Customer Reviews

Closing of Winterland: December 31 1978

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Dead acknowledge the imminent closing of the decrepit Winterland venue with this five-hour New Years Eve musical extravaganza, which has been thoughtfully and carefully preserved in a well-packaged four CD set. The sound quality is flawless, having been translated in HDCD format, and boasts crisp treble and deep, rich bass. Everybody is in top form, and what I like to refer to as the nucleus of Jerry, Phil, Mickey, and Bill interact on such a sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic level, that it appears that they can read one another's minds. In fact, even the photographs in the CD booklet attest to the fact that they clearly enjoyed playing together. The set starts off on CD 1 with a very nice Sugar Magnolia>Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the Mountain and then the band cheerily chugs through a number of concert favorites and a few other pieces from the (at the time) recently released Shakedown Street. As things progress, the band stretches out and the jams become really interesting, with the virtuosic interplay between Jerry and Phil driving it all along. The highlight for me is the 25 minute Terrapin Station>Playing in the Band on CD 2. On Playing in the Band in particular, Jerry unleashes a rapid fire torrent of notes on his guitar that is so dense that it completely surrounds the listener like a heavy rain. Things get even looser and a bit more raw on CD 4 with the Dark Star>The Other One>Dark Star>Wharf Rat>St. Stephen jam. At points in this lengthy workout, Phil's bass playing gets very loud and aggressive and oh, does it sound great! The Closing of Winterland has captured the ecstatic and celebratory mood of the event so effectively that it is readily conveyed to people like me who were not even there (I was suffering through a New England winter). This is a very special recording that should be considered indispensable to any fan of the Dead. Highly recommended.

The first time I heard this was over twenty years ago when a cousin bought a bootleg triple album version. Shortly thereafter, he passed away and its been a prized part of my collection ever since. However, being an album, this meant great songs sometimes stretch from side to side or fade out just when you know the good stuff is kicking in. Well, this includes it all and the sound is great! Its a great representation of a period where the band is at the pinnacle of their abilities with concise, sharp playing as opposed to some of the experimental "you had to be there" that came before and the sadly sludge type playing on many later outings. Sure, its a bit of a greatest hits for those seeking the obscure, but this was a party for the end of an era and the fun is evident in the playing.

The CD soundtrack to the outstanding DVD of the same name stands alone as one of the finest releases ever of the Grateful Dead in concert. The Dead were at the top of their game on this night, the playing is inspired and the set lists are woven together as well as a grandmother's quilt. Among the highlights is arguably the best "I Need a Miracle" jam ever with Matthew Kelly adding blues harp. More standout performances include "Dark Star", "Big River" and a raucous "Ramble on Rose". This show is a must for Dead Heads and a worthwhile introduction for anyone who wants to know how and why there was nothing like a Grateful Dead concert.

I have been a fan of the grateful dead for a few years and i own about 150cd's. This was my first grateful dead dvd buy (because it is also offered in dvd) and let me tell you i am not sorry for it. I am a young fan of the dead at almost 21 years old so i never got to see them in concert with jerry so i figured this would be a good pickup to visually see what they were all about in concert rather than just listening and as i said above it was a good buy. This concert took place on new years eve of 1978 which is a peak era of the band. This was the last concert performed in the winterland arena and it includes a great set list filled with many long jams and short ones too. In my opinion this is a great pickup in either cd or dvd for the hardcore dead fan or a casual fan that wants to explore more of what this band is all about live.

I had been listening to the music of the Dead on albums for a number of years by 1978 but did not actually attend a concert until a few months after this show. It would be fair to say that my attendence at that concert altered the course of my life, for the better, I might add.

This DVD really brought back memories of the intensity that surrounded a Dead concert, the way the band would slowly build up tension, mounting to an orgasmic like crescendo. In a word, this DVD "smokes."

This is one of the best Grateful Dead CDs ever. Ranked as one of the top ten shows in Grateful Dead's history, there's no doubt that this CD is a "must have" for fans and newcomers alike. The date is December 31st 1978. It's New Year's Eve, and The Dead has gotten the honourable task to be the last band to ever perform at this ramshackle ice rink called Winterland.

Kicking off with "Sugar magnolia" only seconds after midnight, The Dead keep on playing and playing and playing 'til the morning comes. Bill Graham forced the band to play three sets plus two encores. People, who were there, have told that it was morning when they went home! The ticket actually included breakfast! The Dead played one of their longest concerts ever, if not the longest.

After the opener "Sugar magnolia", "Scarlet begonias" and "Fire on the mountain" (the combination often known as "Scarlet fire") followed, before they went into two favourite covers, "Me and my uncle" and Johnny Cash's "Big river". The first set also included rare songs like "Stagger Lee" and "From the heart of me", the latter sung by Donna Godchaux. "Terrapin station", Playing in the band", a 20-minute "Not fade away" and Chuck Berry's "Around and around" highlighted the second set. The boys announced they would be back for a third set (something they hadn't done since 1973)! And what a set? It was all back to the late 60s and early 70s.

It all opened with the crowd pleaser "Dark star", a song they hadn't played in San Francisco for 1535 days, according to a banner amongst the audience. In fact, they hadn't played the song since their "Farewell shows" at Winterland, October 1974. No wonder why people got nuts. The band swept through "The other one" before returning for an instrumental second verse of "Dark star". This version of "Dark star" is just beautiful. It's definitely one of my very favorite versions ever! It has this really good feeling. It's like you're just floating away. The tempo is not too fast and not too slow. The only thing I don't like with this version, with only 13 minutes, it's just too short. The band played more oldies: "Wharf rat", "St. Stephen" and "Good lovin'". PS! Did you know that The Dead played "St Stephen" only four times after this performance? After three sets, one would think that Jerry and co. wouldn't play any encores. But they did. They also come out for a second time, finishing this marathon show with "We bid you goodnight". It would have been more correct to change the title to "We bid you good morning" since the sun had been up for hours when the crowd finally got home!

PS! If you want to SEE the entire show, buy the "Closing of Winterland" DVD!

I was just wandering through a music store one day, not looking for a Grateful Dead CD (after all, I already have their greatest hits, right?), but after finding nothing else, I decided to check out what Dead CDs they had here. I picked up this CD, and seeing a lot of my familiar Dead tunes (Fire on the Mountain, Terrapin Station, Sugar Magnolia, etc.)I decided to buy it. Immediately when I got home I began listening to disc one, which began with three favorite songs: sugar magnolia, scarlet begonias and fire on the mountain. But after that, there came many songs I had never heard before, but turned out to be just as good. The Terrapin Station was by far my favorite song on the CD, and the Scarlet Begonias is good too. It was nice to hear some songs that aren't often seen on greatest hits CDs here. Overall, an excellent CD, though I hope you like long songs.

I have the same philosophy with both the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead-- no matter what, the live albums are ALWAYS more essential than the studio albums. Like the Allmans, the Dead revolutionized jamming, and they were the BEST at it.

This live album is huge, spanning 4 cds (The record version is a ridiculous 8 lp's). It is also really really cheap for 4 cds, which is another great reason to buy it. They play their bigger hits, including St. Stephen, Casey Jones, and, of course, Dark Star. The version of Dark Star is relatively short, about 12 minutes before going into a different song, then coming back into the 2nd verse. However, it is truly amazing, one of my favorite versions. They also do some great classic tunes like Johnny B. Goode, It's All Over Now, Around and Around, and the massive behemoth Not Fade Away. Everyone performs beautifully.

I love every single minute of this album. It was actually the first Dead album I bought, and I do not regret it one bit. If you are a fan of jam bands or the Dead in general, you need this. Right now.

I rang in 2007 by listening to this 4-CD set. I've had a bootleg of this show for over 20 years, and I've always thought this was one of the Dead's top-20 concerts. The clean sound offered on this set finally does justice to this great performance (minor note: on the bootleg, John Belushi can be heard, amidst Dan Aykroyd's announcement, saying, among other things, "Explosions ring for the Grateful Dead!"). Some of the jams lag a little, but Weir puts out a powerhouse effort, Lesh's bass will challenge your woofers, and Garcia's sometimes-strained vocals sound positively beautiful on "Terrapin Station" and delightfully down-and-nasty on "Stagger Lee." I defy any Deadhead to tell me that the crescendo between "Dark Star" and "The Other One" isn't one of the greatest moments in rock-'n-roll history!

I'm a long time Dead fan, and a veteran of many concerts. I own many, many live recordings by this band. In my humble opinion, this is the very best live recording by the Dead that you can buy. It's a snapshot of the band at their peak, and the set list and sound quality is phenomenal. Don't hesitate. Buy now.