Grateful Dead

....my wife's favorite year. Slow and easy. Just a phase of many phases.
I remember '76 in school. Stars and Stripes as far as the eye could see. I was 8. Never got any cool bike reflectors though. We did get some Red, White and Blue sashes though.

Such a great band

I am enjoying DaP 30 a lot. These four discs will get plenty of spins in the coming weeks/months. It might even take a spot in my next list of top five DaPs.

As much as I like the Dave's Picks series (and I still listen to every single release) none of them are on my current list of top five releases of the Lemieux era:

1. 1970 4.18: Family Dog, SF - The disc I have spun more than any other these past few years.
2. 1968 2.14: Carousel Ballroom, SF (RT 2.2 + bonus) - After Harpur '70 my favorite electric show of all time.
3. May 1977: St. Paul to Tuscaloosa - A great run of shows from my favorite year.
4. 1973 12.6: Cleveland - This 2011 Road Trips bonus disc is "just exactly perfect".
5. July 1978: Kansas City, MO to Morrison, CO - An outstanding collection of Betty Boards.

Just missed the cut:
1970 5.15: Fillmore East, NYC (RT 3.3 + bonus)
May 1977: Get Shown the Light

A lot of great releases are missing here of course. But that is the nature of a list.

...primo drums during this performance in my head! 🙏❤️😎
... I gotta say this version of “Hard to Handle” is excellent !

Hey all, if you missed this release, I have one available and also the bonus disk. Send me a PM.

It's 1974 so what's not to love about it!!! Then onto 5/12/77 Chicago.... Home Alone weekend.....

That’s a windy show Bob T.

Apparently the Wall of Sound could be heard more than a mile away.
Some people in the vicinity of UNR weren’t happy.

Has anyone else not received an order yet? Wondering when I should finally reach out to customer care. There was no tracking number on the shipping notice either so no way to even see if it is en route.

Whew! Just escaped from being shacked in a closet off the hallway to the DaP Forum. I could hear everyone talking, but the gag muffled my screams.... Finally, I kicked the door hard a couple times and JimInMD happened by, yelled to marye, and the two of them freed me. Damn, I was in there for a couple months, without headphones.

Thanks to JimInMD and marye for my rescue!

I told them no one really needed to hear my blathering, but when the Woodstock 50 box presale began and it mentioned an upcoming announcement for the annual GD boxset, I knew I had to break free and ensure my ability to use dead.net to buy, buy, buy.

That is, if my vision of a Fall '72 boxset comes true -- trust me, during my months locked away just feet from the forum, but unable to manage more than a muffled shout, I had time for visuals.

My logic went, okay, sated on '77 and '78 shows and both have had recent box treatments. No '73-'74, cuz that was last year's box (still cherry-picking trx off that summer '73 goodness). We're getting a '69 disc with Aoxomoxoa. We just got two '70 shows (loving DaP 30). (And next year's Workingman's 50th will eat up another precious, scarce '70 show.)

I could see a '69 box of three (Ark), depending on how many '69 shows are left in the vault. I could see a spring '71. But if I was a betting man, I'd go with the most popular and dependably hot streak of tours -- one that leaves plenty of great shows to draw on: Fall '72. I think I once recently counted maybe 25+ remaining shows. So a three-show run or even two of them would leave plenty to fall back on. And it's dependably popular era.

Though understandably partial to my first show (9-19-72), I think they'd go with a run:

The tour-ending trio in Texas: Austin, 11-22-72, Dallas, 11-24-72, and San Antonio, 11-26-72.

Since I'm still a bit woozy from being bound and gagged in a closet near the forum, hallucinating that I was hearing Dave and Bolo talking it over, I'd add:

The two unreleased Stanley Theater shows, 9-26 and 9-28-72.

Hell, they could put out six geographically unrelated Fall '72 shows and I'd bark like a seal.

Like I said, you didn't need to hear my blabbering, but it's TOO LATE!

Free to post! Free to purchase! Oh wait................

.... mumbling bitches, and wagging his tail.
This Alligator has some bite!! Lookit those chompers!! Includes full on China Cat and GDTRFB themes as a bonus within the bonus. Good Shit.

The whole first set except opening Promised Land and closing Casey Jones... I don't know what the correlation is between tapers section releases and imminent releases from Dave..... I hope you are right, I would love that whole run to be released...

...bring on some good loving 1979, if there’s no Pigpen... ;) 🙏❤️😎 ...like John Lennon sang, “I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one...” 😉

Clearly a reference to the great HendrixFreak escape.. thanks for bailing him out Senator.

Had a couple long drives yesterday, enough time to listen to all of the 1/3/70 material, which I put in order it was played, so a shorter Early Show, but phenomenal. Morning Dew is just fantastic! Again, what's most striking to me about this release is the dynamics, the (extreme) shifts in loud to soft and to excruciatingly loud (in a good way). Morning Dew is a perfect exemplar of that, and Jerry maximizes it vocally as well. Love the gongs, they add a lot to Dew, as does TC, who is just great on everything on the release. Cold Rain & Snow was good, but this was a case where I didn't dig the dynamics as much, I like a ripping CR&S, one with Phil's bass pumping. Alligator is great, love the Feedback as well, very melodic Feedback with great drum interplay, one I will actually revisit (only other one I listen to about every time I put the show on is 10/20/68 from 30 Trips). The China Cat jamming in Alligator was fun. The Late Show is, again, the place for the real magic, and the place where my zeal for this release began. I listened to 1/3 on the Archive a few weeks back, and the That's It For The Other One blew me away, and I remember the Dancing in the Street did, too. So, when I got the release and got through the first 2 discs (minus the 1/3 tracks), I wasn't all that impressed. The TIFTOO suite was lackluster on 1/2, especially in direct comparison with the next night's furious rendition. Disc 3 totally saved it from being a middling Pick. The Bonus Disc makes this one a top 10 Pick for me. The Cryptical ending on 1/2 is a nice soft segue to Cosmic Charlie, but on 1/3 they pull out our old friend Dynamics and Jerry resurrects the "well, he had to die" from soft and plaintive over a spare guitar part to loud and angry as the music swells behind his fury, and the Cosmic Charlie that results is much more driving. Dancing in the Street is the non-Dark Star or Other One highlight. This is one of the loosest versions with the crowd interaction, but the jam is just on fire. St Stephen> Midnight Hour features a better St Stephen than the previous night and a sudden segue to Midnight Hour that allows Pigpen to close it down in style, as he did the night before with Lovelight. Since I ended my previous review having only listened to the first few minutes of that beast, let throw in some more words about that Lovelight: Wow, that was a great one. But it could have been even better. Pig's shouts of "Wait a minute" interrupted the band just as they were about to take flight three times. Luckily they got over that, and the jam that he allowed to flow from there was spectacular. Phil did a Franklin's like riff that I loved, and dug it when Jerry joined in and they picked up on that for a bit. That disc 3 and bonus disc are amazing. The first 2 discs are pretty good.

Also, I started on DaP 9 5/14/74 and so far through It Must Have Been the Roses, they're playing really well. The sound issues are cleared up quickly in Bertha, far more quickly than 5/17, 19, and 21. Everything seems dialed in by Me & My Uncle which gets a lot of applause. Nice to hear the crowd in Montana on the soundboard. You can tell Phil is enjoying the Wall with his bomb drops on the A in Loser. Can't wait for the Playing, I remember that as one of my favorites, and I have a ways to go before that dark Dark Star... But so far, I can see why people have this one in their top 5, based on the sound quality and playing quality on what I've listened to on first set songs.

Since we now have 30 Picks, I may try to break down my top 10, middle 10, and bottom 10 sometime prior to the next release, giving each Pick at least one more listen before then.

To get me some '70 grease, no gettin' hung up on a windy day.

Peace to all, and to all a good day.

I attended the Reno 74 show of this day's anniversary, and I remember it being an odd show. It was an early wall of sound show, and also the band seemed to have a hard time getting a head of steam. At the time, it seemed like part of the issue was they were not getting much feedback from the crowd. But I was only 20, so that may have just been my imagination.

Still going with Alpine Valley 1980-1989.... bob t

Bob T, I like the idea of that box!

I do believe we are going to get a box announcement soon.

For those that were able to figure out the overtly easy Bolo clues.. paradise waits. I wouldn't be surprised if we get something this week. Does anyone know if the GD newsletter or whatever they call it is released on a somewhat predictable schedule? I think (slip) knot! My guess is they will deliver to us a one two punch sometime soon.

Have a great end of the weekend all.. it rained like hell today here, it was so nasty and cold I couldn't bring it to myself to anything productive.. so I did a deep soak, grabbed a couple of beers and relistened to disc 3 with headphones in the hot tub. A great way to waste the day and I got more out of it than I did the previous three or four listens. A mighty fine release.. on to 31!

My guess is that it will be shows spread over a period of years from a common geographical location. That whole chrono-synclastic infundibulum thing Bolo referenced and all. Still wondering about the Kesey's Thunder Machine reference as well. Looking forward to getting the announcement, I suspect that we are due for it pretty soon.

The only one that is truly out there is 12/28/69.

All other versions feel frustratingly truncated.

Just sayin.

Next box will be all GREEK to us

Someone might have said this before, but the Kesey reference could point to a Eugene box of multiple years. They played that stadium a few times.

I would really welcome a Greek box, one of my fav venues.

Yeah, I looked it up after Bolo's post and discovered that the thunder machine made several appearances in Eugene starting in 1978 and continuing on through the late '80s or early '90s, every 3 years or so as I recall. I posted all the dates on this thread right after looking it up. Hard to say whether it was a clue or simply misdirection. Honestly, I am curious to see what the box will be, but I am just as curious to see if anything in Bolo's clue actually provides any link. I mean for those of us who don't have a savant like ability to instantly comprehend the clue.

Never trust a prankster

Hmm

78

87 snore
88 snore
90 yeah baby
93 yes
94 yes

Careful with that axe, Eugene

AAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEAAAIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greek, Palo Alto, Red Rocks, Eugene.. Alpine? PNW? Capitol, Ark, Alaska, Merriweather, MSG? E74, E81, 1980? These would have to be the hardest sorts of box sets to predict. Unless, of course, you got Bolo's clues.

Did someone mention fall '72? Actually BCT 72 and Fox Theatre St. Louis 72 are very high on my want list.

I do think they could do one more Dr. Bob Matrix too.. for old times sake. Just saying. DaP 8 should not be just a one-off.

I bet we get something on this years box very soon.

In the mean time, we should not slow progress on our quest to build a tunnel under the vault and free the reels.

#free the reels.

Figured I'd browse around the store here and see what was still on the shelf. Looks like the July '78 box is gone. Caused me to jump on the Warfield RSD discs while they are still available. I would hate to have missed that July '78 box, that has some of my favorite artwork out of any of the releases, and I really dug all of the shows.

That has to have the best recorded scream of any song I've heard, at least the version on Ummagumma. I find it's best played loud to get the full immersion in the cool pre-scream vibe and really get the full impact of the scream.

...Grateful Dead 3/29/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale NY! The opening ‘Jack Straw’ into ‘Bertha’ is just a primo on the money performance and the audio quality is Beyond heavenly! Amazing show all around! One of the best shows from that tour for this Grateful Deadhead. 🙏❤️😎
...the box set will be announced in about 3oz time away, lol!✌️🤠

mmm.. that scream sounds like it could have been photoshopped from one of the more memorable Donna PITB Wails.

(kidding)

Still don’t have Dave’s 30, which was slated to be delivered by “end of day” on 5/7. UPS Mail Innovations says they delivered to USPS, USPS says they don’t have it. Total Catch-22. Emailed customer service and got a message saying, “the title should arrive by the end of the week or start of next week.” WTF?

Don't forget about 1-30-68 or 5-31-69.

This is a prime candidate for a Matrix.

https://archive.org/details/gd1981-09-12.142835.fob.senn421.wise.miller…

There's also some great versions of Careful With That Axe in the Pink Floyd box that came out a few years ago. Very effective ones from 1969 on the blu ray disc.

Another blood curdling scream is from Roky Erikson during the last minute or so of the 13th Floor Elevators version of The Beatles "The Word" from San Francisco Fall 1966. One of the best versions of a Beatles song I have ever heard.

I passed on the full Pink Floyd box from a couple of years ago, but I did pick up the 1969 and 1972 portions. The 1969 stuff was totally worth picking up and does include a lot of cool stuff, particularly the live stuff. Really found myself entranced by the live versions of Cymbaline, and the live versions of Careful with that Axe, Saucerful of Secrets and Heart of the Sun are cool as well. I picked up the '72 portion for the Live at Pompeii disc, and that was also cool.

I'll be happy with whatever rolls out, but a Port Chester box would be a nice addition to my ever expanding collection. Just saying.

Definitely towards the top of my wish list in regards to Eugene '90. Nice shows at Cal Expo and Shoreline from that West Coast early Summer swing.

Greek, Ventura, Laguna Seca...man all of those would be nice too from various years.

Alpine box. He'll yeah! I would be down for an 89 box. Will be eternally bummed that the vault recordings from Alpine 87 are subpar according to Meister Dave. That was an epic run and all three great shows.

Over the weekend, I had the chance to listen to Dave's 30 without interruption on a roughly 5 hour solo trip to the Delaware beaches and back. Overall, I am very happy with this release. Really glad I subscribed, because like many here, I feel like the songs on the bonus disc are almost all better than their counterparts on the actual release. I bet 1/2 got the official nod because of the incredible Dark Star sequence that is disc three... probably would have been a riot up in here if Dave had unleashed a Dark Star on a limited bonus disc... :)

That being said, I like 1/2 just fine, but I'm REALLY glad to have most of 1/3 too - it makes this release truly special.

*One of those cosmic Grateful Dead coincidences... For those of you who don't know, driving to the Delaware beaches from the western side of Maryland requires crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a beautiful big steel bridge running just over 4 miles across the bay. Anyway, as I pulled through the toll plaza on the eastern bound side of the bridge, Phil's intro to the 1-2 "The Other One" kicked in after the brief drums, and I went flying away across the beautiful bay. On my way back 6 hours later, just as I hit the western bound side of the bridge, Phil's intro AGAIN kicks in, and again I'm rocking my way hundreds of feet above the water, but this time it's the 1-3 version. I love it when little things like that happen! Totally unplanned... just played out that way on a regular listen through, though I did listen to Disc 1, Disc 2 (no bonus material) Disc 3, Disc 2 Bonus Material, Bonus Disc in that order to at least keep the 1/2 and 1/3 shows separate.

Peace

..and of course I know that drive. Driving across the Bay Bridge, if you live in sections of the mid-Atlantic, is an iconic part of growing up and family vacations. As you approach it heading East on the way to the beach.. you are refreshed and well rested, in good spirits, excited and vibrant.. you gleefully wait in the 45 minute to 2 hour traffic jam to get to the toll booth telling stories letting everyone take a turn to pick a station on the FM radio, complementing each other.. on the return heading West.. you are exhausted, on probation, sunburned, in the process of tossing your bratty sister out the window to the shark infested abyss below while your older brother and at least one of your parents lies lifeless tied to the roof in a black plastic bag.. you are bloated, gassy, itchy, hungover and on the verge of puking and extremely surly. A rite of passage and so ends another successful family beach vacation.

I agree with most posts regarding this release.. it's discs three and four that tilt the scales. I'd be curious to see what others think of the all the Dark Stars on Dave's Picks (and Road Trips for that matter) ranked. I believe Dick got the pick(s) of the litter and there some unapproachable gems on the Dicks Picks series, but... Well, I guess I volunteer to put together my own ranking in due time, but what are the best Dark Stars released under Dave's watch (post Dicks picks not including box sets).
Tune in next week for a ranking of the scariest, skull splitting, PTSD educing dark stars. :D

Discs three and four seal the deal, great to hear someone else out there thought the Dancing in the Streets was so good. Happy Monday and a great week to all.

Its a bit of a luxury, that Pink Floyd box. I am glad I got it, but there are definitely a few questionable inclusions. The 1968 cd, for example, is great-and there is a stunning live version of Astronomy Domine on the blu ray disc, with Nick Mason giving Keith Moon a run for his money. Its quite surprising just how violent Pink Floyd sounded during their first two years. But there are a lot of clips of the band miming which look a bit ridiculous. Especially Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters miming to Syd Barrets voice. That Live at Pompei is great-though I prefer the cd to the actual film.

My cd player broke down a few weeks ago, so I haven't thrown myself into Daves Picks 30 yet. I've played it through on my blu ray disc player once-but I am waiting until I get a new cd player before I really get into it.

So, I was just on Instagram and saw Mickey’s story from his verified account an hour ago. It reads as follows along with a picture of the show:

“OTD in 1983. The @GratefulDead played “Hell In A Bucket” for the 1st time in a memorable show at the Greek. When we introduced the song, we were still calling it “Enjoying the Ride.” One Bay Area writer who was in the audience that night, thought the title of the song was “Police On A Joy Ride.”

Is it a coincidence?

We were calling it Elegant Pride for a while.. nobody knew what it was called, apparently including the band.

Thanks for that story.. puts it in perspective.

Daverock, only somebody of your caliber could get away with a statement like (paraphrasing) "Nick Mason gave Keith Moon a run for his money." I would have laughed off most other people as overzealous Floydians, but knowing you I'm sure it was in fact the best 15 minutes of Nick Mason's career;-) seriously though, I'd like to see it, because I enjoy the hell out of Syd era Floyd, but just don't have enough of it.

Also just curious why you're not listening Dave's picks 30 on the bluray player? I listen to all of my CDs through my Blu-ray player.

You are a master craftsman with words, and your take on Bay Bridge family vacations is no exception! Thankfully, we never had to strap anyone to the roof in a trashbag, but there is the curious case of my friend Peter, who would accompany us on family trips from age 7 or so until I was 13... I'm pretty sure he was with us when we hit the westbound side of the bridge, but I've not seen him since we hit shore near Annapolis. Hope you're ok, Peter.

The "Dancing" is the highlight of disc 2, for sure... and I'm usually in the disco camp! (Truth be told, I love them both, and this is a really good one!)

One more... does someone (Phil) fuck up the lyric "Mason died on Monday" in BOTH versions on this release, saying "Sunday" instead? I swear I hear it. In general, the sloppy vocals are what killed this song, IMO. It's a great tune otherwise.

Happy Monday night, Deadland! Thanks for the shout out, Jim!

Peace

so psychedelic

the music and the title

good to hear ummagumma again

That rocking version of Astronomy Domine I mentioned from 1968 is on youtube. Its in black and white and was from the Kasterval Festival.

I listen to cds occasionally on my blu ray player, but my system is opposite my television. Its a throw back to another era, I suppose, but I always put something on to look at when I am listening to music. At the moment, if I play cd, I am confronted with a large black screen-mirroring back my own face. Which is not the most attractive thing to look at when you are listening to music. I also have it in my head that a purpose built cd player would have a better sound than my cheap blu ray player. Hopefully true, as I am about to splash out on cd player soon.

I didn't realize you were hooked into the television while you were listening to your tunes. Now it makes sense. I'll check out YouTube for that video thank you.

This man plays too fast.......... First Jack-A-Roe also