On what would have been Jerry Garcia‘s 77th birthday, the Grateful Dead announced plans to release a new box set, Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991, due out on September 27th via Rhino. The new box set includes five previously unreleased Grateful Dead performances that took place at East Rutherford, NJ’s Giants Stadium, along with Blu-ray/DVD capturing the band’s performance on June 17th, 1991—the same show that will be screened worldwide tonight for the annual Meetup at the Movies.
The five Giants Stadium concerts on the forthcoming box set were recorded on July 12th 1987; July 9th and 10th, 1989; and June 16th and 17th, 1991. Originally recorded by John Cutler, the featured performances have been mixed from the multitrack master tapes at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios by Jeffrey Norman.
Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux explained that the shows “include music from three very distinct peaks in the Grateful Dead’s performing career. The first show finds the Dead on top of the world, carrying the renewed energy following Jerry’s return to performing in late 1986. Two years later, the Dead returned for their first two night run at Giants Stadium, beginning a sustained nine month run of excellence for the band. In 1991, a very different Grateful Dead returned to the Meadowlands, widely considered one of the most inventive, inspired, and creative lineups of the band. What they brought to the stadium in 1991 is still the stuff of legend.”
Watch David Lemieux discuss the new box set below:
David Lemieux Talks Giants Stadium Box Set
[Video: Grateful Dead]
Limited to 10,000 copies, the Giants Stadium box set is available now for pre-order. Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1981 is also available in digital format (ALAC or FLAC) here. Along with the full box set, the Grateful Dead’s final Giants Stadium show will be released in 5-LP, 3-CD, and digital formats as Saint Of Circumstance: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, 6/17/91.