Shug

I notice you have a lot of 10.10.82 Frost in there (as it's an excellent show), but not that scorcher Minglewood opener!

Thanks, I will go back and listen again.  The 8-3 Minglewood is also hot hot hot!  Sometimes with these choices, its about the transitions between songs on a given recording.  When its played loud, little imperfections can become huge jolts, so sometimes I try to do a few songs from the same recording to try to minimize those.  But performance with great sound quality is the main determining factor, so I love hearing what people suggest, so thanks!

How about Alabama Getaway>Greatest Story, West LA, and Throwin’>Touch from 10/09? All great.

Yeah, you could have a whole 'nother '82 show with no repeats.  I preferred all those new songs after they had developed for a few years, though.  Early versions were a bit too proto- basic for my tastes but they were kinda funky and different that what many of us heard so many times and I get why some people dig the early versions.

I also re-checked out the Dew from 9-17 and I think I prefer the one from Philly 4-6, its got a bigger peak at the end.  The one from Portland gets really quiet but it never really comes back to the big crescendo that for me makes a Dew great. Maybe its a cleaner version?

Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate 'em!

Getting ready to have a listening party with another one of my composite best of the year compilations.  This time its 1982. 

I'm not really that much of a fan but I have big regret never seeing him live, I know his shows were long and he gave them all he had.

I have just the official mp3s of this one, not the physical CDs.  Good stuff, for sure, especially the short country and rock 'n' roll songs.  Great tone and playing from Jerry and just a spryness to them in the tempos.  Billy is playing good!

I'm just waiting for the frickin' tour dates for this summer with Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real.  They have one show booked in June at that Pasadena rock festival.  Lukas has said in the press there will be a tour this summer.  No vacation plans for me until those dates are announced!

https://www.arroyosecoweekend.com/

 I have been into Easy Wind from that TV show Calibration as of late. 

I never get tired of it! I think its one of the finest GD live performances of all time and certainly one of the best Bob Weir guitar performances, its almost like he is a second lead guitarist.  Pig is SMOKIN'!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ozp2P_ENBo

Too bad about the announcer talking over the music, though.  I sure would like to edit that out if it were possible.

This is obviously a subjective exercise so all have our favorite and least favorite shows/time periods/band configurations/tours etc. Personally, i think there were some stellar shows during 1978 and think 2 of the best of the 209 I saw between 1977 and 1995 were 4/15/78 William & Mary College and 11/14/78 Boston Music Hall. I also really like the two from July at Red Rocks and many think the Madison show on 2/3/78 among their very best.  12/31/78 I consider to be another stellar show and the video of 4/12/78 is priceless. For me at least the 93-95 period were clearly the weakest and also not a big fan of the shows i saw in 86. Tapes from 76 can sound a bit sterile as many in such clean soundboard quality and clearly overtaken by '77. 

I used to not think very highly of '78 because there were some pretty plodding and lethargic shows, mainly when Keith was not really engaged or playing much, as folks mentioned above. Seems that a lot of these came in the second half of the year, although there were shining moments then, too, like July Red Rocks and the Winterland October shows.  12-31-78 is a good example of plodding '78, and  I, unlike jw harding, don't even think the 3rd set is very good.

But then I discovered Spring tour from '78 like those awesome shows in early Feb as has been mentioned, and just about everything in April which just blazes!  I'm also one who likes things heavy and rocking, pedal to the metal.  I've never been one to say "this groove is so laid-back" and think of that as a positive.  I've become much more a fan of '78 since the Archive made all those shows available for hardcores to study and point out the previously underappreciated gems and the peaks in the Dead's live history.

Tuscon April 17, and Phoenix April 18!

 Just got the flurry of texts and phone calls about these!  I'm there.  Probably cannot make the Vegas Brooklyn Bowl show on Apr 11, but I hate Vegas anyway.  radiatortunes if you are coming to AZ for these, let us know and we can meet up.

I love it when a band I like plays two nights in AZ, no plane tix or hotel needed.

There were some more scattered in between festival dates in Cleveland and Detroit and Milwaukee this summer too.

Absolutely. Still not sure why they weren't nominated for best alternative album, but I'm happy their work was recognized. Hope you have a chance to see them live. You won't be disappointed!

I know how good they are live, I've seen 'em a half dozen times already on the past two tours!  I can't get enough, this tour is even better than the last one.  Its so great to get in on a band when they are in their peak.  I usually am late for most bands, so I am going to take advantage of seeing The War On Drugs as much as I can now.

I put very little importance on the Grammys but I was still glad for the recognition that The War On Drugs got in winning Rock Album of the Year last night.  They deserve the acknowledgement and I hope it helps keep the train rolling for this great band.

Still chomping at the bit for what I hope are fill in dates around the two weekends at Coachella this April or any other tour dates in cool cities, they are my highest concert-attending priority in 2018 while they are peaking.

Trading guitar solos and rhythm parts very nicely!  Sturgill can solo pretty well. Great stuff, thanks for posting it.

I made a 12 cd set that is pretty righteous. Feel free to download: http://walklikeagiant.blogspot.com/2015/01/

Impressive work, jw.  I will peruse more deeply as time allows.

I made a friend an "introductory" sampler of Dead music and it ended up being 10 discs.  He's a diehard now!  Seems like these fan-made comps are at least 8 CDs to even try to come close to the target.

Felt like 30 Trips is about as good of a compilation of the Dead as you're gonna get in 4 discs. Liked it a lot more than the So Many Roads box set, which was a bit all over the place. Some issues with sound quality variation throughout for sure though. And not something I'll listen to very often, except for possibly disc 2.

anyone ever try their own Greatest Live Grateful Dead comp, going for the creme de la creme or whatever you think makes stuff great?  Its pretty damn hard to narrow it down to a reasonable time especially since its hard to edit out hot stuff from long second sets.

Yeah, archive.org is a way to listen to almost all of these for free, although debatably not cleaned up quite as much as the official releases in some instances.  The Relisten app and website, for me, make searching for specific dates and shows a lot easier than on archive, org itself.  (Relisten links to the archive.org recordings and you can scan through all the different recordings for a given show.  its pretty cool.)

Really envious of those of you who truly enjoy so much new music. I can’t remember the last brand new album that really grabbed me. Probably Jayhawks. I must have tried out 12-15 records on Spotify that people whose taste I trust raved about and none got me. Old fartism, I guess...

I'm with you for the most part, very little of this new stuff is anything I want to listen to more than once.  I'm assuming that the new The War On Drugs - Deeper Understanding is one you already checked out, and didn't connect with, but if you haven't, I'd suggest it.  Some will not be able to get past the 80s sound of a lot of it, but there is a even more of a Dylan and Neil Young thing going on more strongly on this new record.  To me its what's 80s rock could have been if it hadn't jettisoned almost everything about 60s and 70s rock, but instead had incorporated and blended those elements into the synth washes and static drum beats.

I hate to be that dude but my list of top albums for 2017 only has one album, The War On Drugs.  Plus they frickin' bring it live, too.  So few bands can do that anymore.  Go see them live and then maybe the studio recordings would open up for you.

Nothing like asking Deadheads their opinions on what Dead shows they like to get some conversation going!

jw harding's recs were easy to agree with, very solid stuff there for sure.  

8/27/72 (Sunshine Daydream)

6/9/77 or 5/8/77 (Pretty much any show from Spring 77)
12/19/73 (Dick's Picks 1)
8/13/75 (One from the Vault)
8/24/68 (Two from the Vault)
5/19/74

I can also strongly agree with winston on:

Dick's Picks, Vol. 28,  : Lincoln & Salt Lake City, 2/26 & 28/73 - an excellent representation of the solid start of 1973 and hits similar stuff to the 2-15-73 that lammy recommended but has not been officially released

Dick's Picks, Vol. 29,  : Atlanta & Lakeland, 5/19 & 21/77 but you could also consider Dick's Picks, Vol. 3,  : Pembroke Pines, 5/22/77 or get both of them, unless you want to pick up the May '77 box set with New Haven, Boston and Cornell. or the Winterland June '77 box.

​I'd also suggest considering the Fillmore West 1969 box, although its basically an expanded version of Live Dead although mixed slightly differently. Great performances and recording quality.

Another great Dicks Picks is:

Dick's Picks, Vol. 18, : Madison & Cedar Falls, 2/3 & 5/78 - pretty charged up playing that carries over the strong energy of late 1977 and precedes Keith's steep decline into lethargy later in the year.

You also might seek out individual shows from the Europe '72 tour, such as these that are fairly agreed upon to be tour highlights by most people who have listened extensively.

Copenhagen 4-14-72

Roterdam 5-11-72

London 5-26-72

​If you like compilations, the Steppin' Out: London '72 set is a solid way to get some highlights. 

For 1970, I like Dick's Picks, Vol. 4, : Fillmore East, 2/13-14/70 over Harpur College Dick's Picks, Vol. 8, : Binghamton, 5/2/70 because the sound quality of the 5-2-70 leaves a lot to be desired, at least by me.

The recording on the April 1971 compilation Ladies and Gentlemen is great, but I prefer the performances from the August 1971 shows, particularly the Hollywood Paladium on 8-6-71 and the two shows in Berkeley on 8-14 and 8-15.  Some of 8-6-71 has been released as Dick's Picks, Vol. 35,: San Diego, Chicago and Hollywood, August 1971 but they left off the best-ever Hard To Handle which had already been released on Fallout from the Phil Zone.

 

 

Caught the Austin Saturday webcast - beside a Minglewood clunker, I thought the show was solid. Esp. the 2nd set. 1st set had Oteil singing If I Had the World to Give - which was nice to hear.

 

 

• Set 2
• China Cat Sunflower
• I Know You Rider
• Dark Star
• The Other One
• Drums
• Space
• Uncle John's Band
• St. Stephen
• Morning Dew
• ENCORE
• One More Saturday Night

Wish I would’ve caught a set list like that!

they are stunning live. lots of good boots out there if you surf around, including compilations of US & Europe where you get every song played in mostly really high quality recordings. this may be heresy but i think i would rather see neil with potr than the horse at this point. potr really seem to have energised neil.

I agree, the show I saw in Tucson last tour from close up in the pit was the best I’ve seen live going back to 1986 and lots of Bridge shows. I’ll take POTR live over Crazy Horse these days. Youthful energy and they play the helll out of the country rock Neil and they do a pretty good Crazy Horse heavy jamming.

This is great news to me: https://www.jambase.com/article/neil-young-tour-promise-real-2018-according-lukas-nelson

I know its often a totally different experience when you are there in person, so I get your perspective, wrp.  Also like you said, expectations color the whole experience, too.  You can lower them and have a better time, but when I know what Wilco has done in the past, its hard for me to not want them to do it again.  This was especially true for me at the Chicago Theater run we went to earlier this year.

My impressions have to do with not just the small number of songs played all this year but maybe even more that the place in the setlist that each song occupied was very regimented and almost never changed. Changing up three or four old tunes a night while the rest of the setlist is nearly identical night after night is not my idea of variety.

My wish is that bands would, like the Grateful Dead did, see all their songs as a huge pool from which to create setlists instead of seeing it as "we gotta play x number of songs from the new album and then we will play the old warhorses that casual fans will complain about if we don't play them and then maybe fill in a handful of rarities".  I never have agreed with the aesthetic of playing to the fan who only comes once every few years.  I say play to your hardcore fans who come night after night, year after year.  It worked out pretty good for the Dead, it made people want to see them as many times as possible.

I did think the two nights in LA at Ace Theater in Fall 2016 were fantastic, though.

I’ll be that dude, apologies in advance. Setlits havebeen extremely routine and repetive all year long. Jeff is grumpier than ever (he’s got good reason but it doesn’t look like he enjoys playing Wilco shows as much as he once did). They band looks tired and kinda bored. Or maybe it’s me who is tired and bored, I did just see two consecutive weeknight Tedeschi Trucks Band shows on Tues and We’d with no repeats at all. Last nights show bummed me out. I was kinda bummed out earlier this year with the first three nights of Winterlude at Chicago Theater. Wilco needs a break?

Imitating scratchy vinyl? That doesn’t make sense when it came out on vinyl already in 1970. Jest fuckin with the stoners?

Definitely. Those are two great bands to model after, IMO. and TTB can also do the jazz fusion thing. I also wouldn’t be bummed to hear more instrumentals from them either.

Once again, I agree with wrp. Susan singing Bird On A Wire is one of most moving soulful things I’ve heard.

And I love the covers best. Most are better compositions than their originals and TTB does as good and often better than the originals, all of whom aren’t around anymore anyways. TTB carries the torch for big band R&B soul rock in this decade. These songs would be lost without TTB doing them the justice they deserve. I love it!

2 shows next week in PHX and the intimate Orpheum! Can’t wait!