Listening to the second night of the October ’72 run from St. Louis.
I see that the famous Playin’ in the Band > Dark Star > Morning Dew > Playin’ (reprise) was also released on vinyl (in case any folks still listen to vinyl). A bit sloppy in the transitions but overall a wonderful show!
Hey ToddHarris, definitely still a vinyl listener here. I bought the St. Louis big box cd collection, as I subscribe every year to the “Dave’s Picks” series and often (but not always) buy the big releases of the year.
I did buy the “Light Into Ashes” vinyl release as I wanted the vinyl, liked the segment of the show they pulled out for that release, and also thought it was good to have a release that was relatively inexpensive.
This video tells the story of how the Macintosh MC2300 at 300W per channel amp was used by the GD to power the wall of sound.
The video says it consisted of 586 JBL speakers powered by 43 Macintosh MC2300 amps!
There is a man in the US who has built a quarter side working Wall of Sound in his house, and is developing half and full size versions.
I’m just kidding of course…I realize folks still buy those overpriced large, black discs. 
I spun another anniversary show over the weekend…44 years ago! This is the famous “Close Encounters” show. The movie was released in November of ’77…I had just turned nine but recall EVERYONE talking about it…
In case you’re wondering, in the second set Garcia plays a solo improv quoting the movie theme before launching into “St. Stephen”…
Is that a working model, powered by Macintosh? Or Naim?!
Yes, I think so.
In the video they show the back of the central convex array at at en passant it looked like acutal drivers iirc.
So probably real drivers powered by normal amps.
Hey ToddHarris, the Grateful Dead movie was released on June 1, 1977. The subject comes up in Dave’s latest “Seaside Chat” about the upcoming release of "Dave’s Picks #41 from the Baltimore Civic Center on 5/26/77. He mentions that this new release was the second to the last show on the Spring '77 tour as they then went to Hartford to play on 5/28/77 and then the band and the crew went to The Ziegfeld Theater in NY to see the premiere of the “Grateful Dead Movie” on June 1, 1977. That was all just prior to my getting in to the whole Dead scene as my first show was Nov. 6, 1977.
The “Dave’s Picks #23” that you have pictured above (a good show for sure) was, for me, in between my first and second show.
I like your idea of listening to “anniversary” shows. I did that on the weekend of Nov. 6th for my personal anniversary of my first live show but I will focus more on that going forward as a way to celebrate shows, and choose what shows to listen to.
Hey Folks, I recently received the latest “Dave’s Picks” #41 from the Baltimore Civic Center 5/26/77.
Don’t know how many of you get these releases, or if you have had a chance to listen to this one yet… One thing that stands out right away is that it is a supremely well recorded disc and show. Thanks go out to Betty Cantor-Jackson and the famous “Betty boards.” The sound is incredible on this disc, and since it is a Spring '77 show the playing is quite special as well. Highly recommended.
P.S. - Don’t know why the image is showing up sideways (or at least it looks that way in the preview I am seeing… this has not happened to me before and I don’t see any way to flip the image.
I have a lot of the DPs, DaPs etc but the subscription is not such an attractive proposition now in the UK. For a start we don’t get the free postage, and the prices have gone up while the level at which VAT/duty is charged has stayed static so each DaP now attracts import costs including admin fees which can add on about £10 extra. I now only tend to order individual issues when it’s something I really want.
Having said that, the amount and quality of all the issues over many years is astounding really.
On the image - there’s a bug in the system apparently, but if you make some minor change to the image before posting it will display correctly.
I subscribe… have every volume. They arrive later though since I’m in Canada… so still waiting. Looking forward to hearing the show as I’m unfamiliar with that particular night. I also just picked up the new Fillmore West vinyl release. Sounds superb. Very raw… crackling with energy.
Hopefully a Ukranian band’s cover of China Cat Sunflower will not be too political. We are everywhere!
What struck me when I first heard this was that the early R&B Stones were a significant influence.
Caught Bob Weir and Wolf Brothers Wed night in Syracuse. Amazing night of music with over the top energy coming from the stage and from the audience. It was a happening to say the least.
It was great to hear some Ratdog originals that I hadn’t heard live for years. Live streams are available for the tour closing Radio City Music Hall shows… excited to watch them Sat and Sunday night.
The road goes in forever 
Lucky you! I got the Weir and Wolf Bros album recently which is very enjoyable.
Unfortunately it seems very unlikely that we will see any of the remaining Dead related bands here again in the UK. I saw Tom Constanten in 2018 or 2019 on a small-scale tour, but I think the other bands probably couldn’t make it work economically.
Clive… Dark Star Orchestra is doing a European Tour in the Fall. This is a can’t miss in my opinion if you love the music of the Grateful Dead. They aren’t a cover band… they do full show recreations true to the bands style of the era they are re-creating, instrumentation, stage plot. They are absolutely amazing at what they do and have been a National touring act in the US for over 20 years. They’ve actually done more live shows than the GD. Kind of has to be seen to be believed. Just google to learn more. I’ll put the tour dates below. I know that for the European Tour they will be focused on re-creating Europe '72 setlist and in some cases will be playing the same venues the Dead performed in.
I just caught 2 DSO shows in Vermont before seeing Bobby in Syracuse. Amazing amazing shows and as always… felt like a tonic for my soul.
Also… the Wolf Bros final two nights are being webcast on Fans live. Almost as good as being there. You might want to look into that.
Also Also… Billy Strings is currently in the UK. Amazing amazing band… part of the GD community and very well loved. The kid is amazing. Look him up.
Here are the dates for DSO in Europe…
9/13 - London, UK - Shepherd’s Bush Empire
9/17 - Paris, France - Olympia
9/18 - Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
9/19 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
9/20 - Berlin, Germany - Astra Kulturhaus
9/22 - Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
9/23 - Milan, Italy - Santeria Toscana 31
9/24 - Florence, Italy - Teatro Puccini
9/25 - Rome, Italy - Monk
Thanks for this information. I do know of DSO as they are mentioned quite frequently on DeadNetCentral and Peter Lavezzoli who posts there has played with them, and maybe still does. I’ll try and get to see them.
My brother is enthusiastic about Billy Strings (and he’s been mentioned on the GD forum), but I haven’t been bowled over by what I have heard - though I should try again.
Is it being a heretic to mention Dead & Company in this thread. I mean John Mayer is quite a guitarist.
