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    marye
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    In today's Today in Deadhead History, aud mentions a show she never wants to revisit, even on tape, because the scene was so ugly. And I think the same is true of various shows for a lot of us. Thug security. Gate crashers. Drunken concertgoers puking on your bare feet. You know. Bad scenes. Post here.

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  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    No mention of the Frankfurt shootings on Wednesday?
    On August 31st, 2009 TigerLilly said:"And people keep asking me why I don't wanna move back to the Glorious U.S. of A. Case in point about why I am in NO hurry is in these stories. Pffffffffffffffffft!" Hmmmmmm, well I guess this must be better than what those fine folks were doing during the 1940's...
  • Stardancer
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    Worst Concert was Pink Floyd
    Their last concert at JFK before they tore it down. The security guards were asswholes.They had guard dogs like in dogs of war, and billy clubs. They kept yelling at the audience and telling them to sit the **** down or they would be sorry. They did hit a few people really hard. We left after Comptably Numb. We were going over the Bridge to New Jersey when we heard the police calling for reniforcements. They had a full riot. It was not terrible but she had me worried. At a gratefull dead concert, for get the date, it was a outside concert, a girl near us went into labor and refused to leave untill the concert was over. I remember her screaming every time she had a contraction.
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    E72
    Is turning into a really bad scene. We need to pass the cool kool-aid and fly TLA to the GG Park, eat organic and run around naked for a while dancing to GD and other kimd bands. If you still care about your modesty when you're in your 60s maybe you never got your GI Joes and Barbie Dolls..to o play with. Whenre a diver's suit if it'd cold. Do a polar plunge for the Rex Endless Summer of 67 in he winter of 11. The Muic Never Stopped!
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    american bullshit
    Had to leave USA because as a foreigner my legal and human rights were stomped on by creepos hiding as bullshit judges ,corrupt lawyers ,rotten cops ,these basterds doing me in only because they knew they could get away with their rip offs abuses . Even death treats ,robbery of my legal french passport ,yes US pigs do that and the french consulate pretented it couldn't be so ! Asskissing french consuls too scared for their comfortable carriers to stand up for french citizens 's rights ! phonies always screaming about WW2 crimes but NEVER say a word about cops /courts persecuting whites these last 50 years ! Over nothing ,nada ,being vicious like nazis simply because the political warped system allow them ,protect and finance them ! For these reasons I will not ever go back to USA !
  • TigerLilly
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    Have read all of this topic lately
    And people keep asking me why I don't wanna move back to the Glorious U.S. of A. Case in point about why I am in NO hurry is in these stories. Pffffffffffffffffft!********************************** Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. Mark Twain
  • unkle sam
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    DWI checkpoint
    In both states it was a supposed DWI check, but in FL they were stopping every car, if not searching, they were stopping and looking into the vehicles or, for the unlucky, snifing the air. They did get a few stoners that day, mostly just a couple of joints or roaches, seemed to be a big deal for nothing, except to ruin Memorial day for everyone comming back from the beach. In SC, judge in a single wide trailer along the side of the road, if, for any reason, you refused the search, the orificers took you over to the trailer and got the judge to issue search warrant for "probable cause". Or, if the dog they had signaled the cops, that was probable cause too. The law in SC had it all set up with local stores in the area, had lots of cash on hand so if you did get caught, they would try and convict right there, give you a ticket and collect the cash from the ATM, all before they let you go. If no cash, jail. Then, you would get a court date that you did not have to attend, but if you didn't, they would suspend your DL and it would cost you another 100 bucks to get that back too. All that and a criminal record. Now, if you lived in FL, like my friend was at the time, that would mean driving all the way back to SC to attend court date, and still proubly getting license suspended and having to pay fee. This was back in the 90's, so it can only be worse now, with the way things are, they will do anything to get cash. If you love to drive and take a toke every now and then, don't do it with dead stickers on your car.
  • red feather
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    Vegas shows w matthews band
    I really started noticing things (people) at the 2nd vegas show ,drunks,speed freaks,the heroin people were low key,but thats a whole differenty topic. lots of people seemenly looking for trouble. it was so bad that i really didnt want to 2 be associated w the crowd. People would ask me on the strip how were the shows? i would tell em good, but parking lot scene ,outta hand. I after the ist year the 2nd year i wud go fri and sun show , skip the sat. show to get away frm the whole crazy scene. in the early 80's the parking lot scene was alot mellower, better doses? wen GD played w d matthews band the fri. morning scene was doomed, several drunks of all types and ages seemenly bent on getting as stupid as possible. speed freaks hassling u for a beer ,a hit of ur baloon,whatever. on sun afternoon my buddies on my friends van went in early to c d.matthews. i stayed in tthe van smoking kine bud. i also had in my possesion a sheet , sum shrooms, and about a1/4 of kine buds, relaxing in the van, a group of spped freaks hyped up on said drug and booze, asked me whose van this was. apparently this van had flipped them off in town and they were bent on causing harm on whoever flipped em off, the driver of van ,my bud was so mellow and even in rage, which i had never seen, wudnever flip off people no matter how rude or obnoxious people wrere. i got so scared with these people threating to kill me , i thought quickly ,grabbed my backpack and ran! w van open, they gave chase, i was so freaked out , trying to comprehend wat was going on, a GD show ? fights,kill threats, where am i south central LA?i desperately ran all over lot , just peaking on first wave of doses, unable to talk w anybody, i calmed myself , and figured the best,safest, place wud b in show. security was my next concern , a sheet, 4 tall cans ,of beer, bud,shrooms, ah yeah, go on in sir, and enjoy the show, in my backpack. oh yeah, security , will jus say no big deal, well guess wat , ? a cool security guy, asked me to check my bag, i mumbled sumthing to him about sum crazy guys in lot trying to kill me, he saw the true face of human fright, and said go head bro and b careful, unbelievable, whoever u are mr. security thank you for ur genuine concern for my well being. no more vegas show after that, and only venues that were mellower,Autzen ,comes to mind, anybody dare to compare the Autzen lot scene w Vegas? worlds and miles apart for good reason. stay true to your roots! Tsee-wen-Pii" santa clara pueblo indian reservation,N.M. anybody jus wanna talk story? email me doses25@yahoo.com
  • c_c
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    in Florida
    in Florida, what was written on the search warrent as the predicate? please ask your friend if he knows or remembers. also in SC, they had a judge there? if so, same question. *** I can also imagine cops doing it like a DWI random stop, that they 'say' they are only stopping every 4th car randomly... justifying the search on paper in that way, especially if you happen to be driving on a smuggler's alley. not only are laws state by state, they are also county by county, too. you are totally right, sam, if they want you, you are toast.
  • unkle sam
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    2 states
    Florida and South Carolina. Of course, it's the south. In Florida, especially in Orange county, they will stop you for a sticker, or a shirt, it has happened and will continue to happen as long as people allow it to happen. But, what can you do when they stop you and are ready for anything you do or say? A friend was stopped at a road block in fla, had on a dead shirt, nothing else, no stickers, not an old hippy looking car, just driving along on memorial day holiday going to the beach. Said no to any search, they were ready, had a judge in a trailer, dogs on leashes waiting, everything. If he did not agree to the search, they would go into trailer, get a warrant, and search. The whole time the cops were telling my friend that if he did not submit to the search, they were going to make it bad for him, offered to "give him a break" if he came clean, all because he had on a dead shirt . He was clean, but it was still a 2 hr search, in the sun, along the highway, after it was all over, they said "have a nice day".In SC, same scernerio, stopped on highway, no other reason except had a normal sticker on his car. Serched there also. It goes to show, if they want to search you, they will and there ain't nothing you can do about it. Just keep your stash small enough for you to eat, they can't bust you for smiling (Wait, yes they can) Here it is in a nutshell, if they want you, you are toast. All, most all cops will lie, whatever they have to do, to keep there stories straight and make them look good and the "perpatrator" bad. There may not be an official policy involving dead heads and stickers, but from experiences and friends experiences, they do pull you over if you look "dead". Best to keep it stealth. and remember, this has been happening for decades, Bobby said it years ago, "the heat came by and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day"
  • c_c
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    if
    no problem, jack. I can't say 'it's a pleasure' because this whole issue irks me to no end... but, I am happy to help and if one head is saved the misery of going inside by reading this or seeing the vid, I'll be glad. if anyone knows of any 'published, in the manual,' police procedure guidine that includes stopping a car for ONLY having a dead sticker on it, please let me know. I was thinking about it while I was taking a walk just now, and what I remember hearing was the NCIC thing was something about teaching cops what the dead SYF and so on looked like, and that 'possibly' the passengers / driver of such a car would have controlled substances. so to be on the lookout for other 'signs' of illegals... similar to telling east LA rookie cops to be aware that folks with a red or blue 'do' rag might be a gang member and might have weapons... by the by, ALL police training in every academy includes learning the smell of smoke from grass. remember, it is not illegal to smell like grass, it is illegal to posses it. so do not get intimidated into giving consent to any search just because you or you home reeks. naturally, your car reeking like Bob Marley's ass (yeah that was pretty funny -- people at the ACLU do have a sense of humour) IS probable cause for a search. Ira, the ex-head of the ACLU, although he has gray hair and black eyebrows and seems a bit stiff in the vid is a rightous dude. I also smiled at the 'this isn't Amsterdam' line... one other thing that Ira mentioned, a highway stop is not the place to debate the morality or usefulness of certain laws. never admit anything, never say anything USE your 5th ammendment rights. I do not mean, do not tell the cop your name or something like that, but never admit you did anything wrong -- never even admit you were speeding, just stay quiet. the other thing that also really perturbs me, is that the sniffer dogs can be verbally commanded to make 'false positive' signs. the pups are usually taught to scratch at something or sit down in front of something they 'recognize' but a handler can trigger the same response with a verbal command if they really want to. the highway cops often 'threaten' to call in the dogs, and dogs get more 'false positives' without any shenanigans more than anyone will ever admit. but if a rogue handler decides you have something, all they need do is trigger a false positive verbally, and then they have the right to tear your car apart. if a cop is so bored that s/he just decides to fuck with the hippies, they will never; in my opinion, admit in court that the real reason they stopped the vehicle was because it was a giant tie-dye school bus with 200 SYF stickers on it, loaded with long hairs -- s/he will just testify it was 'weaving' in and out of traffic... personally, the only stickers I ever had on the car or bike or shirts that I wear are images that only a true deadhead would recognize. it is a sad state of affairs in the good o'l US of A. peace.
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In today's Today in Deadhead History, aud mentions a show she never wants to revisit, even on tape, because the scene was so ugly. And I think the same is true of various shows for a lot of us. Thug security. Gate crashers. Drunken concertgoers puking on your bare feet. You know. Bad scenes. Post here.
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That was the show I mentioned, 8-2-76. We were already a bit leery of Hartford, having heard some not-so-good tales of problems at Dillon Stadium, so we were a little on edge to begin with. But the problems we saw, I'd never seen anywhere else - drunken crazy people THROWING BOTTLES AT THE STAGE, fighting down front got so out of control we had to extract ourselves and head for the back of the field. Never in all the years since did I experience a crowd that nasty and ugly at a GD show. and the bad acid my pals did that night didn't help a bit!
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In April of 1989 i spent 3 or 4 days in pittsburgh having tix for the sunder night show. hit to parking lot on saturday and things were not too bad. did some "shopping" there and headed back to where we were staying-a friend's apartment. the next day the news was screaming all about the scene at the show-gate crashers-naked people running the streets, fights, garbage, etc. I remmeber crying and wondering why anyone would want to ruin OUR beautiful scene. who were these people. there were rumors of the show sundey being cancelled, but it went on as scheduled, but there was more security and more cops than needed, in my opinion. scary scene indeed. nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
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Can't remember the year. Last time the Dead were allowed to play the Civic Arena. Fans were bad, but cops were worse. They beat fans for no paticular reason and caused much havoc. I always hated Pittsburgh, but the band seemed to enjoy playing there. Why?, I don't know.
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by dewlover. I think this qualifies as a really bad scene: Posted: August 14, 2007 - 7:09am INJURED COP AT RatDog SHOW As some of you may already know, during the RatDog set, the actions of some maniac at the Gathering on Saturday night resulted in a Bridgeport, Ct., police officer being injured...The following is a mailing address, as well as eMail for you to send some healing Vibes to that man who was just trying to do his job: Deputy Police Chief James Honis Bridgeport Police Deparment 300 Congress St Bridgeport, CT 06604 honisj0@ci.bridgeport.ct.us
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I heard about how horrible the cops were at that Pitt show. My sister saw a girl getting clubbed. I went to a show there in '90 that was pretty heavy too, but not like the one I think that you're talking abouty.
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It was spring tour 89, I was 16 years old and stuck outside with ALOT of folks when the crowd decided to rip a cple windows out of the civic center to get in. I was still early to the scene and guess I didnt yet realize what it was like to HAVE to get in.
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the day they confiscated a ton of my really cool stickers, which was how I supported the bus in those days. They were ready to boot me out of the parking lot. they had a bunch of folks rounded up, I stuck my ticket in my shoe, and we were waiting for the paddy wagon. fuckers working security were laughing at us, making jokes about people's hair and shit like that. talking ABOUT us right in front of us like we were circus sideshow freaks or zoo animals and like we couldn't understand English, or those guys were just such rude, dumbasses they didn't care about hurting people's feelings. I remember one of the yellow coated security dicks pulled out a pocet knife and threated to cut some dudes hair off. a really, really bad scene. anyway, the paddy wagon shows up, and they filled it. I was still sitting on the ground, and since it was 'full' they let me walk away. I am not sure if this was the same tour where some of those security dicks chased down some head and made him run into traffic or something like that. some of the upper ups at Byrne or the security chiefs or those particular guards tried to cover up that tragedy; but eventually karma got into it because their actions that caused the death of an innocent head came to light. "What's the point of calling shots, this cue ain't straight in line Cue balls made of styrofoam and no-one's got the time"
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Or what goes around, comes around, however you want to look at it. Took awhile, but the truth that everyone already knew came out. John Schers very own yellow jackets. Bad scene, indeed. I remember those stickers, Joe. Probably talked to you, just dont remember, you now how it goes. As bad as Byrne became, MSG could get pretty heavy too. They would use the horses on people and fuck them up but good. Saw it in the early 80's at least.
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Hi Stella, I'd like to point out that that sticker design was not original, I do not know who designed it, but I copied it using a silk screen and made the stickers myself. (that's why they look kind of sloppy) muchos kudos and thankx to whoever designed it, it kept the bus on the road. all I had to do was walk around turning the sticker right side up and then upside down to show that you could read grateful dead even when it was inverted; those suckers sold themselves. I traded a bunch of them, too, usually for food that people were cooking up or beers in the lean years... one kind of surreal thing I remember about the MSG shows, was how the cops would be out on fatboy Harleys, out in force-- what seemed at the time like 50 bikes, driving around and around the 'round' and "round" garden again and again before or after shows. peace.
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Go Vegetarian Vegan, no meat, no dairy, then you got less bad karma. Life can be heaven or heck, depending upon what you do, what goes around, comes around; At least I try. Things are much better now that I am back to being a vegetarian, and better yet a vegan. Hey, I know what I need, another....... But if you do go Vegetarian Vegan, make certain you get at least 100 to 300 mg of all the B Vitamins (and at least 25,000 mcg of B12), PER DAY, and 1000 IU of Vit D, 500 mg Vit C, for Vit A drink a pint of carrot juice, some multi minerals, and 400 IU of Vit E. But VEGETARIANS must get Vit B suplements (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12), else they get real depressed (lack of Vit B especially), as its hard to find in the Vegetarian world (a bit in seaweed, and bananas, but not enough). It was fashionable to go vegetarian in the 1930's, the latest craze, but many became very depressed. And also I like to take Melatonin, around 15 mg before bed. OH, and ballancing your pH with good quality WATER between meals, can restore you pH by neutralizing all those low pH acids you consume, like orange juice, soda, alcohol, tomatoes, carrots, meat and dairy products, its all dangerous because its all low pH, how can your body tollerate and bunch of acids you feed it? Water to the rescue. Then your less apt to get a bunch of trash from people. Example, I was a cab driver for a while in Las Vegas, and I would drink some coffee (low pH acidic) for my first ride, and they would bug me "driver why are you going this way", "faster driver", "were stopped and the meter is still running driver", then after the first ride, I would drink some water (high pH netralizes acids, like the coffee) with a water bottle cap full of baking soda (real high pH, and cheap, and good for you), mix that up, and the next ride was a charm, "oh driver you good, thanks driver", SO, WHAT YOU CONSUME, IS HOW THE WORLD TREATS YOU. Serve more high pH stuff at Dead Concerts; hey, and pass out B Vitamins, of course a little bit of acid is ok, it just takes a little bit, to go along way, just ballance it out. Music for the New Millennium by ARCHURE reg tmrk www.archure.net
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seems like the daze back in again from the wild wild west... ) -; who is with me on that one? peace.
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vaguely remember a lot of horses at different shows. but the jfk(last show there ever) i was feeling good and kept asking the pigs if i could pet the horses. got some nasty ass looks for sure, but did take some pictures of the poorly treated animals too. also, anyone do the further fests of 98 or after at MONTAGE MOUNTAIN. there was some bad shit there too. i think it was 99 or 2000, the horses were not happy to be there. pulled a young brother out from underneath one of them just in time. he was about to be trampled waiting for a shuttle down the mountain. not a good scene and i know a lot of heads dissed the place soon afterwards. it really gets GESTAPO there for most any show. nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
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heaven knows, cops have a fucking tough job to do out in the streets and highways of the good old US of A. The mounted police are trained specifically for crowd control and it is one of the toughest things to do in general. anyone who has ever been in New Orleans during Mardi Gras knows what I am talking about. but I think the problem with most cops at shows, mounted or otherwise, I think they could never see the difference between a crowd of heads and a crowd of Metallica fans. or the rap fans, or the Monster Truck folks or Hockey fans who would get drunk and be much more prone to violence - misbehavior (on a case by case basis of course) than any deadhead crowd. rent a cops are a totally different story, unfortunately. ) -;
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I believe it was the way we looked more than the way we acted in the 80's, but in the 90's, I believe we as a whole got way out of control. Gate crashers and so on started putting a damper on the whole Peace thing.
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I don't know why someone would want to post this topic. Shouldn't we be remembering the good times and scenes, and forgetting about the bad? I know I had my run-ins with Johnny along the way, but I try to put it past me. Perhaps that's my own way of heeling, but I see no benefit to this particular discussion.
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Yeah, we were certainly judged on our looks and our lifestyle in general. At least the trippy looking ones. I once had a cop say to me that he didn't understand why we had those little bags around our necks and friendship bracelets etc... as it was a dead give away that we were holding. He said he always knew he would find something on anyone who dressed like that. The getting out of control thing is a bit complicated. Gatecrashing was mostly done by people who were not tourheads. As was littering. The increase in heroin use in the early nineties by tourheads was a big problem. Gatecrashing seemed like a reaction to the constant harrassment by the authorities. Take Pittsburg in 92' as an example. There was big harassment of vendors all day before the show. The vendors feed the crowds etc... and were a big reason so many came to shows. Vendors (of all sorts) were a big and unacknowledged part of the success the Grateful Dead enjoyed during those days. When the locals come into a lot where there is police (or whoever) harrassing the tourheads they feel the vibe massively. When u see cops cracking heads of kind folks for selling a bag or whatever, u want to do something! It makes a bad scene and the vibe can easily turn into a rebellion of sorts with many going over the fence or breaking it down. Rebellion takes many forms. People want to feel free. We shouldn't be surprised when young people especially react in that way. Many of the less experienced heads even would have had the impression that the Dead would have given a wink towards gate crashing in the spirit of shared anarchy (as I heard many gatecrashers say at SPAC in 88'). Better communication might have helped. Most of the harrassment from venue owners or cops etc.., was prejudice. Trying to make some big thing out of whatever. Irvine in 88' with the so called riot for example. There was no riot! I was there, right in the middle of the so called riot. Banning camping didn't work. It was just an undeserved kick in the ass for tourheads and the locals still trashed shit. The Dead organisation should have been thinking big at this point. They should have organised their own series of festivals across the US every year where they controlled the venue. In a farmers fields, for instance. Lots of mini-Woodstocks across the US. Plus extra European tours, or world tours even. Plus the normal venues that were ok with the way things had previously been. If Bill Graham was serious about keeping the scene clean I don't know why he didn't have someone from the scene who he gave thirty tickets to who organised a clean up crew. There were folks who did this but they were only given garbage bags to my knowledge. And from how I remember it the heads were behind that, not the band organisation. The heroin use was weird. It destroyed the scene. The price in the Bronx went from ten a bag to five as the avaliability increased. It was a problem in the ghetto as well as the scene. A couple of shady characters popped up in the scene distributing that shit. I do wonder if the man was behind that. The timing was pretty strange. Just as there was a second flowering around the time of the anniversary of the summer of love. Are you kind?
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I think one reason for this topic is the time-honored Those Who Fail To Learn From History Are Doomed To Repeat It. Another is that people like to talk about it. I don't think it's good to obsess about the bad stuff, but I don't think sweeping it under the rug serves any purpose either. It WASN'T all wonderful--for example, by general agreement Red Rocks was as good as it gets on every front, and yet when I was there in 1987 one of the first things I saw was Barry Fey's goons dragging a bunch of hippies out of their van and starting to beat them because, apparently, they weren't zippy enough about showing their tickets to get into the parking lot.
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Fair enough Marye; but you can always watch The Stones' movie about Altamont if you want a history lesson on bad scenes. I think Jerry was even in it briefly describing the scene as having some sort of particulate matter in the air. Definitely a history lesson to be learned for sure, but I always thought hippies to be far more intelligent than to repeat the faux pas of their elders. I guess time has proven that theory to be invalid as well. Here's to learning from history, and not repeating it!
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quotes: "Those Who Fail To Learn From History Are Doomed To Repeat It!""Here's to learning from history and not repeating it!" ( u mean the bad bits obviously) Here here!!! :) (how many times did I hit my head on that oil lamp?) May the blessings of wisdom sprinkle upon all of the extended Grateful Dead family wherever u are! You are all loved! Are you kind?
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I got a chance to hit the east coast running in 92 and the show I saw in Burgettstown PA it was a logistical nightmare. (parking,security,vending,etc...) No more Burgettstown Shows I was at Irvine 89 when 2 bikers got in to it and you can hear the ambulances on the aud tapes (2nd set ater d/s)(I think there was a knife involved) No more Irvine after that I was also at the LA Forum in 89 and some poor spaced out kid died in the back of a patrol car.... No more LA forum shows I was at Cal State Dominquez Hills in 1990 and some gal left the concert and took her life...No more CSDH shows.. I think the letter passed out (from GDP) at the CalExpo run in 88 or 89 said it all. "You created this sceene, you'll end this sceene." There were similiar letters that went around the parking lots before and after, but the oneI got around that time I still have in my collection somewhere and it rings true. I saw some great shows but unfortunatly I saw them at the last times they band would play these great venues.
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"You created this sceene, you'll end this sceene." Well, to me this was typical example of bad communication. At this point on tour the crowds were so big the band couldn't just go walking out in the lot to see what was up themselves. They had to rely on info from band management and others who obviously didn't know the real deal or were just coming at the problem from a money angle. The quote above seems like a big cop out. Putting the blame on others. Who is the YOU??? The band, the management and the heads created the scene. It's all one!!! I can't imagine the band would have worded it that way. Sure things happen at shows. Not just Dead shows either. Dead shows were renown for being peaceful and family-like compared to other bands concerts. But when u have a town sized crowd there will always be incidents. Like in a real town there will be deaths, there will be babies born etc..! OK, but it IS a bit different obviously! The media reports after Irvine 89' were all about a riot at the front gate. I don't remember any about two bikers fighting but I can imagine it being commented upon. There was no riot as I mentioned. Fights happen, everywhere and anywhere. That's life. The fact is that the pigs of this world wanted to stop the second flowering of the sumer of love which the Dead and the deadheads were at the forefront of. A lot of those venues seemed to be run by pigs or they folded under pressure from pigs. We shouldn't forget how Bush 1 started the persecution of deadheads on a nationwide federal level. He was in the CNN tower, Atlanta during a Dead show and saw the heads out the window in the lot below. He commented that he thought that stuff had died out with the 60s and that he was disgusted by it and that something had to be done to stop it. The birth of Operation Dead End. The effort of the feds to destroy the scene. Pressure on concert venues, flooding the lot with cheap heroin, busting masses of young kids dealing in the lot and giving them 20 year sentences, spreading misinformation to confuse folks and make them not trust each other. If there were not enough portatoilets or garbage receptacles then who is responsible? You or the management? If some locals got to drunk on bud and had a fight at the show instead of at the local bar and pee'd on someones lawn who is responsible? You or them? If a lost soul od's because they had a shit upbringing in a hard world who is responsible? You or the kid, the parents, the system? The tourheads were the best audience a band could dream of. They were the ones reading those stupid flyers, not the locals who made the little problems. What a slap in the face! The ones behind the flyers should have been doing more to help the scene, they didn't do their job properly. And as for the feds... who are they serving that they put kids into prison for 20 year terms? You? I think not! We did SO MUCH good!!!!! I am proud of that and so should everyone involved! Somehow the band picked up on it despite the misinformation too! When they would sing, we will get by, don't u let that deal go down and such lines in times when many had been busted on a particular day etc..! Don't buy the misinformation about why we couldn't play certain venues KJ7XJ and family!!! Peace!!! Are you kind?
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I noticed that the crowds (NYC, LI, NJ, MD, PA and CT) started to get rowdier towards the late 80's. I saw more "Frat Guys" that couldn't hold their beer causing trouble as the 80's wore on. MSG and Giants Stadium / Meadowlands got pretty ugly at times. If you crossed the NJ Turnpike in the elevated walkway you know what I mean.
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True, u have brought back a strange rememberance there. That elevated walkway..! Weird scenes inside the gold mine indeed! Are you kind?
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what was the dealio with the elevated walkway ???? i was never in it, at least i don't think i was. ?memory? nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
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Lots of people 'mooing" in the walkway after the show as we were herded like cattle back to the parking lot. Always a strange and fun experience to end the evening.
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Marye,i do not want to sound to clever,but when you take a seriouse dose of ...than the action of this substance,which starts to enter your system might in some cases induce a very heavy nausea,which as we all know ends up on the floor in little pieces!.... is very powerful and i think it is not fair to stick the people whose body cannot handle it,into the most horrible events column.after walking barefoot on the parking-lot all day,you have to wash your feet anyway.
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I agree with the 'frat boys' there for the parking lt scene and the broken glass everywhere.......so unsafe I was always ashamed to think that DHs were so slovenly, uncaring, and unsafe! My last show at RFK '95- the police had on RIOT GEAR as they cattled us out of the show. Sooooooo uncalled for and utterly unecessary. I was made to feel criminal. The scene absolutely changed for the worse at most venues as each decade went on. Stadiums in the major cities, yea, there's always a certain police presence- but even outdoor shows in the 80's and 90's got more hostile. it wasn't even the ability of DHs not practicing what they preached, it was a lot of others infiltrating the scene and making it turn bad....Ami
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i followed all the east coast some west alot of mid east shows from 84-95-went to all the last shows,ive got stories to every show,everytime i left ky to go to shows something wild happenedgood things bad things wierd things i never went to a boring dead show i partied in the lot,made friends money love, a lot of times i even made it in the show,got drunk,high,busted,good food,lost,found,and turned around,i came out broke,but anytime i get bored i can sit and think of all those"trips"out on the road and its better than cable t.v ! i tried telling my neighbor some of it and he dont beleive it but he says theirs no way you could come up with stories like that, my whole point is you have to remember the bad.its part of the whole experiance as i look back at the storm at the last st.louis show,the gate crashers of deercreek,the unbeleivable alpine parking/vending restrictions,even when i did90days in the cook co. "motel" at the very last soldier feild show i just have to think ---what a long strange trip it was !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I was lucky to have missed the truly bad scenes but the 2 that stand out were Richmond '85. the beginning of rowdy, crowded shows (in the '80s at least). I was standing by a door when some DHs broke thru and the crowd began streaming in without tix, including my buddy beside me. I couldn't move, was sure they'd be rounded up and sent back out and maybe something inside me was telling me it was the wrong thing to do. in any event, my buddy made it in, had a great time and I got to walk around outside watching cops bust people left and right and had a huge angry dude with an aluminum baseball bat wave it in my face for being too close to the building. oh yeah, I had already dosed with the expectation of scoring a $15 face value ticket so the whole thing pretty much sucked. the other was 1st night of Hampton '87. only had tix for the 2nd and 3rd nights so I was happy to hang out in the parking lot where the party was getting started. but it was very mellow, you know, pre-In the Dark and just what we were used to. nothing close to being out of hand. luckily I had met friends and we, for some reason, got into their car to do bong hits. just down the row was a van with huge speakers pumping out "Estimated prophet" with some folks boogeying and just hanging out when all of a sudden a paddy wagon rolls up and cops are coming from everywhere. those poor DHs didn't know what hit 'em. I saw a dude dragged down and arrested, cops were brandishing night sticks and slapping cuffs on anyone they could. people were just scattering and we, of course, put the bong down and just watched in horror, finally, when it had calmed down a little, one cop was walking around and noticed us and said, "stay in that car if you know what's good for you!" so we did until we saw people coming out of the show. I heard the next 2 nights were saner but it was still dicey on that run. the next year, with way more people there, didn't seem to have any problems. I always thought it was strange that Hampton cops would be so harsh given the good relationship the band seemed to have with the city. a friend of mine's uncle was the mayor of Hampton and he told me his uncle loved the Deadheads because they bumped up the tourism intake each spring. never got an explanation for that night of terror though.
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i remember the BS at Pitt. I just ate more funghi and chased it with a guiness and ran inside to get away. Brendanbyrne, Remember a stabbing at the gates to one of the lots. there was the gate and and a cement short wall just inside, think one of the guys was dreddy freddie, no matter anyway was stabbed over dope, i was right there bad shit. Remember at Red Rocks on same day baby was born and think it was father died of heroin OD same day. Had alot of fun at all shows but agree that 88-90 there were some bad things going on. I think that more heads started to get to much in to white powder stuff and took away their aura and lively hood. Had a couple friends that hit that seen and just got lamer by the year, One would always find us and call asking to stay in our hotel or hang at our campsite, always told yea cool for you but none of your junk buds an no fucking needles and crack. man that shit used to piss me off. stay natural the high is better. And yes we created this scene so lets keep it cool. Most of us go for the whole deal the music, people, fun and stuff, the woderful experience that is all in deadland. Some only see it as a money making oppurtunity andyes those frat fucks who don't give a shit about what is really going on. Wish all a grate spring tour and pass on the vibe, strangers stopping strangers, love each other, share, and pick up some trash. Show others who have not had the opportunity to experience the Jerry times how grate an experience this is. There is so much shit going in the world let's make sure our little piece is just that Peace. 32 teeth in jawbone
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Yeah, things definitely went down hill fast after the crowds got too big in the later 80s. It got really, really ugly in certain places at certain moments and some places were just all-around bummers. Though I was at the Pit. Arena shows in spring 89 and saw some shit gettin' out-of-hand the worst things I ever ended up in was a riot at Unn. of Ma. (known even then as Zoo Mass) that started after a long afternoon with a couple of opening acts and most of the tickets going to the local college students. There were a ton of heads without tickets. The Dead started up with Jack Straw and that was it. You just felt it in the pit of your stomach as you watched about 5000 heads start circling the stadium and breaking off in 2s and 3s and climbing and knocking down fences while terrified students doing crowd control just turned in horror and ran. Well, that wasn't enough, everybody wanted in and kept circling that place until they opened a gate to let an ambulance out. There was no way to close that gate after and no cops in enough force or mood to do anything about it. Everybody who wanted to got in, thousands and thousands of heads. These wern't the students mind you, they had plenty of time to get heavily discounted tickets. It kills me that there are a lot of righteous people out there who look down their noses at people who got into shows for free, but even in the late 70s, and probably earlier, people always found ways to get in. You just had to be smart about it back then. When the crowds got larger later on so did the ugliness of the cops and people started to fight pitched battles. I never participated in such things and thought people who did were stupid. Those were the days when there seemed like a witching hour set up 1 - 1:30 hours before the show, get your butt inside if you had a way because it wasn't going to be very nice outside once the music started inside! I've seen things gettin' outta hand. I guess they always will
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All I can say is gangsters selling fake tickets with a very strong sense of intimidation all around. It was weird. My friend got shut out when they did the "burn" test upon entry and his ticket went up in flames literally. Somehow I got in with a fake ticket. "Everybody's braggin' and drinking that wine, I can tell the queen of diamonds by the way she shines. Come to daddy on an inside straight, well I've got no chance of losing this time"
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They had a giant sunflower at the back of the auditorium on wheels to roll through the crowd at midnight. I think it was like a scafollding covered in paper mache. Anyway some guy got the bright idea he was gonna climb it and as he got near the top (about 30 feet up as I recall) he fell off and split his scull open on the concrete floor. We found out later he died from his injuries. The show went on and the only people who knew about it were those of us twirlin at the back of the arena.
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There certainly were a lot of fake tickets out there in the late 80s. Whoever would do that or sell fake paper of ANY kind was UNKIND to the EXTREME. Those were two things that could really kill your mood. A favorite trick of heads in the 70s & early 80s, when TicketRipya was printing all it's tickets off the same master blanks and, say you were in Hartford, you bought a ticket for a Whalers AHL game and then looked for the most eyes-glazed-over 18 year old kid ripping tickets and get in that line. More often than not they wouldn't even look and just rip your ticket. As for people dying. Well, that is a subject that should have it's own title... I'd vote for Rest In Peace. People died in so many different ways while on tour. I have no direct experience of this happening in my circles of friends but plenty of second and third-hand stories. I'm not sure it's a subject people would have a lot of stomach for. I just wish that every Head who had a premature demise is in a good place now.....
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The parking lots were fenced off in such a way as to move people like cattle through certain paths to the gates. Everybody wanted a shortcut so some very unthoughtful people knocked down fences, next to port-o-potties. This resulted in people getting stuck in port-o-potties with a fence over the door and people walking over it. My friends and I rescued several very unlucky, but very grateful, people. You have to ask yourself what kind of person would walk over a fence on top of a port-o-pottie with somebody screaming for help inside and do nothing. I guess the people caught inside must have been fur trappers in previous lives!
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I was at the last show at JFK,tOOK MY WIFE THERE for here first show,from what i remember that show was a show stopper,do not remember to much bad stuff at that show
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.this stuff is giving me chills like I've never ever had before and now tears are running.I remember the brendan brn days they were gunning for us.I was there,I was the driver,I was not high,so there was no distorting of facts They wouldn't let people in,had the line down to single file , one....by...one...stop. ...one....by one... we could hear the show going on ,it was like deliberate instigating. People tried to break through,It was soon after the Who crush and some of us linked arms and faced the pushers to make them stop,don't know how but they did the whole staff was on junkyard dog mode-why?how? when we heard about the murder we tried for the next few days to make phone calls-cops,sherrifs,any city in the area NOONE said anything except"not our jurisdiction call someone Else"
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There is no doubt that the people who ran and worked security at Brendan Byrne Arena were big-time ASSHOLE MOTHERFUCKERS! They did kill people with impunity. I'm not saying that controlling a crowd of 20,000 freaks is any picnic, but for God's sake they didn't have to kill us! Why did the Grateful Dead continue to play there? Why did they play so well there? Well, you have to consider the lack of venues in the area large enough to accomadate the circus the Dead had become in the 80s. After the murder of a deadhead in 84(?) there were rumblings from the band about never playing there again but nothing ever came of it. They even released a CD from there in 89, Nightfall of Diamonds. There was definitely a dark element to the Grateful Dead.
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16 years 8 months
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The trash from the tanks...PICK UP YOUR BALLOONS for gods sake's! If you do em pick up your trash! Philly lot was covered in balloons and how easy is it to put in your pocket!!! They even gave out trash boxes too! USE EM!!Be kind clean up!!!! Peace,Gigi
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I hear ya there, still got 5 balloons in my backpack. LOL, but yah man, tryin to drive out the lot both nights was an obstical course, beer bottles everywhere!! I think we ran over 2 or 3 just tryin to get out of the lot. GIVE A HOOT!!! DON'T POLLUTE!!!!Peace- Moye
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So the show lets out. We're parked in the overflow lot south of the Forum. I'm waiting in the bed of the truck for my buddy who has the keys. Then they came. In V-formation. Riot gear and a SWAT van behind. They're clearing the area. The show just got out for heaven's sake!! Parked next to us, sitting on the tailgate of a truck is a peaceful Deadhead waving a stick of Nag Champa and smiling to himself. A cop breaks from formation and grabs his shocked ass by the hair and pulls him into the dirt avenue. "Why aren't you LEAVING??". "My friend has the keys. I'm sure he'll be here soon. Then we'll go. I promise! Please don't hurt me man." The cop says "What did you say to me?" and throws him to the ground. The other cops smell blood and swarm the poor boy. Batons smashing. Boots kicking. The boy a limp, bloody mess. They brought the meat wagon in, and tossed him in the back. Then they came after us. My buddy, having just jumped in the cab of our truck, implored the cop banging on the window with his baton, "I got nowhere to go man, we're blocked in!". Terrified, I lay in the bed of the truck trying to look small. The next day I see headlines: Violent, drug fueled concertgoer killed in police struggle at Grateful Dead concert. Violent? If you consider a fetal position and a baton in the gut violent. He was peaceful, happy, groovy stoned, and waiting for his ride. "Yeah, I'm just kickin' it on this tailgate. What a set! La dee dah.. 'Come hear Uncle John's band'..waiting for my buddy to drive us home. What???? No, sure, I promise I'll leave. Don't hurt me man! Ow. Why man? Ow! Why?". "Violent, drug-crazed hippy threatens police. Extreme measures required resulting in death." I watched this. From beginning to end. Fuck you Inglewood PD. You're no better than the bastards at Ohio State. And HE wasn't even protesting anything. He was crying. I've been haunted by that memory for 20 years. Thanks for giving me a place to let it out.
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I was in shock. I'd just seen a boy murdered. I knew he was dead before he went into the van. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to tell. I still don't. There's a place inside me that feels responsible for not speaking out. Not telling his family and friends what I'd witnessed. I didn't know how. I hope they'll forgive me.
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Evster, That boy's name is Patrick Shanahan, he was only 19 years old. he wasn't some skell, he wasn't some junkie, he was a college student going to see a concert.... you can still speak out, man. no need to let our brother not rest in peace after his violent and sensless murder. YOU are a witness, YOU can make a difference and set things right. from the way I read your post, your buddy also saw this. please, please both of you, please, go talk to the LA district attorney and the internal affairs division of Inglewood, police. contact at : Internal Affairs Division, (310) 412-5318. Inglewood does not have their own DA for felonies, so you should go through the LA county office. this is the contact info for witness/ victims INGLEWOOD AREA OFFICE One Regent Street, Room 405 Inglewood, CA 90301 (310) 419-6764 (310) 674-7839 and the main LA district attorney info: District Attorney's Office County of Los Angeles 210 West Temple Street, Suite 18000 Los Angeles, CA 90012-3210 Telephone (213) 974-3512 you can help our brother's soul rest easy. please do the right thing here. There is no statute of limitations on murder. those fuzz, even if they retired by now, can still be held accountable for their crime. there was some documentation around that time about this: THIS is from the NY Times archive: Fan at Rock Concert Killed By the Police, Coroner Rules Special to The New York Times Published: Saturday, December 30, 1989 http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/30/us/fan-at-rock-concert-killed-by-the-… The death of a college student while in police custody outside a Grateful Dead concert here has been ruled a homicide. In an autopsy report made public Thursday by the Los Angeles County coroner, the death of 19-year-old Patrick Shanahan on Dec. 10 was attributed to ''compression of the neck during restraint'' by police officers from suburban Inglewood. ''It's not an accident, not a suicide; it's a homicide - meaning death at the hands of another,'' David Campbell, a coroner's investigator, said in an interview. Internal Investigation On Officials of the Inglewood Police Department had no comment on the coroner's report. In previous statements, they have said officers did not strike Mr. Shanahan, nor had they used excessive force in taking him into custody. The department is conducting an internal investigation of the behavior of the five officers involved in the arrest, who remain on active duty. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is also looking into Mr. Shanahan's death. ''There are times when a person in custody dies but not because of any improper conduct on the part of an officer,'' said Mike Botula, a spokesman for the prosecutor. ''Even though the coroner's office has ruled it a homicide, we are not treating this as a murder investigation.'' The autopsy report, which noted several bruises on the body of Mr. Shanahan, also said he had been using LSD when he died. Mr. Shanahan, who lived in Fountain Valley, was a business major at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Officer Calvin Smith, a spokesman for the Inglewood police, discussed the background of the case today and said Mr. Shanahan was incoherent and crawling on all fours when he was approached outside the arena where the concert was held. ''He was yelling and rolling around, and several officers were needed to finally subdue him,'' said Officer Smith. ''They did use the carotid hold,'' he added, referring to a neck restraint, a choke-hold that restricts the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. Discovery; No Breathing After the police handcuffed Mr. Shanahan and bound his feet with nylon rope, they discovered he had stopped breathing, said Officer Smith. Mr. Shanahan was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Lawrence B. Trygstad, a lawyer hired by Mr. Shanahan's family soon after his death, said a private investigator had interviewed several witnesses who say the police used night sticks on Mr. Shanahan. ''They're saying that he wasn't bothering anybody and that the police came up to him and were very rough,'' said Mr. Trygstad. ''They beat him and jumped on him and choked him.'' James W. Hawkes, the victim's uncle, who lives in the family's hometown of Goffstown, N.H., where Mr. Shanahan was buried a week ago, said the family would not rest until ''justice is served.'' Private Pathologist Hired Mr. Shanahan's parents were on their way home to Fountain Valley from New Hampshire and could not be reached for comment. ''We think it's really frightening and shocking that this could happen,'' said Mr. Hawkes. ''My brother won't put it to rest until justice is served. He'll pursue it until he can do no more, to make sure this doesn't happen to other parents.'' Mr. Trygstad said the Shanahans had hired a private pathologist who will complete another autopsy within a few weeks. He said the family would wait for that report before making a decision about suing the Police Department. The police in Bergen County, N.J., are investigating the death of a college student at an October concert by the Grateful Dead at the Meadowlands arena. At first, the authorities there said they believed that the student, 19-year-old Adam Katz, had been slain. A second autopsy concluded that his death was probably caused by a fall. please contact the DA and internal affairs, please keep us informed. after this article was published, they did get the bastards who murdered Adam Katz. They can get those assholes who murderred this boy, Patrick Shanahan, too. please, at least make a few phone callls. peace.
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Joe speaks truth here. Thank you for speaking out and please don't let this go. One good thing about ubiquitous cellphone video is that it probably serves as a mild deterrent to this sort of uniformed thuggery. Too bad it wasn't around then. Joe, say more about them getting Adam Katz's killers. Last I heard they had gotten a pass, but needless to say this story didn't make the West Coast papers so it's been 20 years since I heard anything.
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15 years 1 month
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Thanks for the contact info. I will contact the DA, and I will keep you all informed. Thanks again for hearing me.
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15 years 11 months
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I imagine this will help relieve your own personal guilt surrounding the situation...that being said, YOU should NOT feel guilty for what THEY did...frustrated, helpless, but NOT guilty...use your frustration and experience to both your and the victim(s') advantage...this darkness has got to give. "In a bed, in a bed, by the waterside I will lay my head. Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul."
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16 years 9 months
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mary,I am not 100% sure, but what I heard was the Katz family settled with Byrne for 1 or 1.5 million. They (family) had done their own investigation, reached a bunch of stonewalls, stymied, they settled. The state of NJ was part of the coverup, their excuse, to keep the reputation of NJ pure or some such shit. I had also heard therre were some reprimands / firings, but no jail time for any of the assholes on security who murdered him. some of the above info is also in this link: http://www.rockrap.com/archive/arch112a.html I may be wrong, but that is what I heard through one or two, (peripheral) usually relaiable sources different from that link. I will try to find out more and/or the truth.
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and thanks evster!