"The bus came by and I got on,
that's when it all began."

                      -Bob Weir 1968

Thirty Grateful Dead shows in ten years 

Where to start. O.K. How about...

My first Dead show

 

The Grateful Dead Tuesday July 2, 1985 Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA  

Set 1: Jack Straw>It Must Have Been The Roses/New New Minglewood Blues/Friend Of The Devil/Cassidy/Big Rail Road Blues/Promised Land
Set 2: Man Smart, Woman Smarter>Crazy Fingers>Lost Sailor>Saint Of Circumstance>Terrapin Station> Drumz/Space>Wharf Rat>Throwing Stones>Turn On Your Lovelight 

Encore: Revolution>Brokedown Palace

Reprint from The Pittsburgh Press Wednesday July 3, 1985

I knew of the Dead through a friend. She and I were discovering the band and we decided to go to the show with some other people. We got to the arena and someone had some mind altering substances. I pretended to take it because I didn't want my first show to be so "HEAVY" and didn't want to look like "the square" in front of the group. I was sitting there before the house lights went down and some crazed freak was flailing away spastically at the PA music. I was so glad I didn't drop. The only songs I recognized that night were 'Friend Of  The Devil' and 'Revolution'. I enjoyed the show but wasn't blown away.  I officially started what was to be a decade long (to the week), thirty show affair with The Good Ol' Grateful Dead.

Second Show

The Grateful Dead Monday March 24, 1986 The Spectrum Philadelphia, PA   

Set 1: Alabama Getaway>Greatest Story ever Told/Dire Wolf>Little Red  Rooster/Brown Eyed Women/My Brother Esau/Ramble On Rose/El Paso/Box Of Rain
Set 2: Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo>Man Smart, Woman Smarter/High Time>Lost Sailor>Saint Of Circumstance>Drumz/Space>Morning Dew

 Encore: In The Midnight Hour

My friend and I took a train from Pittsburgh to Philly to see this show. We were crazed by the time the concert started and we ditched our backpacks under a random car. We miraculously got them at the end of the show. I remember the parking lot scene being full of the weirdest people on Earth. We started walking to the bus station from the Spectrum and a couple cops felt sorry for us and drove us there. I saw the very last 'Lost Sailor' the Dead ever played (big whoop).

My first daughter was born on this day 15 years later.

Third Show

The Grateful Dead/Bob Dylan/Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Wednesday July 2, 1986

 University Of Akron Rubber Bowl Akron, OH   

 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 
Straight Into Darkness/Think About Me/The Waiting/Breakdown/Bye Bye Johnny/Even The Losers/Spike/Refugee (Jammin' Me???)

Bob Dylan
Shake A Hand/Positively 4th Street/Clean-Cut Kid/I'll Remember You/
Trust Yourself/That Lucky Old Sun/Masters Of War/To Ramona/One Too Many Mornings/It Ain't Me, Babe/ I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know/Band Of The Hand/When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky/ Lonesome Town/Ballad Of A Thin Man/Rainy Day Women # 12 &35/Seeing The Real You At Last/Across The Borderline/I And I/Like A Rolling Stone/In The Garden/Blowin' In The Wind/Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache/Knockin' On Heaven's Door 

The Grateful Dead
Set 1: Alabama Getaway>Greatest Story Ever Told/They Love Each Other/Little Red Rooster*/Don't Think Twice It's Allright*>It's All Over Now Baby Blue*/Candyman/Me & My Uncle>Mexicali Blues>Don't Ease Me In


Set 2: China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider/Playing In The Band>Desolation Row**>Drumz/Space> Truckin'>Black Peter>Sugar Magnolia

 Encore: Box Of Rain


*with Bob Dylan **without Jerry - Dylan, Petty & The Heartbreakers opened

This show was nuts. The Rubber Bowl is a horseshoe shaped stadium that holds 32,202 people. Add a few thousand more lunatics on the field and you have controlled chaos. I remember a small airstrip at the open end of the stadium and every hour or so small planes would take off to the delight of the crowd. I believe Dylan started first with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers backing him. Then Tom Petty played a few tunes. Then Dylan. Then Petty. After a short break, the Dead came on. I suppose I was present to witness the first ever historic collaboration between Dylan and the Dead but at the time it didn't seem like a big deal. The guy next to me who I thought was the Devil was a big deal. There was some strange things going on throughout the show. Some guy felt it was a perfect day to be naked but the cops disagreed. He took off when they tried to get him. This keystone cops chase took place in front of the entire stadium. When they finally got him on the floor they escorted him up the steps. He started waving his fist triumphantly and the crowd gave him a rousing standing "O". People were also starting little campfires throughout the venue to the displeasure of security. Truly bizarre. The Dead sounded horrible. What do you expect, 8 days later Jerry fell into his diabetic coma. 

I always regret not buying an official shirt that day with a cool logo of Dylan's profile in a stealie. I haven't seen it since. Anyone who knows what I'm talking about let me know, please.

This might be it. I don't know, I was a little out of my head.

Three shows in one year to the day. What a lightweight.

Wait a minute...we'll be here all damn day. Some highlights!

...or eight years in a couple of bullets.

 

Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA

Photo of The Jerry Garcia Band Sunday November 7, 1993  Capital Centre Landover MD courtesy of Allen Sklar

Jerry Garcia Band Friday November 5th, 1993 Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY
Set 1: Cats Under The Stars/Mission In The Rain/Simple Twist Of Fate/
That's What Love Will Make You Do/Ain't No Bread In The Breadbox/Like A Road/Deal

Set 2: Shining Star/The Maker/Think/Reuben And Cherise/
Gomorrah/Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Encore: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

A ceramic tile I designed using Jerry's portrait

Parking Lot Sunday June 9, 1991 Buckeye Lake Music Center Hebron, OH 

My Last Dead Show

The Grateful Dead Friday June 30, 1995 Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh, PA  

w/ Rusted Root

 Martyr/Lost In A Crowd/Cat Turned Blue/Primal Scream/Run>Artificial Winter/Send Me On My Way/Sweet Mary/Cruel Sun/Scattered/Laugh As The Sun/Drumz>Ecstasy/Back To The Earth

 

The Grateful Dead

Set 1: Hell In A Bucket*/West L. A. Fadeaway*/Take Me To The River/Candyman*/When I Paint My Masterpiece/Bird Song*>Promised Land
Set 2: Rain*/Box Of Rain/Samba In The Rain/Look Like Rain*>Terrapin Station>Drumz/Space>I Need A Miracle*>Standing On The Moon* 

Encore: Gloria*
*final version  

(I won the above original print photo from 6-30-95 at a Jerry look-alike contest during a JGB show on Sunday August 2nd, 1998. I came in second deservedly. The kid that won was Jerry to a "T". His prize was a Frank Zappa CD. I am glad I came in second! 

Reprint from front page of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Saturday July 1, 1995

What can you say. A little over a month later Jerry was dead. The last years of the bands touring career was iffy at best. Great moments on stage were few and far between. The show was O.K. but probably the greatest moment of synchronicity ever at a concert occurred  as the boys took the stage and started the second set, the sky opened and poured a beautiful summer downpour on the crowd at the exact instant they played The Beatles 'Rain'. Any one who was there will tell you it was a magical moment.

Post Dead

Photo courtesy Bamm

Photo courtesy Susanna Millman

Photo courtesy Bamm

"A Cryptical Development" float New Year's countdown 1999.

"A Cryptical Development" Thursday December 31, 1998  Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center Oakland, CA

String Cheese Incident Acoustic

  Sitting On Top Of The World/Lester Had A Coconut/Good Times/The Hobo Song/Elvis' Wild Ride

 w/ Darol Anger on fiddle

KVHW

Set 1: You're The One/Bad Hair>Drums>Five B4 Funk/In Time/Slumber/It's Up To You>It's Impossible

Set 2: Why Can't We All Just Samba/Spring Water/Footprints/It's Your Thing/Point of No Return/City of Tiny Lights


Hot Tuna

Fools Blues/How Long Blues/I See The Light/99 Year Blues/Water Song
Larue Larue/Ode To Billy Dean/Hit Single #1/Funky #7

w/Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Cassidy, Michael Falzarano, Pete Sears, Harvey Sorgen.

Ratdog

 Bass (Auld Lang Syne) Jam>Jam>Playing In The Band/Queen Jane Approximately/Lost Sailor>Bury Me Standing>Cassidy/China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider>Turn On Your Lovelight

Mickey Hart's  Planet Drum

Angola/Yabu/ Frog Dance/ Temple Caves/ Baba Jingo/ Endless River/ Fire on the Mountain/ Iko Iko/ Not Fade Away
From Temple Caves on with Carlos Santana. Endless River with Bob Weir and Julia Butterfly recites a poem.

These two ladies were part of the New Year's procession. Mickey and Bob's mothers?

Oooooooh! Big Puppets!

Ship Of Fools All Star Jam
  Sugar Magnolia>Sunshine Daydream/Midnight Hour/Only The Strange Remain/Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad/Walkin' Blues/Friend Of The Devil/Good Lovin'/Johnny B. Goode

  Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Rob Wasserman, Jorma Kaukonen, Mark Karan, Steve Kimock, Mark Ellis, Carlos Santana, Jeff Chimenti, and John Molo with Assorted Players

String Cheese Incident Electric

Restless Wind/Come As You Are/Missing Me>Impressions>Born On The Wrong Planet/ Mountain Girls/Climb>Rhythm Of The Road/Lonesome Fiddle Blues/Little Hands>Texas  

Encore: Big Sciota

Honeymoon show #2. The previous night my wife and I went to see Wilco at the Fillmore. This night we jumped on the BART and caught New Years in Oakland, CA. Carlos Santana made a surprise appearance as did Julia Butterfly, the queen of treehuggers, who was being broadcast from atop a redwood. She was living on top of the tree to expose awareness of logging. Whatever? It was very surreal to hear her recite her poem while Santana and Planet Drum provided instrumental music. These were hardcore Deadheads in attendance and after awhile it was just a little too intense for the missus (and me for that matter). Around 1 A.M. we left to find a throng of people stranded with no way to get back to San Francisco. We started walking up the street in desperation and an unoccupied cab arrived. Perfect synchronicity!

Ratdog featuring Bob Weir Friday November 7, 2003 Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA


Set 1: Jam>Playin In The Band>I Need A Miracle>Wang Dang Doodle>Matilda Mother>Tomorrow Never Knows>Matilda Mother>Jam>Mission In The Rain>Youngblood>Loose Lucy>She Says>Liberty


Set 2: Me and Bobby McGee+/Walkin' Blues+/Corrina+/Good Morning Little Schoolgirl>Ashes And Glass>Drums>Jam>Uncle John's Band>Playin In The Band (reprise)/Standing on the Moon>Turn On Your Lovelight
Encore: Johnny B. Goode
+-Bobby on acoustic

Photo courtesy Bud Fulginiti

Me with Kevin K. before the show

This concert was a BLAST. The week up to the show I would go on TicketRaper and see what seats were available. There were seats, only they were in the last row of the theater. Forget that. I waited till the day of show knowing full well the chances of better seats opening up would be greater. Sure enough I snagged the last two seats in Row B. My buddy and I run into friends before the show, party a bit, get the tickets at will call, and proceed straight down the aisle. No shit, the band's speakers are ON OUR SEATS! I was loving it! I let the nerd usher know and he just shrugs his shoulder and Kevin and I proceed to park ourselves right in front of Bobby's mike stand to enjoy a killer show.

I was taking a ceramics class and produced a "Jerry Box" out of clay. I used four portraits of Jerry from four decades of his life. The '60's Jerry side cracked in the kiln. Like, totally bummer, dude.

This picture I took of my wife in front of  710 Asbury Street in San Francisco. The famous Grateful Dead house of the 1960's. As we were there the owner came home and pulled into the driveway. I asked if I could take a picture on the porch. He emphatically said no. I guess he gets it all the time. Screw him.

Long , Strange, Trip Indeed!!

 

Some cool Grateful Dead related links:

 

Official Homepage

Guitar Tabs

Download Damn Near Every Grateful Dead Show Available!!

 

 

 

 

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