The Grateful Dead

[Lammycat]

Yeah he (they) posted that on FB yesterday. Nice for the head's up on that bullshit.

 

Not that this compares in the least, but I got a citation for drinking a can of beer (that was in a paper bag) outside MSG for a show in like '91 by an undercover cop. Completely sober and I had just purchased it from Penn Station and there were street guys littered all over the place with cans of open beers and booze. Had to take work off to go to court in the city a month later, etc. and a $10 ticket ended up costing me over $100 and loss of a day's work.

 

Some bullshit in the city, indeed.

[dagwave]

Michael Silver of the NFL Network just might be a deadhead.

 

Watching tonight's pregame, I had to rewind his piece on the Dolphins situation, stating, "In our world, the NFL, this space is getting hot."

[winterland121072]

Nothing like Bill Walton and the awesome over-the-top dead references that left 95% of america wondering what he just said...

 

(taken from message board)....

 

I will never forget a TV interview with Brent Musberger back when Walton was in the NBA. His team, Portland, had won a playoff series and would now meet the Houston Rockets in the next round.

Musberger: So, Bill, how about Houston?

Walton: Too close to New Orleans.

[Lammycat]

Re-listening to the Cedar Rapids 7.4.84 show just now and reminded of the trippy "whoo-ing" in the beginning of the first "jam" in the FOTD. Check it out some time if you haven't already.

[calvino]

Never listened to this show --- gotta be Brent, right? - sounds pretty neat.

[Lammycat]

Never listened to this show --- gotta be Brent, right? - sounds pretty neat.

Yeah, kind of singing and playing his solo at the same time. Cool stuff.

[NoJ]

Think i'm gonna have a hardwood fire in the backyard tonite and crank some GD.

[Lammycat]

Better than a tire fire, I 'spose.

[NoJ]

"Backyard tire fire"

[calvino]

Sister-in-law is up visiting - mentioned that she and her brother bought me the 2014 subscription for Christmas - they bought me this year's, also --- a gift that keeps on giving.

 

Only listened to Set 1 of this latest one , twice --- the sound is great. Playing is good, too.   Feel Like A Stranger has always been one of my favorite openers.

[Fritz]

Funny quote from Leon Russell in an interview I read today, talking about bands he didn't understand:

 

"I also didn’t get the Grateful Dead. I played one time with them at the Armadillo Club in Austin, played for five hours, and I didn’t understand them anymore at the end then I did at the beginning.”

 

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/Preview+Leon+Russell+chose+leave+spotlight/9144340/story.html

[El Picador]

I really dig the sound on Sailor > Saint from the new one. Of course, this pairing defines the early 80s sound for me. Always nice to hear another fine rendition of clean quality.

[Shug]

Yeah, I'm really digging the keyboard sound of 1980.  Before Brent got all tinkly-toy sounding, just a nice clean electric piano sound instead of a fake tack piano sound he favored by the late 80s.  1980 was a good period for the Dead, I think.  This show is pretty solid.  I have to listen more to the second set, first set is strong with not very many mistakes, they sound fairly locked in, no weak links on this night.

[Analogman]

Phil's set in Central Park:

 

 

Phil Lesh, Joe Russo, Eric Krasno
11-09-2013
Central Park
Sheep Meadow - 1pm Free Show
New York, NY

 ...Jam
Get Back
band meeting deciding next song
Jam

[i'm only sleeping]

Phil's set in Central Park:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwssrCKGJzA

[Analogman]

I think you can see the taper at various times during the film.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I am really pleased to see how happy people are with this new Dave's Pick, because that means they will keep selling out, which means more and more releases in the future. Very positive comments on here and, especially, on Dead.net.

 

I wish I could honestly join in the enthusiastic chorus, but I can't. To my surprise, I have not been thrilled at all with the matrix. Maybe if I had an expensive audio set at home with an eq and all that, I could tinker with it to my heart's content. But I listen to music mostly on my work computer or home computer, and on my car stereo, either via iPod or CDs. I have been switching back and forth between mp3 files of the new Frank Zappa Road Tapes release from 1973 and the CDs of Dave's Picks Vol. 8, and to my ears, the mp3s of a very nice Zappa soundboard sound much better than the Dead matrix. The Dead performance is adequate, but I am not hearing anything to really make me happy I spent the money. On the contrary, I feel more comfortable in my decision not to renew my subscription.

 

It's too bad that the Zappa trust and the Dead people don't take the best parts of each other's business models. The Zappa people take forever to release stuff, and it's overpriced; but the quality is outstanding and makes it feel worth the wait. The Dead people steadily crank out well-priced shows in a timely manner, but none of it is doing it for me like stuff I got for free in the 1980s. Oh well, at least I have this FZ release to be geeking out on!

[calvino]

Re-listening to the Cedar Rapids 7.4.84 show just now and reminded of the trippy "whoo-ing" in the beginning of the first "jam" in the FOTD. Check it out some time if you haven't already.

 

The writer who wrote up the review in the Taper's Compendium thought maybe Brent's microphone was left on by mistake, though one would have thought they would have turned the mike off once they noticed it --- the "whoo-ing" lasts for the entire solo.

[Shug]

I am really pleased to see how happy people are with this new Dave's Pick, because that means they will keep selling out, which means more and more releases in the future. Very positive comments on here and, especially, on Dead.net.

 

I wish I could honestly join in the enthusiastic chorus, but I can't. To my surprise, I have not been thrilled at all with the matrix. Maybe if I had an expensive audio set at home with an eq and all that, I could tinker with it to my heart's content. But I listen to music mostly on my work computer or home computer, and on my car stereo, either via iPod or CDs. I have been switching back and forth between mp3 files of the new Frank Zappa Road Tapes release from 1973 and the CDs of Dave's Picks Vol. 8, and to my ears, the mp3s of a very nice Zappa soundboard sound much better than the Dead matrix. The Dead performance is adequate, but I am not hearing anything to really make me happy I spent the money. On the contrary, I feel more comfortable in my decision not to renew my subscription.

 

It's too bad that the Zappa trust and the Dead people don't take the best parts of each other's business models. The Zappa people take forever to release stuff, and it's overpriced; but the quality is outstanding and makes it feel worth the wait. The Dead people steadily crank out well-priced shows in a timely manner, but none of it is doing it for me like stuff I got for free in the 1980s. Oh well, at least I have this FZ release to be geeking out on!

And I thought I was a picky Deadhead!    Dude, you are hard to please, it seems, when it comes to the Dead.  I actually do agree with some of your views, but, man, Dead concert recordings that are not overdubbed are never gonna sound or be performed perfectly.   I do crack up, though, with just how much some Heads are willing to turn a deaf ear to mistakes and shortcomings.  I read reviews on archive.org that say "this song is played to utter perfection, flawless," etc etc and then you listen and Jerry forgets the first few words or hits some totally wrong notes to start off the song.  I guess i'm somewhere in the middle.  You gotta forgive some mistakes or you'll always be disappointed with the Dead.  If its too perfect it can kill the spirit of the thing.  Accepting the imperfections, for me, is the trade off for getting rewarded when the magic spontaneously happened. 

[worldrecordplayer]

I am really pleased to see how happy people are with this new Dave's Pick, because that means they will keep selling out, which means more and more releases in the future. Very positive comments on here and, especially, on Dead.net.

 

I wish I could honestly join in the enthusiastic chorus, but I can't. To my surprise, I have not been thrilled at all with the matrix. Maybe if I had an expensive audio set at home with an eq and all that, I could tinker with it to my heart's content. But I listen to music mostly on my work computer or home computer, and on my car stereo, either via iPod or CDs. I have been switching back and forth between mp3 files of the new Frank Zappa Road Tapes release from 1973 and the CDs of Dave's Picks Vol. 8, and to my ears, the mp3s of a very nice Zappa soundboard sound much better than the Dead matrix. The Dead performance is adequate, but I am not hearing anything to really make me happy I spent the money. On the contrary, I feel more comfortable in my decision not to renew my subscription.

 

It's too bad that the Zappa trust and the Dead people don't take the best parts of each other's business models. The Zappa people take forever to release stuff, and it's overpriced; but the quality is outstanding and makes it feel worth the wait. The Dead people steadily crank out well-priced shows in a timely manner, but none of it is doing it for me like stuff I got for free in the 1980s. Oh well, at least I have this FZ release to be geeking out on!

Interesting that you're not happy with the audio quality. I always love a matrix, prefer to a sterile soundboard. I don't have this release (didn't act quick enough ) , but the audio quality of the official box releases has been phenomenal to my ears. The May, '77 box, SSDD, Winterland boxes, etc.

[mountain bed]

I would consider myself "fairly picky" when it comes to being a Deadhead, but more in terms of energy and setlists, etc. I personally LOVE it when they fuck up musically. Not so much with the lyrical amnesia.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I think it's a "different strokes" thing. Some Heads are really into the lysergic, incredibly tripped out jams that go on for 25 minutes, whereas I really haven't dug those since I stopped taking drugs. I don't care how well recorded they are. On the other hand, I will cut them slack on wrong notes, out of tune instruments and equipment problems (see 7/18/72, one of my favorite shows) if I dig the vibe of the performance and the overall song selection, etc.

 

On the matrix issue: I thought I would love it, because there are many sterile sounding soundboards out there, but it didn't strike me the way I hoped it would...not even close. The release also has some material that is so sluggish and weak sounding, if you played it for a stranger and said, "How do you like this band?"... well, I don't think you would find many converts. The China Doll is a case in point, but there are others too. I understand it's a full show, but it will never replace Reckoning or Dead Set for me in my go-to list of 1980 Dead.

 

Like I said, it's great that people are supporting these releases, and if you love 'em, I don't want to rain on your parade. But I'm done with Dave L. I won't pay for any more of these.

[Shug]

I think it's a "different strokes" thing. Some Heads are really into the lysergic, incredibly tripped out jams that go on for 25 minutes, whereas I really haven't dug those since I stopped taking drugs. I don't care how well recorded they are. On the other hand, I will cut them slack on wrong notes, out of tune instruments and equipment problems (see 7/18/72, one of my favorite shows) if I dig the vibe of the performance and the overall song selection, etc.

 

On the matrix issue: I thought I would love it, because there are many sterile sounding soundboards out there, but it didn't strike me the way I hoped it would...not even close. The release also has some material that is so sluggish and weak sounding, if you played it for a stranger and said, "How do you like this band?"... well, I don't think you would find many converts. The China Doll is a case in point, but there are others too. I understand it's a full show, but it will never replace Reckoning or Dead Set for me in my go-to list of 1980 Dead.

 

Like I said, it's great that people are supporting these releases, and if you love 'em, I don't want to rain on your parade. But I'm done with Dave L. I won't pay for any more of these.

I'm not really talking about long jams or trippy stuff or things that are a matter of taste.  I'm talking about  it seems you don't like stuff that is pretty much inherent to the Dead.  I'm baffled that you hear a sluggish performance in the latest Dave's release.  If that is sluggish to you, I would think that all Grateful Dead would sound sluggish, because to my ears that is a tight, spry performance with few mistakes and a good amount of energy, definitely far above the average of live Dead.  I'm kinda surprised that you like any Grateful Dead because you seem to more often than not be disappointed with stuff.  I haven't been thrilled with Dave's Picks, either, and I'm not gonna subscribe again, but I thought this last one was the best or second best pick of the year (maybe the 1973 UCLA show or the Normal, IL '78 show).  At least he finally got to an 80s Brent show and I thought it was a pretty good one.

[Lammycat]

I have a hard time paying for most officially released live material as it's all available for free.

[Shug]

Yeah, there are ways to get it that even a un-computer saavy dude like me can figure out.  I don't need to worry about what Dave picks or doesn't pick because I can just go get the stuff I really want.  The only thing that kinda sucks is that if even part of a show has been released as filler, the whole show (on SBD) can't even be streamed.  But the amount of stuff available still is pretty impressive and should be enough to make just about anybody happy   Part of why I subscribed this year was to contribute to the endeavor and not be a total freeloader.  I think I've done my part.