Grateful Dead

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I've always frowned on throat tats but the skull on the packaging is well worth consideration.anybody have problems with importing disc 1 7-1-78?

Peter Tosh and multiple trips to Red Rocks, sounds like a blast hey I am not sure if you have this or not - Peter Tosh Live & Dangerous: Boston 1976 - it is awesome !!!!! 5 stars

Good information in this website. UPSC medical officer call letter

Thanks for your story Oroborus! Takes me back . . . I graduated high school in Philly in the spring of '78. I had seen some shows, one in '74 at the Spectrum, a few of the '76 theater shows, and then '77 (including Englishtown) and spring of '78 and was completely and utterly on the bus. Two days after graduation, I headed to Boulder with a friend, to spend some time on my way to college in Berkeley in the fall. When we arrived our Boulder friends were brimming with excitement - after years of seeing concerts at Red Rocks and thinking how awesome it would be if the Dead would play there - they were! The shows were just a couple of weeks away and they had tickets for us! Wow - I had never seen Red Rocks but had heard all about it. Expectations were running high. We headed down on the 7th and I was awestruck at the beauty of the venue. Towering walls of rock, with super steep rows of seating rising up between the rocks, it was all perched on the edge of the front range with a view forever out over the plains to the East, over Denver and on to Kansas. We were there in the afternoon and a deadhead was sitting down in front of the stage softly playing a guitar, and as we climbed high to the top of the seats we could hear him as though he was right next to us, due to the amazing acoustics of the rocks. Then a friend went down and spoke quietly, and we could also hear him all the way up top. We managed to get seats both nights about tenth row center and the shows speak for themselves. Friday was oh so fun and the crowd was oh so into it. But Saturday - that was one of those truly special nights where the band was clearly in another zone, where everything they played was beyond description and every song was a version for the ages! I remember Bill Walton on crutches dancing next to the stage . . . and I remember as it got dark how the lights from Denver and the plains to the east twinkled above the band and the rock immediately behind them And that was my welcome to the West, Philly boy. And what we didn't appreciate at the time was the beautiful weather - sure there was some typical front range lightening at times, but nothing like some of the subsequent years (read on). Side note: I took the Grey Rabbit hippie bus from Berkeley to Red Rocks the next year, in August of '79. Well due to the bus we missed the first show when my friend had gotten me a backstage pass - argh! The next two nights were rained out and held at McNichols arena, which pretty much sucks when you came for Red Rocks and have an unused backstage laminate in your pocket. I still have it too - with a Shakedown Street logo on it. However, I met a lot of great deadhead friends on that bus and have lots of photos in my album. It was a great trip with great stories, and many new friends that I would see at shows and at homes over the next ten or more years. Another side note - I went back in '83, I think, when it rained and they played every song with "rain" lyrics (including of course "I'd shine my light through the cool Colorado rain . . .") We called that year "Wet Rocks." They sold cheap yellow ponchos at the event and many people were wearing them. Later the fall I was ushering a Peter Tosh show in San Francisco (Bill graham's Kabuki nightclub). Bob and Bill and Mickey were there in a box seat, so i chatted with them between the early and late show as we smoked a joint together. I mentioned to Billy the pouring rain at Red Rocks and he commented on how weird it was to look out at that steep wall of people in the tiers of seats, seemingly all wearing yellow ponchos!

I was all excited to see that mine was just 30 miles away on Monday buy now the tracking is showing it 500 miles away in another state - it does appear to be heading back in my direction though - can't wait to hear it.

I got mine in the mail yesterday. 78 has never been a year I delved into too much, as 77 was always the year that offered more in terms of consistent playing. That being said I had bootlegs of these shows (7/7/78 as well) and I always liked these shows. Having the Betty Board back in the vault and then giving this a proper release is awesome. In my opinion, DL and Rhino have been nothing short of absolute Jedi Masters when it comes to releasing shows. I used argue rather passionately and in hindsight unnecessarily, about the need to release complete shows over compilations. I further argued that the best shows should be released. Well, DL and the crew at Rhino have done just that. Ever since the RT series ended, they have been putting out everything I could every dream of. All of the Europe 72 shows, the May 77 box, Veneta 72, Formerly the Warlocks box, Spring 90, and all of Dave's Picks. Of course there is more, but my point is that 7/8/78 is show is a good show that falls into the category of one that should have been released. The best of all of this, is that many of us have had the bootlegs from the past or have heard many shows in other formats prior to the release. So we really have the power to pick and choose which shows to get, and sometimes yes, what we can afford. I feel very spoiled yet also very thankful for what DL and Rhino have released. Can't wait for more.

Guit 30 - It's very easy to calculate the money they are making! Just multiply units by unit cost. Then do the math and net out things like song rights, MASSIVE design/packaging/printing/CD pressing costs, Rhino's cut (huge), Dave's and others' salaries and general GDM salaries/lawyers/overhead (huge), THEN divide the result by 6~ band members! Start filling in even conservative estimates for those items, and it really nets out to NOT a lot of money at all. It's about extending the legacy and sharing the vault, not the money. Just pulling a profit on these releases is impressive. I find it unfortunate when people portray this (not that you did this...) as a massive money making scheme, or assume everyone is buying BMW's with "all the money they're making". No one is getting rich on these releases, except our ears. That's probably why other bands don't release their archival live releases. It's an extremely complicated process, and why go through all the work when the band members who would authorize release net almost no profit? High risk/low or no reward. Only those who are truly passionate about their music and their fans bother with that hassle.

I echo DP36's sentiments thanking Oroboros and all tapers for their efforts. 11/29/80 was one of my first boots - I can't imagine not having that and so many other great auds over the years. 8/6/71 is another - Best Hard to Handle ever, and the aud is more enjoyable than the SBD. That's a feat. Hat's off to all the taper's out there who kept us sane before the boys finally started releasing all this stuff.

Really great observations about how the Dead approached their music and the settings for their performances at this time in 78. I especially appreciated your connection to their forthcoming Egyptian trip. Well-done!

Mr. Oroboros, This is my first dive into these shows. I ordered the box CD package, but downloaded the FLAC yesterday and today, as I could not bear to not have the highest resolution available, especially for this most heralded release. I rarely post to any thread on dead.net, but read each one carefully almost daily. You inspired me to post for a couple of reasons. The first one is because you went out there and captured history. At the time, perhaps not knowing how important audio recordings would become for such a (search for a word... epic, iconic, life changing) group of musicians affectionately known as The Grateful Dead. I belong to a huge growing group of humans that are indebted to you and Mr. Wagner et al. The audience recordings of Grateful Dead shows hold such a special place in my heart. Teleporting me to another place and space in time where my soul lives can not always be done with the crispy soundboards. Betty Cantor is an anomoly. Her recordings speak to me the way that yours and others that have taped speak to me. Every personally taped show is a time capsule that I hold in my heart as a treasure regardless of what many may deem high / low quality. It's a fossil. Perhaps that's the History major in me. Truth be told I teach special education high school science and math. But on to my the second reason of you inspiring me to post on this grand evening. This one speaks to the historical nature in me. Nothing beats first hand accounts of history. You were there; you got the Nak in! The way in which you got your gear in is as entertaining as the way you penned your liner notes. I'm grateful to have people like you that enrich the listening experience tenfold. Thank you for sharing. Sincerely. It means more than I know how to scribe in this box. Reading first hand accounts of deadheads at all the various shows paints the picture brighter in my mind, and I thank you once again. Teachers open the door but you must enter by yourself. Cheers, Drew