Grateful Dead

Brilliant, never put that 2gether!!! Except its BK isnt it??? "You rule!"

haha got me.

The current Burger King commerical.... don't know how they get away with it....

BJ have it your way....

Yeah, that was my guess as I’ve unfortunately never been to England.
Just thought from all I’ve heard/read that it’s definitely more outwardly reserved there, but of course jumping around like an idiot doesn’t mean yer getting “it” lol In the old days it was definitely more inward. As the crowds grew, that wasn’t necessarily the case. More doesn’t mean better lol.
I guess I mean that as our friends across the pound didn’t get to see as many shows, or travel around with the touring city, (we are everywhere is probably something folks here understand) and deal with redneck ahole cops who wipe their arse with the constitution, or experience days or weeks at a time camping/partying etc, massive Shakedown streets etc, the WHOLE GD experience, experienced from the ground up, versus “going to a concert”, you might not have been able to fully “understand”.
Now I’m not suggesting you HAD to experience all that to understand, just think there’s a socialization that perhaps was different and not as prevalent over there? Just a band/music, and not as much a way of life , and so all the years, milage, adventures, good and bad, perhaps might foster a different kind of knowing?
An Experiential knowledge perhaps, more than just a interested fan, or someone with only unbridled enthusiasm!
Perhaps more like the knowledge obtained from being in a war on the front lines, versus just studying it, or being on the periphery?

I would definitely agree that American audiences are more expressive than British ones, going off those 3 Dead concerts at Wembley in 1990. It was quite surprising to me how vocal many of them were in there appreciation of the music. Nothing wrong with that at all, either - just different.

There are also, of course, exercises in group consciousness that have nothing to do with sport or music. Group meditation sessions can give you a feeling of being at one with the other participants. Whether that is imaginary or not, I couldn't say. One of my friends recently told me he once went on a Buddhist Retreat, in which all the residents were completely silent for the week they spent together. He reckoned that after a few days, he could tell what people were thinking without talking. Again, I don't know how true that was.

Oro - no offence at all in what you say. Always good to chew the fat, as they say.

It depends a lot on the group. Audiences in England are far more reserved than their American counterparts. As a result there is far less of a sense of being part of a group. That doesn't mean that English audiences don't appreciate the music, rather there is less of a vibe from the audience to pick up on.

Little Willy, go home now...

Answer is? Jersey Girl

Yes that’s it. And I didn’t mean to insult you or sound elitist, it’s just your descriptions of your live Dead experiences, compared to as you say other concerts etc, made me think you unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy the full Monty.
Again, no offense but I imagine seeing them under less than ideal circumstances in England, probably was not the same as tripping in the dust with several tens of thousands of dancing freaks all peaking simultaneously with the band and song, at say Hampton, or Philly, oye all that positive energy…
The example that immediately pops into me noggin is the Shakedown from 6/30/85.
I can still see and feel the multiple peaks that rolled through the dust stomping crowd completely being driven by the music. Basically, like 30k people having a simultaneous orgasm!
But you understand the point, and it’s awesome that you get some of that from just the music, but I’m bummed for you that you may not have gotten the full Dead experience.

EDIT: I guess what I’m saying is, take what you felt at those other powerful large group experiences, and multiply it logarithmically….tripping on the floor at a smoking GA Dead show back in the day was like a playoff football stadium all tripping, at tge peak of the game…. times 11! And even Nigel can’t go above 11 ; )

Oro - yes, I think I know what you mean. I have experienced being in large crowds of people at celebratory events, although the 5 Dead shows I saw didn't quite affect me like that. When I was very young, still a child, seeing Manchester United, when George Best and Denis Law were still playing was amazing. I had never been amongst such a large crowd, and had only seen football on a tiny little black and white television-so the colours and sound of the crowd, even before the players came, out was amazing.
In my mid teens, the early rock concerts I saw had an energy about them - again incredible volume, power, songs I liked, and a sense of having found "my people". Of all bands, Black Sabbath were maybe the most like that -a truly joyous occasions. You'd never guess it, just listening to the albums. Seeing The Stones had that vibe for me, too.

It can also go badly wrong, of course, this group mind thing, as I am thinking about it. Gangs of people have committed all sorts of crimes and atrocities that individually they would never have done otherwise.
I also often have a tendency to stand outside things I am a part of - and maybe that happened when I was on my own at the Dead shows. When I wasn't on my own, I was falling out with my girlfriend or some damn thing. I really enjoyed the shows - but the most pleasure I have had listening to the Dead wasn't actually at live shows, but has been at home. Long may it continue !

Ha, I knew Dennis was gonna say that lol
Don’t be messin with D trains musicals ; )

DR: I think it was more about the group consciousness obtained from being with all those like minded people, especially when so many were in a “heightened” state of consciousness, all extremely focused on the same thing, and the emotional influences of the music, and how it was taking place in that particular time and space…
It’s a sociological phenomena that can be experienced in similar ways among any large, like minded crowd.
A football stadium full of rapid fans for instance, though their group consciousness is probably not expanded in the same positive way exactly. From what you’ve described of your limited show experiences I fear you missed some of that? Getting snockered on depressants in the balcony and passing out probably didn’t facilitate this experience, but I’m sure many people go just to listen to music, not experience it on another level.
Like, it doesn’t matter what you ware, just as long as you are there …it’s a about tge overall experience as much as tge music, if that makes sense?
OK, this isn’t coming out right, it’s too early to think this much lol, somebody who “knows”, please help us out here, or DR is gonna take this all wrong and we don’t want that…

How bout,

My baloney has a first name
It’s O S C A R
My baloney has a second name it’s
M E Y E R …
Ha take that PF! ; )