Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

Saw them in Cleveland Music Hall the night before, okay ,but this show was better!Vets Memorial did not have great acoustics. But Dead managed to overcome this after a littletinkering. I am a critical listener--when I attended a concert, I demanded quality, damn it! LOL! I elbowed my way close to the stage apron early in this show and stayed in or near the orchestra pit most of the time. Jerry still playing the Strat of course ( but it's starting to look a little beat up by now!). This was a long show, with long playlist, and lots of time between earlier set probably trying to get the PA or the monitors to cooperate. If you wanted to know what the Dead sounde dlike at this time intheir career, these two shows, Cleveland and Columbus, were very typical of their repetroire and sound. Thought the guitars were a little too "clangy" and "brittle" at times though, and Keith's piano had to get boosted in order to compete. Donna is front and center along with Jerry and Bob but Keith is still hiding way back there on the side, behind his big piano! My view of him is also blocked by Phil, who seemed to stand in on place virtually all night. Jerry is staring at me as I focus my 35mm camera, thank you sir, you take a great picture! This would be the last time I ever get to see the Dead at such close range. As they became a stadium act, I stopped going. I hated--still do--stadium and arena shows, alway stuck with nosebleed tickets, so i stopped going to rock shows unless they were in a smaller venues. Saw JBG band in '76 or was it '77?, at the Ohio Theatre across downtown, where the Dead had played on Halloween in '71. Sigh. The Dead became such a huge concert draw that it was no longer any fun for me!

What an introduction! Freshman year at OSU. I was sick and didn't want to go anywhere. My buddy bribed me with some medicine from 'Dr. Stanley'. I seem to remember almost everyone forming a huge circle by holding hands and dancing around the hall. When people would pass in front of the stage, they would toss 'gifts'. After a song or two, someone from the band would retrieve said gifts. Seemed like the interludes between songs were unusually long! Thanks to my buddy, Lloyd, and The Bear, I was both cured and enlightened. Great medicine. It's still going strong after 37 years!