Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
Jack Straw
Peggy-O
El Paso
Sunrise
Deal
Let it Grow
Dancin' in the Streets
Dire Wolf
Estimated Prophet
Eyes of the World
Not Fade Away
Wharf Rat
Around and Around
dead comment
Let it Grow - 10-11-77 - Norman OK
2nd Show
quick thoughts
Second And Final Show Of My Only Tour
The year of 1977 was the year I spent following the sun. Winter-spring in Tucson AZ, spring-summer-fall in Boulder CO, fall-winter in Berkeley CA. Friends of my roommates in Boulder came out to see The Dead in Denver, October 9th. They were from SF, had gone up to Seattle for the start of the tour, then back to Portland, two more shows, and then out to Denver. They talked me into going with them in their VW bus to Norman OK for this show. I'd heard about people doing this, though I hadn't considered doing it myself. But I'm glad I went. It was a great time.
We got to the venue early, in the afternoon. We had no tickets, but my friends said not to worry, we'd have a miracle. There wasn't much security in those days, and none we could see, We just walked right into the place and started walking around the hallways. Somehow we found ourselves at the Green Room, where the band was having lunch. We stood in the doorway, looking in, not sure what to do. Jerry came along with a plateful of food and came right up to us, stuck his face in our faces, as if to say, "Yeah, whaddayou want?" We just said "Hi" or something similarly brilliant. He walked on, we walked on.
I don't remember how we got into the show, whether we just stayed in the venue and hung around or went out and found miracles. But we got to see the whole show, which I've since heard is considered one of the great ones. They started with a standard opening at the time - "Help on the Way" - "Slipknot" - "Franklin's Tower." Then they did something a bit odd, I thought: "Jack Straw" - "Pretty Peggy-O" - "El Paso," which made me remark that they were doing their cowboy songs, maybe because they were in Oklahoma. That may have been just coincidence, though it seemed kind of funny to me, and still does. They got more into their usual vibe, and in the second set did a fine version of "Eyes Of The World," one of my very favorite songs, so this all was fine with me.
For reasons I don't recall, my new friends decided they'd had enough of the tour. It was a bit less than 400 miles to the next show in Texas, and we'd come 700 miles from Boulder. Maybe it's because they'd seen eight shows, and were ready to call it, maybe they had obligations back home. That was all right; I was pretty satisfied. I hadn't been following them too closely in the 1970s, though I'd seen them a few times starting in the 60s (including at Montreal Expo 8/6/67 with Jefferson Airplane, my second rock concert and a whole other story) and early 70s. It had been a few years since I'd gone to a show, and now I'd been to two shows in three days. I was glad they decided this way, and I got to go back to my then-home in Boulder. But actually, I ended up going to San Francisco with them, as it had gotten too cold to continue busking at the Pearl Street Mall. I ended up in Berkeley and went to one more show that year: New Year's Eve at Winterland. But that, too, is a whole other story.
The year of 1977 was the year I spent following the sun. Winter-spring in Tucson AZ, spring-summer-fall in Boulder CO, fall-winter in Berkeley CA. Friends of my roommates in Boulder came out to see The Dead in Denver, October 9th. They were from SF, had gone up to Seattle for the start of the tour, then back to Portland, two more shows, and then out to Denver. They talked me into going with them in their VW bus to Norman OK for this show. I'd heard about people doing this, though I hadn't considered doing it myself. But I'm glad I went. It was a great time.
We got to the venue early, in the afternoon. We had no tickets, but my friends said not to worry, we'd have a miracle. There wasn't much security in those days, and none we could see, We just walked right into the place and started walking around the hallways. Somehow we found ourselves at the Green Room, where the band was having lunch. We stood in the doorway, looking in, not sure what to do. Jerry came along with a plateful of food and came right up to us, stuck his face in our faces, as if to say, "Yeah, whaddayou want?" We just said "Hi" or something similarly brilliant. He walked on, we walked on.
I don't remember how we got into the show, whether we just stayed in the venue and hung around or went out and found miracles. But we got to see the whole show, which I've since heard is considered one of the great ones. They started with a standard opening at the time - "Help on the Way" - "Slipknot" - "Franklin's Tower." Then they did something a bit odd, I thought: "Jack Straw" - "Pretty Peggy-O" - "El Paso," which made me remark that they were doing their cowboy songs, maybe because they were in Oklahoma. That may have been just coincidence, though it seemed kind of funny to me, and still does. They got more into their usual vibe, and in the second set did a fine version of "Eyes Of The World," one of my very favorite songs, so this all was fine with me.
For reasons I don't recall, my new friends decided they'd had enough of the tour. It was a bit less than 400 miles to the next show in Texas, and we'd come 700 miles from Boulder. Maybe it's because they'd seen eight shows, and were ready to call it, maybe they had obligations back home. That was all right; I was pretty satisfied. I hadn't been following them too closely in the 1970s, though I'd seen them a few times starting in the 60s (including at Montreal Expo 8/6/67 with Jefferson Airplane, my second rock concert and a whole other story) and early 70s. It had been a few years since I'd gone to a show, and now I'd been to two shows in three days. I was glad they decided this way, and I got to go back to my then-home in Boulder. But actually, I ended up going to San Francisco with them, as it had gotten too cold to continue busking at the Pearl Street Mall. I ended up in Berkeley and went to one more show that year: New Year's Eve at Winterland. But that, too, is a whole other story.