Grateful Dead 24/192 download Spring 1990

Yeah, but unfortunately most of the best shows from the tour aren't here. 3/28 and 3/29 are obviously outstanding, but 3/24, 3/22, 3/15, 3/19 etc are only available in HDCD (I don't count the bogus 24/88.2 upmix of the DATs from some of the shows).

just FYI, not that 90s doesn't have some good shows, but as a deadhead you need to own everything from May 77 you can find. rest of the year has its moments.
april fwd in 72 is really good too. veneta is legendary for good reason.
71 has some good shows too. 2/13-14/71 for best dark star ever (feeling groovy jam).

rhyno said:

just FYI, not that 90s doesn't have some good shows, but as a deadhead you need to own everything from May 77 you can find. rest of the year has its moments.
april fwd in 72 is really good too. veneta is legendary for good reason.
71 has some good shows too. 2/13-14/71 for best dark star ever (feeling groovy jam).

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That would be 1970, not 1971

just as long as you guys realize you are all neophytes

rockitman said:

..My buddy is getting the DAT versions from Box 1 and we will trade. They will most likely sound better than the HDCD's of which I have both box sets.

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No all that likely. I upsampled the HDCD's to 24/44.1 and downsampled the 24/88.2 downloads to 24/44.1 and compared the two. They null to less than -115 dB across the spectrum. The DAT's were apparently recorded at 16/44.1 rather than 16/48. Rhino really needs to re-do the rest of the Spring '90 shows from the multi-tracks.

207 shows OMG

I saw one back in the mid 70's that I swear they were still playing the first song at 0200 as the arena reeked of herb beginning 5 hours earlier with the first song. I don't know if there was a playlist as after I while I honestly couldn't tell one song from the next

What's everybody think of the current shows? Awesome? Sacrilege?

Asamel said:

What's everybody think of the current shows? Awesome? Sacrilege?

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As someone who saw their first Dead show in 1971, and taped a lot of shows from around 1980 on, I don't really have much to say about the current music except that to wonder why they did not ask John Kadelczek (sp?) of Dark Star Orchestra to play lead, instead of Trey Anastasio. The handwriting was on the wall as the entire run of spring/summer 95 shows was plagued by gatecrashers, unticketed parking lot thieves and scammers that also made the rounds of Phish tours. They had a great ride, but when it was over, they should have let it stay over.

I also see this as a nothing more than a money grab on their part. When the boys were in their touring prime they always maintained control of ticketing and kept the prices reasonable. In addition the Grateful Dead Store is pumping out huge amounts of product at unseemly prices. I guess the "Core Four" want to make sure their 401 (k) plans are well seeded. This long time fan is boycotting any and all exposure to it.

Steve Williams said:

....as the arena reeked of herb beginning 5 hours earlier with the first song. I don't know if there was a playlist as after I while I honestly couldn't tell one song from the next

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Two things Steve:
1) Of course the arena smelled of herb. What you couldn't smell was all the LSD and you can bet your bottom dollar there was plenty of it.
2) "I honestly couldn't tell one song from the next". This cracked me up. Steve, this certainly gives you away as a definite non-Deadhead!

IMHO, the Dead were at their best in the mid 70's. I'm proud to say I was an early DH. I attended many concerts from 1970-1994 and its fair to say they influenced me greatly. For many of my generation, it was a rite of passage experience. Fortunately, their vast concert repertoire was preserved well-enough (albeit of varying quality) so as to disprove the adage "you can't go back again". Oh, yes you can.

Some interesting historical tidbits. They appeared at my alma mater, the Univ of Rochester, in the spring of 1970. I was fortunate to get a job as a security guard for the concert at the Palestra and was assigned to guard the back door of the gym. Somebody knocked. I opened the door and told the person that entry was prohibited and they had to go around to the front entrance with tickets. Bob Weir looked right at me and in some disbelief said politely "Um, we're the band". How embarrassing is that? During the intermission, I had a long talk with Robert Hunter (one of their main lyricists- the other was Robert Barlow) and told him how impressed I was that his lyrics were almost direct metaphors taken from the poetry of William Blake. I'm pretty sure he was tripping, but he managed to look at me with a huge grin and said that almost nobody he meets recognized this and thanked me for my observations which he said were indeed true. I then went back to my post for the second set which was immediately in front of the stage. I was no more than 5 ft from Jerry, and recall it was then I first noticed the missing finger of his right hand. Fortunately, I didn't partake in the large jugs of OJ that circulated in the front rows. Suffice it to say, a lot of people wound up in the hospital ER that night, mostly to receive anti-anxiety meds while they were coming down from their trip. The band then invited me to join them backstage at their gig the following night in Syracuse (about an hour away), which i did with a few friends. From what I can remember (!), it was an amazing night. (Honestly, I'm not quite sure how I made it back to Rochester after the show). Oh, the exigencies and stupidity of youth!

That 11/20/70 show is a great one; too bad there's not a good tape of it. Bear was in prison or Mexico (on the lam) for a couple of years after July 1970 so the taping was irregular for awhile.

I was avidly collecting live Dead tapes by early '71 and doing my best to make decent audience tapes not long after, and if I do say so myself some of those have held up pretty well over the years (by comparison to other audience tapes, often made with far more expensive equipment).

I have tried and tried and tried, but I could never connect with Jerry and his mates. Same with Uncle Frank.

Johnny Vinyl said:

I have tried and tried and tried, but I could never connect with Jerry and his mates. Same with Uncle Frank.

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Hardly an issue in the greater scheme of things. There are even people who say they don't like Mahler

Mickey Hart rocks! ...Jerry is a funny guy; I got a video of him with Janis, Jimi. All these guys (Jim too) and gals were America's heroes of wild parties and acid.

The music...sure, they ain't Johann Sebastian Bach or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Frederic Chopin or Ludwig van Beethoven but you know what, so what...they are the Elvis still.

Listening to an Aud tape from the June 20 1980 Summer Solstice show at the West High School Auditorium in Anchorage, Alaska. I'm going to follow that one up with the 8/27/72 barnburner Creamery Benefit from Veneta, Oregon.