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If the people I know are an accurate sample, it's a pretty common story, how you're at some show and somehow connect in some cosmic fashion with somebody also at the show, often a perfect stranger, and how you've been friends ever since. (Or not, as the case may be.) It's only when you talk to non-Heads that all this doesn't seem perfectly normal.
So I figured folks might have some stories.
ok, here's one of those "cosmic" stories for ya....
I could write an entire novel about this one, but shall attempt to keep it fairly brief.....long story short, this story begins in December 1990....I was in college in Ohio at the time, and some friends of mine and I received a phone call from a bro who had just seen the 12/12/90 show in Denver, who reported with absolute glee that the Boys had just played a kicking snow that included a DARK STAR (as most of you will remember, this was a period of time when it was an especially cool treat to hear a D. Star, since it had just been broken out the previous fall for the first time since, well, that 7/13/84 encore at the Greek technically, but even longer ago than that in terms of regular performances)
Anyhow, after receiving this call, my friend Lara and I concluded that the next two nights in Denver were bound to be great shows, and that if we started driving prettty close to immediately, we could make it to Denver for the 12/14 show. Keep in mind, though, that by this time it was the morning of 12/13/90, we had no tickets for the 12/14 show, and we were in Ohio. Nonetheless, we basically packed some stuff really quickly, said goodbye to some other friends who told us we were totally nuts for actually attempting this (but who also gave us some, shall we say "heavy" goodies to wish us a great "trip"), and we were on our way.
We drove essentially nonstop to Denver, stopping only for gas and food when it was absolutely necessary. Somewhere around Kansas City, I think it was, we decided to consume part of the present that had been given to us. Now, as many of you likely know, mid-Decembers are a time when one of the two most spectacular annual meteor showers occur, and 1990 was an exceptionally spectacular year for these. It was wild, to say the least, watching countless meteors on the horizon in front of us as we drove toward Denver, with the added knowledge of course, that Dark Star had just been played there.
Ok....a fast forward, even though there are all kinds of other subsets to this story.....we arrived at McNichols Arena in Denver literally less than an hour before showtime on 12/14/90.
We had no tickets. After parking, we jumped out of the car as quickly as possible and immediately I started vocalizing the journey we just made, how we simply HAD to get into this show, etc. Within just minutes, before we'd even ventured more than a few yards from the car, a guy came up to us and noticed the sticker from our college (Kenyon College) on the back of the car, "holy cow, I WENT there!!!!" he exclaimed....(for any of you who know Kenyon, he, like us, was a Peep: a co-ed group with a lot of Deadhead members)...we exchanged a few stories about the place and suddenly BAM, he gave us a free ticket for the show.
only now we still needed one more ticket. I immediately told Lara that should we not find another, this one was hers. Remembering, however, that I had some kind we'd been sharing on the road, I decided perhaps it was time to start trading that for a second ticket. Sure enough, only a few minutes later, I actually succeeded in scoring a second ticket!!!! We were both into the show!!! (it should be noted at this point that in 1990 it was not exactly easy to score tix to the show an hour before showtime, let alone two of them - both of which, by the way, we got for less than face-value)
anyhow, the real clincher of this story is what happened out of Space that night....(you see, we'd only heard from our friend that they played "Dark Star" the first night, but what he had not told us is that they only played the first verse, going into Drums)....so, while it was the LAST thing on our minds we ever expected to hear, since we thought at that point that they'd played the whole thing on 12/12, coming out of Space, they played my first Dark Star. and hey, I'll grant that it wasn't one of those unbelievable ones, but it was Dark Star nevertheless, plus, I heard my second To Lay Me Down of that year - amongst my favorites,and a very-rarely played tune at the time.
during the show, I turned around to see a friend of mine I had not seen in a long time sitting a mere couple rows behind us.....the next day, we headed up to Boulder and I randomly ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in quite awhile. We ended up seeing JGB in San Francisco together the next week......again, this story has all kinds of further subsets and tangents I won't go into at this point......suffice it to say that it's one of those many great Grateful Dead memories. What a long strange trip it's been indeed.
peace, everyone.
p.s.
I guess a fitting conclusion to all this is that I didn't end up finishing my college degree until many years later, at another institution (Williams). and yes, one of the many reasons for this was that it was just a lot more interesting at the time to be "on the bus"....I can say for sure that I learned a lot more out of college than I ever did in college!!!!
wow!it still happens!
HippieChuck-i just watched the videos posted on the site...holys@#$% it still gives me goose bumps and stands the hair on the back of my neck up whenever i hear these guys talk!i love you guys,all of you guys the deadheads too.hope to see everyone at the show!all my peace-n-love-hippiechuck
Melody Star Waters
I made a cosmic connection w/a BEAUTIFUL little blonde hippie chick (nick?)named Melody Star Waters in a sleeping bag in the Foxboro Stadium parking lot...does that count? she gave me her number and wrote her name in symbols,something like ♪☆~ ahhh to be young,single and care-free....
No details come to mind
But Wandering Soul from here, and I are both certain that we have met in person at one of the Chicago area shows. We have exchanged photos, and we "recognized" each other. **********************************
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
Sending my love
It was July 2, 1989... before going into the show, my soul mate gave me a small ring sized box to hold. I was told that only if Sugar Magnolia played, would I be able to open it. Well, at the very end of the show, the tunes came together to form the melody of Sugar Magnolia. When the box opened, there was a small ring. The child's kind with a small polished stone and adjustable band. The kind that you can pickup at a tourist trap on the side of the ocean. It was perfect! A simple ring from a simple guy for a simple girl, no strings attached. He was becoming the master of anticipation (in more ways than one). Wherever you are, Caci, I send you my love.
Deja Vu 19 May 1995
I'd had no intention of ever really going to a show other than to hang in the lot and party... I was living in Las Vegas. We'd go and hang for the weekend was about all. I did this in 93 and 94. I had a few friends and associates that were die hard heads and they'd always buy my artwork for shows and fliers and what not. Never considered going... I'd always thought "they'd be around..." Any who... circumstances in my life lead me to receive the phone call from Tage who'd become privy to some inside info on that days show. He'd meet this Haagan Das lady and she needed last minute help on a cart inside the show. My karma must of been good of sorts because it worked and in I go. I made my way to the floor with the help of some warlocks who'd distracted the nice unsuspecting usher to my ice cream abyss... haha. Thanks. So I am just following all these crazy deja vu signs at this point which keep happening to me nonstop like never before. I end up standing alone looking at those amazing tiedied tapestrys they'd had hanging on both sides of the stage when my dreamy miss steps up behind me, only to tap me on the shoulder. "Excuse me she said.... Do you have any carmex by chance?" I'd had my hiking gear on... perhaps I was an easy target.... but for w/e reason as soon as I'd made eye contact.... it was like the world disappeared and all I could remember was this dream I'd had.... the most incredible dream I'd ever had actually. I'd seen this girl in it. Immediately it hits me. I couldn't even talk. I was lit up like the sun..... to be continued.
You want cosmic connection - here it is thru my kids!!!
I saw 90 GD shows before Jerry past - and didnt bother seeing any since. I saw a few RatDog shows, but the light had fizzled out with those last smack Garcia years that really made me upset. Fast forward 14 years - and i purchased the boards on this website and downloaded the shows nightly into my IPhone. In Vegas with my 2 kids and wife on business, concert, and golf with my 14 year old son. We went to bed at 2AM, and i rolled him out of bed to go golfing at a top PGA course. On the hour trip out - i was jamming the NJ show with Branford and my son woke up and said, "Dad, are we gonna go see the Dead?" I replied " do you want to? " and he said "Yes, but me and you only." I said we will see. During a concert that night (The Killers) i asked my 16 year old daughter if she wanted to see The Dead and she replied, "Live? i will see anything live!!". I looked at my wife and said - i guess i am taking the kids to the LA show on mothers-day weekend because she already planned on going back to Chicago where we are selling our houses - so she wouldnt be with us.... Thats were the trouble started.
I told the kids to pack enough for the weekend and lets hit the lot early for their first Shakedown experience. Also, after 90 shows starting in 1987 i never saw a FULL DARK STAR and the kids knew it( i talked about it all night). Here i was 5th row DEAD center for that sick 1st set - just rockin for The Dead standards. HOT! I looked at the kids and said - well are you having fun - and they both had a grin from ear to ear so i tried them on by saying - what if we drove after the show to go to Shoreline tomorrow? They started chatting the band came on and BAM an awesome second set Shakedown, Speedway, Scarlet/Fire, during space I am looking at my kids and Phil in the same view and screaming for DarkStar - they play it my kids give me a big hug and there i was CRYING like a little girl 5th row to my first and only Dark Star! I wasn't even supposed to be at this show let alone 5th row with my children and the ever elusive reward of my first live Dark Star.
TO finish this hilarious COSMIC weekend, i drove all the way to SHoreline after the LA show, took a morning nap and we were off to the show night 2. Pretty fun show - the kids had a blast and the band ended the second set. I laughed and said to my daughter, well honey i guess i wont see a St.Stephen because they wont play that as an encore - but they never played it in my day so who cares? Anyhow - i screamed Stephen when the band came(before they strapped up) out and sure enough I got my wish. To hi-fives all around - a sick eleven, and a Touch to end my reunion tour with the Dead.
Just sweet as could be. My kids understood way more than I did after my first show - seeing a license plate from AZ as we pulled into the Forum with WHARFRAT on it. I told the kids that they haven't played that song yet on this tour - but since they saw the plate - it will come tonight. Another cosmic sensation. The three of us called Wharf Rat - between my flippin Dark Star.
Man Copperhead - that's
Man Copperhead - that's simply fantastic!!! Good for you.
A connection we all have experienced.........
The joy and happiness that overwhelm the mind and body during moments at a show where Jerry is at the helm and captaining a ship through beautiful landscapes of music and song are undescribable and unforgettable to say the least.Time like that,grabbed our minds and forced thousands in search of The"magical"Grateful Dead.A time such as that occured amidst the opening days of the summer of`94 tour.I`d just gotten back from the westcoast,where I`d heard the most elegant "Peggy-O,"I`d ever witnessed in Vegas.This day was the first venue on the eastcoast that summer of`94 at Highgat,VT.The band played the 1st set and half of set 2 through without too many hicc-ups and eventually entered drums and space that led Bobby into"Miracle."Nearing the end of that song,Jerry effortlessly plucked the first few chords of the monumental ballad that filled the heart with His love while portaying the violence and destruction"we"as humans inflict on our Earth,"Standing On The Moon."He took the crowd on the tour through that beautiful landscape of a song with dipictions that matched.At one point during this performance, Jerry declares,"....a lovely view of heaven,"and at that same moment,Jerry lifted His head from the stagefloor,from where He seemed to be in a thinking man`s stance and thinking of each note as it left His guitar and graced our ears,with perfection.He then peered from above His wire-rimmed glasses out into a vast sea of huge, black dialatesd pupils of the eyes that seemmingly stared back in adornment of the masterpeice that was taking place.He grinned a grin that we all recognize as a reaction to the creciendo of sound permeating louder and louder,then with wrinkles dawning the brow of His forehead and a look that looked as if He had lost something close to His heart,He then let it be known to all,"....but I`d rather be with you!"I then noticed that His scan of the crowd had stopped and He was,without a doubt,looking directly at me as He sang those words,"me!,"I thoght.He somehow had the abilty to capture my thoughts and the flood-gates opened and tears filled my eyes.....Now,I know we all have probably experienced similar times,indeed.I encourage you ,to hold them,embrace the moments that bring Jerry into your heart and keep them from ever fading away.That night on that field in Highgate,VT,The shear moment of that one song enduced a feeling in my soul that brought tears of pure,overwhelming love to eyes that had been searching for such a moment and found it!...only in the presence of The Grateful Dead.I oh so very much miss you,Jerry,may your music fill the hearts of troubled souls and forever burn in thse already blessed with your magic!
thought I heard a young man mourn today
Frost 87 first night was one of the strangest expeiences I ever had at a GD show. I kept having this strange out of body experince throughout the show(no I wasn't dosed). The morning dew really hit home that night. I was in the second row in front of Phil and his bass playing was outer worldly(check it out if you can). I felt like I was in contact with a higher power in the universe. The message was clear everything will be ok and you are love. When I got back home to SF after the show I found out my grandfather. the patriarch of our family, had died durring the show. I was the only one in my family not in the hometown area. I gave my tickets away for the next nights show and flew back to Montreal for the funeral. I was back the next week to go to Laguna Seca but thats another story.
Scarf connection
in 1989, had tickets to JGB, with my roommate at the time. Was a great show, and a great night, and at one point this woman standing next to me was twirling her scarf. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but she and I ended up each holding one end of her scarf, and twirl dancing with it together. Few months later we moved in together, and were roommates until I left Chicago for Atlanta. We are still friends to this day! **********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
Once in a while...
I met my solemate and wife...albeit cosmically and unknown to us at the time...at Cornell on 5-08-77...this was my second show (and hers) and I remember...lots of cosmic memories from that show...during They Love Each Other...a girl on someone's shoulder's infront of me...rings on her fingers (not yet!!!) and bells on her shoes...I finally connected with her 31 years later...we connected through our Deadhead roots, albeit on J-date...there were so many times in our lives when we unknowingly crossed paths...but this was the only Dead show were at "together"...I went to lot's of shows in the late70's and early 80's, then I stopped going...She went to Watkin's Glen and Cornell in the 70's then didn't start attending shows again until the late 80's...I won her over by excitedly lending her my copy of the next night 5-09-77 (Buffalo) after our second date...we were married last year...our song: They Love Each Other...I sang the first few lines on Peggy-O (I took poetic license with some words) when I proposed...we went back to Cornell on 2-14-2010...almost 33 years later...to hear Furthur perform the most unbelievable Valentine's Day show...cosmic versions of all our favorite love songs...They Love Each Other, Peggy-O and Looks Like Rain...an electrifying Sugaree...one cosmically dancing student said "I bet you've been here before", we responded yes, and he aptly named us the "Guests Of Honor"...if you haven't heard the Furthur show, you must get a copy...I crossed paths with my solemate on 5-08-77, and finally connected 31 years later...two Deadheads...we love each other!!!
so I just deleted a spam post from this topic
but, what with NYE coming up and all, maybe somebody's got a new story along these lines?
Clearinghouse of Coincidences
It happened so much to me that I came up with a name for it , 'Clearinghouse of Coincidences'. It is ongoin and continuous in nature. If people and things do not fit the GD coincidental non-verbal communication mode, I just don't even bother with it.
One short example that inspired my name for it. Was sitting in the Cap Centre - the people behind us were talking and were obviously from the same town we were. I asked if they were from there. Yes. Well, it turned out that they had a connection to nearly every single person we went to shows with over the years from all over. I figured that another function of the GD was a place where all of the leftover coincidences in the Universe went.
Though I don't think this is as coincidental - at the Nassau Branford show I started talking to a girl in the seat behind me. I asked where she was from and told her I was from DC. She said, "I know I ride the train with you every day."
None of this eve address how you could go to a show with however many thousands of people and ALWAYS meet up with whoever you were meeting before the show. No pre-arranged location required.
that's really true
I can't remember ever being unable to find my peeps at a show, even a thousand miles from home. And you'd always run into someone you knew, however far from home.
I went to an RFK show with…
I went to an RFK show with my brother and had a spare ticket. We sold it to a young couple - they were there with their friends but the girlfriend needed a ticket. Later, my brother & I are sitting there in our seats waiting for the show to start, and we hear a commotion approaching. It was the couple and all their friends. Turns out the one ticket I sold them was the seat that connected my seats to their whole group's seats. Cosmic!!
Re-Connection
As an infant, I lived in the Haight district of with my older brother and my mother. This was during 1966-67. My mom was a full blown anti-war "flower child" and my father was away in Vietnam (go figure). Although I was too young to recall exact events or details of my time there though my mother told me some stories about free concerts in the park and things like that. She decided to move out of that neighborhood after one afternoon, during an anti-war march/protest, her being with her two young children, happened to look upward when she then noticed there were some sort of armed military personnel positioned atop buildings pointing their guns down toward the street where we were. She said something about "Black Panthers" or something IDK. That was enough for her to leave . We were there for a little while though and it's amazing the way memory works. I then spent the rest of my childhood in the South Bay, Cupertino which is not too far from S.F. and it's impossible to live in the bay area and not know who the Grateful Dead . My parents always went to shows and had so many stories and events I remember them talking about like the Altamont ;my mom telling me about a show where they told her "don't drink the (whatever color) punch and her not remembering the color of the punch she did already drink. Another big one was my dad and his friends went to an Allman Bros. concert on New Years Eve, 1973 I think, Jerry was there that night, and my dad acted as a minister onstage and married his friends between sets. Bill Graham announced the wedding over the PA. Anyway, time passed and I went through being a problematic teenager doing all kinds of bad stuff and being rebellious etc. then in my early 20's, I went to my first Dead show as an adult! I finally was home. I never belonged anywhere more than I belonged there and I felt so at ease and I knew and understood all that was going on so naturally and I was so happy. The people, the clothes, THE MUSIC, I understood it all! That was Cal- Expo 1989 I think. Shortly after that I visited Haight Street, went shopping there, and as soon as I was in that neighborhood, I recognized the smell of the trees and everything looked so familiar but I had no words to describe that. I had not fully developed language yet when I lived there as a baby but sensed everything being so familiar, just like at the Dead Show. So thank you Grateful Dead and EVERYONE for being my family and I'm so happy I made it back home and I love you all !
Thank You PT
Yeah I'm learning quite a bit here in my recent quest of getting a closer, deeper insight of the band and all it encapsulates. Surprisingly, I'm learning a great deal about myself in this process and it is making me a better person. It's like, the tragedies in life, which bring great sadness, are really an embellishment love, generosity and sincerity someone shared with us , like the Grateful Dead!