Grateful Dead

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....I was listening to Arrowhead, however, I brought two of my granddaughters here from Elko for a couple of weeks. They wanted to watch The Incredibles. I thought they meant watching a Grateful Dead live concert, but I digress. We're going to The Incredibles 2 this weekend. Needed a refresher course. A grandpa's work is never done. I quote Buddy. "But, after all, I'm your biggest fan!"

Everybody has a malevolent twin. ..and even if you don't you should make one up so if you really screw something up you have someone to blame the mess you made on. Yes.. welcome back Ouroboros. I have heard that take before, but it never gets old. Very envious. Edit: Not that Oroborous has any mal intent.. well, we're all pranksters at heart - birds of a feather. No ill will intended.

Just cued up Arrowhead 7/1/78 after all the talk. Sounding sweet. Earlier today listened to some early Randy Newman albums for the first time. Dang, Randy was gooood. Who knew? Another case of a great artist who most people know only by his most annoying song? ("Short People").

In the car this week11-17-71, then on to 12-14-71, should wrap that up tomorrow.

I will settle for the next Dave's Picks reveal. I got a hilarious email from a buddy today. Something along the lines, best part of my day, picking out the music for drive home from work.. that he sometimes sits in the parking lot for periods of time struggling to get the exact show that matches his mojo for the day. I had to laugh.. happens to the best of us. I was somehow inspired to pick 07/05/78 Omaha Auditorium - Omaha, NE for my bike ride at dusk.. specifically the Ship of Fools through Eyes of the World. It was magnificent, sliding down the mountain just as the sun set and music was settling into a forceful, jazzy groove. A wonderful sequence and one of my favorite eyes from that period. It was a mood changer and now all is good with the world. So what are you all listening to?

(Not to be confused with Oroborous, who has been hanging around recently)

Sorry no, RobbZ, but the CFL football season opened tonight, with Edmonton @ Winnipeg to get the season under way. And Johnny Football has come north of the border to bring more excitement to a league that already has enough excitement. Can't wait! GO RIDERS GO! PS - the NHL draft is only 1 week away!!!!

definitely gotta hear dat box agin

....Good Lovin' just ended. Thanks for the reminder guys!!....and to robbz. If these accolades aren't enough, buy the damn thing anyway. If you don't like it, the rest of us will pool our $$ together and reimburse you. Right?

of the remaining box sets of the Dead's 1978 summer excursion, I will offer my Red Rocks tale to convince you with eye/ear witness account, with apologies to those who have heard this twice told tale (maybe more like the sixth time on this forum) AND since I didn't get to write the liner notes, here is a repeat account for Robbz and those few that haven't heard it. That summer of 1978, we caught them in Minneapolis but missed Willie's picnic (we were already vacationing in Minnesota and the Dead did actually did circle back to Nebraska (that relates to a back story from a trip to Winterland NYE show 1977, but back to this run). They played the Omaha Civic Auditorium, where the Dead played once before in 1973.. We got there and the venue was half full (about 4,000) but everyone was chomping at the bit in anticipation to hear them live. I took my Nak 550 into the venue and there was no hassle getting the deck in this time, but remember these were the days before ‘tapers sections’. And each venue or even staff may present a different challenge. But not here, thank goodness. Out in the hallway, the Hell’s Angels wandered about sporting full colors and big grins. They may have been transporting ‘party favors’ and decided to take in a show. Or maybe the Angels were just road tripping with the band (although I didn't see them at the next few shows). My buddy even brought his 68 year old mother to the show. She sat up in the stands “It is just too loud down there!” Anyway, I headed down to the floor with my Nak 550 to set up in front of the soundboard. When I started to get my gear set up and saw this guy beside me with a great rig. Luckily this kind stranger (I have since discovered he was famous taper Bob Wagner) then let me patch out of the back of his deck, which was wonderful as he had a great 8 ft. tall mike stand set-up. He had a Sony deck and mics, but with that high stand his mic’s were well above the crowd noise. We were about 15 to 20 feet in FOB. So Garcia treated us to a blistering Sugaree opener, the kind that drove the crowd wild. His leads mounted into a wave that crests, recedes, regroups, and comes back rolling in with such power and delight that adds a synergistic effect to our frenzied response as his rolling/soaring guitar work lift and subside with the band. Then Beat In on Down the Line, TLEO and now it was Bob’s turn in the spotlight with a Look’s like Rain. About halfway through the song, I suddenly noticed something shimmering in the air between the band and me. I thought “what a fantastic light show! Or have I have shifted into fifth gear just a little early that I scheduled?” I staggered towards that disturbance in front of me to investigate. People were dancing wildly in the middle of the floor as a waterfall played over them. It was about 25 feet in circumference. I put my hand in, water…hand out, no rain..I am standing in front of an indoor waterfall. what to do? I jumped into pouring rain that was INSIDE the middle of the auditorium! Then I stepped back and was out of it. I shook my head and then lunged back into the deluge and danced through Looks Like Rain & then during Direwolf as well and a delightful All Over now. (Complete with Donna in perfect pitch!) Then Candyman and Lazy>Supplication before Bobby informed us “We’re going to take a short break”. I staggered back to reload a new tape and then I did look for some validation of my experience. And I asked my friends if I was not in fact ‘soaking wet’ as I patted my soaked shirt. They grinned knowingly and affirmed that, yes, in fact I was “all wet”. And then this unique show continued, (nice indoor water-feature, boys !) with a killer second set complete with a transportive Estimated> Eyes> drums> Wharf Rat> Truckin> Iko Iko> Around. And then after a lengthy absence from the stage the boys returned to play us ‘Promised Land” as an encore. As I left the auditorium I noticed the water standing on the ground outside, a summer storm? Was this a case of a leaky roof or didn't the Dead just conjure up the forces of nature as they were so prone to do? But back to the important stuff, what were the Dead going to do next? Would Phil rev up his reverse gravity machine and pummel us with Phil-bombs at the next show? Would they levitate the crowd, and have us all dance while floating in the 'cool Colorado range'? I HAD to follow them to those Red Rocks shows in 1978. So a road-trip to Colorado it was. This was the Dead’s first Red Rocks jaunt (and my first as well, although my girlfriend (now wife) had seen Joni Mitchell there previously and raved about the venue) so my anticipation was so ‘high’. (In many ways.) So I packed my taping and camping gear and off we went. When we walked up to the Rocks entrance, the Feyline security crew (or were they the John Scher guys?) were stopping people and inspecting any 'carry in' bags. A security behemoth that I will call “BigBoy’ stopped me at the entrance to look through my Boy Scout backpack. He hefted my NAK 550 out of the pack and held it aloft with one beefy paw, exclaiming “Hey, you can’t take this in!” I gave him my best perplexed look and said “What? It’s just a tape player.” (first lie) Then the giant BigBoy instructs me to “take that back to your car”. I retorted “I can’t, I hitchhiked to the show” (second lie). Beefy Bruiser BigBoy points to my ticket and says “the ticket says no recorders on it, you can't take it in” and I tell him “look, I don’t have any microphones” (third lie) and hold up my arms to be searched (of course my comrades had the mics with them). Then I sighed loudly and popped open the back of the Nak deck and let eight D cell batteries drop onto the ground. “Look, I dumped out the batteries, it can't record”. (lie number four) BigBoy stood there with his arms crossed in front of me, but I could see a small crack in his resolve. So I pulled that thread “Look, I hitchhiked all the way here from Nebraska to see this show, would you hold onto this deck for me? It cost me $600 (which in ’78 was a lot of dough) but if you just hold it for me, and then I will find you after the show. You look like an honest guy.” (fifth lie, this guy didn't look trustworthy). I push the Nak towards him, and this deck is huge and weighs a ton, (a goddamn boat anchor). I really played my trump card here and was trying to hold my ‘gameface’, Suddenly all the heads waiting in line behind (and all my friends) erupt with yells at the BigBoy to 'hurry up' and started chanting “let us in”. BigBoy gives his mullet a shake and then he points into the venue and looks at me and exclaims “Go on, get out of here” and I dive headlong into my first Red Rocks show with a grin a mile wide(high)! Followed by Mary with my mics and my buddies with my fresh batteries (re: lie number four) and my blank tapes. The batteries that I dumped out for BigBoy were already ‘dead’ (pun intended). I again ran into that ‘kind stranger’ (Dr. Bob Wagner, FOB right side)) to plug out of his Sony again. Those two shows were stupefying, and the band obviously enjoyed playing there. Bobby's deer joke, and I remember Phil leading the boys through “Cold Rain & Snow” with his bass punching that tune into a triumphant ‘strut’ that evening.I recall Jerry broke a string during the Scarlet>Fire, which really didn't slow the pace of that perfect evening. On into Dancin' >NFA > Black Peter > Around & Around and then a dual encore of US Blues & Johnny B Goode. The next night was much the same. Each night we would watch the clouds chase each other in the sky as the band serenaded us. Until it became dark and then we looked out ‘over’ the Dead to see the distant lights of Denver sparking in the background. Second night second half, we were treated to a tremendous Estimated > Other One> Eyes of the World > drums> Wharf Rat > Franklin's Tower > Sugar Mag. The crowd was especially raucous as Wharf Rat wound to that tender quiet point and my memory is that Phil leaned in to admonish us with a "shhhhh" to quiet us in preparation for the wonderful 'launching' platform/crescendo prior to "I'll get up and fly away". One of my buddies swears it was Bobby that shushed us, but given the volume of chemicals aboard us that magical evening, I will leave accuracy of the tale to the story teller, yours truly. Those evenings the Dead's aural wonders were matched with the Red Rocks astounding visuals as we were perched in between those massive stony slabs of stone jutting into the sky. And the Dead had an astounding view as well looking back at this dancing wild throng from the stage, with the sky and stone cliffs framing us. As the Dead those two evenings took us all on an astounding journey of Americana, myth, rock and roll, country, space, jam, fable, fun, roller coaster, and turn on a dime delights, it all 'rolled into one'. And then as the Dead finished us all off with “Werewolves of London” we were all crooning back to the dead with our own howl of “Aoooooo”. And Garcia was grinning ear to ear as he bid us all a “good night”. I do agree with the accolades of these shows and the complaints (mainly Bobby subjecting us to his practicing slide guitar interrupting other wise exquisite Garcia led excursions into the stratosphere. But here you have it, those shows from 1978, the Dead at full throttle for your edification. Purchase it Robbz. You can thank me later. Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.