Grateful Dead

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More great music is coming our way. Next year is going to be awesome.

Good afternoon rockers!!!

It’s now official. DL has fallen and hit his head. How else to explain this drek? Let’s be honest, brutally honest. If this wasn’t DL’s first shows, would this be an official release?

No doubt DL will post a cute video where he praises these shows to the high heavens, why gosh they’re the greatest shows since Harper College, everybody drink the kool-aid. Not this rocker………….

I feel qualified to criticize, as I was at these shows. OK shows, nothing earth shattering, not life changing. There’s better shows from this year, from this era, and from earlier eras. What’s next, 1994????

I get it. Everybody fondly remembers their first show, and would love to have it officially released. That doesn’t make it worthy of release. Wait, that’s it, I want TPTB to officially release MY first show!! C’mon, I dare ya, 12/1/73………………

And I still I don’t have the Miami stuff that DL promised me months ago. What’s up with that???

Rock on rockers!

Doc
There are people who live under the delusion that simply because they will it to be so, it will be so…………….

Think would like it. A "Morning Dew" and a "Desolation Row" and 4 CDs. on like this. Thanks Dave.

4 CD's! Very grateful for the Surprise! These shows are great. So glad to see them hitting more 80's!

I also have a subscription.

So, what's the big with these shows. Both the box sets and now the Dave's Picks seem to be getting lamer and lamer.

I read a previous comment that has led me to believe these were DLs first shows. How does someone who only started see shows at this time, get to be the archivist? I guess, I Dave's mind, all the good releases have been released.

I've also heard that the Dave's Pick series is to go to 50? There's got to be a lot of trashy shows to follow!

habe gerade ein Hebendanz vor mir, special edition Annafest Bier.
So gut.
G.

Would you bet your life?

hi,
bei mit tut es gerade ein guter rotwein.
let's drink to the hard working people and so on.
lg
gerhard

someone say Matrix?
Woof!

I was lucky enough to be at these shows. Don't know if anyone monitors these comments, but I did a photo study of that stop, and have lots of photos of both the scene and the show. Someone was nice enough, seeing me with a 35mm camera, to give me a press pass.

A lot of selfish, self-justified comments here today. Give it a rest.

If this release isn't to your liking, why crap all over it as some self-appointed expert? So I was at shows I didn't think were top-notch and a lot of folks around me seemed to having a great time. Sure, shows and tapes are two different animals. But in a heartbreaking year -- that'd be 2020, if you haven't noticed -- we all need a little positivity, love and understanding. The comments here are not critically informed, they're just mud-slinging at a person, a Pick, a year, a show -- but without any substantive evaluation of the recordings coming our way. Trashing this Pick with generic put-downs simply falls short. Sure, you're entitled to take a dump in public, if that's your thang. But that's exactly what you're doing. Do you have any idea how that reflects on you?

I've got an open mind about it, and I'm a '68 to '73 man, myself. And I'm no company man. Just feeling that gratiutous put-downs at this stage may be just a wee bit premature.

And no one has yet mentioned the fly in Dave's video. I have it on good sources that that's the same fly that starred in a recent televised debate..... And note that it didn't land on Dave's head.

Edit: On my stated, favored era, may I add late '67? That's when the multi-headed dragon really started breathing fire....

Yes!! Back in 2014, I sent an email to Dave recommending 3/27/87 as a future Pick... REALLY excited to see it showing up six years later! I even suggested they release it as a matrix to work in a little bit of the ambience of the room, which they actually ended up doing. Can't wait to get these in the mail. (I didn't subscribe this year; maybe I should have.)

Sping '87 was a blast, once in a lifetime convergence of events.

Jerry was back, the band had rehearsed and we were all super stoked.

Put that together in pot and stir, presto change-o, it's time to party!

I remember getting back from Hampton and talking about how great it was and some older heads said "Oh yeah? Then you should've been at Hartford!"

BTW Dave how are the Hampton tapes in the Vault sounding? Wink wink nod nod. Taper's Section worthy?

And DISCMEN65 I'd love to see the photos if you have them handy!

Be well all, today's a good day.

hmm- a surprising amount of ungraciousness here ... not what I remember from my show-attending days. But that's internet commenting: armchair snipers rating everything in terms of awesome or sucks, because there's nothing in between amirite? :)

Yeah, I've had my share of 80s disappointment ... and epiphanies. I've also had my head turned around by deeply excellent performances from any (and I do mean any) year of this band -- including 1987.

I've also had my share of seemingly-poor shows (including ones I attended) that changed into sublime experiences when I tuned my ears into what they were doing, instead of what I was expecting.

Sometimes ya just gots to let the music play.

looking forward to something new

I recall the '87 shows being great. I'd really like to see a September 1987 MSG Box set!

I would like to get these shows. East coast Spring '87 was a great tour. Positive vibes, mad-high energy from audiences, and great playing from a rejuvenated band. But over $50 including tax/shipping, I'll have to pass. I used to consider Dick's and Dave's a luxury I could afford, but that's no longer the case. It really makes the early-bird special worth it, because there's half of your $100 investment wrapped up in one release. I wonder how many other people will pass on this based on the price.

Congrats to Dave and Jeffrey Norman et. al. for reaching 36! No doubt Dick is smiling from the great beyond.... So Dave gets his first show released in what seems to be an excellent matrix, Charlie Miller gets his favorite show, and we - subscribers - get a second bonus with these two complete shows on 4 discs. Looking forward to giving them a spin and then to Dave’s 2021!

Hooray!!! My immediate thoughts of this is "About time!!". Jerry's comeback marked the beginning of about 3 or 4 years of pure magic.

I put "In The Dark" in the same category of albums alongside "American Beauty" and "Workingmans Dead" in that they returned to their roots and delivered a classic.

Glad to see Dave jumping into this era. I will 100% renew my subscription. Haven't missed a year since the first subscription offered for the final year of the Road Trips series. I'm not afraid of a 90s release in this. Bring it!

Edit - just watched the video

Glad to see that Dick Latvala regarded these as great. As a subscriber it's a second bonus disc. Win x 2.

Enthusiastic yes! We will survive indeed.

Awesome pick and I’m really glad it’s both complete shows.

for now, say what you want about this release, it's 4 discs so that's a bonus. The 26th has the awesome first set and the 27th has the awesome 2nd set, put them together and you've got one good show. I didn't go to a Dead show from Oct 85 till Oct 88, so missed all 86 and 87 so I will give it a listen, then I will judge accordingly. Hopefully, when and if I give a review, there won't be someone on this site telling me how to review or what I should or should not say, but you never know, it is 2020 after all.

I wonder how many other people will fail to subscribe, and then bitch about it.

Jerry started to decline rapidly after June '77 and never recovered. Also the magic faded once the set lists moved to the formulaic drums-space format.

I saw Mars in the west this morning...so cool. Big reddish dot.

Not related to the new Dave's...or is it?

"Welcome to Mars"
"Wilkommen zu Mars"

Who said these and when? Answer correctly and you will win a smile.

Here we have a very exciting set. Don’t be deceived by bad reviewers and naysayers.

What we have are two extremely concise, powerful shows. March 26 has a short Bird Song that is absolutely mind blowing, one of the most powerful ever done. And Jerry taps the poetic spirit of lyrical reinvention throughout the second set... he is absolutely singing through his guitar.

The second show is a true powerhouse. That Touch of Grey->Cumberland will knock the socks off any discerning listener. The Dew falls a bit out of synch, but the energy is intact.

There is much here to rejoice at.

In this era of increasingly intense hyper partisanship with longtime friends hating on each other because 1 or the other isn't voting the right way I made a personal rule. I try my best to keep it civil, respect others right to their own opinions. I've hade some success with friends vie politics and plan on doing the same here where many people's motto is are you kind
People who have seen my occasional posts know my feelings on Dave and Mary and Jeffrey, all the good people who work so hard to put out a lot of great shows and in Mary's place helping the frustrated.
Do I absolutely love everything Rhino's released. That would be a negative 10/4 good buddy. I don't like some that others love. But that's ok. I too was at these shows. Although I was making the trip back East less and less Hartford is to me connected to good shows ( if not good security vibes but that was the East Coast). To be honest I don't remember specifically these shows and don't have the tapes. I take Dave at his word and imagining the setlists played very well can visualize 2 great shows. I am very much looking forward to them.
Taking one more swing down memory lane as far as shows that are on my list of don't hurry to release would be Kaiser shows in the '83 range. Some of those were mailed in if memory serves.
So live your life as you want I kinda like Nick's rule.
Peace Love and Woodstock

I have a hard time with Jerry's declines. The thing about all the variety of shows, you can hear it. Lots of folks got on board late, and probably have personal likes from their experiences. After awhile you can almost point to a year of a show, if you've heard enough music. My feeling is that Jerry became less lead guitar, and more a player in the band. Everybody else in the band pulled a little harder, as a result. Sure, Jerry forgot more than most guitar players ever knew. But by the 90's, I kind of felt like the Dead had become a cover band for their own music. But there were always magic moments. I hope that's true for this DP.

I saw the Dead on 7/24/87 with Dylan and it was a killer show. I saw all the Garcia acoustic shows at the Warfield and Eel River in 1987 and they were all knockouts, as cool as anything they did in any era .

The "adjusted" price for 2 shows, while I get it the "old" (pre Rhino) dead.net would NOT have done that who remembers DiP's Volume 29, 2 COMPLETE shows totaling 6 CD's for the paltry sum of 29.95?!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh the good old days.

I'm curious, when do the subscription links come up for next year?

I missed this years and unfortunately have to pay full price :(

Sarge and I agree this is a good pair of shows. I do like the matrix shows too. "Woof woof" I agree sarge.

Mind you, 3/26/87 set 2 concludes with Phil turned all the way up. They was feeling it!

Thanks Dave, it's great to have two full shows, I'm looking forward to receiving this, and I quite enjoyed the last pick despite the setlist editing. I can't help but think that we are overdue a '69 show or box of shows.

I do

I said it's too much for me. Can we keep the discourse more civil? I don't think this place needs to resemble Facebook.

Whales, for the Hartford Whalers! Also, they look like buses... pretty nifty artwork!

I have to say, it is nice to a.) not have to worry about the added costs, as I subscribe, and b.) to be excited for Grateful Dead music beyond any narrow time period. (That being said, there are far too many 78 releases... jk ;)

Looking forward to this one, as with all the rest! A return to the Matrix is nice too!

Peace

in the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye is telling us about a rift that developed between two guys who disagreed about the age of a horse that one sold the other. Tevye murmurs ("it was 6 years old"), and then the entire village erupts into arguments.

("GD87 is cool")...."AHEJAODJOANKNEKLNRKLN!!!!SUX!!!RULZ!!!"

LMFAO

just pass the refreshments, and listen to the music play, my fellow Deadheads

... but sometimes you can get off the bus and walk around for awhile, and then sooner or later there's another bus.

This is the first Dave's Pick in a long time where I listened to the sound samples and thought, "I do NOT need to have this."

I suppose some people like shows where you can hear the audience shouting along with the singer. I know it can be a really fun thing to do sometimes when you're at a show, and I suppose some musicians like it when an audience does that, so maybe it can contribute to a more high-energy performance.

But as a rule I don't like hearing it when I'm at home listening to a live recording. It always reminds me of junk like 'Kiss Alive,' or 'Frampton Comes Alive,' where they piped in massive amounts of crowd noise, and the whole point seems to be to make you think, "wowee wow, that audience is going crazy! This music must be really exciting!" Rather than, you know, actually being able to hear the singer and the band.

OK, this isn't THAT bad. And I'm not accusing anybody of amping up the crowd noise. But it's bad enough to be annoying, for me, even in those relatively brief clips.

And listening to the 'Bird Song,' which is normally one of my favorite tunes, it just seems like the band is trying to hard to make it ROCK AND ROLL, rather than letting the jam unfold, the way I prefer it to be.

But that's me. I have my years and tours and shows I like, and some I don't like as much. And you have yours. A lot of people probably hear those same clips and think it sounds like a really great couple of high energy ROCK shows and rush to order it. I'm-a pass on this one.

They start selling the subscriptions at the end of October. 1987 Dead is fantastic , so is 1969 Dead, Dave lets have 10/31/69 San Jose State & 6/27 6/28/69. Also some Ark & Avalon 69. . Time for another beer.

Grateful.
For the music drops.
Into our collective laps.
Doesn't matter what it is to these ears; I am just incredibly appreciative for the ongoing outputs crafted with obvious enthusiasm and effort. It means a lot to me to have such a steadfast go-to every few months, with other surprises sprinkled in. As another commenter stated more eloquently than I, this is f'in 2020 and we could use some happiness, positivity, hope, and fun.

This music seems to offer all of the above and likely more.
Keep it coming.

Be Well People.
Sixtus

Only saw the band twice, in 10/1984 (Syracuse dome!) 7/4/87 (Sullivan Stadium, with Dylan -- man was it hot, I mean the weather; the show, not so much). I was more of a metal head / English folkie type at the time... So I missed these shows by a couple of whiskers.

I look forward to them both. Some good, underrepresented songs on here: West LA, Desolation Row, Midnight Hour. And that's just the first disc!

Would I love some '68 or '69 next time? Sure. But I'm happy for this, especially considering how little '80s has been released, as compared to other eras.

Stay well everyone.

How about Two From The Vaults being re-released on vinyl next week.

If you look closely at the cover of DaP 36, the city that the Whales are flying over is comprised of buildings that are actually books. I've never been to Hartford, so I don't know if there is any strong connection to publishing or libraries. Does anyone have any clues if these concerts have any tie-in to literature? (or maybe the artist was just being trippy...literally).

Phil Lesh
3/28/1981
Grugahalle, Essen, Germany

Great Shakedown Street on this one

Jerry back on the East Toast, did not attend and have never listened to Hartford 87, but all the shows that year where just high energy a lot of band and crowd symbiosis going on. For 87 the MSG run should be released as a box set, just saying. Sun going up and then the sun it going down, shine through my window and my friends they come around............

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but now that a 4-disc show is possible for this series for the first time, maybe that opens the door to shows like 5/26/73 and 6/10/73 being officially released? Would not complain one bit...

Hey rockers!

Been a subscriber since day one and will continue to do so. We've always had to take the lesser with the greater, that's not a new phenomenon, here and in life itself...........

Having a critical opinion is not being negative. Blind fandom is not a good thing. When somebody says, “Doc I can’t really dig 1971”, I get it (which I do, and accept), but my comeback isn’t “Man, stop being so negative”. Truth be told, as much as I love 1971 shows, not every one of THOSE is worthy of release……

I’m not an armchair sniper. People here know who I am, what I am, where I am, what I do, and what I believe in. Paid my dues and saw my fair share of shows (including some that WERE clearly “bad”), but not an expert. Have never pretended to be, just another guy who loves the music. Ungracious? Certainly not, thankful for all the hard work TPTB put into all this. Selfish? I don’t know, ask the hundreds of people I’ve spread thousands of shows to. Before people throw stones, look in the mirror first. Do I poke fun at DL, you bet, but I don’t attack people who disagree with my opinions about shows.

Some Grateful Dead shows are black and white, but yes most are varying shades of gray. Did I say those Hartford shows sucked? Absolutely not. On the other hand, I didn’t say---and never will---that they’re classic either. What I DID do was to question the selection itself. And from what folks have communicated to me in private, I’m not the only one who feels that way. But from what I’ve seen and heard, I’m one of the few who dares to question it in public.

Which leads me to believe---and I may be wrong----that many folks here just don’t like contrary opinions about shows. Folks, not every Dead show was sweetness and light. Yes, I’m opinionated about the Dead and won’t apologize for that. And yes, I will continue to poke the bear when and where I see fit……………

Rock on rockers,

Doc
Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave

Happy birthday, Bob Weir!
72

I used to have 3/31/87 via WMMR-FM broadcast> VHS-HiFi> cassette (and VHS-HiFi> CD-R) and 4/7/87 via WNEW-FM broadcast> VHS-HiFi> cassette (and VHS-HiFi> CD-R). These shows are not excellent but very good shows in my humble opinion and I had pre-show and post-show DJ chatter on both recordings and on the 4/7 recording had commercials for Ben & Jerry's and a "Club Dead" (on 2nd Ave. in NYC, if I recall correctly). But for the life of me, I cannot find any of the recordings - original VHS or cassette or CD-R clones. Over the years, I heard that the Hartford shows were much better than the 3/31 & 4/7 shows. Replacing good for better ones, I guess.

you summed up my feelings on it. What on earth would motivate me to listen to a Bird Song that sounds like a cover band doing Bird Song?

Hendrix freak it sounds like it's ok to dump on it as long as there is a description of the dump, yes? Something subtantative I think you said? The Bird Song melody in the 80s and 90s ends on a completely different note. Someone mentioned this a while back. You go to the 70s and Jerry ends on a high note and Bobby ends on low note. Jerry is typically higher in the mix so that's what you hear out of the melody, and it works to much better musical affect than the whole band ending on the low note which sounds yuckers compared to the 70s where Bobby played the same phrase lower to fill out the sound and compliment the main melody Jerry was playing. Jerry still sings the end of those verses on a high note, so it's not even like they're doing it to compensate for aging voices which get lower over time. Everytime I listen to an 80s bird song it's like the melody ends on a discordant note.

How's this for substance. Brent hasn't the foggiest idea how to fill musical space in about 50% of the songs he plays. He sounds great as a chord guy which is great for Hammond playing, but as soon as you put him in front of the Fisher Price, he's just playing notes all over the place, as if he can only hear Phil, Billy, and Mickey. No regard to what the guitar players are doing. When Brent is off the Hammond, timing is good, musical coherence and improv note playing is way off. Did I notice this at the shows? Not really. I always got as close to Jerry as I could and the PA mix the crowd hears at the show is always much better than what ended up released in the 80s. I could barely hear Brent at the shows. I would much rather have a Bruce Vince keyboard combo atmospheric and ethereal. But even the Hammond was overplayed by Brent. Go listen to Pigpen in the WMD Port Chester show from '71. Did Brent have more energy and flexibility on the Hammond than Pigpen? Absolutely. Was it necessary? I guess so since the guitars weren't filling in the sound as they once did. Was it a better version of the band? Not even close. Pigpen knew exactly when to play and exactly when to keep his hands off the damn keyboard. Can hardly fault Brent for that when it came to the Hammond because nobody else was really pulling their weight full time instrumentally by 1987. It came and went throughout most shows. But this is really the whole point why there are a lot of people who don't care for later era Dead.

There's your substatitive Hendrix freak. I wasn't going to post anything at all but just tell me I don't have a right to and I would be happy to provide an earful every time. Have some couth. Your analogy was cringe worthy, as if you were the one exhibiting the show in the middle of the room. Stick to your grease calls and concert stories. Those are good posts.

Note to Space Brother - I am very happy for you. Regardless of my taste in 80s Dead, I know how much you love this. It's been a long wait for you, enjoy this one, enjoy the last one, enjoy the Giants Stadium box, and enjoy the RFK mini box.