Grateful Dead & The Revolution of Live Music
A revolution in soud occured when the Grateful Dead took their Wall of Sound system on tour with them in 1974. Thanks to sound designer and LSD enthusiast Owsely Stanley
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@frankiehoskyn3948
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I saw The Grateful Dead in concert at Wembley Arena in 1990, they played for nearly 4 hours.
@richardgilyead7640
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I saw the Dead in 1974 at Alexandra Palace in London. One of the best concerts I ever went to. Really glad to have Dick's Picks Vol 7 as a permanent reminder.
@Nazz1967
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Always enjoy your videos mate ,especially this one .
@terribletimes01
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Betty Cantor Jackson was a very important person in the GD family as she would record in real time with a different desk and multi track tape. That is why so many of the mid 70's recording sound so amazing.
@jriffblue
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
There is a three disc version of Fillmore West 1969 that is much more economical. It is a fantastic sampler of those days. You should pick it up
@MrDirtybear
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Thank you for the acid turkey sandwich Monterey story. The Dead transformed their live sound through many different live set ups over the years. Once they had the songs down, then changing the song live through updated sound systems, added ambience recording and listening to tapes of their playing between shows, was the way to go. The nearest they had as challengers for transforming their live sound were surely Pink Floyd, who for all that the critics said that live they sounded like the records recordings now show how different from the studio recordings they sounded live. Perhaps Roger Waters has taken on the Grateful Dead mantle of advancing live sound technology with his 'This is not a drill' tour, but to very different effect.
@casablanca2745
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Saw the Dead in 74 at the Providence Civic Center. Still have my ticket billed as “A Swell Dance Concert”. The show had the Wall of Sound that completely exhausted the road crew on a nightly basis. Long strange trip indeed.
@808bunky
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I started a vinyl collection at the beginning of the pandemic & it's grown quickly to 300 albums. I have some awesome box sets of the Grateful Dead from Record Store Day. I have the Wembley show in London & the Olympia Theatre show in Paris from the famous Europe '72 Tour. I also have two box sets from the Fillmore West shows where Live/Dead came from. These are prized possessions in my collection. The sound quality of these live shows is amazing. I also have dozens of concerts from Dave's Picks on CD & other box sets like Sunshine Daydream, Red Rock '78 & many others. People who never get into the Dead don't know what it's like to get lost inside of a song. It's a beautiful thing. It's similar to being stoned & losing track of how much time has gone by. Fans of Jazz music could certainly relate. Getting lost in a guitar solo by Jerry Garcia is similar to losing yourself in a Miles Davis solo during his electric Jazz/Rock fusion years. Hard to believe I had no idea who the Grateful Dead were when I was younger. I had this impression they were just a motley group of hippies who probably played like a jug band. I had no clue they were so prolific. I'll be seeing Dead & Company again next week. It sucks that Jerry is gone, but this current band is certainly keeping his spirit alive through the songs.
@walterevans5658
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I'm far from a completist, but as far as live Dead, the best show I've heard on CD is the legendary May 8, 1977 show. It has been released officially on CD, so is easy to find at a reasonable price.
@MARK-co1ge
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I saw them live in 1994 for 3 days straight in Eugene, OR. On one day it rained and the second set had songs about rain. The audience really showed their appreciation. It was the whole experience that counted- the traveling, camping outside the stadium amongst the flags, standing in line, chatting to other fans- all great stuff.
@stevehajas6500
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Saw them twice in the 1980s, once in Syracuse NY and a July 4 show in Buffalo on the same bill with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. No other concerts that I have seen where the audience is almost as interesting as the show itself which was fantastic. The amount of equipment used by fans to record the show was unbelievable.
@SimonHolcroft
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Looking great for 184. Must be all the smarties. ✌✌
@uncledenny2570
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
I have a few Dead anecdotes, here's my favorite: After a few attempts at going to see them play, I finally did Saturday May 27th 1989.
It was a benefit show at Oakland stadium with Tower of Power, Los Lobos, Joe Satriani, Tracy Chapman, John Fogerty, with the Grateful Dead headlining. Musically the best stadium show I've ever heard.
The highlight for me was Fogerty's set. His backing band was Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir (guitars & backing vocals), Randy Jackson (bass & backing vocals), and Steve Jordan (drums). You could not wipe the smiles off of Jerry and Bob's faces.
Also my first time seeing the forest of mic stands people placed in front of the sound board at Dead shows.
@jimmycampbell78
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Ironically, I prefer their studio albums to the live Grateful Dead ‘experience’ (recorded). When they do get criticised, its usually by people who don’t like the Dead as a ‘live jam band’. Its what they are most known for…but it leads to their studio work being underrated and overlooked, in my opinion anyway.
If you see any critics of them commenting here, it will always be about the Dead being boring and self indulgent live or a druggy band.
@Hartlor_Tayley
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
The wall of sound is legendary. They played a show in Amerst Massachusetts and people for miles down the valley were reporting sounds and voices coming from the sky. It’s gone down in local folklore.
@victorhawkins3461
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Get along, Kid Charlemagne… And yeah, we have Smarties…but I'd rather have the acid…
@L-Neksub
May 2, 2026 at 10:47 pm
The Dead and the Who are two bands that I regret missing live through the years.
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