Grateful Dead

I just wanted to say HOWDY!! (most of my info is already on my profile- so I'll be brief! here!)I grew up n the deep South-Eastern US- and followed fragments of most of the tours through that area as of '87/'88- but, it wasn't until '88 that I actually WOKE UP and realized what a GREAT group of folks that I was associated with. (so forgive me for being a space nut for the first 2 years of my family-life.) I got better- - - but THEN it took me another 2 years to realize WHAT WAS GOING ON!!! ((it's possible that I'm a 'slow learner'- - -((the first days are the hardest ones-eh?)) - - -I was into the visuals and the Feeling of the magic going on- but, didn't believe that I could actually be a part of it. I was a tour-guy, but only as a tourist. (I used to make my own shirts to pay my way- which seemed fine until they started cracking down in the parking lots-- and I got the label 'BOOTLEGGER'--- (which sounds kinda cool- but, put me in jeopardy of actually 'GOING TO JAIL' <-- Now-- this is serious,-- I was using my own artwork but, by using the words 'Grateful Dead'- I was breaking their copyright- - - ----Long story short- the authorities sat me down and one brother leaned in and said the words that would change my life. He said, "Quite stealing from the band and work FOR the band". . . . Say Whuh??? The Grateful Dead wouldn't need 'MEEEE' -- they've already got hundreds of artists working for them- - - riiight? With the help of a magic phone number- anything is possible, and I ended up doing 5 venue shirts and the Fall Tour '94 design (BANJO) - before it all came to a screeching halt in '95. Turns out that wasn't he "END" (so to speak)- - - and Spring ''09 is giving us a brand new tour ---so it just goes to show that you can NEVER TELL- - -just gotta poke around.-- and keep livin' the life you love. So yeah-- I just wanted to say "HOWDY". Cheers Family!! ArtguyChuck (we are everywhere!!!)

if you haven't checked out the Wharf Rats topic, please do! Also the Meet Me at the Forum topic.

Hi, I'm Redtony23 in San Diego,CA. back in 1987 a few friends of mine told me about 'Dead shows but I was otherwise chemically occupied for another 14 years. I'm over that now, and only recently started to seek more serenity through 'real-life' means as opposed to foreign substances. I was amazed once I listened to the 'Dead channel on XM at how much more at peace I felt. I have a ticket for the Dead show in L.A. on May 9th and am wondering how to find any 'wharf-rats that might be there. Thank You and Hello!! Retony23

Hey Now~ So glad to be here!!!! And can't wait to get there!!! Greensboro April 12th. My last shows were RFK and I have missed the boys soooo much. I have cought a few Rat Dogs and Phil & Friends..and JGB's since Jerry passed but I miss it all the same! Being a part of such a wonderful community has made me the kind person that I am today and has paved a road for me to be a good mom, wife and friend! Man I had some crazy times....wow! Wouldn't change a thing! Thanks Jerry, I miss you! See you in the lots on Sunday!!!!! Peace~ Sweet Leaf ~

Yeah, like the subject line says, I meant April 25th at the Garden. Long live MSG! Gim

Hi everyone; I'll keep it sort of short. My first show was Nassau Coliseum, November 2, 1979. My last, 89 shows later, was Giants Stadium, June 19, 1995. In between, I had kissed the sky, tasted the mud, swallowed the rain, and felt the joy of 10,000 hugs, 100,000 kisses, and 1,000,000 smiles that constituted a Grateful Dead concert. You all know why I'm here; I know why I'm here. But does everyone else? They should... My favorite place to visit here is going to be the 'Shows & Lyrics' section; I am going to comment on each and every show I attended and connect with those that were there with me. My heavens, I really miss the energy of walking in to a venue and feeling that anticipatory rush - is this going to be the night? Will they break out 'X'? Of course, there have been many, many times since then that I have felt that rush, but none like the way it was back then. but enough of the past; I'll see you all at the Garden on April 15th! Love to you all; let your lovelight shine! Gim

Hi... I'm Chuck... And I am a DeadHead... Here is how it started for me... Back in college... At the Univeristy of Buffalo... Spring of 1975... Living in College B... The solution to the hazing problems from the fraternities... Residential colleges were created at UB... College B was the college of the creative arts... An interesting place for a pre-med with eclectic tastes in music and theater to live... Well, back in the dorm... In a drunken haze, two freshmen were talking during a sleepless night... The artist brags... He can paint anything, on anything... His room mate pulls out his favorite Dead album... Skull and Roses... Paint this... On that... He points to their circa 40's ridged refrigerator.... And the challenge was on... For three weeks... All this 18 year old did was work on making this amazing painting of a skeleton covered in roses on an old fridge... And when it was complete it was a masterpiece... How do I fit in with all of this... Well... I lived a few doors down, and I had gotten a summer job at school... So I was staying in the dorms for the summer... I was asked to watch their prized possesion, the amazing fridge, till they returned in the fall... Only problem... They spent so much time working on the fridge, they would both end up flunking out... With noone to return the fridge too, it was mine... And... I would end up being a Deadhead... Traveling to shows all over the east coast... I met other Deadheads at school... One of them... Became a room mate, and eventually introduced me to his fiance's best friend... We would be married for 25 years and she would be the mother of my kids... That fridge changed my life... Funny thing... The day I graduated from college... The electric chord disintegrated... I took it as a message from the spirits that this fridge was meant to remain in Buffalo... And so, I left the thing there... Not sure what ever happened to it... But... I thank those two drunk freshmen from the Spring of '75 for forever changing my life. Their crazy dare led to me learning to love the music... And thankfully, The Music never stopped... I will be in Charlottesville, in a couple of weeks, with my son... To see the Spring '09 tour... 34 years later... Still twirling to the sound of the Dead, and living for the magic of that feeling of belonging! Some times... we get shown the light... In the strangest of places.. If we look at it right...

all these new folks! Welcome!

hello fellow deadheads! i saw shows late 80s-90s on the east coast. never really traveled with the band though. i've just been loving the GD channel on XM and they mention this site on the sunday show so i thought i'd pop in and say hi. any deadheads in cincy, louisville, southern, IN? radha

why , thank you! how nice of you to ask! without any further ado...my story....because as Alfred Hitchcock says "One should always make your audience suffer as much as possible" I never got to see a gig before ,i sort of missed the whole dead thing when i was growing up but over the last seven years ive learned to love them! from my lovely english hippie type friends who live in london... and im really excited to meet some lovely people who love the dead in this country as well! All the deadheads in the uk speak very highly of you! and from this website i can see why... I'm just your typical mild mannered american housewife from Md, where I spend most of my time buried in my computer screen working on various writing and web projects or enjoying the spirited high jinks of a house full of wretched and ungrateful offspring. My "children" , if you can still call them that, at 21, 20 , and 16 years old are an endless source of delight and despair , and my autistic eight year old son is the light of my life, and they keep me quite busy and entertained 24 hours a day. I am the proud author of two children's books, and have been working on a third, and have a degree in early childhood education. For twenty years I owned and operated a private preschool in my home, but retired about ten years ago to pursue being shiftless on a full time basis, which I have been remarkably successful at so far. The last seven years I've been dividing my time in between here and the UK, as I have many friends in the London area who allow me to visit regularly , crash on their couches, eat and drink them out of house and home and who entertain me with great gusto at pubs, clubs, gigs, raves and restaurants and at huge outdoor music festivals , such as the Glastonbury festival . Why, they do it , I'll never know, i certainly dont deserve it, or them , but God bless their little limey hearts anyway. thats where i got turned on to the Dead! Hanging about the flat, off my head! As you do! in between trips i just stay home (and recover) and and write like the devil , work on my website and go to school part time, just in order to keep out of trouble and prevent completly wrecking my quiet tidy little life here in America! I stay in school at UMUC every semester, studying various forms of the arts and humanities, and work constantly on increasing my education ,and life experience to help provide structure and sanity to a very hectic life, and to provide me with the tools I need to become a better writer, parent and human being (hopefully). AND th..th..th ... THATS ALL FOLKS..... thanks for listening.. and hope to see you at a show! Remember,You can only be young once, but you can be immature FOREVER!