Vince Welnick R.I. P.

I think they lost an irreplacable part when Pigpen died. I never liked Donna . She was a shrieking over-singer who IMHO was more of a detraction than contribution. Unfortunately Jerry's voice started deteriorating 76-77 so there was a need for vocal filler, but they could've done better than Donna. I've been to shows where she got booed on her solo song "From the heart of me." No problem with Keith though. I agree that their coming on board and the 2 or 3 years that followed was The Dead's last meaningful period.

Just to chime in I think anyone would agree that the band was at it's apex from 1970-73. There were good shows in '74 and '76-77 certainly have their redeeming moments in a totally different but enjoyable style of music. Sadly for me due to my youth I missed out on all of that. My first show was 7/6/86 when I was 16. Though 86-88 were pretty terrible things began to pick up a bit in '89. I was at those Warlock's shows in Hampton and they were pretty incredible. I'll never forget when the lights came on after the second night, the DarkStar show, and everyone saw each other for the first time and let out an uproarious cheer and everyone started hugging everyone else like mad. That was great and the band seemed really energized through the spring of 1990. I was at Brent's last show at The Tinley World theatre or something like that, an awful venue in Chicago, and after his death the band really went into their final tailspin. What's happening now is sad and the things that I hear through the grapevine about Phil really turn my stomach. Nonetheless we all have a lifetime of live music to enjoy, God bless 'em for that!

Although my favorite era was actually pre-1972, I saw some great shows in all periods, including a few I really loved in 86 and 87. Just like audio, it's all so personal.

I can’t speak to the consistency of earlier GD eras as I wasn’t there, but from what I have heard, the music from the late 60’s to early 70’s seems to be my favorite. It seems groovy, inspired and still fun.

Brent was my era, and while I truly enjoyed his playing, I always felt that they were rarely able to cumulatively bring their A game to the live shows. In the 60-80 shows I saw from 85-90 there were brief moments of music nirvana, but I think it was harder for the collective group to maintain that peak experience for an entire show. I can think of maybe 5-6 shows that stand out as really good.

I only saw one Vince show and I wasn't into it at all. The GD in the 90's just didn't work for me.

I keep hoping that GD Productions will release more multi-channel music (DVDA/SACD). I think if every there was a band made for this format, the Grateful Dead were it.

I saw the Tubes at The Greek during the Prime Time Tour. They were great but it was at a time when Fee Waybill was trying to retire his Qay Lude character and fimding out it was one of the reasons people were coming out to see the band. Very tight band and I hade great seats. I remember I took the little brother of a freind at that time,it was his first concert and he had a blast. He went on to start going to shows then,opened a whole new world for him.