Hell yeah I say! I was at this show and each of the shows in this run which some of you may remember were rescheduled from the end of the prior year as Jerry had lanrygitis (so they said). I was on a virtual high for days during this run (musically not chemically.....ok, maybe a little chemically) and the vibe throughout the run was outstanding. And for those bitching about sound quality here looking for a more clean or digital sound, I say the audience imperfections bring this show ever so close to home for me as if I can vision myslef in the arena. Is anything better than that after all? It's the diffierence between the crackle of the vinyl and the hiss of the tape vs. the nothingness of the digitally mastered CD or mp3. You gotta love the rawness. That's what you get at the show isn't it? Ah, maybe I'm just an old DeadHead! God, I hope so!!

I'm tired of all the bashing going on here too! I saw the Dead 160 times and JGB 80-70 times from 1981 till 1995 and enjoyed the whole ride. Maybe I was lucky and caught a lot of good shows being on the East Coast for most of them. I would say they were on 90% of the time but the other 10% never left me walking out of the show thinking I got suckered out of my money or that, dare I say it "Oh no the band isn't what it use to be,they don't do it for me anymore." I believe there was always a silver lining to be found at every show. Even if it was just the one song you wanted to hear and they played it good or bad (Think about that for awhile. How many times did they really do that for ya?)

As for getting on Bobby's or Phil's ass for still playing in Furthur and their own bands, your all Crazy Bastards! Wake up and smell the coffee. Both these guys are still willing to go out there and play for us and they aren't getting any younger. We are so lucky to still have them and our scene around. I don't give a rats ass if Jerry is looking down on all of this smiling or if Bobby and Phil are making money on their hard earned efforts either. They've earned it. These guys paid the piper a long time ago so you can have all of this today ie. Archives,web sites,CD's of the nights performance, mail order through the band ect. The Dead made very little money for a long time and when they did, they had a whole lot of extended family and projects eating at their walets. If you can't appreciate all of these things they have done for you, then you must be one knit-picking CRAZY Bastard! I remember when things weren't obtained so easily ie. trading cassette tapes (you were very lucky if you knew somebody with good recordings), tickets for the shows (we actually sat in line, sometimes for days!) and even hearing about future shows (we had to call the Dead office in San Rafael on a land line!)

Lastly, if your still bitching about the price of a ticket to see Furthur or going to Phil's Terrapin Crossroads, you aren't looking around my friend. Yeah, you could see lesser know indie acts that rock at small clubs for less but I dare you to find tickets to major act for less than a Furthur ticket or seeing a major act in a small intimate setting for less than Terrapin Crossroads. Santana and the Rolling Stones both played the Hard Rock in Vegas in the past and both charged a ridiculous amount of money for a ticket.You can Blame the Eagles and Madona for that! Enough said!

As for this recording, I think it's great. This audience gives one the MSG vibe. Of all the years they played MSG this is the one I missed. Caught all the rest. The Shakedown says it all for me and I give this show and the recording 4 stars.

It seems to me those who complain they got "sucked in" by the Grateful Dead dream doth protest too much. Your real complaint is that Jerry Garcia was not a god afterall. Indeed, he died a mere human. He was clearly in need of a vacation, yet, as, to quote Bill Graham, the crowd yelled, "MORE MORE MORE!" The band's music on one level was extremely repetitive. Yet within that familiarity, their fingers could dance by rote through a maze to the point their imaginations, the audience's vibe, the hall's echoes, and their own half-beat five-four mistakes could take over. In that gutteral, human fashion, they were able to reach the heavens more times than I, for one, can remember. More times than not, they fell back to earth, it must be said, yet having once reached it one always strives to return. Some died trying. I love the GD archives. I listen to their concerts on head phones while trying to play along on my Epiphone. I rarely can stay with them through a whole concert, let alone three or four concerts a week. I understand their music much better now, and that's too bad, because it lost some of its magic. There remains those moments, always will, thanks to the archives.

"." Nonintuitive

I agree totally with you....I am 555 and have seen countless shows.......See Philip all the time around town stutting his stuff with his wife Jill. I was young and belived in the "dead" dream..wow taken in! Taking Jerry's guitars was just the start...Further bus just got a flat!!!! Jerry is not smiling Mickey!!!!!

Chill it out champ.

I went to about 200 Dead and 100-150 JGB shows mainly between 78'-85' and saw very few "killer" shows,mostly mediocre to really poor.I paid my hard earned $ and did no complaining,no one was forcing me to go.All I expected was for them to play,but I also expect them to be true to their word that "after we are done with it,it's yours".I'm not saying they don't have a right to do what they want with their music,but I think they took it a step too far in removing some shows completely,just because that show was commercially released,we can't even listen to those shows anymore.The trading of these shows for years bolstered their audience and indirectlly made them millions of dollars,and now that the cash cow(Jerry)is dead and they have new wives and kids and have irresponsibly pissed away small fortunes,they are trying to jam Dicks Picks and the like down your throat.Well fuck them,I don't understand why anyone would want to line these greedy bastards pockets anymore.The Ungrateful Leechs is the name they should tour under,instead of "THE DEAD"AS THEY CONTINUE TO PISS ON jERRY'S MEMORY.

Lets keep this simple! the second set opens WITH a MIRCLE>SHAKEDOWN !!! Hello "79'

cassidy

enjoy :)

4 cuz its and aud reccording and im a snob lol

Here's an excellent show you can download *for free*, it's nice quality and there are some excellent performances here! It's just a click (or two) away... Go ahead! I like this early '79 stuff, the sound quality is usually pretty fine and the performances are not nearly as listless as late '78 (except for 11-24 and 12-30 and 31 and a couple others that have slipped my memory). Sorry, I just can't resist this...
You say your toured your f'n ass off and for what? How about the killer show that your ticket entitled you to? Did you purchase all of those tickets because you knew that in the future this archive site would be here and that by purchasing those tickets you would be entitled to unlimited free downloads? Wow, you were a lot more of a visionary than many of us! Do you mean to say that you got nothing for the value of the purchase price of your ticket and that it expressly entitled you to some unknown future value, like this site? Did it state anywhere on the ticket that in addition to the show you were about to see, that the Dead also promised you something in the future? Do you feel that each of the tickets you purchased over the years was part of a rolling accumulation of 'entitlement points' that would be reedemable for unlimited downloads in the future? This was and is a wonderful opportunity to download shows, be happy that what's there is still there. And really LISTEN to a show from time to time, I had to learn that lesson myself.

At 3:50 Jerry takes Jack into fifth gear and it's see-ya-later.

Big ups to the NYC crowd. You know they were all hands-above-head clapping and cheering them on.

yup. Haven't heard this one yet but i know it's the first! Ignore the rating

An otherwise excellent, energetic show is marred by some serious problems with the PA system, especially on the last three songs. The overall sound quality of the recording is just okay.