Any Grateful Dead fans here that don't listen to shows after 1977 (or any other point)?

There are exceptions, of course, but I rarely listen to anything after the Warfield/Radio City runs in 1980. I think of those acoustic/electric sets as the last of the truly great era for the Dead (though Spring '90 sometimes sneaks in).

 

I like them with just Bill as the sole drummer because of the flexibility it gave him. So that's Feb. 1971 through 1974. But Keith really needs to be there tickling the keys, so that narrows it to Oct. 1971 through 1974. But even better than that is when Pigpin is also there with the blues influences he brought to the band, so that narrows it down to December 1971 to July 1972. Those are the real golden months for me.

 

Basically, for me, after 1975 there is really much much less to be really inspired by. I do listen to some 1977 shows (amazing sound quality, some good versions here and there), I love the acoustic sets from 1980, and there is a smattering of things of interest to me through the years (10/16/81, closing of Winterland, 9/19/87 are a few that come to mind right away), but really the basic approach of the band seems overall plodding, often repetitive, by rote. The two drummers were great together pre-1971, but starting in 1976 the two together seem pretty uninteresting to me, often I can't tell that they are actually playing something different from each other and they just seem to weigh the whole thing down. Actually, this is kind of a problem with the band overall after 1975 - the whole beast just seems swollen and plodding and often impossible to turn the direction of jams, etc., very different from the incredibly lithe improvisation they regularly engaged in in the early years. It feels like they lost the plot.

I should note that I sure enjoyed going to see the band many many times during that later period! It all made more sense in person than on tape.

 

Summer 85 is my favorite tour. The dead were always evolving, each tour really had new songs to the rotation and they would try new equipment, arrangements and tempos. The variety is what makes it compelling.

I've gone through many phases with what periods i like. I am kind of over spring 77 and 73. I don't dislike it but at some point you hear it and move on.

I'm more about songs and the transitions between them. Every year has great examples, drawing a line and not going past it is only self imposed limation.

Aburn hills 94 (I think) had an amazing Stella Blue followed by Satisfaction that just brought the house down. Many people dont get to that because they cop such a bad attitude about shows from the 90s.

I think the thing is to stop comparing, ranking and being critical. Just be open, listen and enjoy. It's all good.

 

Good points. I was at that Auburn '94 show and remember it as being very good for the era. As mentioned above, I don't listen to post-'91 much (although saw a lot of shows then), but do every now and then. Will keep that in mind as one to revisit.

 

That is a bold statement, sir. Can you recommend a crispy Summer '85 soundboard for me to enjoy? I would be happy to be proven wrong about my post-1980 dismissiveness.

 

Speaking of Summer '85, I'm listening to the Bucket->Don't Ease from 6/27/85 SPAC, courtesy of the 30 days of dead from 2013. Can't believe that nothing from that tour has been officially released yet, other than Riverbend on the upcoming box. Several of my first 25 or so tapes came from that tour and it's always been a favorite.

 

well the first set does kind of blow

 

All of the shows from 6/24/85 through 7/1 are good, but I'd start with either of the last two from Merriweather Post Pavilion. Soundboards of all these shows circulated pretty quickly after they occurred, and all are available for streaming on archive.org. Hershey Park 6/28/85 is probably by next favorite.

 

Hard to find consistency for a full or even half show in '94-'95, but there were definitely good stretches here and there.

 

Also, not really from summer tour per se, so didn't think of it as quickly, but 6/16/85 at the Greek in Berkeley might be my favorite show of '85, fine board of that also available. I'm much more familiar with the second set, as that was all I had back in the cassette days.

 

sure! I think it was the first night of Red Rocks in July with the "Frozen logger" and star Spangled Banner Kazoo performance followed by a blistering Mississippi Half Step.

Bonner spring, Kansan Sand stone Amphitheatre is crazy good with a Comes a time and she belongs to me. I feel like there is a show From St' Louis with "Keep on Growing" "big Boss man" and "superstitious/Meet me at the Bottom"

All great songs that were only (or mostly) played in 85. Not to mention Revolution and Satisfaction from that year. Riverbend (as mentioned above) and Blossom just before that are great sounding. I think there was a show in buffalo just before Blossom that really cooks as well.

 

I don't listen to many at all anymore, hearing four of the five nights of FTW was probably as much Dead time as I'd logged in the two years before. But generally except for Reckoning I'm not all that interested in post-Pig Dead. I respect it, but I will likely play something earlier if I get the itch.

 

9/7/85 is the Red Rocks show with Frozen Logger, agree that it is a very good show.

 

I listen to a lot of 1984-1986. It was when I started seeing the GD, so even if they're ragged at times, I have great memories.

They were very creative with setlists during these years too.

 

I'll start there. Thanks, @Crispy Rob and @Dennis0675.

 

I knew the was a "7" somewhere in the date of that show, just not the month.

 

95% of my listening is up to 79. But I'm getting more and more into the last 10-15 years. But I don't feel like listening to the whole shebang. I skip a lot of tracks. 68-74 I almost always play it all, except for maybe a few tracks when I can't take pigpen and bobby. They can be real annoying sometimes. IMHO

 

Absolutely, love listening to '66 through '73. '77 is the latest shows I will listen to. I went to shows in the 80s and it was fun, but don't want to listen to them anymore.

 

They didn't play St. Louis or Sandstone in '85. They did play the Starlight Theater in KC, and did Comes a Time there, but no She Belongs to Me.

Perhaps you are thinking of 4/8/85 Spectrum, with the only Big Boss Man of the year and the Down in the Bottom->I Ain't Superstitious medley (no Keep on Growing)?

 

I like 1968-1985. After that the shows often became routine and predictable-witnessed quite a few average shows between 1986 and 1991- and I don't enjoy the newer songs by and large. However, there are gems in the last decade. People will recommend a later show, and usually with good reason. But for consistency don't go past '85. I saw 60-70 shows between 1978-1991, and the comments about the two drummer sound are valid. But watching this beast when it really cranked up was an awesome thing to witness. Too bad that it doesn't translate to audio all that well.

 

yep, it was starlight. the Sandstone must have been 90 or 91 with the Comes a time, that is also a great show. Keep on growing is somewhere in summer 85 and that is a hot show. You'll have to forgive my failing memory, I had a lot fun when I was listening to these shows in heavy rotation and it has been several years since that time.

These days I mostly listen to the Dead when a new vinyl is released and I am not picky about the year.

 

I mostly agree with you, and a lot of Deadheads probably do. However, I extend my window a little later. I never was a Mydland fan; I disliked his vocals and keyboards. However, I could tolerate him in the band. What I really didn't like was Garcia's MIDI, which always sounded cheap to my ears, the last adjective I would have ever used to describe Garcia's guitar tones previously.

The tsunami of new fans that appeared in the wake of "Touch of Grey" dramatically changed the atmosphere of shows; they swamped the always-fragile Deadhead culture and changed the band-audience dynamic, none of which helped.

So, while 1977 represented a peak of sorts (only in some ways; others would probably point to 1972 as the peak), the Dead were still the Dead at least until Garcia's coma episode in 1986. The MIDI's came after that, as did much of Mydland's songwriting and lead vocals. So, '86 is a convenient cut-off for me. When the band resumed the next year and hit the bigtime, they were already less about exploring frontiers and space and more about staving off their own accelerating decline. This ended unhappily, needless to say.

Most 90's shows simply depress me.

 

I can totally see people losing interest after 1977, but I can also see those same people missing out in a lot of great music from 1978-1995.

True, there is a lot of poor shows or extremely rough moments in shows throughout their career, but there is also some really great moments mixed in as well.

There is also the previously mentioned changes in technology (moving from tape reels, to cassette, to DAT, etc. and poor soundboard mixes and of course the change in technology that made horrible keyboard sounds the norm for just about every profession in the business). But I think some of these things make us overlook some great music that shouldn't be denied. Or at least help people form somewhat mis-aligned opinions of some of the band members or their talents.