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    Dave's Picks Vol. 52: The Downs at Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (9/11/83)

     

    I remember the venue almost like and old fort with roses everywhere. We came to the site and Wavy Gravy showed us where to camp. Ken Kesey was here as well as a couple other big figures of the counterculture. I think because of Mickey's 40th. During drums a double rainbow appeared. Every time it looked like rain the band would stop and then come back even stronger from their breaks. I saw more outdoor shows in 83 than all the years combined. I have goose bumps even typing this from the memories. - xxuncle johnxx, Dead.net

    One of the best memories I have were these 2 shows. During the break there was a lightning storm behind the stage, followed by a rainbow and then an awesome 2nd set. Morning Dew with a Cold Rain, Phil singing encore. Most of my tour buddies went home after Red Rocks and I tortured them with the Santa Fe tapes. Nothing beats the magic of a great GD outdoor show. "It all bleeds into one." - grateful hawaiian, Dead.net

    In between sets, I remember it rained... and early on in the second set, there was an amazing rainbow directly over the stage behind the band. I don't believe they saw it, but I'm sure they heard about it. "Let It Grow" was awesome! - Johnny_A, Dead.net

    The pot at the end of this rainbow is mighty fine, indeed. Our final Dave's Picks release for 2024 features the complete unreleased show from The Downs at Santa Fe, Sante Fe, NM, 9/11/83 (fun fact, it was Mickey's 40th birthday) with just a squidge of 9/10/83 to round things out. A true trader's treat, this one is solid all around from the lively first set featuring soon-to-be minted 80s classics like "Hell In A Bucket" and "West L.A. Fadeaway" to the return of "Help>Slip>Franklin's," the incredible 2nd set surprise of "Let It Grow," and adventurous takes on "He's Gone,""Wang Dang Doodle," and "Morning Dew." It's all well played, my friend, well played.

    Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 52: SANTA FE, NM 9/11/83 was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.

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  • itsburnsy
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    Expectations

    My expectations are low, so hopefully they get exceeded. One thing to know Butch is the 3rd and 4th picks are always the weakest, never a long tent pole show. Anyway, I do love a release with filler!

  • Oroborous
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    Dave Picks 52

    I’m down!
    Only heard these once working in the garage but I really liked em, especially the 10th, but the 11 is good too, perhaps best of the fall, although I’ve always been partial to 8/27 just for the Jack Straw Phil Phest.

    Anyone interested in this time might also enjoy 10/16, 17, 18, and 22, among others…

    Strider! Nice to see ya!

  • Oroborous
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    Morning Buzz Kill

    FFS, we get it, some folks are very particular with what THEY like.
    No problemo, just why do they have to be such a nasty pricks about it?
    Guess that’s what we’ve turned into in the modern world…

    And as far as unequal representation, hmmmm Id say over representation if you actually think before you spew, with 25 outta 52 picks from the 9 pre hiatus years of 66-74, so almost 50% of all Dave’s are from only 9 years, or less than 1/3 of all the years….really, only six years as 66-68 has for whatever reason been ignored.
    So almost half of all picks are from only 6 years, yeah Boo Hoo, totally under represented…

    And spare us the nonsense about everybody’s opinion is important etc,
    Once again, ad nauseam, I’m not suggesting that folks can’t dislike something or not have an opinion, just don’t be a dick about it!, because ya know what sucks more than being disappointed by a pick…waking up all happy to enjoy a new day, come to what is supposed to be the happy safe place, read about a new pick, and instead get such hostilities. Total Buzz Kill!

    Edit: FOTD box ?…yes, the DL situation is not cool, but your mixing apples and oranges cause the CD box is one of the best as far as recordings, sonics and production!

  • tnjed98
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    Strider

    Strider! Can you please explain how someone calling attention to the repeatedly stale picks, as well as the recent technically deficient FOTD release, is a "buzzkill" ?? As stated, I am personally a huge fan of the Brent years - but the fact remains that the picks are getting stale. I guess if you are not blindly praising and paying Lemieux for whatever half-ass*d product he chooses to put out, then you are a hater. Happy to wear that label if so.

    Personally, I prefer when I purchase something for it to work as expected and not be laden with file errors or poor audio. Did you even listen to 51? Sound quality was utter garbage

  • Strider 808808
    Joined:
    My favorite show of the 80s.

    Remind me not to read all the comments. Hater posts about this Dead show. No buzz kill please.
    Thank you Dave. Great pick.

  • canoncito@gmail.com
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    Best and Worst Times in Santa Fe

    Home town shows for me (lived a couple miles away in La Cienega). It was the Best and the Worst of times....

    Best was 3 Red Rocks shows, then coming home for this, and even better, the night off in between was Zozobra night, the kickoff of Santa Fe's Fiesta weekend...ten thousand plus gathered to burn Old Man Gloom, a 50' puppet, groaning and waving his arms in full ritual glory, letting go all our glooms from the year. So fun to share that with a friend from back east and a couple new show-friends who tagged along as we came south!

    Also Best was the aforementioned weather magic, lightning in the foothills behind the stage as the first set ended, and the rainbow as they cranked it up for set 2 with Help on the Way. Classic!

    The Worst, I'm afraid, reared its head in both concrete and creative realms....The Downs was set up for these shows (as in the previous fall) with the stage facing the grandstand from across the track's oval. This created some awful echoes for those in the middle; of course, you could solve that by moving up close enough to the speakers to overwhelm the echo....or by being way back in the stands....but not ideal for those who like to wander! (a later Lyle Lovett show I saw there rectified this by setting up parallel to the stands).

    Sadly, this show featured what I felt at the time to be my clearest experience of Jerry's issues in these years. The way I heard the Help/Slip/Franklins sequence, Bobby was doing something really fun and creative at one point (I'm a "Bobby Fans are People, Too" guy), and ol' Jer just totally fell off the side of the train at just the point we were primed for him to ante up and raise the stakes. Just lost it. Happens to the best of us, I know....but it was pretty striking at the time.

    The next summer, my compilation of the few(ish) highlights of that year's set of Red Rocks shows was called "Are We Having Fun Yet?" It was a rough stretch for sure.

    Ah, well, not griping about the release or the band or the challenges Jerry was grappling with. Just my memories of these shows.... Which of course were still way fun in the moment despite the transient reminders of the deeper troubles lurking within.

  • daverock
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    Bulls Eye

    Butch - I agree with most of your post - I'm not sure I'd go along with remixing a show and dropping a musician that was there out of the mix ( Brent) however irksome his contributions became.

    I enjoyed a lot of live music in the 1980's that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny now. I saw Hawkwind loads of time in the 80's and always enjoyed it - but I wouldn't recommend any of their live albums from that era. You really had to have been there - and I suspect it's the same with Dead shows. Maybe they will concentrate on souvenir shows from now on - ones that the greatest number of people attended, which would necessarily mean concentrating on 1980s-1990s.
    Not good. This could be the first year when I haven't wanted any of the Daves Picks shows that have come out.

  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    Dennis

    Yes, September 11, Dennis.

    Yes, it has been a different couple of years for Dave's Picks, but put me in the camp of wanting more variety, not less. There are tons of great shows out there from all eras. But, not everybody will be happy.

    For me, the Frost shows were my favorite so far and that was a surprise to me, but I really like them and keep listening to them.

    Based on sales, #49 is the only one that is actually sold out. You still have three from last year that are still available. Maybe they should cut it back a few thousand. Not sure that will happen.

    My least favorite of the year was #51, sound quality is not very good.

    I haven't heard the Santa Fe show yet, looking forward to it.

  • tnjed98
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    When will Lemieux stop hoarding and grifting?

    Could not agree more with Butch's comment about how poor these releases have gotten, and this is coming from a huge fan of the Brent years. David, why do you continue to keep so many of the great, classic shows bottled up and give us this bull instead? Holding it all for the inevitable $5-600 GD60 Box?

    Even worse than the choice of show for Vol 52 - how could anyone confidently expect a quality product from these clowns when the FOTD set was such a flaming pile of trash?

    At my last count nearly 40 tracks in the set are totally unplayable, with no solution from Lemiuex and the crew but a refund - if you take the time to reach out and ask. No one from Dead.net coming out and saying, "hey - don't buy this it doesn't work properly." Very shady if you asked me but oh well, on to the next release of "top notch Grateful Dead music," so who cares! I wonder if/when enough of us heads will realize that these "archivists" are really just grifters ripping us all off.

    My recommendation to anyone reading; buy a cheap external hard drive and fill it with free, high quality FLAC for less $ than you're spending on one or two of these bogus releases. Stop giving David Lemieux your money for nothing of value in return.

  • Dennis
    Joined:
    Numbers on Birds?

    I see 11 & 40 on the birds,,, I assume the 40 is mick's birthday. Is 11 the date?

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Dave's Picks Vol. 52: The Downs at Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (9/11/83)

 

I remember the venue almost like and old fort with roses everywhere. We came to the site and Wavy Gravy showed us where to camp. Ken Kesey was here as well as a couple other big figures of the counterculture. I think because of Mickey's 40th. During drums a double rainbow appeared. Every time it looked like rain the band would stop and then come back even stronger from their breaks. I saw more outdoor shows in 83 than all the years combined. I have goose bumps even typing this from the memories. - xxuncle johnxx, Dead.net

One of the best memories I have were these 2 shows. During the break there was a lightning storm behind the stage, followed by a rainbow and then an awesome 2nd set. Morning Dew with a Cold Rain, Phil singing encore. Most of my tour buddies went home after Red Rocks and I tortured them with the Santa Fe tapes. Nothing beats the magic of a great GD outdoor show. "It all bleeds into one." - grateful hawaiian, Dead.net

In between sets, I remember it rained... and early on in the second set, there was an amazing rainbow directly over the stage behind the band. I don't believe they saw it, but I'm sure they heard about it. "Let It Grow" was awesome! - Johnny_A, Dead.net

The pot at the end of this rainbow is mighty fine, indeed. Our final Dave's Picks release for 2024 features the complete unreleased show from The Downs at Santa Fe, Sante Fe, NM, 9/11/83 (fun fact, it was Mickey's 40th birthday) with just a squidge of 9/10/83 to round things out. A true trader's treat, this one is solid all around from the lively first set featuring soon-to-be minted 80s classics like "Hell In A Bucket" and "West L.A. Fadeaway" to the return of "Help>Slip>Franklin's," the incredible 2nd set surprise of "Let It Grow," and adventurous takes on "He's Gone,""Wang Dang Doodle," and "Morning Dew." It's all well played, my friend, well played.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 52: SANTA FE, NM 9/11/83 was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.

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Ok, you made me pull out my Zep and I too have the 1/22/73 show (from somewhere), very nice recording.

Here's one for Zep-heads.

Years ago, I worked with a guy who stated he thought the GREATEST version of Stairway to Heaven was off the studio album, that Page never hit it that well again.

Opinions?

Yes it's not a dead thing :-)

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Posts with political sniping and similar antics will be unpublished. As will any other attempts to sow disharmony. 

This is David Lemieux's thread. Dave is Canadian, so US partisanship of whatever type is out of place here and cordially invited to do its thing, civilly, in the current events thread. This thread is about the music, and taking off from there. 

In my experience no two Deadheads and possibly no two humans are in full agreement about everything. This is good. Learning to find areas of common interest and go forward, also good. 

It's safe to say that whatever your view of current events, there's a lot going on out there from the personal to the global, and probably a lot of Are You Kind? tests headed our way.  With plenty of opportunities to look out for each other, much as we have these many decades now in some cases.

Keep it kind here. Thank you.

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In reply to by lebowski99

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What you say makes sense - the trouble is that I am dependent on an impractical way of doing things. And that's not just in the way I get to hear music. They are quite inexpensive now, these dodgy live albums. And you do get the buzz of a new cd or record arriving at your house.

Dennis - I would say the official version of Stairway To Heaven is the best version I have heard too. It's not my favourite track of theirs by a long chalk.

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Thank you, Marye.

This current release is easily one of my all time fav Daves Picks.

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In reply to by nitecat

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10/24/71 and 10/23/71

kinda hard to do when you are being responsible at work

I think 10/23 has a Dark Star

yes

and scheming

yes

conniving interlopers

yes

such tiresome

yes

scrubs

As Jim Morrison said in When The Music's Over:

"SAVE US! JESUS!"

Grateful Dead is a welcome second

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In reply to by Charlie3

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'Hero' and 'Cold Little Heart' are two excellent tunes.

Likewise Leon Bridge's 'Texas Sun.' And check out his song 'River' as well.

'Medicine' by Rising Appalachia might also float your boat if you like the above.

Ray LaMontagne's 'New York City's Killing Me' as well.

I think I previously mentioned Satsang, 'I Am.' 'Remember Jah' is another great Satsang song.

And I'll mention Uncle Lucius again, 'Keep The Wolves Away.'

Just a few good ones I've run across in recent years.

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In reply to by daverock

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413/2000.

It was in the rain but only the shipping box was wet.
Sounds mighty fine.

Ordered Thursday, received Tuesday.
But they only have to ship 2000 copies.
Rhino has to ship 20,000+ DaPs 4x per year, as well as other releases and merch.

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I am a big fan of Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, individually and together, and have picked up a few live releases from them in the last few years on the Cleopatra Blues label - Junior Wells & Buddy Guy Chicago Hustle '82, Live in Hiroshima 1975 (2CD), Live at Cotati Cabaret 1984 (2CD), and Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1968. Not sure if they are reissues or not, but if you dig Junior Wells and Buddy Guy they are well worth checking out. I think there are a couple others that I haven't picked up yet, but I suspect that I will remedy that soon.

are one of my main go-to's for Blues.

'Drinkin' TNT and Smokin' Dynamite' is one of their most famous live albums. Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) and Pinetop Perkins join the lineup.

What a great album!

Streaming 'Live In Hiroshima' right now. Thanks for the heads-up!

Edit: Wow, great release. And very under the radar. I just gave it only the 16th thumbs up on YouTube music. Looks like it was only released in Japan back in 1975, 'Live Recording at Yuhbin-Chokin Halland' and re-released under this title, 'Live In Hiroshima' just in 2023. Gotta love the Japanese audiences. Always so enthusiastic, with Jazz too. Thanks again, Charlie.

Edit 2: I don't think I ever heard him use the whammy bar on 'Stone Crazy' like that before. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but it seems different than all the other versions I've heard.

Edit 3: Wow, very cool. 'Fever' teases the Jazz standard, 'Work Song!' Still part of the same track, though.

Fever > Work Song. Did you catch that! The Japanese audience sure did, and cheered accordingly. They know their Jazz tunes. Love it.

Dawg’s Back: David Grisman Makes Rare Live Appearance at Seattle’s Tractor Tavern with Sam Grisman Project

11/17/2024

"Jerry Garcia’s trusted bluegrass partner, David Grisman, does not make many public appearances these days. Before Friday night’s arrival in Seattle, the artist hadn’t played in front of a live audience in nearly a year. Yet, the Dawg has been making a habit of annual sit-ins with his son, Sam Grisman, and the bassist’s self-titled project, which pays homage to his father and Garcia’s interconnected and independent songbooks."

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Just got email from Dead Bulletin.

Cover for 53 looks nice.

Farther down they had a "fast" stream of the Dave's covers. A little too fast. But I at least forgot some of the artwork that has gone by,,, some really nice covers over the years.

PS - Love the kneecaps on the skeletons!

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1978
Cover art is pretty cool.

The first time I came across him was in a documentary shown on British T.V. in the mid 80' s called "Chicago Blues". I think it was recorded in 1972, and it features some wild guitar playing by Buddy Guy on "We're Ready" and " First Time I Met The Blues". A few other tracks by Buddy - including Junior Wells, then some Muddy Water backed by these two. It came out as a double album as well. if that's available now in any format, I highly recommend it. Plus J.B.Hutto and Koko Taylor. But the jewels in the crown are scene stealing performances by an unknown ( to me, any way) painter and decorator called Johnny Lewis. "When I'm gone, gone gone...."

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So is the 54 announcement coming later? Likely in the email about the subscription period ending rather than this one announcing the end of the early bird period. 1976 is OK by me.
Cheers

If they stick to what they have done in the past, the announcement will come in December.

I am still going with Maples Pavilion. That was also my pick for #53, so that shows you what I know.

Could be something from the 69-70 era if you read between the tea leaves from Dave.

We will see. What else will they do to celebrate the big 60 Year Anniversary?

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Hot and Cool is a stunning album, definitely my favourite of his. I think it's a compilation of 3 earlier records. Cracking rendition of ' Fever' . Think I'll play it now.

I saw Buddy Guy and Junior Wells at a club in Chicago in 1983 on my first trip to the USA. It was the day Muddy Waters died if my memory serves me well or certainly within a day or two. There was hardly anyone there. They did at lot of funk. I took a piss next to Junior Wells, I didn't say hello, I'm a bit reticent about talking to strange men in toilets 😀. I've met bigger stars but never one with their cock out before.

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Thanks for the tip DaveRock, it looks like amazon has the DVD of the 1972 documentary Chicago Blues that you reference, but I can't find a CD version. Something to keep an eye out for I guess. Like to see the shout out for Koko Taylor, I discovered her through some compilations from Alligator Records, good samplers, and picked up a couple of her albums, kinda dig her stuff.

Also, yes, yes, yes to Drinkin' TNT and Smokin' Dynamite by Buddy and Junior, you are correct HCS, that album smokes. And can't mention Drinkin' TNT and smokin' dynamite without mentioning the great Muddy Waters track I'm Ready from the album of the same name. "I got an axe handle pistol on a graveyard frame, that shoot tombstone bullets wearin' balls and chain, I'm drinkin' TNT and smokin' dynamite, I hope some screwball start a fight." Also really dig the version of Mannish Boy by Muddy on Hard Again, the sounds of Johnny Winter cheering him on really add to the vibe on that one. Good stuff.

Nick, just curious what 3 Buddy Guy albums that Hot and Cold set includes - I ask because I have a 3 album Buddy Guy set titled The Complete Vanguard Recordings that includes the albums A Man and His Blues, This Is Buddy Guy (with Fever) and Hold That Plane. Pretty cool release, just idle curiosity if it is the same as the Hot and Cold release (which I can't find) by a different title.

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9/19/70 partial
9/20/70

That Powder Keg needs to be uncorked. Period.

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In reply to by JackstrawJay

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....the bear in the boat looks like a pig. Just sayin'.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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It looks like an early Disney drawing, like a cross between Mickey and a Dancing Bear.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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Ha, ha, charade you are.

There’s been some bad renditions of the bears over the years.

I prefer the originals.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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It's in the November bulletin email.
I kinda like it...

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In reply to by JoeyMC

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I never look at the home email....long story....

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In reply to by proudfoot

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....strapping in.
And 53 is from the week before? Nice.
Also, dipped into the James Mazza pool and thought I recognized his art. Some really cool stuff. I esp liked the 311 print.
Editorial - The Wheel going back into Playin' is the thing dreams are made of. 🍻

Right on WharfRat. The perfect pair to Dave's Picks 32, every bit as good maybe better.

They should pair similar shows like this into mini-boxes and do more than one per year in addition to the 4 Dave's Picks. Charm City and the City of Brotherly Love 1973. A perfect pair.

So say, in 2025 the pilot would be two 3 show mini boxes or three two show mini boxes plus the subscription. Then back to the originally scheduled programming. Just saying... Think outside the box (pun intended)

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In reply to by JimInMD

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I like the idea of having these mini boxes. It would freshen things up a bit - we have had the same format for releases for some time now, and I'm not sure it's a still the best way of releasing shows.

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Funny thing, someone mentioned pigs and bears. At first glance the omnivores seem like maybe they're closely related on the animal kingdom family tree, but DNA says they're more distant than meets the eye. The snouts are about as close as they get, in terms of characteristics.

is how SC jokingly described a bear pictograph in Collins Canyon.

Baltimore '73 is awesome - may it be released.

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In reply to by Sixtus_

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I like this idea Jim. More music would always be better.

I think the last time we had two box sets released in a year was back in 2017. They released GSTL which broke the site and the RFK Box in the fall.

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