And now for something a little different. This year's box set - Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 - offers six complete shows from the epic spring '90 tour, one concert from each city the band played, personally selected by Dead vaultmeister and archival release producer David Lemieux. The sizzling six are: 3/16/90 Capital Centre (Landover , MD), 3/19/90 Hartford Civic Center, 3/22/90 Copps Coliseum (Hamilton, Ontario), 3/26/90 Knickerbocker Arena (Albany, NY), 3/30/90 Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, NY) and 4/2/90 The Omni (Atlanta, GA).

In his "Producer's Note" in the beautiful book that is part of the box, Lemieux, who attended the first 10 shows on the tour, states, "To my ears this was the last tour that was consistently great, where every show is excellent, not a dud in the bunch." And Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally's comprehensive and informative insider's essay in the box is titled "The Last Great Dead Tour." These guys know what they're talking about.

Basically, the band had been on an upward trajectory since Garcia's return to the road in the spring of '87, following his near-death the previous summer. Of course, 1987 was a trip in itself, what with the unexpected mega-success of In the Dark and their first hit single, "Touch of Grey." But the momentum just kept building with each subsequent tour, as Garcia got back up to full speed (and then some!) and the group as a whole was as unified as they had ever been since Brent joined the band in the spring of '79. New original tunes were popping up and the old favorites were imbued with a freshness and spirit that was so uplifting and inspiring. The band was having fun again, and it was downright infectious.

The group's fall 1989 shows-as documented two years ago on the Formerly the Warlocks box (two shows from Hampton, VA, 10/8-9/89) and on the 2001 release Nightfall of Diamonds (a single night in NJ, 10/16/89)- kicked the energy level up another couple of notches, as the band reintroduced such loved classics as "Help on the Way" > "Slipknot!," "Attics of My Life," "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and "Dark Star."

And when the band hit the road in mid-March 1990, they had a bunch of other cool tunes to lay on their unsuspecting crowds, including the return of "Loose Lucy" (last played in 1974; it's not on this box), Brent's "Easy to Love You" (missing since 1980), a rollicking cover of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time," The Band's "The Weight" (with all four singers taking a verse each) and a lyrically retooled "Black-Throated Wind" (absent since 1974), which elicited huge cheers every time it was played.

Over these six shows, most of the cornerstones of the Dead's repertoire from the era appear-splendid versions of "Scarlet Begonias" > "Fire on the Mountain," "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider," "Playing in the Band," "Uncle John's Band," "Eyes of the World," "Estimated Prophet," "Truckin'," "Sugar Magnolia," "The Other One," "Terrapin," "Stella Blue," "Feel Like a Stranger," "Bird Song," "Let It Grow," "China Doll," "Box of Rain," "Morning Dew"; you name it. From the fall '89 breakouts come "Help-Slip-Frank," "Attics of My Life" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy." Among the still newish tunes are "Picasso Moon," "Blow Away," "Foolish Heart," "Just a Little Light," "Victim or the Crime," "Standing on the Moon," "We Can Run" and a couple that would get their final plays from the Grateful Dead on this tour-"Built to Last" and "Believe It or Not." There are stirring renditions of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Black Muddy River," rockin' takes on "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Iko Iko" and the only version of the full "Hey Jude" the band attempted in the modern era. And the "Rhythm Devils" and "Space" jams at the heart of each second set are as noisy-beautiful-scary-funny-intense-mysterious-wild as you'd expect/hope for.

Of course, we understand that some of you may have other favorite shows from this tour you wish were included on this box. Really, you can't go wrong with any of them. But at 18 discs, this is still the second largest Grateful Dead box (after Europe '72: The Complete Recordings) that's been released, and the non-inclusion of any other shows from the tour definitely does not preclude their future release! But this seemed like a more manageable way to go, while still giving a sense of the tour's amazing depth and breadth.

Besides the discs themselves, Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 has much to offer, including: a gorgeous 60-page hardcover book containing copious color photos by Jim Anderson and Michael Laurentus, unique artwork by Brooklyn-based fine artist Wes Lang, fascinating business letters and communications related to the tour, a detailed historical essay by Dennis McNally, a Producer's Note by David Lemieux and individual show descriptions by Blair Jackson; a reproduction of the Dead's 1990 tour program (printed and sold later in '90, for the fall and Europe '90 tours); tickets and backstage passes of all six shows; a band publicity photo from 1990 by Ken Friedman; Dennis McNally's tour laminate; and reproductions of the colored 8x10 sheets GDTS sent out with hotel, food and other information for each city on the tour.

With recordings made by longtime Grateful Dead recordist and producer John Cutler, mastered by Jeffrey Norman in HDCD, you just know it's gonna sound great-and it does!

So, that's the skinny this time 'round. This box is limited to just 9,000 numbered copies - please note, this is the only time these shows will ever be officially available on CD. There will not be an All Music Edition and single shows will not be available physically. Due to ship out August 31st, we anticipate that this extraordinary set will sell-out, so order your copy today!

If you're looking for more of a bite-sized taste of the '90s, Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It, a 2-CD set featuring a handful of favorites, will be in stores on September 18th.

-Blair Jackson

I (held my nose and) bought one.

I saw 10 of the 16 shows (all Hartford, Hamilton, Albany, Nassau) and did think it was one of the last great consistent high-quality run of shows.

I'm disappointed though.....I'm probably in the minority, but I would have paid alot more for the complete tour. When I went to dead.net and first saw "Spring 1990," I was really happy....when I saw it was only 6 shows, 1 per city, I was a little more tempered....especially since they left the 2 best shows (3/24 Albany, 3/29 Nassau) off of the set.....and this box set probably means they never see the light of day.

3/16 Landover - wasn't there, but have heard the tapes and it's very good
3/19 Hartford - it was the better of the 2 nights of Hartford, and very high energy. Setlist is sort of normal by this tour's standards where there were alot of surprises.
3/22 Hamilton - one of my favorites...and definitely the show you will listen to the most if you get it.....great from begining to end except for their 3rd ever (and last) version of Hey Jude.....but it was memorable just seeing the song.
3/26 Albany - this is the one spot where they dropped the ball.....it was the weakest of the 3 nights, parts of set 2 being somewhat sloppy.....and the openiing night 3/24 was blistering from start to finish. The main part of the 2nd set is on Dozin At The Knick....a CD set I can't stand because of how it was butchered up....this run was better as a whole than that result.
3/30 Nassau - it's a great show, but how in their right mind didn't they didn't use 3/29 instead is beyond me....3/29 being the magical night that Branford Marsalis sat in on Birdsong and the whole 2nd set including an out of this world sick Eyes Of The World>Estimated Prophet>Dark Star. The box would sell faster if this was included. Tht said, Nassau was the best stop of the tour, and 3/30 is really good.
4/2 Atlanta - wasn't there and haven't heard in decades..but the setlist looks great.

I was at the Albany and Nassau runs. I agree that the 3/29 show was stellar. The Eyes Of The World>Estimated Prophet>Dark Star is one of my best show memories. I was happy to get at least the Eyes Of The World part on Without A Net. These shows should sound awesome coming from multitracks as opposed to soundboard feeds. The whole tour was recorded for what became Without A Net, so I woud bet the the complete 3/29 show will see the light of day eventually as long as Branford signs of on it. After all, Bobby's got his kids college tuition to pay!

I agree, I can't believe 3/29 was not included. It will probably be available as a single show release. They make you buy the box set and then you buy the single show. This box set is too expensive at $11/disc. I just need the music, not all the ffuffy extra stuff.

I think this will be the first GD box that I may go for the sampler they release in sept. I am generally disappointed in the selection for such a 'large' release. And the cost is a bit high for what one gets. My only concern - and reason why I may still pull the trigger - is that if they screw the pooch on this one, they may find themselves justifying (or not affording) to release other quality boxes in the future.

To me the big issue is that by 1990 imo they were pretty spotty. I have one Oregon show from 3/22/93 that's really nice & Dozin's OK; but I feel they'd hit their last peak by the early-mid 80's.

agreed. The main point of my disappoint in the selection for suck a large release.

Typo, pun or Freudian slip?

Their last peak was Fall 89/Spring 90......then the rest of 1990 was very good. It was downhill from 1991 on........and by 1992, the mediocre/bad outweighed the good.

Just giving my opinion.....not trying to convince.

That's funny! Slip!

Specific to the release; I'm not suggesting the 90 tour is not a high point tour - this was the time that I went to the shows (84-94, with the peak period due to living in Bay Area 86-90). and loved it all. I feel the era would have been better represented with a smaller release (i.e. much like the winterland boxes or Formally the Warlocks set , etc.) I don't feel this was a the right era to create such an expansive and expensive overview that is all. I'd prefer two separate boxes sprinkled in with all the Dave's Pick goodness.

I'd missed this, but they now have details of the 2cd release; Spring 1990 - So Glad You Made It http://www.dead.net/store/spring-1990-s ... ou-made-it

Disc One:
1. LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL> [4:00]
2. FEEL LIKE A STRANGER [7:32]
3. WEST L.A. FADEAWAY [7:33]
4. EASY TO LOVE YOU [5:58]
5. BEAT IT ON DOWN THE LINE [3:19]
6. LOSER [7:31]
7. IT’S ALL OVER NOW> [7:30]
8. JACK-A-ROE [5:00]
9. THE LAST TIME [5:14]
10. BIRD SONG [14:04]
11. BLOW AWAY [11:58]

Disc Two:
1. SAMSON AND DELILAH [6:59]
2. SCARLET BEGONIAS> [11:11]
3. ESTIMATED PROPHET> [10:57]
4. PLAYING IN THE BAND> [8:30]
5. EYES OF THE WORLD [14:50]
6. GIMME SOME LOVIN’> [5:09]
7. MORNING DEW [11:13]
8. NOT FADE AWAY [5:51]
9. ATTICS OF MY LIFE [5:08]

1 week in.....it's still for sale.

2 weeks in.....it's still available.

From what I could tell reading comments, it's was only over 50% sold as of August 6th......probably still alot left.

I'm going to guess that this is the last time they release a box set of anything after 1977.

3 weeks....still available.

Supposedly around 3000 still unsold as of 8/16.

Just got an email that mine has shipped.

There is an "Unboxing" video up at dead.net. This looks to be a really nice package. I am glad I splurged.

http://youtu.be/e3BMLKEeHes

I'm glad the CDs are in plastic trays (as with Dave's Picks)......wish they would have thought of it for the Europe 72 shows/set.

This will more than suffice.

I got it today.......very fast delivery!

Received mine yesterday, #8847. I must say that the packaging, right down to the custom box it was shipped in, is really very nicely done. Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but I am very impressed with the presentation.

I got mine today. The packaging is excellent and it survived the cross-country trip without any damage.