Grateful Dead

I was standing outside the show, ticketless, shortly after the show had started. I realized I wasn't going to make it into the show and decided I would risk getting kicked out/arrested and ran as fast as I could for the fence, scaled it, got over, and ran into the show. I quickly ran into a friend, for the moment clueless that so many people had taken my cue and followed me over the fence. My friend, who had seen me come over and the mayhem that followed, grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. I saw dozens, probably hundreds of people pouring over the wall.

It wasn't pretty. Multiple people got injured, a whole bunch got arrested. I was just a 16-year-old kid, not intending to cause trouble, just trying to get into a show that I didn't want to miss. It was perhaps the first time in my life that I came to grips with how powerful one person's choices can be, the impact and cascading consequences that can follow from a single decision, regardless of what the intentions behind it were.

I'm glad I got to see this show, it's special to me that I was able to see all three of Brent's final shows. I'm 50 years old now and reckon I can forgive myself for a bad decision from 34 years ago. For those of you who followed me and saw the show, I'm glad you had a good experience. For anybody who got arrested or injured I apologize for sparking off an event that had dire consequences for you.

I was lucky to run into a friend, loose my sandals, and dance in the mud pit barefoot to Tennesee Jed. Bummer was seeing gate crashers impale themselves on the fence. I always liked listening to the crowd on Throwin' Stones.

After an absolutely perfectly performed first show in a crummy venue, we looked forward to this night expecting suprises. This show would unfortunately be the last time we ever saw Brent despite having tickets for the third show. The concert itself was well performed and Brent seemed particularly animate. Far From Me was the clue that he was checking out for good. Maybe it was his message that he was done and he definitely performed every song like it was the last time he would ever play them and of course they were. Estimated>Eyes was particularly awesome this show. After the concert, my buddy, despite having tickets for the third and Brents final show did'nt want to skip his first day of training for his job basck in Detroit though I really tried to convince him to stay. ......story continued next show.....