Grateful Dean

There’s a lot of folks that woke up Monday morning wondering why their clothes are on the front lawn and who put the TV up in a tree. There’s so much to cover, I don’t even know where to begin. It sure was a blessing to get off of the couch and into the chowdah as Dead & Company opened up a few cans of whoop-ass in Boston. The scene couldn’t be more inviting around Boston and it’s great to see our community taking over cities again.  I always liked big cities because we don’t overwhelm the natives as much. Back in the day, when we came through the smaller towns, it was like a Coup de Chaos. We would turn a small town upside down on the way through. Folks didn’t know how to handle it. Some learned to adapt over the years, others banned US from coming back. We just made the big cities a little more colorful for a few days. Boston rolled out The Red Carpet and The Band responded in kind!

The rain was falling hard in Boston on Friday and early forecasts had the weekend looking like it could be a wash out. That shit wasn’t about to happen though since Bob Weir controls the weather. If you ever got rained on at show, it’s because Weir wanted you to get rain. In typical Dead Fashion, by showtime Saturday the temperature and weather were perfect. I went in early and got a place on the rail. No chatter there! The energy in the park was as good as it has ever been. For folks that get all caught up in the whole, “It’s not what it used to be” thing, neither are you what you used to be. The thing that always strikes me personally is that without the band on the stage, it’s pretty much EXACTLY what it has always been! When Dead & Company is in town, from the first row to the furthest corner of the stadium, you can’t tell the difference between what we have now and what we had then. That’s what counts most to me. Being with all of you! WE are what makes this experience so fuckin magical!

As the stadium began to fill up, butterflies were mating in my stomach. The band took the stage and before ya know it, we were all dancing to Music Never Stopped. So far this tour, Weir can’t figure out when his vocals begin. Dude is like a white girl trying to jump rope Double Dutch style in the hood. That brother doesn’t know when the hell to jump in… Music provided more proof of that. It’s not too important, it irons itself out pretty quickly most of the time and the majority of folks don’t even notice, I’d imagine. Cold Rain and Snow was solid and Me and My Uncle sounded like a 100 year old cowboy was riding into town on horse with a limp. If it was any slower it might have started going backwards. We were all having too much fun to care! Big Boss Man is tall and that’s just about all. Ramble On Rose packed a punch and I love her!

It wasn’t necessarily feeling like the most special set in the world but it was absolutely the best place in the world to be. That’s when things fired up considerably. Sugaree! Always a favorite of mine, Sugaree started relatively slow and without much happening until Mayer absolutely buried his pecker in the musical vajeen! It was part fantastic and part hysterical!

He started making love to Sugaree…

As the solo was building, so was the moment…

It was clear he was deep in the musical labia of life… It progressed as those things do…

At that point, we were all pretty close to climax as all of the same neurons associated with orgasms were firing repetitively in our minds until we  couldn’t hold em back no matter how hard we tried… Complete release was kinda like this…

It was an intense moment for everybody as we just saw John go full porn star with Sugaree… When it over we were all kinda like…

We’ve all participated on some level with multiple orgasms but Dead & Company provided 40,000 of them simultaneously. Mama Mia… Sugaree was definitely the highlight of the first set that closed with Passenger. I love the tune and for the first time to me, Weir was able to make the verses that typically don’t work too good, work this time.

Second Set opened with an absolutely ragin Dancin In The Streets and we were in full Boogie Down mode once again! Dancin In The Streets is about as fun a song as there is and it was fabulous! Help On The Way was next up and we were riding high in Boston! When Slipknot started it seemed like it might not go anywhere until it really went somewhere! It got heavy and deep in a hurry and the band was bending things that used to be solid and solidifying things that used to be flexible. Wild shit was going down for sure! I was hoping the Fire was gonna come out of Slipknot but it was Estimated instead. Weir was strong when he had to be and the song took its awkwardly timed stroll around the ballpark. I wasn’t worried about him, No. Eyes, a frequent mate of Estimated, followed and delivered big! The jams were furious and the tone of Mayer’s guitar was unbelievably good! That dude has a collection of some of the sweetest PRS guitars. The new silver one is beautiful and sounds incredible.

While we’re talking about sound, I’d also like to thank everybody’s favorite sound company, Meyer Sound for providing us with the greatest sound in history. The Dead have been a HUGE influence on how sound is projected for live events since their beginning. No other band did more to change the way audiences experience live music. The folks at Meyer Sound have long been a part of that journey. I was up front and the music coming from the mica speakers that were right in my face was loud, clean and crystal clear. I’ve been on a lifelong quest to recreate that sound in my home and dream of one day getting some Meyer X-10s. If anybody out there has deep pockets and a desire to replicate the sound you experience at Dead Shows, Meyer X-10s will get you there! Seek them out and buy them!

Out of Space came I Need A Miracle. The song was rolled out of space in a wheelchair. I thought I might hate it until I started loving it! Standing On The Moon, like many other songs, found Bob making his way into the tune awkward and out of sync. It was one of those moments that I go into my internal hard drive and access the files that hold Garcia’s information and play them over what I’m hearing. It helps sometimes… The end was much stronger than the beginning and by the time Bob got to the “Rather Be With You!” segment, everything regained proper alignment. Franklin’s followed and that’s when I went robot! Bursts of joy coupled with ample opportunities to release the happiness that had me filled to overflowing! What a great second set! It wasn’t perfect and there were a few sloppy moments but as time goes on, sloppy moments are never remembered. The memory of the time we had being there lives forever! BMR and Saturday Night encores sent us out of The Park.

This is where shit gets extra interesting… I don’t know if somebody got the Gatorade or what… The band takes the stage Sunday and it looks like Oteil was eating square paper appetizers from Bill’s dressing room. Brother looked higher than a Monk on a Mountaintop. Weir with tambourine again… He’s gotta be the worst tambourine player I’ve ever seen… Samson kicking off Sunday wasn’t a big surprise but there were plenty of surprises ahead. BEW was good and Big River as well. The more I watched Oteil, the more obvious it became that The Candyman was in town and apparently, that brother ate most of the candy. Let It Grow was followed by his comments about how Democracy works again. I wish it would work by putting the Weather Report in front of it already… Acoustics came out and Friend Of The Devil, Dark Star and Ripple closed the first set. There was one part in Ripple when John went on a run leading into the last verse and Oteil followed him there in his mind completely mesmerized by the music and beginning to experience so much fulfillment and pure ecstasy that his face was priceless. That was just one of many great moments.

During intermission, Oteil wanted to be naked and continue wrestling with an invisible octopus. He named the creature, “Snuggly” and said it was all in fun. The set break went on longer than usual because Oteil’s face and fingers melted off and he was waiting for them to recreate themselves properly. Once in tact, the show began again.

One thing about LSD is that it’s like a human juicer. A juicer applies pressure to fruits and vegetables and extracts from them the contents at their core. All of the qualities and characteristics on the inside become completely apparent as they are squeezed to the outside. LSD does that to people. If there’s a lot of chaos and confusion at your core, you’re likely to end up hiding under a table for 6 hours. It doesn’t matter how collected you may appear in daily life, LSD will extract from you whatever is at your core. LSD isn’t concerned whether or not you’re comfortable being turned inside out nor does it ask for permission. The shit doesn’t come with a steering wheel so the experience is unable to be controlled. Watching a controlling personality come unglued on LSD is quite a sight. Trying to control the uncontrollable has caused many a controlling mind to go mad. LSD forces you to make a choice… Either let go or lose your mind…

I remember my parents said I couldn’t go to Hampton in 87. I was 17 years old. I ran away from home and went regardless. At intermission the first night, I felt compelled to call home and let them know I was OK. I figured that might comfort them. I was extremely high to say the least. I ran to the payphones and called home. When my mom picked up the call, I said something like, “Razor tango Garcia when a Totem faster pepper Rooster!” I don’t think that comforted them very much… I knew Oteil would be singing Fire On The Mountain so when I heard it start, I became extremely nervous. I thought there might be a chance some shit like this might happen…

Thankfully, that didn’t happen at all. Instead, the brother nailed it!!! Not only did he nail it but it was obvious from his first words that the crowd was absolutely thrilled to hear him sing it! When Oteil got put through the human juicer, what came out was unadulterated joy and immense talent. At his core, there were no incongruencies to be discovered. The nectar that came out from him was something that fed the souls of 40,000 people. What a moment!!!

St. Stephen continued kickin everybody’s ass into outer space and it sounded like they were trying to get out an Eleven that just couldn’t come together very organically. Maybe I was just hearing things…

Drums and Space gave way and the remaining Dark Star came through to finish with full electricity what started acoustically. As it wound down down, Jeff took a solo that was beautiful. Another expression of his internal character being displayed through his talents and manifested among us as song. Gorgeous jazz and notes that seemed to reflect brightly on the most sensitive pieces of our beings. It took the tension from the air and polished it and sent it back out to resonate throughout the stadium. The Days Between arose from the moment and was poignant and powerful. Not Fade Away was an ideal way to close a weekend that raised the bar higher than many thought possible. The jams displayed Oteil wasn’t coming down anytime soon. The last time I saw a brother dance that hard while he was playing, it was Rick James on Super Freak. If Oteil looked in the mirror, he might have had this look back at him.

We all know you never look in the mirror when you’re a little too high…
Holy Shit, the interaction between him and John will live forever. It was the night of nights in Dead & Company Land and when the history books close on this band, Fenway, June of 2017 will be a show that will be mentioned forever among the best of the best!

I’m completely overtime, outta time and way too late… No time for proofreading or any shit like that, Gotta split! See ya out there!

Dead To The Core,

Dean