Was anyone here a deadhead?

[RainDog]

I want to get info for something I've been messing around with... long story, but I was totally boring and only listened to Attics of My Life in vinyl and then sort of moved on.

however, if you were part of that scene and want to help someone get an idea of what was good and bad about it... do tell.

[HopeHoops]

1. No, but I've been called a "dickhead" quite a few times.

I have seen them, but the last time would have been about 1984 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. That was a great concert. I'd seen them at the Capital Center prior to that and it sucked. They really need an outdoor scene.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. bonehead

is me
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KOBfqyZBB4s/ShfeSG1ITBI/AAAAAAAAATQ/mcodNvILqbw/s320/bone+head.gif

[Bennyboy]

3. Since NYE 68-69......

Still love em and can't wait to see Phils' 70th birthday party on March 12th. The new band FURTHUR (named after Ken Kesey's bus)is MONEY. It is almost exactly like the grateful dead. More so than any other project. Pure fire. Got to archive and get Radio City, blistering.

Saw them over 500 times. traveled to see them, slung stuff on lot to see them. Took my kids and they are Deadheads (BTW< we prefer to cap the title of Deadhead)...

I am totally into music of all types and the band covered that. All of the musical universes. From Bluegrass and country to Musique Concrete. Blistering rock to songs so quiet you can hear a flea fart.

They changed their set lists so it never got stale. The jams changed, you never knew what to expect other than a very loose outline. It came close to getting stale in the 90's but even then, with Jerry's slide into the home plate and all, there are still some gems from that era.

Robert Hunter and John Barlow wrote some of the best songs ever. When you hear a song, it is like hearing it for the first time. The meanings change (especially Attics Of My Life) as time moves on. Some songs are haikus (Ripple). There are lines in every song that are so right on ("Sometimes you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right", for example)and are almost prophetic.

[PJPhreak]

4. This was a very important part of my 17 years on the road...

Never found a better example of "Community" than Shakedown Street.Not even at a Rainbow Gathering



Edit: Daym,Now I'm gonna have to dig out 6/10/73 RFK...It's been a while!

[Bennyboy]

5. WOOO HOOO!

Me too bro. I still go there for money. Always gotta have a gig. Used to sell photos. Jimi, SRV, Kiss, all the greats and of of course the Grateful Dead... I'd get on a milk crate, stand right in the middle of the street and say, "pictures of dead people", "pictures of the Dead, people", "pictures of dead people in the Dead, people" and "pictures of people that look like they are dead, people" (mutter under breath "Keith Richards and Johnny Winter")

Fun stuff. I am supposed to be on FURTHUR tour right now, but my Mom is pretty bad so i stuck around and things just weren't gonna happen...I hope i catch a bunch of shows this summer. Mtn Aire is looking like it may be a go and maybe the Gorge...

[PJPhreak]

7. Might you remember,

A Tourhead Couple that went by the names Muchkin & Phil,Drove a Blue Chevy pickup and Overhead camper or a Beige & Brown Ford/Bluebird School bus/Camper,usually could be found crusin Shakedon or havin coffee at Freebird's Coffee Bus...Boulderites or Santa Cruzians on the "Off Season"?


:hi:

[Bennyboy]

12. nah. What did they sell?

that is the way i would know them.... But I know everyone...

[RainDog]

59. Did you know that there are tons of Dead shows on the Internet Archive?

...and you can download them.

do people you know always refer to them like you did? with the date/loc?

[mix]

6. Not me.

But I dated one for awhile...she and her friends were good people, but they never did drag me to a show.

My loss.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Saw the Dead at Soldier Field in '93.

I wouldn't call myself a "deadhead" by any stretch, but the experience was one that I'll never forget. The performance was OK, but I spent most of the night being annoyed at the antics of the crowd. Getting bumped into for several hours wears on my nerves. Everyone was nice enough, but I like to be able to listen to music without hundreds of people invading my "personal space". I guess I'm just weird like that.

[RainDog]

61. jay-jay... ALL concerts were like that when I was younger

but you're just a baby so... whatevah.

I sound like a total rube on this thread but I promise I did see some concerts in my younger days. And lots of music in clubs all my life.

[Burma Jones]

9. Yep, from 1976 until now........

Good Things:
The Music
Belonging to the tribe, a tribe that recognized no material class distinctions. You gained status through your number of shows.....
The sense of being part of some sort of ritual at every show
The fact that you could see them 10 days in a row and see 10 different shows
Seeing the Deaf Deadheads in front of the PA system and watching someone valiantly trying to sign "China Cat Sunflower"
The Women
The Grins
Senator Leahy is one of us
Walter Cronkite and Joseph Campbell were two of us
The Music - Dizzy Gillespie was quoted at a Dead show as saying "these cats can really swing"


Bad Things:
The Crowd, especially from 1988 or so to 1995
The prejudice that Deadheads are a bunch of smelly losers
The food in the parking lot.......
Ann Coulter is one of us.......

[Bennyboy]

10. John Kerry is one of us too

the photo of his office has a ton of photos and posters..

[RainDog]

62. why were the crowds a bad thing from 88 to 95?

that Ann Coulter thing messes with my mind.

[Burma Jones]

82. The frat boys started showing up.............

and I don't know why Right Wingers wouldn't admire the Grateful Dead, I mean, they were very successful and the parking lot was pure capitalism.

[Bennyboy]

11. "Throwing Stones" is about Dick Cheney specifically....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perry_Barlow

John Perry Barlow the founder of Electronic Frontier Foundation, former Wyoming Republican and all around good guy.

[Throd]

13. I liked doing lots of drugs but I couldn't stand the music.

[LeftyFingerPop]

14. Deadhead since 1973 or so...

after falling in love with American Beauty and Europe '72.

My first show was on Mother's Day in May of 1977 when it THUNDER SNOWED, in MAY(!) at Barton Hall on the majestic old campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. My memories of this show were very vivid...I had no idea what to expect. The crowd was hardcore, and mostly older than me (I was 19).

There was an indescribable excitement in the line waiting to get inside. It was windy, snow was pelting us in the face and it was windy as hell. About every 5 minutes or so, a totally spontaneous applause would erupt in the line for no apparent reason.

Upon entering the old hall, I noticed a line at the water fountain...people filling up their bongs.

The music...I don't even try to describe anymore what happened in Barton Hall that night...I'll just say that there is a reason why many people consider this to be their best show ever.

Other notable moments...

Rochester War Memorial 1980...a slow Iko Iko that I could not get out of my head for years.

Binghamton NY 1977...another one of "those" shows

Syracuse Carrier Dome 1984 "Jack Straw" set closer...the most crowd energy I have ever witnessed.

Standing next to Jerry Garcia at the urinals before a gig in 1978 and having a brilliant 10 word conversation with him because I was too star struck to speak.

Shows started changing in 1987 after "Touch of Grey" was released...a lot of the newcomers made the whole scene less than mellow.

[Bennyboy]

15. 5-08-77. FACE MELTED!

If you were ever to listen to only one show http://www.archive.org/details/gd1977-05-08.sbd.cantor.sacks.266.shnf It would have to be this one. Pure fire all the way through. I am jealous that you saw this show LFP....

[LeftyFingerPop]

21. Benny, check out this matrix mix....

Happy happy! :toast:

[Bennyboy]

27. link? (NT)

[LeftyFingerPop]

30. Sorry! here ya go....

http://www.archive.org/details/gd1977-05-08.mtx.seamons.97274.sbeok.flac16

[Bennyboy]

33. Serious stuff here...

But the Dew is just as good as it can possibly be.

[LeftyFingerPop]

35. It almost sounds like they are going to spin out of control at the end...

I'm sure you know the half second I am talking about...sounds like a little controlled hiccup where they change tempo a little...controlled chaos...absolutely brilliant. I'll listen to it again and post the time of it...

[LeftyFingerPop]

36. For Benny and others interested...go to the link in post #30...

Stream "Morning Dew".

From about 9:30 to the end of the song is one of the greatest pieces of music that they ever played.

Musical climax at 11:53.

Still gives me goosebumps after all these years.

Turn it UP.

[Bennyboy]

46. Got it rolling today...

I try not to listen to this show very often. It is so good, I may just never play anything else.

[RainDog]

63. what is thunder snow?

how was it less mellow? - this goes along with another person's view too. so.. did people talk about it at the shows?

[LeftyFingerPop]

68. Here is a link that explains thundersnow...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow

In 1987, the Dead released "Touch of Gray", which did very well on the charts. Because of this, a lot of people finally started to take notice of the band.

People wanted to be a "deadhead", and be part of the "scene" because it was all of a sudden "cool".

So, young people would throw on a tie die, go to the parking lot before a show, get incredibly drunk and/or wasted on their drug of choice, and generally fuck up the entire scene.

I started to back away from the Dead when they became popular.

[KamaAina]

16. 13 shows here

loved it. The lady who got me into the Dead did a paper for her Yale anthropology class about Deadheads: the symbology, tribal identity, etc. She got an A!

[RainDog]

64. I don't know if it's her paper, but I know of a Deadhead study.

that's nice, if it was your friend!!

[Bennyboy]

71. There have been college courses in GD for a long time...

They did one study once to see if a man could feel the music in a hospital hundreds of miles away once...

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Perspectives-On-The-Grateful-Dead/Robert-Weiner/e/9780313305696

Perspectives a book about Dead heads

A Pilot Study in Dream Telepathy with the Grateful Dead

Stanley Krippner, PhD

http://stanleykrippner.weebly.com/a-pilot-study-in-dream-telepathy-with-the-grateful-dead.html

[Capn Sunshine]

17. actual Deadhead from 1967 on

I spent so much time in Haight-Ashbury for those years and gravitated towards the free party stuff, and the Dead was kind of the house band for that scene. Irecall they all lived together ina big old house , at least it seemed this way, and that house was a target of my weekend jaunts in 67 and 68. ( I lived in LA so I hitched up , getting a ride was simply a matter of sticking out your thumb, or more sophisticated, drawing large block letters on your notebook "SF" and holding that up. So many were headed to SF every weekend it was like there was a bus running every ten minutes.) Ther was always a band playing at these parties- some were indoors, some were out doors, some were block parties. It seemed like it was always the Dead. While the notion of following the band around was too exotic for me, a rabid fan base developed, and we all had a phone number that we called Wednesday night to find out where the Dead was playing that weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axAfNjgdey4

[RainDog]

65. great story!

so, L.A. didn't have a big music scene then?

I think, in the mid-sixties, it must have felt like the world was really going to change.

[Capn Sunshine]

67. No, LA had a HUGE music scene

but I was really attracted to the scene in SF. That all changed when I started hanging with the Doors, using the Dead scene as a template.

[Bennyboy]

18. famous Deadheads, Al Franken, Al Gore, Phil Jackson

http://www.freebase.com/view/base/gratefuldead/famous_deadheads/-/base/gratefuldead

[KamaAina]

44. and Bill Walton

yes, the basketball guy.

And. are you ready for this?...

...no, seriesly...

Ann Coulter. :scared:

[Steely_Dan]

19. No...But...

I've been a DanFan.

Did you hear the one about two hippies who ran out of drugs at a Grateful Dead concert? One turns to the other and says: This music sucks.

The Grateful Dead is by no means a horrible band. They were always a solid, tight band that offered a lot to the music scene. However, I never quite understood the "obsession" that some people have with this band. The appeal escapes me.

-P

[Bennyboy]

20. Did you hear the one about the Steely Dan fan....

who just had to tell a thirty year old joke?

BTW, nothing makes me happier than not appealing to Dannies. One thing the Grateful Dead wasn't was white bread pop.

[Capn Sunshine]

22. hey now

keep it above board. I always liked that joke.
I do believe I've purchased a photo from you , bennyboy, if you were in Long Beach ca. 1984?

[Bennyboy]

29. ha hah ah.. I was!

that was the year the long beach cops beat that stoned out kid to death I think.....Whaddjabuy?

[Steely_Dan]

23. Oh, You Got Me....

Do I feel like an idiot.

[LeftyFingerPop]

24. Hey, here's a good joke for you!

Q: How many Steely Dan fans does it take to tell a lame ass 30 year old joke?

A: One

[Steely_Dan]

25. Oh...I touched a nerve....

Sorry. Nothing personal.

[LeftyFingerPop]

26. No offense taken.

Heard it all before a million times. :toast:

[RainDog]

66. play nicely

we're spreading love and harmony and 15 minute guitar solos here. :)

[RainDog]

28. wow! last time I looked at this thread it was dead

no pun intended.

no replies. I thought, oh well, I would have thought that a community as big as DU had some Deadheads here (btw, I tend not to use caps just to save time typing but I will try to Deadhead from now on.)

These are GREAT stories!

tell me more, please. pretend I'm a cultural historian from the future and I want to understand your group. pretend I'm wearing a pith helmet as I explore your world... lol.

one my sons' babysitters was a Deadhead for a while. She was an ethnomusicology student and I loved it when she would bring over weird percussion instruments. (She was chosen person of the year where she lives for her community work, too. congrats to her!)

the entire phenomena was/is so unique. thank you for sharing and please share more if you care to.

xoxo

[rbnyc]

31. I went to a few shows in late 80s

I saw some shows in Wisconsin, the East Coast and Canada. Some of my friends were way into it, with hundreds of tapes, who ONLY listened to Dead shows and no other music. Some of my friends were in it for the community feeling, some just for the drug culture, and some a combination of those. I was in it for the camping. :)

I'm glad I had my little insiders perspective on the scene. I was most impressed by the functioning nomadic underground economy that was sustained. I enjoyed some good music and met some worthwhile people. I also endured some less-than-inspired performances and met some total idiots. But mostly I remember it as a really great time with my friends.

Did you want to know about anything specific?

[RainDog]

70. no, my question isn't about anything specific

the reason I ask is that a friend of mine and I were thinking about something we thought would be fun... it's really too long to explain it all and it's just sort of in the... and wouldn't this be fun... phase.

not as in, oh, you know, starting our own jam band - I just thought about a "parody" of something and I thought it would be nice if Deadheads were part of it - not to parody Deadheads, at all, but to parody a sort of.. genre.

my friend was also a Deadhead so I asked her some things and I thought it would be fun to ask her about some of the things people said here - shows, experiences, etc.

And honestly I just love to hear people tell interesting stories about things I never did.

When I was younger I went to concerts constantly. Big outdoor arena and indoor auditorium things with the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young... all those "sincere boys with guitars" like James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Dan Fogelberg and who knows who else. Those multi-act all day long things.

My first concert was when I was 12. I went to see Three Dog Night with my best friend and we thought we were a big deal b/c we got to go by ourselves. My last concert was a couple of years ago when I took my kids to their first concert to hear Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello.

Crowds are a lot more well behaved now.

Now I'd rather go see someone like Andrew Bird before he's too "big" to play in a small-ish venue or go to a club to hear jazz - but I haven't done either in a long time b/c it's not a necessary expense and those that aren't have all pretty much gone by the wayside for now.

I'm from Nashville and I really didn't like country music b/c it was the music of my grandparents, to me. But when I was about 15 I heard a 78 of Hank Williams and I said.. okay, I get it. I still don't like mainstream country music so much... and by that I don't consider Lucinda Williams mainstream in the same way that Lyell Lovett isn't. My favorite folkie country singer right now is Jolie Holland. She was in the Be Good Tanyas before she went solo.

My father asked me to see an Engelbert Humperdink show with him and THAT was when I knew what an acid trip must have been like. :) The contrast b/t the two worlds was pretty jarring back then.

Anyway, just that sort of reminiscence stuff. (except I'm keeping mine G-rated. :)

[rbnyc]

76. Cool.

I like Jolie Holland. Ans I would love to have seen Neil Young back then.

I will share one little scene from a Dead weekend that will always stay in my mind. We were at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. There was terrible rain and we were camped on an exceptionally muddy slope. We were well equipped with big tarps. We happened to be camped right next to folks with a big tank of nitrous oxide who were selling balloons. They were directly up-slope from us. Under the safety of our tarp, we spent the better part of an entire day watching people buy nitrous balloons, inhale them, fall down and slide down the slope in front of us. It was quite the deranged spectator sport.

[RainDog]

77. head sleds?

I got to see Neil Young at the Fox Theater in Atlanta - a beautiful old preserved theater.

I don't think I can even recall all the concerts I saw. one of the strangest, no doubt, was Zappa.

[Bennyboy]

78. Hippies doing the "Fish".... HA HA HA!

Hilarious. The anthropologist in me loves that kind of shit.

[RainDog]

79. 'splain, Bennyboy

what is the fish?

[Bennyboy]

80. When a nitrous casualty falls out

they lay on the ground and kind of have a spasm. Reminds everyone of a fish out of water. therefore, the fish.

[RainDog]

83. did you know Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus

did experiments with laughing gas?

there's a great book about that era called Lunar Men.

Anyway, the Dissenters and Unitarians (the guy who founded them was part of the group - also elucidated the idea of oxygen) weren't allowed to go to the good schools - oxford/cambridge - so they formed a group that shared what they were studying and experimenting with at the time.

and look at the interesting things the "outsiders" did - and how they were able to think beyond their immediate culture.

I've never read What the Dormouse Said, but that's one I think would be interesting.

[RainDog]

84. 45 of Hank. I'm bad with numbers. lol

[astral]

32. you could make a lot of money in the parking lot

selling pretty much anything that suits you.

I would have been a Deadhead for sure if I only knew.

[RainDog]

34. how "committed" did you have to follow the Dead shows to be considered a Dh?

I like that... Dh.

reminds me of Dharma.

[LeftyFingerPop]

39. For me...

It was never about being committed or acting a certain way. I almost never wore tie dye to a show, and I usually saw my shows sober in all ways so I could remember them.

I think I've seen them around 70 times, with the most satisfying experiences occurring in the 70's and early 80's.

I would usually drive to a show "stealth" to avoid attention from the police...ie: no dead stickers.

I live in upstate NY and I've seen them all over NY, PA, ME, VA, KY, MI, OH, CT.

[Bennyboy]

41. You could do what you want... Really an open thing

Some came just to be there. Some wrote down every little thing that happened. Some taped, Some twirled in the corner. Some came even though they didn't like it. Some came because their spouse went.

The one thing was, once it hit you, it was all there was from then on. You saw the power and magic that only those guys could produce. I had a girl. took her to an epic Warfield show in 81. SHE HATED IT. Wanted to leave at the break. Then about six months later I had an extra to the Greek shows. So she went. The band started playing Friend Of the Devil and I saw THAT look come over her face. big grin, toe tapping and I knew right then that she was no longer off the bus. And to this day, even though we are not together, she still listens to the Dead. Almost exclusively (which is infuriating).

The thing about Deadheads is that they love music. Probably more than anyone. I see my Dead head friends all over the place at all kinds of shows...Not pop music but all styles. African music, the Blues, jazz etc. The Dead explored all those universes and we do too. Listen to Seastones or Mickey Hart's planet Drum. Those are amazing albums, made not with an eye on the sales, but on the music.

[RainDog]

42. I know this sounds weird but...

I had a hard time getting past the association of the Dead with Jefferson Starship, a group I absolutely detested.

there was just something about Grace Slick becoming some synth-pop singer incarnation that made me feel like I woke up one day and rock was coughing blood onto its polyester jacket.

[Bennyboy]

43. Well the association was short lived....

by the time the Starship exploded (We built this city) the Dead were way away from that whole thing. Bout 75 and Blows Against The Empire was the last connections. OF the SF bands the Dead had way more connections to Quicksilver.

[RainDog]

45. yes, I know. that's why I said it's weird. they're not alike at all

you know who I really like who came out of SF?

Tracy Nelson.

She was with... Mother Earth early on?

anyway, I'm from Nashville, TN and I heard her perform a lot. She has a great voice and has the emotional depth for blues.

iirc, David Crosby introduced the Beatles to world music, so there's that CA connection too.

I think I'm too cynical to be a Californian. lol.

[JanMichael]

37. I was a tangential Deadhead from 1987 to 1992

All of my friends were stoners and while I preferred beer I would partake in bong hit after bong hit while listening to the Dead and watching Renn and Stimpy and the Young Ones at a friends house. It was a hoot.

Yes I got my BA...in 5.5 years instead of 4.

[RainDog]

72. hey, I used to watch Ren and Stimpy with my kids!

no bong in sight.

my "millennial" kids, btw, have never smoked anything and don't drink anything. I don't know what I did wrong! lol.

I took them to a Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys show a few years ago and the place (a city auditorium) has a concession next door where you could buy a beer or glass of wine. Sooo, I had a beer when we got there and a beer at intermission.

my older son was worried I would not be able to drive. :)

he has aspergers so he tends to think in those terms occasionally.

and funny thing is that his favorite music is Bob Marley, The Beatles, REM... all stuff he heard when he was growing up.

[Skittles]

38. fuck no

I just never was impressed by the Dead

[RainDog]

40. no fair

we're on a Dead thread so I can't threaten to kick your ass, yes indeed. :)

I was never a big fan either. I'm all over the place about music and go through phrases where I want to hear this or that singer/cd but it was never the same one for years and years.

or, rather, I used to hate to listen to classic rock because I was bored. I knew it. I wanted to hear something that made my ears feel perky and sparkly and all that. lol.

but the community aspect of it is interesting. sort of like ur internet meet ups. :)

[Bennyboy]

47. One thing about the GD.....

They showed us that there was music outside of the radio. I got into Jazz, the blues, country, bluegrass, world, reggae etc because those are the styles I can hear in the Dead sound.

Most of the Deadheads I know are way into music, all types. You got to a place like Jazzfest, with 80,000 people and the Jerry thing is very prominent. Deadheads are everywhere. We know the power and majesty of music. maybe we are wired differently and somehow enjoy it more than most people, I don't know.

I love it when I see kids at shows. Not babies so much, but the youngsters 18 years old and out exploring the world for the first time. They may love it, they may hate it. One of the group might just head out on tour and another will never ever have anything to do with the other friend cuz they won't shut up about it.


There is no combination that you can dial and get a "grateful Dead" experience. I have a friend that is so in love with his first show, that it is all he talks about. That show changed his life in so many ways. He walked in a straight guy and walked out a Deadhead. That show is the Boreal Ridge show and is generally considered to be the WORST show of all time (as LFP's 5-8-77 is the best).

"Sometimes you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"....

[peekaloo]

48. Not really a 'Head or fan of "jam bands" but I saw them back in '77

mostly out of curiosity and more so to get stoned and have fun. Music was good but I needed a nap (Southern Comfort and weed will bring that on) during a rather long version of 'Sugar Magnolia'. I was awakened by a rather smelly person( bad breath) shaking me who then stomped on my foot, while holding a popper under my nose, yelling "O.D.!!!!" Thanks for the rush motherfucker and the bruised foot but I did get to see Jerry Garcia and Co.(Weir was definitely trippin')during their prime. :-)

[RainDog]

74. ha!! that's going to become my new wake up phrase for the morning. OD! n/t

[Bennyboy]

49. A story for ya..."The bus come by and I got on"....

The NYE run after the Dead came bck from Egypt. 10-78.

Saw all four shows, all four were incredible. They played videos of the band in Egypt during the shows.

But of all four, 10-22-78 stands out.

I used to make a deal with my Dead hating friends that I would buy them a ticket and if they didn't like it, they didn't owe me. If they liked it, they owed me. That night I took a guy named Gary Lisko. Even made a trip back to Sac just to pick him up, we had a hotel in the city for the run.

We did some acid and got ready for the show to start. Gary had not much concert experience and was a huge Nugent fan and loved hard rock. He was blown away by Winterland and the looseness of the scene. He kept saying "look at that" about everything.

The first set started and like usual we were under the ball. Tons of friends at the show. I could tell he was digging it, he started dancing and had an ear to ear perma grin going on.

At the break, we kind of wandered off and told him to meet us back under the ball. That was the last anyone ever saw of Gary Lisko.

The band played what is my favorite set of all time that night. Opening with Ollen Aragreed with Hamsa El Din. The music started out with a simple beat and then moved into a runaway locomotive. "Mojo Workin" with Lee Oskar.(who was at the time my favorite blues harp player). the Other One was short but it is the most intense version ever played. the Stella was the best ever played. the whole night was just so powerful.

But no sign of Gary. I went off to look for him and could not find him anywhere. I ended up sitting on my favorite spot, one of the wooden dividers and just banging the shit out if it. They made a LOT of noise and were great for getting bands to come out for encores.

After the show, and this is how you could always tell if a show was great or not, the people came out and they looked like they were from MARS. They didn't go anywhere, just walked outside and then stood right there. I got close to the exit and looked for Gary. No sign of him. After everyone came out, we left and went to the car. No Gary. We hung out for a long time and still no Gary.

Finally we went to our Hotel and thought maybe he would be there but he wasn't. We called his girl. No Gary. Called all our friends. No Gary. His girl filed a missing persons report, but no sign of Gary.

We stayed for the last show, the Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps show and the Hookers ball so we did not get back to Sac for a few days. When we did, no sign of Gary.

At the break, we kind of wandered off and told him to meet us back under the ball. That was the last anyone ever saw of Gary Lisko.

The band played what is my favorite set of all time that night. Opening with Ollen Aragreed with Hamsa El Din. The music started out with a simple beat and then moved into a runaway locomotive. "Mojo Workin" with Lee Oskar.(who was at the time my favorite blues harp player). the Other One was short but it is the most intense version ever played. the Stella was the best ever played. the whole night was just so powerful.

But no sign of Gary. I went off to look for him and could not find him anywhere. I ended up sitting on my favorite spot, one of the wooden dividers and just banging the shit out if it. They made a LOT of noise and were great for getting bands to come out for encores.

After the show, and this is how you could always tell if a show was great or not, the people came out and they looked like they were from MARS. They didn't go anywhere, just walked outside and then stood right there. I got close to the exit and looked for Gary. No sign of him. After everyone came out, we left and went to the car. No Gary. We hung out for a long time and still no Gary.

Finally we went to our Hotel and thought maybe he would be there but he wasn't. We called his girl. No Gary. Called all our friends. No Gary. His girl filed a missing persons report, but no sign of Gary.

We stayed for the last shows of the run, The Hookers ball and the Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps show, ball so we did not get back to Sac for a few days. When we did, no sign of Gary

[Capn Sunshine]

52. hey, you got some kind of loop going here...finish the story!

True about post-show. One thing about the shows, it seems everyone always had their favorite "location" and you saw the hard core Deadheads in the same place at every show. So If I wanted to find, Sunny and Christine, or Rat Pack and Pockets, I went to the approximate spot relative to the stage and there they were

[Capn Sunshine]

53. ......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m68lFBKkthU

[Bennyboy]

54. About a month later I get a phone call....

And it is Gary. I hadn't seen him, his girl hadn't seen him or talked to him, he just vanished. And here he is on the phone. And he goes "listen to this" and holds the phone up. I know that sound. It is the band. At MSG if I remember correctly. Says "You were right" and hung up. Nobody ever head from the guy again.

[Capn Sunshine]

60. wow.

At the shows I met a lot of heads already in that condition, but alos a lot of responsible professionals just grooving.

[Bennyboy]

56. Wow, that story is a mess....sorry...

Shit I thought that one was done... Sorry for the circle thing there....

[RainDog]

73. LOLOL!

I was reading it, then read.. Gary walked away again and I thought.. hmm, is he messin' with me??

:)

THANK YOU so much for sharing your stories. As long as you want to tell them, I'd love to hear them.

[Bennyboy]

50. Then there's this....

"When the music plays the band"....

[Roon]

51. I have seen the Dead ten times

Twice at redrocks.

I flew to longbeach to see them back in 1988. I was sitting on the curb where tons of people walk by shopping at the vedors.

I had a gag string with a spring loaded retracter that you tape to a dollar bill. I threw it out there and had a lot of fun messing with people.

This one guy fell for it and he said, "Whoa!! Did you see that? That dollar bill blew right into your hand!"

That was the best time I ever had in my life. I spent three days there and slept in a compact car. Of course I was younger and could handle it.

[Bennyboy]

57. Fishing for hippies!

My kids did that. It was hilarious...

[Roon]

58. OMG!!

That is too funny! Fishing for hippies...LOL

[RainDog]

75. oh I love this.

and I'd never heard of "fishing for hippies" before.

why weren't my parents weirdly bohemian rather than weirdly straight. I think I was born to the wrong people. switched at birth, yeah, that's it.

[Bennyboy]

55. Ain't no place I'd rather be....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOCAdBhPoqo&feature=related

[mitchum]

69. No, I preferred Hawkwind for acid damage

[Mike 03]

81. I was not, but I worked for a fantastic Deadhead. He was a car insurance salesman,

very brilliant, but his obsession was following the Greatful Dead around from town to town--with his lovely wife--and that was just his thing.

I would love to have experienced that scene, but Jerry Garcia died when I was really young, so I didn't appreciate what it was all about until later.