It seems Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead has moved on to a higher plane, if there is one. I don’t think there are many deadheads here, but several posts have been made over the years I recall, and I’m sure with so much music knowledge here, some will be interested and a little saddened.
So I’m glad to be able to make this tribute, I only managed to see the band twice, in Edinburgh and London, though have about 20 odd records, and a video of the RockPalast from the 1980’s. And yes, he was the only one who could sort of sing, though the melodies and riffs, and words, always made up for any band weakness in the voice department. They were all great together, when jamming one of the tightest, inventive and sublime bands ever. The best really. Another little bit of living history passes on.
Good to see some enthusiasts here. For them, and anyone interested in exploring,
I went on line to see when the RockPalast concert was, and found someone has remastered it to HD. And it does look very good! We watched the whole thing. The sound isn’t the greatest but I think they had a few problems with their kit anyway, during the show, and I’m not playing it through any hifi. But the songs more than make up for that.
There is one big (to me) downside, every so often it interrupts with an ad, even in the middle of songs, though you can ‘skip’ immediately. And after a while it seemed to stop interrupting, so maybe it only does it say 10 times. Or maybe just at the beginning.
For any uninitiated and who might want to scroll / explore through the 3.5 hour concert, rather than sit down (or dance) for all of it, I suggest the couple of songs at the start, the rendition of Ship of Fools half way through is superb, as is the love song Althea and of course Here Comes the Rain, a perennial favourite is absolutely stonking here. The most popular part of the recording is ‘Not Fade Away’ which comes towards the end after the drums and jugglers, see if yoU can guess who comes on and jams!
And to add to @Dr MarkH ‘s glumness, can I say Ship of Fools is never more apt than in these trump times -
The bottles stand as empty
As they were filled before
Time that was in plenty
But from that cup no more
Though I could not caution all
I still might warn a few Don’t lend your hand to raise no flag
Atop no ship of fools
Grateful Dead [1080p50 2023 HD Remaster] March 28, 1981 - Rockpalast - Essen GERMANY - Full Show
Years ago I had an American visitor staying with me who gave me a Grateful Dead album When Push comes to Shove. I’d heard of them but didn’t think I’d like the music as much as I did.
Also immortalised in Don Henley’s Boys of Summer: Out on the road today I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.
