Trying to get into the Grateful Dead

The entire show from 5-8-77

Ahhhh...the old Cornell masterpiece!

I started with American Beauty/Workman's Dead for studio and Europe 72 for live stuff. It's a very standard live show for them but it's a good transition.

The new July 1978 box set, particularly the 7/8/78 show.

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The entire show from 5-8-77

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Good choice. I'm going to go with the next night. 5-9-77 Buffalo

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The entire show from 5-8-77

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I'm going to go with the next night. 5-9-77 Buffalo

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This has always been interested ot me as someone who has never really been super into live music.

For me, I can recall specific details about football games going back decades. Not even just the scores, but specific plays, good and bad things, where I was sitting in the stadium, etc.

Is it the same for concerts for music lovers? Things like the quotes just blow me away and I can barely wrap my head around it. Like...not only just remembered those specific dates, but I mean what was it about THOSE 2 shows in particular that would separate them from any other GD show? With football, every play is different. Literally anything can happen. But with bands, it seems like they'd have a somewhat general outline of what they want to do (and then of course with GD, quite a bit of improv jamming as well). But wouldn't those 2 shows be somewhat similar anyway?

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Is it the same for concerts for music lovers? Things like the quotes just blow me away and I can barely wrap my head around it. Like...not only just remembered those specific dates, but I mean what was it about THOSE 2 shows in particular that would separate them from any other GD show? With football, every play is different. Literally anything can happen. But with bands, it seems like they'd have a somewhat general outline of what they want to do (and then of course with GD, quite a bit of improv jamming as well). But wouldn't those 2 shows be somewhat similar anyway?

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For fans of specific bands, yes. Fans of the Dead, Phish, and Widespread Panic are the biggest culprits of it in my experience. I never got too much into the Dead, but have seen too many Panic and Phish shows to count. There's just something about how the setlist(every show has a completely different setlist) plays out, the overall playing of either one person, or the entire band, the energy you can feel from the crowd being expressed in the music, etc. Sometimes it's just a rare song they play that night. Then you can also notice a show where the band is tired, or just not into it, or the crowd is not into it, it's a poor setlist, etc.

To put it in football terms, you can probably remember a game where everything for your team is clicking. The offensive playcalling and execution is near flawless, the defense is playing lights out, the home crowd is into it and giving the players energy, etc. You can also probably remember games where the team comes out flat and uninspired, there's no offensive or defensive rhythm, the crowd isn't really into it, etc. Same basic concept.

Good choice. I'm going to go with the next night. 5-9-77 Buffalo


The whole May '77 run, really.

Also Spring 90. I really like Brent's contribution to the sound.

The older stuff with Pigpen in the band is really good and 'bluesy'.. a little easier to listen to starting out than some of the trippier stuff..
Workingman's Dead album is definitely a good one to start with I would say.