- I missed the first two or three songs of the July 3rd show.
- Stadiums are built so they can fill up or empty in ten minutes, but not the field.
- The field is deliberately designed to be tricky to get to.
- There are only two points of access, and one of them is being taken up by a temporarily-funct choogly-type band.
- You’ve created a nice little choke point for yourself, plus the folks on the floor need wristbands.
- Which they ran out of just as I got to the gate.
- Back-up began immediately, and then people started helping.
- Helping is to be pronounced sarcastically.
- Couple of fuckers literally tried to start a riot.
- There were no cops, and no security: just volunteer ushers trying to do the best job they could.
- If you didn’t have a wristband, you wouldn’t be able to leave the floor, which seems reasonable, but the stronger the waves of pressure on my back, the less I cared.
- Years ago, WBCN hired Green Day to play a free concert in the Hatch Shell in Boston.
- Someone punched the bass player, or something or other, and the band left the stage after four songs.
- Riot.
- Crowds are stupid beasts, but they turn quickly.
- The assholes kept helping, and yelling for the crowd to do what crowds will do.
- The volunteer usher I was standing with was in law school and wanted to see the Dead for free; I figured I would throw her under a table and hunker down in there.
- Trey played the opening chords to Bertha a little too slowly, and a small brown guy and a large white guy sprinted up with the missing wrist bands.
- Welcome back, my friends.
- It looked like this:
- But with more people, and with more Trellis Abdominizer.
- He began the weekend like a motherfucker, motherfucked his way through the holiday, and then deliberately got a non-direct flight home so he could fuck mothers all the way back.
- Which brings us to the first of problems.
- Not problems, really.
- Problems have solutions: this is intractable.
- Not only is there nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, but there’s nothing like any kind of concert.
- Sitting on your couch with headphones on, listening to a crisp Charlie Miller SBD has so little in common with the actual event that it makes more sense to judge them as separate events than even as facets of the same diamond.
- Tripp sounds great on Bertha instrumentally, but the tape reveals his voice as weaker than I remember.
- Mostly because when he sang about getting tested and arrested, 65,000 people were screaming along with him.
- I don’t know about the rules regarding the SBD’s of the Chicago shows, but they are available; I won’t post them, but if they get posted in the comment section, they won’t be taken down.
- They just finished up Passenger and Bobby asked the crowd if they were “ramping up for a sane Fourth?”
- They didn’t play Passenger for all that long: ’78 to ’80 or ’81, and the song never felt the need to be ten minutes long.
- There really isn’t ten minutes worth of song in Passenger, if we’re honest.
- The sun is now setting on Soldier Field and the closest thing there is to a Grateful Dead is going into The Wheel, and the Deadheads are taking off their sunglasses and swaying and davening and asking each other if this isn’t really more of a second set song.
- It totally is.
- I did not notice that Bobby was wearing what had been sold to him as a lengthy short but were in fact jeans.
- I only had a direct view of the band on the second night: on the 3rd, I was on the floor and am not Bill Walton; on the 5th, there was a speaker bank in between our seats and the stage.
- Transom is doing quite a bit of Phishy bullshit in this The Wheel, but then he nails the transition into Crazy Fingers, which may be our first honest-to-gosh “>” of the night.
- The Grateful Dead may have played Crazy Fingers at an acceptably professional level, like, four times in the history of the song.
- Although, Garcia was the one who always fucked it up, so maybe his death was a good thing for Crazy Fingers.
- OHMIGOD, CRAZY FINGERS HAD GARCIA KILLED.
- Stop it.
- Fine.
- It was almost dark now, and Candace Brightman started doing this sort of thing:
- And as she does this in the soft and magic last light, Trey sings the line “I try” over and over, too many times, and it is a mantra and you cheer with him and for him.
- We will all try, Treyvon, and we will do our parts as the spotlights pick out love and point out kindness and pin joy down like a butterfly in the perfect Chicago dusk.
- The acid has kicked in.
- So has The Music Never Stopped, which is too damn slow, and the tape reveals a frustrated Billy trying to goose the thing up to no avail, but it doesn’t matter when Bobby proclaims that everybody’s dancing and all of us rush to prove him no liar.
- And then he asked us if they were ever here at all, and a stadium got a catch in its throat and knew it would be the first of many.
- Mickey is audible for the first time during the jam, and Bruce is whanging on the bottom octaves of his Steinway as his right hand bounces down the top notes.
- And now Bobby is ranting about Never Stopping and you know no one’s phoning this sucker in: Bobby’s gonna Bobby as hard as he can and then Trey starts fanning the guitar like the old man.
- THE THING WITH THE NOTES.
- THAT THE OTHER GUY DID
- …
- I LOVE THAT FUCKING THINGYAAAAAAAAAY.
- It is dark now and all the people are a crowd and we are there to see the Grateful Dead and against all odds, they might have shown up.
- Set break.
Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To
© 2024 Thoughts On The Dead
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
FINALLY
I felt like we were stuck in the longest drums and space ever, and now we’re finally emerging into Miracle, or maybe Goin Down The Road.
NEVER STOPPED, NEVER STOPPED NO…
Never stopped no.
Or “now”. The words can be interpreted in any colour you like.
“Sitting on your couch with headphones on, listening to a crisp Charlie Miller SBD has so little in common with the actual event that it makes more sense to judge them as separate events than even as facets of the same diamond.”
They are entirely separate. Especially for Dead shows, but in general. There’s the live experience, and then there’s the playback. The live experience has a string theory number of dimensions and the playback has pretty much the usual number.
That’s what I said. I was gonna get to the half-understood quantum theory. Don’t read ahead.
I have danced thru many a Dead show that opened like a never-ending flower but turned out a big stinker on tape.
I agree
Absolutely. More interesting to me are the ones that go the other way. Doing whole tours and runs led me to be kinda jaded and stupid sometimes and while I always loved being in the room, sometimes I thought the music on a given night wasn’t super great (relative to that year) and now it turns out I was wrong about that…I’ve found several shows like that now
Did you really take acid? Were you even able to remember the show had you taken it?
Would you have been able**
This is all semi-ficitonal, Swaggie Maggie.
Winners aren’t sinners.
bRUH ITS NBD IF U TOOK ACID I AM SRS WOULD U HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING OR WOULD YOU JUST FEEL BLIND AND DEAF??? Idk what acid is like
ACID MAKES U BLIND AND DEAF BUT IF YOU TAKE 2 MUCH IT MAKES U FILIPINO AND THEN DEAD
Legit when I was 6 I had to get my tonsils out and when they had me all jacked up on medicine I FLIPPED SHIT when I saw this kid walk by with a balloon because I wanted one too and my dad told me once that he remembered thinking in that moment, “Man, I really hope she doesn’t end up as a fucking junkie.” So yeah no drugz 4 me the Dead are the only non-prescription mind and mood altering substances I will ever need
Acid is intense and had a part in my bi-polar disorder coming to the fore, mushrooms are much better because there is no survival of the fittest for your ego/self. I strongly recommend no drugs at all till your 18. Weed is mostly harmless but can slow ambition, mushrooms are relatively safe if you eat a gram at a time.
Acid is a fantastic thing for many but not all adult people and is seriously bad for people whose brain chemistry & synapses haven’t finished growing. I can say this because I did too much too young and it rattled my cage pretty good.
It’s the most indescribable thing I know of.
“Storming Heaven” is an excellent book on the subject.
*by Jay Stevens
Excellent answer, Mr. Completely. I appreciate it. I have anxiety disorder and ADD and a general myriad of brain chemistry imbalances (Jesus, have I mentioned that before??????) so I wouldn’t even think twice about saying no to acid or any other drugs. Of course I’m intensely curious about them, but I need to avoid things like that for as long as I can possibly bear it.
https://m.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1xzkr0/what_does_dropping_acid_feel_like_whats_your_best/ This is pretty interesting. I can definitely say that I have felt things akin to the feelings people describe on here. Definitely not at all to the same degree, but I am such a deep thinker and feeler that I can connect with these stories.
But the one about the guy’s friend holding up a knife next to his smiling face is the exact reason why I would stay so far away from it. I can’t let loose.
https://img1.etsystatic.com/046/0/10576155/il_570xN.721106819_9jyn.jpg
some of the nicer OCF posters in recent memory
Blotter art was never that refined north of the border
http://www.amazon.com/Owsley-Me-My-LSD-Family/dp/0983358931
different perspective
Interesting to all of you. Thank you. That blotter art is beautiful, by the way!
I’m sure I could have great experiences with LSD, but I’m still going to avoid it probably forever. I think it would just be way too intense for me. For instance, today on my walk to and from swim practice I was listening to a good Eyes jam and just felt so in touch with the trees and grass and air, and the sunshine on my back; but at the same time, I felt SO contemplative and out of place and wrong. On the way home I literally had to sit down on the grass and comprehend what was going on because I took a different side of the street that I’ve actually never even walked on, but have had intensely vivid dreams about walking on. I was freaking the fuck out. Just way too much going on for me to get mixed up in any drugs at all. I feel pleasure in a pure way.
The first rule of “Should You Take Acid?” is: if you think you shouldn’t, then don’t.
The second rule is right to bear arms while on acid.
VERY GOOD RULE I LIKE IT MR. COMPLETELY TYSM <3
http://38.media.tumblr.com/84ade185fae13da1c90158d08b33863e/tumblr_notmingGVO1uwq3c7o1_500.gif
So someone else will probably post audience tapes or mp3s of the webrip
This is the best audio of the webrip SBD that is currently circulating. The mighty Charlie Miller did a high quality audio capture and light remaster. He circulated the FLACs in a half-finished state, and I’ve been finishing them up. Here are the 3 I’ve completed so far
Santa Clara 6.27
https://mega.nz/#!yQ12hSJT!UpY8ftdxFvaUWefHm-ntkeCSPKGF5BHFIt1nR3yHjns
Chicago 7.3
https://mega.nz/#!rANRxQaT!6tcWHrjjpzppg7tDUlHog_VCDmOeOImdUt5XI9giT4Y
Chicago 7.4
7.4.15 Chicago FLAC
https://mega.nz/#!2J0GmLrQ!eE8XWRj1sGzzoHGx0k4ajCponLHmr07gfr9DSXAI3TY
I’ll do the other two over the next few days. You can follow me on twitter if you want them
Before anyone asks:
1) I cannot help you understand or use FLACs, sorry
1.5) yes I have passed A/B listening tests with FLAC vs. lossy, so STFU about lossless being pointless, you’re wrong
2) Mega is turning into a pain in the ass but that’s where these are hosted for now. Look for the “download in browser” link.
This is good. No further comment.
Hi Pontifex
dorn’s non wook status is confirmed BTW. Just FYI
BIG DADDY FRANK ARE U EVEN A PHAN BRO?????
What about his Worf status
http://childabuserecovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Pope-Benedict.jpg
When u blaze 4 Jesus
My new goal in life is to conduct myself in such a manner that, upon my inevitable demise, someone somewhere will be inspired to opine that “he lived his life as though he were a temporarily-funct choogly-type band.”
Live every week like it’s shark week
Wheel > Crazy Fingers was great
Lot of stuff was pretty slow when you really listen to it
Passenger has a wonderful explosive jam but it’s a one trick pony: wheedleywheedleywheedleywheedleywheedleywheedleyKABLAM, BOOM [B3 spike] which is great
But they did stick with the GD tradition of getting off the beat at least once in every Passenger jam
(no not the 77 ones they didn’t jam it in 77, h3tty passenger jams are a ’79-80 thing)
It makes me sad that Mr. on the Dead didn’t report on the fact that Passenger had a giant hole where Ms. Donna Jean’s voice ought to be.
Ms.? My Lord, she was no bra-burner.
She will be gotten to.
Excuse me: Miz Donna Jean
Bra-burner
srsly
My dad freaked when they played Crazy Fingers. (We saw it live in theaters.) He turned to me and said, “Maggie, they never, EVER played this song! You’re seeing history!”
your dad a late 70s – very early 80s Dead shows guy by any chance? http://www.setlists.net/?search=true&venue=&city=&state=&month=&day=&year=&songs=crazy+fingers&submit=Search
Very magical song though
https://youtu.be/hR41TwJZPsw
I don’t think he ever saw them in the late 70’s. He was more of an 80’s and 90’s guy, simply because of his age. (He’s 51.) He started going to shows around my age. He’s been to probably or so 90 shows!
90 or so shows* it’s too early for me to be doing this lel
He’s gone to probably or so 90 show……..are you french canadien? Jk
HAHAHAHA SPENCER ITS TOO DAMN EARLY FOR THIS SHIT