Product DetailsGrateful Dead – Friend of the Devils: April 1978 (Animated Unboxing Video)

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WHAT’S INSIDE:Curtis Hixon Convention Hall, Tampa, FL 4/6/78Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, FL 4/7/78Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL 4/8/78Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 4/10/78Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 4/11/78Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC 4/12/78Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA 4/14/78Huntington Civic Center, Huntington, WV 4/16/78

Recorded By Betty Cantor-JacksonNewly restored and speed-corrected audio by Plangent ProcessesMastered by Jeffrey NormanLiners By Author Steve SilbermanArtwork By Acclaimed Artist Matthew Brannon

Limited To 10,000 Individually Numbered CopiesDead.net Exclusive

Its been said before but April 78 was an incredible month for the Dead. Like May 77, you could throw a dart and guarantee you hit a stellar show. – KyloRensPecs, r/gratefuldead, Reddit

…. April/May ’78 has a lot of the same qualities of Spring ’77 but with some extra edge and a much bigger sound from the Rhythm Devils. A really special era that often gets neglected. – viewtiful_alan, r/gratefuldead, Reddit

Sportatorium – April 7, 1978

when drums started I thought, oh s*#!, i hate drum solos and Billy and Mickey stopped me in my tracks. Wow, these guys are really good. Little did I know the pervasive influence this phenomena would have on my life. – pearlybakerbest, Dead.net

Huntington Civic Centre, West Virginia 16 April 1978

This is another must-hear concert by The Grateful Dead. The sound and mix are almost absolutely perfect’… Its difficult to pick out highlights because everything is played so well; the band are tight, Donna is great and the set list is strong. – Grateful Ted,gratefulted.co.uk

We’re hitting the bullseye with the eight previously unreleased stellar shows that make up FRIEND OF THE DEVILS: APRIL 1978. Filled to the brim with peak performances from the Grateful Dead’s post-hiatus period, this collection captures the historic tour where “Drums” begat “Space,” morphed into “Drums”>”Space” and cemented the Rhythm Devils’ second-set power move from the music business to the “transportation business.”

Spring 1978 finds the Dead consistently weaving spontaneous magic, showing signs of great promise and potential – from the no-nonsense rock’n’roll in Tampa, where scholars cite the first “Drumz” leading into “Space,” to the lengthy communal get down in Pembroke Pines to Jacksonville where the twain emerge fully formed, offering the primordial opportunity for “soul retrieval.” It’s evident in the dynamic range delivered on back-to-back nights at the intimate Fox Theatre and through the laid-back unity of the band’s performance in Durham at Duke, a comfort that carries over to Virginia and West Virginia where the playing is unbridled, bursting with momentum, threatening to carry itself away. And nowhere can you hear that more clearly than through Betty Cantor-Jackson’s original recordings, reliably crisp, bright, and vivid.

Individually numbered to 10,000 copies and exclusive to Dead.net, FRIEND OF THE DEVILS: APRIL 1978 has been mastered by Audio Engineer Jeffrey Norman using Plangent Processes tape restoration and speed correction. Steve Vance designed the collections custom box, which features a removable wave drum. (We invite you to unleash your inner Rhythm Devil.) Acclaimed artist Matthew Brannon created the sets original artwork. The collection also includes a 48-page book with original liner notes by author Steve Silberman and photos by James Anderson, Bob Minkin, and more.