Wolfgang's Vault

amclark2

Has anybody ever heard of Wolfgang's Vault? Lots and lots of live shows, largely, from the look of it, unavailable elsewhere. They claim to have acquired all te master recordings from Bill Graham Presents. Subscription is $3.99 a month, and that gets you 2 free concerts a week that they pick, plus access to download any show for $5 (longer shows are split into sets). I found it looking for a Dead show; they seem to have quite a selection of those, plus lots more besides. Lots of good looking jazz shows too. I'm intrigued, but wonder if its just some Russian pirate outlet...

amclark2

Wikipedia entry - they have the Newport Jazz and Newport Folk archives too!

choiceweb0pen0

I have. It's been around for several years. They used to let you listen to all kinds of live shows for free on their website and have occasional free downloads of some concerts.They also sold lots of music memorabilia. I haven't been to their website for quite some time now.

Muggsy

It's completely legit. I've been a "VIP" member there for two or three years, which was a great deal because it cost $50 per year but you immediately got a $50 merchandise credit to use on anything at the site, plus discounts, free shipping, etc. They just changed the terms and I haven't re-upped, but I may at some point. They do have a huge selection of historic downloads, many of which are available for purchase though some are streaming only. They also sell a ton of music-related merchandise: concert posters, handbills, photos, etc. I've bought a few old Fillmore posters there.

denver

They used to let you listen for free, but not any more. That's when I quit going there, but it used to be a constant destination for me. It's legit in the sense that it is based on the Graham archives, not a Russian pirate outlet. I really doubt that even a penny goes to performers, though, unless they are also songwriters and have publishing rights. Even then, I wonder...

choiceweb0pen0

That's too bad, Denver. I used to steam to some of the live shows for free. That was the best part of it to me.

anose

I, too, used to listen when it was free. I never considered paying, though, because sound quality on more than a few of the shows was bootleg quality...or worse.

luddite

I got this email around noon today - sale ends tomorrow apparently (for $2.00 I could spring for a show or two.  Any suggestions amclark2?):
>>>>>>>>>>>
The
Grateful Dead may have played their last shows this past weekend, but
that doesn’t mean you can’t listen to them live anymore! Thru Wednesday,
July 8th, Wolfgang’s Vault is offering over 100 live Grateful Dead
shows (1,100+ individual songs) for only $2 each.

 

These shows were recorded from 1966 to 1991 direct from the soundboards
of legendary venues such as the Fillmore West, Fillmore East,
Winterland, Watkins Glen, and many more. You don’t have to say “Fare
Thee Well” quite yet – keep on “Truckin’” with $2 downloads for the next
3 days!

link
>>>>>>>>>>>

ETA: Hmm... the couple of posters on this reddit page about the sale are pretty negative about the 'sale'.

amclark2

Warning I'm pretty much a poser of Dead Fan, only coming to them very late in life and after Jerry was gone...

I was going to say something the other day when you mentioned the Dead but didn't get around to it.

I like this list:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/20-essential-grateful-dead-shows-20130408

And this list:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/nicks-picks

And I really love this blog:

http://www.deadlistening.com/?m=1

But how are you about sound quality? I listen to most of my Grateful Dead from free audience recordings from the Internet Archive. I've pretty much come to like audience recordings better than soundboards.

I might check out this sale though still. I wouldn't feel bad about buying from them; they got the rights from Bill Graham. Years I really like are 1973, 1977 and 1979. Also this might be a good source for good 60's recordings, especially 68 and 69, which are underrepresented in audience recordings.


One other thing, since they mentioned Watkins Glen, check for July 27 and 28, 1973; especially the 27th, which was supposed to be just a soundcheck, but turned into a great show. There are good auds available of it, but a soundboard might be nice.

Plong42, any thoughts?

Doofy

amclark2 said:

Years I really like are 1973, 1977 and 1979.

[ I was at this show in 1979 ]

amclark2

Which one? That link's not working for me. I was 6, so I guess I could've been there, if I'd had cooler parents.

Plong42

Wolfgang's Vault is a strange thing for me. They have some nice deals occasionally, but the $2 Dead shows seem like $2 for what is free on Archive.org or the link on the reddit thread. Some of the stuff they post is good for the money, but I am fairly certain the old tape/CD traders were circulating the shows before Wolfgang opened his vault. 

Having said that, I have a vinyl Thelonious Monk show coming from Wolfgang, and that will join a Miles David and Van Morrison bootleg they produced. They also send an inordinate amount of spam trying to get me to buy old tickets and posters and highly inflated prices. 

Doofy

Well, I thought it was this one in December: https://archive.org/details/gd79-12-09.sbd.miller.27751.sbeok.flacf 

But now I'm thinking it might have been this one in Feb: https://archive.org/details/gd79-02-11.naks.vernon.16468.sbeok.shnf  If only on the basis of the longer drum solo.  Must admit I wasn't that big of a Dead fan, and didn't know a lot of the songs back then

I had great seats, 4th row on the left.  That was because my girlfriend worked at the local head shop, which had a Ticketron window...How's that for a whiff of the 70s?

I also remember Bob Weir had some kind of oscillator/display screen thing he was fascinated with, and played much of the show with his back to the crowd.

amclark2

I wasted some time looking but in the end I didn't get anything. I was about to buy 2/13/1970, but when I realized they wouldn't take pay-pal I gave up on it. I *might* have hit that mediafire site though...