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118 of 121 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE DEAD IN THEIR PRIME, November 16, 2003
This review is from: Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland (DVD)
This release took some time to come out due to having the technology to sync up and clean up the audio and video tracks, many deadheads have tapes and vhs of this since it was broadcasted, but it never sounded better than here (much better than I expected). The video is decent, it's late 70's video, so I was'nt expecting miracles there, it's patchy in spots, but the good sound and performance make this a must have dvd for fans as it is and will be the only concert footage released from the 70's other than the Grateful Dead Movie. The band was at their peak during the 70's - this performance blows away the dvd's from subsequent years. There are many highlights including- "scarlet begonias>fire on the mountain", cippolina jamming on "not fade away", and a short but very good "dark star"...the guitar solo on "wharf rat" is a classic Garcia moment- probably his high point of the show- the whole 3rd set is great. The band is mostly "on" for this one, they were so hot in '77 and '78 that most of the shows ranged from good to incredibly good, this disc is a fine document from a time many fans have been wishing for...excellent work by the GD archivists.
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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Taking ya back 25 years..., November 11, 2003
This review is from: Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland (DVD)
The closing of Winterland was a traumatic thing for alot of Deadheads back in 1978, and this was the final concert performed there on New Year's Eve 1978.
This is my 7th Grateful Dead DVD that I have purchased and...musically speaking it ranks up there with any of the other 7...(the sound is great on this dvd) and hey, maybe for pure content it is the best bang for the buck. Lots of cool jammin going on here, and the concert lasts for over 4 hours. The video quality is not as good as the others (a bit dark) and as can be expected, because it was filmed in 1978. All the other Dead concerts on DVD are from 1987-1991, I believe.
But all in all this is a great DVD to own, simply because the Grateful Dead are the... Grateful Dead. One can't help but to feel happy when listening to the music. I wish that more Dead DVD's would become available at a faster clip... It seems that they are putting out one a year or so. Anyway, the music will take ya away, and the extra bonus features on disc two are great. The 30 minute segment on the closing of Winterland includes old footage of interviews with Deadheads before the show and current day interviews with Bob Weir, Micky Hart and a long time member of the GD road crew... is really a nice segment. Also included in the bonus stuff is two of the songs the "Blues Brothers" did (an absolute riot, they were) in the opening act before Jerry and the boys took the stage. And, not to be forgotten, a piece of the action from New Riders of the Purple Sage, who were also a warm up act.
If you are a true fan of the Grateful Dead, this is a must. To any casual fan of rock and roll fan or music historian, I would highly suggest you pick it up as well. It's R&R history... and some great music, to boot!
Keep the Grateful Dead DVD's coming, its important to keep thier vibe alive... especially in a day where the comtemporary music scene doesn't have much to offer. The Grateful Dead were truly a unique phenomena, and the message that they articulated is one that should be still heard today.
Rock on Jerry.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why it sounds so good, February 28, 2007
This review is from: Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland (DVD)
I won't add to the other raves on the performance. It's a great show by the Dead in their prime. 'Nuff said.
But I will add a note on the sound, since I have some expertise on the subject. When this was taped in 1978, analog recording had reached full technical maturity. Despite all the digital hoopla, many of us in the biz know full well that the best of 70s analog was better than most of 80s digital...and you could take that into the 90s as well. So the sound capture that night was far superior to many of the later Dead releases done on early generations of digital gear. It's most apparent here in the gorgeous sound of Phil Lesh's bass. It's never sounded better on any release in any format. Of course, by the time they got around to remixing the original analog masters for DVD, digital technology was well into its third generation (24-bit resolution, 96kHz sampling or higher) and thus able to fully reproduce the gorgeous analog sound of original. So, crank it up and enjoy the best of the analog and digital worlds.
One final note: The only sonic disappointment here has nothing to do with the recording. It's the instrument. Why was Keith Godchaux stuck with the rinky-tink Yamaha electric? I sorely missed the gorgeous tone of a real concert grand as heard on Europe '72, where his work shone through spectacularly. You can see what he had on the cover of the Europe '72 booklet at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and I expect something similar was on the rider for each show. Was Bill Graham pinching pennies in '78 or what?
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