Live from the Vault and Live from the Vault II. (Carousel Corner).

Grateful Dead, Live from the Vault and Live from the Vault II (Monterey Video). There was no concert experience quite like a Dead show, as the well chronicled summer excursions of Dead Heads everywhere attested. Vault records their show at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium on July 8, 1990, and Vault II their show at Washington's RFK Stadium on June 14, 1991. Both are complete shows -- not one song is omitted. Each DVD includes additional footage from another venue, so both run well in excess of three hours, Vault 3:25 and Vault II 3:45. Together they capture a band in transition. The 1990 band was the last to feature the troubled Brent Mydland on keyboards. The 1991 band toured with the sardonic Vince Welnick (Tubes) and a wide-eyed Bruce Hornsby. It was no doubt a daunting challenge for both Welnick and Hornsby to enter the Dead's orbit, a band whose core had remained unchanged (allowing for Mickey Hart's sabbatical in the early '70s) for some 25 years. While Hornsby appears utterly deferential, Welnick fits in well, throwing in surprise voicings that catch even the taciturn Garcia off guard -- his sampled alto sax on "Estimated Prophet" is a treat that elicited a rare cocked brow.

Nits? A couple. First, on Vault II it takes the sound board engineers a few minutes to settle on the mix (both are live to two-track), so the band's sound is unbalanced, but that's the challenge of live recording. Second, Monterey Video throws in "sock-a-delic" visual effects, the light show variety that used to grace the stage during the band's vintage Fillmore days, which are in the end more distracting than useful. On both the energy is high, the playing robust -- Bob Weir's commitment to his vocals is a wonder to behold, and the sound sublime. They are rapturous experiences well worth the investment.