[Fluffman37]

I just wanted to start a thread for discussion of anything Grateful Dead related.  I love the grateful dead, but I'm only 22 so I wasn't able to see Jerry live.  I would say more than half of my entire music collection is comprised of Grateful dead shows.  If there are any Deadheads on this site, I would love to hear some stories if you've had the privilege of seeing them live.  A couple of my favorite Dead songs
Greatest Story Ever Told
Jack Straw
Deal
I know you rider
Bertha
Althea
New Speedway Boogie
Casey Jones
whenever they cover Peggy-o
Sugaree

 

[eric0531]

I saw my first Dead show in the summer of '78 after my freshman year in college, got hooked, and saw close to 100 shows between then and '95.  Saw some great shows, saw some weak shows, and everything in between.  1991 was the only year I didn't catch at least one, and I think the most I saw in one year was five.
 
A couple of memorable moments:
Flora Purim and Airto guesting on a particularly spacey "Space" at Long Beach in 1980 - Flora was was doing some really freaky wailing.
 
Eugene in '93 when during the Jack Straw opener Bob Weir's guitar malfunctioned, and he walked off stage for awhile leaving the rest of the band to jam away on what must surely have been the longest ever version of that song.  (There is a nice matrix of this show floating around - it also has a really long 2nd set).
 
Chula Vista in '85 when they started the 2nd set with a little Space thing with some Twilight Zone teases thrown in (they had just done the music for the credits of the 80's version of the TV show) and then right into one of *my* favorite songs, Scarlet Begonias.
 
L.A. in February '89 when Bob Dylan sat in on the 2nd Set.  He seemed to not want to sing, but Weir pretended to "forget" some of the lyrics in Memphis Blues which coaxed Dylan into jumping in.
 
And of course there are the amazing versions of so many songs over that time frame. Or the pleasant surprise of hearing a song from one of the shows I was at appear on a CD (the Bird Song from Without a Net was from an L.A. Forum show in December '89  that I was at, and the She Belongs to Me from Postcards of the Hanging was from the '85 Chula Vista show).

 

[Mozu]

I was lucky enough to see them at the (old) Boston Garden in '92. Incredible show, and by all accounts, the best of the six shows they played.

 

[Baldeagle58]

Saw them 5 or 6 times in Europe in 1972. Pig Pen was on his last legs on that tour but he did manage to give us several songs each show. In my view they were never the same after he died.
My most fond memory of that tour were the shows at the Lyceum in London with the New Riders. Jerry sat in on steel guitar with NRPS.
These shows now coming out on CD are just giving me goose bumps. Check out Pigs vocals on "Good Lovin'". You can get that track on "Europe 72 Volume 2". It's sort of a sampler of the tour.
Can't wait for the Bickershaw show to come out. We spent all weekend getting wet and cold waiting for the band to come on at around 5pm on the Sunday. They did not disappoint.
Since coming to the States I did see the boys play a few times and also caught the "afterband" a few times. As to now I think that Ratdog are well worth seeing. They do all Dead songs and Dylan covers but they do them well. At least 2 hours to every show.
 
What to listen to/watch now ? Tough to follow Dylan or the Dead but what about My Morning Jacket ?

 

[Fluffman37]

Wow thanks for the great responses guys,  I have the entire Europe '72 tour on my computer as well as that Eugene oregon show that eric was talking about,  I keep a couple of the Europe shows on my Ipod at all times.  I recently saw Trey Anastasio(from Phish) band at Bear Creek Music festival in florida a couple of weeks ago, it was quite amazing.  Another band that i saw at Bear creek, was this band from New Orleans called Anders Osborne Trio, they covered Sugaree which was pretty sweet.  I wish I could have seen Jerry perform live but unfortunately i was like 5 when he died.  I really enjoy these stories, keep em coming!

 

[coskimom]

Awesome thread.. Old.. young, we are all one. First show was 81.. and still seeing them every chance I get. Kruetzmann and the 7 Walkers was outstanding, Mickey Hart.. opened with Aiko. Bobby sounding better then ever with Further and Phil... god bless him. And Jeff Chimenti is on fire with Further. I recommend the Beacon shows in NY for those who can make it.. and always Red Rocks in September.
 

 

[Sordel]

Never saw them and only really started listening to them after Jerry died.
 
I've picked up quite a few albums since I started listening, including a load of boxed sets and all the studio albums, but I decided about four years ago that there was no point in trying to keep up with the release schedule because there's no way I'd get a kick out of hearing another performance of "Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad" or "Playing In The Band". I'd have been tempted by the '72 set but the initial edition was all sold out when I found out about it. Fortunately, I have the Fillmore '69 Complete to console me.
 
My favourite Dead songs would be: "Dark Star", "Terrapin Station", "Weather Report Suite", "Wharf Rat" and "Attics of my Life".

 

[mtntrance]

Only saw 6 shows first being in 85 in Austin, TX.  Have seen Phil and friends plenty and Phish, moe, etc. as much as possible.  Improvisational jam band style rock is my favorite genre.  Listening to my first Porcupine Tree album as I type and thinking about seeing Steve Wilson in LA April 7.
 
Favorite dead moment Dec 1992 or 1991 Compton Terrace in Phoenix the Maggie's Farm in the first set was unbelievable as was the space during that show.  Glad to see a thread about the Dead.  

 

[Mozu]

As an aside from the live shows, has anyone heard the GD remasters? They sound fantastic. Makes me wonder how they could've recorded things so well, yet mixed them so poorly.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Nice to see this thread. I saw my first show in '93 at Rich Stadium in Buffalo. I was 18 at the time and was enjoying college and freedom a little too much, if you know what I mean, and I'm pretty lucky to have made it back from Buffalo in one piece.
 
The summer Jerry died, I was back from school and had a job driving a mail truck for a large bank in Princeton, NJ. The DJ on MMR or YSP (don't remember which) announced that Jerry had passed while I was behind the wheel on I-95, and I was so shocked I very nearly crashed that van into the concrete median and joined Jerry in the hereafter.
 
Anyway, about the masterings of the original albums. I agree it's uniformly pretty terrible, but let's remember that things were done for different reasons back in the day. "Feel" may have been more important than "fidelity" in the mixing room -- and was certainly more important when, for example, Aoxomoxa was completely remixed a few years after release. I very much enjoy the new masterings -- especially the vinyl box set -- but I personally won't blame incompetence for how the original versions turned out.

 

[fatcat28037]

I got to see the Dead once, 1989 at Giant Stadium. My favorite song is the 16:14 version of Eyes of the World on Without a Net.

 

[augustwest]

"Sometimes the music plays the band"
 
- augustwest

 

[netdog]

I'd been invited to so many Dead shows by my numerous Deadhead friends from 1977 on, but was too snobby to go.  Much more interested in free jazz and the like.
 
On the afternoon of September 18, 1987 I was laying on the beach in East Hampton and my girlfriend was playing this tape.  I asked who it was, and long story short that night we were on the floor at Madison Square Garden. 
 
After that, I saw some 200 shows, including every show in NY from my first up through 1995. What a ride.  Thank you Jerry.

 

[chewy4]

Any Deadheads missing the band should check out Dark Star Orchestra. I know a lot of people don't really care for tribute bands but they really take the cake, they've got a huge following and put on an amazing show. They are probably the best dead related band playing right now, better than Further IMO(even though Further has their original lead guitarist).
 
I was too young during the days when Jerry was still alive to go to any of the shows but I've seen The Dead('09 with Warren Haynes), Further, The Rhythm Devils(w/ Steve Kimmock and Mike Gordon), and the Mickey Hart Band. And DSO a good number of times(just saw them a few weeks ago actually).

 

[Allanmarcus]

I've seen them maybe 30 times, starting in 1981. I will be trying to go to the fare thee well concert in chigcago on the 4th of July.