If you thought the Grateful Dead’s vault of live shows was tapped out, think again. For the band’s 60th birthday, they’re dropping a box set so gloriously excessive, even the most hardcore Deadhead might need a six-month sabbatical to digest it. Enjoying the Ride—a 60-CD leviathan—is here to swallow your soul, one unreleased jam at a time. Priced at $600 (natch), this cosmic caravan packs 20 shows from 1969 to 1994, spanning Red Rocks to the Fillmore, with 450 tracks and 60 hours of music. Let’s just say Jerry’s grinning somewhere.
But wait, there’s a twist—because nothing’s straightforward in Deadland. Archivist David Lemieux wanted 21 venues represented. But 63 discs? “Nah, that’s not a vibe,” he told Rolling Stone. So, they tossed in a cassette. Yes, a cassette—80 minutes of a fuzzy, fiery ’69 Avalon Ballroom gig, because why not? It’s the Dead’s world; we’re just dancing in it.
For mortals who can’t swing $600, there’s The Music Never Stopped—a 26-track “highlights” reel (three CDs for $40, six LPs for $150). But let’s be real: The true heads want the full trip. Seventeen shows are complete; three patch in adjacent nights where tapes crumbled. None have been released in full before, and Rhino swears 450 tracks are virgin wax. Even Dick’s Picks loyalists will feel like they’ve mainlined lightning.
Digital disciples aren’t left out: FLAC files for $500, ALAC for $400. But CDs still matter, dammit—all 6,000 numbered boxes do. And with 1,200 shows still vaulted, the Dead’s afterlife rivals their legendary 30-minute “Dark Stars.”
Meanwhile, Dead & Company—Bobby, Mickey, and John Mayer, still channeling Garcia in his eternal bandana—are taking over Vegas’ Sphere again, because 60 years in, the circus never folds. Phil Lesh’s absence lingers (RIP, low-end wizard), but the train rolls on.
So crank up the 60-CD time machine. The Dead’s magic isn’t in the notes—it’s in the spaces between. And this box? It’s a galaxy.
Setlist trivia: The ’77 Englishtown Terrapin? The ’81 Nassau Shakedown? All here. But the real gem? That cassette. Because nothing says “Dead” like a format that died in the ’90s.
