Grateful Dead

One song, "Dark Star," spanning 24 years of performances; makes me wish I was still a stoner. Jonn Oswald, who assembled it, is as responsible for it as the band--maybe more.

I Always loved 'Truckin', but never bought any of their recorded works. And wondered what they sounded like. They sound great! My wife likes "Truckin' and 'Touch of Grey', finds the rest too repetitive in music and rhythm. Yes, the music sounds repetitive, but so far I'm OK with it. Lyrics, are a different matter. Yes, the lyrics got my attention, the lyrics are a social awareness message, a comment that recognizes the search for 'feel good' out weighs any other need.

en:

Comments on the footage:

This has that 'home video' feel. It is a mix of live concert

footage, informal interviews, and sightseeing adventures in

Egypt. There is roughly 90 minutes of footage. The editing is

amateur at best.

I believe this was shot on video, not film. The footage shows

signs of age, but is *pretty* decent all things considered. No

idea on the audio source. The audio leaves a little to be

desired, as the vocals are often very low.

BTW - sorry, I don't have a screen image to post.

The show more live concert footage was almost exclusively shot from

stage left, slightly elevated above the band. It is a

one-camera shoot, meaning that there are no cuts to a different

angle. There is the rare crowd shot thrown into the mix, but

not a whole lot as far as establishing the atmosphere. The

footage randomly flips from one night to the next, so there is

absolutely no continuity. This is far from your standard

concert footage, in other words.

The big downer is that very few songs are in their entirety.

Most cut in just before the vocals, and we are cruelly teased

with maybe a minute or two each of Terrapin and Estimated

Prophet. This really leaves me wanting more! But the footage is

still wonderful and a real gem. One of the highlights is the

footage of the Grateful Dead flag being hung atop a pyramid, to

the tune of Fire on the Mountain

The interviews are *very* informal and include Bill Kruetzman

and Bob Nichols, among others. Some classic moments, like

Kruetzman prophesizing that on the third night the band and

crowd will strike such a chord that the pyramid will crumble

and reveal the hidden UFO inside... and he is dead serious!!!

?We know this wasn?t designed to be a tomb, maaaaan!?

My point in this is not to bash the footage or point out each

and every flaw. I just want folks to have realistic expectations.

It is a far cry from the quality of an official release. Go into

this expecting to see a home movie from a very, very cool road

trip and you won't be disappointed

Comments on the DVD-R:

***Sorry for any confusion, this is ONE DVD with 2 parts.

Overall, the DVD-R is very good. Occasionally the video speeds

up or slows down temporarily, but it is tolerable IMO. Also,

the chapter markers are completely random. The DVD-R

contains 25 minutes of 'bonus' material I am omitting from the

(S)VCD copy (so that it'll fit nicely on 2 discs). The footage

is very obviously from the 60s, and the audio quality is

EXCELLENT. However, the audio is waaaaay out of synch with the

video and is very annoying in that respect. It was obviously

shot on film. The footage has timecode running in the lower

right corner, but it isn't too annoying to me.

Text file I am circulating with the disc:

Grateful Dead

Gizah Sound and Light Theater

Gizah, Egypt

September 14-16, 1978

This footage is from Ken Kesey's archive. He appears in

some shots with the boom pole. Camera operator is unknown.

No other info is available on the source at this time.

Footage from all three nights was used for this compilation

and assembled in a random fashion.

Released by Zane Kesey on VHS. THANK YOU!

VHS > DVD-R by Robbe Smith (robbe on phishhook.com)

and his brother. No other info available at this time.

Circulated by Xan Bonneau (xanbo on phishhook.com)

on 10-16-2003.

This circulates in VCD, SVCD, and DVD /-R formats.

DVD-R Part 1:

01. 00:00 Anubian Folk Song w/ Hamza El-Din

02. 01:56 Ollin Arageed w/ Hamza El-Din

03. 05:03 The Grateful Dead take the stage

04. 12:10 One More Saturday Night (9-16)

05. 16:10 Paul Krasner interviews Lawrence of Winterland

06. 16:44 Truckin' (9-14 or 9-16)

07. 18:41 site seeing

08. 20:25 Paul Krasner interviews Bob Nichols

09. 21:54 Bertha >

10. 29:14 Good Lovin' (9-16)

11. 36:48 Ollin Arageed

12. 37:37 Paul Krasner interviews Blaze part 1

13. 38:45 Iko Iko (9-16)

14. 44:17 Paul Krasner interviews Blaze part 2

15. 44:47 Truckin' (9-14 or 9-16)

16. 49:40 Estimated Prophet (9-15)

17. 50:58 Paul Krasner interviews Bill Kreutzman part 1

18. 53:54 I Need a Miracle (9-16)

19. 55:13 inside the pyramids part 1

DVD-R Part 2:

01. 00:00 inside the pyramids part 2

02. 03:46 I Need a Miracle > It's All Over Now (intro)

03. 07:29 Jack Straw (9-15)

04. 13:22 Paul Krasner interviews Bill Kreutzman part 2

05. 13:56 Truckin' (9-14 or 9-16)

06. 14:38 Grateful Dead flag gets planted on pyramid

07. 15:51 Fire On the Mountain (9-14)

08. 20:24 Ken Kesey discussion

09. 20:55 Row Jimmy

10. 32:15 Terrapin Station

11. 33:29 'Bonus' 60's footage show less

The folk rock band's fourth studio album, featuring "Uncle John's Band."

3/4 (Good).

Some great songs, some not-so-great songs. But they're all songs, which is saying a lot for the Grateful Dead.