Your best grateful dead concert or memory of a concert

Was it in Dallas where Brent had is daughter on stage? Perhaps a birthday show?

Yes, lots of blotter consumption was the norm for many. My first show(s) were at Alpine and somehow I managed to consume at least 10 hits one night, not all at once. Once the peak is reached, taking more doses doesn't really have the same impact. You generally only prolong the experience and the side effects like aching joints and metal mouth, not to mention the ability to consume obscene amounts of alcohol. I think we climbed the ski hill twice that night. Also carried around a thirty-pack of Stroh's beer till it was warm and gone. Not proud and certainly not the best GD experience, but had to start somewere and can't think of a better full-scale Dead scene. It's such a shame what's become of Alpine these dayz. There's actually a watchtower in the main lot. YIKES! And for the Terrapin Station Dead reunion shows, they had Uber security and tow trucks for miles and miles down the highways, however, Warren's acoustic set was sick.

It's a toss up: Copps Coliseum in Hamilton Ontario (spring '90) where we hung with Brent after the first night and my girly friend requested Easy to Love You (they played it the next night). The Mecca Center in Milwaukee, WI (spring '89) was the smallest venue of the tour. This was one of those shows where Brent and Bobby slung mud during Red Rooster and the doses were out of this world. The Cardinal Stadium show in Louisville (summer '90) when Hornsby opened and the Baby Blue encore... mmmmm... Baby Blue AND post-show fireworks synched to Hendrix (was it Purple Haze or the Star Spangled Banner???). A hightlight of the KY show can be seen as the filler on one of the Vault Videos... I believe it was SOTM > He's Gone > Cryptical Jam. After Bobby left stage, he (or his twin brother) showed up in the back of the main floor field where we were hanging with one of the lighting crew, coincidentally moments after he abandoned Jerry and Phil as they teased The Other One. I honestly may never know if it was really him or the combination of 105 degree sun and super strong blotter. He was sporting a cowboy hat, rappin with the lighting guy while the rest of the crowd was way into the spectacular jam taking place on stage. Not only was my face stolen, words were impossible at this moment.

Uhhhhm... the Vegas shows that Santana opened in '91 were pretty special too... Might as Well!

Does Robert Hunter count as a Grateful Dead experience? That leather get-up he was sporting at the Joliet Speedway sure produced an odor. Shortly after his set, he was standing amongst the crowd and watching Dylan play Silvio. (Artist watching artist playing each others work. Surreal indeed.) Only a couple of us noticed him. It was pretty hot that day too.

Ahhhhh... it sure feels good to touch on some of the good times. Any other tour-heads out there? Do tell.

 

cant believe you saw that shit man. I hear that audience recordingn and the reaction from the audience sends chills through my spine everytime.

 

I realize this. -

 

Alpine Valley 89, sliding down the hill in the Mud!

 

U fucking serious?

 

My favorite Dead memory happened at Riverport, St. Louis in '94 on the second night. It also had the worst memories. It was hot and me and my bro were sitting in the sun by his car. Some asshole was holding his girlfriend hostage and a lot of the people were blocked from getting in the parking lot. Right when we started heading for the gates it began to rain. My forehead was sunburned and the rain felt wonderful. The rain didn't last long and when the sun came back out, right behind the stage, perfectly centered, was a double rainbow! Oh, they were great that night. They did Aiko Aiko, which kicked ass. They did a great version of Ripple. And I think they did Sugaree that night. The crowd was strange. They seemed more aggressive...hostile. The Leo's were absolute dicks! There was no Shakedown Street for either show. A bunch of drunks trashed my bro's car. Great show, great memories, but a sad crowd.

Addendum: I just check the set list for those dates. I was sure about Aiko Aiko, but wrong on the other two. Must have been another year or another venue.

 

wow , you obviously don't understand what your talking about. just because there was a lot of acid at shows, doesn't mean they "suck" and are bad. if anything, that shows how good they were. I really don't understand how you can like them so much after taking "20 hits", and then think they suck. I wouldn't even know where I am after that much acid, I wouldn't even be concerned with watching any show. I listen to the grateful dead all the time, everyday just about, live shows also, and I'm usually sober when I listen. And the fact that you didn't pay for the show, makes you even look worse. Not many bands accomplished what they did, can you think of any other bands besides phish where thousands of fans would just follow them around for years and years. People dedicated their life to them, to say they suck is an insult. If you don't like them, thats fine, but saying comments like that about one of the greatest bands of all time, is moronic. They were all masters of their instruments, their lyrics were some of the most thoughtful and beautiful lyrics ever created. They knew exactly how to jam and always molded together so well which is hard to do when you jam and improvise. Without them, there might not even be any jambands playing today, even phish. Same with festivals, they created that entire hippie/music scene. The hippie scene might not even have as strong back then since music and jambands played such a huge role in the hippie movement.

 

As important as hearing the band itself, is the Shakedown Street experience and the camping experience. The drum circles. The people are beautiful. When was the last time you walked through a group of a thousand people and didn't feel threatened? Granted...the last show I went to was a bummer as far as the people went. The Grateful Dead represent a way of life and their music reflects that...as the people reflect their music.

 

It was deercreek back in 1995. it might have been june, maybe july but Jerry was still alive. All the kids in the parking lot they tore that fence down & I blame them for the second show getting cancelled. I really wanted to go, I saved up all of my doe. I didn't go to any other shows & I got my tickets m.o. I never missed a deer creek show from 89-95 i was happy just to be alive on my yearly Indiana vacation. It was ruined by a bunch of party bashin, buzz thrashin, gate crashin stinky bastards & if you're one of them and you here this song. Fuck you, you cock sucking mother fuckers