The Dead just played the Bonnaoo Music Festival in Manchester, TN.  We just got news of the setlist, check it out here:

--

June 12, 2004 | Bonnaroo Music Festival | Manchester, TN

Set 1:
Tennessee Jed>
Good Lovin'>
Self Defense
The Weight
Me & Bobby McGee
Mr. Charlie>
Jack Straw>
Casey Jones

Set 2:
St. Stephen>
High Green Chilly Winds>
The Eleven>
Dark Star (v1)> Jam>
Shine On You Crazy Diamond>
Jam> Dark Star (v2)>
Drumz/Space>
Morning Dew
Help On the Way>
Slipknot!>
Franklin's Tower>
Turn On Your Lovelight

E: One More Saturday Night>
Box of Rain

Phil Lesh will be at Bonfils Blood Center's Lowry Donor Center on Saturday, June 19, 2004 to increase awareness about the importance of giving blood. Lesh received a liver transplant and is an advocate for blood, organ and tissue donation. He dedicates much of his time at similar events across the country to promote blood donation and express his gratitude to donors. Lesh will be at the Lowry Donor Center for a portion of the blood drive.

The Phil Lesh blood drive will help support the community blood supply at a critical time as blood donations decrease up to 20 percent during summer months. Bonfils needs 4,200 volunteers to give blood each week to meet Colorado's needs and maintain a disaster buffer for unexpected events. Donors receive a free Bonfils' t-shirt and a signed poster and 103.5 The Fox radio station will broadcast at this great event.

Saturday, June 19, 2004
Blood drive hours: 10:00am to 3:30pm
Bonfils Blood Center, Lowry Donor Center
717 Yosemite St.
Denver, CO 80230

There is no appointment necessary for the blood drive, but we expect a large turn out so allow plenty of time for your donation.

Grateful Dead Hour to Celebrate Twenty Years On Air With KPFA Radio Marathon Feb. 19 - Sixteen Hour Radio Program Hosted by David Gans to Feature Grateful Dead and Dead-Related Music; Will Host Live Music by Dark Star Orchestra.

The Grateful Dead Hour radio program will celebrate its twentieth anniversary of weekly, nationwide broadcasting on Saturday, February 19, 2005 with a radio marathon from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. PST consisting of sixteen hours of Grateful Dead and Dead-related music.

Hosted by David Gans, the show will be broadcast live on KPFA 94.1 FM in the Bay Area and KFCF 88.1 FM in Fresno, CA. Additionally the broadcast may be heard around the world via a web cast to any internet connection with an audio streaming program via http://www.nugs.net, http://www.kpfa.org and http://www.kfcf.org.

Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans has been doing a benefit radio marathon every winter since 1986, raising thousands of dollars for the venerable listener-supported radio station KPFA and pleasing untold numbers of music lovers around the globe.

The broadcast will also feature live music by Dark Star Orchestra performing a brief acoustic set in the studio, taking place during the afternoon of February 19. DSO recreates historic Grateful Dead set lists with compelling accuracy; additionally, Rolling Stone recently praised "Dark Star Orchestra's fanatical attention to detail."

David Gans' first broadcast on the radio was February 18, 1985 on the KFOG Deadhead Hour, and he will be featuring some of his favorite musical moments, interviews and other material from the Grateful Dead Hour archive, as well as some newly-unearthed gems.

In coordination with the 20 Year Anniversary Celebration of the Grateful Dead Hour listeners or supporters who contribute to KPFA will receive a CD entitled "Live from Berkeley" as a premium, with performances from David Gans' additional radio show, "Dead to the World" featuring artists such as Keller Williams, Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Donna the Buffalo, David Nelson and Friends, Wake the Dead, Jemimah Puddleduck, and more.

- Support KPFA programming: contributions can be made via http://www.kpfa.org at any time, or by calling 510-848-5732 or 1-800-439-5732 during the marathon February 19.

- Visit http://www.gdhour.com for more information regarding the KPFA Grateful Dead Hour Marathon, playlists, station list, and other links.

- Listen to KPFA Grateful Dead Hour Marathon here.

About the Grateful Dead Hour:

* David Gans, the producer/host of the Grateful Dead Hour, is the author of three books about the Dead: Playing in the Band: an Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead (with Peter Simon); Conversations with the Dead; and Not Fade Away: The Online World Remembers Jerry Garcia.

* The radio program is broadcast weekly to an estimated national audience of over 200,000 listeners per week, covering 75 markets, and is carried twice each week on XM Satellite Radio (currently with over 2 million subscribers)

* The Grateful Dead Hour has been in national syndication since 1987.

* The Grateful Dead Hour began as the "Deadhead Hour" on KFOG-FM in San Francisco and began its current spot as an American radio institution February 18, 1985 when David Gans appeared as a guest to promote his newly released book Playing in the Band: an Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead.  David put together a little radio piece called the 'Greatest Pump Song Ever Told' about the song about 'Greatest Story Ever Told'. He enjoyed making and airing this feature on the "Deadhead Hour" so much and that he invited himself back.  The host at the time wasn't that much of a Deadhead, so he welcomed David's participation. Eventually David was given sole responsibility for the program. So David, showing up there as a guest promoting a book - and it turned into a career.

* David has interviewed all the members including Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kruetzmann, Brent Mydland, Donna Jean Godchaux, Bruce Hornsby, and Vince Welnick.  In addition, David has included in conversation numerous peripheral people to the Grateful Dead Family including sound engineers, road crew, record producers, songwriters, and archivists.

* The Grateful Dead Hour has broadcast over 850 weekly episodes since 1987.

About KPFA-FM:

Founded in 1949 by Lewis Hill, a pacifist, poet, and journalist, KPFA was the first community supported radio station in the USA. KPFA broadcasts on 94.1 FM and KPFB 89.3 FM, Berkeley, and KFCF 88.1 FM, Fresno, California. The signal reaches one third of the state, utilizing 59,000 watts.

Much of KPFA's programming is local, original and eclectic, with a well produced mix of news and in depth public affairs, an ongoing drama, literature and performance series, interviews, and reviews. Music ranges from folk to hip hop, Bach to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. KPFA travels the region to broadcast live music, demonstrations, and cultural events. The majority of station staff are unpaid community volunteers donating their time and energy to bring the programming to life.

There will be a free staged reading and full sing through of CUMBERLAND BLUES , which incorporates 20 songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, Monday, February 7 at the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, Ohio. A limited number of invitations are available.

The event is By Special Invitation Only and In Compliance with Actor's Equity Association Rules for Viewing and Feedback Purposes Only, Not for Review. For Information contact Eric Pugh, at (330) 724-9855 or (800) 362-4100, Ext. 150 by January 31, 2005. First come first served.

The Planet Drum 2006 Tour reunites Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo for a September series of West Coast shows in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the ground-breaking album of that name.  Planet Drum was released in 1991 on the Rykodisc label and went on to earn the first-ever Grammy in the World Music category.  The tour is the groups first in almost a decade.  It also marks the resumption of an artistic relationship – between Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain – that goes back to the late 1960s.

For Hart, this reunion is an opportunity to take Planet Drum into new places. "This is a deep drumming groove. We're taking the archaic rhythm worlds into outer space.  Planet Drum explores rhythm and noise…it's a sound yoga of processed acoustic percussion headed straight for the trance zone that becomes a dance of ancient and modern worlds.  Deep drumming is a skeleton key into these realms."

In 1968, Mickey Hart was the percussionist for a band called the Grateful Dead.  Ever-curious, he met Hussain's father, Allah Rakha (Ravi Shankar's tabla player), and became his part-time student, bringing Indian percussion ideas to rock and roll.  It was a seminal encounter.  In the 1970s, Allah Rakha gave Hart what he called his greatest gift – his son, Zakir Hussain, who went on to succeed his father (Allah Rakha passed on in 2000) as the world's preeminent tabla player.

Hart and Hussain's musical relationship first emerged into the public eye in 1976 with the Diga Rhythm Band, a collaboration of percussionists (most of whom were students at the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music) that was, Hart said, an American version of a gamelan.  After opening for a Jefferson Starship concert at San Francisco's famed Winterland, they recorded Diga, which included the tune "Happiness is Drumming," which evolved into the Hart tune  "Fire on the Mountain," a staple for the Dead, Other Ones, and Planet Drum.

Later in the 1970s Hart organized the "Rhythm Devils," a percussion group that included his fellow Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and Michael Hinton, among others, to record the percussion sound track to Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now.  Soon after, in the early '80s, Hart collaborated with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim on Dafos.

By then, he'd begun an in-depth investigation into the sociocultural history of percussion, which resulted in two books – a memoir, Drumming At the Edge of Magic, and then a pictorial history, Planet Drum.  Alongside the book came the CD, and perhaps the greatest summit meeting of percussionists the world has ever known.  All of them were legendary. 

The elder was the late Babatunde Olatunji ("Drums of Passion") from Nigeria, the man who introduced African drumming into popular American sensibilities, along with his protégé and aesthetic heir, Sikiru Adepoju (whose specialty is the talking drum), also of Nigeria.  From Brazil came Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew fame.  One of the great Latin percussionists of all time, Giovanni Hidalgo, brought in the flavor of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.  Finally, Zakir Hussain (and his associate T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram) blended in the magical sounds of classical India. 

The CD was a critical and popular smash, as were the book and the tour.  And now, 15 years later, with each of the four – Hart, Hussain, Adepoju, and Hidalgo – at the height of their creative powers, it's time to invoke the percussion gods again. 

Bio/Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart is best known for his nearly three decades as an integral part of an extraordinary expedition into the soul and spirit of music, disguised as the rock and roll band the Grateful Dead. As half of the percussion tandem known as the Rhythm Devils, Mickey and Bill Kreutzmann transcended the conventions of rock drumming. Their extended polyrhythmic excursions were highlights of Grateful Dead shows, introducing the band's audience to an ever-growing arsenal of percussion instruments from around the world. Exposure to these exotic sounds fueled Mickey's desire to learn about the various cultures that produced them.

His tireless study of the world's music led Mickey to many great teachers and collaborators, including his partners in Planet Drum. Planet Drum's self-titled album not only hit #1 on the Billboard World Music Chart, remaining there for 26 weeks, it also received the Grammy for Best World Music Album in 1991 - the first Grammy ever awarded in this category. Planet Drum is one of twenty-nine recordings released on Mickey's the WORLD series on Rykodisc. The WORLD offers a wide variety of music from virtually every corner of the globe with releases like Voices of the Rainforest from Papua New Guinea and Living Art, Sounding Spirit: The Bali Sessions. In 2002, Mickey established The Endangered Music Fund to return royalty payments from many of these recordings to the indigenous people that produced them, and to further the preservation of sounds and music from around the globe.

Mickey's experiences have paved the way for unique opportunities beyond the music industry. He composed a major drum production performed by an assembly of 100 percussionists for the opening ceremony of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. Additionally, Mickey has composed scores, soundtracks and themes for movies and television including Apocalypse Now, Gang Related, Hearts of Darkness, The Twilight Zone, the 1987 score to The America's Cup: The Walter Cronkite Report, Vietnam: A Television History, and The Next Step. In 1994 Mickey was inducted with The Grateful Dead into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Mickey has written four books documenting his lifelong fascination with the history and mythology of music. These include Drumming at the Edge of Magic, Planet Drum, Spirit into Sound: The Magic of Music, and Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music.

Long a social activist, Mickey appeared in August, 1991 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging, speaking on the healing value of drumming and rhythm on afflictions associated with aging. Since joining the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Hospital in 2000, Mickey is continuing his investigation into the connection between healing and rhythm, and the neural bases of rhythm.

In 1999, Mickey was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress where he heads the sub-committee on the digitization and preservation of the Center's vast collections. In October of 2000, the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center conferred an honorary doctorate of humane letters upon Mickey for his work in advancing the preservation of aural archives.

Bio/Zakir Hussain

Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Zakir Hussain's contributions to world music have been unique, with many historic collaborations, including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Giovanni Hidalgo, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Rennie Harris, the Kodo drummers and Charles Lloyd.

A child prodigy, Zakir was touring by the age of twelve, the gifted son of his great father, tabla legend Ustad Allarakha. Zakir came to the United States in 1970, embarking on an international career which includes no fewer than 150 concert dates a year.  He has composed and recorded many albums and soundtracks, and has received widespread recognition as a composer for his many ensembles and collaborations. Most recently, he has composed soundtracks for the films In Custody and The Mystic Masseur directed by Ismail Merchant, Bertolucci's Little Buddha, for which Zakir composed, performed and acted as Indian music advisor, Vanaprastham (The Last Dance), chosen to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May, 1999, Saaz, and Everybody Says I'm Fine.

"Zakir Hussain's tabla has spearheaded World Music's journey into jazz, fusion and electronica . . . the continuing work of a master musician who is preserving an ancient tradition even as he continues to innovate within it. He is the conservator of his instrument's history and its various styles of playing . . . the scion of a great percussive legacy." THE WIRE 2002

Bio/Sikiru Adepoju

Mickey Hart calls him "the Mozart of the talking drum."  Sikiru Adepoju (Seek-ee-roo Ah-deh-poh-joo) first came to the focus of the American music scene through his involvement with the Grammy Award-winning Planet Drum project. His technical mastery of the talking drum and various indigenous percussion instruments (dundun, gudugudu, gome, omele, sekere, etc.) have gained acceptance and respect among music listeners of all tastes. Yet it is his unique spirit, discipline, and commitment to the moment that has gained him respect among his musical peers, and have contributed to his ability to engage audiences, body & mind, all over the globe.

Born in Eruwa, Western Nigeria, Sikiru grew up in a "talking drum family" where he began his tutelage of the instrument at his father's side, at the age of six. He then went on to tour and record several albums with renowned Nigerian Juju artist Chief Ebenezer Obey and his Inter-Reformers Band. Obey, who called his personal style the miliki (enjoyment) sound, began where noted juju entertainer I.K. Diaro left off. Obey drew in such Western elements as multiple guitars and a Hawaiian steel guitar soloist, adding them to the traditional rhythmic foundation.

After he moved to the Bay Area in 1985, Sikiru soon met world-renowned percussionist and leading African music artist Babatunde Olatunji. Shortly after meeting Olatunji, Sikiru joined his Drums of Passion ensemble and began a 17 year period with the group, recording & touring extensively throughout the world, until a year before Olatunji's death in 2003.

While a member of Olatunji's Drums of Passion, Sikiru recorded with Stevie Wonder & Carlos Santana, and performed with the Grateful Dead, where he met Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. It was after meeting Hart that Sikiru also joined Hart's Planet Drum ensemble. In 1991 the group's debut release "Planet Drum" hit #1 on the Billboard World Music Chart, remaining there for 26 weeks, and went on to receive a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. In 2002 Sikiru joined Mickey Hart's Bembe Orisha (party to the spirits), where he continues to tour & perform.

Bio/Giovanni Hidalgo

Widely acknowledged among the greatest congueros of his generation, Giovanni Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1963, first taking up the drums five years later; the son of the noted percussionist Jose "Manengue" Hidalgo, he was educated in Latin rhythms from childhood onward, and as a teen regularly walked to local gigs with his congas strapped to his back. He soon caught the attention of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, touring in his United Nations All-Star Orchestra for four years.  Hidalgo also became a noted session player, recording with Freddie Hubbard, Paul Simon and Mickey Hart's Planet Drum project. In 1992, he recorded his debut solo LP, Villa Hidalgo; Worldwide followed a year later.  1997's Hands of Rhythm, collaboration with pianist Michel Camilo, earned Hidalgo a Grammy nomination in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. His Greatest Hits collection followed the next year.

Tour Schedule:

9/20 – Lobrero Theatr, Santa Barbara, CA

9/21 – The Avalon, Los Angeles

9/22 – Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz

9/23 – Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco (SF Jazz Festival)

9/24 – Van Duzer Auditorium, Arcata

9/26 – Crystal Bay Casino, Crystal Bay, NV (tentative)

9/28 – Ginger Rogers Theatre, Medford, OR

9/29 – Alladin Theatre, Portland

You waited, you begged, you became surly; so without further ado...A Dead.Net Exclusive:

GRATEFUL DEAD, Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, the spectacular 9-CD set that captures the Dead during one of their peak years and at the top of their game. Winterland 1973 , the long awaited follow-up to the ecstatically received Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings, includes every note of three complete consecutive shows, NOVEMBER 9, 10 & 11, 1973 (save for the encore of November 9, which was not recorded).

Special Offer - BONUS DISC

Until April 30th, pre-order the Winterland 1973 box through dead.net and we'll send you a special BONUS DISC of previously uncirculated material recorded at Cincinnati Gardens on December 4, 1973.

Sirius Grateful Dead Channel Event:

Tune in Monday evening at 9pm EDT for the full November 9th Winterland show!

Listen to a Sampler of the Box!

Starting today, Monday March 17th and running for a limited time; listen to a selection of tracks from the new Winterland 1973 box, carefully assembled by David Lemieux.

Listen Here

Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings

$99.99 - 9 CDs

$99.98 - Buy It Now

FENNARIO – SONGS BY JERRY GARCIA & ROBERT HUNTER (out August 19 on Iris Records), an album  that pays tribute to the Grateful Dead's principal songwriters.  Joseph previously released a critically acclaimed American music album and also has written album tracks for friend and fan Bonnie Raitt.

The wide range of music on Fennario draws from the same American palette that inspired Garcia and Hunter, from the sweet country of "It Must Have Been the Roses" to the Memphis rock and roll of "Tennessee Jed" to the Muscle Shoals soul of "Sugaree."  To produce the album, Joseph enlisted the core group of top-shelf multi-instrumentalists he'd used on his critically acclaimed debut album, Labor & Spirits: Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (Hall and Oates, The SNL Band), Duke Levine and Jon Carroll (Mary Chapin Carpenter), and vocalist Soozie Tyrell (The E-Street Band).  The album's other principles are Larry Campbell (who was coming off eight years touring with Bob Dylan and who now plays with the Dead's Phil Lesh), and drummer Dennis McDermott (Marc Cohn). Fennario's twelve tracks were recorded in five 'round-the-clock days at New York's legendary Legacy Recording Studios. There are two guest performances, bassist Lincoln Schleiffer (on "Mission in the Rain") and long-time Garcia associate, mandolinist David Grisman (on "Brown-Eyed Women").

"I produced Fennario to be something that Deadheads and non-Deadheads alike could love." says Joseph.  "I absolutely wanted it to be a respectful tribute to a beautiful working partnership, and something that could maybe help to explain to the world why so many kids spent so many years of their youth following these songs around the country and back. Fennario is a long overdue letter to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter for having written songs that have inspired, amazed, and informed me since I was twelve."

Fennario – Songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter is available on iTunes.now!

www.myspace.com/fennariocity  and http://www.imeem.com/people/aJfuiFu

A 2 DVD set and 24 page hardcover book featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead), Mike Gordon (Phish), Steve Kimock, Sikiru and Jen Durkin. With original material from Robert Hunter and the band, this experience is unlike any other concert. Sit back, relax and take a 72 minute magic ride through time and space.

Click HERE to watch the trailer | Click HERE to buy the DVD

Good things come to those who wait! First, it took 30 years to produce this ultra-cool 2CD/DVD set from the Dead's legendary September 1978 run at the Sound & Light Theater, outside Cairo, nestled in the dunes just a short mummy-walk from the Great Pyramid and the mysterious Sphinx. Then, Dead Heads had to endure the long, restless weeks between the announcement of the release and when they could actually order it. Well, ring them bells, because the wait is over! Dead.net is NOW accepting preorders for this beautiful and historic package, Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978, which includes two exceptional music CDs and a DVD with over 95 minutes of concert footage from the Egypt shows (plus an impressionistic "Vacation Tapes" mini-documentary that shows the band and Dead family at play). What's more, all preorders placed through dead.net by the official release date, September 30, will receive an exclusive bonus CD of still more great material from the Egypt gigs. Rocking the Cradle will be available everywhere on September 30, but the bonus disc will be exclusively available with dead.net preorders.

Much has been written about this storied adventure: About the band's long-standing desire to play in "places of power," as Phil put it years ago… The incredible logistical gymnastics necessary to get permission for this strangest of American rock bands to bring their peculiar alchemy to the cradle of the ancient world… The huge, scattered caravan of crazies that descended on Cairo from the U.S. and Europe, drawn to the desert by some irresistible force… The sheer magnitude of shipping in tons of sound equipment, setting up in 110-degree heat, maxing out the local power grid, trying to turn the King's Chamber in the Great Pyramid into an echo chamber (alas, Osiris would have none of that!)… The wondrous interplay at each of the three concerts between Nubian drummers and singers and the Grateful Dead… The miraculous final show, during a total lunar eclipse… The synchronicity of that last show and the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel… Magical horse and camel rides under the desert moon…Trips up and down the Nile… High adventure at every turn!

The three Egypt concerts—September 14, 15, 16, 1978—were captured on a 24-track tape recorder with an eye towards putting out a live album to help defray the (considerable) cost of the expedition. When the Dead got home, however, they discovered that the tapes of all of the first night and part of the second were not useable because of technical problems. Then the band got wrapped up in finishing their Shakedown Street album (begun before the Egypt venture), and soon the notion of putting out the Egypt album lost its momentum. But just as Howard Carter and all those other explorers in the '20s and '30s couldn't stay away from the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the Dead weren't about to let those Egypt multitracks stay buried by the sands of time. Next thing you know there's a phone call to ace GD mixer Jeffrey Norman and he and vaultkeeper David Lemieux discover that despite the problems with the first night's tapes, there's still lots of great material available from nights two and three, including: a dynamite "Shakedown Street" (just the second live version ever), "Truckin'," an exquisite "Stella Blue," "Eyes of the World," fresh takes on then-new songs such as "Stagger Lee" and "I Need A Miracle," and the hypnotic Egyptian tune called "Ollin Arageed" that features Hamza El Din and other percussionists, who are then joined by the Dead for a jam into "Fire on the Mountain." Wow!

And the concert video, though rough around the edges in places, is quite a revelation as well. Not only does the DVD include many of the best tunes on the CDs—you'll dig seeing Jerry do some pretty energetic thrashing here and there—it contains two songs not on disc—"Bertha" and "Good Lovin'." The concert material has been mixed in both stereo and surround sound, with two listening options: DTS 5.1 and PCM Stereo. The beautifully designed booklet (with cover inspired by the late, great Alton Kelley's Egypt 1978 tour poster) contains a revealing essay by longtime Ice Nine Publishing chief (and Egypt trip co-organizer) Alan Trist, and many rare photos. All that's missing is sand, the smell of camels and some "hubbly-bubbly"!

So don't delay! Order Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978 today by going Here.

Track List

Disc 1

1. "Jack Straw"

2. "Row Jimmy"

3. "New, New Minglewood Blues"

4. "Candyman"

5. "Looks Like Rain"

6. "Stagger Lee"

7. "I Need A Miracle"

8. "It's All Over Now"

9. "Deal"

Disc 2

1. "Ollin Arageed"

2. "Fire On The Mountain"

3. "Iko Iko"

4. "Shakedown Street"

5. "Drums"

6. "Space"

7. "Truckin'"

8. "Stella Blue"

9. "Around And Around"

DVD

Track Listing

1."Bertha"

2. "Good Lovin'"

3. "Row Jimmy"

4. "New, Minglewood Blues"

5. "Candyman"

6. "Looks Like Rain"

7. "Deal"

8. "Ollin Arageed"

9. "Fire On The Mountain"

10. "Iko Iko"

11. "I Need A Miracle"

12. "It's All Over Now"

13. "Truckin'"

Featurette: "The Vacation Tapes"

Dead.net Exclusive Bonus CD

1. "Bertha"

2. "Good Lovin'"

3. "El Paso"

4. "Ramble On Rose"

5. "Estimated Prophet"

6. "Eyes Of The World"

7. "Terrapin Station"

8. "Sugar Magnolia"

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart announced today that they will join together again on October 13^th to headline a benefit concert for the Presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama, at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA. Also appearing will be the Allman Brothers Band, plus opening act to be determined.

Last February, Weir, Lesh and Hart performed together for the first time since 2004 at the hugely successful "Deadheads for Obama" show at The Warfield in San Francisco. Now founding Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann joins his musical brethren in service of this historic cause, with Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti rounding out the band.

Stay tuned to dead.net for further details, ticket information, etc.

Two magical, complete performances from Fall '79, the basis for Road Trips, Vol. 1 No.1. These Spectrum shows, 11/5/79 & 11/6/79, are now available in both FLAC and MP3; documenting the band in the midst of their sparkling three-week eastern swing and capturing the raw excitement of the first tours with keyboardist Brent Mydland.

The Pennsylvania Campaign for Change has just announced a Monday, October 13 concert fundraiser to benefit Obama for America featuring many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and other American music icons. Additionally, the show will be a very large voter outreach opportunity for the Pennsylvania Obama campaign, which has already built the largest volunteer-based campaign in Pennsylvania's history. The campaign has more than 70 field offices and thousands of volunteers preparing for an unprecedented Get Out the Vote operation. There are now more than 1 million more Democrats in the state than Republicans, an increase of 500,000 since 2004.

Tickets will be available at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 19, and are $50 for the general public and $30 for University Park students with a Pennsylvania State University ID. More ticket information is available online at:

http://www.barackobama.com/psu

Featuring performances by:

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart; Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Marc Quinones, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti

Are you registered to vote? Check your status and register now at VoteForChange.com.

Get involved in your community. Visit PA.BarackObama.com.

Bob Weir & RatDog & Phil Lesh & Friends to Co-Headline each night. Jackie Greene to support each night.

Pre-sales through GDTS Too and Musictoday shall start accepting postmarks for GDTS Too and be initialized for internet sales via Musictoday, starting on Thursday, October 16. Musictoday to start at Noon EST. Pre-sales for GDTS and Musictoday shall conclude on Friday, October 31 at 6:00 PM EST.

Dates:  December 30 & 31, 2008
Venue: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
City/St:  San Francisco, CA
Doors: 5:00 PM
Showtime: 6:00 PM

Public OnSale is Sunday, November 2 at 10:00 AM PST.

To kick off Volume 2 of our Road Trips series, dead.net is taking you back to the ground-breaking shows in September 1990 at Madison Square Garden. The 2-disc set puts you front and center for 2-plus hours of inspired interplay as the band explores new directions.

As on all GD Road Trips, you'll enjoy listening in glorious HDCD, and the price is nice too - only $19.98.

Special Offer for early orders

Early orders of Road Trips: Volume 2, Number 1 will get an EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED EDITION BONUS DISC, drawn solely from the 9/18 MSG show, featuring a rare "To Lay Me Down" and an especially rollicking take on "Picasso Moon."  View more details here.

Listening Party  Listen Now

For a limited time, Dead.net will proudly stream a generous sampling from Road Trips: Volume 2, Number 1. Browse individual tracks or play them all for absolutely no charge!

Bill Kreutzmann, Grateful Dead drummer for the band's entire thirty year career, rings in the New Year in the state he calls home - Hawaii.  On December 29^th and 31^st, Kreutzmann is joined on stage in Maui by Austin bluesman Papa Mali, James "Hutch" Hutchinson (bass guitar/Bonnie Raitt Band), and Matt Hubbard (piano/Willie Nelson Band) for two very special evenings of music.  These New Year's shows launch a busy year ahead for Kreutzmann.  First up in 2009, a run of dates with Kreutzmann's trio featuring bassist Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band) and guitarist Scott Murawski (Max Creek).

Kreutzmann's Maui New Year's run begins on December 29^th at local music spot (and Willie Nelson's favorite hang) Charley's Restaurant, on Maui's North Shore.  For New Year's Eve, the celebration moves just east along the Hana Highway to Voyage East in the Pauwela Cannery.  For December 31^st, expect unannounced special guests, Kit Kat Club exotic dancers, and a late night deejay set by P.O.R.T.A.L.  Plus, finishing show touches such as venue décor by "A century in review", designs of the decades from Wings Hawaii Girls, and Repast Pupu's by Cloud Nine catering from 10 PM to midnight.

Show details are as follows:

Monday, December 29 @ 10:00pm (Doors @ 9:00pm)
Charley's Restaurant
142 Hana Highway - Paia (North Shore)
Tickets are $25 / Ages 21+ Welcome
For more information call (808) 579-9453

Wednesday, December 31 @ 10:00pm (Doors @ 9:00pm)
Voyage East
375 West Kuiaha - Haiku (at the Pauwela Cannery)
Ages 21+ Welcome
Tickets are $65.00 before Dec 25^th / $80.00 'til show date / $100.00 DOS
Tickets are available at Bhounty Music (Kahulaui), Wings (Haiku), Wine Corner (Paia), and West Side Vibes (Lihaina). For Credit Card orders call 808-269-0831

In February 2009, Bill Kreutzmann tours with Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski for a run of dates. Hitting markets such as Denver and San Francisco for the first time, the power trio is sure to capture the interest of music lovers of many genres of music. Kreutzmann and Murawski were first introduced in Costa Rica at a meeting facilitated by Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Their musical chemistry was immediately compelling. Shortly after, Burbridge joined the band for a gig and it quickly became obvious that the trio would pursue further musical adventures.

Current confirmed tour dates for Bill Kreutzmann featuring Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski are as follows:

Thurs, February 12         Moe's Alley                   Santa Cruz, CA
Fri, February 13           Independent                   San Francisco, CA
Sat, February 14           The Eureka Theater            Eureka, CA
Fri, February 20           The Bluebird Theater          Denver, CO
Sat, February 21           Fox Theatre                   Boulder, CO

Happy New Year, everybody!! Hope and change are in the air! So what better way to kick off 2009 than to confirm what's been buzzing in the rumor mill for some time: The Dead will be touring for the first time in more than four years, with nearly twenty shows spread across a month from mid-April through mid-May! Details will be announced here soon, so keep your eyes on dead.net!

The lineup for this edition of The Dead will be the same one that rocked the house at Penn State last fall at the Obama benefit: The Core Four of Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined by guitar monster Warren Haynes and RatDog keyboard ace Jeff Chimenti (both veterans of the 2004 Dead "Wave That Flag" tour). The mood of the band for this Spring Fling is way up, so it's sure to be a great tour!

Dead.net will be your official hub for ALL news about the tour, including dates and ticket info... and perhaps even a few surprises along the way!

So gas up the Tourmobile, get out that really wild tie-dye - you know, the one with the red spiral melting into the purple and green that's in a heap of clothes in the back of your closet - and start getting into Show Shape!

You know it's gonna get stranger, so let's get on with the show..

In celebration of the return of the Dead, the historic 3/2/69 Fillmore West show will be brought back to life by The Zen Tricksters on 3/2/09 at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ to give all who missed it an opportunity to experience it live. The Zen Tricksters, New York-based jamband who Phil Lesh termed as "brilliant players" (Jeff Mattson, Klyph Black, Tom Circosta, and Dave Diamond) will be joined by special guest Tom Constanten, Grateful Dead pianist who performed at the original show, and former Zen Tricksters drummer, Joe Chirco, to fill out the second drummer position. 3/2/69 was the last of a four-day run at the Fillmore, and some of the material from that show was included in the classic Grateful Dead album "Live Dead." The entire
run of these shows was released in 2005 by Rhino Records in a limited edition boxed set, and sold out immediately.

"In 1969, at the height of the Grateful Dead's rise from the San Francisco ballroom scene, the band recorded a live album over four nights at the Fillmore West, "Live/Dead," that's considered not only one of the band's best, but one of the best live albums ever made." Joel Selvin - SF Chronicle

THE 40th ANNIVERSARY of the Grateful Dead at Fillmore West March 2, 1969
The Zen Tricksters with special guest TOM CONSTANTEN (Grateful Dead) and Joe Chirco will perform the entire show forty years to the day on March 2, 2009 at Mexicali Live

THE SHOW

Set ONE
1. Dark Star
2. St. Stephen
3. The Eleven
4. Turn On Your Love Light

SET TWO
1. Doin' That Rag
2. That's It For The Other One
3. Death Don't Have No Mercy
4. Morning Dew

SET THREE
1. Alligator
2. Drums
3. Jam
4. Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)
5. Feedback
6. We Bid You Goodnight

Dead.net proudly presents our latest "Full Run" box set from the vault. Get ready for the perfectly natural follow up to last year's Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings. We invite you to continue the story of the band's reign at perhaps the greatest venue of all, San Francisco's--and Bill Graham's--Winterland Arena. Experience every single note from June 7th, 8th & 9th, 1977 in glorious HDCD fidelity. Click here for more details.

For the next couple of weeks we'll stream select tracks from each night at Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recording. Click here for two very special songs from June 7th, 1977.

Early shoppers are treated to an additional 78 minutes from the never-circulated 5/12/77 show at Chicago's beautiful Auditorium Theater! Click here to grab yours before they're gone.

Discovery Bay Games today announced the release of Grateful Dead-Opoly, available in stores and online in time for the 2009 Holiday shopping season. The board game was created by music industry veteran and longtime Grateful Dead associate Debbie Gold, with artwork by comic book illustrator Timothy Truman. Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, and legendary roadie Steve Parish also contributed to the development of Grateful Dead-Opoly. Truman's breathtaking artwork brings the game alive with the distinctive look and spirit of classic Dead album and poster art.

“Whether you play with friends or just collect the artwork, this is a fun, absolutely authentic rock n' roll experience,” said Debbie Gold. “You don't need to be a Dead Head to enjoy Grateful Dead-Opoly. But if you're a Dead Head or if you know one, you definitely need to have this game."

Game play is like touring with the band. Each game comes with a VIP Pass and tokens that include a guitar, drum, amp, a tour bus and even Bob Weir’s dog, Otis. Players circle the board, attempting to acquire album-themed properties. Along the way, they might catch a show at Winterland, hang in the Parking Lot or even get thrown Off the Bus.

From the artwork to the wording on the cards, Dead fans will appreciate the attention to detail that went into every aspect of the game. And judging from reactions to prototypes, Discovery Bay expects this to be one of the hot must-have gifts for the holiday season.

“In an age where everything is online and plugged in, board games are becoming ever more popular, allowing friends and family an enjoyable, affordable way to relax at home,” said Craig Olson, CEO of Discovery Bay Games. “A one-of-a-kind game like this with a huge, devoted fan base should be a big seller.”

Grateful Dead-opoly™ (2-6 players, ages 8+) is now available for $34.95 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers nationwide and online at Barnes & Noble.com.

About Discovery Bay Games:

Based in Seattle, Wash., Discovery Bay Games makes award-winning, family-oriented games and puzzles of fun, learning, and discovery.  The company’s mission is to develop “Games Worth Playing,” which bring friends and families together to play, interact and laugh.  For more information, visit www.discoverybaygames.com.

Road Trips 2, Number 2 finds us deep in the heart of Grateful Dead's prime. Presented in its entirety, this spectacular performance was captured at the Austin Municipal Auditorium on November 15th, 1971.   Highly revered for its improvisation and loaded with beautiful musical turns, the show features on this 2-disc set spotlights the Dead jamming through soon-to-be classics and dusting off their "Star" for the Lone Star State.

Recorded live at Municipal Auditorium Austin, TX (November 15, 1971) | All selections are previously unissued recordings.

--

DISC 1
1. Truckin'
2. Bertha
3. Playing In The Band
4. Deal
5. Jack Straw
6. Loser
7. Beat It On Down The Line
8. Dark Star>
9. El Paso>
10. Dark Star
11. Casey Jones
12. One More Saturday Night

DISC 2
1. Me And My Uncle
2. Ramble On Rose
3. Mexicali Blues
4. Brokedown Palace
5. Me And Bobby McGee
6. Cumberland Blues
7. Sugar Magnolia
8. You Win Again
9. Not Fade Away>
10. Jam>
11. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad>
12. Not Fade Away
13. Johnny B. Goode

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY get the Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 2 bonus disc with your order. This offer is first come, first serve.

For a limited time we invite you to enjoy what some call "one of the best-ever versions" of Not Fade Away> Jam> Goin' Down The Road> Not Fade Away plus a rollicking take on Johnny B. Goode. It's all part of the listening party for Road Trips Volume 3, Number 2, Austin 11/15/71.  Click here to listen

From now through July 4th, one of the nation's great repositories of history will play host to a remarkable and significant collection of cultural treasures: "The Grateful Dead – Now Appearing at the New-York Historical Society" is the first-ever traveling exhibition of materials on loan from the Dead's own vast archive of art, documents, photographs and memorabilia, which the band donated in 2008 to the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are: some of the most unforgettable Grateful Dead artwork, ranging from early concert posters and album covers to some of the decorated envelopes containing ticket requests; mailings with news & tour announcements; concert memorabilia; instruments, including Jerry Garcia's "Rosebud", Bob Weir's "Cowboy Fancy" guitars and a Pigpen harmonica.

For more information on "The Grateful Dead: Now Appearing at the New-York Historical Society,"  visit:  www.nyhistory.org

For more on the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz, visit: www.gratefuldeadarchive.org

Road Trips Vol. 3, No. 3 commemorates that magical and transformative spring of 1970 with one of the best-loved aural documents of that era: The Dead's early and late shows at the Fillmore East on May 15, 1970, presented nearly in their entirety over this, the first-ever 3-CD set in the Road Trips series plus the accompanying bonus disc. Sure to become another treasured favorite, Vol.3 No. 3 takes us from an intimate folk'n'blues acoustic set that taps into the dawn of Workingman’s Dead (now celebrating its 40^th anniversary) to a truly epic electric set, and showcases four tracks that have never appeared on an official Grateful Dead release!

As on all Road Trips, it's mastered to HDCD spec.

Mickey Hart is internationally known as the percussionist for the Grateful Dead, legendary for his explorations of unusual time signatures and the percussion of India, Asia, Africa, and South America, a two-time Grammy winner and an accomplished composer, producer, archivist, and activist.

He also creates visual art.

After many years of performing, he began to study the history of percussion for a series of books, including Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum, among others. Then his ever-questing mind lit on a new notion: He’d begun his story with the origins of the universe, the big bang, where creation generated vibrations. Now he began to consider the visual side of the equation, although the stimulus for this new art resulted from tragedy.

His long-time drum tech and friend, Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff, died. Hart’s response to grief was creation, but this time instead of recording music he began to work with wood, and sculpture began to consume him. As time went on, he also began to work with paint a la Jackson Pollack, pouring different types of paint and using different forms of interface to alter the texture.

“These visual representations from my sonic-driven world are snapshots into the music I am making during the day. I only create visuals at night. I create them with the sound of the cosmos in mind. As I paint, I listen to the soundtrack I have created for the specific pouring event. Perhaps a spiritual reverberation is what I conjure.”

“I love the flow of things, to be in the moment, to experience magic. Creating visual magic is new to me. With my pouring technique I can experience the wonder of chaos and the flow – all the glorious symmetry in one."

Hart’s paintings will get their first public exposure at Stanley Mouse’s Rockin Roses Gallery (243 B Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg) on November 6th, with an opening reception slated to run from 6 pm to 9 pm.

The winter and spring of 1969 was a particularly exciting time for the Grateful Dead. They were finishing up their long-awaited third album, Aoxomoxoa, and playing with a passionate intensity unequaled in their nearly five years together. The group’s epic Fillmore West run at the end of February gave us most of their masterpiece, Live Dead — not to mention the gargantuan, out-of-print, 10-CD Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings (and the superb 3-CD compilation from those shows). This is the era when “Dark Star” really blasted off into space, when tunes like “St. Stephen” and “The Eleven” were peaking (along with the audience!), and just about every night was a wild adventure for both the crowd and the band. The Dead played 146 shows that year—the most of any year—criss-crossing the country a couple of times and playing all sorts of interesting and far-flung destinations, blowing minds at every bend in the road.

Without a doubt one the coolest places the Dead played that year was the Seminole Indian Reservation in Hollywood, Florida, just north of Miami, at a rock festival known as the Big Rock Pow Wow, May 23-25, 1969. The Dead headlined the first two days of the festival, and their complete sets from the Pow Wow, recorded by the Dead’s inimitable soundman in that era—Owsley “Bear” Stanley—are spread across the three discs that constitute Road Trips Vol. 4, No. 1. Whoo-hoo!

Click here to learn more about this CD and/or to purchase.   A great holiday gift!

The much-loved Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band had a relatively brief life—fewer than 30 shows from the summer of ’87 to the summer of ’88—but in that time they made an indelible impression on every person who encountered their warm and inviting blend of folk, old-time country, blues and bluegrass music. The roots of the group went back to the early ’60s, when Garcia, David Nelson and Sandy Rothman were all part of the Bay Area folk scene; indeed, the three of them played together in a group called the Black Mountain Boys in 1964. When Garcia slipped into a coma and nearly died in 1986, Nelson and Rothman were among the old friends who helped Jerry get his chops back in the weeks following his release from the hospital. They reconnected on many levels—including musically—and that led to the decision in 1987 to put together a small group (they added John Kahn on standup bass) and play some gigs. Beginning in mid-October ’87 the newly dubbed Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band played 18 shows at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, sharing the bill with the (electric) Jerry Garcia Band. David Kemper from the JGB added some percussion to the mix, and a few shows into the Broadway run, fiddler Kenny Kosek was added to the line-up. A month after the Broadway triumph, the full JGAB played three shows each at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

Click here to learn more about this CD and/or to purchase.   Another great holiday gift!

Furthur featuring: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Joe Russo, Sunshine Becker & Jeff Pehrson will perform at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, February 11, 12 & 13, 2011. Doors are 7:00 PM. Showtime is 8:00 PM. Tickets are available via mail order for $64.75 Reserved and $60.00 General Admission. Tickets are available via credit card for $69.75 Reserved and $65.00 General Admission.

Please remember to put the number of tickets and your preference for Reserved or General Admission on the outside of your envelope. The first mail in dates for these performances are Saturday & Monday, December 4 & 6, 2010.

Check out videos from Furthur's last visit to the 1st Bank Center.

More ticket information can be found here.

Dead.net is kicking off the new year with a real barn-burner! Road Trips Volume 4, Number 2 offers up the entire blistering April 1, 1988 concert from the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, plus the entire second set and a few first set highlights from the previous night's show, March 31.

Garcia returns in absolute peak form and the band, still reveling in the glory of 1987's success, blaze through high-octane versions of "Mississippi Half-Step" and "Jack Straw," a rare and nearly perfect take on "To Lay Me Down," the second (and final) GD-only version of Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man," and so much more.

Mastered to HDCD specs and filled to the brim with fiery renditions of long-time favorites, it's truly hot stuff from beginning to end.

Time is running out to sign up for Dead.net's Road Trips 2011 Subscription. Order all four of the upcoming 2011 Road Trips releases now, and you'll get FREE SHIPPING on all four sets plus an exclusive Bonus Disc, featuring previously unreleased highlights from 12/6/73 in Cleveland, Ohio. This is top-notch Dead, mastered in HDCD, and will ONLY be available to subscribers of the Road Trips Series! Offer ends 01/31/11 so move fast.

Dead.net's 2011 Road Trips releases are scheduled to ship in February, May, September, and November. The exclusive Bonus Disc will be sent to you along with Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3 in May.

Grateful Web editor's note:  3/31/88 was my 2nd dead show...  :)  I was 17 I don't think I could have had more fun than I did at this show -- I did not make it to 4/1/88, though.  But lots of my friends did and they had a most fabulous time as well.

Because you dared dream this might happen one day… Because you went down to the Gypsy Woman and offered up your first-born to try to make it happen… Because there are enough passionate Dead Heads at Rhino/GD who thought it might be cool for this to happen… It’s happening! Coming in September is a gargantuan, beautifully designed EUROPE ’72 MEGA-BOX SET containing ALL 22 SHOWS of what is arguably the greatest tour the Grateful Dead ever played, on a whopping 60+ DISCS (over 70 hours of music!). Bet you didn’t see that comin’!

Really, at this point we probably don’t need to lay on too much hype about how wonderful the music is: Chances are, if you’re even considering buying a copy of this stunning box, you already know how amazing the Dead’s tour of Europe in April and May of 1972 was. To review briefly, though, the Dead’s first tour outside of North America took them to all sorts of historic and unusual venues in England, Denmark, West Germany, France, Holland and even tiny Luxembourg. Many members of the Dead “family” came along on what was really an extended working vacation that was designed to both expose the Dead to new audiences and also reward the band for their unlikely conquest of America during the preceding two years. As a hedge against the costs of the nearly two-month trip, the Dead’s label, Warner Bros., paid for the band to lug around a 16-track recorder to capture the entire tour… and we’re glad they did!

Sign up to be notified when Europe '72: The Complete Recordings is available for purchase.

Every Friday we'll be sending you off with a Jam Of The Week, hand-picked and delivered by tape archivist David Lemieux. Listen to it on the weekend. Listen to it at work. Listen to it all day long...but make sure you tune in or you'll miss out because these little nuggets will stream for ONE WEEK ONLY!

--

This week's Jam is from:

July 3, 1984

Starlight Theater

Kansas City, MO

Listen

Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 2 is now shipping! Some of the band's most explosive and energetic playing is captured on this edition of Road Trips. Vol. 4 No. 2 offers up the entire April 1, 1988 concert from the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, plus the entire second set and a few first set highlights from the previous night's show, March 31. You won't want to miss the manic versions of "Cumberland," and "Deal," the superb "Let It Glow," classic covers of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," "Hey Jude," "Watchtower," a rare performance of "Ballad of a Thin Man," and more, all mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.

You all know about the glory that was 1987. A year after we almost lost Jerry to his diabetic coma in the summer of ’86, the Dead were back, Jerry was the phoenix risen, and the band was bigger than ever: There was “Touch of Grey,” In the Dark, the stadium tour with Dylan, a huge influx of new Heads; it was good times all around, for sure. The band was revived and a new day dawned!

Well, we haven’t forgotten ’88—far from it—and this edition of Road Trips (Vol. 4, No. 2) shows you why. It offers up the entire April 1, 1988 concert from the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ (maybe you just called it “the Meadowlands” back in the day), plus the entire second set and a few first set highlights from the previous night’s show, March 31.

--

Tracklist

CD 1:
1. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
2. Jack Straw
3. To Lay Me Down
4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
5. When Push Comes To Shove
6. New Minglewood Blues
7. Cumberland Blues
8. Deal
9. When I Paint My Masterpiece
10. Let It Grow
11. Brokedown Palace

CD 2:
1. Scarlet Begonias
2. Fire On The Mountain
3. Samson and Delilah
4. Terrapin Station
5. Rhythm Devils
6. Space
7. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
8. I Need A Miracle
9. Dear Mr. Fantasy
10. Hey Jude
11. All Along The Watchtower
12. Knockin' on Heaven's Door

CD 3:
1. China Cat Sunflower
2. I Know You Rider
3. Estimated Prophet
4. Eyes Of The World
5. Rhythm Devils
6. Space
7. The Other One
8. Wharf Rat
9. Throwing Stones
10. Not Fade Away

On April 17, 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Dead played their first-ever live performance of "He's Gone," although you couldn't tell by the confidence of this version. You'll notice that the "Goin' where the wind don't blow so strange..." bridge is absent here, as it had not yet been incorporated into the song. It was added to the song later in the tour. Download this exclusive previously unreleased performance here.

As mentioned last week, while going through the monumental task of transferring, backing up and restoring the Europe '72 multi-track recordings, our team of engineers discovered several tracks that were not listed on any previously circulating track sheets or recordings. Here's the scoop on the latest uncovered track ...

4/21/72 Beat Club, Bremen: At this TV taping in a studio in Bremen, there is an alternate version of "Playing In The Band" to go along with the first version that circulates (we've always said 'you can't have enough 1972 versions of Playing In The Band...') and a very tight "Beat It On Down The Line." Of course, this discovery will be included in the Europe '72 boxed set and the All The Music edition.

Step right in line with the "dancing" bears when you pick out the latest tees, accessories, and more from our Cosmic Charlie collection featuring the Dead’s most iconic imagery and sounds. Whether you are looking to outfit the young 'head in your house, wear your pride with a license plate or sterling silver ring, the boutique is currently brimming with all the beary best.

Make your mother earth proud with this trendy "Save A Tree" dancing bears tee. Slim fitted torso with scoop neckline and short sleeves. Felted raised screenprint feels fuzzy & fun.

Happy Shopping!

The magnificent Fall of 1973 finally gets its Road Trips due with the release Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3.  Featuring the entire November 21, 1973 concert from Denver Coliseum and a bustling triumvirate from the previous night's killer show (11/20/73), this 3-disc set delivers up spectacular live renditions of soon-to-be classic tunes from the band's then-recent studio recording, Wake Of The Flood. Overflowing with fine-jamming vehicles, the rock-solid and varied collection sheds a light on the Dead's "western" fare and improvisational flair with a rip-roaring hour-long medley.

Rounded out with an essay and photos from the period and mastered to HDCD specs, this is one Rocky Mountain high you won't want to miss.  Get it here.

--

Tracklist

CD 1:
1. Me and My Uncle
2. Sugaree
3. Jack Straw
4. Dire Wolf
5. Black Throated Wind
6. Big Railroad Blues
7. Mexicali Blues
8. They Love Each Other
9. Looks Like Rain
10. Here Comes Sunshine
11. Big River
12. Brokedown Palace

CD 2:
1. Weather Report Suite
2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
3. Playing In The Band
4. El Paso
5. Playing In The Band
6. Wharf Rat
7. Playing In The Band
8. Morning Dew

CD 3:
1. Truckin'
2. Nobody's Fault But Mine
3. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
4. One More Saturday Night
5. Uncle John's Band
6. Truckin'
7. The Other One
8. Stella Blue

It's hard to believe that a year like 1982, which included so many excellent shows, has only been represented once on an authorized Grateful Dead release. We're making that "wrong" a "right" with Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 4. This awesome three-disc set delivers an indisputably fine show from that underrated year: the complete Philly Spectrum 4/6/82 concert, with a heapin' helpin' of the 4/5/82 Spectrum show to round things out.

Philly fans always expected big things out of the boys when they came to town, so these Spectrum shows have a whole lot of zip to them. The rock-solid first set finds Bob and Jerry "on" from the get-go, singin' their hearts out on a wide range of mostly uptempo tunes, then blazing in to a funky and fiery second set before the Rhythm Devils take over for an ultimate duel. Charged with intensity, there's barely time to take a breather. All in all, it's a lively and powerful dose of Dead from one of the band's all-time favorite venues.

Needless to say, the sound is pristine, and mastered to HDCD specs. A colorful booklet with an essay and photos is part of the deal, too. But you already knew that.

Tracklist

CD 1:
1. COLD RAIN AND SNOW>
2. PROMISED LAND
3. CANDYMAN
4. C.C. RIDER
5. BROWN-EYED WOMEN
6. MAMA TRIED>
7. MEXICALI BLUES
8. BIG RAILROAD BLUES
9. LOOKS LIKE RAIN
10. JACK-A-ROE
11. IT’S ALL OVER NOW
12. MIGHT AS WELL

CD 2:
1. SHAKEDOWN STREET>
2. LOST SAILOR>
3. SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE>
4. TERRAPIN STATION>
5. RHYTHM DEVILS>
6. SPACE

CD 3:
1. TRUCKIN’>
2. THE OTHER ONE>
3. MORNING DEW>
4. SUGAR MAGNOLIA
5. IT’S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE
6. BERTHA
7. PLAYING IN THE BAND>
8. SHIP OF FOOLS>
9. PLAYING IN THE BAND

1976 was a pivotal year for the Grateful Dead. After an 18-month hiatus that saw just four Bay Area appearances by the band, but also a phenomenal studio album, Blues for Allah, and a slew of solo projects, the Dead returned to the road at the beginning of June '76. Mickey Hart was officially back in the fold after a long absence, and the band came back with a batch of new songs and fresh approaches to playing their old ones. It was the summer of America's much-ballyhooed bicentennial, the country was still going through Watergate withdrawal, and we needed our Grateful Dead back!This latest - and last (more on that here) - edition of our Road Trips series, Vol. 4 No. 5, was drawn from two shows early on what was dubbed by many Heads at the time as the Dead's "comeback" tour. It contains the truly awe-inspiring complete June 9, 1976 Boston Music Hall show (just the third of the tour, but you'd never guess that), and also a handful of hot tracks from the June 12 show at the same venue. For a band that hadn't played together in eons, the Dead sound remarkably self-assured and on-the-ball throughout.As with all the previous Road Trips releases, this final entry comes with a colorful booklet containing an essay and period photos. And needless to say, it has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.Pre-order Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 5 here

Hard to believe, but we've been rolling out the Grateful Dead Almanac for about 18 years now, carrying on a time-honored tradition of keeping Dead Heads up to date on the latest developments in this still-evolving and vital musical and social community. But with this issue of the Almanac, you'll notice something a little different. As in, it's not made of paper. Yes, here in the second decade of the 21st Century (and after a bit of screaming and kicking), we've had to make our peace with some fundamental and inevitable changes in the ways that people receive and utilize information.We now proudly present the first ever all-digital Grateful Dead Almanac. In it, you'll find the traditional tales of our beloved band members and the community, an in-depth survey of the year's finest releases, and plenty of the goods & gifts you've come to love, right alongside brand new features like exclusive videos, games, photo galleries, streaming music and so much more. Dig in here.“There's an app for that”: stay tuned for more details on how to get the made-for-mobile Almanac app.

What happens when you take the spirit of Dick's Picks and combine it with the very best aspects of Road Trips? Dave's Picks! Esteemed archivist, vaultmeister, and all-around Dead fiend David Lemieux will curate the finest unreleased shows from the master tapes, brought to life with HDCD sonics by Jeffrey Norman, period photos, and informative liner notes. All four CD releases in 2012 will be limited to 12,000 individually numbered copies. The series kicks off with a uniquely spectacular show from the highly regarded Spring Tour of '77 - May 25, 1977, The Mosque in Richmond, Virginia.Purchase a 2012 Dave's Picks Subscription today and you'll receive quarterly shipments of the latest Dave's Picks (a total of 12 CDs over the year), the special subscribers-only bonus disc (to be sent out with Volume 2), and FREE domestic standard shipping & handling. What's more, we're offering an early bird subscription rate of $95.50 through December 15, 2011. This constitues a savings of over $30 as compared to purchasing the volumes a la carte. Get it (or gift it!) here.Throughout the year, David will take you behind the scenes and share with you the process of curating and producing the official Grateful Dead archival series. Watch his introductory video here!

Dead Letters is the fully authorized portrayal of the Grateful Dead according to the world’s most devoted fan base: Deadheads. Beginning in their earliest days, the Grateful Dead saved tens of thousands of letters sent to them by Deadheads reflecting on the spectacular concerts they’d attended and requesting tickets. These letters are inspirational and hugely insightful, but more significantly, the envelopes in which they arrived are brilliantly illustrated and unique within the world of rock.This book collects hundreds of those envelopes, as well as a selection of letters, all presented in thematic chapters. Also included for further historical context are rare historical photos and special reminiscences creating a trip, as it were, down memory lane.To learn more about this book, including ordering information, please click here.

Dead.net is on a mission to make a miracle every day. As a token of their appreciation for making 2011 an epic year, we're giving away a high-quality 320Kbps MP3 download every day this month. That's 30 days of unreleased Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, selected by tape archivist David Lemieux! Intrigued? We're also going to put your knowledge to the test and give you the chance to win some sweet swag from the Dead.You know your Ables from your Bakers from your C's, but can your finely tuned ears differentiate the cosmic "comeback" tour from a spacey 70's show? Each day, dead.net will post a free download from one of the Dead's coveted shows. Will it be from that magical night at Madison Square Garden in '93 or from way back when they were just starting to warm it up at Winterland? Is that Pigpen's harmonica we hear? Brent on keys? Step right up and try your hand.Guess the venue & date correctly and you'll be automatically entered to win the prize of the day. Each day a winner will be selected at random, so take your time and make your best guess! Answer correctly, and you will also be automatically entered for our Grand Prize - an All Music Edition of Europe '72: The Complete Recordings. What are you waiting for? Grab today's download here.

Phil Lesh and Friends will be playing three shows at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, CO February 16, 17 and 18, 2012! The band features Phil, John Scofield, Warren Haynes, Jackie Greene and Joe Russo.Mail order starts Saturday, November 26 through GDTS and internet pre-sale starts Monday, November 28 at noon EST through Thursday, December 1 at 6 PM EST. Public onsale Friday, December 2 at 10 AM MST.

Join us on a trip through Grateful Dead space and time in which we re-imagine ten of the Dead's most Epic Shows! As members of our ever faithful community, we're offering you the opportunity to help craft the Grateful Dead Game, The Epic Tour.In the Game World, each Epic Show is a Planet in Space. Players are on an adventure trying to get to every show of the tour. The community faces a common challenge: a tug-of-war between The Dark and Light. Darkness in the Game World is undiscovered, empty, or unkind places. The community will work together to shine the Love Light in places where there is Darkness. Light represents the collective positive vibe of the Grateful Dead experience: the music, fun, community, celebration, cooperation, individualism, hope, freedom, escape, and joy. Light is brought by acts of kindness to other players, by cooperation, and by cultivating gardens of flowers.Hosted at GratefulDeadGame.com, you can get started here by gearing up for the tour, designing your Character with millions of design combinations, taking snapshots with the ever-growing group of gathered Dead Heads, and deciding on just which shows you think deserved to be deemed "epic." On January 31, 2012 the top ten shows, as voted by the fans, will become the itinerary for The Epic Tour. The train will leave the station in April 2012 heading for the first of a 10-show virtual tour. Stay tuned in the meantime, because Curious Sense, producers of The Epic Tour, will be rolling out new features, content, and games on a monthly basis.Learn more here | Watch the Trailer

Hop on the double-decker bus for the last but most certainly not the least in the Dead's ongoing breakout series - four magical London shows recorded at the intimate 2,500-seat Lyceum venue.

The band began its final run of shows on the tour in London with a bang, sharing the stage with opening act and good friends the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Just like the previous show in Munich, this show's big second set highlight was a "Dark Star>Morning Dew." The show also featured the first version by the Grateful Dead of "Rockin' Pneumonia" and the "Boogie Woogie Flu."

In typical Europe '72 fashion, if it was "Dark Star" one night, it was "The Other One" the next (usually). And this "Other One" is up with the best of the tour. The second of the tour's two "Rockin' Pneumonias" was played this night, as well as the last-ever Pigpen-sung version of "Lovelight".

The second set jam this night is unique both in terms of the tour and the greater Grateful Dead history, featuring three Garcia-sung songs in a row: "Uncle John's Band>Wharf Rat>Dark Star." All three are top notch, and "Wharf Rat" was quite a rarity on this tour, making 5/25/72 an extra special show.

The last night. Exhausted and ready to go home, the band still brought their A-game and played what many consider to be one of the top two or three shows on the tour. A 19-song first set(!) ended with the usual second set closer "Not Fade Away>GDTRFB>Not Fade Away," and also included a 17-minute "Playing In The Band." The second set is so good that it was immortalized on Side 5 and Side 6 of the Europe '72 album. What that album is missing from this jam, though, is a terrific "Other One" around the "Morning Dew," and the finest (and totally appropriate) "Sing Me Back Home" of the tour.

You can find all of the Europe '72 single shows, exclusive limited-edition t-shirts, prints and more in our Europe '72 Shop.

Bobby Weir and Bruce Hornsby have announced two shows in Oakland, CA on March 31st and April 1st, 2012.  Both shows will take place at The Fox Theater in Oakland, California.Tickets will be available through GDTSTOO (TBA), presale (January 12, 10 a.m.), and outlets (January 13, 10 a.m.).Although best known as one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, adding Dead staples such as "Truckin", "Sugar Magnolia," and "Cassidy" to the band's catalog, Weir obtained a long and affluent music career that has allowed him to do what he loves and share it with others for nearly his entire life.By any standard, Bruce Hornsby has built one of the most diverse and adventurous careers in contemporary music. Drawing from a vast wellspring of American musical traditions, the singer/pianist/composer/bandleader has created a large and remarkably accomplished body of work that's employed a vast array of stylistic approaches, while maintaining the integrity, virtuosity and artistic curiosity that have been hallmarks of his work from the start.

Think you have what it takes to do the Grateful Dead? Show off your musical chops and you just might get your music video featured on Dead.net as part of The Dead Covers Project! The rules are simple - all video submissions must contain a song either written by or recorded by the Dead. How that song is interpreted, however, is entirely up to you! Upload your video to YouTube, tag it “DeadCoversProject,” then we’ll make it available to view on the band’s official YouTube channel. Not so musically inclined? Join the fun by “liking” your favorites.During the entire month of February, we'll be highlighting a new fan-made video every day on Dead.net and Facebook. In March, five of the videos featured in February will be chosen and we’ll profile each artist on all of the Dead’s online properties and in the 2012 edition of the Grateful Dead Almanac.

Chances are if you’re a Dead Head you’re already well-versed in the glorious spring of 1977. Back a year since their mid-’70s performing hiatus, and fresh from recording their Terrapin Station album in L.A. with producer Keith Olsen, the Dead returned to the road invigorated and excited that spring. There were fantastic new songs (including the “Terrapin Station” suite, “Estimated Prophet” and “Fire on the Mountain”) and their older tunes seemed imbued with new vigor and vitality. Every stop of the tour, which stretched from the third week of April (beginning at the Spectrum in Philadelphia) through the first week in June (back at Winterland in San Francisco), presented some new wrinkle or interesting variation on the repertoire, as songs were moved around, unusual combinations were explored and the septet continue to solidify and mature. Which is a fancy way of saying the band was on fire—y’see, there’s a reason why this is the ninth show from that tour to be released!The three-disc Dave’s Picks, Volume One was mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, includes a colorful booklet with photos and a lively historical essay, and comes in a digipak made of 100% recycled and PCW materials. This and future Dave's Picks releases will be limited to just 12,000 individually numbered copies, so if you don’t want to get gauged on eBay lookin’ for one of these babies in a couple of years, order your copy now! For the complete rundown of what songs appear on which disc, as well as ordering info, click here.

Bob Weir and RatDog are pleased to announce their live debut at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios on Wednesday, January 25, 2012. The band will perform two sets and the performance will feature RatDog members: Bob Weir, Kenny Brooks, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Steve Kimock, Jay Lane, Robin Sylvester and Rob Wasserman. The FREE show will air live at www.tristudios.com at 5pm PST (8pm EST).“One of the shows I want to do [in the studio] is RatDog,” Weir explains. “I’ve got unfinished business with that outfit.”Formed in the late 1980s, Bob Weir teamed up with bassist Rob Wasserman and the duo toured for seven years under names such as Weir/Wasserman and Scaring the Children. In 1994, Weir and Wasserman participated in the Woodstock '94 festival. Jay Lane was added on drums and Matthew Kelly on guitar and harmonica in 1995. They played their first show as a full band on April 22, 1995, billed as Friends of Montezuma and then as RatDog Revue. They played their first show as RatDog on August 8, 1995.This will be the first time these eight members share the stage together in RatDog history.

On April 17 the Grateful Dead will be celebrated with a 14-DVD box set titled All The Years Combine: The DVD Collection, to be released by Shout! Factory in collaboration with Rhino Entertainment. Conceived as the ultimate tribute to the band’s legendary on-stage prowess, the set includes 12 concert films; a 40-page booklet containing rare photos and new liner notes by Blair Jackson; and all bonus features from previous releases of the DVDs in the set. As a special treat for fans, it also includes an exclusive bonus disc containing five previously unreleased live performances from the Grateful Dead archive, Backstage Pass, the 1992 documentary directed by Justin Kreutzmann, and a brand-new interview with Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux.

Fans who preorder All the Years Combine: The DVD Collection directly from Shout! Factory will receive an exclusive bumper sticker with their order, while supplies last. More information here.

Despite an ambivalent attitude to using television as a promotional medium, the Grateful Dead’s creative genius and interest in filming their live shows resulted in what is now an extensive catalog of live performances on video. Included in All The Years Combine: The DVD Collection are The Grateful Dead Movie, The Closing Of Winterland; Dead Ahead; Truckin’ Up To Buffalo; Ticket To New Year’s; Downhill From Here; View From The Vault; View From The Vault Vol. 2; View From The Vault Vol. 3; View From The Vault Vol. 4; and So Far, a 1987 film that has previously only been available on VHS and laserdisc.

In 2011 Shout! Factory released The Grateful Dead Movie on Blu-ray, in a deluxe 2-disc set that included a DVD loaded with an extensive slate of bonus features. All The Years Combine: The DVD Collection will contain the DVD version of the film as well as the accompanying DVD of bonus features.

The 12 films in the box set begin with The Grateful Dead Movie, filmed in 1974 when the band hired a crew to film 5 pre-hiatus shows at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. The film was released in 1977 after more than 2 years of work with a team of editors led by Susan Crutcher. In the liner notes of All The Years Combine, Blair Jackson writes “The Grateful Dead Movie may be the single greatest document of the totality of the Grateful Dead experience. Even though it is really just a slice in time showing one incarnation of the group, it completely captures the group’s magical essence — that joyous and strange mystical spirit that was a part of everything they did, from the Acid Tests in 1965 to the last concert at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1995, a month before Garcia’s death.”

Filmed in the same location just a few years later, The Closing Of Winterland was filmed during the Dead’s annual New Year’s Eve concert in 1978, which was to be the final show at the venerable arena. Featuring friends like Lee Oskar (War) and Matthew Kelly (Kingfish); John Cipollina (Quicksilver); Greg Errico (Santana) and author Ken Kesey with his Thunder Machine, the playing is loose but intense, the frequent peaks reliably transcendent. The sound — mixed from the 24-track master reels — is superb. The Closing Of Winterland DVD is also packed with bonus features galore, including “Winterland: A Million Memories” Documentary Film; Blues Brothers: “Soul Man” & “B Movie”; New Riders Of The Purple Sage: “Glendale Train”; “Making Of The DVD” Featurette; 2 a.m. Interview with Bill Graham by Scoop Nisker; Detailed Chronological History of Grateful Dead at Winterland; and an Alternate Camera Angle Option (“Wharf Rat,” “St. Stephen” & “Good Lovin’”).

Dead Ahead, recorded at Radio City Music Hall in 1980, is the next DVD in All The Years Combine. Celebrating their 15th anniversary, the Dead played 15 shows at the Warfield in San Francisco, followed by eight concerts at Radio City Music Hall. In addition to their usual two sets, the Dead opened each night with an acoustic set as well. The final concert fell on Halloween, and was simulcast as a closed-circuit pay-per-view event at 20 movie theaters across the country. Dead Ahead is comprised of songs from the final show and the previous night’s show interspersed with comic bits from the Saturday Night Live comedy team of Al Franken and Tom Davis (both big Dead Heads).

The award-winning 55-minute conceptual video So Far makes its maiden appearance on DVD in this box. The video contains footage from private sessions taped in Marin County, portions of the 1985 New Year’s Eve concert at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, and psychedelic visual material. Of the film, Garcia said “The video is the Grateful Dead way of doing things, which turns out to be expensive, difficult and unrepeatable. If we went back to do this again, we’d come out with a different finished version. We couldn’t repeat it. If you’re going to do something, it’s important — for me, at any rate — to shoot high, even if you miss, or even if you’re accused of being pretentious. . . . We were after the idea of electronic mind-altering and consciousness-altering. And on that level, I think it’s pretty successful.”

Ticket To New Year’s, filmed at Oakland Coliseum on New Year’s Eve 1987, was also a national pay-per-view telecast. Once again the Dead rose to the occasion and gave the fans in Oakland and many thousands across the country watching in their living rooms a very well-played and energetic show.

Truckin’ Up To Buffalo is the complete show from Rich Stadium in Buffalo on July 4, 1989, and it’s a hot one. Len Dell’Amico’s direction really lets us see the communication between the players when they’re “on” — the subtle cues, the quick exchange of glances and smiles as they dig into a tune or jam. It’s really like eavesdropping on the band from an onstage perch.

Two weeks and seven shows after the Buffalo extravaganza, the Dead returned to one of their favorite Midwest haunts, Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, for three shows. This scenic amphitheater has a covered seating area and a huge, steep back lawn section that the Dead had no problem filling by the late ’80s. Downhill From Here, which consists of the entire July 17, 1989, Alpine show — save for three songs at the end of the first set that were swapped out for three from the first set of the concert two nights later — was one of the first commercial videos the Dead released in the years right after Garcia’s death, and it still stands as one of the best.

The View From The Vault I release (recorded July 8, 1990, from the now-demolished Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh) gets off to a rollicking start with “Touch Of Grey” and “Greatest Story Ever Told” and keeps grooving with the old British folk number “Jack-A-Roe.” Phil does a great job singing Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” and the encore is an emotional “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Also worth noting is this disc’s bonus material — from the more intimate Cardinal Stadium, in Louisville, Kentucky, two nights earlier (July 6, 1990). Two of the best numbers on View From The Vault come from this addendum: a magnificent “Standing On The Moon,” sung with tremendous passion and nuance by Garcia; and a hot, bluesy 13-minute excursion labeled “KY Jam.”

View From The Vault II brings us a show from (long-gone) RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, on June 14, 1991. A few months after Brent Mydland’s death in the summer of ’90, the Dead had returned to the road as a septet, with the keyboard slot occupied by two players — Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby. This DVD’s bonus footage returns to RFK a year earlier for a portion of one of Brent’s last shows. We get a very different-sounding “Dark Star,” as well as “Victim Or The Crime,” “Foolish Heart” and Phil leading the group through a reassuring and hopeful “Box Of Rain”: “Believe it if you need it; if you don’t, just pass it on . . . ”

The show that dominates View From The Vault III took place on June 16, 1990, at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, south of San Francisco. This turned out to be the last tour for Brent Mydland, who died in late July 1990, but here the sextet is still going strong, with no hint of the calamity to come. This particular concert is revered for its the extraordinary second set, which includes solid versions of “China Cat,” “I Know You Rider,” “Estimated Prophet” and “Terrapin” before the band launches into one of their most interesting and exploratory jams during this era. The first set is also loaded with goodies, and bonus footage on the DVD consists of the first six songs from the October 3, 1987 concert at Shoreline, and is perhaps most notable for the N’awlins funk rave-up “Hey Pocky Way” and one of the few extant video versions of Weir’s slithery “My Brother Esau.”

View From The Vault IV captures the complete Grateful Dead sets from two shows in a series of sold-out stadium concerts backing Bob Dylan in the summer of 1987, where the band played their own sets too. The concert from Oakland Stadium is an exceptionally lively and high-spirited affair. Two days later the tour moved to Anaheim Stadium in Southern California, and the group hit a series of completely different high notes with their set lists.

Wrapping up the box set is an exclusive bonus disc containing five previously unreleased and never before seen live performances from 1987-1991, sourced from the Grateful Dead archive, as well as Backstage Pass, the 1992 documentary directed by Justin Kreutzmann, and a brand-new interview with Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux.

Jackson writes in the All The Years Combine booklet, “You can find nearly the whole history of American music spread across these discs, with music encompassing rock, folk, blues, jazz, country, ragtime, soul, funk, modern classical and avant-garde elements. Where else can you hear songs by Chuck Berry, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Howlin’ Wolf, Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly, unifying anthems, party rave-ups, songs of existential longing, murder ballads, cowboy tunes, love songs, primal drums and dissonant electronics all in one place? The Grateful Dead created a rich and sumptuous psychedelic patchwork quilt stitched together with magical golden thread. Sad to say, we’ll never see anything quite like them come this way again — but at least we have the recorded footage, reminding us that it wasn’t just a beautiful dream . . .”

ALL THE YEARS COMBINE: THE DVD COLLECTION Includes:

· The Grateful Dead Movie (2-DVD)* (Theatrical film, originally released in 1977)

· The Closing Of Winterland (2-DVD)* (Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA, December 31, 1978)

· Dead Ahead* (Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY, October 1980)

· So Far (Originally released on VHS and laser disc in 1987 — first time on DVD!)

· Ticket To New Year’s* (Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, December 31, 1987)

· Truckin’ Up To Buffalo (Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY, on July 4, 1989)

· Downhill From Here (Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI, July 17, 1989)

· View From The Vault* (Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA, July 8, 1990)

· View From The Vault II* (RFK Stadium, Washington, DC, June 14, 1991)

· View From The Vault III* (Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, June 16, 1990)

· View From The Vault IV (Oakland Stadium, Oakland, CA, July 24, 1987, and Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA, July 26, 1987)

*includes all bonus features from previous release

Exclusive bonus disc contains:

· Five previously unreleased live performances from the Grateful Dead archive

· Backstage Pass, the 1992 documentary directed by Justin Kreutzmann

· Brand-new interview with Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux

Three time Grammy winner Mickey Hart announces his new studio album and tour.  Hart's new album entitled Mysterium Tremendum, his first in five years, follows the 2007 Grammy award winning Global Drum Project. Mysterium Tremendum is set for release on April 12, 2012.

With Mysterium Tremendum, Hart is pushing the boundaries of what we know as music, creating a genre of his own. "I have always thought of life, the world at large, as music," says Hart. "This work is a physical representation of that notion. I have combined sonic images of the formation of our universe with sounds drawn from musical instruments.  It’s all about the vibrations that make up the infinite universe.  In this case, they began as light waves and these light waves are still washing over us. Scientists at Penn State, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and Meyer Sound have transformed these light waves into sound waves. This band is exploring a new musical topography. These musical excursions transport me to wonderful and strange new places filled with rhythms for a new day. The combination of music of the whole earth and the sounds of the planets, the stars, the events that formed our universe is intoxicating and points toward an awareness of what music is, could be, and where it comes from. " For this new work Hart joined with long time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter to pen the words for these songs. "Hunter is a bold visionary writer who knows where I am going with this music," says Hart. " He is indispensable to the weave of this story."

Fresh off the road from a sold out 19 date tour, The Mickey Hart Band will be back on the road, and "ABOVE THE CLOUDS", touring in March and April to support the new album.

"The groove is strong and the band is on fire!," says Hart.

The Mickey Hart Band lineup consists of Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools, Grammy winning percussionist and longtime bandmate Sikiru Adepoju, Tony Award winning vocalist Crystal Monee Hall, singer Tim Hockenberry, drummer Ian "Inx" Herman, guitarist Gawain Matthews, and keyboardist Ben Yonas. JamBands.com gave the band's recent tour stop in NYC rave reviews stating that "Mickey Hart is nothing short of a musical genius and it shines through in everything he does. Whether he’s working with George Lucas, NASA, or throwing together a unique group of musicians for a band, its apparent that Mickey isn’t satisfied doing the same old thing....."

In 2011, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings released "The Mickey Hart Collection" which includes 25 albums drawn from “The World,” a series that incorporates Hart’s solo projects, field recordings and titles he produced of artists’ such as Babatunde Olatunji, Hamza El Din and the Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir.

Mysterium Tremendum will be released on Mickey Hart's own 360° Records.  The album is co-produced by Ben Yonas (Zion I, Spencer Day, Jazz Mafia).
 

Mickey Hart Band 2012 Tour Dates

3/1/12 Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre
3/2/12 Los Angeles, CA -El Rey Theatre
3/3/12 Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Cafe
3/4/12 Flagstaff, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
3/6/12 San Luis Obispo, CA - SLO Brewing Company
3/7/12 Healdsburg, CA - Raven Theater
3/8/12 Sacramento, CA- Colonial Theater
3/9/12 Chico, CA - El Rey Theatre
4/10/12 Louisville, KY - Headliners
4/11/12 Cleveland, OH - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4/12/12 Jim Thorpe, PA- Penn's Peak
4/13/12 Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
4/14/12 Londonderry, NH - Tupelo Music Hall
4/16/12 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
4/17/12 Carbarro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
4/18/12 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
4/20/12 Live Oak, FL - Wanee Festival
4/21/12 Atlanta, GA - Sweetwater 4:20 Festival
4/22/12 Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theatre
4/23/12 Fayetteville, AR - George's Majestic Lounge
4/25/12 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
4/26/12 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa

Dead.net is excited to announce the Second Annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies! This year we'll be screening the full (and amazing) unreleased concert from 7-18-89 Alpine Valley.

Dead Heads will gather in theatres nationwide on April 19 at 7pm local time. We've arranged a fan pre-sale as theaters fill up fast! Click here for your local theatre and to purchase tix: http://bit.ly/wxCnre

-

The May release of Dave’s Picks, Volume 2 is just around the corner. The thousands of you who bought the full-year Dave’s Picks subscription have nothing to worry about. Your CDs (and the bonus disc that comes with this one for subscribers) will be winging their way to you shortly. But NOW is the time when all you other good people who are interested in purchasing this potent slice of Dead history can submit your orders.The show in question is a three-set wonder from Hartford’s Dillon Stadium during the heart of the Wall of Sound era, July 31, 1974, four days after the release of the Dead’s fine Mars Hotel album. Dwarfed by the Wall’s irregular columns of speakers on a hot and humid Wednesday afternoon, the band thrilled the sold-out crowd of 20,000 with a far-ranging collection of tunes and jams that showed how far they’d come as musicians, songwriters and interpreters of others’ songs in their decade together.As always, Dave's Picks, Volume 2 has been mastered to HDCD specs from the original vault tapes by Jeffrey Norman, and includes a booklet containing an essay about the show and period photos. The Digipak is made of 100% recycled and PCW materials, in heavier stock due to high demand. This limited edition consists of 12,000 numbered copies and we've only got 2500 copies left... We said there was a chance that the limited edition Dave’s Picks releases could sell out. And sure enough, Volume 1 sold out. So you’ll probably want to pre-order Volume 2 before it's gone, gone, gone.

There's only one day left until the Dead Head event of the year! Don't miss the chance to join friends and fans at the second annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies, this Thursday, April 19th at 7:00PM (local time). The Dead will be creening the unreleased iconic concert captured at Alpine Valley Music Theatre on July 18, 1989 in its entirety - that's two and a half hours of classic Dead - as well as clips from the Dead Covers Project, a Dave's Picks Volume 2 slideshow and much, much more.Limited seats are available. You can grab your tickets here or you can get them at your local movie theater's box office tomorrow night.The Grateful Dead is back in select movie theaters nationwide for only one night on Thursday, April 19 at 7:00PM (local time) for the second annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies. This year Fathom Events and Rhino Records have reached deep into the Grateful Dead vault to present the unreleased iconic concert captured at Alpine Valley Music Theatre on July 18, 1989 (the show directly following the band's famous Downhill From Here performance.) The event features the complete concert with two and a half hours of music including Touch of Grey, Bird Song, Eyes of the World and more! Fans will also get an exclusive listen of an unreleased live track from Spring 1990 and a look at rare photos of the band from that celebrated tour.TICKETINGTickets are on sale now! Enter your zip code to find your nearest participating theater and to purchase tickets today. Limited seats available – so buy your tickets now!THEATERSClick HERE for a complete list of participating movie theater.

Phil Lesh & Friends has just announced the band will play the 19th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival on September 16th, 2012.The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival takes place in Telluride Town Park, a renowned outdoor music venue with breath-taking mountain peaks for a backdrop. At the heart of our venue is the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage, a small, humble wooden stage that has held the weight of legends over the years. When B.B. King performed here in 2004, he sat on this same stage, looked out at the mountains before him, and told the crowd, "Out of the 90 different countries I've been to, I've never seen anything more beautiful than what you have here." It's not the altitude that'll take your breath away. It's the views.The historic mining town of Telluride is situated 8,750' above sea level and a renowned a ski town by winter and the festival capital of Colorado in the summer. Telluride's main street, just steps away from the festival grounds, is home to a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and bars. At night, after the music ends in the park, we move the festival scene into various music venues located throughout the town of Telluride and Mountain Village. These are the "juke joints", and once they get jamming a walk down main street feels like a walk down Beale Street in Memphis.The festival is only three days and three nights. Once you get to Telluride, you won't want to go home.

We're waving that flag for Dave's Picks Volume 2. Now shipping, this individually-numbered limited-edition release features the complete show from Dillon Stadium, Hartford, CT, 7/31/74. One of just a handful of three-set shows the Dead played in '74, this three-disc set features more than three-and-a-half hours of passionate playing and majestic melodies, all piped through the band's mammoth Wall of Sound.Dave's Picks Volume 2 has been mastered to HDCD specs from the original vault tapes by Jeffrey Norman, and includes a booklet containing period photos and an essay about the show. The Digipak is made of 100% recycled and PCW materials on heavier paper stock due to high demand.And we've got less than 500 copies left of our limited-edition of 12,000, so grab a copy before it's too late!

The Grateful Dead is coming to the end of their 40th Anniversary tour of Europe '72 and in honor of the fantastic four Strand Lyceum London shows, dead.net is gonna have a little Grateful Dead jubilee.Tune in each day beginning today, Wednesday 5/23 to hear full concert streams of these extraordinary performances including #1 bracket pick - 5/26/72.TRACK LIST:Disc 11. Promised Land2. Sugaree3. Mr. Charlie4. Black-Throated Wind5. Tennessee Jed6. Next Time You See Me7. Jack Straw8. China Cat Sunflower>9. I Know You Rider10. Me And My Uncle11. Chinatown Shuffle12. Big Railroad Blue13. The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)14. Playing In The BandDisc 21. Sitting On Top Of The World2. Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu3. Mexicali Blues4. Good Lovin'5. Casey Jones6. Ramble On Rose7. Dark Star>8. Morning DewDisc 31. He's Gone2. Sugar Magnolia3. Comes A Time4. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad>5. Not Fade Away>6. Hey Bo Diddley>7. Not Fade Away8. Uncle John's Band

Win Tickets to Gathering of the Vibes!Summer's comin' in and it's time for some spectacular fun! Enter to win a pair of Weekend Camping Passes and tickets to see Bob Weir & Bruce Hornsby with Special Guest Branford Marsalis, Phil Lesh & Friends, Bill with 7 Walkers, and Mickey with the Mickey Hart Band perform at the Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival, July 19-22, at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This year, the Grateful Dead alumnus return to the beachside and perform alongside Primus, STS9, Zappa Plays Zappa, Strangefolk, YMSB, Steel Pulse, The Avett Brothers and many more. It's 4 magical nights showcasing 40 bands performing on 4 stages.Click here to be entered to win. For more information on the festival, visit GOVIBES.COM.Grateful Dead Band PhotosCalling all shutterbugs - were you there? If you've got photos of the Grateful Dead from the 1960s and 1970s, upload them here. Be sure to include show dates, your contact information, and any other pertinent details, and we just might include them in a future CD release! We'll be sure to contact you if you we do.Road Trips Running Low...It's nearly the end of the road for a few of our favorite Road Trips. We've got fewer than 600 left of the red-hot revival show from April Fool's '88, the Denver Coliseum 11/21/73 show from the magnificent Fall of '73, and our series finale - the truly awe-inspiring show from June 9, 1976 at Boston Music Hall. All feature complete shows. Once they're are gone, they will officially be out-of-print, forever limited on CD to the existing print run. So whether you're filling in your Road Trips collection or just feeling nostalgic, you'll wanna grab 'em while you can.

Here is the stream! Its live NOW.Bobby Weir, Mike Gordon, Joe Russo, Cass McCombs, Neal Casal, Jonathan Wilson, Benmont Tech and many more will perform @ Weir's new TRI Studios in San Rafael, CA to help celebrate the 70th birthday of Jerry Garcia.  Thev event is taking place on Friday, August 3rd, 2012.  This show will be steamed live in HD!About TRI Studios:Tamalpais Research Institute is the vision of Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead. Weir and his team have built a state-of-the-art performance studio for broadcasting live HD video and audio streams directly to the Internet. 

And now for something a little different. This year's box set - Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 - offers six complete shows from the epic spring '90 tour, one concert from each city the band played, personally selected by Dead vaultmeister and archival release producer David Lemieux. The sizzling six are: 3/16/90 Capital Centre (Landover , MD), 3/19/90 Hartford Civic Center, 3/22/90 Copps Coliseum (Hamilton, Ontario), 3/26/90 Knickerbocker Arena (Albany, NY), 3/30/90 Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, NY) and 4/2/90 The Omni (Atlanta, GA).In his "Producer's Note" in the beautiful book that is part of the box, Lemieux, who attended the first 10 shows on the tour, states, "To my ears this was the last tour that was consistently great, where every show is excellent, not a dud in the bunch." And Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally's comprehensive and informative insider's essay in the box is titled "The Last Great Dead Tour." These guys know what they're talking about!Besides the discs themselves, Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 has much to offer, including: a gorgeous 60-page hardcover book containing copious color photos by Jim Anderson and Michael Laurentus, unique artwork by Brooklyn-based fine artist Wes Lang, fascinating business letters and communications related to the tour, a detailed historical essay by Dennis McNally, a Producer's Note by David Lemieux and individual show descriptions by Blair Jackson; a reproduction of the Dead's 1990 tour program (printed and sold later in '90, for the fall and Europe '90 tours); tickets and backstage passes of all six shows; a band publicity photo from 1990 by Ken Friedman; Dennis McNally's tour laminate; and reproductions of the colored 8x10 sheets GDTS sent out with hotel, food and other information for each city on the tour.With recordings made by longtime Grateful Dead recordist and producer John Cutler, mastered by Jeffrey Norman in HDCD, you just know it's gonna sound great - and it does!That's the straight-to-your-in-box skinny, you can get ALL the details of this Dead.net exclusive here.This box is limited to just 9,000 numbered copies - please note, this is the only time these shows will ever be officially available on CD . There will not be an All Music Edition and single shows will not be available physically. Due to ship out August 31st, we anticipate that this extraordinary set will sell-out, so order your copy today!(If you're looking for more of a bite-sized taste of '90, Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It, a 2-CD set featuring a handful of favorites, will be in stores on September 18th. You can also pre-order it here.)

Dead.net is excited to announce that the limited-edition Spring 1990 18-disc box set is now shipping. With no all-music edition and no individual show releases, this is the only time this music will ever be available on CD. We've got fewer than 1,900 left so if you're on the fence, well, you'll probably want to grab one before there's no fence left to be on!Got a shipping question about your order? Be sure to call the special Spring 1990 hotline at 877-DEAD-NET (877-332-3638)/610-491-2021 (international) or email [email protected].Dead.net invites you to enjoy a special selection of tunes from the 2nd set of Albany, NY 3/26/90 featuring the final time the Grateful Dead played "Built To Last" and an incredible "China/Rider" jam.

LISTEN NOW

Dead.net is dipping into that Golden Decade of the '70s one mo’ time as we unveil Dave’s Picks Volume 4: College of William & Mary, 9/24/76. That’s right, rabid collectors — you read that date correctly. We have located the uncirculated soundboard master reels of this highly regarded show and are pleased as (psychedelic) punch to send it your way for your listening and dancing pleasure!The Grateful Dead had played a pair of fine shows at William & Mary three years earlier (9/11-12/73), and obviously dug the vibe enough to warrant a return during one of their “comeback” tours following their hiatus. The concert at William & Mary Hall was the second show of the Dead’s brief fall East and Midwest swing, and it stands as one of the strongest outings from this period — its best moments up to the level of the following 9/25 and 9/28 shows that made up the superb Dick’s Picks Vol. 20 (released in 2001) and the October 9 and 10 Oakland Stadium shows that became Dick's Picks Vol. 33 (2004).As always, the original tapes have been lovingly mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, and the beautifully designed package includes a colorful booklet with photos and a historical essay — in this case by the esteemed curator of the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz, Nicholas Meriwether.As most of you know by now, subscriptions aside, we have only a few thousand copies of the 3-CD Dave’s Picks Volume 4 for sale individually. Dave's Picks Volume 4 ships November 1st, but you can pre-order it now. Jump on it pronto or you might just forever be filled with that awful feeling of regret...

Normally, we'd say it's safer to stay at home on Black Friday. But since it also happens to be Record Store Day and we've got a prime selection from WINTERLAND 5/30/71 being released for the first time ever and it'll be on 180-gram vinyl as a limited edition double-LP set of 7500 copies, well, we strongly endorse heading out to your local mom-n-pop shop. Sourced from the original reels of 1/4" tape, WINTERLAND 5/30/71 was mastered by Jeffrey Norman, the vinyl lacquers were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and then pressed at RTI. Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike evokes the Skull and Roses album cover for this set's gorgeous gatefold. Click here for more information or visit recordstoreday.com for a list of participating stores.The Grateful Dead made Winterland its home for years until 1978, when the band closed Bill Graham’s legendary venue for good with a spectacular New Year’s Eve blow out. The friendly confines of the former ice-skating rink always seemed to bring out something special in the band. That’s certainly true of the group’s May 30, 1971 performance, which was the second night of a homestand during the era later immortalized on the 1971 live collection Skull and Roses.For Record Store Day’s by DownloadNSave">Black Friday event on November 23, Dead.net and Rhino will release a portion of that show (all that the band has in their vault) for the first time, offering it on 180-gram vinyl as a limited edition double-LP set of 7500 copies. WINTERLAND 5/30/71 will be available exclusively at select independent music retailers for a suggested price of $34.98. Visit www.recordstoreday.com for a list of participating stores.Sourced from the original reels of ¼” tape, the music was mastered by Jeffrey Norman and the vinyl lacquers were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and then pressed at RTI. Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike evokes the Skull and Roses album cover for this set’s gorgeous gatefold.It’s over one hour of Dead classics that covers nearly the entire second set, which was packed with crowd pleasers like “Sugar Magnolia,” “Truckin’” and “Deal.” One entire LP side is dedicated exclusively to “Turn On Your Lovelight,” a 15-minute-plus romp led by singer/organist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. For its encore, the band – Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and McKernan – capped the evening off with raucous “Johnny B. Goode.”WINTERLAND 5/30/71Side One1. “Sugar Magnolia”2. “Cumberland Blues”3. “Big Boss Man”Side Two1. “Me And My Uncle”2. “Deal”3. “Truckin’”Side Three1. “Turn On Your Lovelight”Side Four2. “Uncle John’s Band”3. “Casey Jones”4. “Johnny B. Goode”

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Grateful Dead, two pioneers who built their followings by connecting directly with beer lovers and music lovers, are collaborating on the newest beer in Dogfish's line of off-centered ales. "American Beauty" is set to be strong pale ale with all-American hops and barley and a special ingredient inspired by the Dead and suggested by YOU. Did you trade a bushel of fresh clementines for tickets to a two-night stand at Long Beach Arena? Or maybe your dad first laid eyes on your mom sipping a cup of green tea in the parking lot of the legendary Cornell '77 show?Tell the story behind your chosen ingredient and you could be the one to help bring this counterculture collaboration to life!

Break out the banjo, dust off the camcorder, and gather your family and friends around the fire this holiday to sing not only the songs of the season, but those of the Grateful Dead. The Dead are readying their YouTube page in eager anticipation of the 2013 Dead Covers Project.Dead.net will be accepting submissions January 1st and featuring participant videos on Dead.net throughout February so there's plenty of time to zero in on the perfect take. Details on how to submit your video are coming soon.

We're really bad at keeping secrets around here so just imagine how hard it's been for us to contain our excitement about the 2 now-complete shows, once missing reels for more than 40 years, that have been selected to make up Dave's Picks Volume 6. The first major return of material to the vault since 2005's Houseboat Tapes, Dave's Picks Volume 6 will feature never-before-heard material from 2/2/70 Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO and 12/20/69 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. Long a mystery, the riddle of the 2/2/70 set list has now been solved and the music restored to its proper - and spectacular - sequence. 2/2/70 is also notable as Tom Constanten had just left the band. Tom, however, makes his return to give his first-hand perspective on 12/20/69 in this volume's liner notes. Pigpen fiends, ask and you shall receive. Both shows feature loads of Pigpen including a major 35+ minute "Lovelight" from 12/20/69. Recorded by Bear with an excellent mix and sound quality, this very special release feels like a return to the classics.

If you've been curious about the subscribers-only bonus disc, this one is the stuff of lore as well. Like Dave's Picks Volume 6, the last-ever Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore Auditorium - 12/21/69, was once missing reels, but we've acquired the elusive first reel to go with the end of the show that we've always had. This jam-packed CD, featuring almost 40 minutes of never-before-heard music, includes one of only three versions of "Smokestack Lightning" from 1969. You most certainly won't want to miss out on this highly collectible Dead!

If November 1973 is considered one of the best months in Grateful Dead history and 11/17/73 is widely considered one of the best shows of the month - if not the year, then Dave's Picks Volume 5 is sure to score major points as the first quarter of 2013. Dave's Picks Volume 5, or as liner note scribe Bill "Grateful Red" Walton puts it - "a three-CD package of life, love, and hope, with over three hours of glorious music, and a set and song list to dream about," is major heavyweight Dead.A stunner of a show, the band come out blazing with phenomenal renditions of new material from the recently released Wake of the Flood, unconventional set starters and some of the finest playing of the year. The first set features one of the hottest, most inspired versions of "Here Comes Sunshine" ever - widely regarded as one of the Top 3 versions of this song ever, and a "China>Rider" that's up there with the best of 1973-1974, and that's saying something. The second set shines the spotlight on the best of the three "Playing>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playing" musical palindromes (the 2nd of 3 times they did this sequence), with every second of it exciting and interesting. And they top that off with a late-show "Eyes Of The World" that is remarkably hot and energetic. To the ears of many, this is a top-25 Grateful Dead show of all time. And the sound quality of this one is perfect, full, clear, great bottom end, and overall terrific.Mastered from the original analog tapes in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman, with fresh and fabulous cover art by Grateful Dead Comix artist Tim Truman and first-hand insight and wisdom on that very day from UCLA Basketball Center and student Bill Walton, this one is, by all accounts, incredibly satisfying.A friendly reminder that Dave’s Picks Volume 5, like those that came before it, will sell out and fast. Your best bet is to pre-order it now!

You've never heard the Grateful Dead's 2/14/68 Carousel Ballroom quite like this! Animoog, Moog's TEC-Award nominated synthesizer for the iPad and iPhone, is creating cosmic harmonies with their Grateful Dead Expansion Pack. This exclusive pack features 82 Presets and 45 Timbres that were carefully extracted from the live recording and optimized so you can create your very own dynamic Dead soundscape.Mike Adams, Moog Music President and CEO said, “Two very important legacies left by Bob Moog and his life's work were the idea of looking at new technology and crafting new tools to enable musicians to make music in new and inspiring ways, and also the importance of collaborating with musicians to help shape those tools. This innovative integration of textures from the Grateful Dead’s live recordings into Animoog’s timbre library is a true manifestation of this legacy.”The Grateful Dead Expansion Pack is broken into three categories: ensemble, percussion and vocal sounds. In each case the timbres were extracted from individual vocal performances, percussion hits or instrument riffs performed during the Grateful Dead’s concert at the Carousel Ballroom 44 years ago. The pack allows musicians today to create dynamic soundscapes from the Dead’s rare and complex source harmonic content originally performed decades ago.Cyril Lance, Moog Music’s Chief Engineer explains, “We’re not simply providing samples from the Grateful Dead's body of work, rather we’ve distilled the essence of notes and phrases in a different way to transform these performances into new instruments -- new voices. Now we’ve made these unique voices available to artists in a way that enables them to create their own music and voices based on this fundamental essence.”The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, who visited the Moog Factory on April 19, 2012 to test the development of the Grateful Dead Expansion Pack exclaimed, "Holy transmogrification, Batman… Amazing!" after hearing the Grateful Dead’s 44-year-old recordings transformed into sound design tools for artists.

Dead.net is taking it all the way back to 1966 for Record Store Day. Limited to 6,600 2-LP 180-gram vinyl copies and featuring new cover art, Rare Cuts & Oddities 1966 features a variety of early live and studio tracks produced by Owsley Stanley. The collection includes the first known recordings of future Dead staples like "Not Fade Away," "Big Railroad Blues," and "Good Lovin'." Originally released on a limited basis in 2005, but long out of print, you can grab it on vinyl or on CD from your local Mom & Pop shop on April 20th. Find a record store here.

2 complete shows, once missing reels filled with never-before-heard material, a previously unheard and quite majestic 1969 "Dark Star," a first-ever version of "New Speedway Boogie," a second-ever version of "Mason's Children".... We can hardly contain our excitement about Dave's Picks Volume 6. The first major return of material to the vault since 2005's Houseboat Tapes, Dave's Picks Volume 6 will feature 2 complete shows with never-before-heard material from 2/2/70 Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO and 12/20/69 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. Long a mystery, the riddle of the 2/2/70 set list has now been solved and the music restored to its proper - and spectacular - sequence. 2/2/70 is also notable as the first show without Tom Constanten. Tom, however, makes his return to give his first-hand perspective on 12/20/69 in this volume's liner notes.Pigpen fiends, ask and you shall receive. Both shows feature loads of Pigpen including a major 35+ minute "Lovelight" from 12/20/69. Recorded by Bear with an excellent mix and sound quality, this very special release feels like a return to the classics.Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO 2/2/70Disc 11 Casey Jones [4:31]2 Mama Tried [3:03]3 Hard To Handle [5:39]4 Cold Rain and Snow [5:32]5 Black Peter [9:49]6 Cumberland Blues [5:14]7 Dark Star> [22:00]8 St. Stephen> [5:11]9 Mason’s Children [5:29]10 Good Lovin’ [5:09]11 Uncle John's Band [6:37]Disc 21 Turn On Your Lovelight> [14:06]2 Not Fade Away [1:20]3 Turn On Your Lovelight [3:38]4 And We Bid You Goodnight [3:07]Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 12/20/691 Dark Star> [20:38]2 St. Stephen> [10:40]3 The Eleven> [11:32]4 New Speedway Boogie [8:27]Disc 31 Turn On Your Lovelight [35:15]2 Mason’s Children [7:19]3 China Cat Sunflower> [5:31]4 I Know You Rider [6:07]5 High Time [8:16]6 Me And My Uncle [3:30]7 Hard To Handle [5:11]8 Cumberland Blues [5:33]

If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.And now for the nitty-gritty...Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band’s return from its extended hiatus.Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks will be made available on release date as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads.Like its predecessors Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and Spring 1990, we expect May 1977 to sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here and on Facebook.com/GratefulDead and Youtube.com/gratefuldead.Show #1St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11/77)Disc 11. Promised Land [4:54]2. They Love Each Other [7:38]3. Big River [6:25]4. Loser [7:39]5. Looks Like Rain [9:18]6. Ramble On Rose [7:48]7. Jack Straw [5:54]8. Peggy-O [8:43]9. El Paso [4:44]10. Deal [5:49]Disc 21. Lazy Lightning> [3:32]2. Supplication [5:20]3. Sugaree [13:49]4. Samson and Delilah [7:08]5. Brown-Eyed Women [5:28]6. Estimated Prophet [8:38]Disc 31. Scarlet Begonias> [9:47]2. Fire On The Mountain> [11:02]3. Good Lovin' [6:29]4. Uncle John's Band> [9:11]5. Space> [5:48]6. Wharf Rat> [9:51]7. Around and Around [8:48]8. Brokedown Palace [5:34]Show #2Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12/77)Disc 11. Bertha [7:16]2. Me and My Uncle [3:04]3. Tennessee Jed [9:32]4. Cassidy [5:05]5. Peggy-O [7:52]6. Jack Straw [5:45]7. They Love Each Other [7:47]8. New Minglewood Blues [5:20]Disc 21. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo> [9:54]2. Dancing In The Street [14:19]3. Samson and Delilah [7:07]4. Brown-Eyed Women [5:28]5. Estimated Prophet [9:25]6. Sunrise [3:46]Disc 31. Terrapin Station> [10:13]2. Playing In The Band> [8:36]3. Drums> [4:06]4. Not Fade Away> [14:15]5. Comes A Time> [10:20]6. Playing In The Band [7:00]7. Johnny B. Goode [4:18]Show #3Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/13/77)Disc 11. The Music Never Stopped [8:37]2. Ramble On Rose [7:33]3. Cassidy [4:46]4. Brown-Eyed Women [5:35]5. New Minglewood Blues [5:06]6. Friend Of The Devil [8:38]7. El Paso [4:55]8. Jack-A-Roe [5:56]9. Looks Like Rain [8:17]10. Scarlet Begonias> [7:05]11. Fire On The Mountain [13:19]Disc 21. Samson and Delilah> [7:24]2. Bertha [6:52]3. Estimated Prophet> [9:51]4. Drums> [5:47]5. The Other One> [16:28]6. Stella Blue> [11:51]7. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad> [8:05]8. One More Saturday Night [5:21]9. U.S. Blues [5:57]Show #4St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15/77)Disc 11. Bertha> [6:34]2. Good Lovin' [6:07]3. Row Jimmy [10:51]4. New Minglewood Blues [5:33]5. Tennessee Jed [9:35]6. Lazy Lightning> [3:34]7. Supplication [4:42]8. Jack-A-Roe [6:24]< 9. Passenger [4:31]10. Brown-Eyed Women [5:16]Disc 21. Dancing In The Street [18:49]2. Estimated Prophet> [11:32]3. Eyes Of The World> [12:48]4. Drums> [3:13]5. Samson and Delilah [7:28]6. Ship Of Fools [7:41]Disc 31. St. Stephen> [5:28]2. Iko Iko> [3:54]3. Not Fade Away> [9:38]4. Sugar Magnolia [9:58]5. Uncle John's Band [9:06]Show #5Coliseum, University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17/77)Disc 11. New Minglewood Blues [5:46]2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo> [10:28]3. El Paso [4:48]4. They Love Each Other [7:42]5. Jack Straw [5:37]6. Jack-A-Roe [5:59]7. Looks Like Rain [8:10]8. Tennessee Jed [8:46]9. Passenger [3:36]10. High Time [8:32]11. Big River [6:39]Disc 21. Sunrise [4:35]2. Scarlet Begonias> [13:02]3. Fire On The Mountain [13:14]4. Samson and Delilah> [6:43]5. Bertha> [6:16]6. Good Lovin' [6:02]7. Brown-Eyed Women [5:34]Disc 31. Estimated Prophet [8:55]2. Terrapin Station> [11:23]3. Playing In The Band> [12:20]4. Drums> [4:49]5. Wharf Rat> [12:53]6. Playing In The Band [6:06]7. Sugar Magnolia [9:15]

Phil Lesh & Friends will be playing July 22 & 23 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY; July 24 at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA; and July 26 & 27 at Gathering Of The Vibes in Bridgeport, CT. Go to www.phillesh.net for complete ticket information.Pre-sale tickets are available online now.Tickets available via Capital Theater starting on 5/17/13All AgesTickets- $65 GA Floor$65 Reserved Balcony$65 LogeDoors 6:30 PMShowtime- 8:00 PM Penn’s Peak | Jim Thorpe, PAJuly 24Pre-sale tickets are available online now.Tickets will be available at Penn’s Peak box office starting on 5/17/13

Formed from weekly shows at Phil Lesh's Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, the Terrapin Family Band has become the venue's official house band. Terrapin Crossroads' constant free bar shows, often featuring bandleader Phil, have created an opportunity for the young musicians of Terrapin Crossroads' crew to perform together and with a diverse cast of visiting musicians. Through playing in this setting, and with ongoing mentoring from Phil - Brian Lesh, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Scott Padden, and Alex Koford have grown into a richly nuanced and fun band, throwing down originals, old country and rock songs, murder ballads, Grateful Dead tunes, and more.

For the first time, the Terrapin Family Band will be taking their sound to the East Coast, performing five nights in New York June 4-8 with Phil Lesh. When not on the road with Phil, you can find the Terrapin Family Band at the Terrapin Crossroads bar every Wednesday night at 8:30pm and every Sunday afternoon at 12:30pm (for brunch).

--

Terrapin Family Band
June 4, 5 & 6
Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan St.
New York, NY
Doors-8:00 PM
Showtime- 9:30 PM
Ages- 21+
Tickets- $30

Terrapin Family Band
June 7
Infinity Yacht
Pier 40 W. Houston St.
New York, NY
Doors-7:30 boarding PM
Sail time-9:00 PM
Showtime- 9:30 PM
Ages- 18+
Tickets- $40

A limited amount of pre-sale tickets are now available--- https://store.terrapincrossroads.net/store/tickets

On a blistering summer day in 1972, the Grateful Dead took the stage on the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta, Ore. for what would become one of the most legendary concerts of the band's storied history. Join us this summer when we screen the previously unreleased concert film "Sunshine Daydream" as part of our now annual Grateful Dead Meet Up At The Movies.

Originally shot on 16mm film and painstakingly restored to HD resolution, "Sunshine Daydream" captures the band at the height of their powers (fresh off the Europe '72 tour) and at the epicenter of the counterculture movement. Special features include never-before-seen footage of the concert day as well as recently recorded interviews with key participants from the time such as Ken Babbs, Sam Cutler, Wavy Gravy and Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, who provide insight on how the community came together for this special event to help raise money to keep the local town's Springfield Creamery afloat. This extraordinary screening also shines a spotlight on some mighty fine tunes, with a playlist containing all new Stereo and 5.1 Audio mixes done by Jeffrey Norman at TRI Studios in San Rafael, Calif. and mastered by Grammy® winning engineer David Glasser at Air Show Mastering in Boulder, Colo.

"Sunshine Daydream" will only be playing on the silver screen for one night! Come along and connect with Dead Heads in your neighborhood on Thursday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. local time. 

Tickets are now available at www.FathomEvents.com

Look and listen:  Watch "China Cat Sunflower" from "Sunshine Daydream":

The Grateful Dead may have wrapped up the final show of the first leg of their 1978 Spring Tour in a town called Normal, but this night was anything but! Yes, on this fine evening, the Rhythm Devils shook the room with an exotic tribal assault. Bob found his groove with the slide guitar, contrasting nicely with Keith's block chording, Phil's thundering and swooping bass-lines, Jerry's articulated leads. Heck, they even dabbled in disco, teasing the audience with an unmistakable riffs from "Stayin' Alive." What does all this juiced-up, cranked to the max, sonic savagery add up to? Top-level deliveries of fan favorites like "The Music Never Stopped," "Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain," and "Ramble On Rose," a jungle-vibed 14+ minute Rhythm Devils interlude, an over-the-top take on Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and much, much more.Limited to 13,000 individually numbered copies, this super-charged 3-CD set featuring the complete show from 4/24/78, ships August 1st, but you can pre-order it now.

Previously unreleased Sunshine Daydream concert film featuring gloriously remastered picture and all new stereo and 5.1 audio mixes done by Jeffrey Norman at TRI StudiosBlu-ray Mastered by Grammy® winning engineer David Glasser at Air Show MasteringThe complete 8/27/72 concert CD mixed and mastered to HDCD from the original 16 track tapes by Jeffrey NormanAudio tapes transferred and restored by Plangent ProcessesBonus documentary “Grateful Days” featuring brand new interviews with Mountain Girl, Sam Cutler, Wavy Gravy, Ken Babbs, and moreDead.net exclusive: 40-page book featuring original essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether, Ken Babbs, Sam Field, Johnny Dwork, and David LemieuxDead.net exclusive: Original tie-dye slipcase by Courtenay PollockIllustrations by Steve VanceIndividually Numbered, Limited Editions of 12,500 Learn more about the most requested live show in Grateful Dead history

The visual and sonic glory of Sunshine Daydream  hits the small screen and airwaves today. Was it worth the wait? Heck ya!!! There's a 110% chance you will be entranced by Jerry's incredible finger-picking and the mythopoetic imagery that transported those in attendance to "other-worldly" levels. You might even find yourself floating out of your seat, inspired by concert-goers shimmying to the band's elevated boogie. (Nudity is, of course, optional and entirely up to you.) And for those of you who prefer the simplicity of auditory bliss, we can pretty much guarantee a transcendental experience - well-worn songs like "China>Rider," "Sugar Magnolia," and "Dark Star" reaching epic new heights, unfolding with an unyielding vibrancy not only rare for the Grateful Dead but for music in general!Those seeking even higher transcendence should look no further than the Dead.net exclusive Blu-ray and DVD sets, the only versions in the bunch featuring an hour of documentary footage, brilliant liner notes, and a collectible tie-dye slipcase.Take the journey, be it audio or visual, vinyl or digital, here.

Dead.net is kicking off Dave's Picks 2014 with a visit to the Wall Of Sound era. Dave's Picks Volume 9 features the complete show from May 14, 1974, at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula, the Grateful Dead's only appearance in the state of oro y plata. This monstrously hot show is the third official show of the Wall Of Sound, which had debuted in March 1974. Highlights run deep including the second performance of "Scarlet Begonias," a 22+ minute "Playing In The Band" that leans heavily on the band's jazz chops, and a second set jam of "Weather Report Suite>Dark Star" that contains some of the deepest jamming of 1974, and that's saying a heck of a lot! It also features one of only a handful of versions of "Dark Star" played in 1974, a song heading toward a long hiatus, and this one digs deep into some of the wildest spaces you'll ever hear. Rockers, ballads, and jams, 5/14/74 covers all the bases, with plenty of nuances to revel in, each and every listen. Pre-order it here while you can!

THE DEAD COVERS PROJECT is starting to get a little bit funky as evidenced by this early submission of "Victim of the Crime" by Accident of Birth. Let your creativity flow, visually and vocally, and your Dead cover could be featured on Dead.net during the month of February.Upload your video to YouTube, tag it "DeadCoversProject," and they'll make it available to view on the band's official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/gratefuldead. Feeling camera shy? You can still take part by helping your favorite artists make it to the top by "liking" them on Facebook. Learn more here.

Phil Lesh & Friends are planning an 8 Night run at The Capitol Theatre, in Port Chester, NY in April. Phil and Friends lineup includes: John Kadlecik, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Jeff Chimenti and Joe Russo for the first set of dates.  They will play with Phil at The Capitol Theatre from April 2nd-5th.The second round of dates include musicians:  John Kadlecik, Jackie Greene, Marco Benevento and Joe Russo.  They will perform at the The Capitol Theater from April 9th-12th.Pre-sale tickets for the shows will be next Wednesday, February 5 through Frriday, February 7.Tickets for the Capitol Theatre shows will go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 7.

The last of a three-night run at a mysterious little club called "Thelma" found the Grateful Dead restoring glory to the Sunset Strip for what was once just a fleeting moment, now preserved for eternity with this here Dave's Picks Volume 10. Hot off the release of the highly-acclaimed Live/Dead and setting the stage for Workingman's Dead , 12/12/69 stands to represent the crux of the band's musical past, present, and future. Witness the first signs of country, folk, and Americana infiltrating an otherwise wildly experimental and anarchic period, evidenced by Pigpen-driven classics like "I'm A King Bee," "Hard To Handle," "Good Lovin'" and a whopping 30 minute+ version of "Turn On Your Lovelight," as well as over a half dozen then-new compositions which show the Garcia/Hunter songwriting duo elevating the Dead to higher ground. Thelma turns the heat up indeed!Mastered in HDCD from the original soundboard recordings produced by Owsley Stanley, featuring the once lost, now found first reel, this is one full show you won't want to miss. Pre-order it here and now!

Say "Guten Abend" to your Grateful Dead friends and family at our 4th annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies! This year's epic one-night event will feature a complete rare live studio performance of the Dead captured during their legendary European tour in 1972 with audio remastered from the original analog tapes. Never officially released and never before seen in its entirety, the Bremen, West Germany's Beat Club TV program studio performance features the classic 1972 lineup - the last known video of Pigpen, and captures the Dead in their prime, playing at the height of their powers and tearing through a condensed version of a typical Europe '72 concert. This very special night will offer a unique view of the band, allowing fans in cinemas to hear fly-on-the-wall chatter and get up-close and personal with band members in one of their most intimate studio performances ever. We have no plans to release this concert on DVD or home video of any kind, so don't miss out on what could be your only chance to see it!"Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies: Beat Club 4/21/72" will only be playing on the silver screen for one night! Come out and connect with Dead Heads in your neighborhood on July 17 at 7:30pm local time.Tickets are now available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com

Some consider Spring 1990 the last great Grateful Dead tour. That it may be. In spite of outside difficulties and downsides, nothing could deter the Grateful Dead from crafting lightness from darkness. They were overwhelmingly triumphant in doing what they came to do, what they did best - forging powerful explorations in music. Yes, it was the music that would propel their legacy further, young fans joining the ranks with veteran Dead Heads, Jerry wondering "where do they keep coming from?" - a sentiment that still rings true today, a sentiment that offers up another opportunity for an exceptional release from a tour that serves as transcendental chapter in the Grateful Dead masterpiece.

With Spring 1990 (The Other One), you'll have the chance to explore another eight complete shows from this chapter, the band elevating their game to deliver inspired performances of concert staples ("Tennessee Jed" and "Sugar Magnolia"), exceptional covers (Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and the band's last performance of the Beatles' "Revolution") and rare gems (the first "Loose Lucy" in 16 years) as well as many songs from Built To Last, which had been released the previous fall and would become the Dead's final studio album. Also among the eight is one of the most sought-after shows in the Dead canon: the March, 29, 1990 show at Nassau Coliseum, where Grammy®-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in with the group. The entire second set is one continuous highlight, especially the breathtaking version of "Dark Star."

For those of you who are keeping track, this release also marks a significant milestone as now, across the two Spring 1990 boxed sets, Dozin At The Knick, and Terrapin Limited, the entire spring tour of 1990 has been officially released, making it only the second Grateful Dead tour, after Europe 1972, to have that honor.

Don't miss the chance to join your fellow Deadheads this Thursday when the Grateful Dead screen the never-before-seen Beat Club 4/21/72 studio performance in its entirety, restored from the original broadcast 2" quad video and audio mixed and mastered from the original analog tapes.

Jack Straw may have been from Wichita but the Grateful Dead only played there once and what a show it was! Whether the band knew they would only have one shot to show the "Doo-dah" city what they were all about, we just don't know but they sure did nail it. Dick's Picks producer Dick Latvala initially considered this one for release and with a single listen, you'll know why. From the epic 90-minute 16-song first set to super tight ditties from the massively popular Workingman's Dead and American Beauty albums and newly minted Europe '72 classics like "He's Gone," "Brown-Eyed Women," and "China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider," you're bound to agree. Lest we forget to mention the great sounding tapes and excellent acoustics at the Century II Convention Hall. (Oh, and as a little bonus, we've thrown in the best of the bunch from Oklahoma City 11/15/72!)Mastered in HDCD from the original soundboard recordings produced by Owsley Stanley, with fresh artwork from Tony Millionaire (and his little dog too), and liner notes from original handbill artist and then first-time Grateful Dead concert attendee Gary Houston, this sonic adventure is one to cross off the old bucket list.Shipping August 1st, pre-order it here while you can!

The fourth and final Dave's Picks release of 2014 heeds the long awaited call for one of the best shows of the coveted year of 1977. A top candidate for release for many years, Grateful Dead archivist extraordinaire Dick Latvala wrote of 11/4/77, "this show must have destroyed everyone's mind, with the unique material ("Dupree's Diamond Blues" & "Aiko Aiko") and great performance. One can easily tell that this was a special occasion by the way Lesh carries on at the beginning of the 2nd set." His praise of the show, replete with plenty of "we should definitely mention" notes, continued from the day he received the tape all the way through the '90s, so you know this one stands the test time. We're sure you'll agree after just a few listens to an inspired "Let It Grow," an intense "Other One," an other-worldly take on "Stella Blue," and much, much more. And if that (for some strange reason) isn't enticing enough, we've rounded out the 3-CD set with over 75+ minutes of super hot material from Seneca College Field House, Toronto, 11/2/77.

PREORDER

The Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary celebration just got a whole lot more cinematic! Film legend Martin Scorsese is set to executive produce an as-yet-untitled film featuring never-before-seen performances and backstage footage, as well as new interviews with Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and more. Read more here.

Bill Kreutzmann's new memoir, Deal, from St. Martin's Press hits bookstores on May 5, 2015 - honoring the 50th anniversary of the band we all love.  Bill's adventure-filled life as the Grateful Dead's drummer, includes great stories of music and mayhem, Jerry Garcia and the band, and fellow musicians and friends Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Ken Kesey, John Belushi and many others.  Rare photos and beautiful cover art by famous psychedelic artist Stanley Mouse are also part of this fantastic new book. Deal is available for pre-order today at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead, the four original members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir — will reunite at Chicago's Soldier Field, nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert, which took place at the same venue. "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" will occur over three nights on July 3, 4, and 5, 2015, marking the original members' last-ever performance together. The band will be joined by Trey Anastasio (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), and Bruce Hornsby (piano). The group will perform two sets of music each night.

Joining the original members of Grateful Dead are three musicians who have embodied the band's spirit of musical innovation throughout their eclectic careers. Guitarist Trey Anastasio is best known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for touring juggernaut Phish, but he has also found time to score and arrange music for orchestras and Broadway productions such as "Best Musical" TONY nominee 'Hands on a Hardbody.' Pianist Bruce Hornsby had already won the first of his three Grammy Awards when he first guested with Grateful Dead in 1988. Following the death of the band's keyboard player Brent Mydland in 1990, Hornsby toured with the group into 1992, and he has maintained a collaborative relationship with its members ever since. Bay Area native and jazz keyboardist Jeff Chimenti joined Bob Weir's Rat Dog in 1997, and has since worked on projects such as Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, and Furthur.

In the tradition of the original Grateful Dead Ticketing Service, tickets will be available via a first come first serve mail order system starting on January 20th, followed by an online pre-sale through Dead Online Ticketing February 12th and will be available online to the general public on February 14th via Ticketmaster.

We're heeding the call for more of the majestic early 70s! No doubt, this was a time of great exploration and innovation for the Grateful Dead, one of their peaks... And so it is with great pleasure, that we are proud to present the official release of Winterland, February 24, 1974.

On the fertile grounds of their home turf and on the edge of what would become the Wall of Sound era, the Dead embarked upon a tremendous three-night run at Winterland. On this particular night, the last in the run, they warmed up the crowd with stellar new tracks "U.S. Blues" (previously known as "Wave That Flag"), "Ship of Fools," and "It Must Have Been The Roses." And while these debuts, nestled among fan favorites like "Playing In The Band" and "Brown-Eyed Women," were quite tantalizing, the 2nd set really brought it all home. Witness the magic on an incredibly jazz, introspective "Dark Star," perhaps one of the finest version of "Morning Dew" during this time, and a beautifully arranged cover of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue." The moments making up this masterpiece are made even more clear by the crispness of Kidd Candelario's recording. Epic, indeed!

Limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies, Dave's Picks Volume 13: Winterland, San Francisco, CA - 2/24/74 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and features illustrations by our 2015 Artist in Residence Micah Nelson (learn more about the multi-talented artist and musician in our upcoming All In The Family piece). 

This one ships February 1st - get your copy before they are gone, gone, gone!

In the history of modern music, few bands have captured as many hearts and inspired entire generations like the Grateful Dead. Alvarez is proud to have had a long standing friendship with band members such as Bob Weir and the late Jerry Garcia, and are commemorating the legendary group's 50th Anniversary by releasing these stunning, limited edition, signature guitars. 

Grateful Dead enthusiasts will love the official artwork, cleverly screen-printed using a blend of both traditional and modern, innovative printing techniques, and all guitarists will appreciate the fine construction, playability and tone of these instruments. 

Each model features a solid A-grade western red cedar top, screen printed under a flawless satin finish. Other appointments include custom mother of pearl inlays, a rosewood fingerboard and bi-level bridge and 12th fret lightning bolt inlay. Both models are constructed using the Alvarez FST2M hand finished, forward shifted, scalloped bracing system for optimal performance and response.

No two Grateful Dead series guitars are exactly the same due to the novel design and printing process that allows the individual grain pattern and color of each top to contribute to the artwork. This process also helps create a vintage look to each instrument, as if they, too, were made in the '60's. Since every piece of wood is unique, the artwork of every top is as well, making each one of these Grateful Dead commemorative guitars a true, one of a kind collector's piece.  

Simply stunning and unique, just like the band themselves.

Learn more here.

The San Francisco Giants invite you to join them in celebrating the Grateful Dead Tribute Night 50th Anniversary Celebration! This August, come on out and celebrate the rich legacy of the Dead for one special night at the MetLife Stadium in San Francisco. Members of the original band, as well as member of the Garcia family with be in attendance, and participating in special pre-game events taking place on-field. Proceeds from every special event ticket sold will be donated to various non-profits near and dear to the band's heart. Don't miss this once in a lifetime event!

Ticket packages include a ticket to the Thursday evening game versus the Nationals, and a collector's-edition 50th Anniversary Grateful Dead-themed Giants item.

WHEN: Thursday, 8/13 SF vs. WAS 7:15 p.m.

Come one, come all to this year's special 50th anniversary edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-up at the Movies! The fifth-annual can't-miss event features the previously unreleased Grateful Dead concert from July 19, 1989 at Alpine Valley, their last-ever performance at Alpine. Recorded live from the legendary venue in East Troy, Wisconsin, this exclusive cinema event captures the Dead in a peak era of energy and chemistry on stage and showcases classic tracks including "Sugaree," "Morning Dew," "West L.A. Fadeaway," "Box Of Rain," and "Terrapin Station," plus renditions of band favorites such as Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row," and many more.

"Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies: Alpine Valley 7/19/89" will only be playing on the silver screen for one night! Come out and connect with Dead Heads in your neighborhood on Monday, May 4th at 7:00pm local time.

Tickets are now available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com

The original members of Grateful Dead have announced two additional shows at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on June 27th and 28th, as part of their "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" run. Along with the three shows at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the run will mark the original members' last-ever performances together. The band will be joined by Trey Anastasio (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), and Bruce Hornsby (piano) and perform two sets of music each night.

The band posted a letter to their fans today announcing the shows:

Dear Heads,
Although none of us knew it when we walked off the stage at Soldier Field on July 9, 1995, the Grateful Dead's long strange trip ended in Chicago that night. As you are aware, twenty years later, we're returning to Chicago to properly say Fare Thee Well.

But every good ending must start with a beginning. For us, it all began fifty years ago when we grabbed a bunch of instruments off the walls of a music store in Palo Alto California and began banging away on them in the back room, at night after the store had closed for the day.

Since we made the decision to go back to Chicago to say our final goodbye, it has become clear to us that we first need to return to our beginnings, where we first said hello - to each other and to all of you.

And so it is that we have decided to plug in for two additional shows on June 27 and 28 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California - just a dozen miles south of where Dana Morgan's Music Store once stood. At Levi's - as at Soldier Field - we will have the pleasure of being joined by Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby, and Jeff Chimenti.

Ours wasn't just a long, strange trip - it was a VERY long, VERY strange trip. We weren't sure what it was going to be like to put a punctuation mark on the end of it. None of us anticipated the overwhelming outpouring of love and interest following our initial announcement of the shows at Soldier Field, and we were blown away by the response.

We have tried to do the right thing wherever we could for the Chicago shows by honoring the roots of where we came from, while dealing with the realities of the current times. But that's hardly comforting when you're shut out of tickets and your only option is inflated prices on secondary ticketing websites. That would piss us off too.

From the moment these shows were first talked about, we have been thinking about what we could do to honor the roots of our Deadhead experience, even in the face of changing technologies. (Remember: Ticketmaster didn't even go online until we got out of the game.) These shows were always intended as an expression of our gratitude, to both the music and the fans, so it's important that we get things as right as we can.

We have always been proud of our in-house mail order ticketing process, and the phenomenal way our fans have built a tradition out of turning a standard envelope into a frame-worthy piece of art. Some 60,000 mail order tickets were issued for the Soldier Field shows by the good folks at Grateful Dead Ticket Sales - yet we were still crushed to see how many of your beautifully designed envelopes did not get tickets.

For shows of this magnitude, it's impossible to eliminate every scalper. However, we offer you this: Working with our partners, we are using an online ticketing platform for the Levi's shows that will help ensure that the tickets for these shows will get into the right hands, the hands of our true fans. We believe that this process is the best way to give each of you an equal opportunity to obtain tickets at the most affordable possible prices. We are proud to announce that 65,000 tickets per night will be available via the "online mail order" for the Levi's shows. For the nuts and bolts, go to Dead50.net.

We will not be adding any more Fare Thee Well shows. The three Chicago shows will still be our final stand. We decided to add these two Santa Clara shows to enable more of our fans to celebrate with us one more time. But this is it.

We love you guys more than words can tell, and hope to see you in the Bay Area or Chicago. If you can't make it to the shows, we are working on ways for you to still experience our Fare Thee Well, from wherever you might be. Stay tuned for those details.

Gratefully yours,
Billy, Bobby, Mickey & Phil

Dead.net is more than pleased to announce the Grateful Dead's most ambitious release ever: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN . Available as both an 80-disc boxed set and a custom lightning-bolt USB drive, the collection includes 30 unreleased live shows, one for each year the band was together from 1966 to 1995, along with one track from their earliest recording sessions in 1965. Packed with over 73 hours of music, both the boxed set and the USB drive will be individually numbered limited editions. Both are now available for pre-order exclusively at Dead.net and scheduled to be released on September 18th.

The 80-disc boxed set is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies, a nod to the band's formation in 1965. Along with the CDs, it also includes a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl single which bookends the band's career. The A-side is "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" from the band's earliest recording session in 1965 with the B-side of the last song the band ever performed together live, "Box Of Rain" recorded during their final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.

The box also comes with a 288-page book that features an extensive, career-spanning essay written by Nick Meriwether, who oversees the Dead archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with special remembrances of the band submitted by fans. Also included is a scroll that offers a visual representation of how the band's live repertoire has evolved through the years.

The USB drive version will be shaped like a gold lightning bolt with the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary logo engraved on the side. The drive includes all of the music from the collection in both FLAC (96/24) and 320 KBPS MP3 formats and is an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies.

GRATEFUL DEAD: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN will not available in stores or from any other online retailer - only at Dead.net. Shows will NOT be sold individually on CD. This Dead.net exclusive is sure to sell out quickly so pre-order your copy today and stick around as we will be revealing all the shows (4 today!), a mighty fine selection of music, and much, much more right here. FREE STANDARD U.S. SHIPPING ON PRE-ORDERS ONLY.

(Looking for a smaller 50th Anniversary commemorative keepsake? September 18th will also see the release of a four-CD version of the collection titled 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995. More on that here.)

ROLLINGSTONE.COM SONG PREMIERE AND EXCLUSIVE DAVID LEMIEUX INTERVIEW
Head on over to Rollingstone.com for the very first listen of "Morning Dew" 9/18/87 Madison Square Garden, David Fricke's exclusive interview with archivist David Lemieux, and the reveal of 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN's '69 and '84 shows.

After 20 years since their last performance at Soldier Field, the Grateful Dead performed to record crowds each of their three nights. Last night's final show will live long in the memories of those that saw the show and in the history books of Soldier Field. Soldier Field's previous ticket sales record was set by U2 at the iconic stadium in 2009 during their 360 Tour. The Grateful Dead's first performance on July 3rd had 70,764 tickets purchased. Their second performance on the 4th of July had 70,844 and their last on July 5th had 71,000.

Soldier Field, the Chicago Park District, and the City of Chicago thank the promoters of the Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead shows, Madison House Presents and Peter Shapiro, and the Grateful Dead band members for making our great city their home over the 4th of July weekend and their Fare (Thee) Well stop.

This one's truly all about the music! We're pleased to add the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN, April 22, 1978 to list of "officially released" Grateful Dead shows. A spitfire of a performance that helps mark the band's "end-of-1977 sound," we find the seven firing on all cylinders, hitting high notes on crowd-pleasers like "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and "Jack Straw" in the first set and on "Not Fade Away">"Wharf Rat">"Sugar Magnolia" in the second, lest we forget to mention one of the finest versions of "Wharf Rat" ever performed. We could wax lyrical about the countless highlights of this night but we'd rather just let the jammy goodness prevail!

As always, Dave's Picks Volume 15 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman. Limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies and shipping out August 1st, you'll want to grab a copy while you can!

The news is out, all over town... Mickey, Bill, and Bob have joined forces with Grammy Winning singer/guitarist John Mayer to form the band Dead & Company. The band will take the stage at the legendary Madison Square Garden on Halloween night, October 31, 2015 and will perform two sets of music drawing largely from the Dead's historic catalog of songs.

The Fare Thee Well shows were a record-setting success, and ignited enthusiasm for more concerts featuring Grateful Dead members. "There is a place where music, dreams and magic come together," said Hart. "Grateful Dead music is a portal to that place. It was built to last!"

"Fare Thee Well proved to me that I'm not done exploring new rhythmic territory with Mickey - I'm recommending that everyone puts their helmet on, because we are going to blast our way into some serious drums and space," said Kreutzmann. "And with Mayer riding shotgun with Weir - we're in good company, so to speak."

Mayer will join Hart, Kreutzmann and Weir, along with Allman Brothers' bassist Oteil Burbridge and Fare Thee Well and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. "I deeply love the Dead's music, and it has inspired me in ways I never imagined. To help carry this music is the opportunity and the honor of a lifetime," Mayer said.

"We're not done with these songs and they're not done with us," said Weir. "We're gonna take these old friends on some new adventures."

Tickets will go on-sale to the general public Friday, August 14th at 10am ET. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Monday, August 10th at 10am local through Thursday, August 13th at 10pm local. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. Top tier tickets will be priced under $100, and a number of $50 tickets will be made available in honor of the Grateful Dead's 50th Anniversary.

Read more here.

Sign up for the Dead & Company email list for breaking news.

For taper ticket info please go to www.deadandcompany.com

Dead.net is wrapping up the 2015 Dave's Picks series with a real whopper! That's right, Dave's Picks Volume 16: Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA 3/28/73 - the show that nearly didn't happen - is packed with 30 songs and lengthy ones to boot. As liner note scribe Dennis McNally claims this one's got a "classic 1973 'problem': almost too much good material... they simply did not know how to stop." From the rare "Cumberland Blues" opener barreling into a first set packed with new-at-the-time tunes to an unparalleled second set sequence of "Weather Report Suite">a massively beautiful atonal 31-minute "Dark Star">"Eyes of the World">"Playing In the Band" - an atypical show closer with its extreme energy - we are certain you will agree that this one's bountiful.

Recorded by Kidd Candelario and mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, Dave's Picks Vol. 16 ships out November 1st. Like all our 2015 Dave's Picks releases, it's also limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies - and these have been known to sell out in matter of days - so you'll want to grab a copy while you can!

It's all green lights from here as we make our way toward the November 20th release of FARE THEE WELL: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GRATEFUL DEAD. Take a sneak peek at this rousing rendition of "West L.A. Fadeway" from July 4th, pulled from the Dead.net exclusive Complete version which features full audio and video from all three shows along with behind-the-scenes footage and intermission music by Circles Around The Sun. The song will also appear on the BEST OF FARE THEE WELL 2-CD set. Stay tuned for more audio and video previews from each of these celebratory releases!

The mystery of just who was behind those freewheeling tunes that kept the crowds groovin' during Fare Thee Well's intermissions has been revealed! Circles Around the Sun, a band convened by guitarist Neal Casal, formed specifically to record just for the shows and the results were so captivating, and the audience response so overwhelmingly positive, we decided to give the music a proper release.

The project began when Casal was asked by video director Justin Kreutzmann to compose and record more than five hours of original music to be played along with the visuals Kreutzmann was preparing for the Fare Thee Well intermissions. "The idea was to not only show reverence for the past but to ultimately, move it forward. If there's anything to be learned from the Grateful Dead, it is to dissolve your boundaries, push your limits, and discover your own voice in this world," explains Casal, the lead guitarist and co-lyricist for The Chris Robinson Brotherhood and part-time member of Phil Lesh and Friends.

Casal was joined in the studio by keyboardist Adam MacDougall, a fellow member of Robinson's Brotherhood and Lesh's Friends. The balance of Circles Around The Sun consists of bassist Dan Horne (Beachwood Sparks, Jonathan Wilson) and drummer Mark Levy (The Congress). All of the music on INTERLUDES FOR THE DEAD was written collectively - with nothing prepared beforehand or added afterward - and recorded live by engineer J.P. Hesser.

INTERLUDES FOR THE DEAD will be available digitally and as a 2-CD set on November 27. In addition, a 180-gram vinyl version on two LPs will be available as a limited edition of 5,000. And finally, as mentioned, all the music heard in Chicago will be included in the dead.net Complete versions of FARE THEE WELL.

Track Listing
Disc One
1. "Hallucinate A Solution"
2. "Gilbert's Groove"
3. "Kasey's Bones"
4. "Space Wheel"
Disc Two
1. "Ginger Says"
2. "Farewell Franklins"
3. "Saturday's Children"
4. "Scarlotta's Magnolias"
5. "Hat And Cane"
6. "Mountains Of The Moon"

If you should find yourself hoping, wishing, wanting to obtain that visceral feeling once again, we have in mind a few audio and video offerings that might help you to preserve those transcendent vibes. Let it flow, greatly grow, with choices for all from the Best Of to the Complete to the very last show.

Tune in to the Sirius XM Grateful Dead Channel for a very special 100-minute listen FARE THEE WELL with your guide David Lemieux. The program kicks off today with replays every day through the end of Thanksgiving Weekend.

Now through December 2, you can hear the Grateful Dead Channel on @SiriusXM for FREE, just by turning on your inactive radio! Details here.

On December 4, 1965, Jerry, Bob, Phil, Bill, and Pigpen first convened as the Grateful Dead to play as the house band for Ken Kesey and the Prankster's Acid Test in San Jose, California. The Dead went on to break records, bend minds, and build a community that continues to carry the torch today. Happy 50th Anniversary, Grateful Dead!

In just a few short days, we'll be wrapping up the Dave's Picks 2016 Subscription period and with that, the guarantee that you will be the proud owner of not just all four Dave's Picks releases, but the subscriber-only bonus disc. And just what might this exclusive bonus disc contain? Here's a short note and a chilly little Seaside Chat from Mr. Lemieux with a few new details on what's to come (watch the video for the full reveal):

"Dave's Picks 18 is a show that Dick Latvala turned me onto in 1999, which Dick had had his ear on for a long time. It's a very different 1976 show, with more of a 1974 vibe, and features spectacular versions of "Comes A Time," "The Other One," "Sugaree," and a 15-minute "Not Fade Away" as the second encore. Add to this the bonus material from the previous night's show along with that show's second set jam sequence on the Bonus Disc, and 2016 subscribers will be receiving pretty much a 2-show, 4-CD box set of two terrific nights in the Summer of 1976 in the band's hometown." - David Lemieux

Get your subscription here

Whether you play just like Jerry or like to give the Grateful Dead's beloved classics a unique spin, the 2016 Dead Covers Project wants you! We're calling all musicians - near and far - to share your love for the music and magic of the Dead through video. Show off your musical chops and you just might find yourself front and center on Dead.net during the month of February! The rules are simple - all video submissions must contain a song either written by or recorded by the Dead. How that song is interpreted, however, is entirely up to you.

Upload your video to YouTube, tag it "DeadCoversProject," and we'll make it available to view on the band's official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/gratefuldead. Need a little inspiration? During February, you can also check out an exclusive video playlist featuring a handful of hot submissions at www.facebook.com/gratefuldead. Can't carry a tune? Join the fun by "liking" your favorites on YouTube!

Good luck!

When the Grateful Dead hit the workingman's town of Frenso, California on July 19, 1974, they were undeterred by the blazing heat and inspired by the enormous "thundering machinery" they'd brought along. With the Wall of Sound, they felt they'd reached a whole new level of symbiosis. Can you hear what they heard on that fateful night? Find out when you reach the upper realms of auditory bliss with this "essential for any tape library." Witness Jerry breaking new ground with a spectacularly different take on "Scarlet Begonias." Follow Phil and keyboardist Ned Lagin into the future of electronic music with their "Seastones" set and orbit into deep space during the 30-minute "Playing In The Band." Prefer to listen with both feet on the ground? The second set will bring you back to earth and still have you dancing with a plethora of pleasers like "Brown-eyed Women," "He's Gone," and "U.S. Blues," rounded out with the band's one and only "Spanish Jam."

Plucked from the grateful dead's original tapes and mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, Dave's Picks Volume 17 is, indeed, limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies.

Selland Arena, Fresno, CA 7/19/74

Disc 1
1. Bertha
2. Mexicali Blues
3. Deal
4. Beat It On Down The Line
5. Row Jimmy
6. Me And Bobby McGee
7. Scarlet Begonias
8. El Paso
9. Tennessee Jed

Disc 2
1. Playing In The Band
2. Seastones
3. Brown-Eyed Women
4. Me And My Uncle
5. It Must Have Been The Roses
6. Jack Straw

Disc 3
1. He's Gone>
2. U.S. Blues
3. Weather Report Suite>
4. Jam>
5. Eyes Of The World>
6. China Doll
7. One More Saturday Night

Dead and Company have announced their summer tour plans.  Highlights include stops at Citi Field in Flushing, NY, two shows at Folsom Field in Boulder and two nights at Fenway Park. See the announced Dead & Company 2016 summer dates below:

Fri Jun 10                 Charlotte, NC                      PNC Music Pavilion
Thu Jun 16               Cincinnati, OH                     Riverbend Music Center
Fri Jun 17                 Noblesville, IN                     Klipsch Music Center
Mon Jun 20              Camden, NJ                        BB&T Pavilion
Tue Jun 21               Saratoga Springs, NY         Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Thu Jun 23               Bristow, VA                         Jiffy Lube Live
Sat Jun 25                Flushing, NY                       Citi Field**
Sun Jun 26               Flushing, NY                       Citi Field**
Tue Jun 28               Hartford, CT                        Xfinity Theatre
Sat Jul 02                 Boulder, CO                        Folsom Field**
Sun Jul 03                Boulder, CO                        Folsom Field**
Thu Jul 07                Detroit, MI                           DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sat Jul 09                 East Troy, WI                      Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Sun Jul 10                East Troy, WI                      Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Wed Jul 13               Pittsburgh, PA                     First Niagara Pavilion
Fri Jul 15                  Boston, MA                         Fenway Park**
Sat Jul 16                 Boston, MA                         Fenway Park**

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, unless noted **.

Are you ready for "Betty"? If you just said it's about time, we couldn't agree more! We're pleased to announce JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, five incredible unreleased shows and the first official release from the long-lost "Betty Boards," recently returned to the Grateful Dead's vault. Follow the Dead on a sonic journey through a superb selection of settings, an often epic adventure that finds them winning over Willie and Waylon fans in Kansas City, conjuring charisma in Omaha, and elevating the Red Rocks beyond their already spiritual planes. With five distinct performances painting the masterpiece of 1978, Betty Cantor-Jackson's always-pristine soundboard recordings, and the "hall-of-fame pedigree" of the Dead's first-ever shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this is one release that far exceeds excellence in music, sound quality, and rarity.

Limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS includes Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO (7/1/78), St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN (7/3/78), Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE (7/5/78), and Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison CO (7/7/78 and 7/8/78) - all of the performances in this collection are drawn from the band's master soundboard recordings, each newly mastered by Jeffrey Norman. The set also features original artwork by esteemed cartoonist Paul Pope (D.C. and Marvel comics) and in-depth liner notes written by Nick Meriwether (Grateful Dead Archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz), as well as a producer's note from producer David Lemieux.

Due May 13th, we anticipate that this extraordinary box will sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here.

Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day.

Come one, come all! Join us as we boogie down the aisles of your local moving picture house for the 6th Annual Meet-Up At The Movies. This year's special cinema event is a bona fide classic - the previously unreleased Grateful Dead concert from Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on July 2, 1989. Catch the Dead in fine form, kicking off their summer tour to a sold-out crowd of more than 60,000 fans, and pulling out surprises at every turn - from the rare show-opener “Playing In The Band” to the only time they ever started a second set with “Friend Of The Devil.” The concert also includes a spectacular performance of “Wang Dang Doodle,” one of the band’s finest sing-along versions of “Tennessee Jed,” two Bob Dylan covers (“Queen Jane Approximately” and “Quinn The Eskimo”) along with a medley of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” segued into the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Not to mention a sequence that will bring you back to the Dead circa 1973: "Truckin'"> "He's Gone"> "Eyes Of The World."

And if that's not enough, we've got an exclusive interview with Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux on the making of the upcoming 12-disc July 1978: The Complete Recordings boxed set as well as previously unseen performance footage from Dead & Company.

"Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies: Sullivan Stadium 7/2/89" will only be playing on the silver screen for one night! Come out and connect with Dead Heads in your neighborhood on Wednesday, May 11th at 7:00pm local time.

Tickets are now available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com.

We're feelin' the funk on this week's JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS listening party, plucked from the Grateful Dead's 7/3 show at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena. Get down to a seriously jammy "Dancing In The Street" and a touching rendition of "Peggy-O." Limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS ships May 13th.\

Get a copy while you still can »

We're not only headed back to the Bay Area with the release of July 17, 1976, the 5th of a phenomenal six-night run at the Orpheum Theatre, but back to the basics - smaller venues, lighter loads (post-Wall of Sound) - and the results are electric! While the operations may have been stripped down, the Grateful Dead and their music were anything but. 7/17/76 packs plenty of surprises from the Chuck Berry bookends of the first set to the double encore featuring one the finest versions of "Not Fade Away" you're likely to hear, clocking in at almost 15 minutes. The hour-plus seamless second set jam includes a dream setlist, featuring such classics as "Comes A Time," "Eyes Of The World," "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad," and a recurring "Other One" that takes us on some spectacular journeys. The venue's superior acoustics coupled with the band's tight intuitive playing lend to a warmer sound and plenty of golden moments. A short one, we've rounded Dave's Picks Volume 18 out with a handful of favorites from the previous night's first set, including a magical coupling of "The Music Never Stopped>Scarlet Begonias".

As always, Dave's Picks Volume 18 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and is limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies. Grab your copy here.

Looking for a real good time? Gather your tribe and head on out to the 6th Annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies. This one is jam-packed with previously unreleased footage from Dead & Company, an exclusive interview with archivist David Lemieux, and of course, the main event, the entire concert from the Dead's sold-out show at Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on July 2, 1989.

It's all happening this Wednesday, May 11th at 7:00pm local time.

Tickets are available online at www.FathomEvents.com and at your participating theater's box office on the night of the event.

We surely hope to see you there!

"As an archivist and Dead Head, this boxed set is about as exciting as it gets. Musically, it features five exhilarating, dynamic nights in the summer of 1978. The sound quality is impeccable, as would be expected from Betty Cantor-Jackson's always-pristine recordings. The rarity of the first three nights, and the hall-of-fame pedigree of the last two, makes this one of the most astonishing Grateful Dead releases ever. Collaborating with the owners of these tapes, we are very pleased to see these important historical documents returned home and now shared with the world." - David Lemieux

The Grateful Dead's JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS is officially goin' down the line! Out today, this Dead.net numbered limited-edition exclusive focuses on five unreleased shows from the undoubtedly great summer of 1978 and marks the first official release of master recordings from the long lost "Betty Boards." Don't miss the chance to take home this essential collection featuring Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO (7/1/78), St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN (7/3/78), Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE (7/5/78), and Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison CO (7/7/78 and 7/8/78).

Get it while you can!

Aloha from Honolulu! If you are in need of a little island breeze this summer, look no further than Dave's Picks Volume 19: Honolulu, HI, January 23,1970. Our very first release from Hawaii, this one sees the Grateful Dead riding the great wave of change, with a fresh take for a career-defining new decade. Witness as they smoothly transition from the "Sound of 1969" and its chaotic psychedelia with their cohesive country-tinged, song-oriented harmonies. Yes, the yin and yang are well-balanced in these sets, with plenty of Pigpen favorites ("Hard To Handle," "Good Lovin'," a 35-minute "Lovelight") done just right, a wonderfully melodic "Dark Star," and the band breaking fertile ground on soon-to-be classics ("Black Peter," "Dire Wolf") from their upcoming and much beloved album, Workingman's Dead. We've rounded out this succinct complete show with a little over an hour of music from the following night, 1/24/70, including the rarity "I'm A King Bee," possibly the best live version of "Mason's Children" ever recorded, and a crowd-pleasing "Dancing In The Street." Just go on and say Mahalo!

Originally recorded by Owsley "Bear" Stanley and mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman, this one is limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies.

Purchase your copy here!

Who's ready for a little early 80's Grateful Dead? For our last installment of the 2016 Dave's Picks series we are heeding that call with Boulder, CO, December 9, 1981. The last show of a 10-day run, Dave's Picks Volume 20 finds the band cranking out back-to-back high-energy sets; the first filled with superior Jerry moments ("Friend Of The Devil," "Bird Song") and a very rare 1-2 punch of Bobby songs ("Cassidy," "Looks Like Rain"). The second is a powerhouse of tight innovation with a nearly perfect "Scarlet>Fire," Brent's organs taking "Estimated" to an otherworldly level, and a double encore fit for "rock 'n' roll excellence."

And if that wasn't enticing enough, this one is chock full of classic covers - "Mama Tried," "Little Red Rooster," "Around and Around," "Good Lovin'," and potentially the very best version of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" that the Dead ever did do.

Taken from 7" reel-to-reel master tapes, Dave's Picks Volume 20 offers up top-notch sound quality and a robustness that was unusual for the tape recordings at this time. As always, it has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies.

Grab a copy while you can.

In honor of 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead's first single, we're excited to announce a brand new highly-collectible 7” vinyl series and a subscription to that series, to boot. 2017 will bring pressings of the first four of the band’s 27 singles on 7-inch colored vinyl, each limited to 10,000 copies and available exclusively at dead.net. The remaining 23 singles will be released over the next few years.

The first release, arriving March 1, is the band’s 1966 debut: “Stealin’” b/w “Don’t Ease Me In.” When Gene Estribou produced “Stealin’” and its B-side, “Don’t Ease Me In” in his San Francisco studio, the songs were already staples of the band’s early live shows. Fewer than 250 copies of the single ever saw the light of day. This limited-edition reissue is the single’s first pressing in 50 years and features remastered audio, edited by David Glasser to reflect the original single edits.

Other volumes to be released in 2017 include:

“The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”/“Cream Puff War”

“Darkstar”/“Born Cross-Eyed”

“Duprey’s Diamond Blues”/“Cosmic Charley”

We strongly encourage you to subscribe to the series, not only to ensure the very best deal, but to ensure you receive all four releases issued during the year. (This one also makes a great gift under $50!)

GRATEFUL DEAD 7” SINGLES SUBSCRIPTION BENEFITS

• Four Limited Edition Releases
• Free Domestic Shipping
• Delivered Throughout The Year (Shipped March 1, June 1, Sept 1, Dec 1)
• Digital delivery of each of the tracks featured on each 7”, delivered on or around release date
• Subscriber Pricing - $44.98
• A savings of $15.00 over purchasing a la carte

February has become quite a favorite around here. It's when we are flooded with feel-good moments and sometimes - in the best possible way - teary-eyed ones too. Over the past few years, Dead Heads from near and far have worked tirelessly to bring the community their very best take on the Dead's rich legacy. So it should come as no surprise that we will be carrying on the tradition of the DEAD COVERS PROJECT in 2017.

Gather up your musical tribe over the holidays and let your creativity flow, visually and vocally. You just might find the fruits of your labor featured on Dead.net during the month of February.

We'll be taking submissions as soon as January 1st. Simply upload your video to YouTube, tag it "DeadCoversProject," and we'll make it available to view on the band's official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/gratefuldead in February.

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead's eponymous debut studio album. What better way to celebrate than with a special album reissue series that will include two-disc deluxe editions and limited edition vinyl picture disc versions of all the group’s studio and live albums! These two-disc deluxe editions will include the original album with newly remastered sound, plus a bonus disc of unreleased recordings.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD: 50th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION contains the original album — newly remastered from the original tapes by David Glasser, and restored by Plangent Processes — along with a bonus disc that features the complete unreleased concert from July 29th, 1966 and select cuts from July 30th, 1966 at the P.N.E. Garden Auditorium in British Columbia, mastered by Jeffrey Norman. Only a few recordings from the Dead’s first two years exist, but each one reveals corners of the band’s repertoire not captured anywhere else. That’s especially true here, with three songs making their last appearance on any surviving Dead recording: “Standing On The Corner,” “You Don’t Have To Ask Me,” and “Cardboard Cowboy.”

Learn more / purchase here.

"We all expect Big Things from the Big Songs, but all the smaller songs in this show are stunningly played. That extra something in every song that makes a great show GREAT? It's here in every song. And as for the bigger songs, they certainly deliver as well." - David Lemieux

Just like the man says, you've also come to expect "Big Things" from the Dave's Picks series. We certainly intend to deliver with Boston Garden, April 2, 1973, our first archival release of the new year. Clocking in at 34 songs, this one's a whopper and a solid one, at that.

One might think the Grateful Dead a bit weary at the end of a long run, but no sir (or ma'am!), they left nothing behind and showed no signs of slowing down on this epic night. In fact, they packed both sets with an inventive pastiche of brand-new ("Wave That Flag," "Eyes Of The World," "Row Jimmy") and newly-minted classics ("Mississippi Half-Step," "Stella Blue") played to near-perfection. Once you hear this version taken from the 10" master reels, we know you’ll agree.

Mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and featuring illustrations by 2017 Dave's Picks Artist-In-Residence Dave Van Patten (stay tuned for his profile), Dave's Picks Volume 21 is limited to 16,500 individually numbered copies.

Fair warning: these releases sell out more and more quickly as the years go on. There's truly no time to wait!

Grab a copy while you can »

The kick-off of our 7" singles collection is just around the bend! We're pleased to reveal longtime family member Tim Truman's original hand-drawn artwork for the first single and even more pleased to announce that each release will be individually numbered. (Image above does not reflect numbering.) For those who need a little reminder, here's what you'll get when you become a subscriber:

• Four limited edition releases on colored vinyl
• Free domestic shipping
• Delivered throughout the year (Shipped March 1, June 1, Sept 1, Dec 1)
• Digital delivery of each of the tracks featured on each 7", delivered on or around release date
• For the first time ever, each release will be illustrated by a different artist
• Each release will be individually numbered
• Subscriber Pricing - $44.98
• A savings of $15.00 over purchasing a la carte

Learn more

If you've been on this list for quite some time, then you will know our emails about releases are often flush with hyperbole. We can't help it, really - for we, like you, are Grateful Dead fans above all else. Just like you, we've spent countless hours debating the merits of show over show, year over year. We've kept a watchful eye on your wish-lists and carefully considered how to make - excuse the cliché - your dreams come true. And once we've made our commitments, we are steadfast in our determination to conjure up those dreams fully-formed and nearly perfect. Sometimes these heights cannot be reached without physical and cosmic elements aligning, and that, dear friends, is why it has taken so long for us to bring you THE ONE and the epic shows that surrounded it. No need for even the slightest embellishment here, 5/8/77 Barton Hall, Cornell University: Ithaca, NY, has for decades, been THE resounding favorite; you've said it yourselves - the "holy grail" of Grateful Dead shows. Thanks to the passion and perseverance of Dead Heads like you, we are beyond pleased to finally be able to present this show and its brethren, the fabled four of Spring '77, in sonically pristine condition.

Limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, MAY 1977: GET SHOWN THE LIGHT is a collection of what is unanimously believed to be the most sought-after previously unreleased complete shows the Grateful Dead ever played. Collected, traded, and debated for decades, "the beloved Golden Trinity" of Boston, Ithaca, and Buffalo, along with their New Haven prelude, have inspired fans to "get on the bus," converted critics, and even garnered national attention (Cornell was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry). But until now, you've never really heard them quite like this!

The Dead is in the details... how serendipitous is it that the notorious Betty Boards were returned to the archive just in time for the 40th anniversaries of these shows? Lovingly sourced from these well-reputed recordings, we invite you to experience four utopian shows just like they happened, to "be inside the music" as engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson intended. Whether you listen to each night on its own or imbibe the whole lot at once, we suspect you'll hear why every note mattered. Much like we were, you will be hard-pressed to determine which of these fine documents - will it be the understated but nuanced New Haven, Boston's festive fantasy vibes, the monumental catharsis of Ithaca, or Buffalo's dreamy exuberance - is truly "the best." Does it really matter? We think not.

Due May 5th, we anticipate that this revelatory boxed set will sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks.

Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day.

We're shaking things in movie theaters across the good old U.S. of A. once again! Gather up your favorite Grateful guys and gals and meet us on April 20th at 7 p.m. local time for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Grateful Dead Movie . In addition to the feature presentation, we'll be screening an exclusive look at footage from the upcoming Grateful Dead documentary, Long Strange Trip, executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Amir Bar-Lev. We've also got a never-before-seen mini-documentary about the band's legendary May 8, 1977 show at Cornell University, including new interviews with fans who were in attendance. My, oh, my! Join us, won't you?

BUY TICKETS

O Canada! To help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Great White North, we're headed to Record Store Day (4/22/2017) with P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, 7/29/66. This 2-LP, 180-gram vinyl set will also feature four bonus tracks from 7/30/66. Limited to 6,600 copies worldwide. Grab one while you can!

P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/29/66 marks Grateful Dead's debut performance outside of the United States. Their complete July 29, 1966 performance is being released in a limited edition, 2-LP, 180 gram vinyl-set, with four bonus tracks from the ensuing 7/30 performance at the same venue. Original cover art by Canadian poster artist Bob Masse, the iconic '60s poster artist who has designed original works for artists such as Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi  Hendrix, The Doors, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Steve MillerBand, No Doubt, Fiona Apple & Smashing Pumpkins to name a few. The show was mastered from the original audio recordings by GRAMMY-winning sound engineer Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering in Petaluma, CA. This audio was first made available in January, 2016 as the bonus disc in the 2-CD The Grateful Dead (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) as it features most of the tracks that would make their way on to the first official Grateful Dead album. This is the only stand-alone release for this content.

SIDE A: 01 Standing on The Corner (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 02 I Know You Rider (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 03 Next Time You See Me  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 04 Sittin On Top Of The World  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 05 You Don't Have To Ask  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66)

SIDE B: 01 Big Boss Man  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 02 Stealin'  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 03 Cardboard Cowboy  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 04 It's All Over Now, Baby Blue  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 05 Cream Puff War  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66)

SIDE 2A: 01 VIola Lee Blues  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 02 Beat It On Down The Line  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 03 Good Mornin' Little Schoolgirl

SIDE 2B: 01 Cold Rain and Snow  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 02 One Kind Favor  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 03 Hey Little One  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66) 04 New, New Minglewood Blues  (Live at P.N.E. Garden Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 7/26/66)

Find your local mom and pop here »