Well it's finally happened. The Boys have called it quits. The line goes "What a long strange trip it's been" I get that, but would amend it by adding "Man what a ride"
I've been following The Grateful Dead since roughly 1970, it was the summer between Jr High and High School. Workingman's Dead 1970. The first time I heard Uncle John's Band I felt a vibration, a calmness, a joy that I would embrace for the next 45 years. American Beauty came close on it's heals with Sugar Magnolia, By the time The Grateful Dead (aka Skull and Roses) came out I had my seat secured on the bus.
"There is nothing like a Grateful Dead Concert" that's what the bumper sticker says. Right as rain. There was always something other worldly happening at or around Dead Shows. They played The Great Pyramids and there was an eclipse of the moon. They were in the middle of playing "Fire on the Mountain" up in Eugene, Oregon when Mt St. Helens blew up. Playing "Dark Star" and a meteor streaked from one side of the horizon to the other. At the 'first' of the last shows with the boys closing out the first set with " Viola Lee Blues" there appeared over the stage a double rainbow.
From the 'Twirlers' to the 'Air Garcias' to the wide eyed starers there was always 'things to see and people to do' at a Dead Show. Strangely, with all of the mind altering opportunities available to the attendees, you couldn't get a beer to save your life! Unless you had access to the 'Back Stage' area and lucky me I did for years. The Daughter learned how to pour a beer from a keg back stage at Shoreline Amphitheater, she was all of maybe 8 or 10. It was all good.
Now before anybody cries foul over me bringing my daughter to Dead shows at such an early age let me just say this...There is no crowd more loving and caring as you will find at a dead concert. Sure there were people with there heads resting on cloud-9 or further out there, but they were generally harmless to all but themselves. I recall a guy that would frequent the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium very calm and rather proud. He would wander the mezzanine and hallways, back straight, head high groovin' to the tunes. We referred to him simply as 'The Naked Guy', the reason should be obvious. Yup, it's a 'Dead Thing'.
What was it about Dead shows that made me keep coming back night after night? Aside from the tunes there was a energy coming off that stage I could take home and use the next day. Five night runs were the norm in the Bay Area, be it Winterland or the Kaiser or the Coliseum, and we would hit them all. I wasn't rich but when the tickets are comped they come with backstage passes they are even harder to turn down. Even so, five nights in a row should have been a killer but instead I came out exhilarated every time.
Ah but the tunes, the music, the vibes. It was said the if you walked by Jerry and listened real hard you could hear the music coming out of his pores. (Words by Hunter, Tunes by Jerry. They made the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.)
One night they opened with Sugar Magnolia and morphed into another song and went on to give one hell of a show and after the encore they finished Sugar Magnolia. In a way they only played one song that night, one really long song with a lot of verses. Melding and morphing was what the would try every night. Usually it worked, though sometimes, we just let it go.
The time has come I guess to not really let it go but to bring it closer. Break out the old tapes, the new DVDs, or maybe a guitar or a kazoo, and rejoice in what has been one long wonderful ride. For those poor souls who never got to see them live on stage, I am truly sorry. For the rest of us, well...It's a 'Dead Thing'
