Panther Hall

This was a very funky dance hall in Ft.Worth, Texas. The panther, i.e. mountain lion, is an emblem of Ft. Worth because of an early story of this creature being found sleeping on the main street. I went here with my friend and band-mate Terry. There were tables set up for the country music shows, when I guess beer was served. Nothing was available this night, and we were pretty much by ourselves at one of the long tables. I remember a local Texas band opened the show. I thought they were pretty good, but a little unimaginative, playing only blues covers. They did benefit from having Nicky Hopkins sit in on piano. Let's see, their name was...hmm...something like ZigZag Topps - Z.Z. Top - that was it. I remember nothing of Quicksilver playing. They may have played after the Dead, and we left early, or we wandered outside while they played. I do remember the Dead though, on a low stage, very small crowd, the closest I've been to them except for the time I shook hands with Bob and Phil (also in Ft. Worth at TCU). It was like a high-school dance. I remember Pig doing an excellent "Hard to Handle". It was a great show, but I have trouble remembering the details - those were the days! I know I was impressed, because I wrote a paper about it in Music class and got an A+!