Grateful Dead Release 1978 Spring Tour Highlights Box Set

The Grateful Dead have just announced a 19 CD box set of live performances from their 1978 album "Friends of the Devil."Photo byGreg WeaveronUnsplash

The Grateful Dead has just announced their comprehensive new live box set, Friend Of The Devils: April 1978. This 19-disc set, which will be released on September 20, returns to the post-hiatus era, when songs like "Drums" and "Space" were establishing themselves as second-set traditions. Betty Cantor-Jackson originally recorded the shows, and engineer Jeffrey Norman restored and mastered them. The deluxe edition contains 19 CDs, a book with Steve Silverman's liner notes, and photographs by James Anderson, Bob Minkin, and others.

New Grateful Dead Box Set

The Grateful Dead box set Friend of the Devils: April 1978 will have eight concerts that have never been released before. Fans can now commemorate the band's historic 1978 spring tour with Friend of the Devils. According to Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux, "These eight shows tell the story of a band that was engaged, inspired, and focused on bringing their A-game every single night.... If there was ever a tour on which the Dead delivers every single moment, it's this one."

Where To Buy Grateful Dead's Friend of the Devils

Friend of the Devils: April 1978 will be exclusively available from Dead.net, with a limited edition of 10,000 individually numbered copies. It features eight full concerts from April 1978, the Grateful Dead's period of artistic experimentation after their 1976 comeback. They had just released Terrapin Station in '77 and were preparing to play at the Pyramids in September of '78, which was the last full year that Donna Jean and Keith Godchaux were both in the band.

Pre-orders are already underway. Check out the complete list of unreleased concerts below, and listen to the previous unreleased live version of "U.S. Blues" from the April 12, 1978, concert at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The Duke concert will be also released separately on September 20 via Rhino Records in 3CD, 4LP, and digital formats. Preorder Duke '78 here; the full track listing is also provided below.

Previously Unreleased Friend of the Devils Concerts

This box set also includes other shows from this era. Among them are the ones the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA (4/10/78 and 4/11/78); Curtis Hixon Convention Hall in Tampa, FL (4/6/78); the Sportatorium in Pembroke Pines, FL (4/7/78); Cassell Coliseum at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, VA (4/14/78); and Huntington Civic Center in Huntington, WV (4/16/78). The set comes in a box that Steve Vance designed himself and has a wave drum that can be taken off and put back on. Matthew Brannon, a well-known artist, created the artwork on the drum. "U.S. Blues" gives fans a preview of the box set and the Duke University show.

Duke ’78 CD Tracklist

Grateful Dead's Friend Of The Devils: April 1978 box set is packed with songs like “Jack Straw,” “Dire Wolf,” “Beat It On Down The Line,” “Peggy-O,” and “Mama Tried,” to mention a few from the disc one. Also, you will get to enjoy “Bertha,” “Good Lovin," “It Must Have Been The Roses,” and more from the disc two of the box set.

Interestingly, Friend Of The Devils: April 1978 also includes “Good Lovin,” “Candyman,” and “Lazy Lightning,” from the Curtis Hixon Convention Hall, Tampa, FL (4/6/78) concert. When you get the box set, you will also discover the Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, FL (4/7/78) concert with songs like “Promised Land,” “Sugaree,” “Cassidy,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Mama Tried,” and “Mexicali Blues.” Those are just a few of the titles on the albums; be ready to have your mind blown by other songs in the box set.

Wrapping Up

The Grateful Dead's Friend Of The Devils: April 1978 will be released by Rhino on September 20. The newly announced 19 CD box set will include complete recordings of eight previously unreleased Grateful Dead concerts from April 1978. The box set is sure to be a great addition to any Grateful Dead fan's collection.

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Article originally written by Ferri Trust.