Grateful Dead

Got hey now’d ? Trying to edit: be remiss if I didn’t mention the TOG on the 27 as it’s not a train wreck, but pretty bad flubs. Beginning of Stella slight vocal miss too since were being critical, though it’s brief and he rebounds nicely.
The 28 perhaps not his best vocal performance, but up to Fire and besides High Time which he often struggles with, he’s been decent.

This is a super clean recording - one that does not get as much love as it deserves > A fine Playing & Sugaree to open, the sound of which is hitting just the right spot for me this morning ... and plenty of Pigpen coming around later on, post Dark Star!

In a bit of a blizzard out there.
Telluride due for a foot.
"The wind was howling and the snow was outrageous"
Good day to stay in and play Dead.
Cheers
Happy anniversary Dennis! Or is it more like a birthday? Getting on the bus is sort of like being reborn.

Pleased to hear Mika Brzezinski (am I spelling that right) reveal this morning she is a dead head. Next question, when did that happen, was Zbigniew in on it, background growing up? She named Sugar Mag as one of her faves. And thanks, Serious, for making the dead channel free during April. My typical car music BTs from phone, now I can hear big Steve again.

A rare one, I know...

Does anyone have a favorite from this lesser known tour... ;)

Let’s see if Maine can do it again…
3/29 will be hard to beat!
What a beast!
Cool unusual set list I won’t spoil, and look for quarterback Bob to toss an odd Audible when Jerry & the band, the crowd, basically the universe align and opened up and the time for Lazy Lightning to reappear lol…nope ; )
And don’t forget Mickey pelting Matt Kelly with drum sticks, continuously throughout his stint, and the mixed emotions by the band while it happens, and you’d never know any of it if there wasn’t video! (The supposed source of this violence, if accurate, is probably not a peak in GD history?)
Oh boy, 3/31s sounding tasty!

Joey E72: Loon din shows come out like a freight train, the boys are ready to play! The second set DS sequence is sweet! But their not even fully entrained yet…4/14 is what I call a tour status quo: very good high caliber average, with the measure being higher than normal “average”. There are many of these superb, but perhaps not quite the brass ring? Let’s say the 4/24, 4/26, 4/29, 5/4, etc, etc (it’s still mind blowing how consistently good they are on this tour)
But then there’s my fav 5/11, and nipping at its heels: 5/3, 5/18, 5/7, and say, the last two. But that’s just the way I enjoyed em, under work conditions, at that time and space when I finally did the Pepsi challenge fall of 23.
Firstshow was traveling with me so perhaps he’d share with the class?
I’m sure DH being DHs lol, there’s probably 22 (number of shows) different opinions, so it’d be fun to see if folks share!
Ok, sorry, Jerry is REALLY demanding attention on this 3/31/85!

Doh! Threw away the notes on EU72, lol. So looking at set lists with a hazy memory I don't remember being wowed by Paris. Maybe because it was a longer one? But hey, four of those songs made it on to the LP back then which means somebody liked it. Overall I remember liking some that others did not necessarily, like Wembley (4-7), Tivoli (4-14 it's got a Caution), Rotterdam (5-11), and pretty much all of the Lyceum shows. Wow Oro, that deep dive was back in 2023? How time flies.
Cheers

On a totally other subject. After listening to DiP 19 vinyl yesterday I put on my new find from the Goodwill ($5), an unopened 3-LP set of concertos from Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops from 1980 on a Time-Life (RCA) compilation. Super thin records so I thought they might not sound good. Wrong! Blew the 180g. Rhino vinyl out of the water! Especially the high end. So I may need to do some A/B of my TT cartridges. Did the Dead sound dead because I've been using my conical tipped Audio-Technica lately to play older LPs? Will bring out the elliptical Grado to compare. If the conclusion is certain records sound better on a certain cartridge will this necessitate a second turntable, lol? No room for that! At least it's not hard to swap the carts out as I have them both on their own sleds so it's just a slide out, slide in, and rebalance the tonearm, no protractor alignments needed. I'll let you know what I discover but it makes sense that the new high quality vinyl might like the deeper groove access afforded by the elliptical stylus.

This has become highlighted for me since getting it on vinyl. It sounds superb, and I tend to play shows I have in this format more than ones I have on cd. The following night's Dark Star, also on vinyl makes a nice accompanying piece.

Similarly, I tend to play 5/19/74 more often now for the same reasons. Listening to it earlier on - very song based for the most part, but great and clearly audible complimentary playing by everyone.

...on the HC Sun Tour

may 26th 1973
@ kezar stadium :)
always a joy!

PEACE for All!
uncle_tripel

The input is always appreciated, I think Oro is the first I've ever heard 5/18 mentioned specifically. I don't think I've ever listened to that show. I was able to make my own copy of the E72 box set just last year, I had listened to some of the shows previously, but not all of them.

I think I forgot that 5/19/74 was released on vinyl, I don't do records, but if I did I'd want 5/14 also :)

Exempt (at the top) > forever EPIC
4.8 Wembley Pool & 5.26 Lyceum Theatre

DQ (i.e. at the bottom) > Short, or Rehearsal style
4.21 Bremen, which has a couple of interesting moments & 5.16 Radio Luxembourg - Note: Listening to it now - which is decent enough, but is kind of sterile and doesn't reach the level of the rest of the tour ...

Next 7 behind the top 2 (just listed by date. It's
hard to differentiate as they are all Great overall, and have Epic stretches within):
4.14 Copenhagen
4.24 Dusseldorf
4.26 Frankfurt
5.3 Paris
5.4 Paris
5.10 Amsterdam
5.11 Rotterdam

The rest (again by date) which are all very good in different ways - excellent in their own right - and speak to the high level of playing, creativity/passion mentioned here earlier by OB:

4.7 Wembley Pool (intensity)
4.11 Newcastle (Other One w/LiG chording)
4.16 Aarhus (warm, charming tone)
4.17 Tivoli (playful, Dark Star)
4.29 Hamburg (intensity)
Edit: 5.7 Bickershaw (Pigpen!)
5.13 Lille (Other One)
5.18 Munich (intense & melty? need to listen again)
5.23 Lyceum (DS > Dew)
5.24 Lyceum (excellent set 1 + cool Other One)
5.25 Lyceum (setlist, DS Wharf Rat etc.)

Hard to go wrong, really ... and hard to make that 2nd 'cut'. A handful of those just above could easily be considered a group 'up'.

Results of the turntable cartridge swap:
The Grado elliptical sounds only slightly better.
Those missing highs were improved some.
Oddly so was the bass and overall clarity.
This stylus has some miles on it so I didn't expect miracles.
Guess the results indicate that the brand new (from1980) thin vinyl was just a great pressing and recording regardless of the lightweight vinyl. I better play that one again also to verify the test. I have several working cartridges in the turntable parts box at the moment as I was fairly good about replacing them, what with the ridiculously low amount of hours that were recommended by the manufacturers BITD. Even have new unused styli for a couple of them but they aren't quite the quality of the currently spinning Grado Black. Amazing how much folks are asking for rather run of the mill used cartridges now. Have seen well over $100 for that Stanton 680EE (with the funky little brush on it) I still have. Always thought that one was a bit on the heavy side which to my mind does matter, regardless of how many grams you're tracking at. That whole unsprung weight thing. But I digress. Onward through the fog!
Cheers

Wow, the 31 and first were real, and spectacular lol
Ok, maybe that’s pushing it?
But 3/31 was right up there with 3/22 and 3/29, and for awhile I was thinking it might be best of year so far? That’s probably a stretch, but it’s definitely a tour highlight to be sure. Garcia struggles a bit in China Doll, and Trippers cool, but not tight….Perhaps not the hoopla of 3/29, but perhaps a more subtle, proficient outing? The kind of show DL might pick instead of it’s more rowdy neighbor (3/29) lol
4/1 was a goodun too, but maybe not quite equal to it’s predecessor? These shows are really hard to separate and “rank”, almost like E72 in that regard: their mostly all very good with many similarities, but different enough to give them their own personalities if you will? (Not comparing 85 to 72! I don’t do apples to oranges) Just in the sense that one could easily change opinion depending on the weather, mood, weed, alignment of stars lol, on which one resonates most at any given time! Or as Jimmy might say: “my favorite is the last one I listened to”. The ranks/lists can be fluid…
Point being, really enjoying this spring tour which forever reason I was not very familiar with. Sure everyone knows about summer, and many are intimate with fall, but this one seems to go under the radar, which after hearing/loving much of the tour so far, I just can’t understand? Sigh, so much dead, so little time lol
Speaking of, time to git down! Onward, to Providence and 4/3&4/85…

Vinyl: I’ve heard it described as being like drugs…your never gonna get that same first experience ever again, as the needle slowly degradates the vinyl and fidelity is never quite as good as that first spin lol

True Oro, but the point is that all my Dead/Rhino vinyl sounds like that. Muddy. And I've only played them maybe three times? Only reason I can think of is that they were taken from the tapes and smoothed out as to not be obviously annoying but somehow that made them less than bright. Even a side-by side of the same release on CD vs. vinyl is telling. Yes, the mids and especially the bass sound great on the LPs but they fall short on the treble. One exception is the Light Into Ashes LP that does not seem to suffer as much from this. All of this of course is a 1st world problem but since we are all "searching for the sound" inquiring minds want to know. Maybe I've found Bobby's sound of "thick air", lol.
Cheers
There is, of course, a remedy. Crank it up! As my OG Cerwin-Vegas used to say, "Loud is beautiful if it's clean". Wish I still had those speakers.

"anything but GD" stretch...

Motorhead - Aftershock

After the gloriousness of 6/22/73, I suddenly just don't feel "it" with GD.

I don't like these episodes.

Sigh.

For the Dark Star, front and back ends are fabulous. Middle section though trails off a little too much. But also what showcases one of Billy's best solos of the tour, if not the very best.

Discs 2 & 3 from HCS box. Jerry hinting at HCS in space before they find Playing

Def need to spin some of those E72 jams when back home.

Edit - have given several listens to most of 6/9/73 in spare time over last couple days [including this morning (Saturday) - work delayed by weather]. Very enjoyable. For me, this show was overshadowed by others in the box when first released.

...good ol' grateful dead

all day long
with bluecrow

don't get in the way, there's nothing you can say
june 9th 1973

nothing that you need to add or do

PEACE for ALL!!
uncle_tripel

I hear ya proudfoot. Usually these periods are spurred by something on the internet, which makes me go looking for stuff.
last five
Supertramp - Live in Paris
The Marcus King Band - Carolina Confessions
Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards
The Bluesbones - Saved by the Blues
Stephen Stills - Manassas

I just burned the April 78 box and MSG box to a usb drive (for the car) so I will be diving into those soon.

The liner notes suggest that this venue was challenging from a PA 'sound' (and therefore also the recording) perspective. Apparently high-ceilinged and with reflective windows down one side, it makes sense that the band seems a bit tentative and takes a few numbers to sort out the best 'feel' for how to 'corral' the room's energy ...

Edit: As they get it dialed in (Mr. Charlie, Jack Straw) you can get a sense of how cavernous and 'hard' the room is - kind of like Newcastle - but with a more engaged crowd.

That Truckin'!

Reminds me of an image from a Cormac McCarthy book. Suttree, possibly?

Something about a locomotive steam engine blazing up the side of a mountain while on fire during a snow storm.

5/4 got a few mentions, so I went there next, I did love the Dark Star and the Good Lovin'.
Next I skipped to 5/11, I don't know if I ever listened to 5/10 and 5/11 before. The Deal on 5/11 is interesting, pretty slow...

I'm thinking about maybe reliving some of this Friend Of The Devil box while it's appropriate, I might like better now?

Upon my return
HCS box
E72 shows

That'll get me to feel "it"

Uh...

Need more Fall ‘91 Dave.

Once so well known, it now sounds like a stranger.

Working mans Dead & The Best of Muddy Waters. They never get old.

On to Philly after to fine shows from Providence.
Cool tunes and lots of great playing, unfortunately plagued by a perhaps more than usual number of minor flubs etc? Second night could have been tours best except for this, but I really enjoyed it anyway, even hit it twice!

But today, Forty year Anny!
Where does the time go…
GA, lots of floor space, Red Sweethearts, my “Dancin daze”…
think Elaine tripping lol
band plays mostly hot…
Unfortunately JG has a bad cold and sounds often worse than better., but boy does he try hard and solder Onward!
He only had a few brief moments of frogness this tour until now.
I don’t think it’s drugs because he’s other ways/otherwise so on, like most of the tour, so you’d think if he suddenly binged that hard there’d be more negative evidence. If you can get past the occasional vocal painfulness, there’s plenty of superb playing/jamming, and sorta like those early 78 laryngitis gigs, the band really steps up, and it’s like Jer feels bad so really tries to make it up with his playing! Maybe ya had to be there, but it was like a sporting event (imagine that in Philly lol) with the crowd really cheering him on.
In Philly, that could go the other way lol, ask Mick J, but here it truly feels like a “group” effort.
I went with the Oade Bros fine aud (maybe a little light in the bottom?) to fully appreciate all that and what MAKES, this show. Some times you eat the baarr, sometimes the baarr eats you!
Mañana it’ll be the big Easter show!
A top favorite “at” show, froggy be damned lol

Firstshow: I was just teasing, I mean, if I told ya half the crazy shit I try, so I understand probably more than most lol ; )
I fully appreciate any fellow geek willing to go furthur searching for the sound!

4/7/85 rocks real good
4/8/85 set 1 is awesome

I encourage avoiding reading the setlists ahead of time on those

Just a wonder, think if she hadn't died she would have been the first female in the dead?

Would have been seismic.
Cheers

"He woke up in a cold sweat."

To use a modern, and polite description, I think I would have found that quite challenging.

Actually, had that thought in my sleep last night!

...thru the last of
hc sun box today

june 10th 1973

PEACE for All!
uncle_tripel

Continuing our 40th anniversary trips…
Oh I know PF, that’s why I say this one is an “at” favorite!
Not the best show we ever saw, but man it was a good one to be at!

Playing is fierce, scene was awesome, unfortunately Jer still sick, but a little better than previous? And again, his struggles helped make these shows.
If you only hear the “voice” on this one, yer not gonna get it…if you can get past, or even appreciate the effort to not let the situation be the determining factor, you might love it? But really, you had to be there to fully appreciate these shows. Like you don’t see how into Half Step he was, complete I think with raised fist during the outro! Garcia was trying and playing so hard, you just had to root for him. It really did feel like a sporting event sometimes with everyone cheering him on.
I can understand why there’s negative comments from tape reviews, but I think if you were there, and really understood the dead, you couldn’t help but like these shows.

Janis and Pig: I’ve heard em, meh…two drunks trying to out scream each other. Another probably: CAF if you were there, but now…meh

I'm not too keen on the "I feel pain" school of soul singing. Some people are over generous in sharing their pain.

...just uncovered an old box of CD-R's
with 5 shows stashed away
not really sure when
most probably late 2000's
and so now it's time ROCK

june 22nd 1973
@ Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC

PEACE for ALL!
uncle_tripel

PS: and inside the "newly found" box,
maxell XLII of 4/13/84 set 2
with the original parking ticket stub
at hampton coliseum for a fee of $1.00 lol
unfreakin' believable!
enjoy your day!!

Through the first set, I love it. Even the frickin Casey Jones is really good.

Rapping up the tour and my 40th Anny trip, with long/short: more of the same as 2 previous. Some stellar, some average, some no bueno.
Really fun first set, and sporadic second?
Another show that was way better live than on tape!
I know I had fun lol. I shot this avatar pic from the front row during the first set.
One and only time I ever took my camera, and considering my lack of experience, and being electrified etc, some of em are better/pretty good!
Might have used a different speed film?…my av pic I waited a long time to get Phil to hit me, by turning towards me simultaneously with a crescendo, but the lights changed at that moment also, so it’s unfortunately washed out, but it was fun getting it! He had fun too, teasing me, making me wait, until..just..NOW! Lol
Those were the daze! And so glad I finally caught this awesome tour!
85 is like the black licorice thing…if you like it, ya love it…if not…

...I'm stuck in a rut...
MORE 1973 TODAY

december 8th 1973
duke's cameron indoors

PEACE!
uncle_tripel

PS: thanks for the box update
y'all are keeping the anticipation level
HIGH

about four years and three and a half weeks to
6/14/76
because Dave put the idea in my head...

5/18/72 was indeed awesome, a favorite of that tour for sure.

Edit: do the have RSD in the UK for Daverock?

Just can’t get enough lol
Good for moving books/furniture too!

Why don’t we do it with some toads..tools ; )

At vintage mall in Palm Springs

Poster for 10/13/81

Essentially the cover art for Dead Set, spread out

9 bucks? OK.

What are the odds, lol.
Framed or not, worth way more than $9
Cheers

... maybe it was the MIT - Kresge reference > Boston Garden 5.7.77 (Get Shown the Light)

The first Set is transcendent, as is the Eyes > Drums > Wheel > Wharf Rat sequence.

Edit: U.S. Blues encore is also tasty/rockin' >> goes with my other 'newsy' post from earlier. It's amazing how certain things seem to come around every 45-50 years

Always wanted this one and found a still sealed copy for $35 on Ebay. Was sitting over in China. For 28 years?!? Great packaging but man-oh-man is that slipcover delicate. Probably better I've got mine now rather than when in my mid twenties.

And oh yeah, No. 31717 has finally landed!

JOEYMC - yes, thanks, they do have it over here. I think I've got all The Dead albums that have been released over the last 10 years or so on this day - and I'm looking forward to getting 6/14/76 over the weekend.

dropped in this morning on Space through Baby Blue encore - beautiful!