As I've argued before in the main thread, this is clearly the "farewell to Brent" show, and I'd bet that's why Dick picked it over many other shows (including the other MSG nights). The first set is good enough but not exceptional. The second set opens like they're going to rock out with Samson & Iko, but then LLR signals where the show is really going. He's Gone (indeed he was) > No MSG Jam is the kind of thing they had started doing with Brent (see the Terrapin>Mock Turtle Jam from Terrapin Ltd for another example). Standing on the Moon (but I'd Rather Be with You), and then They would've Needed a Miracle to truly replace him. A cathartic Morning Dew, and then it was all over, Baby Blue (indeed it was). The other MSG shows had the jams and warhorses, but this one was something else.
Wow. There’s not much love for this show in the thread. Must say I really like it. Apart from the sound on “Hell in a bucket” (I’m always disappointed that a bike doesn’t drive across the stage on that one) the quality is right up there. It’s worth a few listenings just to hear Phil’s chugging bass all the way through. Personally not disappointed with the first set. “Cold rain and Snow” is great and to me the whole set just rocks. Then “Iko” with the “Men smart, Women smarter” opening and off they go again. Maybe not the best “Dew” but a really good “Baby Blue” to send everyone home happy. The sound quality is good with Vince and Bruce on piano integrating well. Maybe Mickey’s drums could have been a bit more present but no complaints here. Outstanding show all around. It’s going to be in my headphones a few more times this week.
I'm listening to DiP9 for the second time now, as I'm writing this, a very enjoyable Deal is playing. The setlist might not be as good as Terrapin Station (I prefer Walking Blues over Red Rooster and Like Tom Thumbs Blues over Queen Jane for example), it still is a decent show. I haven't heard the other MSG shows apart from what was part of Road Trips, which I honestly can't remember, so I can't judge how this compares to the other shows. Obviously it's a show shortly after Brent's passing and I miss him. The synths don't bother me too much, but they lack a certain fire and funkyness. Overall, it feels a bit like the Dead are on autopilot, there seems to be a certain sadness over their playing. Having said that, there are some enjoyable moments here, the aforementioned Deal, He's Gone through Standing on the Moon and Cold Rain and Snow come to mind. But it does seem like a bit overkill with the other two 1990 releases that came shortly before this one. As for the sound quality. I don't think there's much wrong with it.
I like Dick's Picks 9 and agree that it was picked in large part due to the uniqueness and emotional heft of the 2nd set. It's probably the 3rd or 4th best show of the MSG run, I'm more upset with how the back half of the run was chopped up. Would have made a nice box set.
For those who do find the sound on this release to be an issue, I just discovered a Hunter's Trix matrix source -- I haven't heard it yet, but I have a hunch it will be a bit more lively.
This is really the ideal way to hear this 9-16-90 show. The sound is so much more full and intense than the others out there. You feel the crowd and the room of MSG. A special and distinctive night played for Brent. A true contemplative show. PS - here's a post I put up on another site where I explain how I finally got this show last year after hearing some of the new sources: This is a show that I never really "got" before listening to it last night. It's always been held in high regard by many and Dick Latvala chose it as his 9th Pick so that certainly speaks volumes. I even went to the CD release party at The Wetlands in NYC in 1997 where Dick was there having a blast. I hadn't heard the show before and we listened to it in the car ride back to college and all of us were kinda scratching our heads at it. Partly because of the sound which seemed particularly bright and tinny coming from the DAT. I've gone back to it a few times, but it wasn't until last night on the 30th Anniversary that it all clicked. A huge part of that are the new sources that have come out recently. Yes, sources as in plural. One is an AUD taped by Ray Ackerman and masted by Charlie Miller. The other is a SBD Cassette Master also mastered by Charlie Miller. And the final one is a Matrix Hunter Seamons put out combining those sources. I have links to them all below to listen and download. Lossless Legs .::. Index Grateful Dead Live at Madison Square Garden on 1990-09-16 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive Lossless Legs .::. Index Grateful Dead Live at Madison Square Garden on 1990-09-16 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive Lossless Legs .::. Index Now! Onto the music. One thing that is immediately noticeable on this night is Phil. His sound - especially on the SBD / Matrix recordings - is HUGE and is a constant presence throughout the night. You really feel his notes tug at your gut and it's like you're standing in the Phil Zone all night. The drums also have this unique tone to them where the snare hits almost have a haze of soft decay in their sound. Very cool. There's also a lot of openness between instruments. This was only Bruce Hornsby's second show with the band and it feels like each musician wants to give the others time and space within the music. There is a pensive quality to the music that night. The show starts off normal enough with Hell in Bucket which roars ahead and then a double opener with a lively Cold, Rain & Snow. The Little Red Rooster is a killer version and features Bruce's first solo of the evening which seems to take things to the next level. You can hear how much fun he and Jerry are having throughout the night. With so many musicians on stage the music starts to take on this massive larger than life feel. The rest of the songs are all very well played although Tennessee Jed has to be one of the finest versions they've played and at a full 10 minutes also one of the longest. The second set though is really where the magic happens. Samson and Iko makes for a very fun opening combo and each is wild in its own way. When the Looks Like Rain started I'm sure most people felt like it was going to be a song oriented set as opposed to a jam set. This again has to be one of the better versions they've played full of passion and intensity and Bob really keeps it moving forward beautifully to a breathtaking climax. Then comes one of the most unique segments of music the band has played in its illustrious career. People who attended this show have said it felt like a sermon for Brent and you can completely hear why especially as He's Gone begins. The actual song is emotive and soulful like the best ones are. It eventually segues into a bluesy jam reminiscent of Spoonful before a bluesy stomp begins where they really hit their stride. It winds down into, wait, did the drummers stop playing? Is the rest of the band hanging in space? And then is this basically a Bass Solo? But with Bruce and Vince also playing along while the rest of the band drops out?! That's different! Bruce almost seems to be egging Phil on to greater heights of intensity. Some Other One teases are weaved in giving off that extra bit of anticipation. At this point it feels like almost anything can happen! The drums come back and have it for a while before we get the real Space. This gently dips into an emotional rendering of one the better versions of Standing on the Moon. It's slow and deliberate and I wonder how many dry eyes there were in the house thinking about Brent as Jerry belts out the "would rather be with you!!!" lyrics. I'm getting a bit emotional even just typing that. For a moment it feels like the band is wondering how to follow that. They then don't. Instead they dive headfirst into another Space only this time not any normal Space. Dick named this 'Lunatic Preserve' on the Dicks Picks and you can hear why. It soon gets as deep and out there as the darkest moments of an intense Dark Star. They're all chasing each other down the darkest of rabbit holes on this one. Out of the vortex Bobby begins strumming I Need a Miracle which seems to fit the moment perfectly as the band immediately picks up on it and goes running. The outro jam is even longer than usual making for a nice surprise. At this point there really is only one way to go on such an emotional night: Morning Dew. This version is magnificent and everything it needs to be on this powerful evening. A pitch perfect version that cleanses the soul especially on the triumphant peak that is full of resonating Phil notes and Jerry fanning away like mad. Amazing stuff. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue serves as a soothing encore that also seems to provide some closure to Brent's death and that they can move forward from here. I can only imagine being there on this night, but luckily these new recordings help bring it back to life for me. Based on all the reasons above, this really does feel to me like one of the most distinctive shows they've played. It was also a necessary show for them to play at that time. Give it a spin if you haven't heard it yet.
I was there and this is a pretty darn good summary of what that show felt like, considering you didn't attend. I'll write up more detailed thoughts about the show and run after I listen to it for purposes of this thread - which I'm planning to do tomorrow, but a couple quick thoughts before I forget them. At the show it seemed like, ah, they've gone to the Moon and back, and of course they need to go through Space on both legs of the journey. This run (and particularly 9/16, 9/19 and 9/20) made me think we'd entered a new era where almost anything could happen setlist wise, and the band would no longer be so set in its ways. Although Bruce continued to push them out of their comfort zone through '91, going forward for the most part things weren't opened up as radically as seemed to be the case after this run. IIRC correctly there were one or two other pre-Space jams that run featuring smaller combinations of measures, which I'd noted in my setlist notes (e.g., "Phil & the Keys Jam" for this one). I believe Hunter named the post-Standing on the Moon segment "Lunatic Preserve" when it was used on the Infrared Roses album, and Dick followed suit, rather than naming it himself. A key line from It's All Over Baby, Blue that night: "Forget about the dead you left, they will not follow you." RIP Brent
Thanks, Rob! Glad you approve. Jealous you got to be there! Totally agree on the uniqueness of the setlists that run. A nice change of pace and we had really only seen that in parts of 1985 in recent years where they started to change it up a bit. All 3 nights of 9-16/19/20-90 are very special in their own ways. I need to relisten to some of the other nights again. That whole second set of the 16th was like an intricate tapestry being designed in the moment. The Baby Blue also completely fit in and that line is certainly poignant.
No "Lunatic Preserve" on Infrared Roses, although it does sound more like a Hunter title than the silly titles Dick came up with.
D'oh!!! You're right, of course. I was confusing it with Silver Apples on the Moon... which also had a Lunar theme (and features Bruce and Vince). Also, Lunatic Preserve does sound like a place Dick would have hung out... I should have known better, since this thread resulted in me listening to Infrared Roses for the first time in decades.
I just got the GRAYFOLDED version as released on Bandcamp. I wasn't sure which Grateful Dead thread here to put comments about that release. I consider it a remix of archival live Grateful Dead releases of Dark Star. Sort of. And this thread has mentioned GRAYFOLDED. So I decided to put my comments about it here. My first version of GRAYFOLDED was the 2004 fony 2CD set that I purchased from CD Baby in 2014. So that's the version I've listened to and am familiar with. That version does not have the hidden track 0 on CD2. Two days ago I decided to try the version of GRAYFOLDED that is on Bandcamp. Because why not? I'm curious about such things. And it was only $11 to download. And the Bandcamp description of the album mentioned that there were some new beta versions of the album being explored and released. So I decided to try it and find out what was new and what was in the Bandcamp version of the album. The beta releases as on Bandcamp are described as such: versions: v3.0 — 4 february 2021 — a new version of 'mirror ashes track zero' beta 2.3 — 7 november 2020 —'mirror ashes track zero' to be revised beta 2.0 — 6 november 2020 beta 1.0 — 5 november 2020 The Bandcamp release consists of the entire album as tracks (including the track zero hidden track) in 24/48. Nice! Better than CD quality. Along with a big 1 hour 50 minute track of the whole album in 16/48. Interesting. The 24/48 tracks sound better. More better than what I would expect if the difference was just dithering differences from 24/48 to 16/48. So I suspect that the 24/48 tracks and the 16/48 big single file of the album are different masters. I haven't done any numerical analysis to determine if they're different. Just used my ears and my gear. The 24/48 tracks also sound better than the 2004 fony 2CD version. The Bandcamp download also comes with two high resolution JPG files of the timemap for CD1 and CD2. Along with a 28 page PDF that contains the text of the liner notes included with the fody 2CD release. If you like GRAYFOLDED the Bandcamp download is worth getting. The tracks are in 24/48 and sound better than the 2004 fony 2CD version. And you also get JPGs and PDFs of the liner notes. Plus Bandcamp lets you re-download albums you've purchased. So if/when John Oswald makes yet another beta version or improve version you'll be able to download it from Bandcamp without paying any additional money. Bandcamp page for GRAYFOLDED is here: GRAYFOLDED, by Grateful Dead
Checked out the 9/16/90 matrix. Having the crowd in the mix makes a huge difference. The end result on the music side is a bit bass-heavy, so I did some editing in Audacity to make it sound...wait for it...just exactly perfect. Will definitely be retiring the DiP version.
For sure. Love that song and Jerry sings it very well. Check out the version from the 1991 “30 Trips” box which is also at MSG and has Branford Marsalis sitting in. There’s also a version from the 1992 show in that box which I haven’t listened to for a long while. Needs checking out.
10/5/94 is my personal favorite Standing on the Moon from 1994/10/5 - CoreStates Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA - Grateful Dead
Clickable thread guide List of releases By Release Date One from the Vault (1975-08-13 San Francisco, released 1991-04-15) Infrared Roses (1989-1990, released 1991-11-01) Two from the Vault (1968-08-24 San Francisco, released May 1992) Dick’s Picks 1 (1973-12-19 Tampa, released 1991-10-31) Dick’s Picks 2 (1971-10-31 Columbus, released March 1995) Grayfolded (1968-1993, released 1994 and 1995) Hundred Year Hall (1972-04-26, released 1995-09-26) Dick’s Picks 3 (1977-05-22 Pembroke Pines, released 1995-11-07) Dick’s Picks 4 (1970-02-13, 14 New York, released 1996-02-23) Dick’s Picks 5 (1979-12-26 Oakland, released 1996-05-30) Dozin' at the Knick (1990-03-24 Albany (mostly), released 1996-08-29) Dick's Picks 6 (1983-10-14 Hartford, released 1996-10-07) Dick's Picks 7 (1974-09-09, 10, 11 London, released 1997-03-04) Dick's Picks 8 (1970-05-02 Binghamton, released 1997-06-14) Fallout from the Phil Zone (Various, released 1997-06-17) Terrapin Station Limited Edition (1990-03-15 Landover, released 1997-09) Dick's Picks 9 (1990-09-16 New York, released 1997-10-19) By Concert Date Various (released 1994 and 1995 on Grayfolded) Various (released 1997-06-17 on Fallout from the Phil Zone) 1968-08-24 Los Angeles (released 1992-05 on Two from the Vault) 1970-02-13, 14 New York (released 1996-02-23 on Dick's Picks 4) 1970-05-02 Binghamton (released 1997-06-14 on Dick's Picks 8) 1971-10-31 Columbus (released 1995-03 on Dick's Picks 2) 1972-04-26 Frankfurt (released 1995-09-26 on Hundred Year Hall) 1973-12-19 Tampa (released 1993-10-31 on Dick's Picks 1) 1974-09-09, 10, 11 London (released 1997-03-04 on Dick's Picks 7) 1975-08-13 San Francisco (released 1991-04-15 on One from the Vault) 1977-05-22 Pembroke Pines (released 1995-11-07 on Dick's Picks 3) 1979-12-26 Oakland (released 1996-05-30 on Dick's Picks 5) 1983-10-14 Hartford (released 1996-10-07 on Dick's Picks 6) 1989, 1990 (released 1991-11-01 on Infrared Roses) 1990-03-15 Landover (released 1997-09 on Terrapin Station Limited Edition) 1990-03-24 Albany (mostly) (released 1996-08-29 on Dozin' at the Knick) 1990-09-16 New York (released 1997-10-19 on Dick's Picks 9) This week: 1969-02-11 New York (released 1997-10-28 on Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69) Next week: 1977-12-29 San Francisco (released 1998-02-26 on Dick's Picks 10)
Fillmore East 2-11-69 (Good Morning Little School Girl) Recording date: February 11, 1969 Recording location: Fillmore East, New York, New York Release date: October 28, 1997 Recorded by: Bob Matthews Disc 1 First show "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Williamson) – 9:19 "Cryptical Envelopment" > (Garcia) – 1:55 "The Other One" > (Weir, Kreutzmann) – 6:01 "Cryptical Envelopment" > (Garcia) – 6:58 "Doin' That Rag" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:28 "I'm a King Bee" > (Moore) – 5:19 "Turn On Your Lovelight" (Joseph Scott, Deadric Malone) – 17:07 "Hey Jude" (Lennon, McCartney) – 8:23 Disc 2 Second show Introduction by Bill Graham – 1:19 "Dupree's Diamond Blues" (Garcia, Hunter) – 3:57 "Mountains of the Moon" > (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:50 "Dark Star" > (Garcia, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 12:29 "St. Stephen" > (Garcia, Lesh, Hunter) – 7:50 "The Eleven" > (Lesh) – 6:09 "Drums" > (Kreutzmann, Hart) – 2:43 "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" > (Grateful Dead) – 13:26 "Feedback" > (Grateful Dead) – 4:03 "And We Bid You Goodnight" (traditional) – 9:05 It’s interesting that the first vault release from 1969 catches the Dead playing two opening sets in one evening for Janis Joplin. It seems like an odd choice given the number of high-quality shows where they were the headliners; they were limited to about an hour for each of these sets so the shows are somewhat compact. Each disc contains one of the shows, and each contains totally different songs. The early show is all about Pigpen. It starts with a fiery Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, not too raunchy. The Other One isn’t particularly special to my ears, but Doin’ That Rag is a fun diversion. Then we’re back to Pigpen for the rest of the show. He shows his blues chops with King Bee, and Lovelight is relatively brief with some jams and a great rave-up at the end; it isn’t the full 17 minutes of its track because it includes a long tuning before the encore. The Hey Jude encore is questionable at best. The late show finds them starting in a more introspective mood. To a large extent it’s the Live Dead suite (including the tracks that didn’t make the album), starting with Dupree's Diamond Blues. The mood continues with a lovely Mountains Of The Moon, with an abrupt transition into Dark Star. Dark Star is wonderful, almost a compact version of the Live Dead Star, as it builds and releases tension to keep the listener fully involved. St. Stephen is nothing out of the ordinary, but The Eleven is short and sweet (did they just play that without vocals?). A brief drum duet leads into a surprisingly wild Caution; this segues seamlessly into a full-blown Feedback, while the set-ending We Bid You Goodnight caps the music off perfectly. The band comes back out for an encore and plays Cosmic Charlie, but the tape cuts just a couple of minutes into the song. It’s in a single-width jewel case, with a thin booklet that includes a two-page essay by Gary Lambert and some nice color photos. Of note, the album is “produced and mixed by John Cutler and Phil Lesh.” At the time this was met with high expectations, and it remains a mostly enjoyable slice of Dead. It’s really two unique concerts, each with its own feel, completely different from each other. The early show is a really fun Pigpen extravaganza without the too-long-and-raunchy raps, while the second one is a compact psychedelic nugget. But with the many subsequent releases, it's now more of a curiosity than a key Grateful Dead release.
I only made very brief notes for this one, previously posted in The Grateful Thread— As opening act for Janis Joplin, this is powerful, concise, Primal Dead. Oh, and it also includes Pig on a real divisive Hey Jude. The late show is the better one, here. A great Dark Star > sequence. “One of the great, great, insane groups in the world” – Bill Graham
I haven’t listened to this in a while. I remember that Hey Jude being really, really, really bad. Will have to give the whole thing a spin this weekend.
