Grateful Dead 12.31.78 - Closing of Winterland to hit DVD

Still waiting for my copy to show in the mail. I was hoping the bonus CD would come in a jewel case, but whatever.

You know that the Grateful Dead on-line store is no longer run by Grateful Dead Productions directly - they actually have contracted out the business to Musictoday.com - so I am not so sure how much goes to the band in respect to buying direct from the on-line store vs. retail.

As far as Jerry bopping all around.. you have to remember this is 1978, whereas all the other DVDs released are from the late 80's, early 90's when Jerry was heavily into "self-abusive" behavior (where he probably didn't have the energy or feeling he wanted to bop around).

I have seen the Dead many, many times starting in 1976 and I have seen Jerry very animated and smiling heavily, and other times I have seen him where he rarely ever looked up from the floor or his guitar - and seemed as if he were practically glued to the floor.

I do remember one particular Jerry Garcia Band show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ, where I was in the 3rd row right in front of Jerry. I had my Nikon 35mm camera with me and got some, I think, great shots of Jerry - one where he even "posed" and "mugged" for the camera - much to my amazement - AND you wouldn't believe what happened. I got to the end of the roll of film and started to wind the film back (this was before automated, battery operated SLRs) and I felt a tug and a "rip". The film got jammed in the camera and tore, and I stupidly opened it up ruining all the film and the excellent shots I probably would have had (instead of bringing the whole thing to a camera store where they may have been able to salvage some of the shots).

Well I did get a reprieve when I was in the 3rd row at the Meadowlands Arena in 1987, brought my updated 35mm SLR with telephoto lens to the show, and got some really primo shots of Jerry (as well as the rest of the band). Unfortunately, Jerry was not animated at all at this show, so he didn't pose for me this time. Oh well.

 

Just a heads up to those who may have ordered this DVD set from Grateful Dead Productions. They screwed up a bunch of orders, one being mine, and either shipped the wrong items, missing items, etc. In addition a lot of orders were shipped to the right address with the wrong name. (I found this out when I called GDP today complaining regarding what I received, and then I just got an e-mail from GDP just now.)

For instance I ordered the DVD set (with the limited edition CD), a commemorative T-shirt and the 4-CD set of the entire show. Meanwhile they only sent me the shirt and the 4-CD set, and it was addressed to someone else but sent to my correct home address.

Here is an e-mail Grateful Dead Productions sent to me just a little while ago:

What ticks me off is that they state that I should return "the incorrect item". Yet they didn't send me any incorrect items; they didn't send me everything I ordered. On top of that I didn't get my usual invoice/receipt they include in the package.

I know that MusicToday.com is handling the Grateful Dead store now, so I am not surprised mistakes were made.

I hope others here that ordered from GDP don't suffer the same fate as I did with my order.

My faith will be restored when I receive the DVD - which I could have bought today for much less than I paid through GDP (but I wouldn't get the limited edition CD).

 

Phew!!! I thought it was my TV starting to go or a problem with my DVD player. The video is kind of "soft", almost fuzzy in spots but certainly a million times better than the bootlegs I have seen of this. The audio, on the other hand, is just sooo nice. Nice surround mix. I just hope i have time to watch all 375 Minutes!!! someday.

 

Hi Mike,

I found the decision of the boyz to walk away from GDP and let sooooo many long time employees go to be maybe the worst decision the band has ever made! The family service is looong gone and will never return. Does anyone have Circuit City's phone number?

Be good to your family....they're the only one you have,
Jeffrey

 

I think that really represented the end of the era; perhaps unavoidable, but certainly unfortunate. I'm still waiting for them to replace the spindle-damaged clamshells I received with DP 28 and VFTV 4, some 6 or 7 months back. The old operation was extremely responsive in replacing damaged CD cases.

And with the latest shipping snafu on Winterland, I'm glad I finally decided to go with the $17 CC deal. I "agonized" over the $30 DVD+bonus CD from GDP, but the $13 difference, before shipping, was just too compelling. (As an added argument, the actual total would have been $62 because, of course, as long as I was puttin in an order, I had to get the COW CD version as well, right?)

So, I got the best price, but now I've got to figure out how to get the bonus CD.

 

Hi Ron,

I agree..... what a long strange trip it was! IMO, there is waaaay too much gold in the vault for it to have been unavoidable.

As for the bonus CD, how hard is it gonna be for us to get a cdr in the land of the dead?

-Jeffrey

 

Jeffrey

Oh, not very at all. But I would just prefer to have the "commercial" CD, with paper sleeve and all. (Again, it wasn't an easy decision to forego the "limited edition". One might hope that it is as "limited" as the Terrapin Station LE, or shows up on ebay. ; )

 

I agonized also, but wasn't as strong as you were.

I have to say though that the commemorative t-shirt I purchased is very nice.

In retrospect, I think if something is coming out retail, not just mailorder, it is probably best just to buy it for the best price (unless the "bonus" offers via mailorder as just so compelling - and the bonus CD via the Dead doesn't seem so compelling now when it did at order time).

MusicToday.com also runs the Dave Matthews Warehouse and on-line mailorder store. With the Dave DVD and CD of the Central Park concert coming out next week, I also agonized over mailorder (with a bonus CD) vs retail. I am sticking with retail.... and from the looks of it the prices are going to be very good at CC or Best Buy. Ok so I don't get the bonus CD, but with the amount of music I already own, one disc won't make that much difference and I save a bundle buying at retail anyway.

 

Mike - That was pretty much my thinking. The little green collector demon with pitchfork sat on my left shoulder, whispering "But you're a completist. And they wouldn't have written all those nice things on the GD storefront if these tracks weren't really choice, would they?"

And the rationalist in white, casually perched on my right shoulder said, very matter-of-factly, "You've got more GD than you can ever absorb - every DP, every Vault issue, way too many unauthorized disks (CD and CD-R)..." He made me feel like John Huston in Chinatown (with Jack Nicholson at the Albacore Club)

In the end, I thought it good to give serendipity a chance, and see how long it takes to stumble across a reasonably-priced copy on the after-market.

 

Hi Ron & Mike,

Yep, i'm thinking the same as you guys. The only other thing that really comes into the mix w/ me is i used to really believe in supporting GDP but that train is gone.

-Jeffrey

 

WAY gone.

I supported GDP to the hilt, and immediately bought every GD CD and video release. But now, especially with the handoff of GDM, things have definitely changed.

GDP is not the sole proprietor of the legacy. The real spirit of what was is maintained by the DeadHeads, using the various online forums. So the community that was spawned remains, and the music might come from the powers that be, or via gdlive.com, or even other sources. Either way, there's more high-quality GD out there than I will be able to digest.

 

Hi Ron,

VERY well said! Geez, there's more high-quality GD in my house than i will ever be able to digest.

Not Fadeaway,
Jeffrey

 

Best Buy matched & beat the CC ad, so I got it for $15.39!!!

 

Boy, that's pretty good. We didn't have the CC ad in St Louis, so I went to CC and had them match what I understood to be their online price of 16.99.

 

Hi,

Yep, that's the online price i paid at CC.

-Jeffrey

 

Well, MusicToday.com and the Grateful Dead store made right by my order. I received my DVD set, and the bonus free CD today. They upgraded the shipping and shipped it 2-day air - so even though, as we have discussed, the Grateful Dead store is no longer a fully "inhouse" deal anymore - they did make right by me.

 

Hi,

This seems like a good place to list the easter eggs for this baby in case ya haven't found all of 'em yet:

Disc One:

Easter Egg #1
From the Set I Song Index menu, select Intermission from the list. When
the blue rose appears, press your DVD remote's ENTER button. A short
clip from the Steve Parrish's interview will play. There are three more
pieces of this interview that play depending on how many times you have
pressed the ENTER button.

Easter Egg #2
Immediately after watching the end of Set II (Around and Around), yet
another blue rose appears. As soon as it appears, press your DVD
remote's ENTER button. The rose will then seamlessly break into five
different smaller roses. Each has a selection highlight beneath itself.
Those selections lead to a Mickey interview, another Parrish interview,
and three still photos.

Disc Two:

Easter Egg #3
From the lyrics menu, turn the visible lyrics setting OFF, then move
the cursor to the Main Menu button. Push UP on the DVD remote. A small
barely visible dot will appear just to the right of the rose on the left
side of the screen. Press ENTER to see another short clip from the Steve
Parrish interview.

Easter Egg #4
Again from the visible lyrics menu, turn the visible lyrics setting ON,
then move the cursor to the Main Menu button. Push DOWN on the DVD
remote. A small barely visible dot will appear just to the right of the
rose on the left side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Dan
Aykroyd and John Belushi at the afternoon soundcheck on 12-31-78.

Easter Egg #5
From the audio setup menu, turn the Dolby 5.1 setting ON, then move the
cursor to the Main Menu button. Push LEFT on the DVD remote. A small
barely visible dot will appear just to the right of the rose on the left
side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Mickey Hart leaving
Winterland at 6:45 AM on 1-1-79.


The last three eggs are reached from different screens in the Grateful
Dead at Winterland section of the Bonus Menu.

Easter Egg #6
From the May 30, 1967 slide, push DOWN on the DVD remote. A small
barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the left side of the
screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of a Blues Brother performance at a
screening of Animal House.

Easter Egg #7
From the November 12, 1967 slide, push DOWN on the DVD remote. A small barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the right
side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a hilarious clip from the
interview with Bob Weir.

Easter Egg #8
From the January 2, 1972 slide, push UP on the DVD remote. A small
barely visible dot will appear just under the blue rose on the right
side of the screen. Press ENTER to see a picture of Bill Murray leaving
Winterland.

Happy Viewing,
Jeffrey

 

Jeffrey the Easter Egg Hunter!. You provide a fine service. This will give me an excuse to watch the DVD again. Thanks!

Jim w.

 

Hi Jim,

As if ya needed an excuse to watch it again!

U B Welcome,
Jeffrey

 

Spoken like a true Deadhead, Jeffrey, but hunting for those "easter eggs" might be enticement enough to get my wife (definitely NOT into the Dead) to check out the DVD for the first time.

Jim W.

 

Hi Jim,

Please lemme know if this actually works for ya!

WALSTIB,
Jeffrey

 

Jeffrey,

Thanks for the Easter Egg information. I will try it out post haste.

Personally, I hate Easter Eggs - since I really don't have the time or inclination to go searching for them. But when they are pointed out to me I will take advantage.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

U B Welcome..... that's what family do for each other!

I agree.... Easter Eggs are a lot of hassle.

Happy viewing,
Jeffrey

 

Did anyone get the official CDs and compare?

I ask only because I cue'd up my bootleg CDs and A:B'd them against the DTS track of the DVD (the DD-5.1 and DD-2.0 are notably inferior), and compared the first two sets. Though I like the sound of the DTS track, and it's certainly the best GD DVD release I've yet heard, I still prefer my boot CDs to the DTS surround track of the DVD. But there are elements of the DTS track I like. A quick breakdown:

The first few tunes (thru FotM) sound better on DTS-DVD, as these songs are sourced from the KSAN broadcast on my CDs and are of lower quality than the rest of the show.

The DTS surround track is much more reverby, providing a sense of a larger hall space and making it sound more "live", whereas my SBD-derived CDs have a drier ambience. I'm also hearing more instruments (such as they are) during the Drumz/Space portion between "Playin'" and "Not Fade Away" on the DVD. It doesn't sound more detailed or revealing; rather it sounds like some of the instrument tracks weren't mixed down to two-channel on my bootlegs (that is, they just aren't there).

Still, on balance, I prefer the CDs. The sound is fuller, warmer, smoother, and all-around more engaging. The DTS encoding sounds a bit thin and anemic by comparison (and the DD-5.1 and 2.0 don't stand up at all), and I think the ambience is a bit too lively. All in all, the CDs provide a more enjoyable listening experience for me.

One last thing: it seems my boot CDs are recorded just a tad slow, as they slowly fall out of sync and begin lagging behind the DVD. Still, I like 'em better!

 

I have the official CDs and the DVD set but haven't done any comparisons. The official CDs sounded really good to me. Can't give any more analysis than that unfortunately.

I find it funny that the show didn't start til after midnight yet it still labeled 12.31.1978.