Never was much of a GD fan. Sorry But I have partied with a shitload of Deadheads. Living in SLC in the 80's you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a fucking hippie. A couple of doors down from me lived this girl whose house I partied at a lot (can't remember her name). She was in the Touch of Grey video--she is featured quite prominently in the video--the blonde girl on somebody's shoulders in the crowd. She was quite proud of that.
Looks like a bunch of little whiny fucksticks to me
17 years ago tonight the Grateful Dead played their final show at Soldier Field in Chicago. "Black Muddy River" was the last song Garcia actually sang lead on but the only footage I've found of that is shaky at best. However, this clip of "So Many Roads" seems to have been professionally filmed.
I have several friends that are beyond excited about seeing Furthur when they play the Koka Booth in Cary, NC on Wednesday. I wish I could say the same but I just can't. I haven't heard anything by Furthur but I've seen a couple of different bands featuring the surviving members of the Grateful Dead since Garcia died and the only one that really did anything for me was the first incarnation of the Other Ones (who I saw twice on the Furthur Festival back in 1998). With all due respect, without Garcia there's really nothing to attract me to going to see something like Furthur.
Funny you should ask about the guitars, as I was perusing the setlist earlier at Dead.net I noticed a question in the comments section from someone asking if it was true if Jerry played all of his guitars (Wolf, Tiger, Rosebud and Lightning Bolt) that night. According to the post, he started with Rosebud and switched to Tiger because of technical difficulties.
For whatever it's worth, my last show was the third evening of their three night stand in Charlotte on March 24, '95. I know folks love to look back say how they could tell it was the end. That may be true to some extent but I'm not so sure I felt the same way that night in Charlotte. Lots of events in recent memory leading up to that last tour hadn't boded well for the Dead and Jerry certainly didn't seem to be all there but I had no feeling that the end was near. If anything, I felt like they might need to take an extended hiatus because it all had just become too much. I've read Phil's book but perhaps someday the entire story can be told through a very well researched documentary or something. I always figured they'd be a prime subject for VH1's Behind the Music but their story can't be told in an hour.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:17 years ago tonight the Grateful Dead played their final show at Soldier Field in Chicago. "Black Muddy River" was the last song Garcia actually sang lead on but the only footage I've found of that is shaky at best. However, this clip of "So Many Roads" seems to have been professionally filmed.
I have several friends that are beyond excited about seeing Furthur when they play the Koka Booth in Cary, NC on Wednesday. I wish I could say the same but I just can't. I haven't heard anything by Furthur but I've seen a couple of different bands featuring the surviving members of the Grateful Dead since Garcia died and the only one that really did anything for me was the first incarnation of the Other Ones (who I saw twice on the Furthur Festival back in 1998). With all due respect, without Garcia there's really nothing to attract me to going to see something like Furthur.
The first couple years, I didn't think much of Furthur, but I have really enjoyed some of the later shows. I would think even the die hard Jerry fans would enjoy the scene and hanging with friends. The band is very tight. Phil is going to retire form the road & mainly do 'Terrapin' shows,
I saw a couple Further shows two years ago in Denver, very tight, and John did an excellent job "playing" Jerry. Sounds weird to say that but you know what I mean.
Kudz like you my last shows were that three night run in Charlotte. I am in KC and could kick myself for not going to the last two cities of St Louis and Chicago. I had made those trips so many times before, but like I said I kick myself now. Looking back especially at that So Many Roads video, Jerry did not look good at all...should have seen it coming and made those shows. Damn...RIP Jerry
We saw Furthur last September in Salt Lake and had a great time. I would go again in a heart beat. If you go expecting the full Grateful Dead experience, you'll be disappointed, but it's about so much more than Jerry alone. Jerry Garcia was the big attraction for me and a lot of other heads, but it's also about the songs. The songs will never die. I would whole-heartedly recommend Furthur to any Deadhead out there. If not for the family reunion atmosphere, then to see Bobby and Phil onstage together. This may be the last time, I don't know.
Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed reading that. I've been a Grateful Dead fan for a very long time now but I actually have very few bootlegs in my collection. The ones I do have are on cassette. I have a good amount of live shows on CD but they're all authorized releases.
Wow. Great article jimmyjack! Ahhhh, the tape-trading years. Definitely brings back memories. "B&P's" - I haven't heard that term used in ages. Those were the days. Scaled down my tape-hoard a little while ago, but I still have a select 200 of mostly Dead and Phish that I keep handy for the priceless nostalgia trip.
Great article. I still have a couple hundred tapes left and a lot of them with artwork. There was this one guy who used to sell the best inserts with awesome artwork. I would try and find him at every show I went to and buy them from him. The only colors he used were black, white and red but they were awesome. I totally agree with you on the audience thing, I was at those Warlocks shows and the Dark Star from 10/9 produced the loudest response that I have ever heard from an audience and is totally lost on the sound board...I own both and prefer the audience source because of this. There were several break outs at those Warlocks shows including Attics Of My Life and Death Don't Have No Mercy. I really miss those days.
I've always been a big fan of Old and In the Way so it was cool to learn from this new interview with David Grisman that he plans to release more of their live shows in the future. However, I never knew until reading this interview that Old and In the Way had also recorded a studio album. Unfortunately, it sounds like that will probably never be released.
But I have partied with a shitload of Deadheads. Living in SLC in the 80's you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a fucking hippie. 
