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    marye
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    So twice in the last week I've gotten into conversations with folks who were pretty intense Deadheads back in the day, and their general drift was look, the band no longer exists, they haven't played for 12 years. It is so Over. Get on with your life. Which, of course, is a perfectly reasonable point of view. And yet, here we are. And "we" includes people who never saw the band in the first place but definitely consider themselves on the bus now. So what's up with this? Why are we here? Discuss...

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  • gratefaldean
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    Gonzo
    I dropped out of the scene in the late '80s because there was so much other stuff that I was into, and the Dead started seeming irrelevant to me. Jerry's death kind of jolted me back to reality in a way, and by the time the first Other Ones tour came around in '98 I was ready to climb back onto the bus -- it was actually a lot more complicated situation than that, things happening in my life that I won't get into here, so it wasn't exactly like the light switch just turned back on...but it was something like that. There still IS so much other stuff that I'm into (which is one reason why I delight in posting non-Dead tidbits on the "Listening to Now" thread), and it's hard to tell how much being back has to do with aging and boomer nostalgia, and how much is just reinvigorated love of the music of my younger days--with the associated feeling that I'm playing catch-up on something I regret having missed and can never truly recapture. At this point, I don't care why, I'm just back enjoying the ride. It could all end tomorrow, but I hope that it doesn't. So I know where you are coming from, I think. But hang in, it's a plus-plus experience having you around these parts.
  • ripple70
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    Iits not over till we say
    It aint over for me till i pop my cloggs jerrys death hit me hard but he left us with so much music there must be nearly 3000 shows in the archives some grate some not so.I got on the bus about 30 years ago via deadset and when jerry hits that solo in candyman etc my insides still explode and a big smile appears on my face.Ok further, the music is not the same no where near but the bus is still running please dont get off!!!!!!!!!!! GIMME A LITTLE LIGHT.
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    I find myself wondering the same thing...
    ...after posting on this site for 2+ years. The Grateful Dead have indeed gone away but there is ever so much music and fun and news and whatever else is going on -- like 9k kazoo players at a Giants game, Furthur in the Park and Rhythm Devils on tour with Keller. I mean, there is A LOT to keep up with. That is not even mentioning keeping up with Rhino farts on the Kalahari, making sure you order in time to get your bonus disc. Having said that, I do wonder sometimes if I'm too much involved in a scene that went way sideways in about 1993 and ended, tragically, in 1995. I always feel it is better to look forward than backward but I do enjoy reliving really fun times in the past. In some ways hanging around this site is like looking into an old photo album. It is also fascinating to catch up with old tour buddies and see where they are at now and make some new friends when you can. So that is what it's all about for me. Still, I'm wondering how much longer I can hang on as a regular. Definitely feel my days are numbered here as there are so many new people and places to be discovered.
  • hypodoche
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    living in the past
    Look to 1965-66 for the real center of gravity that keeps tugging at us 40 years later.Legal, high quality LSD hit the streets of Palo Alto and surrounding CA in quantities that are unimaginable by today's standards. What happened? People put down their weapons, looked into each other's eyes, picked up instruments and paint and fabric and clay and said "No!," to the politicians, armies, and "straight society." Jerry was among those who took it upon themselves to preach this new gospel, and rode that wave of love until his death. It helped that he was an unbelievable musician, but the music, the band, the tours and parking lots were about more than that. That stuff was just the means by which we could still reach out and touch that magical time, break off a piece and infuse ourselves with it. I often temporarily forget that message, in this age of manipulation and exploitation, but it always returns, and no matter where life takes me, no matter what happens, I always find that sly grin, those happy memories, and a magical inner life untouched by profit, war, hatred, neglect, disease, and poverty. For anyone who can turn their back on that, I feel for you and hope you get there one day. There's more than enough room for all of us. ______________________________________________________________ I think I'll go up on a mountain, I'll fling myself off into space I'm not doing it because I'm desperate, I'm just trying to save some space...
  • da roach
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    AAAHHHHHH............
    It's better to have loved and lost-------than never to have loved at all!
  • jdwilgus
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    My wife is not on the bus with me, never was/never will be
    What I get from her is: "why do you have so many copies of the same music....it all sounds the same!". What she doesn't understand is that so many of the live recordings I have from them, (some are boots; some are ligit.), are from shows that I actually attended. I have told her many times that they never did the same song exactly the same, so each song/jam is unique within themselves. There is nothing as boring as seeing a band who performs E-X-A-C-T-L-Y the same upon each performance. The Grateful Dead have been on a wonderful trip for several decades, when they perform for us, they invite us on for the ride. It's beautiful, they're beautiful. Always were & always will be.
  • DeadReckoning
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    Life after Dead?
    Of course!.......is the simple answer. Life is a continuum, always evolving, ever changing....all things are connected (wise man once said). Grateful Dead have been entwined in my life as far back as I can remember (thanks to the influence of some older brothers). The bus kept coming by until I got on. By then Pigpen & Keith were gone. Never got to as many shows as I wanted to but grateful for the ones I did. Have been to some Furthur shows, Other Ones, Ratdog, and most recently The Dead in Chicago. Not a day goes by I don't miss the space Jerry & the Dead created for us to frolic in and the wondrous discoveries of youth made there. I'm older now but the learning and changing never stops. My point being..... There is no going back. Life moves ever onward (until it doesn't). The Dead with Jerry was a very special moment in time that can't be duplicated. All we really have is this moment in the here & now. So.....we make the most of this here & now. This (older) Head has been pleasantly surprised at times by moments of magic at post-Jerry shows and by other bands in other places. Is it the same as when Jerry was around? Of course not. No more than yesterday can be the same as today. We all have the capacity to create magic. See the beauty that surrounds us. ~Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right. (good words to live by) "When in doubt, open up and give your love" ~Spanish Bert Thanks Peace
  • jeffr-DoseMePlease
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    Jacie's comments
    Your words hit home to me like few others have. The Music-All Through Tunes. Unfortunately I only caught one show this last summer, I still have the heart to do full or partial tours but I realize how much I've aged since '95. The scene of people has changed, I don't see as many folks from the '60's or '70's. I sorta still feel young but if I let my hair and beard grow the greys sprout all over. The young ones eye me suspiciously now and I don't care to freak any out but,what can you do. One thing that appears nicer now is the apparent lack/lower numbers of jonny law as compared to the last few years with Jerry. Also, return to smaller venues that hadn't been played since the '80's. Boys please play together again--soon. Thanks, jeffr
  • Jacie
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    A place for being free
    When I hear the boys play I am transported back to a time when I first felt free. A time when I became me. I wasn't my mothers daughter or my mans girl. I was me. When I'm felling lost, when I'm feeling blue, I can find a tune or two that will help me regain my footing and help me pull myself up out of that place. Today I found Lost Sailor and just closed my eyes and traveled back. I can go back and think about what is really important in my life. What do I really want? All through tunes. This summer I went to Albany, I went to Buffalo and I tried to relive the trip (travel) but it isn't the same, it's new. I'm only as good as I am today. I'll never be what I was yesterday. If I can enjoy today, I can enjoy tomorrow even more. Peace & Love
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    GD lives forever !
    Went away 14 years ,and suddenly I find out deadheads are all still kicking, dancing, going places;and ever had a few jokers up their pranksters sleeves ,playing new games to keep in touch together via computers ! So, these people are definitly awake and alive As for Grateful Dead music the sounds are cruising live in the winds of Times/Spaces and who knows,some entities ,immortels,aliens,might groove hearing such sounds why not,indeed !!!
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So twice in the last week I've gotten into conversations with folks who were pretty intense Deadheads back in the day, and their general drift was look, the band no longer exists, they haven't played for 12 years. It is so Over. Get on with your life. Which, of course, is a perfectly reasonable point of view. And yet, here we are. And "we" includes people who never saw the band in the first place but definitely consider themselves on the bus now. So what's up with this? Why are we here? Discuss...
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There's lots of good music out there these days, but the GD have a special place in my heart and soul. Great music is timeless, and the GD never sound dated or musically naive. Yes, the band as we knew it is no more, but Miles Davis and Hendrix are also "no more". So should I throw out all my Miles Davis and Hendrix recordings?Whenever I listen to an especially good, spiritually deep GD concert with the boys running on all cylinders, I say to myself, "This is what great music-making is all about". "Communication" is the word that comes to mind. This is a band that never seems to say, "listen to how cool we are", or "listen to how well we play our instruments", or "gee, our lyrics are so poetic and hip, aren't they?" The brilliance of the GD is never forced, and as they draw the listener in, the band and the audience become one, and you gradually enter another world, another time. But this is the opposite of escapism, at least for me personally, for the music speaks to me of the joys and wonders of life. Listening to different versions of the same music over and over again may seem odd to those who haven't been touched by the GD. I'm reminded of an Picasso anecdote. Some writer visited Picasso in his studio, where the artist was painting a picture of a wine bottle. Some weeks later the same writer returned to visit Picasso again, only to discover that he was working on what turned out to be another in a series of paintings of the exact same bottle. The writer asked, "doesn't it get boring to paint the same bottle over and over again? Picasso replied: "when I wake in the morning, I'm a new man, and it's a new bottle of wine".
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Does that person really mean that? what no Mozart? Beatles? Hemingway. I look at as I have something new to discover and I can still see and enjoy great new music too. Life is to precious to put any limits on ones enjoyment and learning nd the road goes on forever.... BobbaLee
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THEY ALREADY GOT ON WITH THERE LIFES THEY FORGOT WHAT WE WERE ALL HERE FOR, NOW THE TORCH HAS BEEN HANNDED DOWN , I DID MY TIME ON THE FRONT LINES,NOW THE NEW KIDZ CAN DO THERES, BUT ILL BE ON THE BUS FOREVER, JUST NOW ILL BE TOWARDS THE BACK OF THE BUS, KEEP IT GOING ALL-------KEEP IT GOING-------JINGLE - FEW GOOD MEN MC - NEW YORK
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Hey now! "They" say all good things must come to an end. This is true in a sense. "They" also say that the good things in life never seem to last as long as the bad. That seemed to be true--until we hippies evolved. The Grateful Dead per- se has been history for a while now, but that doesn't mean "it" is over. I think the most fantastic thing about deadheads is our ability to adapt and thrive in tumultous times. Some of us are, of course, better at this than others. It's a good thing we consider ourselves brothers and sisters--a family-- and families keep each other afloat. We give each other a shoulder to cry on and a silly face to laugh at. We can call it over and call it quits or keep on truckin to the next family reunion! What are you gonna do?
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are history.i listen to them every day from day till dawn and i might not be the only one as i see that we are exchanging our views on GD-Net.well,jerrys gone..but please understand that even if he would be alive his age would be 67years today.and maybe he would have better things to do than touring all year around america,so every newcomer could see him alive.sorry,man but jerry died of exhaustion from the responsability that was on hi shoulders,but he left a gigantic music legacy that most of us wont have the lifetime to hear it.History..i am right now watching a french documntary about people in the 3rd world working for dimes and risking their lives..you know how this docu. is titeled "Workingmans death",well seems all pretty actual to me!!peace anyway to all historians!!!!!!:-)(-:

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That's where mainly I spend my time... Make good money/five dollars a day... Made any more I might move away... Lotta poor man got the Cumberland Blues.... He can't win for losin'... Lotta poor man got to walk the line.... Just to pay his union dues
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chanting "know our love won't fade away" for 30 + minutes while the band took a break and then came on stage and joined in over a couple of hundred shows actually made my love not fade away, for the band or the other thousands of brothers and sisters that stood next to me doing the same thing. The ride is over but I can still remember the song. Now my 20 something kids are going to Mule and the dog etc....and I get to put out my love that way. I did get on with it and I miss it every day. After hundreds of show starting at the Willy Nelson picnic in '78 to Alpine in '95 from coast to coast I had a blast, kinda took it for granted at times, especially in hind site. Since '96 I've been a member of a local stage hand union and have the chance to be at hundreds of shows a year, Crazy, I spent my young adulthood trying to get back stage and now that the band is gone I spend my life back there.
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So much older then, parents, grand parents, etc. Some with reel-to-reel tapes, old cassettes that barely play and still others with the uncanny ability to remember each and every moment of this long, strange journey we all so lovingly recall. Is it the first few notes of Ripple that brings a smile to our face no matter where we are? We are certainly keepers of the torch, the Lovelight, waiting on Terrapin with love that will never fade away. We wear tie-dye not because its "be kind to old hippies day". We take pride in knowing we will never get off the bus. We are still along for the ride. I've been asked too many times are you still a "Deadhead"? to which I proudly reply yes. There was, is and always will be incredible energy in the legacy that Jerry, Bob, Phil, Pigpen, Mickey and Billy originally created and every one who ever played with them on stage. The incarnations of the band that have followed have carried on that magic and inspired musicians, artists and poets in every direction. We are, and we always will be. One. A family, connected.
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After reading your words tomsull27, thanks bro. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake
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I've lived in the SF Bay area since Sept. 89, a month before the Loma Prieta quake. My ex-wife and son lived in San Rafael and he's a graduate of Tam HS. Used to walk to school past the Dead office and remembers as a kid when the Dead filmed one of their videos outside of New George's. Marin remains one of my favorite neighborhoods. The Dead remain one of my favorite garage bands of all time. Local guys who formed a special brotherhood with one another and invited us along for the ride.
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you said it all and there's nothing left to do but smile smile smile:-)(-:
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See knew it; I knew that we would agree at some point. Lets put our politics aside and talk some good old grateful dead! Cheers Frankly. The Grateful Dead were and still are a very powerful force and have opened my doors of my perception. Opened doors to the world of music, travel, arts, etc. Today, the music of the Grateful Dead is what i relate to the most. Hell, the lyrics of the GD always reflected my own little world and experiences and continue to do so. I remember the first time i really went on tour and then conquered all my fears of travel and having no money etc etc. Getting out of so many jams!!!! Creativity can get you by and bring you too many places. That creativity can come in any form. How many times have you had a conversation with someone (non-head of any sort) and they say, wow how do you do it or aren’t you scared? I still hear this today, for example if i am going to some country, and if someone says, how do you do it etc etc. I usually think to myself, well how many times have i found my self spun to stars and getting myself out of a jam before or after a show etc. Getting lost in New Orleans (oops did i take the dreadful wrong turn trying to find the French Q again!) what canal is that way?, or getting of an exit too soon going to Soldiers, wow have some good stories there. Hotel management skills!!! Paying off the security with AK47 and bringing the N20 tank up the back stairs! Traveling from Sea to shining Sea!! Wearing as suit is not a bad thing as you can never truly judge a book by its cover. Don’t forget about Jerry Ties!!!! The Grateful Dead, the school of life.
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Man did it. I also remember pulling over for gas a couple of exists on I-80 before Chicago. We pulled up in my "Toyota" van and 4 of us jump out and then about 5 zombies came to us begging for money. I then noticed the thick ass bullet proof glass on the window of the gas station and then also noticed that we were the only white people around (car were bouncing the whole gig) (also we were in the HOOD) and then noticed a large women coming towards us. She was filling up her car with her boy friend in the next stall. The first this she said was, "you don’t want to be around here," and then she looked at us all carefully (2 guys 2 girls all with dreads and patchwork pants) and then she moved into the front seat and grabbed a GD boot and then she said, "I know this shit!" "This is the Grateful mother fucking dead!" She said "i used to live in SF and you bitches are cool." Then with a roar she chased all the zombies who were begging us for money. (You know when you are in the shit when you are begging broke ass hippies on the road for money). And then she took our money and paid the little Indian guy behind the thick glass and then gave us back our change and said get the fuck out of here and nice talking which yawl." Story after story i tell ya.
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would beg for money from "broke ass hippies"..beside that i never considered myself a "Hippie" around my place there where only Freaks:-)(-:
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Dude, loosen up. I handed you an olive branch and now you want to pick apart my words. Anyway i am in a good mood so i will let is slide.
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Thanks the back, Ya, am talking about cracked out zombies drooling, the whole nine yards man. I remember they did not even ask for anything they just moaned and gowned. Chicago has some!@#$ areas. I had another experience after a show at the Rosemont. Again, i was in the trees and walked a while and found myself hanging under a bridge warming myself over a burning barrel of fire with some really pissed drunk street guys. I had a few brews with them and never spoke a complete or an intelligible word.. Just made farm animal noises and laughed with them. This is what a puddle will do to you sometime and they were game. Wow just talking about this has my hairs standing on edge. Ok next topic please.
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thaks for the back
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16 years 3 months
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not sure if the moderators will object but I'm trying to do my part to spread the word...please take 30 seconds to declare your support by signing this petition to raise the dead... http://www.petitionthedead.com/
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17 years 5 months
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enough already. It is a fine idea, but not in every darn topic. Thank you.
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16 years 6 months
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Just wondering if anyone has some good ol' advice for a young Dead lover. I am the young age of nineteen and I love the Dead as much as the next Dead Head. But I just can't help but be real bummed that I missed it all. I was just six years old when Jerry died and still not old enough to see The Dead play. My parents were never Dead Heads. I feel like I missed out on the best part of history itself. . I constantly watch live concert movies and ache to my bones wishing that I was there in that wonderful moment instead of alive and well in an age of what I feel is over consumerism. When I listen to the Dead my every cell jumps up and down screaming to be there front and center. On top of it all I get a lot of grief from older Dead Heads that were there for the real deal. They complain that the young Dead lovers are fake and just listen to the Dead for some sort of image. I know I'll never know what it's like to go on tour. I know I'll never hear Jerry singing in real time. But I can't help it that I missed out. That doesn't mean I don't love them just the same! I could care less what the image puts out, I just want to melt into the music and let it vibrate every inch of my body until I nothing but love pours from the deepest depths of my soul. Anyway, I just get so down sometimes because I'll never be there. Any advice? Oh and yes, I have made my efforts to see Bobby, Phil, and Mickey when I can. And yes I love them just the same. But alone, or even together on occasion, they aren't the Grateful Dead of 1967. >Sunshine<
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Sunshine: You seem like you're unnecessarily bummed. Yeah, it was a great time, but there's so much more still. I saw gobs of Dead shows. I'm not saying that to rub it in - but rather to let you know that there is life before and after the boys. Do I miss it? You bet. But what you feel now is the same thing we all feel now. We all long to be in the same time and space as Jerry, especially 13 years later. But until I invent that time machine, I'm still alive. Get out and see some bluegrass. Go see some Jazz. Find an outlet that connects. Start playing music. If there are 2 things that I feel the band taught me, it was (1) live in the here and now, and (2) be part of a community. Now go out there and maximize your potential. Man. To be 19 again! Life is just beginning. Something new is waiting to be born. Get out the pans don't just stand there dreamin. And nail a retread to your feet and pray for better weather!
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I’m 21 and I got into the dead when I was about 15. Through most of my high school life I dreamed of how it must have felt it live during that amazing period of American history. But as I grew up I found more and more different kinds of music that I loved. One day I maybe listening to a dead show, the next day I’ll put on Slayer or Nirvana. I know that a huge leap, but this made me realize something. It would be amazing to live during the 60’s and 70’s, but, think of all the different forms of music we have now. The choice’s we have are nothing like back then. Music has changed so much since that time and we have all that to experience too. The best part for me is that you can listen to a band from the 80’s or 90’s or even now and see how other bands have influenced them. I will always have that dream of experiencing the whole seen the Dead were in (and created), but I will always feel that I have a piece of it in my heart
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"Long distance runner, what you standin there for? Get up, get out, get out of the door Your playin cold music on the barroom floor Drowned in your laughter and dead to the core. Theres a dragon with matches thats loose on the town Takes a whole pail of water just to cool him down".............life is too short to be bummed out-you have your whole future ahead of you & plenty of music to listen to.............xoxo Gypsy Cowgirl
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ps-"now go out & make it a great day" quote from local news guy.....xoxo... Gypsy Cowgirl
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I think the Dead will always be in me. I'll keep listening and living that way...I'll keep wearing my jeans and tie dyed tees. LOL. And I think there's alot of people out there like me. I was fortunate to be around in the late 60s and 70s but not fortunate enough to ever catch them live. I wish to this day that could have happened...but, as long as their music lives so shall we...Dead style.
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Your cup is half full not half empty if you look at it right. Wow, you get to see Phil, Mickey and Bobby, where I live you have to travel 6 hrs. plus to see a show if you can get tickets, so see you are actually very lucky at this time and place right now. Baba Ram Dass said Be Here Now and you can be here now with more great sounds of recorded Dead than were ever around in the day. Official releases, archives, vines, it is mindblowing and the quality is so high. And there are so many good jam bands out there now, carrying on the spirit of improvisation. I wish I could have seen John Coltrane but at least I can feel his spirit and you can feel Jerry's magical sound inside of you and that is what it is about for me. peace . . If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake
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I've been hearing "It's so over, move on" while I've continued to go on many long strange trips within the ecstasy cloud which envelopes this scene. There is so much joy and happiness happening every day around here I just cannot stay away. The first time I was told it's all over was by someone who quit seeing the Dead "when they started playing indoors" meaning somewhere other than the Panhandle. I guess it is over for him. OK, one scene may go away, the vibe is still around. Personally, I really miss the Avalon. I also enjoyed myself several NYEs at the Oakland Coliseum. Find joy in what is available. All life springs from death. It is up to those who choose to thrive to find the new life and nurture it. You can be someplace else later Be here now
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Dear Jerry: You wrote my life and you still make it better! 52 and so much more to do but nothing like chillin with the dead. And some of the warmest folks and life long friends shared that time and still, this music, up to this minute. I remember in 72 when I first started listening, then attending the shows, there were "OL timers" who thought the DEAD had peaked and we were punks. They were no more right then I would be if I told the younger heads 'ah they weren't shit post 88, what do you know" when the truth is they touched us all at different times and continue to do so to this day. It was a ticket to a gathering and it was great! Life goes on but the music plays on. PEACE
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It is NOT life after the Dead it is a way of life the way we live our life and our beliefs, the people that are our freinds, We did all of this before we lost Jerry with our beliefs and everthing, so we just keep going with what we love. It's like a medical student that goes on to a long career of medicne and healing they have devoted their life to it and they love it and eat and breath that everday. Yeah, yeah one is a paid "career" how about other stuff people devote their life to like religion, model trains,dolls,politcs,airplanes... the list is endless with "hobbies that have turned into a life long WAY OF LIFE.
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16 years 2 months
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I'm a Deadhead from back in the day as they say.I'v been around and done it all but now I'm back on this site. What more can I say?
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17 years 5 months
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welcome and make yourself at home!
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yeah, for me it was 100% about listening to Jerry hash out, carve out,be the vehicle for such the right sounding melody, (i call it the uber-melody, the melody that rises above all the other melodies to stand like a king of melodies) that you could never think of a better melodious path through whatever musical passage he was in, that the rest of the band were always just those other guys up on stage. But in the intervening 13 or so, I have come to appreciate each for the role thay play in this ongoing experiment in light and sound. Having Jerry around was like living during the time of Liszt, or Mozart, and getting to hear them jam on the piano. I hear those cats could jam. And I think more about how mozart could really rip it up on the ivories, more than whatever written down thing he left behind for us to play over and over again. So, there's few people who really know their way around a melody, and who will dig so deep into it as ol' jg. and no-body no-body has ever raised up the hair on the back of my neck, like ol jer could do. But this Grateful Dead thing is more than the sum of its parts, and we all have a role to play. mine was audience member, and i wouldn't have traded it for anything. And these "other guys on stage" they have carried on, shouldering the responsibilty of the legacy, but also the present. Totally the right guys for the job, and I only hope that seeing through the lense of time will dissolve any barriers to future great together-music-making! schubert andy
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very nicely put, free idea! we are all the sum of the parts, spokes to the wheel and the wheel keeps turning.... hows the ride : )
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16 years 7 months
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how great we have our own website and (sirius) radio channel after all these years. i'm glad i chose to be part of something built to last. the music still brings me joy and is a fountain of youth. may you stay "forever young".
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17 years 4 months
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You should check out the wonderful 3-D simulated shrine to Everything Dead in Second Life (secondlife.com) There is a sim called Darkstar, a loving tribute to the Grateful Dead that features an amphitheater complete with the "wall of sound", a parking lot with Further style buses, surrounding the Mars Hotel. There is also the beautiful Terrapin Station dancehall, modeled after the building from the Terrapin Station Limited Edition release. The island streams GDRadio 24/7 except during events such as special archival streams and live streaming performances by many of the musically talented residents. It is the most loving tribute to the legacy of the Grateful Dead I have ever seen. With Darkstar Deadheads have an opportunity to spend time in a virtual 3-D universe where the tour never ends and the lot never closes, where there is always another show, another drum circle, where the music TRULY never stops. Ever!
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17 years 5 months
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Went to an annual gathering of some friends, which in this particular occasion happened to be at the house of some folks I didn't know way the hell up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. And let me just say, should you be visiting unfamiliar locales in the Santa Cruz Mountains, do not place your trust in Google Maps or GPS. But I digress. As it happens, part of the trip involved taking BART to Fremont, so I just had time to copy two of the newly-arrived Egypt discs to the iPod and race out the door. The music is, as reported elsewhere, awesome, and for a while there baking in the sun at the Fremont BART station, if I closed my eyes I was kinda sorta there in spirit... The next part of the trip, however, involved a long trip through windy mountain roads in my pal's convertible (yeah, poor me), so with a rare burst of foresight I had grabbed a baseball cap on the way out the door. The one with a big stealie, as it happens. So we finally get to the party after the aforementioned GPS debacle, and it's all so nice we forget all about the trauma. For several hours this woman and I are giving each other funny looks, and we finally realize we were part of the same extended group at many, many shows. Hey, last time we met, Jerry was alive and her hair was purple. So we had a fine old time, in the course of which one of my pals wanted to know how we knew each other. "I slept in her van," says I. This startled my pal a good deal, and he said, "I'm sure there's a story there." Whereupon my long-lost pal and I turned to him with one voice and said, "Dead shows." You mean it's not NORMAL to sleep in other people's vans? Oops. Not that I've done it lately, mind you. But, STILL. So anyway, after many pleasantries the festivities break up and eventually I'm headed back home on BART with Disc 2 on the earbuds. And since I'm bundled up for the drive in the convertible, I am now in full-blown scruffy bag lady mode in a ratty denim jacket and fat paisley scarf and the stealie hat I'm too lazy to take off because I'd just have to carry it and don't want to lose it. Peoplewatching is excellent, especially the young thing in the hot pink minidress who thinks she's really something and manages to flirt with every young guy in the car before her station comes up. Also these two young twentysomething dudes with really nice and obviously hardworking bikes, one of whom is wearing a t-shirt for a band that I fail to decipher over the entire trip. As it turns out, we get out at the same station, me with Egypt still blaring in my ears, and t-shirt dude looks at me and says, "Awesome hat." So I laughed and said thanks, and they waved me with great ceremony down the escalator ahead of them. Which leads me to the larger question: we used to wear our Dead stuff in public all the time. Why don't we now? We need the secret handshake now more than ever!
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i have a few glaringly obvious dead tatoos and stealie pins on whatever hat i'm wearing i wear the tie-dyes that still fit (few, mind you) but keep the ones with dates for special occasions.....like that particular date for instance. long hair, beard and sunglasses so the only people who tend to approach me are "in the know" nudge nudge wink wink
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16 years 1 month
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I consider myself, and the rest of my age group that were just starting to catch on during the "In The Dark" age, to be the last possible wave of the old school. I also admit the possibility that I have not yet totally graduated from "Snot Nose" yet. But what I do know, is that the moment I had an awareness of "on tour", I immediately was. I didn't know shit about the world, or where my place was in it. But I did know, that I didn't know...and therefore, didn't consider myself qualified to decide how the entire rest of my life was going to go. It didn't take long for me to realize this to be true for all of us, even if, to varying degrees. Through (a lot of times no conscious effort on our parts) we were the type of people, that in daily life situations, would stand out among the masses, usually even if we were actively trying to blend. Anyway, (to keep from writing a novel here) I, like so many others, found more feelings and experiences of being at home, and among family at the shows, than when home with our blood familes. Grateful Dead became an entire lifestyle for me, and going home for a visit was more of a "special" or "rare" occasion. Therfore, on Aug. 9 1995 (my 20th birthday), when I got a call from a friend saying "Happy Birthday buddy, oh,by the way, Jerry's dead.", as our road crew was sitting around making plans for Fall Tour...I felt like I had just been notified that I was locked out of my house forever, my family was scattered all over the nation, and we would never be together again. This is, of course, not 100% true. And when it comes up, I will always maintain that '99 Further Fest was the last Grateful Dead Tour that I did. Two other points are of noted significance to me: First, that before we lost JerBear... we, the heads, were starting to undergo a proportionately unjustifiable amount of suffering as a result of these events, who's very purpose was to spread joy. Secondly, no matter how many of us were present, and which collection of performers were rockin' us however hard...The stadium/arena environment was a NECESSARY ingredient in my eyes. Holding it dear, but not sadistic enough to continue trying to replace it, DeceivedOne
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17 years 2 months
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HEY NOW-my son & grandson are coming over for Halloween. I'm breaking out the old tye-dye, just for fun-the one with Mr. Natural on it- 1) it'll crack my son up & 2) my grandson won't know what hit him. He needs an education outside of the "norm".....will be playing Pigpen for him @ home, trick or treat- I will pick them up @ the airport with the "Lone Rangerette" outfit, pink 38 pistol, holster & all (no bullets, don't worry) Mask included. THEN I'll break out my old GD stealie sweatshirt-hasn't been worn in awhile.....YEH-let's get back to the basics & wear the stuff!!! why not???? Maybe I'll wear the GD/Obama hat also.......your story was so cute! xoxoxo Gypsy Cowgirlps-my mom, now 92 has her GD keychain on her keys........
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15 years 10 months
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"The Bus" is painted a little different now ----- but its still headed in the right direction!!!!!!!!
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16 years 8 months
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My SYF hat goes with me everywhere. The only t-shirts I own besides the tan army ones are GD, black pocket tees and HD shirts. i love walking around with my guatamalen vest and Top hat, especially at fests, always seem to get comments from other old schoolers, great hat, killer vest, holy shit havent seen one of those T's in years. Love to show the colors be part of the show talk to people who never been there and blow thier minds, just have FUN. Was wearing my SYF hat in the airport the other week waliking to my gate and a grey haired brother walks by, says nice hat, i said ah you like that, he just smiled. Makes you feel good you know. i probably would not of stayed in the Army if Jerry did'nt die. but yes there is life after. The vibe is there just gotta go to the right places. Wave that flag. I remember going to a function wearing my SYF hat and one guy comes up to me and says, You're a deadhead, I say ah yes i am, He replies ah ha that explains alot. Funny stuff. Anyway we all have to be responsible at one point and time. Don't think i would have paid of my truck selling dyes and funghi, well maybe loved to blow money on the most expensive hotel rooms sometimes. used to just goof on the clerk when I'd walk in to give my name for a reservation, Sir you know this room is $250 a night, yup i'm paying in cash. Loved getting those looks like, who the hell are these guy's. oh well days gone by. But if your still breathing you can still have Fun. Let's get crazy this spring and let the good times roll. Never had such a good time!
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17 years 5 months
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I downloaded a few images from a google image search, one was a pic of Jerry's hand print inside a guitar pick, I printed them out myself onto an iron-on transfer, and made some cool t-shirts of my own for myself. image hosted by ImageVenue.com a small little glimmer on a black work-shirt, the image over my heart is about the size of a large guitar pick, people who know, give me the knowing smile. those who don't know what that image is, do a double take, wondering if the image is giving them the finger. reminds me of what life is all about. peace.
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17 years 5 months
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a t-shirt with the handprint. It fell apart years ago and I never found any others. I think I already whined at the Store folks.
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16 years 2 months
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It ain't over till I die-then is it? Sounds like philosophy to me.........
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17 years 4 months
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You not only aced it, you made me laugh out loud. Mahalo!