Grateful Dead

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Funny thing is they're supposedly trying to sell 20,000 copies without doing anything for it...the setlist of the 3 Chicago shows were okay add santa clara it's better but they didn't fix that immediately...they probably think it's only 20,000 copies and that they'll still be enough sold to make a profit especially if they cut the set in 1/2 of what they advertised it for so maybe there isn't an intent to make this a worthwhile release or any concerns for the people who pre-ordered maybe it was so few...how many of these sets can you put in your basket?

I'll cancel it without hesitation or regret if they don't do something to up the value of this set. For just the three shows alone I can't justify the expense. Adding the intermission music would greatly drop the value for me and be an instant cancellation. Adding the interminable wait between sets on the video discs would be reason to cancel as well. It was bad enough suffering through set breaks that were longer than the first sets when it was live, paying for the privilege again is not within the realms of my reality. They either have to chop down the number of CDs and Blus and reflect that by dropping the price or they have to include Santa Clara at the current price. Only two options that'll work FOR ME. Not recording Santa Clara in multi-track seems pretty stupid to me. Nobody had the foresight to do that? It's not like you need to lug around a ton of equipment to do so these days. Don't know if I buy that...

I would be ok with the stereo mix from Santa Clara, its better than any of the alternatives mentioned or any alternatives I can think of. After all, its sort of filler material anyway and I believe some of their other video's are from stereo mixes. What makes this unique is it was marketed as a pre-order before the shows occurred. They must have been pretty confident that a) the shows were going to be a known quality and b) they must have known the set-lists as they advertised the # of discs. I am not sure adding the intermission music is going to solve any problems. I believe this is going to anger more people than it placates. Sounds an awful lot like bait and switch. In any case, I am going to sit back and see what they do. At this point, they are pregnant with the controversy and its a self inflicted wound. At some point they are going to have to get in front of this or it will become a sore spot and I don't think that's in anyone's best interest. This is a completely fixable problem. Edit: I posted this before reading MLavallee's comments. They almost mirror my thoughts get across the exact same point. Someone out there sees this the same way I do :D

...It's not like we haven't all shelled out money for stereo mixes of Dead shows before O_o

I'll concede, yes the set list is primal, but the performance? When I hear mention of "primal dead", I'm thinking a bit more than song titles, and let's be honest, I'm not sure the boys were. Sorry, I just don't hear it. What I heard was a nice Vegas-style review, not much more. When they did cover the "primal dead" songs, it was nothing more than a stroll down memory lane. Can you really say that Santa Clara show you're referring to was primal?! C'mon now! I play in a crappy little band that does does a Dark Star>Other One that's 10 times more inspired than what these guys pulled off. Still wouldn't call it "primal dead". I'm really not knocking these shows, if you like em and think they're worth the money, go for it. I personally DO prefer "primal dead" and am content waiting for the real thing. :) good day to all!

THE Ad says 12 discs and 7 dvds for 199$ including tax and shipping...the shows are clearly 2 disc for each of the 3 nights...I think it's reasonable for someone to come on here and say A) we're going to include Santa Clara and 2 rehearsal discs...or B) slash the price in 1/2...i'll give it a week to see if there's any statement, but this is really sick and corporate greed...it took the dead 20 years after they disbanded to sell out...I don't think the high price box sets they released in the past were part of selling out because you understood what you were getting...but to release something before it happened and then say only 20,000 copies will be made...the only reason I pre-ordered this set is because I feared a sellout...I thought the shows were going to be so great everyone who saw it on TV or at the show itself would want one...didn't turn out that way...it was an okay show but not primal grateful dead.

i get what both are saying. For me, all good things come to an end.. and the Primal Dead beast ended a while ago with those times.. What was presented at Soldier Field was a celebration of Grateful Dead music, which was pretty dang special to witness. That could be the last time the Core 4 play together for the public and I think all in attendance would agree what happened at Soldier Field was pretty damn special for 2015.. It was not Primal but there are traces and remnants of the Primal beast that once filled this land with unparalleled music.. A friend of mine is a runner and earlier today he posted a quote from Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek "The longer and farther I ran, the more I realized that what I was often chasing was a state of mind--a place where worries that seemed monumental melted away, where the beauty and timelessness of the universe, of the present moment, came into sharp focus."

As we're all contemplating the package, I am making my way through the AUDs. 7/3 would be worth buying as a stand alone show in download form - at best. Nothing much on 7/4 that is grabbing me EXCEPT: Foolish Heart. Anyone else really love how Trey treated that one? The arrangement/rest of players were a bit of a jumble but I loved how he sang it and played it. Very sweet. People were talking about primal dead and 6/27...you can call it whatever you want, I thought the music was very strong on Cryptical > Dark Star > St. Stephen. Just on its own merit. I also liked some of the jamming on either side of Wharf Rat the next day. But so far it seems there is confusion about whether those were recorded in multitrack? However, generally speaking, I think it's safe to say that while the events were wonderful for what they were, they are unlikely to receive much repeated listens by purchasers/downloaders. I am not likely to go back and crank up the Me and My Uncle etc from Fare Thee Well. Some of the material, nice choices but just nothing special in the execution. Pained, tentative delivery like on "Row Jimmy." I go back and listen to some 1995 "Row Jimmys" (no joke) that are incredible... I am not going to do that for the Santa Clara version. Trey's efforts across the board make it worth considering as a purchase. Thank goodness they had the sense to get him involved - if only he could have done even more. In the end . . . for my listening habits, it's the JG factor, you can't escape it, it's the sun that all orbits around. I think about this offering, I think about the two musically expansive, impressively athletic Other Ones shows in 1998 at Shoreline. I have those in good SBD form, I had fun at the shows, and guess how much time they get on my iPod or in the car . . . zero point zero.

As said before, can we please knock off the myth that these are "clearly" two disc sets? For rough timings, I've got: 7/3 - First set: 62+ minutes; Second set: 110+ minutes (170+ total) 7/4 - First set: 73+ minutes; Second set: 124+ minutes (195+ total) 7/5 - First set: 80+ minutes; Second set: 112+ minutes (190+ total) These are "clearly" each at least three disc sets and, depending on the location of the cuts, a fourth disc may make sense to preserve the flow of a given show. I would expect that any issue will be resolved either through bonus content or an adjustment to the sales price. If you don't like it, don't buy or cancel. But, I don't think it is reasonable to demand answers barely a week after the shows ended, and if you are going to complain, at least make sure your facts are straight. Let's let TPTB catch their collective breaths, evaluate, and put out the best possible product. We are still over four months away from release date.

Just check out Daves Picks 2,, one of the longest shows in GD history and it fits onto 3 discs.. It would be laughable if they strecthed this out onto 4 discs per show.. to keep a continuous flow, 3 discs is all that is needed per show. So the question still remains what are the other discs going to be used for ?? If they do not include Santa Clara ,, a big mistake is being made from the project managers.. Maybe they need a fresh cup of joe or a 10 strip of LSD to awaken their senses.. It may activate some kindness into the cranium of these decision makers

check ebay new listing right now for Grateful dead art, did the same scalpers with FareTheeWell tix end up getting all the merch as well?? The frenzy is almost unbelievable.. I get it some folks want to recoup travel expenses,, but come on !!! Taxing others is wrong on a few levels... I know i had problems getting on the site when it was live and saw a few things sold out already,, its a shame those are listed on ebay for at least double..

Yeah, I was an idiot and passed on buying merch due to having to carry it myself while being under the influence of many different things each day.. I was at least hoping that I would get another crack at one of those Golden Road Litho Foil prints, but it wasn't so.. I was wanting that one specifically since I was going to frame it with my tickets and all 4 postcards from participation row.. Now, I look at eBay and it makes me whanna puke.. :(

Wharfrattx - Well put!!! My sentiments exactly.

In case you didn't know, the official FTW merch shop went live today at faretheewellmerch.com. Not sure if they have what you're looking for. Definitely some cool shirts but as I did not attend I'm not getting any. I've already had to field too many painful "were you there?" questions when I've worn regular GD shirts out in public the last couple of weeks. No reason to invite that kind of torture.

Add Santa Clara audio and video and this box set will sell out...i'm not going to come back here anymore and check if they will add it or not...i'll keep the order and if it stinks i'll eventually sell it...eventually it will sell out and eventually it will go up in price if it's really limited to 20,000 copies...so i'm not going to sweat it...but my personal opinion add the santa clara shows and this thing will sell out...if they do add santa clara I wouldn't sell the set...I bought all the box sets and wouldn't sell any of them no matter how high priced they got...sure I could make copies of them and sell them but what am I living for...i'm living to be dead with the grateful dead.

20,000 of each set, the DVD and Blu. Then there's the standalone of the 5th which is not limited and then there's the best of compilation. I don't even see these 40,000 copies selling out IF they were to include Santa Clara. I could be, and very often am, wrong!

If they offered Santa Clara with DVDs of the shows and CDs I think it would sell out but if they don't it will sell out maybe a few years from now but it will eventually sellout...I remember when a doors box set came out boot your butt for 49$ I thought how lame but now it's up to 300$...and this set right now is not as lame but worth a lot more out of the chute...they have to do something that's what annoys me Is they don't answer that void and expect to keep selling sets...that's arrogant...I should cancel just for that arrogance.

They have CD's only, CD/DVD and CD/Blu-Ray "region 2" available. Can that possible be real?

This is only presale,,,, not coming out until November.

Look,All of these shows are available on youtube in aud in full length, some stuff blows you away and then there are songs that make you say what is this. It has been awhile since they did a stadium show. They had all of the words in front of them, so there were not many vocal flubs. Overall the quality of sound was good, very good. Just a strange mix,this is probably a 16 track recording, which can all be remixed. I think the 5th was the best show or my favorite show. I could tell when they huddled up before the 5th show they were going to go for it and at least give it the best shot they could. When they opened up with "China Cat Sunflower-I Know You Rider", it blew me out of my chair. This video was just stunning and I just do not know how they pulled it off. Trey and Bobby caught the wave for most of the song. I think when they prepared for this weekend, they flat out were unprepared, when it is mastered and mixed, it will be pretty good.As for the extra time and CDs. I just don't know.

only the complete box set july 3rd 4th 5th is exclusive to grateful dead website...i'm praying to JESUS that santa clara is including because of the 1st night there...I wouldn't complain if they announced that asap...I won't cancel because i'm a true dead head...i'm such dead head I consider myself dead.

Silvio I got to go find out something only dead men know.

not sure why they haven't just said OK Santa Clara is included. But that wouldn't get me to buy this anyway. Daves picks subscription did not sell out and never has. I assume they expected 1/3 of people attending the shows would surely buy this box. I did not attend but saw most of the shows complete. I am a Daves picks subscriber and bought the 30 trips box and I will be very happy for years to come with that. I just know I would probably not listen to these Farewell shows at all. I think more Phish heads are buying this than Dead fans. I am surprised that spring 1990 TOO didn't even sell out yet. I love it. Also love all era's (with Jerry) although I only saw one show after brent passed and that was the MSG run that happens to be a roadtrip. It has to be 20000 TOTAL. I don't know how much they tried to sell this box at the actual shows but I can almost guarantee this will never sell out. Unless they add some amazing bonus material never thought to have existed in the vault. I hope it does sell out but as any of you that pay attention here know....even some amazing Jerry material does not. I was expecting 100's of new people on this site to be going nuts and just hasn't happened. 6500 30 trips boxes? not sold out? I know its a lot of money but I am soooo looking forward to it.

Thanks for the homage that's exactly what I was thinking of myself...those are good points your made and the fact 1990 box set didn't sellout I assume the 2nd one...but that's subjective and you have to really love the band and everything they do...personally I used to be a blueshead now just a modest one...but I just can't stop listening to their live stuff completely hooked...don't want to hear their studio even something great like American beauty...it's also a good point realizing it may take years for this set to sell out and I think santa clara is so obvious because when they were offering pay per view they gave you a deal if you bought all 5 shows and santa clara does offer unique songs that Chicago doesn't which makes it so necessary for me...and i'd like to have all 5 concerts on DVD so I can relive this great moment whenever I wish to...in all honesty i'd rather see lady gaga sing in her panties for 20 hours but the scholar in me wants to see a professional band play their instruments and perform music...but i'm sure they'll come to their senses...remember right now nothing is written in stone and if they say hey we're going to include santa clara they wouldn't exactly be turning people off from buying...I don't think anyone would be disappointed that they were including something...a lot of people that post sort of seem like it's offered or will be offered so why not offer it since there's so much space anyway.

This: https://archive.org/details/gd1968-10-12.sbd.miller.115593.flac16

Well done Bolo. To paraphrase Potter Stewart: "Primal Dead is hard to define, but I know it when I hear it."

How can you leave out goin down the road from the final Gd shows and include passenger. Just don't seem right. With that bein said I thought the shows were great. Fingers crossed to include SC.

I went in and sent a request to cancel...I don't think they'll add santa clara because they would've said so at the start...it wasn't a good idea to pre-order before it happened and it's not certain what they're doing with this...my honest guess is they'll fill up most of the 3rd and 4th discs of each night with rehearsal and some santa clara tracks but not complete...but santa clara was part of the pay per view package so I don't know what not in the box set...but I cancelled it I have the 30 show set coming and that will keep me busy for at least a year.

Last show 7-9-95 on cd, and video of all three Alpine Valley '89 shows.

..or they could just do the obvious, Santa Clara.

There's a sucker born everyday. I'm sure Jerry is rolling in his grave at the money grabbing commercialism of all this. T-shirts made in sweat shops but not in America and selling for $40 plus. Talk about some U.S. Blues.

so far they didn't confirm they cancelled the box set 2015 Chicago but i'll wait until Friday then call them up...if they were really interested in orders they would've done something already...it's probably a burden on the people doing it...oh you got to do A box set by November 15th or your fired kind of thing...but if your curious remember jerry's not apart of these shows.

"Daves picks subscription did not sell out and never has." You may want to re-think that... http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/daves-picks-volume-14-academy-music-new… http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/daves-picks-volume-13-winterland-san-fr… http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/daves-picks-volume-12-colgate-universit… http://www.dead.net/store/live-shows/daves-picks-volume-11-century-ii-c… The subscriptions sold out before any of these were released

Agreed 100%

The subscription, which ends in january sometime, has never sold out to my knowledge. The individual a la carte shows always sellout.

I'm pretty sure when I went to the 2015 subscription page, that it said Sold Out. Not 100% sure how the ltd editions are allocated between subscriptions and individual web site sales but it would seem that there'd be an allocation with majority going to subscribers and residual available to non subscribers since subscriptions are what drives the process.

They kill the subscriptions at a certain time. They also increase the price if you don't get on board right away. But they have always had a few left for the individual releases. Sometimes they sell out so fast, a few feels like 10 or 20.. but its true that the subscriptions 'sell out' and there's still copies sold quarterly for individual releases. Keep in mind, the first year was limited to 12k copies, this year we are at 16,500 so this will take a few days to sell out, probably into early next week if I were to guess at the Vegas odds. Im not sure how any of this matters though especially on this thread, theres some for sale today, so get em while they're hot. I have to say, the Dave's Picks subscription is chill compared to these high stakes, bigger items and box sets. Its like going to vegas with 50 bucks in your pocket. Not enough coin to get all worked up over, and you win 4 unknown prizes along the way and get a bonus disc just for showing up early.

interesting dicks picks never sold out...so 16,500 people would have to pay for it all up front and that didn't happen. I know some deadheads and with a little probing they don't buy these sets, they feel they can get it off line or the trading community...but i'm surprised really am that dave's picks doesn't sell out...I really do feel the sound is overall very good...once in a while you hear part of a track that's a little off but it's only a track or part of a track and that's rare...otherwise you get nice pristine sound HDCD full shows and i'm hoping to purchase the 2016...I had to let go and cancel the fare thee well box set...I just don't think it was unique enough and the fact jerry's not there makes it a pass...although I don't want to dismiss it as rubbish because it wasn't rubbish it was a good time and leave it at that...but i'll take anything from the dave picks series and the 1 bonus disc per year...if you remember road trips had a bonus disc everytime you pre-ordered...or was it until supplies ran out about 2/3 of my road trips have bonus discs...then there came a time I didn't get new release notifications via e-mail I had to go to the site...amazingly I got one of the last box set for the 1969 run because I checked back the next day and it was sold out...now that sold out...what else was sold out, but they weren't all limited edition were they? winterlands 2 years I belive weren't numbered.

"Keep in mind, the first year was limited to 12k copies, this year we are at 16,500 so this will take a few days to sell out, probably into early next week if I were to guess at the Vegas odds." The 16,500 is the total issued which is split between subscriptions and individual sales. The bulk of it has to go to subscriptions since the subscription guarantees the subscriber a copy of each release for the year and that's how they've chosen to market the series. It's not intended to be marketed individually. There will always be individual sales but they're only the remainder of what didn't sell upfront as subscriptions. Their strategy is for you to guarantee sales via preordering the series in order to reserve your copy upfront to avoid getting shut out. They sell out fast individually because there's only a small percentage left since the bulk was guaranteed to the subscribers.

Dick's Picks didn't sell out because they weren't marketed as limited edition releases. I think a few did eventually end up out of print for whatever reason but they were intended to be made available on an ongoing basis.

"I play in a crappy little band that does does a Dark Star>Other One that's 10 times more inspired than what these guys pulled off." Aw c'mon mate do you REALLY believe that . I've been a deadhead since 68 and i was VERY impressed by some of the final shows , as far as was concerned at times they were in the zone as much as they were in the 90s when jerry was on form and some of it was as good as earlier shows from the 70s etc. if your band can beat the best jams from Chicago Sunday or Saturday lets hear them , then we can make up our minds if you are kosher or not :-)

I only heard and saw the 1st show in santa clara via pay per view...you could be absolutely right about the final shows...my beef is the box set they said 12 CD 7 DVDS which I don't think can happen and they never said otherwise I don't think it can be that long unless they have very short discs...but the shows could be very good and i'm sure the final product will be pretty good but would you want to be shell out 199$ for 3 shows audio and video for that much? that isn't that long...I wouldn't question it if it were for 5 shows...even 5 dvds of 1 each show and 15 cds 3 of each show instead of 12 and 7 I can do without the parking lot scenes and the selling of tickets...and my comment of jerry Garcia absence is just a reason not to get this box set...they offered it too soon they should've waited until they had a track list and said it'll 9 discs and 3-4 dvds maybe 1 disc of background.

They could double the price and I'd still jump if the bonus features allowed me to control the camera angle. Remember when things that was one of the selling points of DVDs over VHS? We took in the shows from the Cap Theatre in Port Chester and it was A BLAST, but the screens were MTV-style music vids, not the screens I'd grown to love. Lots of quick, jumpy cuts, lots of focusing on not-the-music, that sort of thing. As if Deadheads had short attention spans and needed flying angles to keep them interested. No, I want to zoom in on a solo or switch around (slowly) during a jam to tease out who is playing what.

Some days ago someone was asking, here or elsewhere, about who did the cover and other art. Here's the info: Original Illustration by: Christopher Capotosto Original Illustration Art Direction by: Chris Kovach CD Cover Art by: Peter Grant

Trixie Garcia on Grateful Dead "There is definetly going to be more large events."

Rhythmdvl, if I remember reading correctly, Scorcese was going to be involved in the direction of the filming of the Chicago concerts-- this sounds like his 21st century concert camera work. What you describe sounds exactly like the footage of the Rolling Stones Shine a Light. I saw that in the theater and was so annoyed-- I wouldn't watch it again if someone paid me. Quick shots into other shots-- five seconds max on one thing, no close ups of solos. I thought the same thing at the time-- does he think everyone has short attention spans? Man, was that a terrible film. Hopefully, these turn out better.

Would prefer a music only box of all 5 shows

unfortunately it's only going to be the Chicago experience which means 2 cds of music 2 cds of interviews and other artists singing grateful dead songs...santa clara will be forgotten...and they did include those in the pay per view which I don't get...this box set would sell out tomorrow if they included santa clara and videos.

Yes, that's unfortunate. In this case, no news is likely not good news.

2CDs for all 3 Chicago shows? I thought it was hysterical when people were saying each show was only 2CDs worth of music, but now you're claiming the 3 combined is only 2 discs worth? Where can I get these magic 5 hour CDs and why don't they use them for all the vault releases? It's ridiculous hysterical overreacting like this that makes anything you say a joke, who can take you seriously when you exaggerate like this? Must be a FOX news fan.