Spring 1990 (The Other One) Box

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May 15, 2014 - 11:45am

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admin

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What's Inside:
•144-page paperback book with essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether and Blair Jackson
•A portfolio with three art prints by Jessica Dessner
• Replica ticket stubs and backstage passes for all eight shows
•8 complete shows on 23 discs
      •3/14/90 Capital Centre, Landover, MD
      •3/18/90 Civic Center, Hartford, CT
      •3/21/90 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario
      •3/25/90 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY
      •3/28/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
      •3/29/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (featuring Branford Marsalis)
      •4/1/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
      •4/3/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Recorded by long-time Grateful Dead audio engineer John Cutler
Mixed from the master 24-track analog tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Bob Weir's TRI Studios
Mastered to HDCD specs by David Glasser
Original Art by Jessica Dessner
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 9,000

Announcing Spring 1990 (The Other One)

"If every concert tells a tale, then every tour writes an epic. Spring 1990 felt that way: an epic with more than its share of genius and drama, brilliance and tension. And that is why the rest of the music of that tour deserves this release, why the rest of those stories need to be heard." - Nicholas G. Meriwether

Some consider Spring 1990 the last great Grateful Dead tour. That it may be. In spite of outside difficulties and downsides, nothing could deter the Grateful Dead from crafting lightness from darkness. They were overwhelmingly triumphant in doing what they came to do, what they did best — forging powerful explorations in music. Yes, it was the music that would propel their legacy further, young fans joining the ranks with veteran Dead Heads, Jerry wondering "where do they keep coming from?" — a sentiment that still rings true today, a sentiment that offers up another opportunity for an exceptional release from a tour that serves as transcendental chapter in the Grateful Dead masterpiece.

With Spring 1990 (The Other One), you'll have the chance to explore another eight complete shows from this chapter, the band elevating their game to deliver inspired performances of concert staples (“Tennessee Jed” and “Sugar Magnolia”), exceptional covers (Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and the band’s last performance of the Beatles’ “Revolution”) and rare gems (the first “Loose Lucy” in 16 years) as well as many songs from Built To Last, which had been released the previous fall and would become the Dead’s final studio album. Also among the eight is one of the most sought-after shows in the Dead canon: the March, 29, 1990 show at Nassau Coliseum, where Grammy®-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in with the group. The entire second set is one continuous highlight, especially the breathtaking version of “Dark Star.”

For those of you who are keeping track, this release also marks a significant milestone as now, across the two Spring 1990 boxed sets, Dozin At The Knick, and Terrapin Limited, the entire spring tour of 1990 has been officially released, making it only the second Grateful Dead tour, after Europe 1972, to have that honor.

Now shipping, you'll want to order your copy soon as these beautiful boxes are going, going, gone...

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December 11, 2014 - 7:57am

#71

wjonjd

Joined:
January 24, 2011

One Man - Peaks

Not really, no. When dynamic range compression is applied, not only do they reduce the difference between the loudest and softest amplitudes, they also then have room to increase the amplitude over the entire range, so that at a given volume setting on your volume knob the volume of the music is louder than it would have been - the loudest sound is louder, the softest sound is louder, and the average sound is louder, than it would have been compared to the same signals prior to dynamic compression and raising the amplitude. This is why dynamic range compression is important in the "loudness wars" in commercial releases for radio. They compress the range, and then have room to make the whole range louder without going over peak and clipping. When you look at the visual representation of the sound from the HD file compared to the 16-bit file, the HD file is "smaller" from top to bottom - it is not as loud, but if you were to analyze it, you would find that the DIFFERENCE between the highest peaks and smallest peaks are, relative to each other, greater. So, while the -10db peak of the CD is louder than the -15db peak of the HD file, it is the CD that has had dynamic range compression applied so that they can then raise the amplitude of the entire signal by some percentage, making the peak volume of the CD louder than the peak volume of the HD file (and the average, and the softest sound as well). When the dynamic range compression is applied the DIFFERENCES between the amplitudes of loud and soft are made smaller - the percentage change is not the same across the spectrum of amplitudes, as the "average" amplitude will not have a change applied (that's a simplification, not exact, and also I'm not sure if it would be the mean or the median or some other midway point that remains unchanged). When they subsequently make the entire signal louder, the amplitude increase is percentage-wise the same across the board. THAT transformation DOES raise the average amplitude. Does that make sense? Obviously, none of this is inherent to either 16-bit or HD 24-bit. It could be applied to either. For some reason they apply it to the 16-bit file, probably because a lot of people don't like it when a CD seems like the volume is too low compared to other CD's they have. In other words, I expect they have to cater to consumer expectations.
December 11, 2014 - 2:59am

#72

One Man

Joined:
May 17, 2011

Peaks

Isn't a peak of -15 dB lower than -10 dB? Doesn't that suggest the HD file is more compressed than the CD? Actually, they probably both have some amount of light compression on them because that's just how it's typically done in the world. It's bizarre that one would be that different from the other. You can hear as little as 1 dB, maybe even less. The first S90 box had lots of audible compression, at least on the individual tracks. It sounds way too smooth to be au naturel, even if the mix of the various signal levels is not always great.
December 10, 2014 - 9:29pm

#73

TN Dead

Joined:
November 7, 2013

pono is a player

Is it possible that a pono player has better components than another portable playback device ? It was designed with this in mind.Same files, different players, different playback results.
December 10, 2014 - 7:04pm

#74

wjonjd

Joined:
January 24, 2011

FourWinds - my apologies

I did a comparison of the CD version of Wake Up To Find Out (actually the one from the full box) and the 24/192 download. I used the first 15 seconds of Estimated Prophet (the software I'm using only lets you start at the beginning, and I didn't take the time to lop off an equal amount from the beginning of both files in order to get to the middle of the file). I chose Estimated Prophet because it begins right away having been transitioned into from the Eyes. The results: The average levels (left/right) on the CD are -17.42db/-16.19db the average levels on the HD file are -17.96db/-16.72 the peak level on the CD is -10db the peak level on the HD file is -15db The Stereo Balance on the CD is -2.14db (diff between L and R) The Stereo Balance on the HD file is -2.43db And the peak frequency on the CD is 14,685Hz the peak frequency on the HD file is 14,109Hz (that's a surprise) So, it appears that they HAVE INDEED applied some dynamic range compression to the CD version, although not a lot. I have NO IDEA why they wouldn't just convert the 24/192 file to 16/44.1 using noise-shaped dithering. The resulting files would be VIRTUALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE from each other. This still says nothing about the inherent equivalency to the human ears of 16/44.1 versus 24/192, but THAT'S IF THEY'RE FROM THE SAME SOURCE. My humble apologies FourWinds as you are indeed correct that they created a master for the 16-bit file that has had some amount of dynamic range compression applied to it. WHY???? Who knows. There is NO (good) reason to do this!!! The 24/192 is not better because it 24/192. It's better because they didn't apply dynamic range compression to master used for it. However, FourWinds, in your original post you wished they would just release the HD 24/192 file already!! WHY NOT wish that they convert the 24/192 to 16/44.1 and LEAVE IT ALONE to create the CD and 16/44.1 files?? That would serve the SAME purpose. And here are the file sizes for that one file: CD: 153,035kb HD: 998,784kb And, they have the same POTENTIAL for audio fidelity. Why not just wish for 16/44.1 files/CD's made directly from the 24/192's? Wouldn't that make far more sense. In any case, you were right - they're not the same. I have no idea why they chose to do this. One Man - Yes, for driving in my car (where I do a LOT of listening) files with more dynamic range compression make it much easier to hear all the music. You don't have to keep turning the volume up and down - up because you can hardly hear it and then BAM you get hit with the LOUD so you have to turn it down again. It is true that the range compression can pretty much fix that problem. Since we would never get two versions of everything with one purchase, my preference would be to get CD's/files that have NO dynamic range compression applied, and then I could apply my to create a set of files for travel (car/plane/walking, etc.)
December 10, 2014 - 6:21pm

#75

dantian

Joined:
August 6, 2013

Got to hand it to you, wjonjd

You have a lot of patience ;)
December 10, 2014 - 6:15pm

#76

One Man

Joined:
May 17, 2011

E72 Box

I'm not sure what is fatiguing anyone's ears, but I hear some kind of pervasive audio distortion in about the first half of the E72 box mixes. It clears up on one of the Paris shows. I have no idea what caused it, but it is obvious to me and I'm sure the mix engineer noticed it eventually but no one bothered to go back and fix those first mixes. It could be inherent in just those first tapes (very doubtful), some kind of A-D transfer issue (can't imagine what), something to do with the Plangent Process (again, no idea), or something else. It still bugs me that these mixes were so rushed. Thank the gods they did not do the same with the '72 Veneta show or the new Spring 90 box. Also, let's not confuse file (data) compression with dynamic range compression. Dynamic range can be severely squashed on ANY recording format if the engineer chooses to do that. The GD archival releases are generally lightly compressed compared to many commercial releases, and I'm sure that is intentional. I actually wish they had a touch more dynamic compression on them sometimes, just to make them sound less jumpy.
December 10, 2014 - 4:16pm

#77

wjonjd

Joined:
January 24, 2011

down mix process

There is no dynamic compression required when converting from 24-bit to 16-bit, and there is no reason to believe they just CHOSE to use any dynamic compression on the 16-bit file, but not on the 24-bit file. Your comment makes it clear (unless I'm mistaken, which I could be) that you believed that 16-bit is INHERENTLY more compressed than 24-bit, which is simply not the case in any way. Unless you have some reason to believe they just chose to compress the range of softest to loudest sounds on the 16-bit file and not on the 24-bit, I'd be interested to hear it. I think that's more than very very highly unlikely. Again, if you are experiencing ear fatigue from the 16-bit files, you have zero chance of improving that by buying the more expensive 24-bit ones except by placebo effect, unless they chose to reduce the dynamic range on the 16-bit files and not the 24-bit files for some reason. What possible reason do you have to suspect they would even consider going through the trouble of instituting dynamic range compression on the 16-bit files (CD's). They were NEVER going to be destined for mainstream radio play, and even if they were I don't believe Jeffrey Norman and his team do that even for releases that ARE destined for radio play. Of course, there is an easy way to answer this. Simply send DL an email to ask Jeffrey Norman (if you can't email Jeffrey Norman directly) if they compressed the dynamic range for the 16-bit release and CD's and not for the 24/192 (or 24/96) on any of their other archival releases where they have made hi-def available. I wouldn't promise my first-born, but I'd bet a lot that the answer will be no. In which case, as the links I posted point out pretty well, you will hear no difference between the two versions, nor experience a different level of ear fatigue or emotional connection - at least not due to the sound coming out of your loudspeakers. EDIT - I decided to purchase the Wake Up To Find Out hi def (24/192) download. I will rip from my CD version direct to 16-bit wav and compare them using a software audio package and should be able to easily tell if dynamic compression was used on one and not the other. I will let you know. I see no reason why they would treat the E72 release differently than the Wake Up To Find Out release as far as whether they chose to modify the dynamic range for the CD's. They both came from multi-track tape masters. Even if they didn't spend the time on the E72 releases that they did on the Wake Up To Find out release, I would still bet they treated the CD's the same in terms of how they transferred the original 24-bit files they mixed/mastered with to the 16-bit files they used to create the CD's. I will report back with the results.
December 10, 2014 - 2:58pm

#78

fourwindsblow

Joined:
October 13, 2008

Compression

If dynamic compression was used in the down mix process no further compression is needed.
December 10, 2014 - 2:26pm

#79

wjonjd

Joined:
January 24, 2011

Grammy Nomination

Yes, Congratulations to all involved. I also believe this box deserves the grammy nod - I believe it surpasses the music in the first box, and the package itself is simply exquisite (as was the first box).
December 10, 2014 - 2:21pm

#80

SPACEBROTHER

Joined:
June 4, 2007

Grammy Nomination

It's only fitting that a Brent era release got a Grammy nod. Congrats Bob, Phil, Mickey, Bill, Dave, Mark, Mary, Norman, Blair and everybody involved! This is the good stuff here.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

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What's Inside:
•144-page paperback book with essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether and Blair Jackson
•A portfolio with three art prints by Jessica Dessner
• Replica ticket stubs and backstage passes for all eight shows
•8 complete shows on 23 discs
      •3/14/90 Capital Centre, Landover, MD
      •3/18/90 Civic Center, Hartford, CT
      •3/21/90 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario
      •3/25/90 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY
      •3/28/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
      •3/29/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (featuring Branford Marsalis)
      •4/1/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
      •4/3/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Recorded by long-time Grateful Dead audio engineer John Cutler
Mixed from the master 24-track analog tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Bob Weir's TRI Studios
Mastered to HDCD specs by David Glasser
Original Art by Jessica Dessner
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 9,000

Announcing Spring 1990 (The Other One)

"If every concert tells a tale, then every tour writes an epic. Spring 1990 felt that way: an epic with more than its share of genius and drama, brilliance and tension. And that is why the rest of the music of that tour deserves this release, why the rest of those stories need to be heard." - Nicholas G. Meriwether

Some consider Spring 1990 the last great Grateful Dead tour. That it may be. In spite of outside difficulties and downsides, nothing could deter the Grateful Dead from crafting lightness from darkness. They were overwhelmingly triumphant in doing what they came to do, what they did best — forging powerful explorations in music. Yes, it was the music that would propel their legacy further, young fans joining the ranks with veteran Dead Heads, Jerry wondering "where do they keep coming from?" — a sentiment that still rings true today, a sentiment that offers up another opportunity for an exceptional release from a tour that serves as transcendental chapter in the Grateful Dead masterpiece.

With Spring 1990 (The Other One), you'll have the chance to explore another eight complete shows from this chapter, the band elevating their game to deliver inspired performances of concert staples (“Tennessee Jed” and “Sugar Magnolia”), exceptional covers (Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and the band’s last performance of the Beatles’ “Revolution”) and rare gems (the first “Loose Lucy” in 16 years) as well as many songs from Built To Last, which had been released the previous fall and would become the Dead’s final studio album. Also among the eight is one of the most sought-after shows in the Dead canon: the March, 29, 1990 show at Nassau Coliseum, where Grammy®-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in with the group. The entire second set is one continuous highlight, especially the breathtaking version of “Dark Star.”

For those of you who are keeping track, this release also marks a significant milestone as now, across the two Spring 1990 boxed sets, Dozin At The Knick, and Terrapin Limited, the entire spring tour of 1990 has been officially released, making it only the second Grateful Dead tour, after Europe 1972, to have that honor.

Now shipping, you'll want to order your copy soon as these beautiful boxes are going, going, gone...

Cover is heavy --- cover has magnets!!

There are MAGNETS in that there heavy cover. I noticed that the square piece that comes out to reveal the coin has two little pieces of metal embedded in opposing sides, cause one of mine fell out. I reinserted and went to put the square piece back in place, and noticed it pushing back. When turned 90 degrees, the square seems just practically pops itself back in. You still gotta push it to get it all the way in. Try taking it out and putting back rotated by one side. It feels like a pretty strong magnet. That's gotta account for some of The Weight.

Album Art

I have scanned all the album art and uploaded to share. Please feel free to use until dead.net release the high res images. You can find the images in the link below. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eelkoku1d50mo0v/AAAyC92mAec9BHympT3RAjlha?dl… Hopefully this share works. Let me know if anyone has trouble accessing.

It's a box!

We and our 2-year-old(#3088)would like to welcome into our home #3655. It's so cute and I'm about to change its first disc.

Thank you clihar

... for doing that work for us, I was able to download your scans easily.

complete tour?

If I'm not mistaken aren't Desolation Row and One More Saturday Night from the Knick (3/24/90) still unaccounted for?

3-24-90 complete

@Walt- Desolation Row from 3-24 was released on Postcards From The Hanging, and One More Saturday Night was released on Without A net. So, between that, Dozin', and the bonus tracks from the 3/26 show on the first spring 90 box, 3-24 has been released in its entirety.

THANKS!

Thanks Clihar!!

Thanks Rhino, Dave, Grateful Dead Productions

Fantastic release, worth every penny! I was fortunate enough to attend the March 28 and March 29 concerts. Looking back, as a former New Yorker now living in Northern California, I really appreciate that I got to experience these two significant shows along with the other Upstate New York concerts held during my Syracuse University years along with the many Madison Square Garden, Meadowlands, and 1979 Nassau Coliseum shows... Thanks!

#1302 just arrived.

Finally! Got to my town (Dallas) 3 days ago and has gone from UPS to a couple of different USPS stops before it finally got to it's final destination. Glad it made it!

Magnet

I just noticed Boblope's little poem, where he says "This box has magnetic personality -surprises abound".I tried placing the dice around the magnetized parts of the box lid, thinking that maybe they're made to roll to the DEAD sides, and I tried them against other magnets, but the dice do not appear to be magnetic. Anyone know any other surprises?

Downloads

Someone on this forum asked if you can now get a download of the first Spring 90 box. Dead.net are not flagging this option up too well but the answer is yes. Go to the Digital option on the store bar at the top of this page, click on it then click on the Spring 90 box option - ignoring the scary $200 price tag. This will take you to the correct page. Again ignore the Sold Out sign - that only applies to the physical version - and look down for the download options. At present you can get the Apple Lossless version for $120 with a Flac HD choice coming later. There is a help page, set up for the May 77 box, if more info is needed.

Spring 90 downloads

And, keep in mind that if you prefer flac but don't believe you gain anything with the HD option, you can download the 16 bit apple lossless files and convert to 16 bit flac lossless with zero change in quality. There are lots of tools to do this, many free. If the ones you have or find don't have a direct conversion, you can convert the apple lossless to wav and then from wav to flac. You could also burn the apple files to cd, and then rip the cd's directly to flac, or to wav and then convert to flac. Anyway, in the end, the resulting flac files should be just as perfect as the original apple downloads. Also, keep in mind that the 16 bit downloads should be exact duplicates of the CD's in the box set. The HDCD encoding should be there because that encoding protocol uses an algorithm that allows 20 bit recording to be encoded into the 16 bit format. I'm not 100% sure that the HDCD code will make it through the conversion process to wav and/or flac. That probably depends on the conversion tool used and would need to be tested.

Put a Bolt on It!

Things I love about this box (#3452 of 9000): Jessica Dessner art, coin, magnetism, dice, song selection, performance quality, audio quality, backstage passes, context by Blair Jackson, Portlandia reference! That's a lot to love, especially for a 70s snob like me.

Artwork & downloads

Ok. I will admit it to you all, I am an old fart who has some computer knowledge, but since it is all self taught, it is limited. (My friends think I am the computer wiz so that shows how things are relative!) I uploaded all of the TOO discs into my iTunes. Clihar was nice enough to give us all of the album art. Now how do I get that into my iTunes albums? And while I am confessing to my short comings here, I have downloaded numerous shows from Archive.org in to my iTunes. Now I have forgotten how to do it! Please someone help out an old Head here. It sure is tough to get old. Lol! Rock on

@dnbb1dnbb....

Check PM!

Got it!

So glad that i sold some of my mineral collection to buy this album. Good bye huge tourmaline, Hellllllo 8 awesome shows. Enjoying reading the book and listening to the shows, killer sound quality. Love everything that Dave L has been doing for releases. Now just listening to 1990 till its time for caves picks volume 12!

Opening the Box is a Hoot

Just lovin opening this up. I was bummed about the first box artwork being folded and a doodle pagework. I'm gonna get these framed up and on a proper place on the music room wall. Kids trashed the corners on my first box cover. I need to take better care of this one. The whole thing is a piece of art! 6896 coin. I wonder if it will pay passage to the ferryman? Thank you for the scans! Gonna try to rip with CDex for the first time? Has anyone used that before?

3-24-90 Artwork

Listening to Spring 90 TOO and it does sound fantastic! I am presently assembling the 3-24-90 show from my archives as I rock out to the 3/21/90 gig. Have any of you creative Deadheads made some artwork for this show? or Can we expect Rhino to piece it together for RSD with artwork? or Can TPTB provide some cool downloadable artwork? Great times listening to these shows

hbob1995

What I do is right click on the album title then select get info. A box that says multiple item info, opens. Then just drag your artwork file to the artwork box and bob's your uncle. There could be an easier way, but that's how I do it.

Art Into iTunes

Here's how I do it. Right click on the first song of the album. Get Info>Artwork>Add>Browse. Find the artwork file and select it. Hit OK, and the art should ride along with all songs on the album from that point on. One thing that can be very screwy is the album titling. Before importing, I select each song and in Get Info type in one consistent title for each album (e.g. Spring 1990 TOO 3/21/90). That way, they all come in with similar titles and will sort accordingly. Incidentally, I rolled the DEAD dice and they do not seem to be loaded! I was really hoping they were.

Number 7356....

....is posed nicely with number 4183 in an alcove off the mantle. They look good together. I haven't even spun a track yet, but I'm already impressed. The box is beautiful. I'm assuming a tiger is on everyone else's coin....it's on mine. We heads are a spoiled bunch.....you have to admit it.....

I noticed....

...that the track listing font on the discs are eerily similar to my handwriting....Wonderful!!!

Artwork

Chilly1214. Muchas gracias! Your method worked like a charm. Now, does anyone know where I can find the art work for the first Spring 1990 box?Rock on

50 Year Anniversary Banner

Anyone else think the banner on the website would make a great bumper sticker or wide rear window decal? I haven't had a dead sticker on my vehicle in years but would definitely sport this one!

Thank You!

Thank you for taking care of the artwork!

Cover Art

#122 Lands in Oakland, CA. Cover art is clever (paint by number morning sky, wolf from Cassidy, 20 hounds etc.) Stumped on the following: Duck on 3/21; Lobsters on 3/29; Bee on 4/1; Turtle and Tambourine on 4/3) Think everything else is explainable and clever....

skinrzs

I think the duck is a Canadian Goose(Oh Canada!),the lobster is actualy a crawfish(BRANFORD!!! NOLA!),the bee maybe for clover honey,the last 2....your guess is as good as mine.No idea.:)

Thanks!

Trancendental bliss

This lucky head unpacked # 5907, loaded 3/29 into the old Denon cd changer, set the controls on the Carver Sonic Hologram Generator to narrow listening aperture, and settled in to enjoy the ride. Relax, turn off your mind , and float downstream. Thank you , Jeffery Norman and TRI studios , for doing justice to these glorious 24 track live recordings. Thank you, Rhino Records and David Lemieux, for giving us aging Deadheads the chance to take that ride again. This is as good as it gets, the real deal, shining brightly. Those loaded dice are pretty cool too !

1990 Too Box Set

Hello from beautiful Montana everyone! I had a curious thought. It would be interesting to know where the 9000 box sets went by state. You know, a cool color coded map....I don't know, I was just thinking the other day, wondering how many of these boxes made it to Montana. Thank you, for a real good time!

My favorite

This is easily my favorite release, especially since I've worn out several copies of Without a Net on tape, CD and vinyl. I like this mix better than Without a Net. It seems a bit more dry and with great separation. What I really want to say is if you want this better get it now!!! I bought one for my friends 40th birthday. For me this is the best release ever, although I am biased as this is my era!!!

Those [R] letters in some sentences of Meriwethers piece

Who can tell what is with the [D] letters of some sentences. do we copy them all and discover some sort of code or what?? just asking

Branford

I'm lovin' this Spring 90 TOO set! But, am I the only one who finds Branford's comments about the Dead a little condescending? It seems he thinks the Dead were pretty much simple pop music. Hey,spring 90 is my least favorite era of Dead. I'm usually in the role of post-hiatus basher. But shit, when the Dead jammed in 1990 they were brilliant, especially PITB and Space. The Dead jamming in 1990 were every bit as brilliant and uncompromising as anything Branford has ever done in his entire career. I really don't get the condescension. And I love Branford. I saw his group a few years ago and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. The 3/29/90 show is probably the greatest post hiatus Dead show. But jeez Branford, show a little more respect! dang musicians egos!

The sound

While I won't start bashing the sound of the first box - there is a different feel to that one and I thoroughly enjoy it as well - I will say that this new one sounds just amazing, and one huge advantage of that is that you can really clearly hear what all 6 guys in the band are doing all the time. And that's when it becomes even more obvious what a great tour this was - pretty much everything that everyone was doing was just spot on. It really is amazing how good they were playing during this 89-90 period. I think when Brent died it just crushed Jerry at least from a musical and professional standpoint. For them to have achieved this level and then lose a key guy, well, I guess he talked about it in Rolling Stone, and it lead to badness.

I Don't Get It

What did Branford say that was condescending? I certainly didn't take anything he said that way. What I heard him say was that most pop bands are not flexible and anyone sitting in has to adapt to that rigidity, but the GD were the opposite -- they were so fluid that there was room for everyone to meld. I mean, I'm not trying to start an argument, but where is the put-down in what he said?

I found

No condescension. Marsalis said he initially thought the Dead were one thing (that he thought he wouldn't dig), but that when he checked he found they were actually something else entirely (that he dug and respected). That same thing happened to me!

Regarding Branford

If you read Nick Meriwether's fine essay on the topic (starts on page 54 of the TOO booklet), you'll quickly discover that Brandon's attitude was the opposite of condescending. He pretty much gushed about his experience the night of 3/29, going so far as to tell the band, "I had the best time I've had in my entire life. " By the way, that booklet is a terrific companion to the music. Huge kudos to Nick and Blair!

I very rarely post, but I

I very rarely post, but I have to for this box set. I mean WOW, the quality is terrific. Band sounds great and the collective set is a pleasure to own. Thanks so much for this. Love it so far. Makes my ride to work a pleasure!!!

booklet cover

Anyone else notice the lightning bolt in the fur of the tiger? Was just reading bolo's post and looked down and it caught my eye - had not noticed it until now...

Awesome!

I'm in the process of moving to a new residence and have been traveling a lot, and finally had a chance to delve into the first show from 3/14/90 Cap Center, and WOW! I'm listened to many different sources from this show, the first time being while in Atlanta during the 4/1-3/90 run. My buddy and I took in a stray Deadhead who had lost his friends at these shows, and he also happened to be on tour and taping them at the time. The guys name was Jeff. He actually hooked us up with a bunch of tapes from this tour that we listened to on the drive back from the final show on 4/3/90. Over the last 24 years, I've become well acquainted with many of the circulating sources of 3/14/90, but this new multi-track mix just blows me away. Jeffrey Norman has truly outdone himself! The Playin' > Uncle John's > Playin' is trance inducing. I've read the Landover and Hartford parts of Nick Meriwether's essay and it is one of the most thorough and well written pieces I've seen in a Grateful dead release. Now about this coin, "Golden Ticket" to the vault business, I'll be in California from Sept 24th through the 29th traveling through San Francisco, Fresno, Santa Monica, San Diego and Tarzana. I would so love to hear the non-circulating source recordings of my first show from 7/1/84! ;)

The duck isn't a duck... but

The duck isn't a duck... but is actually a Loon... common on the lakes of the muskoka region a couple of hours north of Hamilton / Toronto... and throughout most of Canada for that matter.

Fall 89 Multitracks

Given the astounding SQ of this release, and knowing the have multi tracks of the Fall '89 tour in the vault... that would sure get my vote for a future box release... and sooner rather than later please :-)

Branford

Thanks bolo, point taken. I guess I was thinking of when Branford said "The Dead have some incredibly tricky tunes, but for the most part, popular songs are quite simple. People don’t want to go to music school when they’re listening to their music." I guess I was over-reacting. In any case he sounds great with the band. I do remember an interview with Branford years ago when he was asked about what is was like to play rock and roll with the Dead and he said "those guys are beyond rock and roll". That was a cool compliment.

Thanks for the artwork

Thanks dead.net team for the individual show artwork!

Thank you for a real good time.

This is an exceptional box set. The mix and mastering are second to none. Thank you Jeffery Norman! In so many ways this was my tour. I turned 18 on 3/14/90 at the Cap center and went on to see another six shows including the 3 Nassau shows. What a fantastic document to remember and relive what was a truly defining moment in my life. And having lost all my ticket stubs years ago I have to say I got a little misty when I saw the reproduction mail order glitter tickets...just perfect.

hi-res cover art

Available here: https://plus.google.com/photos/106465427611350658328/albums/5978461672006360945?banner=pwa

Bad Vibes

UPS says they gave it to the Postal Service and the Postal Service says they never got it. No box in the mail and I have to wait another couple days before I can request a replacement. Hopefully I'll be listening to this box sooner than later...definitely leaning toward digital in the future.

Am I missing something?

"For those of you who are keeping track, this release also marks a significant milestone as now, across the two Spring 1990 boxed sets, Dozin At The Knick, and Terrapin Limited, the entire spring tour of 1990 has been officially released" Except that I don't see "Desolation Row" or "One More Saturday Night" from 03/24/90 at the Knick. Am I missing something? Where are those tracks?

3/24/90

Desolation Row is on Postcards Of The Hanging One More Saturday Might is on Without A Net.

Cobbling together 3/24

It takes a little effort to pull together the 3/24 show, but you'll find Desolation Row on Postcards of the Hanging (I just purchased the track from iTunes) and the OMSN from Without a Net. Listening to it in its entirety, it sounds a bit odd, since you often hear cuts fade in/out awkwardly. Also, as we've heard here, the mixing is significantly different across these 4 different sources. Since I'm a bit of completist, I found it worth the effort, though. It's a marvelous show.

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