Forum Subject #8: What Now?
The Grateful Dead were a part of us, providing many with not only music, but with friends, lifestyles (have you ever scheduled vacation time around a Dead tour?), and to some even a purpouse in life. As we close in on the end of our first year without our beloved band, many Deadheads are still trying to cope with the loss, and are desparately searching for something to fill the void in our lives. Have you found any answers or substitutes? Are they sufficient? (Posted 6/29/96)
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Jinglebell Rainbow (mike_lewandowski@premiopc.com) - Tuesday January 9, 19101 @ 13:19:22
The only substitute for a Dead show is Playing Dicks Picks (or Vault releases) at extremely high Volume levels. When they first arrive in the mail box or store
I set it up so everything is perfect and let it rip. Living in the city
of Denver has it's advatages in that Phil has brought his band here what
will be 9 shows in 18 months after the most recent ones coming in Feb 2001.
The scene at shows starting changing dramictly after Touch of Grey come out
on record. Then the idiots of the Early 90's came out of the word work.
It got the point where the "scene" was drag and I avoided it as much as I
could. So it there any replacment that can compare to hearing Jerry sing
Comes a Time or Mission in the Rain live? No, of course not. There never will
be. But we do have CD's coming out at a rapid pace and all the memories
of Trippin, laughing, wondering, saying in the middle of a long Jam,
"keep going, keep going", and just sitting in the car,camping lot, or hotel
and saying to ourselves, "what the hell just happend?"
Malachi Slym (shrillquake@umpire.com) - Sunday November 19, 19100 @ 14:00:39
I never got to see the Dead in concert. I got into them the year Jerry died, right after he died i bought Workingman's Dead to see what the hell was up. my utterly heartbroken thought was "What the hell was I THINKING??" now i know if i had been around in the late 60s i would have so been a Deadhead, one of those crazed poets who woulda been bangin on drums entertaining the crowd. for me, the closest i've been to a dead show was Phil Lesh and Bob Dylan at the Shoreline early last year and the debacle of Bob Weir onstage with Phish October 6 of this year. the dead means a lot to me, i was always primarily a word man (better than a bird man i guess but who wouldn't die for a set of wings?) and Hunter's lyrics spoke to the very bottom of my core. not all that's me is in the Dead, most comes from Tom Waits and Led Zeppelin, but the Dead provides an input that would leave a gaping hole in my heart and soul had i never found them. one of my very few regrets in life is getting into the Dead too late to tour with them. Bobby is not enough, i have very little respect after seeing him sing Jerry's songs with Phish, the band that, during their first show after Garcia's death said, "all we have to say is we don't wany any fucking Deadheads on our lot..." i couldn't stand him, his voice (off key and tuneless to begin with) is completely gone. i'm a jerry and phil man, and Phil and Friends was one of the best shows i've ever seen. if he comes my way i'll probably hitch up and follow him along for awhile. what can i say? please forget you knew my name, my darlin Sugaree...
Boomer (Boomer13@aol.com) - Tuesday September 26, 19100 @ 15:37:50
Though there is no substitute for Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead, I have been plensently surprised at how much I've enjoy a couple North East area Dead cover bands. The best known of them is the Zen Tricksters, who are now expanding out into original music as well. One lesser known GD band is Liberty Bus out of Connecticut. They sort of due the DSO approach (of playing shows with the 1st set / 2nd set feel), but rather they playing actual Dead shows from the past, they select there own set lists, etc. I actually saw them play at a bar across from the Hartford Civic Center before the 9/9 Other Ones show, and man, did I have a good time. The sound in that bar wasn't too great, but I was actually pretty damn moved and grooved by that band. Considering how scetchy the Other Ones show turned out that night, I was really glad I had a chance to check out Liberty Bus. I think Dead cover bands are always worth checking out at least once. If you don't enjoy it, you don' have to go back. It may not be the Dead, but it's still tgreat written Dead songs played by people who care enough to put force the energy! Thanks (Liberty Bus) for a real good time! Peace.
keith eilertsen (keiler7465@aol.com) - Saturday November 6, 1999 @ 03:08:09
Wow what can I say?I saw my first show in 89 at giants and it rained and rained and rained.Giants said they were going to close and asked everyone to leave.Well I got mad and started yelling some choice words.The dead came back out after about ten min. and bobby said some choice words that I felt like were for me.Then they broke into tennessee jed and that song followed me to just about every show!I kid you not!too weird!The next day I went to the dc show and sure enough back to back nights,tennessee jed!!I wrote the dead but never got anything back,but I made sure they heard me at every show.I have a very LOUD voice and would scream at the top of my lungs!!Listen to the nyc,dc shows youll hear me no doubt!Jerry and the dead allways made me feel like they were reading my mind.I would say to someone that they would play a song and they would!Too weird!!I would yell JERRY and he would look right at me!!No matter where I was in the show he would look and nod.I only went to about 50 shows,but everyone was different and very weird.Now I know some of you think I am nuts but what can I say I know what I saw and heard.I had a special place in my heart for jerry.Dont get me wrong I loved the whole band but jerry got to me and i would yell for him at shows all the time.When he died I was real mad at him for messing up his body with all the drugs for a long time.Then one day I listened to a tape and all the old memmories came back.I miss jerry and the shows SOOO MUCH I cant begin to express the way I feel.Nothing will ever replace the live shows with jerry and the dead.All we have is sweet memmories.Dont you cry,dry your eyes on the wind,fare you well my honey, fare you well my only true one.R.I.P jerry
| Responses below this point were posted before July 21, 1999 and are listed in the order posted. All reviews above here are listed in reverse order, starting with the most recent response. |
John Boeheim (john@careermag.com)
Well I have been spending quality time with a wonderful woman, the love of my life. We met on that fateful day, August 9th, and we have been together since. We listen to music all the time and we constantly wish we could go to a Dead show together. We went to Laguna Seca, but it's not the same and it never will be. We will continue to go to see good live music, it keeps our hearts beating. We value each other, because we know what we gave up to be together. We make plans, we share dreams, and we support each other. We will continue to trade those little recorded treasures. We are, forever, GRATEFUL to the DEAD.
Kirk Johnson (newkirk@olympus.net)
You can see the Furthur tour. You can see the HORDE tour. You can see Phish, the Allman Brothers, local Dead cover bands. There are art fairs and other such gatherings all over the country every summer. You can get together with friends and reminice about the good old days. None of these will ever completely replace the Grateful Dead's music, community, and spirit, but they can help fill the void. Oh yeah, there's always the tapes - collect more tapes!
As Phil said at the ceremony honoring Jerry in Golden Gate Park last August: Keep It Coming!
Dan Decker (doubled@erols.com)
There is no substitute for seeing the Dead! Never was, never will be! But anyway since that fatefull day I've spent much time hiking, listening to bootlegs, becoming a more experienced cook, reading voraciously, gardening, cycling, and writing.
Jared Rothman (jahred1@aol.com)
I started seeing shows in 1983. My first show was much earlier, and I caught several in å81, but I didnt tour until å83. I often think back on just what it was that made me into a follower. Id had passions in the past, but none that was so encompassing and so up front. Soon everyone knew me as a >deadhead<. I had found my niche. The interesting thing was that I quickly figured out the different clichÈs. I fit very nicely into a >hall dancer<. I wasnt a >spinner< by any means, but I loved to spend the whole show dancing. As each show got more and more crowded, I would stand farther and farther away, looking for that choice spot that afforded me the best of both worlds: Great view, great sound and open space to boogie. I also met many people. I traveled with a very diverse group. We considered ourselves on the outside, but were very considerate of certain concepts. We didnt steal, never littered, ate little or no meat, were very into healthy diets and lifestyles. The drugs were mainly organic. We sold T-shirts and bracelets. Many of the people were in college at schools like MIT and Yale. There were good times and bad. Many of the bad had more to do with a broken heart or a policeman than anything else. We were silly and had fun. Over the years my close friends and I saw less and less shows. The last full tour I did was Europe and it was very similar to the early eighties shows before the Dead became a popular fraternity party. There were still a few who toured, but most now lived in the northwest, or California and could easily see many shows a year with little travel effort . A few got off the bus for good, but remained in touch. Last weekend, the fourth of July weekend, we had a reunion. A very special person, Quincy Sugerman, died two years ago. Each year we have a 4th of July reunion in her honor. Quincy will be remembered for many things, but the one that comes to mind over and over is for her ability to bring people together. As we amassed, we looked through pictures, we laughed, we made new friends, saw who was married and who had children and what each of us were up to these days. We were primarily over 30 and married with a child. This was a group of people who will be together for many years. There is a lawyer, a doctor, several schoolteachers, a luthier, some homemakers and many others. Each was happy and eager to share old and new times. We swam in the pond, ran an obstacle course naked and made large collaborative meals. We played music and danced and sang. While some of us must dress for our work, this weekend was spent in shorts and t-shirts, flowing skirts or just naked. What a wonderful thing, to get together once a year and relive all those great times. I wondered if other groups of heads still stay in touch and get together on a regular basis? Probably there are many, I would hope. I learned so much in that time of my life, and I cherish all that was young and impulsive and silly and goofy and while I am nostalgic, I still enjoy life now, work and all thanks to the teachers, my friends, who still continue to show me the way. I thank them and I hope we all thank those who help us along. What a long strange trip its been indeed. Jared
Lee Kayne (paxlk@unix.nott.ac.uk)
Since 1990 when I saw the Dead in London, I have scheduled my summer vacations around where the Dead shows would be - None of my family or friends could understand why I would spend most of my savings on travelling from the UK to the US for 2 weeks in Summer and another week in Fall just to see "a band" ! But as we know, they were never just a band, they were and for me will always be so much more....
Everyone looks forward to their vacations, but I had special reason as it was the only times I would get to see the Dead and I often wondered if all those people I would see at shows realised how lucky they were to have the Dead touring in their country every year !
At my first US show - MSG 9.10.91 - I was introduced to a friend of a friend. A nice enough girl I thought. We hung out after the show, we went to 9.13 together and we wrote letters when I came home. When I was planning my 1992 trip, we went to the shows together, and again in 1993,94 and 1995 right up until Giant's 6.19.95 and the last time I saw the Dead :-( To cut a long story short, as of now (Aug 96) we have been living together for 4 months. She has moved to the UK, found a great job and we are so happy.
We decided to go for it on the day the great man died and everything just fell into place - she got the job she wanted ahead of 5 other British applicants (some with better qualifications !), we got the apartment we wanted at a price we could afford and there have been so many little things that have happened that we have thought were lucky coincidences............
I like to think that old JG is looking out for us ;-)
So, yes....the Dead changed our lives forever and nothing will ever make us forget what they have done.
Last year, I flew to Pittsburgh and saw Rusted Root in front of 20,000 on New Years Eve - it was good. But, I just couldn't help thinking that I will never watch another show without comparing it to the experience of the Dead live. Not a fair comparason to make perhaps for a band who are just really starting, but I just couldn't help it.....
RIP Jerry and thanks, man - we love you
Caryl Ruckert (caryl.ruckert@mailgw.er.doe.gov)
Words can hardly descibe what the Dead experience means to me and what a major influence it has been on the person I am today. How do I describe the feeling of being totally connected with my brothers and sisters while Jerry's licks took us all higher and higher. God, I miss that feeling. You can't tell anybody about it, it must be experienced to be understood.
I've been spending my time with family and friends, listening to tapes, hiking in the woods. This all helps the days go by. But, as we all know, nothing can replace what we had. It's not that I am saying that what we had is over, just different. Just like life is, when you think you got the steps down, it music changes.
I did go to a few Furthur shows, which helped me alot. Just to be with everyone again was so nice. I still have to have live music, so going to here bands is very healing for me. I love ZERO, they really "transport" me to that space I mentioned earlier. I also just saw George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars. Totally different from the Dead, however, those guys (2 bass players, 5 guitar players) really get the energy moving. They reach these notes that vibrate from the speakers right to my solar plexus. Feels so-o-o-o- good. If you like bass and funk don't miss this show. There were lots of heads and "spinners". George Clinton was really getting off on it.
So, I guess we'll all feel our way through this. Like Robert Hunter so beautifully wrote, "We'll know the next step when it comes." Love to all.
Peace & Flowers,
Caryl
Melanie (meccam@erols.com)
How about a ray of cheer for amazing grace? Once was lost but now I'm found. I saw the Dead only ONCE, at Woodstock. In college I listened to Workingman's Dead and American Beauty at least 1,000 times apiece, but never kept up with the music after that - so I was the furthest you can imagine from being on the bus. The day Jerry died I was in the surveillance room of the Nasdaq Stock Market & caught the news. Felt a deep shock and that night went out and bought a bunch of CDs. Across more than 20 years, those sweet sounds moved me to the core, and today here I am, a posthumous Deadhead. Not a day goes by that I don't spend time with the Dead. So my goal has become to hear as many shows as possible on tape. Do I have regrets about all that I missed - you bet! But I'm also delighted with rediscovery and very thankful - absolutely! All of you, feel blessed. Live, listen, and love.
Annie (chinacat@javanet.com)
I guess the place for me to start would be in 1969; memorable not only for Woodstock, but also because my son, Pat, was born in September of that year. I wasn't at Woodstock, but in some odd way it must have had an influence on my son....
When he was only about 11 or 12 years old, he wanted a Grateful Dead album for Christmas. I picked up "The Grateful Dead" for him on vinyl, and he still has it to this day. He considers it among his most prized possessions. Over the years he's gone to as many shows as his budget and time would allow. He always wished he could take the summer off and go on tour.
The summer of '95 was a turning point for me....he and several friends of his would get together, drums and guitars, and jam, as I played on the computer.....I couldn't get the tunes out of my head. He'd been telling me for awhile I should go to the next show, and I had decided by golly, to go ahead and do it so I could see for myself what it was all about!!! Unfortunately, it never did happen; August happened instead. Pat and I were at work that day when the news came over the radio; and I'll never forget the look on his face. We spent a longer than usual lunch together, neither of us eating, and he poured out his heart to me and did his best to explain just exactly what it was about the Dead that drew him to them.....and in a sudden flash we connected and I saw through his eyes, what "it" was. Can you get "it" from someone other than the Dead?? *I* like to think so! I'll always remember that day; Pat was the catalyst that got me hooked on the Dead. Was it somehow tied into Woodstock and Pat happening the same year? Coincidence?
So, I never *did* get to a show; but I have a modest collection of Dead cd's, JGB etc.; and I get out as often as I can on weekends to see a *really good* local Dead cover band. I dance my feet off from the time they start, 'til the place closes. It helps to make a connection in some way to what I've not had a chance to experience first hand. Who says you can't learn from your children or you can't teach an old dog a new trick? I'll be going to my 40th class reunion next year....Regrets??? Sure; why did I wait soooo long?......so many things I've missed.....!
Peace and Sunshine, :) ....I've got those dancin' feet.....
Mike (snapdad@psu.edu)
I think it was Bill Graham who said that the Dead were not the best at what they did, but the only ones who did what they did. I saw Phish once and will again next week (at PSU). They were ok but they were most certainly not the Dead. Furthur was a refreshing experience. All you do is smile, smile, smile, right? Then again all I do is trade, trade, trade at the same time. Keep the music in your heart and Jerry will always be close! listen and learn...
Charles (cedavid@pegasus.rutgers.edu)
There will never be another Grateful Dead, but they live on in the tapes and with friends. I still keep up with somewhat of a touring pace. Aside from being a Deadhead, I am also a Fishhead (not spelled PH). While averaging 23 Dead shows a year, I also made it, and still do, to 10-15 Radiators shows a year. Fun freaky Fishhead music from New Orleans with the great Zeke on keyboards. Many of you out there have probably heard of them. I got into their music from Deadhead friends of mine. Bobby even played with them once last lear in SF. I will always miss the Dead, and feel fortunate to see them 260+ times, but I advise any of you to see the Rads the next time they come to your area. They are as satisfying as the Dead on certain different levels.
VALERIE (VALERIE_ROS@wow.com)
DEAD SHOWS WERE NOT ONLY MY VACATIONS, BUT THEY WERE MY PAID VACATIONS. I SOLD TIE-DYES AT THE SHOWS AND PAID MY WAY, HAD LOTS OF FUN AND PAID MY BILLS.
THERE ARE NO MORE PAID VACATIONS. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE FUN, THAT'S THE NAME OF THE GAME......THE GAME OF LIFE........ NOW, VACATIONS ARE ALMOST TOO EXPENSIVE. SHOWS USED TO BE MY REASON TO VISIT MY FRIENDS EVERYWHERE, NOW THERE IS NO UNDERLYING REASON LIKE A SHOW HAPPENING, YET THE UNDERLYING REASON IS THE SAME, I.E., THE ONE THAT HAS BROUGHT US TOGETHER FOR SO MANY YEARS.
MY CLOSEST FRIENDS CONSIST OF PEOPLE THAT I TOURED WITH 15 - 20 YEARS AGO; THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE. FRIENDSHIP IS A CONSTANT WHEN IT IS REAL AND IT NEVER FADES AWAY. THE BOYS GAVE US MORE THAN WE WILL EVER KNOW OR BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND IN THIS LIFE AND FOR THIS I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL AND DEADICATED, AS ALWAYS.....
AND SO IT GOES.............
greg baxter (gbaxter9@iserv.net)
I am new to this site so I am sorry if I cover something that has been covered before. When I saw this site I knew I had to spill this idea. Do you think DeadBase should come out on CD ROM? With a little support from the band (and I know the board is aggressively marketing them these days) it could have video clips, sound and of course all that we have come to know and love in DeadBase. Imagine being able to search ALL their shows for an Althea. Whacha think?
ME (rblevins@gte.com)
Check out Vince Welnick and the Missing Man Formation??(I think this is the correct name.) Sweet, Sweet, Sweet!
Andrew Wiklund (awiklund@service@entex.com)
Was anybody else watching the Larry King show the night of the inaugural balls? It's moments like that that'll keep us all DEAD HEADS. I was watching the show as they went from venue to venue, barely showing the entertainments when I could have swarn I saw Bobby on stage with a number of other musicians! As I turned up the sound they were playing Fever,Fever,Fever! To my frustration they barely showed any of his performance , at first Larry didn't know who was on stage, then they figured out it was Kenny G. Then they said it was "The remainder of the Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia(who died in 1996). The whole experience was frustrating! It was only Bob and maybe Rob(I didn't see him), no Phil, no Bill, no Mickey, and no Vince!? Also Jerry did not Die in 1996! I was actually yelling at my TV! Louder than ussual! It was a nice surprise, but please get your facts right. And all my love to Bobby!
Andrew Wiklund (awiklund@fcptech.com)
I submitted an in correct internet address yesterday with my comment on the Larry King show. The correct address is AWIKLUND@FCPTECH.COM or AWIKLUND@ENTEX.COM . I'm a relatively new hacker and really hacking my way through. I'm a abstract painter caught in the computer world to make my economic reality work. Don't get me wrong I'm interested in computers, a career in servicing computers, and learning more and more about the cyber world. For me the new DEAD circle of home pages is a great refuge from DOS, UNIX, LANS, and WANS. Computer parts, shmuter parts, I need more music, and paint in my life. One thing that hurts me , not as much as the loss of my "virtual freind" Jerry is the loss of something to always be looking forward to! The next tour was always just around the bend, some times mail order would go on sale the day after getting back from the shows, and thus there almost was no down time. There was always the antisipation of the announcement of the next tour to look forward to also! There was waiting in line for wrist bands, tickets, to get through the gate, and always a line for the bathroom. I miss the waiting in line with people I liked! Alot of time one has nothing in common with the people. in any particular line one might be in. I always knew if I was in a Grateful Dead line I was safe and surrounded by good, no grate people! Peace to all.
Nick Herman (Deadsets@aol.com)
The Kind Leading The Kind
As i look out my window I see multi-colored visions of days gone by... Things long repressed, but never forgotten. I see myself stopping strangers, just to shake there hands, and being welcomed by there open arms of love and kindness... that is how it should remain... but now, my world is gone... What am I... no... what are we supposed to do now ? Are we supposed to pretend things have never changed ? That's not possible... is it ? As a tired, worn down travler with no where to go, what is left ? Well, I've found my answer... and she's looking up at me with hope in her eyes. I see in my child the love, innocence and happiness that traveled with me down so many roads... for now she is the one that will carry on the traditions of all that has been, she will be the one dancing and listening to the music play, and she, like her mother and I have done before her, will wake now to discover that she is the song that the morning brings... though the bands time may have ended... the life, lessons and music NEVER stopped !!! As it has been written, "Those who have the youth have the future..." So teach them well, and help them discover the kindness that we all found, and shared for so many years... for that will never die, it lives in us all. Peace to all... Fare thee well my brothers and sisters.
david (david@neocom.ca)
Living in Toronto, Canada, the Dead never came out this way to often. I had to travel. Candada is a wonderful place to spend time in the woods. This is my new concert setting. I now travel to Rainbow party gatherings and the burning man festival to capture the Dead experience. Canadian Deadheads contact me for more info. on gatherings and festivals.
Ed Berg (Ferne@psych.umass.edu)
How have I been filling the Void? Hmmm, I don't believe I'll ever truly fill the void. I have however been fortunate to be a part of an incredible annual musical event: The Philadelphia Folk Festival. This fest, for the last 11 years has given me almost as much joy as the Dead did for so many years. Since Jerry's untimely demise the PFF has become a greater part of my life. I look foward to the Fest in much the same way I anticipated Grateful Dead New Years Eve. It is a time to renew old aquaintences, and make new ones. I have found the Folk Festival scene to be such a wonderful enriching experience that since Jerry's death my wife and I have begun to attend new festivals. It is becomeing sort of our new summer tour. For those who continue to search with no success, for a way to fill the void left by the break up of the Grateful Dead, I highly recommend you spend a couple weekends this summer camping out at any of an increasing number of folk fests. They truly offer much of the brotherhood and sisterhood we cherished so intensely on tour. May the four winds blow us all safely home.
William Graney (WTG1@Juno.com)
There is still plenty of good music out there. Rusted Root is my fav band now and strongly recommend going to see them. It seems there are lots of Dead cover bands around and that is certainly true here in the L.A. area and I check them out fairly regularly. The tape trading scene is probably at higher levels than it ever has been, and with the Dick's Picks being released new music is pouring in at unpresedented levels. I'm taking my first post Jerry vacation this year and I'm taking the train from West Coast to east Coast and back with my 13 year old daughter. We are going to baseball games along the way. I'm also trying to coincide the planning with the Santana/Rusted Root dates. That may be strategically difficult but fortunately when I return home that combo will be doing two shows in Santa Barbara, three in L.A., two in San Diego and one in San Bernadino so there will be plenty of opportunity. Plus Further, plus our local dead on the Mountain next month. There is usually plenty to do musically. Almost forgot, Hunter next week at the House of Blues!
joshua middleton (6361@mill.tds.net)
it hasn't been easy but lif
joshua middleton (6361@mill.tds.net)
it hasn't been easy but life goes on. listening to rusted root alot right now. looking forward to further. trying to find tapes. listening to alot of the local blues scene(detroit, flint mi). great band out of east lansing mich, dave dale and the blues control. lots of old blues and regaee music. looking forward to more drum circles
Crystal Kile (ckile@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu)
Participate in "Bound to Cover Just A Little More Ground: On Tour With Deadheads/Deadheads on Tour" http://www.igc.apc.org/deadheadsontour This is a growing online exhibit of pix from the last 10 yrs of tour by New Orleans-based photographer David Rae Morris. Amazing stuff. Please drop in, enjoy and leave comments about memories/thought the pictures conjure for you. (Me? I'm just the web-weaver)
pace (mikepace@ct2.nai.net)
For the longest time i blamed tour for all my friends problems,mainly a lack of social responsibility back in the hometown. Yet being the hipocrite I am I many a time provided them with a ride to shows, spotted money for the greyhound home.... I'd wander the lot untill the show started, I guess I was scared Id tarnish the version of the dead that was playin in my head if I went in (at least within the last couple of years) now Im pissed that I wasnt there...
Getting back to the topic, how do you think Heads felt after the Winterland '74 run? To some it could have felt like the end of the world. I guess what Im trying to say is that even though the past few years has been hell for all of us, the Dead have a reputation for pulling through some of the roughest situations. It should be noted that they have performed together since Aug.95, something I never thought would happen (not bad stats when weighed against the circumstances) Who knows what cards the boys have to throw down?
In the meantime, Hunter has been playing some insightful shows, Saunders boogies just as hard as ever, Ratdog has become Bobby's main outlet.... all of which I am thankful for, there's no point in sitting around waiting for things to be the way they used to. -keep your hopes up, mike
Whitney Lynn (wlynn@widomaker.com)
The music never stopped! Hop on the Furthur bus, Phish, Widespread Panic, moe,Leftover Salmon, Allman Brothers, HORDE, Dave Matthews, Blues Traveler, ARU, God Street Wine, see a good cover band, Agents of Good Roots, Gibb Droll Band, yeP!, Medeski Martin & Wood, Ratdog, Black Crowes, p-funk, Ziggy Marley, Everything, Ekoostic Hookah, Post Junction, Violent Femmes, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, etc., etc., etc!! I've found that I'm attending a lot more festivals and art shows, enjoying the beach, going to small venues to see new bands, spending less money on gas, spending more money on postage for tapes, playing with my dog, getting into making my own music, and touring with anyone who comes around that JAMS!!
ryan (syella@alleg.edu)
just as Bobby said - it ain't going to be easy, but let us keep on truckin and enjoy the music. The greatful dead are spirit openers. They opened us up and took us to another level. Just sit back with some friends and let the tapes play. I'm just sorry my kids will never have had the chance to experience what we all have. Please be faithful, don't be a Phish runner.
Rowdy Barton (rbarton142@AOL.COM)
I saw my first show in October of 1988 in New Orleans. It was a solid show looking back but at the time, all I knew was I had just experienced something truly magical. From that date, I truly planned all of my free time around tours. I never did whole tours but did mini-two and three city tours.
What now? Well, I have a three month old whose initials happen to be JGB. It was not planned but I guess fate had its hand in the matter. I spend time with her, go see Widespread Panic or Neil Young when they are in the area and listen to enough show tapes to where hopefully one day my daughter will be able to repeat those fun little phonics we hold so dear - Bop Bop Bop, Bop Bop. I plan to do more of the same and show her videos naming each member. I'll do my best to explain why dad traveled all over North America to see a band he had seen so many times.
Rowdy Barton
Bob Towar (bob@brookwater.com)
People have described zen meditation as "the empty gate." For me, the Grateful Dead experience formed a gateway that allowed the total transormation of my life. Because of the Dead experience, the evolution of my life has been marked by guideposts of joy and playfulness. I am entering middle age with a clarity and awareness that I genuinely feel would be absent if I had not encountered this gateway. I was raised in the intellectually and experientially narrow world of midwest middle class suburbia. Throughout my teenage years, my entire soul yearned and reached for something more-- the art and beauty that I knew deep down that life was supposed to be about. When I experienced the Grateful Dead for the first time--Alpine Valley in the summer of '85-- I knew that something very unique and special and mysterious was going on. The extraordinary peace and sense of common celebration was profound. Open, friendly people shared all they had and played together in the glorious camping scene of Alpine Valley. I recall being amazed that such a special scene could be found there deep in the depths of Reagan's 2nd term and the explosion of the "cash is God" culture of the '80s. I attended sporadic shows for the next two years, but fully realized my own ability to experience the joy of Grateful Dead events at the beautiful and brilliant Ventura shows in the summer of '87. Since that transformation and awakening, the Grateful dead experience has pointed the way to the continuous evolution of music, literature, spirituality and philosophy that has created such a rich tapestry within my psyche. I honestly feel that the pathway I would have travelled would have been much different without the Grateful Dead providing that gateway. I know that this is their legacy to many of us, and it has changed our lives in ways far too profound to describe in words. I am now (thankfully) a bay area resident, where a plentiful supply of wonderful music can always be found. I especially enjoy the magic of Zero. I get chills when I hike up the stairs to be greeted by those wonderful words: "Welcome to the Fillmore!" --regardless of who I came to see. There seems to be a certain peace in northern California; The gentle solemnity of the redwood forests and the bubbling frenzy of art, intellect and diverse peoples of San Francisco go together well. It's easy to see how this area gave birth to the Grateful Dead and the psychedelic era. What I am doing in this strange period of post-Grateful Dead is living the life--the rich, full life--that the Grateful Dead showed me the gate to. The mischievous, playful soul of the Grateful Dead and the deadheads is constantly present in my interaction with humans (the "bands of light" described by Vonnegut), as well as my love of art, music and literature. I feel that the best I can do in this life is gain the power to express and share this force with those from which it is hidden......... My greetings to you all and I pray that peace is with you. Bob T
Stretch Armstrong (marshotel@webtv.net)
Well, kiddies, it's been well over two years since that dark August day, and i still haven't fully gotten used to the reality that Jerry has passed from us into the afterlife. Here in the midwest, however, there is a large and rather strong family that meet and commune on a regular basis (every Wed. nite at the Cabooze in Minneapolis) to see the Big WU. some of you may or may not have heard them. They have the legacy of the torch that needs to be caaried forth in the name of family, and are doing quite well at it. Their honest jams and way of presenting the Dead's music, intertwining it with their own, both sends me back to the good 'ol days of tour and gives me something to look forward to as their popularity grows. MY suggestion for those lonely lost sailors is to get thee to the nearest family gathering! There are thousands of us who are in the same boat (heh) and can do well to support each other in this time. At the same time, we can keep that light burning for the future generations to come. We will survive.
Stephen K. Lipow (slipow@yahoo.com)
...^!!
jackie (rudedo@webtv.com)
We saw BROKEN ANGELS with Phil and Vince at the Fillmore last saturday night. Ripping St. Stephens. Losts of fun.
Jay Jacobs (betsjay@gateway.net)
What Void? We still have the music and the feeling in our hearts, that will never go away. Once you are on the bus, can you ever truly get off.
Jay Jacobs (betsjayj@gateway.net)
addendum to my last posting: Often people have asked me if I'm still a Dead Head. By even asking the question its clear that they do not understand what that term means. I went to my first show in the fall of 1978 and I have been a Dead Head ever since. Those who have asked this question of me see the Dead as just another musical group and their fans as a group of wierd people who have checked out of life and are living some idealistic vision of a past era. On one level these people are correct, the Dead are just a musical group filled with talented artists ( and face it, some of us are a wee bit odd) but on a higher level the Dead are a state of being, one that instills a sense of joy, wonder and fun, that teaches us not to take the world to seriously because this will only lessen the beauty, to revel in each other and give to each other(not bad values huh Newt?). These are the things I took from my twenty years as a Dead Head (alright, I really dig a hot Sugar Mag too). This is why I still consider myself a Dead Head. I know people who say they used to be Dead Heads but that they have outgrown it, my answer to them is that you never really were part of the whole, because once it gets inside you, how can it ever leave. People we know something very special that the rest of the world never will and in that sense we are a very fortunate few. I have a very wonderful life outside of the Dead, a loving wife, an absolutley amazing 3 year old son and a job in which I get to give of myself to others every single day and have fun doing it(I teach special ed). But I owe a large part of this life to the experiences I've had as a Dead Head and the world that the band opened me up to. For this I am (forgive the pun) grateful. There would be a lot less light and joy in life without the Dead and weather or not we get to see that old magic in any incarnation it is always with us in our hearts and in our daily lives. There is no void, only new adventures and joys to be uncovered.
THE BUS CAME BY AND I GOT ON THAT'S WHERE IT ALL BEGAN..............
david allen (dadead@gte)
the bus came by i got on thats when it all began... The other ones . A Future.
Joe D. (emotionalrescue@hotmail.com)
I was 23 when Jerry passed away, and when I look back and see where my childhood ended and my adult life began, it was that day in August. I was looking through the set lits from the late 80's and early 90's shows and I actually teared up looking at some of the songs. I told my fiance last night that those shows were the happiest time of my life. At first she was insulted, but then I explained to her why. Anyone who is reading this knows why. God bless.
Scott (Seditious3@aol.com)
No, I haven't found a substitute. Sadly, I'm not sure if I ever will.
Justin (justin@spamnet.net)
Last summer, I thought the Other Ones had filled the void. I longed to see them on a spring or fall tour where they could settle into a venue for a week, and have the time to really develop their magic, without having to pack and travel several hundred miles each night. But I guess that wasn't meant to be.
The Dead are dead. Long live the Dead!
Barry Constantino (blc69@gateway.net)
Nope............Nothing, not Rat Dog, not Further festivals.............not even the "Othe Ones" There is no substitute. All there is are some fleeting moments where the loss is not so glaringly overwhelming. I' seen the JGB at a camp-out last year in Perry Ohio...it helped at furst...then I only missed Jerry's compass even more. Right now I'm listening tp the Dead Hour....that's what helps...the original music. 5/19/77 is the show. I Love my fellow deadheads and I miss you ALL. P.S. first show was 10/28/72 Cleveland,OH. See Ya At Jerry Fest 99 at Bear Creek!!!!!!!!!hooopefully
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