Grateful Dead Fans Speak Up!

I had tickets to some fall tour 1992 shows that were cancelled... never returned them... they now adorn a shadow box in my music room.

I started going to see Ratdog in 2005. Great band. Enjoy seeing Furthur as well. I like seeing how the music is evolving. I've found that for the most part, the surviving members always do the music justice.

I also think of the Dead as a, or the, consummate American rock band.  The influences were bluegrass, country and the blues, all of which combined and marinated in their hands into the earliest versions of the 'jam band,' and into the San Francisco sound. 

And where they played covers, many were drawn from those genres.  Cowboy songs, the blues, and classic country and bluegrass songs, melodies and themes.  I always thought that their most compelling covers were from Chuck Berry, Jessie Fuller, Jimmy Reed, Merle Haggard, Dylan, and the Motown artists and sounds of Smokey Robinson, Wilson Pickett, etc.  All American artists -- some contemporaries and some from a generation or two earlier.

The Dead were one of the most compelling live bands of all time. Catching them on a good night was magical. I saw them a dozen times and enjoyed every show. Still miss Jerry!

Agree completely. If there is a better interpreter of Dylan's material in particular, I can't think of who it might be. 

Dylan & The Dead's live 'All along the Watchtower' track is awesome. First time I really felt they were a rock band, driving bass, Jerry's scorching guitar, love it. Never saw them live sadly.

Road Trips Vol 2 No3 is interesting too, the legendary Wall of Sound PA system

Cheers John 

I found this picture the other day, one of the GD's legendary sound systems:-

This is a great archive resource for all the concerts, including both the ones you attended and the ones you missed.   

http://archive.org/details/GratefulDead

That's a killer image. Wall of Sound, but I've never seen it set up like that before. I'm wondering if this might have been a test set up prior to taking it on the road or something. Oh to have heard what that sounded like live.

I never saw them during the 'wall of sound era' (it was only used from 1974-1976), but did experience Dan Healy's interesting experiments with surround sound in the early 1990's.  We went to see them outdoors in Tempe, Arizona in a large fairground that was a huge open field with about 200 seats up front in a small fenced-off area where we sat.  There were speakers at the rear of this area, and there definitely was interesting stuff coming out of those rears!

Here are a couple more of the "Wall":-

The last pic is roughly what I remember from the Alexandra Palace September 1974. Great sound, and in the interval Phil Lesh joined up with Ned Lagin to perform excerpts from the Seastones album which really gave the system a workout!

For those so inclined, Furthur is webcasting 4 shows over the next 4 nights from the Swee****er Music Hall. Shows start at 7:30 pm PST or 3:30 am for those in the UK. Link is below:

http://swee****ermusichall.com/

Last nights set list... If you like the GD and haven't seen this band you owe it to yourself to check it out...

Thanks for the heads up!

Youtube link to Set I is below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYZd3iwcZOY

I watched the first set and then had to go to bed. It was outstanding. The Playin' opener was a little sleepy but once they got to the jam it got interesting and what followed was superb (check out the Deal!!). Looking forward to the next 3 nights... somewhat an embarrassment of riches. I thought Phil was delightful on Tom Thumb's Blues also... he was having fun with it.. lots of smiles all around.

Was also my first time running audio from my computer directly to my SuperUniti via a means other than UPNP (which I do daily). For the direct computer > SU connection I ran asynch USB from iMac to Arcam rPac (portable DAC), and analogue out from the rPac to the SU. Sounded very good through the SU Amp, although it killed me to have to bypass the Naim DAC etc.... I suppose I need to get a cable for my mac... mini jack to Toslink I suppose would work... any thoughts?? How do others do this? Pev... if memory serves you also have a SU no?

Hi - thanks for the link.

I do indeed have a SU and love it. 

I have an optical cable direct from my PC to the SU and also stream via ethernet. I find upnp sounds very slightly better than the direct optical link. Don't ask me why - there are numerous threads on minutiae like this over in the streaming forum. If I were you I'd definitely use a direct cable, mini jack to Toslink if that works on a Mac. I built my own media PC so I put in exactly the connections I needed.

One other possibility would be to use a player that has a stream capture facility. I haven't needed to use one but I understand it sends whatever is playing on your computer out via upnp. I believe Asset does this and there is a mac version due soon. It may be worth checking if whatever you are using for UPNP can do this. Maybe Mac guys can help more.

Streamed concerts from archive.org and Wolfgang's Vault sound truly excellent. So much music so little life expectancy...

.. mini jack to Toslink I suppose would work... any thoughts?

On an iMac .. no problem ... it'll work a treat ... Supernova 6 is the best cable I've found. 

Use the Bit perfect app with iTunes and it'll make sure you send out the correct resolution PCM to your SU and make optimum use of the Mac's memory and so on ... expect excellent results ... you'll Jerry, Bob and Phil are in the room for a quick improvisation around Wake Me Up in the Morning Dew. 

Thanks to Pev and Guido for the advice. I did pick up an inexpensive mini jack to Toslink... actually it was a Toslink to Toslink, with an adapter for mini jack included in the box. The mini jack end goes onto the iMac's headphone jack, and the Toslink into the SuperUniti. From there it was just a matter of altering some system preferences, and then it worked perfectly. Sounds great :-)

Here's a couple more links that people might enjoy.

The first is for Bob Weir's Tri Studios... Weir's extremely high tech studio / performance space that is wired for live hi def (video and audio) streaming. Given that we are mostly gear heads on this forum, I think most would find this interesting... description and link below.

Tamalpais Research Institute (TRI Studios) is the state of the art, world-class video streaming venue and recording facility created by legendary Grateful Dead founding member, and 1994 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Bob Weir. This visionary, one-of-a-kind virtual venue provides music fans with unparalleled access to their favorite artists, allowing them to enjoy intimate, live performances in the comfort of their own homes, or anywhere they have Internet access.

While TRI allows fans a behind-the-scenes, all-access feel, it simultaneously provides artists with an interchangeable blank canvas on which to perform. Utilizing advanced acoustical technology from Meyer Sound, artists can emulate the acoustic properties of any performance spaces ranging from small nightclubs to a Roman cathedral, Wembley Stadium to Madison Square Garden, or anything in between. This groundbreaking innovation is a creative sandbox that invites artists to experiment with their sound, which further brings together both the artists and their fans. Events at TRI are filmed, directed, mixed and webcast live in HD.

"TRI was kind of built on the principle that it was going to be a fun place to be," explains Weir. "The ultimate playpen for a musician." Weir’s intent is to build upon the Grateful Dead’s penchant for experimenting musically and technically in the quest to “make IT better.” For the audience, this means the most intimate connection with the artist possible. “We put the fans in the band. Everyone into the playpen.”

http://www.tristudios.com

And a link to the video page for Tri.... many great live performances from a variety of bands to check out in there... and the sound is sublime.

http://www.tristudios.com/videos

I can't claim to be a hard core Deadhead (however, I am a Fredhead), but I do like them an awful lot ... sometimes I like the idea of the Dead more than the reality, but on a good day they were great, and much of the song writing is terrific. Most bands have their good days and bad days, but as my wry wife, the drummer, likes to say, the Dead had their good days and bad months.

I did hear them live two times back in the day, and they were both good days. One was an indoor gig circa 1973. I was sitting pretty far back, but I could clearly see their faces. As was their practice, there was usually a long gap between songs. During one such gap I was looking at Garcia and he clearly was looking straight at me, or so it seemed. As he tweaked the tuning of his guitar, he asked me, telepathically of course, what song I wanted to hear next. In those days they were playing lots of the Americana rootsy stuff but not too much psychedelia; one of my favorites was Dark Star, a song they hadn't been playing live for awhile so I answered, telepathically of course, that I wanted to hear that. Garcia clearly smiled and nodded his head in acknowledgment, or so it seemed. And then launched into Dark Star. This is a true story.

The other concert was in spring 1975, outdoors at a racetrack in Des Moines, Iowa. Seven hours long and they controlled the weather. The day started with a cloudless blue sky, but a couple of hours in they played Looks Like Rain ... by the end of the song clouds had rolled in and it had started to rain. A few songs later they played Here Comes Sunshine ... by the end of the song the clouds were gone and the sun was out. Of course, just before the clouds and rain had completely dissipated, a full double rainbow arched in perfect alignment over the stage. This is a true story.

Another true story: Last fall I was lucky enough to be asked to play B-3 organ and piano with Tributosaurus, a really great band that covers a different artist each time they play, and this time was two glorious packed-house nights of Grateful Dead. One of the musical highlights of my life ... I can't even begin to describe what a thrill it was. We hope to make it a yearly ritual.

Hi Fred,

Although this may come off as the needlessly picky comments of a hard core deadhead, I thought I would add some historical insight to your wonderful comments from personal experience.    The Dead played the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines twice in the era you are alluding to.   The first was on May 13th, 1973 and the other was in June of 1974.    Your memory of them playing both Looks Like Rain and Here Comes Sunshine suggests the show you recall so fondly was the '73 date.    The '74 show has been officially released in the guise of what they termed the Road Trips Series, Volume 2, No. 3.    I am not clear if these releases are still available, but it is one of my favorite era's for the band and, for what it is worth, one of my favorite of their many official releases.

I was fortunate (or obsessed) enough to have been able to see the Dead hundreds of times during Garcia's lifetime from 1977 through 1995.   Like Fred, and many others, in some ways I like the idea of the Dead a bit better than the reality, but I would note that no performer I have ever seen, in any genre of music, communicated their joy in music making to the extent that Garcia did.   He could somehow communicate and transmit his playfulness and his joy as the carrier beacon on which his music rode, this aspect is often forgotten by music fans and critics who can point to the band's many areas of weakness.    The Dead were an example of a band whose whole were clearly more than the sum of their parts.    They were also able (somehow?) to open up ecstatic states for countless fans, over many years, and this in my view has to do with the dance band tradition they fully embraced, but also has other aspects and flavors as well.    The famous Bill Graham quote that "they aren't the best at what they do (did), they are the only ones who do what they do" nicely sums up the Dead experience for me.

In terms of pointing out a performance to seek out, one of my favorite Dead releases is from the first show I saw in the fall of 1977 at Englishtown.    This can be purchased as volume 15 from the Dick's Picks series.    The music has such a joyful, sunny, and deeply American feel, while also being uniquely the Dead.   Give it a try.

Good listening,

Bruce

Thanks for the info, Bruce. Since I have only my before-the-turn-of-the-century memory to rely on, I'm happy to take your word for it. And a quick google came right up with further corroboration from many others at the 5/13/73 show, including this gem:

" ... [a] gut-wrenching Looks Like Rain that just 'happened' to end WITH RAIN; 'naturally' Here Comes Sunshine later produced SUNSHINE; DOUBLE rainbows that even Jerry, looking over his shoulder, thought were far-****ing-out."

Someone else reports that after the seemingly on-command weather sequence, Jerry said "Wow, I didn't know we could do that!" All of the attendees describe it as either THE best Dead show they ever saw, or at least one of the very best, and they all corroborate the rain, the sun, and the double rainbow.

It's nice to know that I still have some functioning brain cells left!

Two other fond memories from that magical day: The music they were blasting on the PA before the concert started was Cahoots by The Band, one of my all-time favorite albums by one of my all-time favorite bands ... Life Is A Carnival indeed!

The other memory is somewhat amusing only with decades of distance: I had gone to the concert with my girlfriend in her car, and I drove all the way home, in the dark, from Des Moines, Iowa to Champaign, Illinois while she slept. At some point a red light came on the dashboard, but due to the slight psychedelic residue lingering in my brain, all I thought was "Wow, far out!" It was the oil warning light ... but the car didn't die that day. No, it waited a couple of days until we were trying to drive back to Champaign from Carbondale, Illinois, having driven there to see Weather Report (more marvelous magic, including an after-concert party with the band and a wordless "conversation" with saxophonist Wayne Shorter). We had to spend the night in the car until morning when her brother came down with his tow truck. It was then that I mentioned the red light on the trip home from Des Moines.

Those were the days!

Anybody else pre-order this little gem? I subscribe to this series.... lots of fun getting a new release quarterly :-)

No, but '73 is one of my fave Dead years... looks interesting.