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Poster: Arbuthnot Date: Oct 12, 2010 3:54pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

"Some of their most memorable appearances began at midnight and lasted until dawn."

can someone please link me to a recording of any 6 hour concerts, that are memorable, from the golden era?

"They would play songs that often lasted an hour each"

can someone please link me to one of the many one-hour songs from the golden era?

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Poster: robthewordsmith Date: Oct 12, 2010 4:03pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

So maybe the author is just an asshole.

So maybe I should delete the maybe.

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Poster: Arbuthnot Date: Oct 12, 2010 4:11pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

in truth, Rob, i cannot say whether the author is an 'asshole' ... that he is very likely a self-congratulating know-it-all, with less brain matter than that possessed by what can be found caked inside the bathroom drain, i have no doubt; but he's a music 'journalist' so what more need be said??

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Poster: Judge TOOTMO Date: Oct 12, 2010 8:46pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

"that he is very likely a self-congratulating know-it-all, with less brain matter than that possessed by what can be found caked inside the bathroom drain, i have no doubt"

I think that guy's been trollin' on the forum.

TOOTMO

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Poster: William Tell Date: Oct 13, 2010 7:46am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

Hmm, I was thinking that just confirmed I wrote it...

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Poster: robthewordsmith Date: Oct 12, 2010 4:26pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

Arb, I gladly defer to your powers of analysis, which are undoubtedly superior to those of the above-mentioned journo.

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Poster: light into ashes Date: Oct 12, 2010 8:36pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

The author's exaggerating a little bit...but not that much.
In 1970, the year he refers to, five-hour shows weren't uncommon, especially if you include the NRPS sets. Several Fillmore East shows started at midnight (or later) and went til dawn. (For instance, 2/13/70.)
They never played hour-long songs (if only!), but you could easily get a 40-minute Lovelight that year. Which may have seemed like it lasted for hours...

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Poster: snow_and_rain Date: Oct 12, 2010 10:29pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

Tom Zito also reviewed one of the Fillmore East shows from July 1970, a show that apparently did last nearly six hours from start to finish, including the NRPS and breaks. So I think he's speaking from personal experience. I mean, if that's your benchmark show, then 3/26/73 might seem like a letdown by comparison.
This post was modified by snow_and_rain on 2010-10-13 05:29:48

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Poster: light into ashes Date: Oct 12, 2010 10:55pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: 1973: The Dead on a downhill slide!

What?! Where's that review? I'd like to see that.

The July '70 Fillmore East shows started at midnight, since the Dead didn't have to bother with a 'first set' or opening bands like they did in February... So they could stay on for hours & hours if they felt like it.
Of course, they didn't play til dawn ALL the time. Really they only had to do it a few times for the reputation to get around: "This is the band that PLAYS TIL DAWN!"

Matt Vernon has a funny comment about the 12/31/78 show: "I was living in Berkeley at the time; I remember getting an espresso on New Year's morning and hearing someone say, 'I think the Dead are STILL playing at Winterland.'"

Then there's Lester Bangs' immortal parody:
"In San Francisco a rock group called the Grateful Dead has been playing an uninterrupted concert for ten days and, even more amazingly, a song entitled 'Turn on Your Lovelamp' for the last four straight days, around the clock."

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Poster: William Tell Date: Oct 13, 2010 7:33am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

Arb--I tend to agree about the "please show me shows that lasted six hrs, and had songs of one hr each?" aspect. I put it in the category of the "myths". Now, certainly we have the NRPS and DEAD shows of 70, and the Acid Tests, and the 50 min MHr Phil speaks of in 66-67, BUT, in general, with how "well" we know the shows of 68-71, we can conclude that in general, the DEAD played their standard two sets, each of which was less than 90 min. IE, we now have MANY complete shows, and all fit on three 80 min CDs with room to spare, right?

And certainly, from 74 to 82, no such No Cal show exists, as I was at most of them. The one that last six hrs, started with K&D, JGB, Kingfish, then the DEAD. IE, Jun, 75; but again, is a NRPS-esque hybrid show.

So, though it may have happened, it's the exception that proves the rule, though in this case, the myth is the rule acknowledged by one and all.

Would you agree, LiA?

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Poster: light into ashes Date: Oct 13, 2010 9:46am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

I'd partially agree.
If you look at shows after '74, the Dead shortened their sets considerably. (They were getting old & tired! You caught them too late!)
The really big 4 or 5-hour, 3-set shows come in the summers of '72, '73 and '74, but those were outdoor afternoon shows, which had a different ambience. ('They played til sunset!' is not quite the same as 'They played til dawn!')

So 1970 is the year of the HUGE nighttime shows, and we have proof of at least a couple Fillmore East shows that did last over 5 hours. (There's also 4/26/70, another daytime show which was as long, but we don't have.)

Now of course, there's the discrepancy between 'actual' showtimes and the 3 CDs worth of music we have, which I think is mainly accounted for by the setbreaks. True, a lot of time in those marathon shows was 'dead space', waiting for the band...

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Poster: marty weinberg Date: Oct 13, 2010 12:42pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

How amazing in 2010 to have a passionate 25+ post response!

Well I certainly attended many 1970's shows that seemed like they took all night.

Post Mickey and Mr.Pen the dead were different. How could they not be?

What is also not brought up often is that they had BAD nights in 69/70. The chemicals, stars, vibes, whatever; did not align. Great achievments involve great risk.
As the dead moved forward they simply took fewer risks as they fell into a more comfortable groove.

"Gone" is a bit overstated by the author. Maybe he was "gone" too?

peace,
marty

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Poster: light into ashes Date: Oct 13, 2010 6:34pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

Well well, good to see you here. We don't get many old-timers in these parts... And 1970 tapers are rare as hen's teeth these days! Thanks for your comments.

I agree about them falling into a groove over time (or, as some might put it, a rut), taking less risks...maybe that's professionalism, maybe just getting older & preferring a structure to fall back on...

We do have a fair number of bad performances from 1969 on tape...(and some less-than-blazing 1970 shows, too)...they did get more 'consistent' in the next few years.
Fortunately, unlike showgoers at the time, we can just overlook the misfires & move on to all the great shows on tape! People are still in awe over the 6/24/70 Port Chester show... (And they would be in more awe over those July '70 Fillmore East shows if the tapes sounded better!)

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Poster: snow_and_rain Date: Oct 13, 2010 6:52pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

Straight from the source! Thanks for sharing. I guess you'd know.

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Poster: midnightcarousel Date: Oct 14, 2010 6:01am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

I agree with you there - 1970 is my personal favorite year for live shows but there are a ton of performances that completely fall flat on their asses. They started to wrap it together in the next few years and became a lot more consistent.

Still, they never topped 6/24/70... thanks for that, by the way :)

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Poster: marty weinberg Date: Oct 14, 2010 2:24pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Arb, LiA, and myths...

November 8, 1970

Sorry about all the commentary, noise
If I had only known the whole world would be listening...

the dew of dews,
imho it defines the time