Complete Debut Concert of the Grateful Dead's 1973 Midwest Tour Presented as a 180g Vinyl 6LP Box Set Mastered from the Original Tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering with Lacquers Cut by Clint Holley and Dave Polster at Well Made Music

Real Gone's previous vinyl releases of Grateful Dead concerts from the Dick's Picks series have encompassed the years 1969, 1972, 1974, and 1977...but there's one year on that list that is conspicuous by its absence. That's right...the label has yet to release a concert on vinyl from what is arguably the peak year of Dead touring, 1973! And what was the peak tour from that year? Yup, the fall Midwest tour. So, the choice of Dick's Picks Vol. 19 as Real Gone's next vinyl "trip" was an easy one.

It was the first concert of the tour, and in fact at the time it was the first full 1973 concert to be released. More importantly, with the release of Wake of the Flood just a few days prior, it finds the band invigorated with a wealth of fresh material to explore, highlighted by stellar renditions of "Stella Blue" and "Eyes of the World." And the two sidelong numbers on the set, "Playing in the Band" and "Dark Star" (which leads into a dazzling "Mind Left Body Jam" and a stirring "Morning Dew"), achieve sheer improvisational bliss.

The original sound mix on this one is superb, and Real Gone has taken great care to preserve it and even improve upon it for this release, with mastering for vinyl from the original tapes by the set's original mastering engineer, Jeffrey Norman, lacquer cutting by Clint Holley and Dave Polster at Well Made Music, and a 180-gram vinyl pressing at Gotta Groove Records. They've also included an insert sporting the graphics from the original release, housed inside a two-piece hardshell box.