GRATEFUL DEAD: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN

The Dead's Largest Boxed Set Ever Commemorates 50th Anniversary With 30 Unreleased Concerts Spanning The Band's Entire Career

Available As Both An Ornate 80-Disc Boxed Set And As A USB Drive, Pre-Order Both Now Exclusively At Dead.net, Available On September 18

Four-CD Version With One Song From Each Concert Will Also Be Available

LOS ANGELES - The Grateful Dead played 2,318 live shows, more than any other band in the history of music. For 30 years, the band's live performances were constantly morphing and evolving, making every show a unique experience. Now, in the midst of their 50th anniversary, the Grateful Dead announce their most ambitious release ever: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN. Available as both an 80-disc boxed set and a custom lightning-bolt USB drive, the collection includes 30 unreleased live shows, one for each year the band was together from 1966 to 1995, along with one track from their earliest recording sessions in 1965. Packed with over 73 hours of music, both the boxed set and the USB drive will be individually numbered limited editions and are available now for pre-order exclusively at Dead.net for $699.98 each with a release date of September 18.

The 80-disc boxed set version comes in an ornate box that is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies, a nod to the band's formation in 1965. Along with the CDs, it also includes a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl single which bookends the band's career. The A-side is "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" from the band's earliest recording session in 1965 with the B-side of the last song the band ever performed together live, "Box Of Rain" recorded during their final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.

"When we began discussing audio projects to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead back in 2012, we knew we wanted to do something completely unprecedented. We could think of nothing more exciting or ambitious than a career-spanning overview of the band's live legacy focused on what best tells the story: complete concerts," says band archivist and producer David Lemieux. "Our first criterion was the very best live music to represent any given year in the band's history. We wanted to make sure that there were not only the tent-pole shows that fans have been demanding for decades but also ones that are slightly more under the radar, but equally excellent. For those who listen to the entire box straight through, chronologically, the narrative of the Grateful Dead's live legacy will be seen as second to none in the pantheon of music history."

The first four shows included in 30 TRIPS have been announced today and include a 1967 show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and a 1987 show at New York's Madison Square Garden. The remaining shows will be revealed in the coming weeks on dead.net so stay tuned for updates. All 30 of the unreleased shows in 30 TRIPS will not be available for individual purchase on CD at any time in the future.

The box also comes with a 288-page book that features an extensive, career-spanning essay written by Nick Meriwether, who oversees the Dead archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with special remembrances of the band submitted by fans. Also included is a scroll that offers a visual representation of how the band's live repertoire has evolved through the years.

The other limited edition version of 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN comes on a USB drive shaped like a gold lightning bolt with the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary logo engraved on the side. The drive includes all of the music from the collection in both FLAC (96/24) and MP3 formats and is an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies.

September 18 will also see the release of a four-CD version of the collection titled 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995. This set serves as an introductory sampler to the Dead's live canon, including 30 unreleased performances - one from each concert in the boxed set - along with the 1965 recording of "Caution." Also featured is an essay by Dead aficionado Jesse Jarnow dissecting every track in the collection, which will be available at all physical retail outlets for a list price of $44.98. A digital version will also be available.

Stay tuned to dead.net for more show reveals over the coming weeks.

30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995
Track Listing

Disc One
1. "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" - 1965
2. "Cream Puff War" - 1966
3. "Viola Lee Blues" - 1967
4. "Dark Star" - 1968
5. "Doin' That Rag" - 1969
6. "Dancing In The Street" - 1970
7. "The Rub" - 1971
8. "Tomorrow Is Forever" - 1972
9. "Here Comes Sunshine" - 1973

Disc Two
1. "Uncle John's Band" - 1974
2. "Franklin's Tower" - 1975
3. "Scarlet Begonias" - 1976
4. "Estimated Prophet" - 1977
5. "Samson and Delilah" - 1978
6. "Lost Sailor>Saint Of Circumstance" - 1979
7. "Deep Elem Blues" - 1980

Disc Three
1. "Shakedown Street" - 1981
2. "Bird Song" - 1982
3. "My Brother Esau" - 1983
4. "Feel Like A Stranger" - 1984
5. "Let It Grow" - 1985
6. "Comes A Time" - 1986
7. "Morning Dew" - 1987
8. "Not Fade Away" - 1988

Disc Four
1. "Blow Away" - 1989
2. "Ramble On Rose" - 1990
3. "High Time" - 1991
4. "Althea" - 1992
5. "Broken Arrow" - 1993
6. "So Many Roads" - 1994
7. "Visions Of Johanna" - 1995

Here is the 4CD general release edition:



Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YDF76AK/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon Canada
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00YDF76AK/?tag=imwanca-20

Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00YDF76AK/?tag=imwan-21

Placed my order!

I got the mega Europe 72 box and have not got 1/2 way through. I enjoy most of it.
How does anyone find the time to play 80 CDs?
This is one of those boxes that are for extreme collectors and die hard fans.
I'll get the 4CD box for sure

I don't even have time to play 4 CDs.....

I will be getting the mega set....
and probably the 4 disc to boot...
I just finished the Dave's Pick's series prior to the recent release...
its a sickness

Anyone know the pricing on the 96/24 USB drive?

shows as the same price: 699.98

No thanks.

That's look like a second mortgage.

Rick A.

Btw...and I am on a kindle so I apologize...but I was just showing my fiancee the set and it is listing all the shows...earlier it was just 4.

From the Dead's Web site, here's the list of the concerts:

Oh boy! We intended to add announce all 30 shows throughout the pre-order period, but we got scooped! So now you have it, but you should stay tuned as we will be revealing tons of great music, artwork, and more.

1966 - 7/3, Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
1967 - 11/10, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA
1968 - 10/20, Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
1969 - 2/22, The Dream Bowl, Vallejo, CA
1970 - 4/15, Winterland, San Francisco, CA
1971 - 3/18, Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO
1972 - 9/24, Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
1973 - 11/14, San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA
1974 - 9/18, Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France
1975 - 9/28, Lindley Meadows, Golden gate Park, San Francisco, CA
1976 - 10/3, Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI
1977 - 4/25, Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
1978 - 5/14, Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
1979 - 10/27, Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, MA
1980 - 11/28, Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, FL
1981 - 5/16, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1982 - 7/31, Manor Downs, Austin, TX
1983 - 10/21, The Centrum, Worchester, MA
1984 - 10/12, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, ME
1985 - 6/24, River Bend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
1986 - 5/3, Cal Expo Amphitheater, Sacramento, CA
1987 - 9/18, Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
1988 - 7/3, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, ME
1989 - 10/26, Miami Arena, Miami, FL
1990 - 10/27, Zenith, Paris, France
1991 - 9/10, Madison Square Garden, NY, NY
1992 - 3/20, Copps Coliseum, Ontario, Canada
1993 - 3/27, Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY
1994 - 10/1, Boston Garden, Boston, MA
1995 - 2/21, Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT

To many late period shows. IMO, they went downhill in a big way after the early 80's.

I'd probably pay $100-$150 for the set in 96/24.

Yeah, one show a year can do that. I was surprised that the digital where the same price as the physical, considering the packaging, etc. I did pull the trigger. !/2 tempted to scoop up a couple more for the post market, but...I've never pulled that trigger in the past.

That's what is giving me pause about this set, too.

Yeah I probably certainly the older shows...and I skipped the first 1990 set...and it bugs me to know end...part I clearly when I pick med up The Other One

That might be the one and only Dead show I attended. Did they play more than one night at MSG?

According to this list, they played nine shows at MSG that September:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~./gdead/setlists/91.html

Fall East Coast Tour: 18 Shows

Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH
9/4/91 (Wed)
9/5/91 (Thu)
9/6/91 (Fri)
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
9/8/91 (Sun)
9/9/91 (Mon)
9/10/91 (Tue)
9/12/91 (Thu)
9/13/91 (Fri)
9/14/91 (Sat)
9/16/91 (Mon)
9/17/91 (Tue)
9/18/91 (Wed)
Boston Garden, Boston, MA
9/20/91 (Fri)
9/21/91 (Sat)
9/22/91 (Sun)
9/24/91 (Tue)
9/25/91 (Wed)
9/26/91 (Thu)

OK, well, it's still possible. I'll have to see if I can find my ticket stub.

Your a lucky guy, she must be very understanding!

Yeah, I thought that went down too easy...but then again she is Fiancee not wife (and she likes the ring - as we say around here: "The power of the ring compels you". (Extra points for reference ID - should be easy).

Sounds like a mash-up of "Lord of the Rings" and "The Exorcist."