Grateful Dead

THANK YOU

That toob
Rolling Stones Exile again
T Rex electric warrior again

For the midi work in the Scarlet Fire transition. And everything else.

**********

The stories that roll out from the older folk here are great. And funny how things always stayed the same. I get it now in retrospect. So for one from a circa ‘91 - ‘95 deadhead....... after the Highgate, VT ‘94 show while we were all being herded out of the field like slow cattle, where you couldn’t see ten feet in front of you from all the dust that was kicking up, everyone simultaneously got really quiet, scary quiet, and started to drift off to one side or the other to open up this empty hole between us all..... and then who slowly rode through? Beelzebub himself-- black curly hair, dangerous horns, a gnarly chopper, svelte nymph strapped to his backside. Yep, a reminder that it wasn’t momma’s backyard.

Dude! Saw Moonlight Drive lotsa times. Billy Pettijohn was their lead singer, and they also did a Stones tribute called Beggars Banquet. Thanks for the blast from the past.

Currently listening to 12 O’Clock Tribe. Mighty Mystic coming on in 30 mins. Beautiful summer night!

Sketches Of Spain

1987-06-12: 39 years ago We drove from L.A. to Santa Barbara. Checked into Hotel and preparing to head to Ventura County Fairgrounds. Back and forth there, till we headed with tickets to the show.

I need to look at my tickets. I think show times were 6, 4, then 2: Friday Saturday Sunday.

All three were great shows and line up with this weekend's dates.

However, Saturday the 13th was an amazing show. Truly my second greatest psychedelic day at GD. Just an amazing show and venue. My favorite GD venue. Less than 100 feet off the beach. GD set-up a bonfire that night and showed movies/clips like reefer madness. What an awesome party on the beach. This late afternoon show was like heaven on earth. Incredible weather with the palm trees crackling like lighting. The band and crowd were one. Stranger stopping stranger indeed. Between Shakedown and Saint, there are dolphin sounds coming from the PA with effects. It sort of sounded like the GD was trying to talk to the dolphins. Wild. They mention the new album and "New Single."

The 14th, there weren't but maybe 3,000.people there. I am guessing maybe 16,000 for the weekend. Niiice! Peaceful! Glorious!

Made my day reading that story. You da man! How little we all know about each other and our adventures, even tho we've met in person.

Got a good story about meeting the Muscle Shoals boys at the Bottom Line, but it'll have to wait as I'm dashing to pick up a friend and get a beer in Parmalee Gulch, in the foothills (Colo). Cheers, HF
PS. And I can always bust out my Watkins Glen stories, if prodded (gently).........
More to come!

Four Classic Albums
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Black Oak Arkansas, now there’s a story!
Back 86, probably 87, BOO469 and myself had a Sound Reinforcement gig.
This included a regular Tuesday gig at a big club doing sound for either top cover bands,(called em clone bands back then) or occasionally older b or c type once popular bands.
Some of these cover bands were really good: Over the Garden Wall, a Genesis band from Toronto, Moonlight Drive Doors band from Cleveland, our brother Jim’s Syracuse Dead band Homel Alaniz, some Stones band I can’t recall etc.
But one Tuesday BOA was scheduled, so we were psyched to work with a more “real” band.
But my day job was driving a wheel chair van, and I had an accident that day, so was running extremely late for the gig. So late that when we arrived the band was already there and the promoter was losing his shit! He just kept going on and on and all the nasty shit he’d do to us if he had to cancel the gig etc. So I give him the ole “hey we can waste more time standing around bitching, or I can get to work and get er done” etc
Now not to toot my own horn, but Boo and I were pretty damn good and we had this system and venue down to an art form, and fortunately the venue had a real easy load in etc.
So we go to town schlepping and setting up and wiring the modest size PA (4 low end scoops, 2 mid range 15” Perkins boxes, and 3 or four various horns per side in a four way design) I had a method where I could set and wire the speakers stacks by myself, while Boo did the Board, racks, snakes etc.
I mean we had it down to a science by then.
So we had it up and running in even less time than usual, so I head over to the bar where their all hanging while they wait, and I ask for a beer. Again the promoter starts in with his BS and “a beer? are you fuggin kidding me etc” to wish I informed him, yeah, the systems ready, it’s been a tough day, I wanna a beer…well he still won’t shut up, so BOA start telling the guy to STFU etc and if you don’t we’re not playing!, patted me on the back, bought me a shot/beer and told the guy he should give us a raise as they’d never seen a system set so fast or so well, especially the stacks by just one guy, in all their twenty something years they’d been in R&R!
One of the Proudest moments of my life lol
So I always get a big grin whenever I hear BOA!

Wow. These Dark Stars are phenomenal. So are both of the That's It For The Other One's. But what really blew me away was the Dancing In The Streets -> He Was A Friend Of Mine -> China Cat Sunflower -> New Potato Caboose from 6/8/69. This ended up being the very last New Potato Caboose ever (with Jerry at least), and the jam is beautifully intricate. Considering that this was the fabled "apple juice" show, they are on fire. There are a few tapes squeals in songs like Cosmic Charlie, but Dave did fantastic work with these selections.
Keep the Pre-1970 coming, Dave!
P.S. - Just wish he had included the 6/7/69 St. Stephen...