Grateful Dead

boy, does that take me back. I interviewed those guys for BAM in the early '80s.

Nice to meet you!! And your right .... “What a long strange trip it’s been!” Peace,Gigi

Not that we've officially met, but let me just say to all these folks, Dog Beaver is GREAT. And of course bluecoats always did rule. Say hi to Tom Pinatelli, guitarist extraordinaire...

Hello friends! My name is Mick Flaire, and I am a Deadhead. I consider myself as having been a member of the Grateful Dead family since January 14th 1967, the day I stumbled upon them playing at the far end of the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park as a twelve year old attending the Human Be-in. That fateful day changed my life forever! My main connection to the Grateful Dead is that I supervised the BGP overnight security crew (Bluecoats) that guarded the band’s gear onstage as well as the entire venues in between multiple shows for over 12 years, from August 4th, 1979 (Oakland Auditorium), until February 22nd, 1992 (Oakland Coliseum Arena). We also traveled with the band outside of Northern California on many occasions during those years. In 1987 alone, on the heels of the highly successful “In The Dark” album, we went to Irvine Meadows in Irvine, CA (4/17-19), the County Fairgrounds in Ventura, CA (6/12-14), Autzen Stadium in Eugene, OR (7/19), Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, CA (7/26), & the Town Park in Telluride, CO (8/15 & 8/16) for the Harmonic Convergence. The shows that we did locally in ’87 included the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA(1/28-30), the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, CA(3/1-3), the Frost Amphitheater in Stanford, CA(5/2 & 5/3), the Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey, CA (5/9 & 5/10), the Greek Theater in Berkeley CA (6/19-21), the Oakland Coliseum Stadium in Oakland, CA (7/24), the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp, CA (8/22 & 8/23), the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA (10/2-4), the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, CA (11/6-8) and then finally ending the year with 4 shows at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, CA (12/27, 28, 30, 31) to end the year. I’m quite sure many of you attended a lot of those shows, if not all of them, lol. A little over a year later my current band Dog Beaver (www.myspace.com/dogbeaver) was conceived along with my co-founder Kenny Briggs, in the empty Grateful Dead production office at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium on February 5th, 1989 just 8 hours before they were to load in to start their 3 day run to celebrate Chinese New Years. We will be celebrating our 20 year Anniversary together as a band with yet another performance in the Poster Room Lounge at The Fillmore in San Francisco, where we’ve been playing once a month since it re-opened in 1994, giving us the distinction of having played in that building more times than any other artist in the history of that venue! Ironically enough the last time we played in the Poster Room Lounge on October 3rd, the headliner on the main stage of The Fillmore was none other than the Dark Star Orchestra, recreating the Frost Amphitheater show from May 2nd, 1987, a show in which Kenny Briggs and I did the overnight security shift for! Exactly 19 years to the day of that Frost Amphitheater show, on May 2nd 1969 I attended my first Bill Graham produced Grateful Dead show, at the Winterland Arena, with The Jefferson Airplane headlining, and latin percussion great Mongo Santamaria as the opener. That was the beginning of many, many Dead shows that I would attend over the next 26 years. The following year, in 1970 as a 15 year old junior at Balboa High School in San Francisco, I was a founding member of the Grateful Dead-influenced band Beluga Whale. Just days after the band had released "Workingman's Dead", we went back to our bass player Don’s basement on 16th Avenue and Lincoln, and proceeded to learn “Uncle John’s Band” & “Casey Jones”, to go along with “Good Lovin’”, “Turn on Your Lovelight”, “St. Stephen”, “Good Morning Little School Girl”, and “Johnny B. Goode”, which we’d already been playing for a few months. I have loved the Grateful Dead’s music for more than 41 years now, and that line from “Truckin’” couldn’t be truer in my case… “What a long strange trip it’s been!” Some of my most cherished memories are the countless times that I heard my boss & mentor Bill Graham put the band on stage with this time honored introduction… “they’re not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do… would you please welcome, the Grateful Dead!” Cheers! Mick

to all you new folks! Make yourselves at home!

Hello all you fatastic heady folks you! Glad to be here and hope everyone is doing wonderful!!Ocean Seas ALL!!=) =) ;)

Hey. Im Tyson. Never been to a Dead show, considering Im kinda young.Just thought Id say hi so Hi. Bye

I have been lurking around for a little while so I ought to say hello. I am a product of southern Illinois and I work for a large printing company. I make the plates used on the printing presses on the graveyard shift. My home internet sucks(dialup) so I occasionally peek in on the website at work. I have two daughters 16 and 11 and a 1 yr. old son. I do not get out too often to see bands anymore but I still feel like a deadhead. Most people around here do not get it. I forgot how much fun I had until I started reminiscing around the site. The ten or so shows I saw were outstanding moments in my life and I regret that I could not embrace the whole traveling tour thing but my personal life and obligations held me back. Maybe I was too scared to commit to that lifestyle? Anyway the "escape from reality" short trips were some of the best times of my life. If anyone used to run with the UNCLE JOHNS BAND scene in carbondale,IL I was there from 84-90 plus. Good times as well. That was about as close to a dead show as you could get around here unless you went to St. Louis to see JAKE'S LEG. We did have Jake's Leg at a party in Makanda once but the rain cut their set short. If you were there drop me a line. So hello to all and read my submissions at poets corner. If you like them maybe I will have the confidence to post more.

Hello, my name is Chevis and over the summer of 2008 I had the opportunity to work with photographer Peter Simon, brother to Carly Simon. A personal friend of Jerry's, he took some amazing and rare band photos, along with many other great musicians. I was enticed by his work and think that all deadheads looking for great photos should check out his archives at www.petersimon.com . You won't be disappointed! Chevis Young

Zack & Larree ~ Have a real good time & be sure to check out the Vineyard :) PEACE What IS that avatar btw ?