On Sun, 16 Oct 2011, Charlie Miller wrote:
Why is 5/2/70 split up like 2 different shows?
This is my dim memory from about 15 (?) years ago when we were starting
deadlists. When we were designing the text-based data format to store the
lists we decided to limit it to only 3 sets because that would accomodate
"all" shows. Jim (and others?) felt that for 5/2/70 (and maybe a few
other '70 shows?) the NRPS set was an integral part of the Dead show, and
should be listed as such, not as a separate opener, making 5/2/70 a 4 set
show. I think there was even a fair amount of discussion about whether or
not the NRPS set was part of the Dead show or not, some of it based on
interpreting comments made at the end of sets ("Be right back with the New
Riders" or something like that). I don't remember why we didn't just add
a 4th set. Maybe it was to save people from not having to type it in for
the thousands of shows that didn't have it, or maybe it was to save a few
precious kilobytes in the days of 100 meg hard drives and 28kb modems.
In any case, because 5/2/70 wouldn't fit in the 3 set format, Jim was the
caretaker for 1970 and split it up into 2 separate shows, with a comment
indicating that it was really one show not two. Now that the data is
stored in a real database (I think), and we wouldn't have to sweat a few
extra kb, maybe we could add a 4th set and make 5/2/70 into one single
show.
John
