The Grateful Dead - Downhill From Here

Starring:Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia
Studio: Monterey Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Made for hard-core Deadheads only, this two-and-a-half-hour-long concert video (released after the death of leader Jerry Garcia) captures an entire live show by the psychedelic pioneers. Shot in the summer of 1989 at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, the Dead are caught during one of their latter-day musical peaks. Appearing jovial (Garcia actually moves during several tunes!), the band provides numerous patented extended jams during a two-set, 23-song performance. Lively highlights include Garcia's blistering solos during "Deal" and "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider"; the spacey pairing of "Uncle John's Band" with "Playing in the Band"; and the tender ballad "Standing on the Moon." The motionless Dead were never a visually compelling live act, so viewers shouldn't expect anything more than close-ups of the sextet's faces and hands. However, such a conventional approach is preferred over the cheesy kaleidoscope of video effects that mar numerous songs here. --Dave McCoy

Product Description

Recorded LIVE in 1989 at Alpine Valley Music Theater, a favorite "Dead Head" destination, Downhill From Here captures "The Dead" at the apex of their career. Includes Alpine Valley concert facts.

System Requirements:
Running Time: 154 Minutes.

Format: DVD VIDEO

Customer Reviews:

The Single Best Dead Video Recording.......2007-05-31

Yes, this does encompass the Dead over a three day run at Alpine which has been combined into one "show." But if you are going to buy one Dead DVD, this is the one. I have all of the Dead DVD's (and quite a few of the bootlegs) but this is the one I always put on to impress the unfaithful. The Dead are on fire on this DVD. Like a good story, they set the stage, and then they just build on it, song after song, until you just can't take it anymore.

In short, the single finest Dead DVD available.

This is a 1999 STEREO ONLY DVD.......2006-10-28

There are two aspects to discuss here, sound quality and video quality, both of which are just adequate, not great. Ignor all comments you will read below in the other reviews about this disc having great video and sound quality. Not true. The video is, in fact, blurry especially in the low light conditions of the second set. Pay close attention during China Cat/Rider, for example, and look at the full area of the picture frame, particularly to the sides and in the background. It is fuzzy and ill defined. This degraded resolution exists throughout the second set. The first set is better due to its being earlier in the afternoon with more daylight. The second set is at night and the resolution is blotchy. Do not worry too much about this poor video aspect of the disc, and do not avoid purchasing the DVD because of this one factor, just be aware that the video quality is merely adequate. It still picks up all of the great interaction between the players and you will soon adjust to it.

The second aspect is the sound quality which is good (for stereo) but not great. It does not compare well, for example, to the phenomenal sound quality of the 5.1 Dolby surround sound of the 2005 DVD Truckin to Buffalo featuring another 1989 concert. If you have a modern surround system capable of handling house shaking high volume output of the 5.1 digital track of the thunder sound effects during Looks Like Rain on the Buffalo DVD, you will at first be disappointed with this Alpine Valley disc. Again, do not be overly put off by this comment. This is a stereo recording remastered in 1999 and you still can get decent and enjoyable results from using the synthesized surround features of your system. This is not a "demonstration quality" sound track that you will use to impress your friends, but as with the video portion, you will be able to adjust yourself to the sound and you will be able to enjoy this excellent concert.

Monterey Video produced this DVD and it pales in comparision to the Farewell to Winterland DVD they put out in 2003. That one is arguably the finest Dead DVD produced to date, so do not assume that the quality of their other productions is the same as this Alpine one. They simply did not devote the same resources to the production of this particular concert DVD. More likely, they did not have the technology and equipment available in 1999 that they had in 2003.

The bottom line is that despite appearances to the contrary, I do think you should consider adding this DVD to your collection. Just realize that it will not be the marquee of your Dead portfolio. Do not be scared away by my candid comments about video and sound quality. I just want you to be aware of what you are getting. Note that I have not disparaged the performance of the Dead in this concert per se. Do pay attention to the comments in the reviews below in this respect, some of which eloquently describe the performance. Best regards from an older Dead Freak who was a student at Stanford and was there in Palo Alto listening to Jerry play banjo in 1968.

Excellent Example of 80's Dead.......2006-07-11

First, let me get out of the way one reviewer's comment about how bad the video supposedly is. Rubbish. The reviewer needs a new DVD player. It looks just fine.

The music is about as good as any show from that period. You won't get golfballs from a walnut tree, and you won't get truly classic Dead from 1989. With some exceptions, the jams had gotten shorter, and the shows more formulaic. Everyone has his own preferred setlist, and mine happens not to include Let the Good Times Roll (ZZZZ) or Johnny B. Goode (many others do it better), but Garcia was fully capable of playing inspired music at that point and he does so here, in China Cat (goosebumps), for example, or The Wheel (lovely and ethereal). I loved seeing him beam beatifically at Brent, who gazes at him with the face of an adoring puppy, and launch into the kind of intricate, melodic run that only Garcia could do, with the most relaxed expression on his face. It's true that he looks twenty years older than he was -- that's what fifteen years of the Persian, Haagen-Dazs, and channeling the energy we all wanted from him will do, I suppose -- and it's sad, but he lived the life he wanted, and we were the beneficiaries.

It's a solid performance, with nuggets to amuse any fan, and a well-filmed production thankfully free of "trippy" gimmicks.

My Favorite!.......2006-06-11

Downhill From Here-Alpine Valley
This video encapsulates the best Deads performance that I've seen. I also own other video's like View from the Vault I thru III, and Ticket To New Year's, Trucken Up To Buffalo, but in my opinion this concert takes me back to "being there" maybe it's because side profile shots of the band playing on stage, you can see the Dead Heads swaying in the upper seats in the background. The song-set also features many songs that I really like: Let the Good Times Roll, It's all Over Now, Desolation Row, Standing On the Moon, Uncle John's Band and Not Fade Away.
I'm envious of those of you, that got a chance to attend any Dead concert at Alpine Valley. But at least this video gives you the chance to grab a ticket and enjoy the concert.

Would be the best, but for HORRIBLE VIDEO quality.......2005-03-15

Really, this could be the best Grateful Dead DVD from their later period. Unlike much of the View from the Vault series, the music is superb --- culled from a group of very inspired performances --- and non-Deadheads won't fall asleep watching it. But, the color and the resolution on the DVD is INFERIOR. I know this because the VHS picture quality is much better. And, someone inside the Dead organization told me that Monterey Video (who oversees the process) used an inferior process to go from VHS to DVD. Really, there is no reason why this video shouldn't look just as good as all the other View from the Vaults -- at least VFV IV (which was same year).
Sorry 'bout this, Grateful Dead people -- but I have to be straight with you.

Live Dead - The Grateful Dead in Concert (Downhill from Here, Ticket to New Year's, View from the Vault)

Average customer rating:

LIVE DEAD
Not Their Best Effort
The Beauty of Alpine Valley
7.5 Hours of Live Grateful Dead Concert Video
So you never saw the Dead (what was all the hype)...

Live Dead - The Grateful Dead in Concert (Downhill from Here, Ticket to New Year's, View from the Vault)
Starring: Jerry Garcia , Mickey Hart , Bill Kreutzmann , Phil Lesh , and Brent Mydland
Director: Len Dell'Amico
Manufacturer: Monterey Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Music Video & Concerts | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Truckin' Up to Buffalo: July 4, 1989
Grateful Dead - View from the Vault IV
Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland
The Grateful Dead Movie
Grateful Dead - View from the Vault III

ASIN: B00004W5VB
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Amazon.com

Live Dead: The Grateful Dead in Concert is a great sampler of live performances from the latter third of the Grateful Dead's career. Like all Dead performances, there's a fair amount of chaff with the wheat, but among the three discs--Ticket to New Year's, View from the Vault, and Downhill from Here--fans will find many gems, as well as extra footage not available on VHS. Ticket to New Year's, taped on New Year's Eve 1987 at the Oakland Coliseum, is among the band's best filmed performances, featuring a robust "Terrapin Station," a (blessedly short) Space and Drums that segues sweetly into the stoner fave "Dark Star," and an unflinchingly bluesy "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," sung by Jerry Garcia with clear-eyed wistfulness. View from the Vault, taped July 8, 1990 (16 days before keyboardist Brent Mydland died of an overdose), in Pittsburgh, offers both great versions of Dead classics (including "Eyes of the World," "Let It Grow" and "He's Gone") and an intimate look at the dynamics that few could notice when attending a stadium show, including wonderful interplay between Garcia and Mydland. Downhill from Here, shot in the summer of 1989 at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, features cheesy, unnecessary video effects. It is redeemed by Garcia's blistering guitar solos during "Deal" and "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider," a spacey pairing of "Uncle John's Band" with "Playing in the Band," and the tender ballad "Standing on the Moon." --Dave McCoy and Anne Hurley

Customer Reviews:

LIVE DEAD.......2006-07-11

THESE THREE CONCERTS ARE JUST SO GOOD. JERRY IS REALLY COOKIN' ON ALL THREE SHOWS. BRENT LOOKED SO HAPPY TO BE PLAYING, AND HE SOUNDED SO GOOD. PHIL AND BOBBY WERE REAALY ON TOO. THESE MUST BE IN ANYONES COLLECTION.

Not Their Best Effort.......2001-08-23

Well, This is the first dvd I bought for my first dvd machine. I excitedly read glowing reviews on this very site for the set. The View from the Vault is fantastic in both picture and sound quality; seriously top notch. The actual show is a different story. Weak versions of everything. It seems as if Jerry just didn't have it together that night. Downhill From Here provides a better effort from the boys, but inferior video (it looks blurry) and audio (not as crisp). Ticket to New Year's I owned on vhs and also features less video clarity, but has the best set list and by far the best actual 'playing' from the band. The 'extras' or special functions on the discs are negligible at best. As a true fan and show veteran, it's cool to own these to get a taste of the good ol' days, but not the audio/visual masterpiece you'd most like to have.

The Beauty of Alpine Valley.......2001-02-22

Deer Creek, Red Rocks, Shoreline are all were wonderful places to see the Dead but nothing captures the experience like spending 4-5 days at Alpine Valley. This DVD lets you appreciate how much the Dead enjoyed it also. Having been to this show, it brought back not just the music but the people and the environment it created. Putting 45,000 people in 37,000 seats without one incident shows you the spirit of the Dead. Bid you good night and standing on the moon are the most powerful in a wonderful show. The three DVD set is a great investment and keepsake. Enjoy!!!

7.5 Hours of Live Grateful Dead Concert Video.......2000-10-16

I had originally wanted the long-awaited release from the Grateful Dead Video Vault - View From the Vault. I was at the Louisville, KY show and the Pittsburgh show, and was interested in having View From the Vault on video. Then, I discovered the DVD boxed set that is known as Live Dead the Grateful Dead in Concert. What accompanies the 1990 Pittsburgh show are 2 previously released video gems, Downhill from Here (1989 Alpine Valley) and Ticket to New Years (1987 Oakland Coliseum). There is no better way to immediately amass a Grateful Dead concert video collection. The video quality is scary, it's like having 5th row seats at each show. Definately recommended to fans and those that wish they'd have seen the Dead live.

So you never saw the Dead (what was all the hype)..........2000-09-21

(For the non-fan) Okay, so you've never seen the Grateful Dead apart from the rather awful press from the media. So maybe a friend or relative played you a few tapes of live performances that still did not do it for you. So you wonder what all the hype is about. This collection will give you an idea. These live performances will show you that just a bunch of guys were better together than they were by themselves. The basic "whole is greater than the parts" idea. This collection showcases the band over an incredible three year period where the music was fresh and inventive, they were pouring all of their earnings (which were amazingly high) into an even better sound and light show, and they walked out on stage like any "Average Joe." Each show has those moments that we, as Deadheads, lived for. Actually, these shows have quite a bit of that magic. Watch the jams unfold that always eluded you on the tapes that my bretheren have played for you over the years. They band isn't exactly perfect, but when they shine, they shine....

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