release it once you are confident that you will never find the other reel. If someone is holding that missing reel ransom, then call in the lawyers (ABCD).

Listened to 9-3-72% (DP36 filler) last night. It will be nice to add more songs to that playlist (to listen to while we wait for the entire show to come out in the D&DMC Series).

....but I have to reevaluate my spending habits on box sets and subscriptions and things in general. You see, trump had a Big Announcement today. He is selling NTF based virtual trading cards today for $99 a pop. I can't resist. They are virtual trading cards of his life and accomplishments. There's one of him as a superhero, one as a cowboy, one as an astronaut and so many more! I need to collect them all guys! And if I buy 45 or more of them, I get to have dinner with him! Probably at McDonald's! Yay!
(I am not making this up btw. Google it)
The grift of all grifts from a so-called billionaire and none of the money goes to his reelection campaign. It goes right in his pockets. There have already been over 27k sold as I type this.
How embarrassing.
Ok. Back to fragments. If the partial shows sound good, yet is incomplete, I say do it.

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36 years ago tonight I was up in Oakland to see Garcia make his return with the Dead. He kicks off the show with Touch of Grey ( I will survive) and the crowd just explodes, Garcia looks so happy to be back playing again. When Garcia sings "Hand me my old guitar" in Candyman the crowd just roars, two of the coolest moments in all my years of seeing the Dead. They need to release a video of this show, truly historic, and a great birthday present.

Sparkling show from 30 Trips. It always intrigues me when there is an announcement from the stage that "there is a chick over there having a baby." It seemed to happen fairly regularly at outdoor shows in the US during the hippy era. It was something I never saw at any of the gigs I attended. I would have been well out of my comfort zone if I'd been asked to perform a vital role in an operation like that when I'd gone out to see a band .

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A woman gave birth at Englishtown 9-3-77 AND she was up front, as far as I could tell. I was not, but back a ways audience right. And I thought I was a fan.... I mean, how does that "happen"? Honey, let's catch the Dead. But you're nine months pregnant! Oh, c'mon, what are the odds that I'll give birth during the show..................

During the show, Tommy, the guy who drove us, was standing about ten feet from me, separated by a few people. Yes, we were quite lysergic. We didn't think anything of it. Next time I looked, he was twenty feet away, still no problem. Next time: no Tommy! I spent the night sleeping in the bushes and got a ride to my door from some good GD fans who slept in their car.

Proudfoot -- sorry I thought you were saying that the '78 box had your first show. My bad.

Vguy -- you've got the formula: point and laugh. I do it all the time here, where I live alone! (A mirror is useful.)

Sounds like we're all into fragments. So... I say, group 'em (obviously). Let's have the '66-68 fragments first. Call it the Proto-Beast Box.

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Sorry HF, that was a bit smug.
Like Nelson on the Simpsons who always goes, "Haw, haw".
We're more fond of nyah, nyah here in CO.
Cheers anywho!

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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that is one of 5 days of my life I would like to relive.

others:
7/13/84
the day I met my wife
birth of my twin boys
birth of my daughter

several days of mostly Megadeth followed by several ABBA tracks

love it.

ABBA...they made some freakin' great music. IMNSHO.

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Via Con Dios Mr. Simmons, a very underrated guitarist. Savoy Brown was a favorite before I became a Deadhead and still is, just fired these up
Looking In
Hellbound Train
Raw Sienna
Jack the Toad

what a band.

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Hendrixfreak......I too was at Englishtown in 77 and remember the Birth. we were back about 150 feet and the news spread all over. I remember a birth at Watkins Glen in 73 also, and a death at Watkins Glen and a Sky diver coming down into the crowd These shows were such large crowds and to be in the middle Dosed!! Great Memories

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Here's a confession: I can't keep this forum straight! I've got 1st show and proudfoot mixed up and, hey, where did I put that pipe?

Kim Simmonds, yeah! Flying V, A Hard Way to Go, A Step Further -- man, got into Savoy Brown in about 1970 and a couple years ago I bought a couple of their early albums on 2 LPs on one CD production. Good to have just plain hard rockin'!

Hey Chuck, didn't Weir announce from the stage that they needed to get her out of the crowd and "is there a doctor in the house?" At the Glen I didn't hear anything about babies appearing, but I do recall the sky diver, who made a long descent, then I believe triggered a flare that burned him to death as he descended just outside the bounds of the crowd. Horrible! But 50 years on, is there a joke in there somewhere? I guess he was burning to see the Dead... I mean, that guy was smokin'....(sorry!!)

Well, April 2023 should be pretty tasty: spring (of sorts here) and 4-5 hrs of fall '72 GD and the upside is, some tracks from my first show. Make that glass half-full, now that I'm done with the one-man pity party!

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In reply to by Chuck

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You would have thought there would have been, in a crowd that size in 1973.

Chalk me up for fragments too. You only have to look at the ones that have already come out - especially the incomplete shows in Dicks Picks and Road Trips - to see how well they can work.

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Hendrixfreak yes you are right about Bobby saying is there a doctor in the house at Englishtown. At Watkins Glen there was a young girl to our left about 25 feet and was ready to pop. It was raining and we saw her friends helping her to get up and leave...later we heard she gave birth. not sure if it was on the ground or in an Ambulance. and Savoy Brown I remember seeing them at the Filmore East right before Christmas with I think Poco, If I rememer Paul Cotton just replaced Jim Messina in Poco. At Penn State Poco was a big hit in all the Dorms with their music blasting out the windows. All these memories are making me feel old but Happy

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Does your wife know she's 3rd on the list??
I just had to chuckle, and yes, my wife knows she barely even MAKES the list!! Merry Christmas to All, and a Happy Hanukkah as well.

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A term for babies, 1940s military slang term.
From obsolete mediaeval or pre-mediaeval English word "sprag",
for a "lively young man". I like to keep up with Daverock and also with the continentals. Makes me feel smarter to speak the King's english.
Cheers

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I'm definitely a complete show kind of head like many of you. And I think there are staples we could all agree upon that should be released in their entirety: Fillmore East February 1970, Fillmore East April 1971, and Winterland October 1974 are easy examples to come up with. Now with the Dicks Picks series, Mr. Latvala from what I have read was a little particular about shows. It's somewhat not surprising but reading through the often shared “Grateful Dead Miscellany” , Dick goes into his thoughts on many shows. This includes what he thinks may be released in the future. Some of his commentary does talk about shows that won't be necessarily released in their entirety based upon what he felt was the quality of the music (mostly) and available rels at that time. Here is a quote from him from that site about the 11/30/73, 12/1/73, 12/2/73 shows:

“As for the run at Boston at the end of the month and the beginning of December, well I would have to say that it is just that, "a run of shows". What I mean here is that I see using these 3 nights as a 3-4 cd release of the "best of a run" kind of deal. Not one of the 3 stands out on it's own, but in combo, they will deliver some of the absolutely finest playing of the year!!!”

That gives a little insight into maybe why some shows, at least when Dick was in charge, only got released in part or in fragments. I do think it is important to note that Dave L still puts out shows that Dick L held in high regard too.

For the current times, I think we have a much fuller vault to work with the returned Betty Reels. We have definitely seen the fruits of that return in the form of many shows being released in their entirety. However, I guess there are still some shows that are incomplete or, as the old Dick’s Picks caveat used to read, where the sound was affected by “the ravages of time”. For the 2023 DaP bonus disc, the situation is as per the email:

“There are two shows in September 1972 for which there are not complete recordings, either because of missing reels, or because of technical issues. The 2023 subscribers' Bonus Disc features the best material that sounded great from these two shows”

It is hard to know exactly what is and is not affected by technical issues. Then of course what material was not affected but left off the bonus disc. Knowing how great Dave L has treated us , he often finds a way to get this missing material out if he can. Maybe it will be filler on another release or it will come out in a future 30 Days of Dead (if it hasn't already).

With all of that, I often wonder if we would ever get complete releases of those shows that were chopped-up from many years ago. That is assuming that everything is contained in the vault and of releasable sound quality. I would certainly welcome it but at the same time if we're just stuck with chopped-up shows or fragments I think I can be OK with that. For me, I know looking towards the future, I'm really hoping that the vault gets mined for the other high profile shows that haven't been given the official release. I'm not knowledgeable enough to speak on the time it takes to put all these together other than I know we get quarterly releases of the DaP series, often an anniversary edition re-release, an LP for record store day, and one big box set per year. So, I guess the question begs, is there enough time and resources for Dave L and the crew to return to some of these old shows and put them out in their entirety without sacrificing the regular schedule of releases?

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In reply to by Mr. Ones

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7/18/82 happened before we met
7/13/84 is in keeping with the GD theme

Meeting her and then the birthing as a bundle of family related stuff

I mean...7/18/82 and 7/13/84 were MINDBLOWING and LIFE CHANGING.

I figured I would meet the right young maiden at some point.

I'll be quiet now.

except: DEAD.NET: I RRRRRRR
EEEEEAAAAA
LLLLLYYYYY HATE reCAPTCHA. There IS time to hate on that phenomenon.

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Crazy Fingers returns. Ventura, fun times!

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In reply to by billy the kiddd

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I managed to get to all the Ventura shows, being only a couple hours north of LA .... always a fun time on the beach ... great setting, good music... even managed a couple of decent photos of Uncle Jerry & the Boys and Bill Graham (backstage). But by far and away, the 7/13/84 (Dark Star returns!) show is one of the stand out moments of all the 50+ shows I saw in the early/mid 80's. When Phil comes out to the mic after the show and says ".... something special, one time only" (not an exact quote), the place went ape-shot! AND it was a tight, at pace, driving 15 minutes or so that no one wanted to end. Friday 13th at the Greek... how could there ever be a better Dead experience!!!

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It was a cool show even without the Dark Star encore. When you have Dire Wolf, Duprees, Bertha, Greatest Story, Scarlett Begonias-Touch of Grey, The Wheel, Stella Blue and then you play a 20 minute Dark Star for an encore and a shooting star blazes across the sky during Dark Star, it becomes legendary. Oh, I forgot, you also stop at Everette & Jones BBQ down on San Pablo Ave after the show and the whole night rises to a mythological level!. No doubt about it big fun!

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Proudfoot, I did not intend to make you have to defend your list, I was more relating as to how Heads (both Dead & Music variety) can prioritize music ahead of anything else. Sort of like the animated video Jim shared once, I call it the “I need more Dead shows” video. I am certainly guilty of it, and my wife knows that every once in a while, the show comes first!!
I apologize if you felt I was being pejorative in nature, I assure you I was not!!

Regarding incomplete shows, I may be on an island here, and trust me I LOVE complete shows, but sometimes, when there is a song ( or a few in songs a row) that are poorly played or just songs I am not so fond of, I kind of enjoy skipping those tunes, and enjoying the ‘meaty’ portion of a show. I welcome these ‘not quite complete shows’, especially when some of the detritus is eliminated.

Just one idiots opinion, similar to:
Music is the Best!!

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In reply to by Mr. Ones

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Here's to the next GD box being a 10 disc set of 1969 fragments.

Herr Eins = Mr. Ones auf Deutsch.

Happy Holidays to all y'all Deadheads!!!

With apologies to Marye...if you are so inclined, look up ABBA live tv 1975 Waterloo.

Some very pleasant visuals for a cold December morning.

I am 15 again.

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I had to look up your key shows and I see that Berkeley encore of Dark Star. Just a wee bit jealous. But it sparked a memory that I wasn't sure was a real memory: of hearing them play a tumultuous Dark Star, then dropping into Me and My Uncle... cosmic space and in a heartbeat, a regular, even pedestrian song (sorry, I heard it alot)... but I could never place it. So I go to 'setlist program' and punch in my early shows. Sure enough, the fried brain weekend of July 31 and Aug 1, 1973. We're 48 hrs out of Watkins Glen (two big daze of serious perceiving) and tackling another two nighter with The Band. The second night is when they played Dark Star and segued neatly into Uncle. I now clearly recall looking at my buddy and essentially doing a WTF??? Actually it was What the F Just Happened? So WTFJH, which could be minted as a concert experience acronym, at least for the GD.

Thanks for solving a real memory that I had no clue on how to determine whether I only heard about such a segue or whether 'I was there.' Turns out I was THERE alright!

In fact, those two shows smoked and, um ... deserve release... can't stop now.

P.S. I'm onboard with Mr. Ones: complete shows when merited, drop a song or two if they're subpar and interrupt the greatness or complete, tasty fragments that don't need to mimic a show flow. I don't know how I'll feel in a few years, but I'm in the grips of this Vault program in a big way.

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I had no idea. And yesterday we were singing his praises. Gone at 75, after 55 years leading Savoy Brown.

Dang. Sad news.

... and I'd forgotten about the Scarlet-Touch-Fire.... felt "special" because I'd seen them do it in KC on 7/3, where I literally had the best seat in the outdoor theater ... for sure was groovin to the Scarlet, but was thoroughly confused with the Touch (I think maybe the transition was slightly awkward?) ... and THEN to Fire... what the hell?!?? (in a really good way). So when it came up at the Greek 10 days later, I had some serious bragging rights! Not sure how many Scarlet-Touch-Fires they did, but I suspect under a dozen ....

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I happened to notice a post a little while ago from Pancho Pantera asking about a spreadsheet of Dead shows. Years ago (back when I was an active viner here) I received something as an extra that I have since revised and added to. It is in Excel. If anyone would be interested in this send me a PM.

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Formaldehyde, proudfoot, formaldehyde....

Imagine the scene, a few billions years on, when the Earth plunges into the Sun, and KR is the last man standing, waving his hat like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove as he rides an H bomb to its target....

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I believe Keith Richards is still with us for a number of reasons, one, good genetics.

Also, by his own admission he had the cleanest of drugs, the finest Merck pharmaceutical cocaine and ultra pure, clean heroin. Not sure about all the dirty Jack Daniel's and Marlboros though.

Plus, he has lived like royalty for the past 50 years. He's Keith f-ing Richards! He calls the shots. Other than that Toronto bust, I doubt he stresses very much. Always seems like the genuine real rock n' roll article to me.

God Bless Keith Richards, Jack Nicholson, and Hunter S. Thompson. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

\m/

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Any recommendations for American poets from the last 50 years? I love American fiction but I'm not too familiar with much relatively recent poetry.

Acoustic guitar, piano, bass, drums, a nice flowing, picky electric guitar style, Jerry McGee or David Lindley say, and a vocalist that can actually sing. Any suggestions?

DaveRock, I shop at Tesco's, is there something I should know, does that mean I haven't got long left? I do like a decent Shepherd's Pie though, but having a vegan wife it's a rare treat.

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In reply to by Nick1234

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Nick1234 - your'e lucky you've still got one - that is one of the shops that has closed round here over the last year or so. Come to Lowestoft - an emptying town center full of boarded up shops. Book early.
I think the risks associated with eating Shepherds Pie are a bit exaggerated. Unless of course you happen to be a lamb. In which case you're screwed.

Thinking of American poets over the last 50 years makes me realise how old fashioned I have become. Both Raymond Carver and Denis Johnson have written poetry, but it tends to be their short stories or novels that I have enjoyed more.

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It's the early 90s (I think) at Denver's old Stapleton Airport. I'm in line to lovely Newark, NJ, where my parents lived. (They were died-in-the-wool New Yorkers, RIP. I was born in Manhattan.) The guy in front of me is bald(ing) and his head has a slightly familiar shape. Discreetly, I glance at the tag on the attache case in his hand: "Hunter S. Thompson, Doctor of Divinity."

A couple nights prior, HST had been on David Letterman (whose assinine schtick I never liked, but HST is on, you know?) and HST talked about covering the Pulitzer divorce trial in Miami, where high caliber fireworks apparently are readily available.

HST comes out, unsteadily, with his lit cigarette in its holder and a small colorful box in his hand. He settles in, Letterman asks something stupid and HST manages a mumbled grunt, then something akin to "I've been up for days, not entirely here, not well..." Letterman leans in theatrically, as HST's mumble is not made-for-prime-time. And HST places the maybe four-inch to a side box on Letterman's desk, within HST's reach. That's when I notice the fuse. While HST mumbles under his breath, Letterman is hamming it up for the camera, like "Can you believe this wack-o?" Meanwhile, HST slowly, casually, extends his left hand, with the cigarette, to the fuse. The distance between the lit cig and the fuse is closing. Letterman looks over just in time and uses his Johnny Carson eraser-at-both-ends pencil to scoot the box just out of HST's reach. Maybe, at this late date, I'm only imagining a subtle smile creeping over HST's face. Maybe, more likely, he's completely deadpan.

Fast forward a few days and HST must have flown from NY to his home in Aspen, Colorado, then appears in front of me in line to go to Newark. I say, "Pardon me, Mr. Thompson, I'd just like to say that your appearance on Letterman was pure genius. You were so close to lighting that fuse. And Letterman is such a phony schmuck." HST turns, again that almost undetectable smile plays over his mouth. "Yeah, Letterman's a dick," he mumbles. Or something like that. So I said, "Whatcha doin' now?" "Pulitzer divorce trial for Rolling Stone in Miami," he says under his breath. "That's cool," I say. "Why are you flying to Newark?" "NEWARK!?" he says, "GODAMMIT! I'm going to Miami." I said, "Oh, over there, that's the line for Miami."

HST mutters "Thanks" and shuffles off to another line as we began boarding for lovely Newark, NJ. And I'm left to wonder what it would've been like to be seat mates with HST for a several hour flight. (I was holding materials for use in the airplane bathroom.) May lightning lay me low if I lie. Best I can do ~30 years later.

Ah, the beauty of random encounters!

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Uncle Duke with little bubbles coming out of his brain.
One of the most clear-headed writers of his time.
You can bet there were explosives in that little box.
And possibly a sizeable one!
Aspen's favorite lunatic and mine too.
Both Fear and Loathings are on my bookshelf.
Cheers

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