Best Grateful Dead Concerts Ever (2024 Updated)

“CALLING ALL DEAD HEADS” this CD is a nice compilation of 17 Dead Songs. I consider it to be “Skeletons From the Closet Part 2”, since many of those songs are on this CD. My favorite songs on this CD I would have to say are Friend Of The Devil, U.

S. Blues, Truckin’, and Ripple. Other songs on the CD include Touch Of Grey, Sugar Magnolia, Casey Jones, Uncle John’s Band, Franklin’s Tower, Estimated Prophet, Eyes Of The World, Box Of Rain, The Golden Road, One More Saturday Night, Fire On The Mountain, The Music Never Stopped, and Hell In A Bucket.

I believe they should of put quite a few others on there, but it is a good selection none the less. I recommend you listen to this CD with Head Phones or Surround Sound !! What A Long Stange Trip Its Been !!.

Thoroughly enjoyable album featuring many of the best tracks performed brilliantly and with good sound quality.

CD was in great shape with wonderful sound quality! The “Very Best” CD captures the scope and diversity of this legendary band.

This is a 2-CD set. Only one of the two is really good. The other one I don’t listen to.

This cd has been playing constantly since I received it

Excellent collection of music, like a time capsule of The Grateful Dead.

The album is worth having just for “Dark Star”, so everything else is Bonus Material. And What quality Bonus Material you have. It’s just one Gloriious Album that you will play over and over, enjoying it s every time.

While my collection contains some Dead material, this particular title is touted as one of the best pysche CDs of the era, so I took a chance. Seven songs at 73+ minutes? Hey, it’s the Dead and extended jams are de rigeur, right? Everything here is exactly what you’d expect from the band so there are no surprises.

If you’re a Deadhead, you probably own this CD or undoubtedly know the songs; if not, it would be a good introduction to the band. No text or liner notes/booklet.

Don’t mind the small crack in the case. I’ve done worse to jewel cases. Think this was a good price for this item and it sounds great. One of GDs best recordings.

Brand new. This recording is a very fine remaster as opposed to some I have purchased recently. I am listening to this through a fairly high quality system and to my ears it sounds close to the vinyl I listened to in1973.

Yep Im as old as dirt. I highly recommend this if you are interested in this title.

This is it, this is the music that started my life long love was music and foremost The Grateful Dead. I remember running home from school and placing the vinyl on the techniques plater to watching it spin for hours and hours as my older brother would stroll by and make fun of me singing over and over again anything he could think of that rhymed with Dooda Man which by the way wasn’t that much.

As the decades rushed by I all of a sudden have a wife, children, a job and so forth. Now that i’m on the other side of the mountain I am certain of one thing that is true, that is the raw power and brilliance of this classic “The Grateful Dead’s Europe ’72’.

After over 400 show, becoming a muscian who has produced a few of my own records that I can truly say: “there is nothing better than pulling out Europe ’72 and putting on “Cumberland Blues”. There is just nothing better”.

I’ve worn-out or lost europe 72 at least 4 times. This will hopefully last me 10 years. The re-master and bonus tracks are great! The discs were delivered super-quick. Thanks. Keep on keepin on!

With the amount of excellent recorded Dead shows out there it Id difficult to find anything better than the rest. This collection goes into territory previously hidden, at least to me. Some of the very early material and the recordings made near the end of Jerry Garcias life are either academically interesting or downright brilliant.

There is a duet with Bruce Hornsby that is almost worth the price of admission. The other feature of this collection is seeing the band development over their thirty years of playing as a unit. Its almost uncanny realizing that Cold Rain and Snow and So Many Roads are the same band.

Except, of course, for Jerrys voice. To wrap it up, this might not be a collection for a recent convert, but it certainly wouldnt turn that person off to the Grateful Dead phenomenon.

I think this is a wonderful historic compilation that captures the arc of the Grateful Dead through so many epochs of epiphanic ascent and evolution. It’s packaged in an elegant box that includes a booklet of articles sharing points of view of the bands triumphs and challenges.

Even the producers point out the daunting difficulty of rendering the vaults of recordings into 5 CDs. I’ve got all five stacked in my car player and have teared up several times with memories of shows and eras.

Love it.

Loved, loved, loved this box set. It’s a fantastic chronicle of the Dead from their early days all the way to a beloved performance of “So Many Roads” at their last show. While there are more complete Grateful Dead box sets out there, this is the only one you need, IMHO.

The only issue is that the box cover is made out of cloth and tends to get stained and ratty-looking very easily. But as long at it protects the music inside, it really doesn’t matter. Highly recommended.

got this for the DVD never listened to the CD’s. the show is great if you like the Brent years. something different from the other shows that have been released. i loved it, can’t get enough Dead on video.

keep ’em coming.

Great album. The CD’s and the DVD are great. Awesome packaging.

A fantastic set of great shows. Recorded during the Dead’s most powerful times when they were filling the biggest stadiums and arenas nationwide. It is a grown-up and matured Grateful Dead. Fans of all eras will love this one.

Apart from the complete Europe 72 recordings, this is my favourite official Grateful Dead release. I may be biased, as this is the same band that i first saw when they hauled the wall of sound to Ally Pally in London in 1974.

Although it’s not a complete show, the way it has been laid out over the 3 cd’s is fantastic as you can play them as stand alone recordings. Disc 1 if you want an hour of shorter songs including the best China Cat/Rider i’ve heard.

Disc 2 only has 4 songs as it includes that infamous 45 minute Playing but the real surprise is the China Doll which is worth the price of this set alone. Disc 3 has a great 5 song segue beginning with He’s Gone and ending with Sugar Magnolia which is from 22 June 73 and the sound on this release is superb throughout.

The booklet is a bit skimpy for my liking but i didn’t buy this for the booklet and the photos make up for it. Finally ignore any lies you may have read about Donna Jean shrieking like a banshee, she is a welcome addition to the vocals here and sings sweetly throughout.

Do not hesitate to buy this you won’t regret it.

While these ’73/’74 selections from their Vancouver, BC; Portland; and Seattle tour may not be their finest CD; the instrumentals are mostly fine, but sometimes the vocals are weak. Pigpen is gone. The Northwest Native Graphics are exceptional.

Personally this customer enjoys the jams, but some may not prefer this stage of this great band’s creativity. Yes, Truckin’ is here, as are China Cat Sunflower and Playing In The Band. A good 4-5 star Grateful Dead CD, this is still worth having.

Well I broke down and bought this. This is a very good snapshot of the 73-74 period. Disk 3 is a keeper for sure. There was some question and comments on the Bird Song from this disc set. I played it and here is my best description I can give of the anomaly: During the second verse, during the vocals trailing into the instrumental jam it sounds like the source tape was damaged or stretched.

It sounds like a wow and flutter noise for about >20 sec. I recommend this for someone that wants a taste of 74.

Alright, everyone knows how legendary this album is. I picked this up on a whim and was astounded at the quality of the vinyl and packaging put together by Rhino (you wouldn’t know it wasn’t Warner Bros.

) Rhino pressed each of these vinyls with the original green Warner Bros. label and, other than the clear plastic vinyl sleeve, the date still says 1970 and there’s no indication it is a reissue. Great product.

The music is always fantastic and the quality of the pressing is equally good!

it came a week sooner than expected, but was extremely bent. the vinyl itself is fine but the cardboard sleeve is in horrible shape, which is rather unfortunate because it kills the collectableness of it.

Me and a couple of friends had been following the band on this tour since the Spectrum shows in Philadelphia. This show was in Barton Hall at Cornell, which was basically a glorified gymnasium. About the size of an indoor basketball court.

No seating. After the show we went back to the rear entrance and waited for them to come out. A light snowfall was swirling around, big billowing flakes blazed like white fireflies as they caught the parking lot lights.

Two black stretch limos were idling by the door. There weren’t any other fans around, just some crew and university officials. The rear doors swung open and they all tumbled out. Each one of them was carrying a black attach case.

The band had been running their own label for awhile by now and we’d bought most of our tickets for this tour mail-order through the Grateful Dead office in San Francisco. These were not the custom made tickets that would be the norm about five years later.

Scalping had already become a very real problem and Dead tickets were some of the earliest concerts targeted by those creeps. The band’s initial response was to contract for blocks of tickets for each show they could get them for on a tour.

My friends and I had all been on the Dead’s mailing list for years at this point. Bulk ticket distributors seldom sold seats for the smaller, more obscure venues. The Dead office didn’t mark up the prices either.

None of us were speaking up as they exited so I did: We’ve got first row for Buffalo tomorrow night!” I blurted out to none of them in particular as I held them up. Oh yeah? Lemme see them” Phil said.

I handed all four to him. Bill, Keith and Donna had gotten into one of the stretches and left. Looking them over, he asked: Did you get these from our office?” Yeah, we did. Mail order” I responded. Phil had handed a couple of them around to Jerry and Bob.

Commenting to the others, Jerry remarked: Well at least something’s working” They all chuckled. I told them what a great show this night was and, for some reason repeated that the tickets that they were holding are for the first row in Buffalo tomorrow night.

Bobby said: Let me see all those” and he gathered them up. Jerry and Phil said goodbye and piled into the limo. Bobby slid in behind them, closed the door and they started to speed off, with our tickets! We ran after them yelling for them to stop.

After a few yards, the limo stopped and the rear window dropped down as we caught up. We could hear them laughing riotously as Bobby’s arm emerged holding the tickets, splayed out like a hand of cards.

See you tomorrow” hesaid though his laughter.

There are, in my opinion, better shows from May ’77; yes, this one is good, but to claim it’s the Dead’s best-ever show is ridiculous. That said, it’s still worth having. It’s a shame the 5/22 Pembroke Pines show released in part as Dick’s Picks #3 wasn’t released in its entirety– I much prefer that show to this one.

Likewise, the 5/25 Richmond show, released as Dave’s Picks #1, is also stronger, in my opinion. Others will disagree. The bottom line is that it’s pretty hard to go wrong with any show from this era and this is no exception.

Not your Grateful Dead. Yes, it’s good- the 5 minutes songs- tight and the most popular. How can it be bad ? Advertised as THE BEST SHOW EVER ? I think not. No jams except a 1/2 attempt with St. Stephen.

Don’t spend your money on this where there are so many more that are 10x better.

I bought this as a cooler but it kept tipping over and spilling, so we started using it as a diaper bag. it’s fantastic. The fact that it is a lined. cooler makes it easy to clean and perfect for storing bottles.

The food compartment is my favorite, as it gives us easy access to diapers and wipes. If you are not fully satisfied with it not having a zipper, I’d highly recommend finding a new purpose for the bag because it’s so cute and very comfortable.

The top of cooler I see flap should close with a zipper. It leaks and things easily fall out especially if you sit it down and it isn’t standing. Ice melts quickly since it isn’t closed up. Then there is the flap and it’s closures.

They don’t sench down tight and are loose and slip out easily. I love the appearance and size of the cooler and really dislike the functionality of it. I really expected more from a cooler company that has been around for so long and the $ I paid.

I will be returning mine. I will purchase again if you fix these issues. I was so excited about it.

This cooler is fantastic—I received it as a gift, and as a fellow Deadhead, I love the all-over Steal Your Face print! The main issue is that the top of the cooler only folds over and hooks (it does NOT seal shut, as a cooler should).

Especially being a backpack design, I’ve had contents of the cooler spill out while walking. Igloo should take this into consideration and design a new version that completely seals shut and also retains the cooler temperatures for your drinks and food.

Otherwise, fantastic product! ⚡️.

Awesome, again and again. Grooving to the tunes I’ve come to know and love, again and again. Fun and energetic album.

Remastered in HDCD and with a few bonus tracks thrown in, you can’t go wrong!

Great re-release with above extra bonus tracks

An excellent early concert. Great sound, great song selection, great video! A winner.

it was listed as new and it surely was. perfect quality.

my first Live Dead experience for a whole concert. The Quality is amazing and the 3 sets are superb.

Peak Grateful Dead! One of the best shows from a peak period, ’77-’78. Starts with a great Bertha, picks it up a notch at the 5,6,7 tracks- an amazing Roses, excellent Minglewood, and a wonderful Ramble On Rose.

More goodies follow ( Deal is always a winner) and closes with – surprise – Ship of Fools -prob the best version ever! Set 2 is a dream set list, all all-time great originals, Estimated/Other One/Eyes before drums & (a very short) Space, then 5 more greats, Sugar Magnolia being the peak for me, The encore , although in the set list for a short time only, must be their best version of Werewolves of London.

Thanks so Much for this release, as I was there, but did not remember the show particularly.

Hey Now. whilst many fans have different periods of the Grateful Dead’s 30 year playing history as their favorite, THIS years tour was one of the best by far. The song-writing was outstanding, just like the 69′-70′ period They were performing tunes that would stay strong in the line-up over the years.

Jerry was healthy & happy,, as were the rest of the Band. Drummer Billy K. mentions this concert in his book as memorable. good enough for me. The sound is good and the song-list is excellent. Buy now if you don’t have.

77 and 78 are arguably the best show years of the Dead. 1972, 1983, and the early 90’s are also cherry. all revolving around Jerry’s health; but 77 and 78 are the best. with the finest versions of Eyes of the World, and Scarlet Begonias ever recorded.

you cant go wrong with this one. and a particular concert, date out of the blue, that I had not specifically heard before.

I was at this concert. Most Excellent time and the POT was mighty FINE! 5 Stars on DVD!

Great dvd by the Greatful Dead . Fantastic audio and video, well worth the money.

The Grateful Dead always had good musicians and audio reproduction equipment.

If you are expecting “songs” forget it. This album is primarily long jams that use “songs” as a framework. It’s deep. Dive in.

New to the Grateful Dead music, went to my first “Dead” – Furthur concert in 3/2011 and now I’m hooked. This is my favorite of my 6 newly acquired G. D. CD’s – I can’t stop listening to St. Steven leading into the William Tell Bridge, leading into The Eleven.

This is sophisticated music that makes me very happy ! (sans drugs).

One of the best live albums ever , after hearing this for the first time I was On The Bus !!!

I am 6”3’ 220lb athletic build, size 34 waist 44 chest and I bought a large, it fits perfect. Graphics are great have not faded and I have washed it 10+ times already. Must buy for any Dead fan!

Super soft! I sized up thinking it might shrink a bit in the wash. It did and now it’s perfect.

Very comfortable. I dig the shirt!