Albert Hofmann, father of drug LSD, dies in Switzerland

"GENEVA - Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD whose medical discovery inspired — and arguably corrupted — millions in the 1960s hippie generation, has died. He was 102.

Hofmann died Tuesday at his home in Burg im Leimental, said Doris Stuker, a municipal clerk in the village near Basel where Hofmann moved following his retirement in 1971.

For decades after LSD was banned in the late 1960s, Hofmann defended his invention.

"I produced the substance as a medicine. ... It's not my fault if people abused it," he once said..."

Click here for the full story

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 9 recordings for download and stream from 5 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1977 - 89...click here for the shows.

Bob Weir's cutoffs not going to Grateful Dead archive

"Backstage passes, concert posters, old stage props, and fan mail were all the buzz at a press conference last week at the Fillmore Auditorium. San Francisco psychedelic rock pioneers and Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famers the Grateful Dead announced the donation of the band's extensive archive — which documents the group's history from 1965 to the present — to the University of California at Santa Cruz.

It was initially unclear whether one famous item of apparel would be part of the archive: Bob Weir's famous cutoff denim shorts. While Catherine Bach may have introduced them into pop culture in her role as the leggy cousin of Bo and Luke Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard, if there's one person who is responsible for bringing Daisy Dukes — the outrageously short cutoffs — to rock 'n' roll, it's Weir..."

Click here for the full story...

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 16 recordings for download and stream from 6 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1971 - 89...click here for the shows.

[GDTSTOO] 2 shows with RatDog and ABB

The latest missive from GDTSTOO:

"Bob Weir @ RatDog and the Allman Brothers Band
will play the following shows:

Friday, August 15 at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ.
Doors open at 6:00 PM. Show time is 7:00 PM.
Reserved seats are available at $75.25 per ticket.
Lawn tickets are available at $34.25.
Prices include parking.
========
Wednesday, August 20 at the New England Dodge Music Center,
Hartford, CT.
Doors and show time to be announced.
Reserved seats are available at $69.00 per ticket.
Lawn tickets are available at $31.50.
====================================================
We can tell you that we are going to be able to fill all the orders
so far received. We will get tickets to you in due time.
========
Please note that the US Postal Service is adding 1 cent to the
current regular mail price of $0.41. Stamps at $0.42 are available
at this time.

Of course this always happens as we are working on large amounts
of orders for the Summer Tours. We will have 'one centers' available
to add to your orders that are already in our office.
========
First post mark dates for these 2 shows will be from Wednesday,
April 30 through May through Saturday, May 3.
Mail order will remain open beyond those dates.

The Crew of GDTSTOO
April 29.2008

--

"Deadheads have what I consider to be
one of the most positive developments
in the history of spirituality:
a religion without beliefs."

John Barlow

Web Site: http://www.gdtstoo.com
email: GDTSTOO@gdtstoo.com
Customer Service Number: (415) 898-2364
Monday-Friday,9 am-6pm, PST.
To subscribe to our email announce list, send empty email to
GDTSTOO-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"

Grateful Dead Taper's Section: April 28 - May 4, 2008

"As always, lots of great music was found to fit into this week's installment of the Tapers Section, and we're going to play some acoustic music, followed by some electric music.…"

Click here for the selections.

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 18 recordings for download and stream from 5 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1971 - 91...click here for the shows.

Jam Into Milestones-Ratdog AZ 4-27-07

Ryan Adams, Phil Lesh & chad tasky - Cold Roses (4-27-06)

Estimated Prophet - April 26, 1977

Video of the Grateful Dead performing the song "Estimated Prophet" on 4/26/77, Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ...

Several more videos from the show here.

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 8 recordings for download and stream from 5 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1969 - 83...click here for the shows.

UC Santa Cruz creating 'Dead Central' room to house new Grateful Dead collection

The Grateful Dead's long strange trip through American popular culture is ending in a library at the University of California at Santa Cruz, preserved for future generations of study by scholars and stoners.

Three decades worth of archival materials - from business correspondence to stage backdrops - has been donated by the band to the school's McHenry Library, where a room called Dead Central is being dedicated to a beloved band dubbed "the largest unofficial religion in the world."

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal will join Dead drummer Mickey Hart and guitarist and singer Bob Weir in an announcement of the donation at an 11 a.m. press conference today on the Dead's Web site (www.dead.net) live from San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, the birthplace of the San Francisco's psychedelic scene.

The gift contains none of the band's vast musical recordings; those are stored in an Los Angeles-based vault belonging to producer Rhino Records, where they continue to make money through re-releases.

But it contains valuable artifacts that document the band's ascendence into California's most durable and influential musical phenomena. Currently held in a 2,000 square foot San Rafael warehouse, the collection includes their first recording contract. It also holds an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 fan letters from around the world, most decorated with art.

Click here for the full article.

Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2: October '77

First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2008, Volume 15, #4, Written by John Metzger.

"It’s hard to go wrong with anything that the Grateful Dead did in 1977. Even a compilation of material like Road Trips, Vol. 1, No. 2 comes out smelling like roses. Although nearly all of the shows from the era are worthy of release, the realization of this vision is impractical and commercially unviable, especially if a consistent level of sonic clarity is to be achieved. Of course, the utmost care must be taken when pulling the band’s songs out of context. In this particular instance, however, the collection’s jigsaw puzzle construction — which delicately reassembles the bits and pieces of a trio of concerts that were held within the span of five days in mid-October — arguably fares better than the full-length performances from whence they came."

Click here for the full review.

Excerpt from Dead.Net News -- April 23, 2008

"Tomorrow, April 24th at 11:00am Pacific Time, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart will participate in a press conference from the Fillmore Auditorium to announce an important new partnership between GDP and the University of California at Santa Cruz. Fans, scholars and Dead Heads of all kinds can watch this event live on dead.net courtesy of iclips.net. Streaming video of the broadcast will be available for a period of time after the conference as well. Fire up your browsers and tune in!"

[GDTSTOO] RatDog, Mickey, Billy, Gov't Mule, ABB and more.....

The latest missive from GDTSTOO:

"We are really pleased to offer you a show with Bill Kreutzmann.
This is a boating show on Sunday, June 1, Aboard The Temptress,
at Pier 81 - the World Yacht Marina, NYC, 41st and West Side HIghway
Show time: Boarding at 6:00 PM. Departure at 7:00 PM.
General Admission tickets are available at $39.00 per ticket.
=========================================================
Bob Weir and RatDog and Gov't Mule will play the following shows:

Saturday, June 21 at the Wanu Theater, Settle, WA.
Doors open at 6:30 PM. Show time is 8:00 PM. All ages welcome.
This is a General Admission event. Mail order tickets are
available at $48.50 per ticket.
========
Monday, June 23 at the Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise, ID.
Doors open at 4:30 PM. Show time is 5:30 PM. Åll ages welcome.
This is a General Admission event. Mail order tickets are
available at $40.00 per ticket.
========
Tuesday, June 24 at The Depot in Salt Lake City, UT.
Doors open at 6 PM. Show time is 7:00 PM. Age limit: 21 and older.
This is also a General Admission event. Mail order tickets are
available at $53.00 per ticket.
========
Friday, June 27 at the Ironstone Amphitheatre, Murphy's, CA
Doors open at 6:30 PM. Show time is 7:30 PM. All ages welcome.
Reserved tickets are available at $154.00 per ticket (the very best
seats....) and $79.00 per ticket. General Admission tickets are
available at $49.00.
========================================================
Bob Weir and RatDog and the Allman Brothers Band will
play the following show:

Wednesday, August 13 at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY.
Show time is 7:00 PM.
Mail order tickets are available at $70.00 per ticket.
=========================================================
The Mickey Hart Band, featuring Steve Kimock on guitar,
George Porter Jr. on bass, Jen Durkin on vocals, and talking drum
master Sikiru Adepoju, will play the following show:

Sunday, July 20 at the Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD.
Doors open at 7:00 PM. Show time is 8.30 PM. All ages welcome.
Mail order tickets are available:
VIP at $39.25 per ticket. General admission at $29.25 per ticket.
=====================================================
The Harmony Festival at the Santa Rosa, CA Fairgrounds
on Friday, June 6.
Show Time: 2:00 PM features the Mickey Hart Band Jackie Green and Moon Alice.
The Night show, show time 10:00 PM at the Grace Pavillion:
"Landing of the Mother Ship".
Tickets are available for the Day Show at $34.00 per ticket.
A combo package for both the 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM shows is available
at $54.00 per.
Weekend pages are available at $103.00 per.
======================================================
Wavy Gravy's Birthday Party on Thursday, May 15: We are offering
Circle Of Schmooze tickets via credit card for this performance.
Please check our website for details.
=======================================================
First post mark dates for all these shows will be Thursday, April 17
through Monday, April 21. As per usual mail order will remain open
for all these shows beyond those dates.

The Crew of GDTSTOO
4.16.2008
--

"It's gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so
Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin' slow
My time coming, any day, don't worry 'bout me, no
Don't worry about me...."

Weir/Barlow

Web Site: http://www.gdtstoo.com
email: GDTSTOO@gdtstoo.com
Customer Service Number: (415) 898-2364
Monday-Friday,9 am-6pm, PST.
To subscribe to our email announce list, send empty email to
GDTSTOO-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

“Wetlands Preserved” Celebrates Music, Activism, Stoned Rock Stars

"Between its birth in 1989 and its closing in 2001, a tiny downtown club called Wetlands served as a vital meeting point for music and activism in New York City. Today marks the DVD release of Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club (First Run Features), a documentary directed by Dean Budnick and produced by Peter Shapiro, who also owned the venue during its final years. The hippie-dippie interior (complete with a made-over VW bus that acted as the merch table, which now sits in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) made it a haven for jam bands, though Wetlands also helped usher in the third generation of ska, supported hardcore punk acts and booked hip-hop and Brit-pop (Oasis played their first American show at the club).

The film is a heartfelt rememberance of the scene with interviews and music from the Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam, Blues Traveler and Sublime, among others. “It was certainly not a traditional live music room — big box, perfect sightlines — but it was about interaction,” explains Shapiro, who also produced U2 3D. “A big part of the film talks about the set breaks. We would encourage bands to play two sets with long breaks in the middle so people could hang out with their friends.”"

Click here for the full story.

Dark Star Orchestra @ the Oriental Theater

"Dark Star Orchestra makes you feel the fleeting moment, but the Grateful Dead cover band falls short of recreating entire shows.

There is something inherently sad about a tribute band.

Sure, the music brings you back. There is talent on stage. The music is worthy of tribute and the historical perspective is valuable.

But there is a vague dysphoria up there too, especially when the tribute band is covering a band heralded for its creativity, dynamic interplay and spontaneity. There is no question the musicians of Dark Star Orchestra are skilled. They are master tacticians, able to mirror not just the sound, but the subtle themes and vibes projected by their long-gone mentors, the Grateful Dead."

Click here for the full article.

Grateful Dead Taper's Section: April 21 - 28, 2008

"Well, with today being 4/21, and a Monday, we're sure many of you are feeling a little tired, so we'll start this week with something mellow to get you into the groove…"

Click here for the selections.

Friend of the Devil

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 26 recordings for download and stream from 6 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1978 - 87...click here for the shows.

[GDTSTOO] Re: RatDog in the Bay Area and more.

The latest missive from GDTSTOO:

"We are pleased to let you know that Bob Weir and RatDog
will partner a number of the summer shows with Gov't Mule.
Bob Weir and RatDog will close all these shows.
Gov't Mule has been added to the LA. Greek and San Diego shows.

Bob Weir and RatDog and Gov't Mule will play the following shows:

Friday, June 20 at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre, Eugene, OR.
Doors open at 5:30 PM. Show time is 6:30 PM.
All ages welcome. This is a General Admission show.
Mail order tickets are available at $39.00 per ticket.
========
Wednesday and Thursday, July 9 and 10 at the
Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA.
Doors open at 4:30 PM. Show time is 6:00 PM.
All ages welcome.
Reserved mail order tickets are available at $69.00.
General admission tickets are available at $49.00.
========
We will shortly have information for more shows with this combo.
================================
Tickets are still available for the Bob Weir and RatDog shows
at Jacksonville, OR, San Diego, CA and Hampton Beach, NH.
Please check our web site fore the details.
=====================================================
More shows with Bob Weir and RatDog and the Allman Brothers
Band will be posted soon. For now we have one new show confirmed:
Friday, August 22 at the CMAC, Canandaigua, NY.
Showtime is 7:30 PM. All ages welcome. We can offer two
Reserved tickets: at $73.50 per ticket and at $53.50 per ticket.
Lawn tickets are available at $33.50 per ticket.
Tickets for the Camden and Mansfield shows are available. Check
our web site for the information.
=======================================================
On to the Mickey Hart Band, featuring Steve Kimock on guitar,
George Porter Jr. on bass, Jen Durkin on vocals,
and talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju.

Wednesday, July 9 at the Berchmere Bandstand, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave
Alexandria, VA. Doors open at 6:00 PM. Show time is 7:30 PM.
This is a General Admission show. Mail order tickets are
available at $47.00 per ticket. Will/Call only for this show.
========
Thursday, July 10 at the Community Theatre at Mayo Center
for the Performing Arts, Morristown, NJ. All ages welcome.
All seats are reserved. Mail order tickets are available at $46.50 per ticket.
========
Friday, July 11 at Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA.
Doors open at 6:00 PM. Show time is 8:00 PM.
This is a General Admission show. Mail order tickets are
available at $33.00 per ticket. All ages welcome.
========
Tuesday, July 15 at the Fillmore, NY at Irving Plaza, New York, NY.
Doors open at 8:00 PM. Show time is 9:00 PM. Age limit: 16 +
This is a General Admission show. Mail order ticket are
available at $39.00 per ticket.
========
Friday, July 18 at the Magic City Music Hall, Johnson City, NY
Doors open at 6:00 PM. Show time is 8:00 PM. All ages welcome.
General Admission tickets are available at $39.00 per ticket.
========
First post mark dates for all these shows will be Saturday, April 19
through Tuesday, April 22. Please note that all RatDog and
Mickey Hart shows will remain open beyond these dates until
further notice.

Tickets are still available for the shows in Jacksonville, OR,
Hampton Beach, NH and Humphrey's in San Diego.

We will sent information about more shows as they are
confirmed, so keep an eye on our web site.

The Crew of GDTSTOO
April 18, 2008

--

"It goes to show you don't ever know
Watch each card you play
and play it slow....."

Robert Hunter

Web Site: http://www.gdtstoo.com
email: GDTSTOO@gdtstoo.com
Customer Service Number: (415) 898-2364
Monday-Friday,9 am-6pm, PST.
To subscribe to our email announce list, send empty email to
GDTSTOO-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"

The beat generation

"Renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain will return to town with his Masters of Percussion this weekend. Hussain is 57 and has been tapping away on his instrument now for a half century. He continues to regard it as a mystery, though, full of youthful wonder.

The son of the late tabla legend Ustad Alla Rakha has become arguably its best-known practitioner, through film work, collaborations with the likes of Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, lively performances and various university teaching clinics."

Click here for the full article.

Ex-Dead member to play Saturday in Park, sites say

"SIOUX CITY -- Phil Lesh & Friends, the band of one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, are set to play Saturday in the Park, according to two Web sites that track jam bands, Jambase.com and Bandsthatjam.net..."

Click here for the full story.

There's a message with the music at Green Apple Festival

"For former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, his next gig is just a trip back in time.

"In the '60s, music festivals were all about coming together to celebrate and spread the word about what people were feeling," he says. "Then it was about the (Vietnam) war and a cultural revolution. This time, it's about saving the planet."

This Sunday, Hart co-stars with a legion of top talent in the multi-city Green Apple Festival. It's a harbinger of summer music fests that place as much of a spotlight on green awareness as on their sonic offerings.

Green Apple started in 2006. This year, eight cities will host a range of acts in a variety of public settings."

Click here for the full article.

Grateful Dead- Truckin' 4-17-72

...and 10 or 11 more videos from this show here.

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 19 recordings for download and stream from 6 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1972 - 89...click here for the shows.

Big Railroad Blues, Phil & Friends with Trey & Page 4/15/99

Grateful Dead Shows on This Day in History

Archive.org has 21 recordings for download and stream from 8 different shows played on this date......years covered are 1969 - 89...click here for the shows.

Grateful Dead Taper's Section: April 14 - 20, 2008

"This week we're going to check out some cool, under-the-radar material from early 1971, as well some other great stuff..."

Click here for the selections.

‘Panic’ hits the glass house

"By ERIN EDGEMON, Business Editor – April 13, 2008

“When The Grateful Dead are gone there will be Widespread Panic.”

I am not sure who first said this, but Murfreesboro Post staffer Travis Swann often repeats it when referring to the Southern jam band Widespread Panic.

Panic has become this generation’s Grateful Dead attracting mega-fans who have developed powerful connections with the music.

“Everybody is there to see Panic,” Swann, who has seen Panic four times, said of Widespread Panic shows. “You don’t have people going to be going.

“Their music is always moving,” he said. “It never lets up from start to finish.”

The Athens, Ga.-based band that is a little bit Grateful Dead and a little bit Lynyrd Skynyrd is making a stop at MTSU’s Murphy Center April 16 as part of its spring tour in support of the new album, “Free Somehow.”"

Click here for the full article.

Tripping back to San Francisco: art fuelled by acid

"In the heyday of psychedelic rock, the Fillmore auditorium was the place to be – as an auction of the venue's eye-popping artwork demonstrates

It was the hazy acid-soaked heyday of psychedelic rock when the cool kids of West Coast America crammed into the now-legendary Fillmore auditorium to witness the birth of bands who came to epitomise the rebellious spirit of the 1960s.

Night after night, fresh new acts such as The Grateful Dead and The Doors would pound out the unfamiliar yet seductive sound of swirling keyboards, feedback guitars and hypnotic vocals that held an entire generation of fans in thrall.

The Fillmore, which became a focal point for San Francisco's music scene, became famed not just for its trance lightshows and sell-out performances but also for the owner's habit of giving away free apples and posters to bleary-eyed audience members after every show. The artists who provided the inspiration for the handbills, with their deathly images of skeletons and flying eyeballs in vivid colours, became as synonymous with the psychedelic movement as the bands that played the Fillmore."

Click here for the full article.

Dark Star Orchestra gives new life to Dead repertoire

ASPEN — The early part of Rob Barraco’s music career was almost entirely improvised, as he took one unplanned step after another. In the mid-’80s, while trying to gain a foothold in New York City’s jazz scene, Barraco, a Long Island-bred keyboardist, was part of a recording session in the city. The group caught the attention of a producer down the hall, who was making a comedy album but had his ears open for another project: a TV sitcom he was involved with needed a jazzy soundtrack. The group was hired for the upstart program, and Barraco spent a decade as the keyboardist for “The Cosby Show.”...

Click here for the full article.