Grateful Dead ‘Friend Of The Devils: April 1978’ 19 CD Box Set Announced
Grateful Dead have announced the release of Friend Of The Devils: April 1978, a 19 CD box set that includes eight complete shows from the band’s post-hiatus period. The set is available to pre-order now from dead.net and will be released on 20 September.
pre-order Friend Of The Devils: April 1978 here
The Dead have also announced the release of a stand-out show from the box – from Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC on 12 April 1978 – as a 3CD and 4LP set. Duke ’78 is also available to pre-order now.
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 collection’s custom box, which features a removable wave drum. (We invite you to unleash your inner Rhythm Devil.) Acclaimed artist Matthew Brannon created the set’s 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.