Conference rdvax::grateful

 
 You  see, there's this kid named Dave.  He's really into music.  As a matter
 of  fact  he  just left  Eastman School  of Music  after a  semi-disasterous
 3-semester  tenure in which his mind was  expanded, altered, and reassembled
 (but never the way it used to be, y'know?).  The first big lesson from music
 school was that in order for Dave to continue to love music, he'd better not
 try  to be a musician.  The other big lesson is that some AMAZING things can
 happen  inside your  head  when you ingest  certain chemicals and  listen to
 Bach_Beethoven_Stravinsky_Miles_Davis_Soft_Machine_Pendereski_Bartok_
 King_Crimson_Mozart_...
 
 So  in  January  of 1971,  Dave finds  himself at  the River  Campus at  the
 University  of Rochester.  He's gone from an environment where Earth Science
 is  covered in a single semester and one can get a Doctorate in "The History
 of  French Horn Playing as it Relates to the Design of the Rotary Valve", to
 an  environment in which Music is covered in one  semester and one can get a
 Doctorate  in "The Molecular Differences  in Thin Section Specimens  of Rock
 Samples  from Various Strata  in the Genessee  River Gorge".  Dizzying,  the
 possibilities.  
 
 Over  the next couple of months,  some puzzle pieces fall into  place.  Dave
 starts  hanging around with some of the scruffier  individuals at U of R and
 he  meets  a  young  lady  named Roz  who, amazingly  enough, appears  to be
 somewhat interested in getting to know him better (more on that later).  
 
 These  scruffy  individuals  seem  to  be  particularly  fond  of  this  odd
 Psychedelic-Country-Rock  band  from  San  Francisco.   American Beauty  and
 Workingman's  Dead seem  to  be playing in  all the rooms  that Dave visits.
 There  are a couple of other records too, with names like Anthem of the Sun,
 and  Aoxomoxoa, and Live Dead.  These other records  aren't real easy to get
 familiar with, and Dave sort of discounts their value.
 
 As spring break approaches, Roz and Dave have gotten much friendlier.  Also,
 Dave's  new friends are  all  planning to meet in  New York City to  go to a
 Grateful  Dead  show.   Dave  is  talked into  it.  Why  not?  Roz  lived in
 Brooklyn  and it seems to  be time to (oh  my god!) meet her  parents.  They
 decide  to try to get into the show on  Monday, April 5 at Manhattan Center.
 This  show  is  the second  of a  3 night  stand being  billed as  the Dance
 Marathon.
 
 Dave  is real curious about what the big deal is.  What's so special about a
 Dead  show, anyway?  No one will give him an  answer.  They all just sort of
 nod knowingly and say, "You'll see, you'll see.  You gotta BE there!".
 
 On  show night Dave, Roz, Karen, and Dana  all take the subway from Brooklyn
 to  Manhattan.  Lots of  people  are hanging out around  the venue.  Lots of
 folks  looking for tickets.  Somehow, a pair  of tickets materialize for Roz
 and  Dave.  They pay the price  printed on the tickets ($5.00).   Dave hears
 lots of people grumbling about how expensive these shows have gotten and how
 Dead  shows should be free and  what a capitalist_ripoff the whole  scene is
 becoming.
 
 Inside  is nothing  like he's  seen before.   Lot's of  freaks just  milling
 around.   Dave and Roz find their friend Billy inside and settle down on the
 floor.  Looking around, Dave notices that the equipment on the stage has had
 all  the speaker grills replaced  with very colorful tie-dyes.   Looks nice.
 There's quite a bit of electricity and anticipation in the air.  Billy hands
 out  half-tabs that he says are nice and mellow.  Dave decides to try it and
 Roz follows suit (first trip & first Dead show).
 
 Karen  explains that the New Riders  of the Purple Sage will  start the show



 and  to watch for Jerry (whoever  that is) on pedal steel.   Just before the
 lights  go down, some orange juice is passed  around.  Dave and Roz are real
 thirsty  and drink  some.   After they drink,  Billy points out  that it was
 probably laced with something interesting (indeed it was!).
 
 Well,  as the New Riders start playing Dave  sort of fades out.  Seems there
 are all these lights and things happening behind his eyes.  This is pleasant
 country-style  music (but it DOES  have an interesting electric  edge to it,
 doesn't it?) and he sort of drifts through the Riders set, disturbed only by
 requests  to push back (it is  VERY crowded - later, he'll  learn that there
 were many counterfeit tickets sold).
 
 A short break happens during which Dave's friends seem to be oddly concerned
 over  his well being.  Dave can't  understand this, as he feels  fine (he is
 sure  that he's  completely  disassociated with his  body, however, and  his
 consciousness drifts nearby watching the scene with amusement).
 
 The  lights go out again and THIS time things get real different.  The whole
 crowd  seems to go  crazy.  Hootin' and  hollerin'.  It's contagious.   Dave
 starts  yelling  too.   Meanwhile  something  is happening  on a  completely
 non-verbal  level  with  Roz.  Somehow,  some sort  of bonding  seems to  be
 happening.  Dave can't recall what NOT being with her is like.
 
 The  band comes on stage.  There's more talk  about pushing back.  Seems the
 folks up front are being really squeezed.  They start to play.
 
 Dave's impressions:
 
     ELECTRIC!   ELECTRIC!  ELECTRIC!   Where  did all this  electricity come
     from?   This is not  the  same as American Beauty.   His breath is taken
     away.  Something about reverb_and_echo_and_guitars_and_lyrics_and_the_
     crowd_and_the_lights_and_owowoWOWOWOWOWOWO!!!!
 
     These  guys just PLAY!  No jumping around or other hysterics.  It's like
     a  classical ensemble performance, or a good  jazz group...they just let
     the  music  do  what it's  supposed to  do and  don't rely  on a  circus
     atmosphere  to pump up the crowd!  This is  EXACTLY the solution to what
     has made him feel uncomfortable with most Rock 'n Roll performances.
 
 Some more fade out time now...
 
 Dave  somehow realizes that the discomfort he's feeling is because he has to
 go  to the bathroom.  He starts off to find  the restrooms (Roz is in a mild
 panic  'cause she's SURE he'll never find his  way back).  Downstairs to the
 lounge.   This has GOT to be the strangest sight he's ever seen.  There must
 be  a hundred people sitting  around in the lounge  area.  All you can  hear
 down  there is the bass drum and the electric bass.  THUMP ka-THUMP ka-THUMP
 ka-THUMP.   All of these people look completely zombied-out and they are ALL
 tapping  in rhythm to the THUMP ka-THUMP.  Dazed and confused, Dave blunders
 into  what  appears  to  be  a bathroom.   The ladies  in there  very gently
 maneuver him out and point him towards the men's room.  No one gets uptight.
 
 Back  upstairs in  time  for the  break.   Roz is relieved.   Dave is slowly
 re-joining the human race and becoming more aware of his surroundings.  He's
 pretty sure that during the first set he managed to completely re-create the
 evolution  of  the  human  mind,  starting  at  some  sort  of  invertebrate
 flatworm_type  creature  and  evolving, evolving...   He chats  with friends
 during the break.
 
 The lights go down for the second set (third, if you count the Riders).  The
 band  breaks into this intense, pounding boogie.  Things begin to flow.  The



 whole  audience is  dancing together.   Oh yeah!   This one  IS on  American
 Beauty.   It's Truckin'!  The music gets softer and  the lights go down even
 further and suddenly... An EXPLOSION of bass notes and all of the spotlights
 focus  on this  SPARKLEBALL!   Spinning lights everywhere,  colors!  The guy
 next to Dave loses it entirely...he starts saying "Holy sh*t!  The Sun.  The
 Moon.   The Grateful Dead.  Oh God!  Oh God!..." over and over and over.  At
 some point he becomes horizontal and later drifts off.
 
 The  concert ends with a rhythmic_tribal_howling exchange between the singer
 (someone  called him Pig Pen) and the audience.   Clearly, the crowd and the
 band are playing TOGETHER.  Symbiosis and synchronicity.
 
 The  band is  gone.   The lights  are  back on.  Everyone  drifts around not
 wanting  to leave.  Dave and Roz have somehow become DaveandRoz (later to be
 known  as Swifty Nifty and the  Howling Whoopee).  They describe a  sense of
 being  hermetically sealed together.  Welded by  the experience.  An intense
 deja-vu  flows through Dave's experience as he sees friends again from a new
 perspective.
 
 As  DaveandRoz and Karen and Dana  leave the ballroom and begin  to walk off
 the  effects (they won't be able to go near the subway for a couple of hours
 yet),  a  feeling  envelops  them  that something  really extraordinary  has
 happened.  They are satisfied, content, happy.
 
 The night goes on...
 
 POSTSCRIPT
 
     DaveandRoz  will be celebrating  their 20th "unofficial"  anniversary on
     April  5, 1991.  This is the one that  really counts.  Whatever glue was
     used on April 5, 1971 was good stuff.  It has lasted.

    

    DAve,
    
    I love reading that. I loved it in GRATEFUL_OLD and I loved reading it
    just as much again now...
    
    I can't tell my story of getting on the bus quite as fluently as Dave
    did but I will follow anyway. 
    
    My first show came long after I started listening to the music. One of
    the first albums I ever bought was "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been"
    the first time I joined Columbia House back in '72 or '73. All my
    friends thought I was really weird for getting this album because they
    were into what I now call Bottom 40. They couldn't unserstand what I
    saw in this album. Well in an effort to fit in I didn't play it a whole
    lot for a few years until I decided that I didn't want to fit in with
    these people. When I went to Boarding school in '78 I became alot more
    aware of alternative mind sets (so to speak) and there were actually
    people there who liked the same kind of weird music that I did.
    
    It wasn't until after I graduated in 1980 that I heard a "bootleg" tape
    of the Dead. I was working out on Monhegan Island, ME and the Head chef
    was a "deadhead" we used to and still do hang out alot together we
    would ingest some strange sort of fungus and walk around the island
    checking out the world. 
    
    Well somwhere around the middle of July we got word that the Grateful
    Dead were going to be Lewiston. We had someone who was going in-shore
    pick up tickets for us and some other friends on the island and we
    arranged to get a day and a half off from work (My only time off all
    summer). AS the week of the show pulls around I could feel the
    excitement building inside of me and the same feeling that one gets on
    christmas eve when they are children. On Saturday the 6th of September
    we got on the morning boat at 10:00 and just after 11:00 we pulled into
    Port Clyde where Chyarlie had his car parked. 4 of us crammed into
    this little pinto and headed off to Lewiston. About 2 hours later we
    arrived to a carnival scene that started about 1/2 mile before we even
    got to the parking lot. The first thing that we saw as we got out of
    the car was a person with these neat little "tatoos:-)" with red
    dragons on them. I forgot to mention that we had left the island well
    stocked with organic supplies. By the time we got into the show the
    Second Opening act was just about finished (We missed the first and I
    can't remember who the second act was). Suddenly the whole place was
    alive and screaming in ecstacy. I figured that this must be it. After
    that my mind is a blur. I remember that they played The Wheel and St.
    Of Circumstance and Althea (and now with the tapes in hand I can
    remember other parts) but what I remember most are the people and the
    tye dies and the people dancing naked in under the firehoses. I took
    seven rolls of film that day and have maybe 10 shots of the stage.
    Everything else is people and sky and banners and flags and general
    weirdness. After that I was completely hooked.
    
    I've seen many many shows since and done whole east coast tours and
    couple of times and no-matter where I am I make sure that I've never
    missed a show in Maine.
    
    And that's how I came to be on the bus.
    
    Geoff

	Hey Geoff - I was at Lewiston too...I think that was probably
	my most favorite concert ever, rilly. 

	Speaking of taking pictures, well, I kindof feel the same way
	about cameras at Dead shows as I do about my kids at Dead
	shows - I don't want the responsibility!  But at Lewiston,
	towards the end of the day I found a damaged roll of film
	on the ground, snatched it up and had it developed.  Only
	one shot came out - but it's a grate one from about 20-30
	feet from the stage, nice shot of the whole band...

	Dave I LOVE that story - great to read it again.  Here's
	my love story, er, first show experience...extracted and 
	modified a bit from grateful_old:

	sometime around eighteen years ago now, all of a sudden, it hit me -
	I like this guy, I mean, I REALLY like this guy.  I was standing
	in back of this tall blond young man at, of all places, a fish
	hatchery and we were watching the fish being fed.  I felt the
	impulse to put my arms around him from behind...but I didn't...
 	Eventually though, through some planning and scheming I managed to 
	get introduced to this guy and through some more planning and
	scheming actually ended up seeing him on a regular basis.  At
	the time I was seventeen years old and living at home with 
	mom&dad and when they said to me "where are you going" I said
	"out" - you know, that cooperative teenage stage...

	...so anyways, without mom&dad knowing it, I'm seeing this guy 
	on the sly and having a grand ol' time.  One night one of his 
	buddies comes over and says "Hey do you want to go with us to 
	see the Grateful Dead next week?".  Well, ok, sure, why not.  
	Back in those days if there was ANY kind of concert (almost) 
	coming to Hartford or thereabouts, I was there.  It was the 
	thing to do.  I didn't know too much about the Dead but I was 
	familiar with a few songs - like 'Truckin' and 'Casey Jones'.  
	I'm not exactly excited about seeing them but it should be fun 
	to go up to Springfield with Guntis and his friends and.....
	but, wait... there's mom&dad.  I really can't take off for a 
	concert in another state on a school night with some people 
	they've never met, can I?  Well, then, it looks like it's 
	about time to take the plunge and make it kinda o-fficial and 
	introduce this guy to mom&dad...

	March 28 rolls around and Guntis drives up in his sporty little
	Vega ;-).  There's mom&dad&bro sitting around the den 
	watching TV.  I'm upstairs "getting ready".  The doorbell rings.  
	I hear footsteps.  I hear voices.  I come downstairs... 
	There's mom&dad&bro sitting around the 	den watching Guntis.  
	A little polite conversation and then "well, we gotta go now", 
	and we're outta there!

	So we drive up to Springfield and we park along one of the
	sidestreets and we start walking toward the Civic Center.
	All of a sudden we're hit with this barrage of color as the
	t-shirt-selling tourheads approach.  We watch as several 
	been-a-long-time-since-I-last-saw-you heads recognize
	eachother and run into eachother's arms.  This looks pretty 
	interesting...

	Our friends go inside (they have tickets) and we start walking
	around looking for a couple of tickets so we can get in too.
	We approach lots of people outside and most are looking for
	tickets themselves, or just hanging out.  But, we finally meet
	one guy who has one ticket, which he sells to us at face value
	($5!) - thank you, thank you, thank you.  Now we have one ticket.
	Someone says, "you need a ticket?, there's a bunch of them on the
	ground over there".  We run over.  Sure enough, there's all these
	bogus tickets on the road.  We pick one up and try to get in.
	No go.  We take the one good ticket and head outside again.
	Eventually, we meet another guy with one ticket, which he sells to 
	us at face value - thank you!  And we're in...

	Now it really hits me.  This is NOT your run-of-the-mill rock
	concert.  There's all these people swirling around the hallways.
	And there's all these COLORS.  It seems to me like the ultimate
	love utopia - EVERYone is happy, EVERYone is smiling!  And inside, 
	in the darkness, there's this mirrored ball spinning with spotlights 
	hitting it and there's "hundreds" of lights SPINNING around the whole 
	place.  There just seems to be an INCREDIBLE amount of energy going 
	around.  And throughout it all there's this spacey kind of music 
	that keeps going and going and going...

	...well, like I said, I didn't know too much about the Dead's
	music so, to tell the truth, I don't have a memory at all of
	what was played  (but I DO have a tape - who needs a memory! -
	and by the way - they played Dark Star that night - little did 
	I know...).  What DID stick in my mind about the event was 
	definately the SCENE.  Right from the start I was hooked.  
	This is MY kind of people.  I loved it.  And the love of the
	music that sparks this energy came soon after...

	Today, eighteen years and three kids later, Guntis and I are
	still together.  I always like to think of our first "official" 
	date together as the first time we saw the Grateful Dead...well,
	after all, he met mom&dad, didn't he?!?  Half my lifetime later, 
	there is still a part of our lives that revolves around the Dead.  
	If they're in "town", we're trying to get tickets.  The music is 
	a big something that we have in common and it seems that it has 
	kind of weaved thru our whole relationship.

	Debess

    I always like dave's story also!!  It's kinda like a bedtime story. 
    Like "Daddy, how'd you meet mommy?".  It's like a fantasy tale.  Good
    stuff.
    
    dave

    Lewiston was my first show as well. As a matter of fact it was my 
first concert of any type. What a way to start! 

     I remember in the mid seventies hearing a commercial for a Dead Show
say, "And you know the Dead's reputation for playing on and on". I heard 
that and decided I wanted to find out more about this band, that is hear 
they're music. I started listening and found deadheads in some people I knew
around Northboro. I remember one night in an apartment listening to some 
music, thinking, "Hey this is good music, hmm, I feel like hearing some 
dead". It was close enough, I asked if it was Dead and sure enough it was.
     I worked one summer at a summer camp, I was 16. It was a camp for 
inner city, underprivileged youth. This was in the prime of the disco wave
and there were only a few people in that camp who weren't into disco.
I met there, probably the first real deadhead I knew, I just knew she was 
cool, I didn't know too much about deadheads. She also hung around with
another guy, Bruce, who might be the second head I knew. (About ten years 
later, I read a reply to a note by Bruce, Hadn't seen him since '79. Hi
Bruce!) I remember being socked when Cheryl (sp?) told me that she had
36 tapes at one time. 
     The next year passed and I started to get some Dead music. I had 
"What a long strange trip", "Skeletons..", "Live Dead" and "Working man's
dead"(with a distinct skip in New Speedway boggie). That summer, '80,
I heard about the Grateful Dead playing at the Maine Music Fest. in 
Lewiston, Maine. I had a bunch of friends who agreed that this sounded fun.
Two weeks after tickets had gone on sale, I went to a Ticketron and bought
6 tickets. I wasn't afraid of a sell out, "It's general admission, it 
won't be a problem". (How times have changed.) I was more afraid of not 
making it to the window before the place closed.
     September 4th was the first day of school, I had to leave early to 
take my driver's license test. September 6th I borrowed my mother's car 
at 6:00 AM to drive from Northboro, Ma to Lewiston, Me. Seven of us piled 
in to the Catalina and my mother got upset because there were only supposed 
to be six. I remember seeing people on the way up going to the show, hitch
hikers with signs for Lewiston and all kinds of other stuff that made me 
realize they were going too. I remember stopping in a rest area like none I 
had ever been in before, because it seemed everyone was going to the show.
There were people juggling and Dead Tunes playing all around and I just kind
of grinned in amazement (I still do that, that must have been a beginning of 
sorts). 
     We arrived at the show, or in the town, and having never been to a concert
of any kind before I didn't know it was any different. We needed one more 
ticket which we bought at the gate a few minutes before it opened. There, I
ran in to my next door neighbor, no surprise at the time, but if I think 
about it now, the chance of running in to the one person I knew before hand 
was pretty unlikely. (I wonder how many of you I met?) To say the least,
I was having fun. 
     We went in as soon as the gates opened. Picked out an area somewhere
off to the right of the soundboard. (Funny, that's where I land at all my
outdoor shows.) The day just kind of kept happening and we saw the crowd 
around us just got bigger and bigger. A lot of the day gets lost in just 
happening, there were two other bands before the Dead. 
     I remember being amazed by all that was going on around me. We were 
flat broke, zilch, no cash and short on fuel to boot. The people beside us
were good enough to smoke with us and I repay that at shows whenever I can.
A group moved in behind us with a keg, I remember one of them working to 
pump the keg and as he pushed down on the pump he passed out. The tickets, 
where now they say no cans, bottles or alcohol, said "No Passouts". I'm 
thinking this guy broke the rules. I remember noticing all the microphones
around. I was just amazed at the whole scene and happy to have pulled it all
off without problems.
     While we were on our way out I remember thinking, "Wow, what an amazing 
show, Or is it just my first? Wouldn't it be cool to get a recording of that!"
(Six years later, almost to the day, I did.) We had no money at all and had
used more gas on the way up than we had in the tank. But all of my friends 
smoked and had for some reason bought extra cigarettes. For I don't know 
what reason many people chose to bum butts off of my friends. Then we'd 
ask for 50 cents to help with our fuel, explaining our situation. We were 
able to get enough to buy about a quarter tank of fuel, enough to get home. 
     A long drive home, I'm seventeen and exhausted, got my license for two 
days and we got home around 3:00 AM. It went over great, nothing went bad but
my mother needed something to find fault in, that was that we had seven in 
the car rather than six. But hey, she lent me the car, I can't bitch. After 
then the notes file and rec.music.gdead really got me into the scene with
mailorder and lots of friends. 
     I have probably been to more shows now than anyone else who was in 
the car. Karen and Stan still like the music, but have never gone too far 
for a show. Keith went into the army and has been broke, wicked broke, 
ever since he came back, he doesn't do much other than work (still a close 
friend). Mike, I don't think he ever went to another show, unless it was 
in Worcester where he'd be inclined to be paying a scalper without qualm 
or playing the role. Lisa disappeared. Sherry, god I liked Sherry, I ran into
her last spring, she had just had her second child and I was launching my 
second boat. 
     I'm glad I found the scene. There are many wonderful people in this 
circle. I've had a lot of fun and seen many shows since. I've met so many
people who have come and gone or stayed or flashed by, it's truly a integral 
part of my life.

     Hmm, that was ten years ago this past September. I'll have ten 
years at DEC in March.

     Geoff

    I'd been living the dead way of life since I was 15, the attitudes,
    morality, etc.  that I find so common in deadheads today were VERY
    common in the group I ran with prior to my heavy involvement with
    the DEAD. It wasn't until 1984 that I ended up at an actual
    show.....and my life has never been the same since. YA see, I'd
    had this hangup for the previous couple of years that "it was all
    over"...the dream was dissapearing if not already dead, er gone.
    All of  a sudden there were hundreds, thousands that showed me the
    DREAM was what you make it. And it did still exist, and wasn't just
    a dream, but reality....as real as you wanted it to be. 
                                   
              ...and I smiled......
    
    
    
                                   rfb

  Friend gave me tickets while I was at a craft fair.  I decided to check it
out as I had heard of the Dead, but didn't really know anything about them.
I over indulged and didn't have the grate time one would hope for, but loved the
crowd and the outside setting.  I had a good enough time that I grabbed tickets
next time they came back and found myself amonst friends.  I have always 
maintained that even though I love the dance music and the message the scene
for me is the people.  Some are wierd true, but so am I, for me it is the love
and cosmic connection not only between the boyz and the crowd, but the 
connection between all in attendance.  There is a oneness much like we speak of
in Once upon a time, someone should finish that, not only at the show but before
and after too.

  One of my favorite memories was before a show in Eugene.  the basketball
arena where it was being held is across the street from a _large_ pioneer,
founding peoples cemetary.  Those were the days when people were still vending
full bore and there was sword swollowers and flame eaters and acobatics and
all.  My friend, Rick Wilkes, and I sat on a large flat tombstone in the 
cemetary with a bota bag and a large supply of pre-rolled  and watched the 
scene.  Soon we were joined a few at a time by others.  In a very mellow
way we all sat there in the graveyard sharing wine and such, laughter and 
conversation as we watched the crowd and listened to the street players.  It
was kind of close friendship among strangers that have dropped all barriers.
It was nice.  

  john

	Ok here's a question for y'all.  I'm (gasp) not a Dead fan yet
	(probably because some kind soul has never dragged me to a show),
	but I like what I see of "the attitude".

	But having never been to a show, it's kinda hard to tell for
	sure, so here's my question.  What is the essence of the 
	deadhead experience?

	Looking forward to reading your responses...

	Tjw

    Gee Tom, I thought we went thru this already...I'll have to give you
    some more tapes to listen to  :)
    
    As a big fan of the Dead's music, but having only been to 9 shows, and
    liking a lot of their studio material (which I don't think you would
    find is the case with many "Dead-icated Deadheads" who may prefer live
    tapes) as Well as the "live experience" my essence of a Dead show can
    be many things, but it really comes down to THE MUSIC...
    
    definitely going to a Dead show is a chance to relax like you don't get
    out there much these daze :(  it's a chance to do your own thing, dance
    like crazee if you feel it...sit back and "get into it"    and see all
    those other folks just groovin' and havin a good time...that's what
    it's about too...
    
    But, the music...the Dead have so many grate songs, you never know what
    you will hear from 1 night to the next...they don't know either, which
    is a part of the beauty of the music...it flows from them as They feel
    it...there are good, bad, not so grate, and Many Grate moments of
    improvisation, just jammin' along
    
    I hadn't been to a show in a long time, and going to a Dead show with
    Karen for the first time at Highgate was Perfection
    
    Wes_who_is_typing_this_wearing_his_Dechead_shirt  :)
    

      The essence of the deadhead experience to me is a combination
    of the MUSIC and the ATMOSPHERE....I find that most of the time
    something cool is happening around whereva you here that music...
    
           :-) daveB

    I'll take a shot!
    
    The essence of the DEAD experience starts with the MUSIC at its core
    
    It continues with you at the show doin' your own thing wether that be
    takin' a nap during space, or groovin' around the floor to Phils' bass.
    
    It ends with everyone else at the show doin' their thing, and
    respecting you for whatever your thing is!!
    
    Then the Cycle begins again, wherever you are, however you listen to
    the music.
    
    That what it is for me
    
    Jeff
    

    
    Some grate people turned me on to the Dead when I was 15, I saw my 
    first shortly after I turned 16.  I went to Dead Shows because I 
    enjoyed rebelling with up to 80,000 other people.  
    
    I got a kick out of it.  Nowhere else was I able to relax, dance, and 
    get high with so many folks that were like me.  For your average 16 
    year old, the freedom of a deadshow can be heavens scent.  
    
    I was impressed with how the music could really liven things up....
    then there were moments where you could hear a pin drop.  The music was 
    very powerful to me.....I wouldn't stop laughing from the moment I walked 
    in the show til the moment I walked out.

	From a practical angle on the music front, IMO, a big part of the 
	deadhead experience is to get *IT* from a show.  You'll know *IT* 
	when you get *IT*, and when *IT* happens, it's pretty amazing.    
	Ie, there's something awfully powerful about the music and the 
	energy and the interaction between the band and the audience that 
	is hard to explain, but it's magical.  It's related to the spontaneity
	or improvisational part of the music itself.  When it clicks, it's
	like nothing else ("THere's nothing like a dead show").
	
	Problem is, *IT* doesn't happen every show.   Therefore, what one
	needs to do is go to more than 1 show.   I don't know what the ratio
	is, but IMO the ratio of shows:great-shows increases with time. So 
	you might need to see 3 or 4 (or 5 or...) shows before you get *IT*.
	That's one reason why folks might go to all 6 shows at the upcoming
	boston garden run.  Chances are, *IT* will happen at least one night
	hopefully more ;-)

	And it's not that clear cut - some people will get it one night
	when others on the same night are saying huh ?   So frame of mind
	has a lot to do with getting *IT* as well.

	I don't know if any of this makes any sense to ya, but it does to me.

	/Ken

    I remember the first time I saw anything Dead-related, that was a Jerry
    Garcia Band show in Rochester.  I was not a deadhead, more of a
    metal-head than anything.  I remember when Jerry Garcia came out
    on that stage and everyone went berserk and I got butterflies in my
    stomach, it tingled. I could feel the positive energy vibrating
    throughout the crowd.  Truly wonderful experience.  I was hooked.
    
    :), d

    I move the string to here, as Probs pointed out would give you some
    insight also check out note 31.*....
    
    Chris

    the essence of the deadhead experience???  now thre's a question 
    for you!  grater minds than mine have tried to explain it adn fallen
    short...  there's even been sociologists studing it who have failed to
    coem up with a truly definitive answer...  
    
    i think the answer is more in the EXPERIENCE than the ESSENCE part of
    your question...  unfortunately for anyone who asks the question,
    that means there are as many answers as there are deadheads!  
    
    "experience" is a very personal thing...  we can all attend the same
    event, but the "experience" is going to be different for all of us
    (though, granted, there will be some commonality)...  
    
    a dead show is certainly an event...  even the bands most vocal
    detractors will grant you that! :^)  "the essence of the experience"
    depends, imho, more on you and your attitude, acceptance (or not)
    and participation (or not) in the various aspects of the experience...
    
    i find heads to be an experience-oriented bunch...  especially if the 
    events that are experienced can evoke strong emotional reactions...
    "i want to try that" and "i'd like to know what that feels like"
    seem to be commonly held attitudes...  and since most people don't
    want to experience things that will hurt or cause physical/emotional
    pain, there tends to be a strong positive vibe that runs thorugh the
    event...  if we are sharing the experience, let's do what we can to
    make it something to celebrate, rather than something to be avoided...
    
    the more you get into it, the more it gets into you...  the music, 
    the crowd, the music, the general chaos that surrounds it all, the
    music...  :^)  as it all adds up and you begin to internalize it more
    and more, the whole experience, in total, evokes a very strong
    emotional response...  you don't just see a show...  you don't just 
    listen to a show...  you don't just feel the show...  you experience
    the show, and ultimately BECOME the show... :^)
    
    					da ve

 very nice da ve, don't discredit as worthless.

May I print that out and give it to my parents? ;^)
Steve

    
    Nice description Ken....
    
    The only problem is sometimes you don't get *IT* for a while! :-)

    IT'S THE BEAT, THE BEAT, THE BEAT!!!!! 
    
    although it's the MUSIC that
    makes it, the scene can sure make you smile! when someone gives your
    lady the shirt off their back because the wind is whipping sand like
    sandpaper against her body, when the guy selling you the necklace calls
    you a chump but STILL sells it to ya for lower than what he was asking,
    when the beer vendor gives all his ice away because people are dieing
    from the heat,...
    
    
    to quote a famous Dave "the more you get into it, the more it gets
    into you!" (i like that!)
    
    to quote a famous tom when asked what he thought about the Giants shows
    not being so hot..."hey, it's the DEAD!"
    
    
    
    no govt will set you free...dec eventually will...the dead do every time!!

    re .17
    
    sure Steve...  just promise me you'll correct the typos...  i'd hate to 
    have your parents think that deadheads kant spel two good...  :^)
    
    					da ve_whose_fingers_can't_keep_
    					up_with_his_remaining_brain_cells

"It doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there"

"Strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hands"

"Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart, you just gotta poke around"

"I'll get up and fly away"


The essence is the music, the experience is how you perceive it and 
what you choose to do with it...

Go see a show, open up and Enjoy!

Glennnn

    Wow, cool responses!  I didn't know if anyone would really
    answer, but I've really enjoyed reading this string.  I'd
    like to share a few of my reactions.

    .11 -  Sounds like a good description of LIFE, doncha think?
     (dig, do your thing, respect each other - live & let live -
      and (re)cycle!  Sounds great.)

    .16 - reminds me of Hendrix - "Have you ever been Experienced?"
	  same 60's vibe... alive & well in the 90's.  I personally
	really respect people who can get into that attitude of wanting
	to try new experiences.  So easy to be a stick-in-the-mud,
	content(?) with the same old same old. Then what does life
	bring you?  same old, same old.

    I will have to be there to "get" the music.  I don't
    "get" it when reproduced through my stereo.  This doesn't
    surprise me, though, as there's usually no one else in the room.

    
    Tom
    

re:        <<< Note 25.18 by AKOCOA::SMITH_D "a hopeful candle lingers" >>>

>    Nice description Ken....
>    
>    The only problem is sometimes you don't get *IT* for a while! :-)

	Thanks...  and I agree, it can take a while.  I got *IT* in college
	during some, er, enlightening experiences while listening to Live/Dead.
	My first show was in '79 in Providence, and then I saw a few after
	that - more Providence, Hartford ('82 Earthquake space- WOW!!), etc.
	I was collecting tapes here and there, but wasn't really tuned in
	(ie I wasn't a fanatic yet ;-).  That happened at the first 
	Worcester show 10/20/83, where Mindy and I just had the time of
	our lives.  You gotta experience *IT* to see.

	/Ken

Tom, I might suggest you try to find yyour way to one of the Slipknot 
shows this weekend. It ain't the Dead, but it does have the atmosphere

    I agree with Geoff, Tom. I've never heard Slipknot, but when I'm
    jonesin for some dead (which is alot!) I hit the local Shakedown scene
    here in COlO. and I usuallyt come away with *IT*
    
    rfb

Hanging out with 40,000 other happy people makes me happy, too. At most other 
pop concerts the fans are too busy trying to be cool or trying to exude an
"attitude" to have any real fun. There is an element of these folks not 
there to have fun at deadshows, too, just not so many.

Drugs and alchohol help, too. These days, the boys have just grown too old
to really deliver any *it* anymore, but for experienced fans, the memory of
*it* coming through a poorly delivered Morning Dew or Dark Star can
sometimes go a long way towards upping the ratio of smiles to grimaces. For
the newcomer, I would imagine it must seem really strange to hear the fans
go wild at the opening notes to Dark Star, a dirgeful and technically
acedemic intro to a song which is delivered completely differently these 
days than in the boys' glory days...

	I may actually be seeing Slipknot tonight.  Look for
	me in the purple Todd Rundgren T-shirt.

	I went to a Phish show and got *their* IT  - I think
	it might kinda similar to the Dead's IT  :-)  folks were
	pretty jazzed up - it's contagious

I'll start out by saying the dead is not for everyone.  i've seen many
people come and go and just wonder what i see in the dead scene.

to me, the sum total is the energy and magicness that occurs at the scene.
it'll definitely take much more than one show to understand and be a part
of this energy.  at first, you may feel like an outsider, but, as you continue
to listen to tons -o- tapes and go to more shows, the door to the core starts
to open, the light is on your face, and you either open the door more or
you walk away.  if you choose to open, finding the magical thing is never
guarenteed.  some people come in, walk around a bit, and never 'connect'
with the magic that is inside.  others find the magic, and learn that
there is not but one magic, but lots of different aspects to the magic
that might occur.  and, like ken hannan mentioned, the magic is never
guarenteed.  for some people, they never find the magic again, and those
folks drift away.  for every person that leaves the scene, there seems to
be 2 more that come to the scene.  there are lots of things that can spoil
the occurance of the magic: bummer security, idoits behind you talking
loudly and generally ruining the music for you, etc.  it is different for 
everyone. also, state of mind has a lot to do with it.  i find that it is 
comparable to a fine-tuned racing car.  all the adjustments have to be made 
just right.  and, this is part of the fun... just how to adjust.  and,
one more thing that attracts me also is the mass disregard for the 'stupid'
laws we have in this country.  for the most part, i've found deadheads to
act fairly responsibly.  in the 50 or so shows i've seen, i can't say that
i've _ever_ witnessed a fight amongst deadheads.  i think it is great seeing
people enjoy themselves doing whatever they're doing (underaged drinking,
use of marajuana, use of LSD, use of mushrooms, use of whatever) _and_ not
hurting anyone else but themselves (detrimental effect of those drugs).   it
is where i think america should be, but, unforetunately, we must live with
the stupid law of the land such as illegal MJ, 21 drinking age, etc.  i guess
that is the rebellious side of me coming out.  

deb, at first, did not like the dead scene and i was wildly addicted to it.
i took her to many shows before she came to enjoy the dead.  i really don't
think she experiences the magicness as much as i do, but, i do think she
experiences it in a very different way than i do.  which is the essence of
the scene and what i elluded to in the previous para.  it took her a while
to even like going - she was freaked out by the scene/people.  now, if
i try and go to a show w/o her, she gets completely bummed out. 

check it out.
don't force yourself to like it because you'll never find *IT*.
listen to tapes.
expand your mind.
let the music take you away to a magical place.

re:                <<< Note 25.26 by TOOK::PECKAR "sleep tight" >>>

> These days, the boys have just grown too old
> to really deliver any *it* anymore, 

Wow, so your take on the increasing ratio of *IT*shows:shows is that
this ratio is approaching zero ?  I don't think it's at that point.
Maybe 5:1, but maybe that's too optimistic.

/Ken

    
    
    Well, I would say that if you compare the "it" of then with the
    "it" of now they are two very different "It"'s!  So "it"'s all 
    what you make of "it"!  :-)
    
    MJ

    I find IT happens for me ALOT more now than ever before. 
    
    On the other hand it seems when IT isn't happening these dayz it's not
    even close. It goes way off in the other direction. JMO.

>>    On the other hand it seems when IT isn't happening these dayz it's not
>>    even close. It goes way off in the other direction. JMO.

I havta to agree with this -- there was a time in my third or forth year of
seeing shows when "it" seemed to happened all the time -- just to
varying degrees -- 

Now, "it" seems to happen 2 outta 3 times -- and when "it" doesn't happen at 
all "it" is almost a bummer... 

but I think this is more a personal thing and getting older -- things like
mis-treated children and animals or people *really* freakin out didn't bother
me as much when I was in college (de-sensitized back then I guess) -- nowadays
it takes less to throw me off to the point where I can't get "it" for the rest
of the night.

Glennnn_who_got_it_this morning -- oooops different "it" ;^)

I've been seeing the dead since 1987.  The intensity and quality of shows
seemed to increase each time I saw them, until a peak in the 90-91 time frame. 
Since then, I've become less enthralled with their shows.  That's not to say
they're bad shows, but nothing like 90-91.

Let's hope fall tour 1994 is a different story.

adam

      I agree with MJ its mostly what you make of "IT"....also for some
    of us older timers, if the pinnacle of "IT" happened years ago, 
    alot of todays shows just don't come close.....also, IMHO, comparing
    Phish's "IT" to the Dead's "IT" is like comparing apples and oranges...
    (again this is MHO) Phish is very intense and they like to get
    there quickly....The Dead can still get intense sometimes but are
    mostly spacey and they like to take their time to get there....also
    I believe that my basic philosophy of "its not what they play but
    how they play it"  helps me to get some "IT" outta most of the shows
    that I attend....between tours tapes, Slipknot and flashbacks help
    to keep me in touch with the true "IT".....believe "IT" if you
    need "IT"....
    
                     :-) daveB

	i also share some of the same observations adam made.  the '90 and '91
season was very good and unmatched to this date IMO.  but, it might be that
IT is just being redefined at this point.  a new IT is emerging and it is
just taking a while to come here.  maybe those in here who went thru the
brent breakin can related?  

Brent who?  Where's Keith?

 :-)

    gottsto agree with adam and jc
   i think they have ben on a downturn since 90-91...the albany shows then 
    were probably my faves......i stil kick myself in the ass when i come
    outta shows that imho are crap..."why do you keep going?...then i
    rationalize and say what happens when they do play a killer show and
    you miss it?...missing *it* whatever yer opinion of *it* may be would
    be a bummer....DDN had an article about how heads are ordering tickets
    and advised how we should shy away from ordering in blocks because
    heads either 1) get tour sickness 2)come out with a bad taste in their
    mouths about the shows because they are not hearing what they want to
    hear....Nowadays i don't go in expecting much, and if they  are off i
    don't get down .....like NJ, second night was, if i counted righ, show
    number 50 for me.....i didn't go in expecting to be blown off my feet
    and when they played crap, i didn't get down....
    it's all an attitude
    groove on
    chris
    

    Vegas 93, Sunday *IT* slapped me right in the face. 
    Phx DSP was good but not that grate
    All denver shows had *IT* except for 90 Sunday....funny thing, that
    tape is one of my favs, but the show itself wasn't....hmmmmmm
    
    rfb

    
    funny what rfb just said.....sometimes your at a show and your
   not too impressed, (state of mind, location or whatever) and later
   you hear a soundboard of the same show and it kicks ass!
    
    Sean

re                     <<< Note 25.39 by JUPITR::OCONNORS >>>

    
>    funny what rfb just said.....sometimes your at a show and your
>   not too impressed, (state of mind, location or whatever) and later
>   you hear a soundboard of the same show and it kicks ass!
 

yup!~  happens all the time!

    
    I have experienced the opposite regarding show recollection.  
    I've gone to shows and came out thinking it was unbelievable,
    later while listening to the show or specific tunes saying 
    "man, that sucked, what the hell was I doing during that show"
    
    	

	
	The Bus stopped in my neighbor hood in 77-78. I heard about this
    "wicked cool" band called the Grateful Dead from my buddies cousin. 
    Even tried to counterfeit tickets to show once(adolescent delinquent),
    "got a fake ticket here" the ticket-taker told the policeman. In and 
    out the door I went. After that I BOUGHT tickets to see the Boyz!!!!
    1st show was Sept? 79. I couldn't believe the atmosphere/feeling at
    the show... people dancin' everywhere!! noone yelling at ya while you
    walked through the crowd. "I could really dig this" I said to my self.
    The best show I saw was Lewiston Me 1980 I believe (not sure what day) 8-)
    Levon Helm & Warren Zevon were supposed to play ... I remember levon but
    not Warren 8-)  It was a Magical day to say the least. one thing that I
    will always remeber is  Me n my buddy getting as close to the stage as 
    possible and rather than getting H20 at the break we decided to try and
    get closer. Anyways some heads BROUGHT H20 back for everyone who stayed!
    An act of kindness I'll always remember.... I remember describing the 
    scene to people "You could get dressed up in the wierdest outfit you can
    imagine and still not stick out"! The whole peaceful feeling of the scene
    was what impressed me most I guess.
    
  




	Toby
    
    
    
    

My first show, it stands out to me and is the longest tape I have. I don't 
remember a lot of the other acts, I was rather overwhelmed with the whole thing. 
The date was September 6th, 1980. 

	Lewiston was pretty amazing to me!
	Geoff

    Hey Goeff,
      I loved Lewiston.  It stands out as one one my greatest of times at a
    dead show.  Beautiful weather, hordes of heads everywhere, fabulous
    sunset.  Cosmic day
    
    	

    My 2 cents worth. 
    
    *IT* has changed over the year's. Maybe its me, Maybe its the band,
    Maybe its the passage of time. Is suapect that its a combination of all
    three. My first show was Decemeber 1969. Back then you could show up at
    the door and buy a ticket (actually they just stamped your hand -
    admission price was about $2.00) Shows were definately more free form
    back then. There were no "first set songs", "second set songs" Second
    set openers etc. In fact, due to equipment problems there were often
    times more than 2 sets. In the early and mid-70's (the Keith & Donna
    era) there was more organization to the band: lots of new songs and
    more definition to shows (organized first and second sets). There was
    ALWAYS lots of tuning up between songs in the first set. In fact, Keith 
    would smoke a cigarette between EACH song of the first set. You could
    always count of Donna to wail during at least one song (Playin, One
    More Sat. Night etc.) About this time it started getting harder to get
    tickets to shows and venues got larger eg Boston Garden instead of the
    Music Hall (now Wang Center) Also the vending scene started to emerge.
    The 80's with Brent brought more changes - musical guests became more
    frequent, Brent brought his own tunes, the boys became even more
    popular which mean't even more people. The 90's have so far brought us
    Vince and Hornsby is a 'frequent' guest. Through it all there is still
    that majic.
    
    From all the shows I've seen, people ask, don't I get tired of going?
    The answer is NO. Evene though they may play all songs that I've heard
    them do before, they never play them the same way twice. I ENJOY trying
    to figure out what song they'll do next as they 'noodle around' between
    tunes. I especially enjoy the second set of a show when the boys
    typically do more transitions. One never knows where these are going
    but every once in awhile they are really majical. Albany 1990 is one
    of numerous examples where the entire band and indeed virtually the
    entire audience was caught up in the majic of the transitions of the
    first set. The jam going into Drums is one of those moments.
    
    Majic just doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes the boys are less
    than inspired and the show is NOT that special but every once in awhile
    everything lines up and when it does - WOW!!!! 
    
    One's experience at a show is very personal and one may love a show
    that someone else pas. Seating location, the set list, personal
    experiences, how one is feeling all contribute to these experiences.
    You may have hated the Albany show I mentioned above. The point I am
    trying to make is "Try it - you might like *IT*" JC is right however,
    IMHO, The DEAD may not be for everyone. Believe me you should see the
    looks on the faces of the people I work with (Corporate Treasury) when
    I tell them I am going to another show! In any event, if they turn out
    not to be for you, I hope you find "Musical Satisfaction" in your life.
    For me, Jerry & Comapny have certainly brought many smiles to my face
    over the years and I often time re-live those moments vicariously ( at
    leats in part) with my tapes.
    
    Jack
      

    Welcome back, Jack...haven't heard your voice here in awhile...;-) ;-)
    
    I couldn't agree with you more (first show, 3/23/73)...
    
    tim
    

    along the lines of it jack-
    wasn't it jerry who said "to like our music is to compare it to liking
    licorice, you REALLY like licorice or you hate it"
    is guess i really like licorice
    chris

    hey Jack, welcome back_Jack!
    
    long time no smile
    
    

yes, welcome back Jack!

    ya Jack, along the lines of "you should see the faces..."
    I've had people here at work who were talked into a show (not by me,
    too many people as it is) that came up to me and said"I don't GET IT!"
    afterwards....I saw LOTS of locals in Vegas that had the "I don't get
    it?" look on their faces during times when we travelers were hootin and
    hollerin at a special moment. Then again, both my sisters (one in Vegas
    one in AZ) sorta got IT, but thought more that we were just plain
    freakin CRAZY DANCIN FOOLS!!! But they had smiles on their faces! 
    
    rfb_waitin for IT in Denver!

Hey Jack!

I heard a story on NPR last week, it was an interview with the two dudes 
who penned Skeleton Key, a book which traslates English->DeadHead and vice
versa.	Anyhow, they were talking about what Ken and others call *it*. They 
Call it "the X Factor". I think they said something about that's what the 
boys call it. They were talking about it in the context of the boys feeding 
off this phenomena and how it feeds right back into their performance. Neat 
piece.

    re .-1
    there was a blurb in the USA Weekend supplement of the Nashua Teletrash
    that had some deadheadisms-
    false jerries-people who look like jerry and catch the eyes of
    deadheads
    
    touch-heads-those who fell on the bus after the in the dark explosion
    on the charts
    
    phil-bombs-wellwe all know what these are...the article said they
    "rattle the floor"
    
    and along the lines of "IT"-
    the zone-the point when fans feel the music is most intense and
    the energy is felt by both band and audience......
    
    "Hey i got *IT* i am "zoning"?
    as opposed to being in the Zone?
    red zone?
    white zone?
    Phil's zone?

    re last few
    
    Nice to be back. I took a two month leave of absence mid-May to
    mid-July to do some climbing (read McKinley). Managed to sevrely sprain
    my ankle while hiking on the Appalachian Trail as part of a warm up and
    thus not being able to go to Alaska :-( :-( :-(
    
    Once I got to a point where I could walk again (about 2.5 weeks) I
    journeyed out to the north-west. Caught a couple of shows in Eugene
    where I saw Andy Nourse from afar but by the time I got to the floor,
    he was lost in the crowd. Also spent several weeks on Mt Rainier and
    about a week in the Olympics.  A great time away from here even if I
    did not accomplish my goal.
    
    After two months, there are a LOT of notes to catch up on in this
    file!!! As most of you have experienced first hand, life at DEC is a
    little more intense now than in years gone by. For me this translates
    into less time to read notes. Finally, last week I got down to about
    100 unseen notes and last night I got down to 0 and even had some time
    to enter a reply.
    
    Nice to be back.
    
    Carol - in reading all of those back notes I find that you and I share
    soemthing else in common besides our love of the Dead - the same
    birthday!!! Actually I learned in a statistics course in grad school
    that with 26 persons there is about a 50 - 50 chance that two of them
    will have the same birthday (month & day; not necessarily year). With
    more than 26 people the odds that any two of them will share the same
    birthday increases. 
    
    Look forward to seeing most of you at Boston Garden if not beforehand.
    
    Jack 

Don't give up on Denali, man, it'll be there for a while. Glad to hear yer 
still trying, I remember chatting with you about climbing it at chets 
several years ago!

    Jack,
    
    Welcome back - haven't seen you since that New Years show 89 into 90! 
    I'll be at BG Sat nite hope to see you there!
    
    Fredda

    Fredda:
    
    I'll be at all of the BG shows except Tuesday (when I'll be in scenic
    White Plains on business :-( :-( )  I look forward to seeing you on
    Saturday.... to bad T!ng won't be there as well.
    
    See you then.
    
    Jack

    Jack,
    
    Do you mean the scenic Digital office in White Plains? (really
    Tarrytown)  The one next to the Marriot, about 10 minutes from my
    house?  Too bad I don't work in that office!
    
    Fredda

    Hi Fredda:
    
    Alas no, I am going to a meeting at Texaco's headquarters in White
    Plains. Meeting starts at noon onTuesday and ends at noon on Wednesday
    - then its off to BG :-) :-) :-)
    
    Jack

    Jack,
    
    Hope then to see ya at BG!
    
    Fredda

Yes, nice to see jack back in here.  we've been in touch outside of 
grateful during his absence...  matter of fact, we had lunch today
to deal with dead tix!

anyways, i do remember that albany 90 show!!!  jack knows i remember
this one 'cuz he was my chaperone (sp?) for the night :-).  it had been
a looooooooong while since i had seen my good uncle sydney, and i wanted
someone to be there keeping an eye on me to make sure my uncle didn't get
me in too much trouble.  what a night IT was!  matter of fact, that
show was my all-time fave.  the music.  the scene.  albany's open arms
for the dead.  my mind-set.  everything was nice!!!!!!!!!  a long night
it was for the uncle kept me up until 5 am or so just chattin' away
with my brain.  yikes...  i wish more were like that one!  an excellent
show and everything tuned perfectly...

	Well, this note has been quiet for a while...
    
	I got on the bus in February of 1977, Swing Auditorium, San
Bernadino. I saw a mention of this show in one of the other notes, and thought 
that the following might be of interest...

   I was 16, and had dropped out of school; I was living & working in the
San Bernadino mountains in Southern Calif at a YMCA camp, which was normally 
only open in the summer, but they had weekend groups during the winter. One 
day my friends called from the city & said that the Dead were playing at the 
Swing auditorium, in San Bernadino! These were the folks I had previously 
shared a cabin with at the camp during the summmers, and they had turned me on 
to the Dead, Jack Kerouack, Alan Watts, and numerous happy substances, 
beginning at the tender age of 14 (the first summer I worked at a Y camp 
washing dishes)... Many wonderful summer nights at the Y camp, the happy 
campers in slumberland in their cabins, American Beauty or Wake of the Flood 
on the vinyl grinder, thousands of acres of protected national wilderness 
outside our cabin door for crazies to roam in...

    I promptly stuck out my thumb & came down the mountain to meet up with my 
bro's down in the flatlands, about 30 miles down the mountain... When we 
arrived at the Swing (sometime in the early afternoon), there was an incredible
carnival happening outside the auditorium.. Bright colors, happy, friendly 
people, sharing everything! Peyote Buttons spread out on blankets! Wow! Just 
like I had read about in Carlos Castaneda!  :^)

    The concert was amazing- I had enjoyed the music on vinyl, but I had never
*realized*. In later years, I came to the conclusion that a Dead concert was
like an innoculation... Once you've had it, you can listen to a live tape, and
you're there... Or at least you remember, and can understand.

     My most vivid memory; Standing about 10 feet from the stage at one point,
staring up at Garcia with (no doubt) an expression of bliss and amazement on my
face. I feel a tug on my pants leg. When I look down, I see a Dwarf, holding a 
pipe up to me, and smiling. Yup, a dwarf. I don't mean to use the word "Dwarf" 
lightly. This was a man, who came up to about my waist (I'm 6'), he had a big 
beard, a pug nose, and (I think) the "bandy" legs associated with dwarfism.

     In any case, I smiled back, partook of the pipe, and handed it back
(This was back before I became a stick in the mud, with caffeine as my worst
indulgence). A few minutes later, another tug on the pants. Again the pipe is
proferred, again I partake, and hand the pipe back. The 3rd time I feel a tug,
and when I look down, he's not holding the pipe up; he's gesturing at me with
his hands. It takes a while, but I finally understand that, here we are, 10 
feet from the stage, and this poor guy can't see a thing! 

     His gestures now understood, I put him up on my shoulders, and there we
stand, like some strange double-bearded totem pole, passing the pipe back and
forth between its two faces, both beaming up at the stage.

     The last thing I remember, Donna Jean starts blasting into the chorus of
The Music Never Stopped ("There's a band out on the highway..."). I see white
light. When I am next aware of the planet earth, the Dead are playing a
completely different song, and my nameless friend on my shoulders is tugging at
my hair, trying to signal me that his ride is over, he would like to get down
now, if I please.... I had remained upright throughout...

	Only other memory is later in the concert, crouching down by the
open dancing area, smiling, happy, watching the beautiful twirling girls in 
their peasant skirts and Danskins, twirling, twirling, happy, happy, I'm 16, 
life is good... One of the most beautiful of the twirlers has been periodically
looking at me as she twirls, smiling, happy, happy.... She twirls her way over 
to a drinking fountain, twirls back through the dancing, twirling, twirling, 
stops right in front of me as I'm crouched there in a state of bliss, crouches 
down to my level, and LETS ME HAVE IT, the whole mouthful of water, soaking
me! She rises back up, smiles beautifully, and continues twirling, twirling....
To this day, I'm not sure how it was intended, but at the time I remember it 
as a beautiful, Cosmic thing.... :^) Of course, at that point, I don't think
any other sort of thing was possible...

	There were other shows in the years following, but I don't remember
much from them, not like the Swing show. And I hadn't even been sure about the 
date of that show, until Divide Dave and Dave Levy helped me out (thank you) by
getting me a copy of the show, apparently considered a very good one by taper
folk... I sure thought so at the time...

-Chuck

thanks for the story Chuck - sounds like QUITE a first show!!!

Debess

	Way cool Chuck...

	I liked the part about getting drenched/Cosmic feeling

	Toby

	nice story, chuck!
	
	btw, i worked at a Y camp when i was 14. my first job. no such
	luck in connecting with such an incredible show, tho.  :-)
	
	jay

    That is a great story, thanks for sharing.
    
    In '84, the fraternity I belonged to rented a school bus and had a
    driver take us down to Providence for my first show.  Frankly, I
    remember being pretty bored most of the night.
    
    I'm another Y camp veteran -- I worked for two summers in the kitchen
    at Camp Belknap on Lake Winnepesaukee.  It was the hardest job I've
    ever had, and the lowest paying.  We could take cash in advance for
    forays into town, so I almost owed them money at the end of the summer. 
    I got my first exposure to the Dead then and hated them, mainly because
    they two Deadheads who always played their tape did less than their
    share of work.  I'd love to run into them again and make amends for all
    the crap I gave them.
    
    Jamie

    
    Hi Chuck!!  Good note...
    
     Glad to have been of help!
    
     Divide

  :^)  cool story...

			da ve