Huge fan of Violent Femmes at the time and had no idea they were opening...sweet surprise when i heard that distinctive bass thumpin over the speakers while in line for grubs! O! and the rest of the show was amazing...the scene changed me forever! beautiful day and all!

"...Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgement! Moloch the vast stone of war! Moloch the stunned governments!..." -[I] Howl[I/}, Allen Ginsberg

This was my first show, and life-changing. I remember being more familiar with the Violent Femmes than the Dead, and recognizing "Knockin" from the Guns and Roses version! But I was hooked, not just on the music but on the scene and the people. I had been very straight-life up til this point and I recall thinking "where did all these people come from and where do they live?" I had never seen freaks before!! :) Thanks from the bottom of my heart to Mike K., Brother Rich and Jersey Patty for showing me the way....

It was hot, and we were all sweltering. My friends and I had made it up pretty close and it was a hike back to the food stands, so we took turns going for lemonade, the sweet, fresh-squeezed lemonade that was like a gift from the heavens. The Violent Femmes weren't connecting with the crowd at all and the lead singer said something about how we were all too drugged out to appreciate them, and everybody kind of looked at each other like, "Give us a break." This giant of a guy fell suddenly before the first set and landed on my friend Keith, and all that you could see left of Keith was a little tuft of his red hair peeking out from under this mountainous fellow. Keith was squashed flat, like in the cartoons.
Later, during the Ramble On Rose, our friend Noah turned to Keith and said "Can you imagine how long it would take to sing a hundred verses in ragtime?" and Keith just lost it.
This was a great, solid show that was well worth sitting through the heat for.