Obeah,

The one thing we know for sure is Dave can be unpredictable at times. Never thought he would release another 71 show for #48 and release this Scranton show two releases later. Who knows, maybe he will release another 71 show for #52.

Would love to see an 88 or 91. It is time.

Not sure about a China Doll - maybe you're thinking of Brokedown Palace at Telluride 8/16/87? Double encore - as they start Brokedown out of Touch It slowly grinds to a halt and Jerry exclaims something to the effect of - "Wait a minute! This is all fucked up! We're in then wrong key! You folks are used to this - oxygen deprivation. Forget that all happened!" And they start Brokedown fresh.

Well, for three of the last four years, the last DaP of the year was a later-era show - Vol. 36 was 1987 and then Vols. 40 and 44 were both from 1990. So it seems a reasonable supposition to think he might dip into '91 for Vol. 52.

On the other side of the coin, this year Dave already cracked open 1985 for the first time (Vol 49) - you have to go back to Vols 35 and 36 for the last time he broached two new years (new for the DaP series, that is) in one calendar/subscription year. Would he really end the year with a 1991 release? People have been speculating about 9/26 for some years now, but it never really sounds like informed speculation but just more of "I was there" and "this was the best night of the run" chatter. And ofc one of Dave's first releases when he took over the Dick's series was 9/25, so he surely considered the 26th back then but passed.

My own feeling is that while '91 is the last strong year for the band, the energy did wane as the year went along. I think the March shows, or perhaps Vegas in late April, have more to offer. The August Shoreline shows have some fire to them. But for any of these it's not hard to imagine that Rhino will struggle to shift 25,000 copies. And if they are willing to risk a Fall '91 release, one of the MSG shows (8 still unreleased) seems a safer sales bet than Boston.

But there's still no Dave's from 1989, nor '88. Either would likely sell better than a '91. And I note that the last '76 released (notwithstanding the 2020 box set) was Vol. 28.

Oh well, I'm always wrong when I play the "guess what Dave will release" game. Since I didn't mention it, it will probably be '73.

Does anybody remember a daytime show, in which Jerry, screwed up a part of China doll, and said to the audience "wait a minute, that's *ucked up."

March 27 1991 Nassau

yeah, March winds blew in from the west and temps dropped from mid- 60's to upper 30's in a couple of hours;
car parks next to us, the driver's door opens and a hellacious gust of wind blows the car door out of the drivers hand, smack into my new cheap Isuzu Trooper and leaves a 2 inch dent in my passenger door, lol. light up another!

HIAB so high the crowd's energy and sure we knew cold rain would find it's way into the set tonight,
and such a different feel to tonight's show without the grand / Bruce.

row jimmy row
maggie's (go Vinny go)(Phil take Bruce's verse, cool)
loose lucy

1st notes of Rubin and the looks on our faces.... whhaaatttt????

My buddy and I would greet each other for several years after this show with the simple phrase...
scarlet, fire, estimated, uncle john's with high 5's,
we loved this show, and
if I walked up to Paulie today,
and said those five words,
it would be understood between us (33 yrs later)
...big smiles & high 5's all over again.

so, yeah, I'm with RYXS to release this one!

Does Dave go with 52? I'm sticking with a 90's show namely 9/26/91.

First, glad to have this one, appreciation has grown, it being of a particular time and energy, unique. Dave does not remind us like the early on Dicks, its warts and all, there might be some bumps but its going to be better than anything else already out there. That said, the hot vocals on disc one did bother at first, but if I started out listening to it from far away, like another room, it wasn't so tough, move closer in and more appreciate discs 2 and 3 which make the cake. If we didn't comment on this stuff, who knows what else could happen!

I was at that show. A buddy and I drove from MD to NY, and discovered early on I had a headlight out. That damn Honda always had a headlight out, was very nerve wracking. Anyway, we tilted both bulbs downward and turned on the high beams, problem solved. Then, got massively tailed in NJ for like 10 minutes, and we were holding plenty let me tell ya. THEN, I witnessed the only fist fight I ever saw at a show, two van loads of drunk NY wanna be heads going at each other. It was bitterly cold and we got stuck outside the venue because we had taken a cab. Long, strange, day and night...

P.S. I almost forgot to mention. "Box of Rain" is the show encore.

Ya know, this {#51} was a fine pick, from an interesting show and locale with great extras. I love a Pig era Dead set that qualifies as a "Phil Show" and many of these gigs from 1971 are. Similar to the "Ladies & Gentlemen Philmore" and 'HouseBoat tapes' (Dick's#35) this was indeed a Phil Show. Aside from the sonic anomalies I truly enjoyed this 'bar band era' pick, especially the Pig songs and jams, it just took awhile to give the album a listen. I was pretty busy with stuff. Also nice to have a Dave Pick covering this Spring 1971 era.

Now, as for #52, I have been doing some research and wouldn't mind say 3/27/91? This is one of a few rare Dead shows with the JGB song Reuben and Cherise. Also there's a Bob Dylan cover in both sets, "All Along the Watchtower" which was always played well in the later era and "Maggie's Farm" a 1990s staple. Anyways Dave has probably already got this one on the press so it's all wishlist speculation now!