Velociworld

Could never stand their music.

But I saw them 4 or 5 times. Actually, I think I only "saw" them twice... But I did go to 4-5 shows.

Needless to say, I got blasted, coked up, tripped out and/or high each and everytime.

Also had a nice "encounter" with a cute hippy chick in the reeds adjacent to the parking lot in the Meadowlands.

Still can't stand their music. But I do retain fond memories of their shows.

I didn't get to "see" them when they were out here in Irvine. I DID get to party in the parking lot.
The air base was still running and the Blue Angels flew over head, practicing. What a riot it was to see all these people high on LSD and what ever, reacting to low flying planes.

Saw the Dead once, in New Jersey, back in College days. That was back when you could get a good concert ticket for $5 cash money.

But for my money, Miles Davis was even better. I'm amazed that I remember the show at all, given the sheer Hunter S. Thompson-esque chemical stew flowing though my system that night...

Saw them numerous times. They were actually better in the late 80's early 90's than they had been from about '72 on, coinciding with Jerry's heroin habit. His relapse after a period of relatively clean living is what killed him. They were a great live act even when they were coasting. It was their fucked up trustafarian hippie-shyster cult that I couldn't abide.

Check out The Pizza Tapes with David Grisman, Jerry and Tony Rice. It is the last great gasp of improvisational talent from Garcia, the greatest jug band musician of his era.

I drove on the Garden State Parkway behind Gerry Garcia's private bus for about twenty miles and shot the shit on the CB radio with the driver (who owned the bus and rented it to Mr. Garcia).

Does that count?

Unlike Rob, I preferred them back in the '70s, right through "US Blues". Their three commercial live records (the Skull and Roses set, "Live/Dead" and especially "Europe '72" still gre frequent play in my house.

Kelly and I saw them at least twice in the old Jersey Giants ballpark in Jersey City (once with the New Riders), and at the Nassau Coliseum two days after Pigpen took the dirt nap.

I guess I prefer the stuff from then because of the memories of partying it invoked. But, I really loved it when Garcia got inspired, even just for a few moments.

By the way, I dated a girl in college for a while who actually stitched the Ice Cream Kid on the leg of a pair of jeans for me, just so I could top a dude with the Rainbow Foot on the back of a denim jacket. I'd kill to find those pants now.

Saw them many, manytimes from 85 to 93. Sold grilled cheeses in the parking lot on far too many occasions. I quit touring because the scene was staring to piss me off. Frat-heads puking in the shows, heavy metal assholes fighting. It stopped being cool anymore.

I kind of miss the old boys though. But I won't go see any of the spin offs. That time is done.
dammit.

I saw the Dead 5 times over a 3 year period and loved every show. I quit going to the shows, and listening to their music, though, because I hated their fans. Dead heads were condescending, elitist, and far less authentic than the mainstream type they looked down upon.
Haven't even had the desire to play a Dead album since 1981.

Had a Lit prof back in the day who swore they were writing the only decent lyric poetry around at the time. Viola Lee Blues off their first album is still one of the hottest bits of sound out and there was nothing like getting all chemically enhanced and listening to Ripple or Box of Rain in the dark ...
and Touch of Grey has been my anthem for the last decade (not that I HAVE any, mind you)

The Dead scene was excellent in 1985, when I was turned on to the music, because people seemed for the most part to be interested in the music, and not about one-upping each-other and satisfying inferiority complexes, like the 90s deadheads and subsequent scene became. From 85 to 87, the actual scene in the parking lot was pretty mellow, and the shows were exceptional for the most part, with the exception of some pre-coma 86 shows. As time progressed, the music was great, but the scene kept deteriorating. The scene became more about people trying to prove how "hip" they were than actually just being hip and enjoying great music and having an exceptional time.

For me, the music and seeing the band always took priority over just hanging out in the parking lot. It's sort of sad how some people internalized the phenomenon of "being a deadhead" into their identities in a manner that ultimately ruined the scene. "HEY BRO, SPARE CHANGE FOR A BURRITO?" Losers sponging off the scene, ultimately getting the band kicked out of the better venues, etc. Too bad for that most of all. What's funny is a lot of the parking lot losers were actually trustafarians who actually had plenty of cash. Funny thing is, those whom were living off free cash seemed to be the ones who acted most "pious" regarding their place in the scene, as if they had created and invented that scene. Ha!

The music is what mattered and still matters. This is how it is.