Grateful Dead

Was the 2011 Bonus Disc (12/6/73) shrink wrapped in the same package as the Denver 1973 Road Trips? The reason I am asking is because there is a 2011 Road Trips Bonus Disc shrink wrapped by itself on eBay. I thought this was strange, since all of the other ones I've seen were shrink wrapped in the main package with the primary release. Also looking forward to The Who Fillmore East show from '68. I've seen them about a dozen times, but never with Moon. Almost bought Hull the other day. It's the exact same show as the complete Live at Leeds show. It was supposed to be the one they used for the live album that ended up being Live at Leeds, but Entwistle's bass was not recorded on one of the reels. Years later, with the advent of digital production tools, they were able to take Entwistle's bass from a different night and fill it in. I was surprised to see the ad for the '68 Fillmore seats show, as Townshend has stated that they burned most of their vault tapes back in the 70s, to prevent bootlegging. I guess this one slipped through the cracks, I suppose because it's a multitrack.

...DP 33 was released 14 years ago? Denver RT 7? Geez. Thank God The Grateful Dead keep making me feel young again when I listen to them. Not always the case when I glance at the release years in the fine print.Road Trip bonuses were always packaged in the main release KF as far as I know. Repackaged my dude....

Was never a really big fan of The Who. Or the Dead for that matter. Listened to them both, but focused more on Traffic and Pink Floyd after the Zeppelin years began to wane. Happened to catch them both for the first time on the same weekend back in the early 80s. Was intrigued by the Dead, but blown away by The Who. So much so that I caught them again a few months later. Essentially the same show, same setlist, etc. Not nearly as impressive the second time around.

Not nearly as impressive the second time around..so long as that's not my epitaph.. I can live with it. I think the Who and equally important Pete Townshend deserve their time in the light. They were innovative, timely and Pete was/is the real deal. Not to mention John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Roger. I do get a kick out of most comparisons to the 'lesser' Grateful Dead. Same setlists.. solo's almost identical. But don't let that detract from the greatness of The Who.. they were/are great, but the Grateful Dead are in a league of their own and aren't we the lucky ones to be basking in the sun while all these great recordings are released. and.. right on deadicated.. '72 - the Olympia. Holy goodness, what a great twofer. Sacred grounds.

My absolute first album ever bought! I still think it's arguably the numero uno greatest hits LP release ever! Two sides of silliness and bliss. I mean how can you not like Boris the Spider juxtaposed against My Generation or Magic Bus?! First saw the Who on the 1975 tour at their final stop in Toronto. Simply blown away by the sheer force and power (and volume!!Lol). Then after a blistering Won't Get Fooled encore Pete smashed his guitar to everyone's astonishment and delight. When they toured the 50th anniversary tour in 2016 I took the family to see them in Saskatoon. Far more contrived than in '75 but nonetheless a guilty pleasure all the same. Long Live Rock. WHO^

glad I bought 4/26/72 when I did. it is out of print and nugs.net doesn't have it for download just edited Hundred Year Hall

This was about the 4th album I got, back in about 1972. I really liked the eccentricity of The Who in the earlier days, up to and including Tommy. It was a great time for British psych/pop/rock, and The Who made many great singles and album tracks around this time. They seemed of a piece with other great singles of the day by the likes of Pink Floyd, The Kinks, The Move-and literally thousands of others. The Who Sell Out may be my favourite album of theirs. They were a powerhouse in the early 70s-although I never actually got to see them at this time. But I preferred their 60s output to the heavier, more serious 70s material. They seemed a world away from The Dead, though, from what I have heard of their live recordings. And although I think Pete Townsend is a great guitarist, he seems woefully in the wrong place when he plays with The Dead at that Rockpalast March 1981 show. He and the band seem to be on different pages entirely.

Funny that you mention that show. I was going to post something about that as well. Not sure what the correct word is, but Townsend seemed outmatched. Could be the lack of familiarity with the music, booze, drugs, etc. Who knows. I think he realized that his routine was not going to work in that particular setting so he stepped to the background. From what I have read, he came away with a great deal of respect for the Dead as muscians after that outing. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate The Who musically. Just not my listening preference.

Listened to nothing but KISS from age 5 - 10, then heard Baba O'riley at my cousin's house over Christmas break, and we must have listened to it 20 times that week. That plus side 1 of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy, and side 1 of The Kids Are Alright movie soundtrack, which has the Smothers Brothers "Roger From Oz" intro to My Generation. I was hooked. Who Are You was the first record I bought that wasn't KISS, followed closely by Meaty Beaty and Who's Next. First saw them 7/9/89, two days after first Dead show 7/7/89. Saw them about a dozen times now, most recently a year or two ago, whenever they were at MSG and Philly for the 50th bash.

And as we all know, Who and Zeppelin are better than the Stones and Beatles, but Pink Floyd is the greatest British band ever.But they’re all in the minor leagues when compared to Grateful Dead. My first Who show was July ‘89, a little more than a week after seeing GD at Alpine. Was in row 32 on the floor, and extensively wide-eyed. It was an awesome rock n roll show, with all the greatest hits, even Boris The Spider. Also saw the Quadrophenia tour in ‘96 and the greatest hits tour in 2000, but those didn’t compare to the raw power of the ‘89 show. Love the Isle of Wight DVD, also have the Texas ‘75, Knebworth, and Kids Are Alright DVDs. But yeah, same setlist night after night. And that’s not just The Who, but also Zep, Stones, Floyd. Floyd claimed that the setlists had to be the same to keep the choreography with the video that was being played. But when you play each song the same night after night, well, that just goes to show that you are not in the same league as GD.

Well I taught that weeping willow how to cry cry cry,Taught the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky. https://archive.org/details/gd1987-04-07.140340.sbd.miller.flac2496 The Who is a great stress release.

Townsend wasn't outmatched by Garcia. Yes, he looked and sounded like he was trying to fit in but couldn't get in the groove - at all. That doesn't mean he was outmatched - he was just waaaay out of his comfort zone. Towshend's style of playing is to take a 2.5 minute song and pack as many car chases and explosions into it as possible.... windmills, power chords, leg-splitting jumps, with his hair on fire and a kilbasa down his pants. The Who beat the shit out of their instruments while the Dead make love to the music. Not a slam on the Who - they're amazing and in 1970-71 they were THE band that everyone, including the Dead, was chasing.... I see "Skullfu@k" as their "Who" album, recorded in Spring '71. Did Townsend look neutered with the Dead? Totally - because he's not a finesse player, and the Dead are all about a musical conversation.... playing in a circle and feeding off each other. Look at Not Fade Away - perhaps the Dead's most bombastic, power-chord song - If Pete would fit on ANY Dead song it would be that one, right? Nope! For the Dead, even NFA is still a subtle conversation with each other and the audience. \ Pete kept trying to find a spot set off an explosion at Rockpalast, only to realize that his "thing" doesn't work with the Dead - at all. Kinda like the way John Mayer admitted after joining Dead and Co that his usual blues-y thang didn't work and he'd have to adjust and re-approach, which he did masterfully. Jerry would have looked equally out of place, even silly, onstage with the Who. And Who fans would have called him "outmatched" as well. It's like comparing the gold-medal mogul skier to gold-medal Giant Slalom guy.... they're both gonna fail miserably at the other guy's game.

Thin, very well stated. One thing I want to add, is that the improvised set list versus the static set list is usually a trade off. The advantage for the Who is that they're so well rehearsed from playing the same songs every night, that there are virtually no mistakes, ever. I've seen them 30+ times and I have 50+ live recordings, and they never had an off night. Always tight, never flubbed lyrics. The only exception was technical issues with the synthesizer backing tapes on the '73 Quadrophenia tour. The Dead suffers some fallout from the improv and varied set lists. I don't mind it at all, only illustrating that there's a trade off.

Thanks for The Who at Hull - the remastered full Leeds is a bit pricey for my budget. Think there's 2 or 3 more copies left at amazon after my purchase. Thin - nice snowsport reference but didn't a snowboarder win the Gold in Woman's Skiing Giant Slalom in the recent Olympics? Since I fell behind the Spring 90 anniversary listen this year and I always fall behind in my E72 attempts, I'm attempting a hybrid. I listen to a couple from one or two from one tour and then one or two from the other tour. Been an experience. Aurally the 90's shows are 3 dimmensional with contributions from all. But I do notice a huge difference in the Jerry's role in comparing the two tours. A lot of the pieces that Jerry would drive in the Europe shows are almost parcelled out to Bobby and Brent. Jerry still has the the solos, but the rest of the fill is a group effort. I still love both, but was just something I never took note of before... Loving that Hawaii JGB release and the recent RFK box. Looking forward to the box set announcement, they never cease to amaze me...

Dick Clark calls it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKT0Kz5VGhw

Yeah. That is pretty much what I said. But thanks for restating it so emphatically. I'm glad you like the Who.

I liked your consideration of Pete Townsend's performance with The Dead. The comparison between the two bands reminds me a bit of the discussion we had on here a few weeks ago about whether The Dead could be considered a jazz band. I didn't think they could, but I think their approach to playing rock music was "jazz like". And I think this is what confounded Pete Townsend when he played Not Fade Away with them in 1981. Its a simple, rock n 'roll song. But the Dead slowed the tempo and jammed, as was their wont. This obviously worked in spades for them-but they took the song out of the narrow (but great) confines of what normally constitutes the best rock n' roll music. As a great rock guitarist, poor old Pete was left standing at the starting line. I think most other rock guitarists would have been, too. John Cipollina, a bit more surprisingly, also seems a bit lost to me on the New Years Eve 1978 show, when he tries to play along on the same tune. Obviously not as easy as it looked! And as I sit here waffling, the Who Live at Hull has been pushed through my letter box. It could be a bumpy night.

I remember reading in a Pete Townshend interview somewhere (I'm searching like hell to find it) that, during the 10/9/76 and 10/10/76 Oakland shows, he and the rest of The Who stood backstage and watched in awe as the Dead played. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something along the lines of "We just couldn't figure out how the hell they did it." Then he made some comparisons between the stylistic differences of the two bands. Regardless, it was clearly said with reverence. And in subsequent years Townshend and Garcia became good friends. So I always see Pete's jamming with the Dead as his way of trying to understand, or at least experience, that chemistry himself. Just a thought. I could be wrong. I often am, unless I'm not.

It's a credit to Jerry's talent and versatility that whatever the (musical)situation, he was able to fit in perfectly, no matter who he sat in with.

This is from Wikipedia Live at Hull 1970 is a live album from the English rock band The Who. Their performance at Hull City Hall was recorded with the Pye Mobile Unit by Bob Pridden [3] on 15 February 1970.[4] In a few songs the bass guitar sound was either badly recorded or lost due to technical problems. For these songs, the bass guitar track from the previous night's Live at Leeds performance was matched to the Hull performance, allowing the show to be presented in full.[5] Identical bass every night. If this was released in 2012, why are people buying it now, has it been remastered, or is it about to go out of stock? Or just completing the collection?

Well, look what has happened when daverock, fourwindsblow, and myself have wrought - an interest in The Who again in this thread and for me. On the turntable is "Who's Next" followed by "Quadrophenia" and perhaps/maybe "Sell Out" and "Live At Leeds." ALL original, 1st issue, USA pressings. And I'm not into vinyl as I once was. The Who were a great band in their heyday and still play a very good live show today with Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend & their assorted, highly talented side players.

No, it doesn't appear to have been remastered, or about to go out of stock or anything. I was looking on Amazon for info on the new Live at The Fillmore East April 1968 show by The Who, and saw the Hull show for sale. I never bought it when it came out, but as it was so inexpensive, I thought yesterday that I would. I have just played the first cd, and it is, as you would expect, very powerful. The drums are extraordinary on the opener, Heaven and Hell. Maybe marginally different from Live at Leeds-the feel is a bit different-maybe less reverb on Pete's guitar-but nothing radically different. As you say, its so close to the previous nights Leeds set that they could slot the bass playing from that show on to this one without it sounding in the least bit incongruous. Powerful rock music it is, great songs played fast and furious. Jazz rock it ain't.

....Entwistle died at the Hard Rock Hotel here in Vegas surrounded by hookers and blow. Rocker until the end....

I recall seeing them play at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. I may have seen them on one or more occasions subsequently, but my memory is refusing to confirm this. It was almost 50 years ago, after all. Also saw the Doors at the Isle of Wight and they were shit. IMHO.

Midnight Cafe has got that Doors show for ya if ya want it. FLAC or MP3Get some

Shortly before the drum solo following Truckin', they achieve the sublime "Europe '72 thing", and after the drum solo is a Sunshine Daydreamer's delight, indeed. Awhoa! Bring on the first Dark Star since 3/23 - they do go hand-in-hand, don't you know. Still see you at Jazzfest?

Call me crazy if ya want I'm going back an forth between Amsterdam show and the Hull and in my opinion Amsterdam '69 is better in that it has way more energy. My flacs have better sound that what is posted on youtube also. Leeds is good but Amsterdam has a raw energy to it that I just love. Amsterdam '69 https://youtu.be/dHWWVxRG9B0 Hull '70 https://youtu.be/dzezyqnXVsE Leeds '70 https://youtu.be/H5BUQzN8pl4

for Who fans only? Some people prefer the Hull version of Tommy (live) over most any others of that era. Just sayin', Moonie found a little something extra that night. The rock opera format was pretty much defined by them. Quadrophrenia has a couple great tune but is a dated period piece as a film, even if Sting had a significant part. Live at Kilburn in 1977 is of interest, flawed, Moon is not well but as his last real gig with the band, fairly essential.The Blu Ray version apparently has additional performance, check it out.

fourwindsblow: thank so much for posting this and noting that flacs are out there! I had given up trying to find this one... indeed great raw energy.

The sound on the flacs has louder bass and drums a more even mix than the youtube share. The Hull has the drums up in the mix which I like being a novice drummer myself, but if you listen it doesn't have as much energy. dmcvt you have a pm.

Damn it, y'all drew me back in with all this Who talk. I'll cut it short and leave out the live shows I've seen, the guitar I bought to be like Pete (black Schecter identical to this video), etc. and just say that this soundcheck is one of my fave Who moments, and the best Pete vocal ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5-DaI5ULg Cheers! \m/

good show has a good The Music Never Stopped, Big Railroad Blues, Ramble On Rose, Black Throated Wind.

....has a very nice pre-drumz. Shakedown -> Samson, She Belongs To Me, Man Smart....

A bit more of Pete on BBC's "Parkinson" (chat show host Michael Parkinson) in the UK, playing guitar with his dad Cliff on clarinet on the end of this clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsuYdl9lUsM

1st Set Around and Around closer since 10/20/74!

I have a 45 minute track I compiled of Tommy, in order, from Live at Leeds, Isle of Wight, and Woodstock. I'll post a link a little bit later, once I dig up the file transfer wire to pull it off my phone. The tracks are knitted together pretty seamlessly. Before the Dead, I was always dealing with bands who only had a handful of live versions to choose from, and there was almost always a discernibly BOAT version; so I thought, why not present Tommy at it's absolute finest (this is going back 20 years now, yikes). Favorite Pete guitar - undoubtedly the Gibson SG he used on the Tommy tour (including Woodstock, Live at Leeds, and Isle of Wight). Same one Jerry used on Live Dead, depicted on the cover of DaP Vol. 6. Mick Taylor also used this beauty. There is an unbelievably hot jam from Pete and the boys between Amazing Journey and Sparks at the Isle of Wight show from 1970 (which, incidentally, is a great show to watch in full - they have it in movie quality video - Townshend and Moon are at their absolute peak. Anyway, here is the jam between Amazing Journey and sparks from Isle of Wight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib-2YuR5OH0 and then a different take on video (from Woodstock). The jam isn't quite as cool as the Wight version above, but it's hot nonetheless, and segues into the best version of Sparks you're ever going to hear (Moon is unreal with the drum fills): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHpdcMXJj7Q Here's a good interview with Pete on his sound of that era, and the link to guitar smashing.There's a picture of him there with a doubleneck from '67 or '68 - I have a framed 18x12 of this in my family room. Funny thing is, I've never seen a video of him playing a double neck, but supposedly he used it during Substitute. https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Pete_Townshend_On_Guitar_Smashin…

Lotta poor man make a five dollar bill, Keep him happy all the time...Dark Star -> Sugar Magnolia -> Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) April 8, 1972, Wembley Empire Pool, London Long distance runner, what you standin' there for... https://archive.org/details/gd1978-04-08.140922.sbd.miller.sirmick.flac… Baby's back all dressed in black. Silver buttons all down her back... https://archive.org/details/gd1985-04-08.sbd.miller.118375.flac16 Put your gold money where your love is baby... https://archive.org/details/gd1989-04-08.sbd.walker-scotton.miller.8351… Wake up to find out... https://archive.org/details/gd1991-04-08.137103.sbd.miller.flac16

Hi all, interesting discussion about other bands. Once I got into downloading Dead shows, I eventually found my way into sites that had a treasure trove of bootlegs from everybody. I got some great shows, everything from Floyd to Zappa, even Lou Reed and Derek and The Dominos. I am sure a lot of you are way ahead of me on this. Now I can say I am not well versed in all of these bands live shows, but looking at the British band being mentioned - Floyd Stones, Who, Beatles, and Zeppelin, I think Zeppelin had some jam-improved shows. Now it is true their set lists were almost identical, but Zep seemed to have their own jam launching songs. Dazed and Confused, Whole Lotta Love, Moby Dick (drums) are few. IN later years, No Quarter was a jam vehicle for them. Again this is what I came across, but I may not be so accurate. I believe we have few resident Zeppelin fans who can shed light on this. However I feel like I listened to a lot of these bands live shows, and even when I include the Allmans and Phish, The Grateful Dead are the apex for me. To quote Booby they are "just exactly perfect". You know variety is the spice of life though.

Sometimes it snows in April O(+>

Yea sometimes it snows but it's just been cold not even a mild day anywhere and they just said below normal temp's for and other week after a brief warm up I take a couple days of above normal temp's before it drops again. It's been a long cold lonely winter. haha p.s. It's been warmer in Alaska than in the northeast. Darn global warming.

Happy 4/8 indeed. 4/8 1971 and 4/8 1972 are two of my favorite shows so will certainly be doing some listening today. I'm in NJ so feeling the pain of an extended winter as well. Been a long cold lonely winter in more ways than one. Thank god for the dead who have been keeping me in good spirits since I was 13. No idea what my life would have been like without them.

2-14-70. Always amazed that Leeds show happened the same day as one of my favorite Dead shows. A time machine could get me to one, but which one? Would have to be Fillmore, but a part of me would always be wondering if I made the right choice. But then I remember the time difference between continents and I imagine I could close out the Leeds show, jump on the Concord to cross the Atlantic and parachute into New York in time for the Cold Rain opener at the Fillmore. (Perhaps inspired by Phil Collins traveling across the pond during Live Aid to drum for Zep??? Never mind the quality of said performance.) Anyway, I think I could make it work. And my mind is somehow eased by not having to make that choice.

Yo, rockers!!!! First & foremost, I have not fallen and hit my head. Second, way big thanks to Frank Streeter, Tim Dalton, Charlie Miller, Scott Clugston, and everybody else who has made this possible. Yes, Frank Streeter's excellent tapes from the Summer of 1982 have finally started to circulate widely. Released so far: 7/27/82 7/31/82 8/1/82 8/4/82 (my favorite) 8/8/82 8/10/82 Used to listen to these quite a bit back in the day. Whether you like the 80s or not, these sure sound good!! Time to share. You know where to find me............ Rock on, Doc P.S. You forgot 4/8/71 P.P.S. Excellent copy of 10/10/82 is out as well.......... P.P.P.S. The Who, Boston Garden 4/1/76, 20 rows back, dead center, best rock n roll show I ever saw...............

While I haven't listened to very many live shows from the who, I personally have found the few I have to be quite jarring and sloppy sounding. Surprising for a band that played the same songs the same way all the time, right down to the smashing of their instruments every night. They were a great studio band, and probably cool to see in person, but their live recordings are in my opinion, for the die hard fans or those that are looking for a rawer, punk, lofi sound to their favorite who songs which at times can get old from being overplayed on the radio. The Doors live is hit or miss for me, there are definitely shows worth checking out for their performances, setlists, and I have found some great sounding recordings of them. The Isle of Wight recording is one that up until very recently I had always seen at the top of the lists for worst/laziest Doors show, funny how its now being marketed as the last great performance and being hyped up. I actually find the Doors at the Isle of Wight to be a chill show, that while not very memorable is certainly not even close to the worst Doors recording available. Enjoyed that Beefheart video, the Captain was definitely worth seeing live and though the recordings of him are usually very poor sounding, there are more than a few shows out there worth one's time. Also mentioned where the Almond bros and LedZep, both are bands with great live recordings available that are as good or better than their studio work in my opinion.

I read an interview with Jerry talking about how Pete T was telling Jerry how depressed he was with having to play the same show and setlist night after night. Yet Pete did not know how to stop doing that. I guess, obviously, that is what the fans wanted so The Who delivered it over and over. The Who watching The Dead at those joint Day on The Green shows showed them outside the box musical-thinking. How do they do that? And of course The Who always delivered The Power while The Dead delivered The Magic with a few Train Wrecks here and there. What's your pleasure? Hey SimonRob I know Jerry thought that The Doors music sounded too thin and brittle live. He was right, but, I do love their Absolutely Live disc. Were The Doors too 'thin' sounding live for you? Perhaps kind of a 'dinky' sound rather like some here hear 'dinky' 'plinky' keys from Brent here and there? Jerry mentioned that The Doors did not impress initially and Jim seemed like a Mick Jagger clone.Jerry did, however, likeThe Doors ir later stuff. I guess Jerry liked Morrison Hotel and LA Woman with their blues influence. Come to think of it: The song LA Woman has a guitar tone similar sounding to what what Jerry liked and played? No? Or am I tripping? I love The Doors but I think that if I were to have seen them live then what Jerry described regarding their sound being to thin would have been confirmed. And if Uncle JimBo had been too drunk then it may have been a disaster and a waste of time. The Doors seemed to be self-aware of this problem. Jim thought that their music does not work in day light. Likewise, after LA Woman they were going to have Elvis bass player Jerry Sheff join them on tour but without dropping Manzarek's bass-line keys which was a very unique part of their sound. I do not know if they were also going to add a second rhythm guitarist but that would have fattened their sound considerably. The what ifs of music history! Just one more thing: The Who's Sparks song sequence and playing was 'just exactly perfect.' Love it!

I read an interview with Jerry talking about how Pete T was telling Jerry how depressed he was with having to play the same show and setlist night after night. Yet Pete did not know how to stop doing that. I guess, obviously, that is what the fans wanted so The Who delivered it over and over. The Who watching The Dead at those joint Day on The Green shows showed them outside the box musical-thinking. How do they do that? And of course The Who always delivered The Power while The Dead delivered The Magic with a few Train Wrecks here and there. What's your pleasure? Hey SimonRob I know Jerry thought that The Doors music sounded too thin and brittle live. He was right, but, I do love their Absolutely Live disc. Were The Doors too 'thin' sounding live for you? Perhaps kind of a 'dinky' sound rather like some here hear 'dinky' 'plinky' keys from Brent here and there? Jerry mentioned that The Doors did not impress initially and Jim seemed like a Mick Jagger clone.Jerry did, however, likeThe Doors ir later stuff. I guess Jerry liked Morrison Hotel and LA Woman with their blues influence. Come to think of it: The song LA Woman has a guitar tone similar sounding to what what Jerry liked and played? No? Or am I tripping? I love The Doors but I think that if I were to have seen them live then what Jerry described regarding their sound being to thin would have been confirmed. And if Uncle JimBo had been too drunk then it may have been a disaster and a waste of time. The Doors seemed to be self-aware of this problem. Jim thought that their music does not work in day light. Likewise, after LA Woman they were going to have Elvis bass player Jerry Sheff join them on tour but without dropping Manzarek's bass-line keys which was a very unique part of their sound. I do not know if they were also going to add a second rhythm guitarist but that would have fattened their sound considerably. The what ifs of music history! Just one more thing: The Who's Sparks song sequence and playing was 'just exactly perfect.' Love it!

The impression I get is that it was the norm for rock groups to play the same set every night, certainly during the 1970s. It didn't matter to me as it would never have occurred to me, then, to see a band twice on the same tour. I would typically see bands in the nearest city-Manchester-and then wait till they came around again the following year. I didn't know anybody who travelled about watching the same band, either. In fact, when The Dead came to London in March 1981, the first time I saw them, I had the same attitude. I got a ticket for one show. I couldn't believe it when I read a review of another nights concert from the same run, and noticed they had played a completely different set. I wonder-did people follow The Dead around in the 1960s and 70s? Or was the attitude the same as mine here in England? I didn't notice the crowd much in the 1981 concerts I saw ( I went in October, too. Only one show then too-but that was because of work commitments) But clearly, in 1990 there was a massive amount of Americans in the audience who seemed to have followed the band all over Europe.

The daddy of them all may have been King Crimson. They played a limited number of songs on their tours from 1969 to 1975, based on the albums they had most recently recorded, but they really attacked them differently each night. Attacked being the right word. And the music changed significantly during the timespan mentioned, as the line up of the band changed. The Welsh band Man used to jam effectively too, although sadly their songs weren't exactly top draw. Some bands sounded as though they were improvising, when the likelihood was that they had simply forgotten the arrangement. How does it go again?