Product Description

The first all new video from America's premier in-concert band in over three years. The Grateful Dead - A View from the Vault is over 2-1/2 hours of LIVE concert footage from the historic concert at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA in July of 1990.

Jerry, Mickey, Bill, Phil, Brent and Bob thrill a packed stadium with the classic performance style that is uniquely their own. This contains both day and night footage, including the first ever video released version of the huge hit "A Touch of Grey".

The DVD version contains over an extra hour of additional footage shot from Cardinal's Stadium during the same tour.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46469 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 215 minutes

Amazon.com
Since 1994, Grateful Dead Productions has answered Deadheads' demands for full, live concerts, releasing a series of shows (blemishes and all) on CD entitled Dick's Picks. So it was only a matter of time before the company dug into the video footage archives. Critics may find the idea of releasing Grateful Dead concert videos amusing. After all, the staunchest Deadhead likely would admit that even on their best nights the boys weren't visually all that exciting a bunch to watch. That said, this full-length show from July 8, 1990 (a mere 16 days before keyboardist Brent Mydland died of a speedball overdose) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offers an intimate look at the dynamics that few could notice when attending a stadium show. For instance, there's the wonderful interplay between guitarist Jerry Garcia and Mydland--each shooting smiles and knowing winks--at each other during "Greatest Story Ever Told." But, really, let's forget the philosophizing and get to the point: Deadheads really want to know the highlights of a particular show. There are several here, including a beautiful, lilting "Eyes of the World," a head-spinning "Let It Grow," Garcia's poignant delivery of the morbid "Black Peter," and, perhaps best of all, an improvisational, untitled jam that emerges from "He's Gone" (this is bonus material from a show two nights before in Louisville, Kentucky). While the entire show is by no means a peak performance by the Dead (though it features a terrific sound mix), it's still a great start to a series that one hopes will continue to evolve. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews

Keep The Effects In The VAULT!
Firstly, I'm very excited that the Dead are starting to release some of their live shows on video. I've been waiting for this for a long time and am totally psyched. From the first instant that the DVD starts you just know it's going to be great. The video quality is absolutely crystal clear and perfect - especially noticeable at the beginning of the first set under the bright and hot July, Pittsburgh sun. The boys are all decked out in their summer finest - Jerry's looking bright-eyed and bushy-faced wearing shorts where you can see his cute little sun-tanned legs! The sound kicks in wonderfully. The vocals are all strong and clear thruout. The 1st set comprises: Touch>GreatestStory, Jack-A-Roe, Minglewood, (RowJimmy, Mama>Mexicali - all 3 missing from the VHS), TomThumb, LetItGrow. Beautiful.

It's once the 2nd set starts that the alarm bells start ringing. Here we go again with that dreamy, solarized, special-effects overlay stuff that, IMHO cripples so many previous Dead video releases. These effects are not only annoying, they are cheap and amateurish and make you want to adjust your TV. I don't know what some of the earlier reviewers are talking about when they say there aren't any. Eyes of the World is utterly ruined by this and most 2nd set songs have at least some of it - especially during the 2nd-set-typical jams and lead parts. It's a real let down when you are watching a great and beautifully filmed Jerry lead get distorted into oblivion whenever it really gets going. And it simply becomes excruciating by show's end. The 2nd set comprises: Samson>Eyes>Estimated>Terrapin> Jam>Drums>Space> Miracle>WangDang>BlackPeter>ThrowingStones>Lovelite, HeavensDoor. Excellent nitetime performances. The DVD version adds 2 Louisville songs: Standing on the Moon and He's Gone.

Really great show with perfect quality definitely worthy of 5 stars. But, I'm dropping 2 stars due to the special effects. Please, GD Merchandising people - drop the effects from future shows. They just don't stand up to repeated viewings. Keep Jerry and Bobby and Micky and Phil and Billy and Brent PURE!

effects have to be included
Let me start off by saying that from 88-95 I attended over 170 Dead shows,so I saw the good,the bad and the the UGLY. This tour,Summer 90 was VERY good,the band [I don't use the term boys]was tight and hitting on all cylinders. I think the reason that all the effects are in it,is because the video is shot from the direct feed at the show. Which means whatever they where showing on the big screen at the show ends up on the video,so i don't think they had any control over that. On to the show,the first set is packed with energy,and is VERY good. The second set had me wondering what happened to Jerry, he only plays one song,post drums/space,it goes drums/space>Miracle>Wang Dang Doodle>Black Peter>Throwing Stones>LoveLight. But the Knockin on Heavens Door makes up for it. The picture and sound are great,I let my friend who's not a Dead Head borrow it,and he LOVES it. I think it's very good,BUT,if they were going to use a show that they taped from Summer tour 90,and they taped all 10 shows that I attended on that tour,they could have used Foxborro 7-14 90,or Buffalo 7-16-90,or the first night of Deer Creek,witch was the best show of the whole tour. I think the Dead should hire a new person to make these selections for them,as I have often been left scratching my head at the slections of Dicks Picks cd's they have put out. I hope I don't end up doing the same with the DVD and VHS selections. Jacob V.

Great show, solid video
This release was greatly welcomed by this household of Deadheads. We'd been hearing that the Grateful Dead's video archive would be opened much as the audio archive has been opened up, and we'd heard that this video series was going to be akin to a Dick's Picks of videos. And, man, oh, man, it is about time. But this video shows that it has been worth the wait. From the first notes, a beaming Jerry sets the tone for night with a lyrically and musically perfect Touch of Grey. The first set includes some favorites like Jack-A-Roe, a wonderful, lilting Row Jimmy, Phil's fun rendition of Dylan's Tom Thumb's Blues, and a set closing Let It grow that sees the band hitting all the marks they should be. Whew. It felt good watching. The second set, however, is where the fireworks are: two hour journey through old and new GD, with nary a break in action for the duration. Sampson and Delilah smokes, but it is the Eyes of the World that explodes. The second jam in the song saw a house full of dropped jaws. The rest of the set is VERY solid, with Estimated Prophet, Wang Dand Doodle, and Black Peter being real standouts. And the "filler", from a show two nights previous...Wow! The two Jerry songs in a row (beautiful renditions of Standing on the Moon and He's Gone) and the jam that follows are out of this world. Real icing on the cake. Nearly four hours of music, and all we could say is "when does the next one arrive..." Keep these coming; they are the next best thing to being there.