Tag: 3/23/75

There were stinkers in the beginning, in the early years before they quite learned how to play their instruments, and then Garcia was out of tune in 1970 and ’71. 1972 has no bad shows, but ’73 might (depending on how you feel about the Horn Shows). ’74 surely does; the last few performances from the September European tour are among the worst that lineup produced. 1975 was perfect.You may judge early ’76’s slumpy tempos as dealbreakers; this is your right. Depending on your tolerance for late-era Keith’s monotonous comping, ’77 may also contain a clunker or two. ’78 is a fucking mess. After this, no year comes close to batting a thousand.

We are left, in our very important choice of Best EVAR year, with 1972 and 1975, and I vote for ’75. I enumerate my reasons herewith and thereforth:

1. Having your best year while the band is technically broken up is the Grateful Dead way of going about business; it is deeply on-brand.
2. While the Dead achieved numerous career milestones and created some of the most wonderful music of their lives in ’72, they didn’t play Blues For Allah at ten in the morning to a baseball stadium full of teens. 
3. Bill Graham introduces every show in 1975.

Quan Eros Dermatologium.