Grateful Dead album

In the fall of 1980 -- in commemoration of their 15th anniversary -- the Grateful Dead presented a total of 25 (note: 26 if you count New Year's) concerts highlighted by a rare acoustic set. This run of shows culminated on, appropriately enough, Halloween with a closed circuit TV special and FM radio simulcast throughout North America. Choice moments were then compiled and unleashed into the burgeoning home video market as Dead Ahead (1981). Also integrated into the final presentation are "unplugged" versions of "On the Road Again" -- which was trotted out specifically for these gigs after a 14-year absence -- and a stunningly poignant reading of "To Lay Me Down" from the previous evening (10.30). The Grateful Dead are in exceptional form throughout, especially the contributions from Brent Mydland (keyboard/vocals), who had effectively replaced the husband-and-wife team of Keith Godchaux (piano) and Donna Jean Godchaux just the year before. Mydland's slightly raspy tenor voice complements the ensemble with an undeniable depth of soul during "Bird Song" and "To Lay Me Down." His respective electric organ solos on "Little Red Rooster" and "Don't Ease Me In" hearken back to the days of seminal Grateful Dead keyboardist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. Taking into account that there really isn't a subpar selection in the lot, among the standouts are Bob Weir's medley linking "Lost Sailor" and "Saint of Circumstance" from the Dead's concurrent studio LP, Go to Heaven (1980). Although edited, Mickey Hart (percussion) and Bill Kreutzmann's "Rhythm Devils" is particularly inspired, as is the funky "Fire on the Mountain" that follows. The 2005 DVD reissue is sizably upgraded with five additional tunes from October 30 -- including a stellar acoustic take of Weir's "Heaven Help the Fool." The audio has been completely remastered with the stereo soundtrack from the original Dead Ahead program. Plus, consumers can select a digitally extrapolated 5.1 mix. The bonus material sounds even better as Grateful Dead engineer Jeffrey Norman returned to the master multi-track tapes to provide a breathtakingly realistic 5.1 Surround Sound experience.

The Grateful Dead got a lot of mileage out of their series of eight concerts held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in October 1980. The shows, each of which featured one acoustic set and two electric sets, provided material for the 1981 live album Dead Set; the final concert, on Halloween, was broadcast on closed circuit television and FM radio; and the October 30 and 31 performances were edited into this home video release. Following a photo collage set to an echoey rendition of "Uncle John's Band," the show is introduced by the tuxedo-clad comedy team of Franken and Davis, whose efforts, also including backstage sequences with Brent Mydland, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann, are only mildly amusing, but harmless. The Dead then play four songs with Garcia and Bob Weir on acoustic guitars -- "Bird Song," "On the Road Again," "To Lay Me Down," and "Ripple." Garcia's vocals are soft to the point of being nearly inaudible, but the interplay between the bandmembers is effective. The first electric set, opening with two of Weir's "cowboy" songs, "Me & My Uncle" and "Mexicali Blues," finishes off with an excellent "Ramble on Rose" and "Little Red Rooster." A second eight-song electric set follows. The inclusion of "Lost Sailor" followed by "Saint of Circumstance," two Weir-penned songs from the recently released Go to Heaven LP, drags the pace of the set, but it finishes powerfully with "Not Fade Away" and "Good Lovin'." The camerawork and editing are straightforward for the most part, although director Len Dell'amico indulges in some visual effects during "Franklin's Tower" and "Rhythm Devils." The first home video of the Grateful Dead ever released, Dead Ahead gives a good accounting of the band in excerpts from two average nights. (The simultaneously released VHS tape did not include the first electric set, and thus ran only 90 minutes, but the 1995 reissue added it in. Meanwhile, the 1995 laserdisc reissue was the first version of the video to be released in stereo.)