Yeeeeeah

The Grateful Dead’s tour of Europe in 1972 has long been held in high regard by the members of the band as well as its staff and fans. The outfit used a 16-track tape recorder to capture every show it performed during its extended, two-month sojourn on the other side of the Atlantic. These audio documents have surfaced regularly over the years, serving not only as the basis for the Grateful Dead’s seminal concert set Europe '72, but also as the impetus for many of its archival releases, including Hundred Year Hall, etc. As good as these efforts were, however, they barely made a dent in the material that the collective accumulated. With this in mind, the long rumored boxed set that the Grateful Dead is planning to issue this fall certainly will put everything into perspective. The massive, limited-edition collection, which is expected to include more than 60 discs, will feature the bulk of the music that the band delivered during its 22-show trek across Europe in April and May of 1972. The $400 price tag might be tough for some of the group’s followers to stomach, but in the Grateful Dead’s rich history, there never was another string of concerts quite like this.