I'm starting to understand the moments over full shows, however, I have a hard time noticing what i really like without listening through the whole show. For example, with the GSTL box, I have been going through the shows as wholes, then deciding which moments I liked the most (Scarlet > Fire 5/8/77, Peggy-O 5/7/77, ETC) However I am noticing if I continue to do it this way, I won't hear as much stuff.... Maybe that's okay for now? P.S. I played Disc 1 of 7/1/78 from the July 78 box last night, definitely rougher than 77 but love that the SQ is on par with GSTL
The talk of last year's '78 college campus show tournament got me curious so I just read that entire thread, which was a very enjoyable experience by the way. Kudos to the referees for putting in the effort. Looking forward to a fresh listen of 1/22/78 and 4/15/78 sometime soon, along with some of the other notables over time.
Yeah but it is a bit of ragged glory I suppose; an acquired taste maybe but I kind of like the dirtiness of '78 over the clean of Spring '77, but again these are small degrees and dependent upon them not going too far on the rocket fuel binges that pop up in '78 more than other years. No doubt about it 7/7 and 7/5/78 are my faves in the box. 7/3/78 isn't far behind and if my memory serves has a little '77 tightness vibe to it. In fact I am going to either 7/1 or 7/8 today just because they are not my favorites and I have been neglecting them, which usually means I am missing something.
I continue to grab selections that people are discussing today. 4/16/78 Peggy-O 3/19/77 Eyes Music making me happy. Now to: 11/8/69 (Dick's 16) Dire Wolf DS > TOO > DS > UJB > DS
It was a lot of fun, but we bit off more than we could chew and it was a hump and a half there for a while, something you don't want to make GoGD listening about. That is why we were thinking of miniaturizing it into songs, or sections, or decrease the number of shows next time. I wish the photos stayed, it probably would have made more sense, but that was the only way I could get the brackets to easily show and I was doing it via Facebook and I guess the links died.
I meant to ask about the bracket photos but fortunately it was still pretty easy to follow along, especially with the periodic voting recaps.
I have listened to about 20 renditions of High Time from 1969, they are pretty much all great. Also, I know you're going to JRAD next weekend, I found this article about Port Chester, which is pretty boss. How the Grateful Dead became part of Port Chester
That's one of the reasons I tend to stay away from systematic projects, such as "I'm listening to all of Spring 1990" or "I want to hear 9/19/70 DS a hundred times". I've been down that road before in other kinds of fandom, and for me it frequently turns what's enjoyable into a job. It may mean I don't dig up great nuggets from forgotten shows, the way Warewolf does. Or study things intensely the way some others of you do. But it allows me to keep things fresh and avoid the stress that comes with that kind of project. The last thing I want to do is find myself wanting to procrastinate listening to the GoGD
I was in one of those super-fun all-day find out what kind of person you are human resources bonanzas Friday; I think you and I would be in the same quadrant. Nobody's better, just different; and I respect everyone who brings things to the table that I wouldn't naturally want to do-- I'll crib that work no problem. We are all on team GoGD so let's get the job done people!
Exactly! I have no criticism for that kind of project if others want to do it, and I am happy to benefit from their results. Sometimes it makes me question my own dedication and fandom, though.
Random: the July '78 box is streaming on TIDAL - in their "MQA superduper hifi whatever" format. It's not on Spotify or Google Play - only the Red Rocks 7/8/78 show that's been there since release date. I wonder if that means some of the older box sets are going to finally start joining the streaming sites. Winterland 73 and Fillmore 69 would be great to see. ETA: Spring 1990 The Other One is streaming, too. All 23 discs.
The second set is absolutely unstoppable--keep listening through that transition out of Eyes into Dancin', then into Wharf Rat. They nail all of them. It's beautiful.
I can assure you that I didn't take that type of approach at all when I did that. I simply wanted to listen to it very often. It's probably been about two years since I first heard it and I'm probably up to about 150 listens at this point. Sometimes it's just the segment post-verse into groovy, to be fair.
I can't believe how many times I'm grabbing first sets these days; maybe I'm compensating for a past GD life. 7/8/78 disc 1 was great and sounded great. I think it somehow lost a little stage air around the vocals vs the previous night; I think that might have been my previous niggle with it, but I likely shouldn't have made it into more than the molehill it probably is. Spring 1990 TOO next. If anyone is already on Tidal consider yourself lucky it is there as it is a wonderful mixing job and some great playing; certain dated tonalities aside.
I can report the early cd will be my go to, but if anyone likes a little more upfront full dimension presentation at a relatively small loudness price the common Rhino cd is plenty fine and certainly not too bright.
I'm doing the same. Listened to the very high points of the first set from 5/10/78 (Dick's 25) today. Jerry & Phil build big peaking mountains on Jack Straw & Let it Grow - and Jerry rips it up on Deal. I know the second set is supreme with a great fast Eyes and a great spacey jam into TOO after a good (but too long) drums.
The key is to not be too rigid about it. I started 'all of 1969' just after Thanksgiving last year, and I've skipped some shows I know by heart or had listened to within the last few months, and I still have about 20 to go until the end of the year. So it will probably be 9-10 months by the time I'm done. But that's because I've skipped around a lot, and taken a week or three off from 1969 over the course of it. I'm in the home stretch now, and it will definitely be an accomplishment. I also plan to move on to 'all of 1970' after that. But I would have abandoned it long ago if it was 'all of 69 and nothing else,' and I think that would even be the case if it was a year where they didn't play the same songs on 75% of the dates.