Grateful Dead

hey ! ~ how did you know that I ran into Jerry in the halls of Autodesk ? ! ? . . . as I recall, it went something like this~ I was in a hurry and I literally ran into him . . . and he said ~ HEY ! . . . and I said ~ OOPS ! ~ . . . ~ sorry Jerry, I beg your pardon ~ . . . and he said, no problemo dude . . . and I said ~ Cool ! . . . or some such . . . :O)

OK, back in 86 or 87 or 88?? around that time, I was walking down the street in NYC somewhere around Grand Central,, minding my own Beezewax. who do I see? I spy with my little eye, Bobby and a couple of friends (I did not recognize them) walking toward me... the Bobby Band was playing later that night, and, of course, I had tix. It was about 3 in the afternoon. I step in front of him, put out my hand. me: 'yo, Bobby, what's up, man? how you doin'?' (we shake hands) Weir: "Yeah" me: 'so, like, yo, bobby, I'm going to see your show tonight!!!' weir: "yeah" me: 'so, bobby, man, I'll see you later, man. have a great show!!!' Weir: "yeah." me: 'nice to meet you, man.' Weir: "yeah, could I please have my hand back?" something like that... ( -: peace.

I bumped into Jer at Musee D'Orsay in Paris in October 1990 before one of the Paris shows. He was looking at impressionist paintings and had Keelin with him in a pushchair Bob Spanish Jam

I was at the Spectrum in Philly, fall of 1989 (I don't remember which night this happened) with my tour sistah Lisa. I liked hanging with her; she had a knack for running into fun people. The night before she had introduced me to her high school buddy, a guy named John who played harmonica and sang, and I got together with John and a few other guys, and we jammed at her house in N.J. Before I split back to Philly, John mentioned his band had a CD coming out, and that he didn't have any copies yet, but he hoped I'd look out for it and get it; it was just self-titled "Blues Traveler." So that was fun. So we're at the Spectrum, and it's sliding into "Drums." This is one of my fave parts, and I pretty much am entirely unaware of what's going on around me while focusing on the rhythm devils. Our seats were on the floor, on the left side of the front-of-house soundboard. As I was watching, I noticed a couple of guys slip past me in the dark and up the little step-stool onto the platform where the mixing board is. Lisa immediately starts tugging on my shirt, trying to get my attention. I pretended I didn't notice. She did it again; I ignored it again. I was annoyed, because she knew how much I liked Drums. Finally, she just grabbed my face and turned my head a few degrees to the right, and said "look who that is." I had wait for my eyes to adjust to the light, and I quickly realized that Brent was at the soundboard along with some other guy who was probably his security/bodyguard, and they were having a rather heated discussion about something with the foh crew. Of course, I couldn't hear a word, I could only see that they were all kind of pointing with their fingers and gesturing and stuff, like there was some kind of disagreement going on. I figured it was likely something serious for Brent to actually come out to the foh board during the show. a minute later, he and the apparent security guy with him turned and walked past us again. Lisa and I both said hi as he walked by (we were on the end of the row in the two seats closest to the board; I don't think anyone else in our row even noticed him), and he stopped, smiled and said hi and shook our hands, which I thought was pretty damn gracious. They went into a small door that seemed to lead under the first-level seating deck, and a few minutes later he was back on the stage for "Space." I never thought I'd actually get to meet a member of the Grateful Dead during a Grateful Dead concert, but there it was : )

(((marye))) ~ hehehehe . . . I'll bet you just made that up . . . silly . . .

As with any good road trip saga, there's a whole lot of background data to this story, but to keep it short I'll just start with us checking into the Denver Westin in advance of the 12-29-94 shows at McNichols. Somehow we were oblivious to the somewhat 'older' nature of all the usual hippies you'd find taking over a hotel near that night's venue. Once checked in, my buddy wanted to spend a little alone time with his girl (wink wink) so I was exiled for several hours to explore the area in my elevated state of mind. Depending on who you ask it was either a short while later (his version) or eternities later (mine) I decided to see if I was welcome back to the room. I wasn't. I walked back to the elevator, waited, got on when the doors opened. As I got on the elevator a rumpled looking guy with a gray beard, wearing only a towel and swim trunks, got off. It was only as the doors slid shut that I realized I was seeing Jerry himself returning from the pool. All I managed to say was 'Oh my gawd' before I was on my way back down to the lobby. The last I saw, Jerry looked very relieved that he did not have to deal with a fan in his disheveled condition. It seems we were booked into the same hotel as the band. Later, after the show, my pals were too freaked to go down to the hotel bar. I did manage to convince a mighty good-looking young lady to go down there with me, which turned out to be a half good/half bad idea. Half good, because she did attract the attention of Bobby and some others of the entourage; half bad, because they sure as hell didn't want anything to do with speaking to ME. Oh well, at least I got to hang around with that seriously wierd crowd for a while. Good times.

:O) ~ nope, never worked there and I have no idea what Autodesk is . . . I believe everything you say . . . just having a little fun . . . very interesting stories here . . .

wish i was as lucky as you dogs. never met the band, but had a hell of a time with a head named MURPH back in 99 at big boulder, pa aT GATHERING ON THE MOUNTAIN, backstage with jefferson airplane. they were soooo gracious. great bay area people. nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile

Billy K and Brent's band Go Ahead was playing in New Haven where I was living at the time (86). They were playing at Toad's Place. So that afternoon I bring a friend of mine to the bar to show him the place where we'd be seeing the band later that night. As we're walking in Brent is walking out and we bumped right into him. We stood there like a couple of star-struck fools. We said hello and maybe mumbled something about seeing him later that night. He acknowledged us in a friendly manner and then went on his way. He was headed toward the Yale campus. After a few minutes we chided ourselves for not saying "Hey, you want to grab some pizza or something" to him. Great show that night.

In April of 2003, I went to see Ratdog at The State Theatre in Fall's Church, Va. It was a rainforest benefit. My friend is part owner of the club so he gives me an "after show pass" to meet the band. After a wonderful show (how does Bob have all that energy after all these years?) I stood in line with about a dozen others waiting ot meet Bob. We first went into a room where the rest of the band was. I discussed with Jeff Chimeni (sp) the jam between Bury Me Standing and Scarlet. All of the other band members seemed like nice guys. Bob's roadie (the bald guy, you're probably see pics of him) says to us "don't ask him for autographs, he's relaxing, he just wants to thank you for helping out (rainforest) tonight." So we go in this other room and Bob is talking to a couple of people. I'm thinking "Wow! Bob is right there!" All of a sudden this extremely overweight guy wearing a tie dye and a baseball hat runs up to Bob and says "Hey Bob, sign my hat will ya? C'mon Bob sign it, sign." Bob has this look on his face that says this is the last place he wants to be. He says "if I sign for you I have sign for everyone." The guy keeps pestering him and there is a lot of tension in the room. Bob, to seperate himself from the guy sits down on a couch with a table between him and the rest of us. So we're just standing around and it's awkward. I say "Hey Bob, you've been my rock-n-roll hero since I was 15, thanks for everything" and I extend my hand. He brightens and says thanks and shakes my hand. I ask 'do you mind if I get a pic with you?" He says "sure" and i sit down on the couch next to him as another fan snaps the pic...I'll get around to posting it here. After that I left, I did not want to bug him anymore.

So a friend (the guy above that is part owner of The State Theatre) and I go to a Phil book signing at a Border's in Tysons Corner, Va in 2005. Phil arrives and we're in line close to the front. I get up there and ask Phil to sign not the title page but the picture page because there is a pic of him at my first show, 9/1/79. As he is signing I thank him for singing Brent songs in Phil and Friends. He did not respond to that but then said "Rochester, huh? Here you go." I said thanks and that was that. Now here is where the story gets good. My friend was trying to come up with something snappy to say to him when he remembered the first set at Saratoga, 1985. People were hanging off the balcony and Bob was telling people to get back in their seats. Bob then says "I say Phil, my dog has no nose!" Phil responds "No nose???? How does he smell?" Bob says "Bloomin awful!" So my friend walks up to Phil and as Phil is signing my friend says "I say Phil, my dog has no nose!!!" Phil sort of looks up and smiles, but he doesn't recall. He puts his head down and is about to write something when he looks up, pauses and says "No nose??? How does he smell??? My friend says "Bloomin awful" and they both burst out laughing. Great moment.

actually, bald man said "pay your respects" which we still crack up to remembering today. i reminded him about that a year later, and made some PR suggestions to him for future interactions :o) what was his name, chuck? he wasn't a pleasant fellow. (bob also seemed busy with his friends that night) actually my mom has more luck meeting the band : ) morning dew. nice to see some familiar faces.

Great thing about living in the Bay Area, and working in Marin County is that i have run into most members of the band, not to mention Santana as well. When i was living in Marin i went for a walk and sat down to watch a little league game and turns out Phil's son was pitching, and i sat next to Phil and Jill and talked about baseball for like an hour. I didn't let them know i was a DH, just a couple guys watching the kids play ball. Unitl the end when i asked him when he was going back on the road. Another time i was going to the opening of PacBell park. It was an exhibition game against they Yankee's and we took the Ferry over to the stadium from Larkspur...i am standing on this crowded boat when i turn around and there is Phil and his two boys going to the game (Yankee fans btw, very cool). Meet Jerry and got his autograph at an event where he was being honored...he was very gracious even though he was in a bit of hurry. He autographed my copy of the Grateful Dead Family Album which was really sweet.

I met Brent after a New Orleans show in '88 (the Bangles had done two encores with the boys that night). I was right behind him entering a bar on Bourbon St. and sat next to him. I first asked him if he'd gotten into the show that night, to which he got a chuckle out of. He was with a buddy (on the other side of him) and I enjoyed some light conversation with him over a few drinks. The other 'heads in there were real respectful of his space. He actually borrowed a couple bucks for a drink and I called him on it pre-show the next show in Houston (I think it was Houston). He turned into the stands from the stage smiled a friendly smile. Vince used to play around Denver often in my friend's bars and would usually hang out for a few drinks in the afternoon before the shows. Very personable and blended right in with the rest of us freaks. T.C. played once too at one of the bars. A bit aloof. I've met Phil a few times at blood drives around Denver, too. Always gracious, as well. Had the pleasure of light and brief conversation with Mickey a bunch of years ago when he was promoting one of his Planet Drum books.

Let me tell you my story about an 'encounter', but first grab a cup of coffe (or your preferred beverage) and get comfy, because this will take a little while. Brevity is not my forte', so bear with me on this. The background/ back story is information that will help this all make sense. Back in 1977, my girlfriend (now wife), myself, and two buddies decided to roadtrip from Nebraska to the old Winterland for the New Year's Eve shows in SanFran. I toted along with us a clay scupture that I had made the prior year. It was a one and 1/2 foot (in circumference) dragon that was biting/consuming it's own tail. I had 'scraffitto' (carved designs) into the entire beast's 'hide' and then it was fired and stained. It was the biggest piece of clay sculpture that I have ever made. And I thought it would be fun to give it to the band on New Years. So away we go, get to the venue and secured tickets for the run (12/27-29-30-31-77). The shows were unbefuckinliveable (see DP # 10) and Winterland was a great hall (but I'll save that for another time and thread). But on the 31st, we were sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the doors to open, talking and watching the circus, ready to hurry and get in for the 'activities' ie. freak volleyball and Bill Graham was going to show us movies (Ray Bradbury's Illustrated Man and the original Beatles Magical Mystery tour) before that evening's show. I thought "I better try to unload the dragon aka 'oroboros' now, it's heavy and I don't want to try to talk my way though the front gate with it." I spied a door that said 'Backstage' and began knocking on the door. No answer. The line of people on the side walk started getting up and moving toward the enterance. Banged even harder thinking "I've got to get this dragon in there so I can go in the front and join in before the show", and as I pounded harder, the door yanks open so hard that it yanks me into the doorway. This doorway is immediately filled with a gigantic black man in a red event t-shirt, who puts his hand on my chest and leans forward and bellows "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Startled, I held out the dragon with both hands and stuttered "to give this to the band". The giant took it in his immense hand and his face curls into a grin as he held it closer to inspect it and I watched my dragon shrink to the size of a key chain. He exclaimed "Wow, what is this, I'd like one" and I explained "it's an oroboros and that is the only one there is." He grinned and said "Cool, who do you want me to give it to?" and I said "to Garcia, give it to Jerry Garcia." The giant disapeared as quickly as he appeared and the door slammed shut like the the first time Dorothy tried to get into the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. So, I happily gain entrance to the show and needless to say, it was something, volleyball followed by the movies, the colorful/wonderful crowd, 'rainbow' Rose with an eyedropper of liquid party favor "just one dollar per drop. On your tongue or for the adventurous, a drop in your eye" (I could go on and on, but gotta stick to the background story). Oh and when each person walked through the entrance the staff handed us a piece of paper that had a message about a "surprise at midnight". The New Riders of the Purple Sage started the show and rocked the house. Anticipation was high and the Dead came out for the first set. Awesome, and then I noticed when the house lights went down, and the stage lights went dark inbetween songs, I saw it. On top of a monitor, inbetween Billy and Mickey, there was a flame, it was a white candle sitting in front of a dragon consuming it's tail. It was oroboros, ON STAGE WITH THE DEAD! I watched as Jerry walked over and lit a cig off the candle. They took a break and the surprise for the second half was Uncle BoBo (as Bobby liked to call Graham) dressed up as Uncle Sam on a motorcycle sliding down on a cable suspended high from the back of the hall to the stage. They put spotlights on him as he approached the stage and it ws hilarious as he came to the stage, the weight of the bike and BoBo was too much and the stage hands had to drag him onstage and then the explosion of Sugar Mag, complete with dropping ballons and baby New Years (male and female). I was 'sittin' on top of the world (Dead reference intended). What a night!! We walked out into the cool San Francisco early morning and drove through the fog (!) back to Nebraska. This is not the end of the tale. Fast forward to another road trip to Madison, Wisc. on 2-3-78. The Dead were on a roll (see DP # 18) and it was a killer show. The next morning before I left the hotel, I got a wild hair and called the front desk and asked "Could I have Jerry Garcia's room please?" and the phone rang and Jerry answered! I said "Hey, I'm the guy that brought the dragon to the New Year's show" and Garcia said "Meet you in the coffee shop in 20 minutes". I couldn't believe what was happening but stumbled into the coffee shop at the appointed time and looked around and saw Jerry Garcia seated at a table with a ravishingly beautiful raven-haired gypsy woman. I walked over and introduced myself, and 'shook the hand, that shook the hand, of PT Barnum and Charlie Chan'. Jerry beamed that smile and gestured and said "sit down, man". He asked me "How did you fire that dragon so that it didn't expode in the kiln?" and I explained how I had cut it in half and hollowed it and joined it back together. I told him how I had used a guitar string to 'halve it" and we locked eyes at that moment and he burst into laughter and I said "Ironic, huh?" and Jerry quiped "No, man that makes perfect sense." And then we laughed some more. Then the gypsy/beauty said "where are you from?" and I replied Nebraska. And she shot Garcia a glance and stated "he came all the way up here from Nebraska to see the band!" To which Jerry shrugged his shoulders and retorted "we didn't ask him to come" and looked at me and we both howled with laughter again. No deadhead was she. We talked more about art and the dragon and I didn't know at that time of Garcia's interest and practice in art (this kind anyway). He was completely engaged in the topic of art, but quick witted with 'turn on a dime' twists, turns, and little commentaries on a variety of topics. Jerry was also focused on listening, not acting like he was the important one, giving me time and locked in on our discussion and talking about our shared intersets. The gypsy woman frowned in disbelief as she asked me "You went out to San Francisco for New Years and then came to Wisconson" and I said yes and then I turned to Garcia and asked him "Why don't you come back to Lincoln, Nebraska?" He said "You mean to Perishing Auditorium?" and I corrected him "No, it is Pershing Auditorium, after the army general" and he quickly retorted "No man, it was perishing really!" And we burst out laughing again. At that Lincoln, Ne. Dead show on 2-26-73, there were a bunch of drunk frat boys yelling 'boogie, boogie" at the top of their lungs, but that show is topnotch! ( a DP, really great show) Anyway, I asked Garcia "could you bring the Dead back to Nebraska" and Jerry grinned that chesire cat grin and said "who knows?" I took my leave (their breakfast arrived) and drove home. Then that summer the Dead came back to Omaha, Ne. on 7-5-78, and I taped them with my NAK 550 in FOB, and followed them to their/my first Red Rocks shows. So that is my story, Jerry Garcia was totally gracious, engaging, enthusiastic, and kind to a deadhead who approached him at one moment in time. The truth is realized in an instant, the Act is practiced step by step.

Phil on the street outside Yale in New Haven '84, Bobby at the after-show gig for the Seva benefit in Toronto '84, Jerry on the grounds behind Merriweather in '84, and Billy at a Go Ahead gig in Seaside, NJ in '85. What nice guys...

wow, Billy in Seaside...i grew up in Toms River, where did they play in Seaside? I once saw the full blow NRPS with Dawson and Nelson in a bar in Seaside in must have been '78 or '79. Think it was called Baby O's back then.

more cool stories everyone, thanks for sharing! not dead related but I met Maury Anderson once, too... http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1150/Mptv/1150/2018_0006.jpg.html?path… and Ed Sullivan... oh, never mind. that shit was nothing compared to meeting the boys in the band. ( -; peace. "The highway is for gamblers, you'd better use your sense Take what you have gathered from coincidence"

i met robert hunter at a book signing, in boston, when he released "a box of rain" - i think 1990. it was a pretty neat experience, and i saw him and t.c. later that night at the somerville theater. some live tracks from that evening made it onto his commercial release. cool! i met him with my girlfriend hathaway, and he told us that was his grandmothers name. take care!

So I was doing a show at a place in New Jersey called the Underpass (great place; these guys are big Heads - pics of Jerry and everyone all over the walls) and as it happend it's Jerry's birthday - or would have been, this was in 05 or so. Anywho, it's me and my band and a friend named Lizzie, who popped up later in PLU, and the guys who ran the place had lined up Vince to show up and play a few tunes. We do our set and then i sit at the bar for a beer. Who comes in but Vince freakin' Welnick, and where does he sit but right next to me. So I says to Vince "Hi nice to meet you, I like your playing, can i buy you a beer?" and he says sure. So I buy the guy a Yuengling and we're talking and every two minutes a new beer pops up in front of Vince from people at the bar (It's a big round thing so everyone can see everyone else) and he keeps smiling more and more and looking more and more surprised. Finally I asked him "Does this happen often?" and he says "Never!" We talked a bit more and then I stupidly asked him about the big reunion show (must've ben Comes a Time), which he wasn't invted to, and I said something about Bobby and he got kinda sour and stopped talking. Finally he got up for his set, leaving about six beers behind. He played Shakedown and something else with a pickup band, and that was that. And now I have a good story to share!

The bus came by on 12-7-81 in Des Moines, Ia., I got on, that's when it all began.First song-Bertha Last song-Brokedown Palace (Denver 12-1-94) And Leave It On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Met all the guys (80's lineup) 'cept fer Jer. So I guess my big cheap thrill was heaving a box o' Junior Mints onstage in '82 @ Red Rocks, safely ( I was a few rows back) landing within a couple of feet of Jer. He non-chalantly picked 'em up, put 'em in his back pocket & kept jammin' w/out missing a beat (or note) "gone are the days..."

I used to work at a Wal Mart store selling electronics which is where I met Bobby Weir not once but twice. The second encounter was the best. My coworker and I spied a Palm Pilot sitting by itself in an empty shopping cart while we were picking up abandoned stuff. I pick it up and feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around and it's none other than Bobby. He's standing there with one of those looks and I tell him that we were gonna turn it in to lost & found. He just sticks his hand out and I hand it to him. He's telling us he wouldn't know where he was going or what he was going to do without his Palm Pilot. Just then Bobby notices these childrens sunglasses in my hand, another thing I was picking up to put away. They were those kind with the big butterflies or something on the corners of each lense..you know the kind, Anyway he asks for them and I didn't think he was serious but he's saying "no, no I want those" and he's holding them up looking through them, butterfly wings and all with this really silly smirk on his face. He asks me where to find water wings so I tell him and send him on his way with his bizarre little glasses. Just then this friend, this lady who works as store detective comes up to me to shoot the shit and I tell her that theres this fellow she should really keep an eye on heading over to sporting goods acting strangely. She's in plain clothes of course (she's also a biker chick who rides with one of our local clubs) and off she goes stalking her prey. Maybe I shouldn't have sicced the store detectives on Bobby, but then again who could resist such an opportunity to prank Weir? I didn't let on I knew who he was, and I didn't think he was gonna steal anything, but it seemed like the thing to do. Wonder if he knew he was being stalked by a biker chick?

back in 87 i was in alpine valley and i had bought a jerdoll made by a girl in Florida, anyway, i took it to roanoke later that year and went to Jerry's hotel and waited. and waited. Finally see Anabelle get off the elevator and head to Dad's door, she smiles at me and the doll, brings Jerry over to me and they were both SO Gracious, signed my doll for me and we took the elevator down together. Still take my jerdoll to some shows....

i think i may recall my girlfriend's friend was working at autodesk in 89,90ish and mentioned something about the Jerry visit. my girlfriend at the time was working at an art studio in san rafael and came home one day asking me to guess who? - JG was a potential client of the company that also representeed some other very colorful artists from the 60's / 70's. i've since misplaced a sample postcard she brought home for me. my first sort of brush was second person. i met this girl i'll call carly at an astronomy class in '75/'76. she was wearing a beautiful yellow skull & roses shirt and turned out to be really cool. it turns out she had only been back east for a few months after having lived with someone in the family for a number of years. she had this astounding youthful mid-30's radiance. we hung out . she showed me some pictures of her home in the bay area. carly also understood astrology and she had once been asked by Jerry for an astrological chart. i asked her to try and give me one-word to describe Jerry. she replied "concerned". i lost track of my friend carly and little to my knowledge then, 10 years later would bring me to that beautiful bay area i had seen in carly's pictures. there were a couple more brushes yet waiting around some corner. "sound of the thunder with the rain pouring down"

Summer 96, Vince and Missing Man Formation, JGB, and Airplane/Starship. After Vince's set, he was bopping through the crowd and 2 cool things happened. First, during his set a very, very eager fan was standing on her chair and clapping her hands way up over her head. Very noticeable because she had I think driven away all the people around her. She was a very large woman, very tall too, and she wailed "Vinnieeeeee" during and after every song.Well, after the show, we watched her approach him as he made his way through the crowd. She was obviously so worked up to meet him she could barely talk. He was so kind and patient with her. When he was finished with her, he made his way toward us and my buddy decided to get Vince to sign his ticket stub. So he stopped Vince and Vince waited while my buddy fished through his pockets. He pulled something out and handed it to Vince, who took it, looked at it, and said, "You want me to sign your ... driver's license?" Just a few months before he died. Vince did a mini-tour of SW Fla area bars - I thought I'd be able to catch at least one gig but was unable. But in the weeks before the shows I posted a few times to Vince's web site, mentioned I was a musician myself. Vince answered a few of my posts himself - as he often did - and said to make sure to stop him and say hi and maybe we could jam a bit. And I got the feeling he really meant it too. Vince was a good if not great fit for GD - filling in at a tough time, and often adding rich and beautiful color to the music as he got more and more acclimated. It's a shame that he couldn't see how much he made the world a better, friendlier place. "Got a few wrinkles but that's OK, hang out in the breeze and they'll blow away"

Only being 16 I never had the chance to encounter the band. I wish I had the chance . . . -Livin

Bruce Hornsby - Tempe AZ 1992 - Shook hand and thanked for great music etc... Bob W & Rob W - Vegas 90 - said hello to and asked Wasserman to play a long solo Uncle Bobo - Mtn View 93 - Bumped into on lawn at Shoreline Vince - Ashland Or. 99 (Almost mowed me down in his caddi..lol) Gave him a hard time about his driving before show. Mickey - Ashland Or. 99 - said hello before show Dan Healy - Phoenix AZ 94 - Said hello after interview Steve Parish - Cant remember date...I Think SD/JGB 92 ..lol Martin F (and Zero) - San Rafael - 96 - Asked to hear Tangled Hangers, said "we dont take requests" Told him Id buy him a beer...lol...Didnt play it... Steve K - see above - Also met in Santa Cruz and asked if he wanted smoke - declined... David Grisman (and quartet) - Tucson 93 - Thanked for great music - had all sign CD and ticket Phish - (yacked with Trey and Mike on tour bus) Tucson 91

Sort of similar brush with Bill Graham as KJ7XJ. way out on the edge of the Greek at an '88 afternoon JGB(electric) / Bobby & Brent (acoustic) show. Bill was making his rounds with his walkie-talkie and huge smile taking in everything as he kept his eye pealed and gave us a nod. he kind of looked like a pilot with a khaki shirt that had red, white and blue epulets. *cool show with Bobby & Brent ending their set with "Blackbird" setting the table for Jerry. "sound of the thunder with the rain pouring down"

I have had quite a few times that I got to meet Jerry and talked to him for a bitI tried to post my favorite time, but as I previewed my Post my computer crashed, I only type with two fingers and it was a long story, but a really good one, so I let it go for now... I'm not sure if it was the first time the Dead played in Vegas , But it was at the Alladin hotel My friends and I were Staying there. I went down to the lobby and as I got back in Elevator to go back up Jerry and Phil got in behind me. The door closed and there we were, Jerry smiled ( He was always gracious every time we were together. A lesson to us all) Phil didn't look to happy. Jerry asked If I was from SF,He said he recognized me from all the JGB shows at the Keystone"s. I thanked him and Phil for all the Music and Amazing Times. Then I took a chance and asked them if the would play Morning Dew at the show. They both laughed and said we wll see what we can do... And that night they did play Morning Dew.. Very Cool Always Grateful Paul

In July of 86 on the off day between Akron and Buffalo me and my 3 buddies crossed the border into Canada to check out Niagara Falls and have a few beverages. We were in front of the Falls taking pictures when up rolled a limo and out popped Phil. In our condition, we thought it would be great to have Phil take our picture rather than the typical fan asking to have our shot with him. He laughed, said sure and took the shot. Of course when we got the film back we realized there was no way to prove it. Guess that is why he was laughing. Still one of my favorite moments.....

It was a superbowl sunday - and it was a benefit for Jaco Pastorius at the Omni in Oakland, CA - bobby played with herbie hancock . .. it was before my 1st show - about 1/2 way through the show we went upstairs to the bar - at the end of the bar near the curtain that went backstage were Jerry & Santana having a drink . .. I walked up and introduced myself In 1994 they opened a new Ben & Jerry's in the Marina in SF and bobby was there to scoop ice cream for the grand opening - it was the first time i ever saw bobby outside of a show - i got his autograph In 1995 day before Vegas shows my boss asked me to take his daughter to a swim lesson in marin - i sat down at the pool and the guy next to me looked just like Phil - i was there is no way - then i looked down and saw LESH written on his backpack - his son and my boss' daughter were in the same swim class . . .when we were leaving i walked up to him in the parking lot and said "Hi Phil, I'm Kris and I'll see ya tomorrow in vegas!" The following week i was at another swim lesson and Phil was there too. I was telling the nanny all about my trip to vegas and i'm sure phil was listening - i had some pics for the shows and asked him to sign one - he signed it "Keep on Truckin" Phil . . . I did some volunteer work for the rainforest action network in san fran and in 1994 they had a friends of the rainforest awards dinner at the stanford hotel in SF - i had suzanna millman take a pic w/bobby who was in a tux w/a purple paisley bow tie - then contacted suzanna and she sent me an 8X10 . . In 1996 ratdog played at earthday at forte pointe SF -my friend was hired to set up sound board/do sound so we got to come to sound check the day b4 the show - it was bobby, wasserman and jay - they soundchecked wang dang doodle - bobby looked right at me and sang "gonna have one fuck of a time" . . . i was by myself spinning and i'm sure wasserman thought i was nuts In 2001 i went to the big island for my boss' 30th wedding anniversary party - he and his family arrived a cpl days b4 the guests . . after i got there my boss daughter was tugging on my shirt trying to tell me something - she tugged again and blurted out "kris that grateful dead guy is here" - i thought they were joking around- i was like you're kidding right - she said no - i said which one and she said the one you like (om that would be bobby) . . . sure enough he was there with his wife and daughter - that night i was taking pics of a rather fabulous sunset with bobby about 5 feet behind me - the following day i saw him at the beach and chatted with him a moment about John Lee Hooker who had just passed away - and my boss' wife snapped a picture . . . Mickey at the book signing conference for Spirit of Sound the magic of music . . downtown SF maybe 99 or 2000 .which was awesome - mickey broke it down like i'd never heard it before - i am a lucky girl ~KRISSY~

I heard the Dead for the first time in Santa Rosa, about 50 miles north of San Francisco in the summer of '66. I had just turned 18. I heard Dylan play in the city in December of '65 and had been to the Fillmore once before but had never heard the Dead. It was an empty house but they played great---Dancin in the Streets, Good Morning Little School Girl, perhaps The Midnight Hour. The Jaywalkers, who played with them were really good too. I never heard of them again. We met some people with The Dead and were invited down to 710 Ashbury, whenever. We visited for the first time about a week later. Phil answered the door and told us our friend wasn't there but to come in. He took us to a really nice room on the same floor and told us we could wait there. We waited. It was a beautiful room, very, very cool and full of personal things. One thing kind of worrisome----what looked like a leather biker jacket with an Angels logo on the back. We waited a long time. Phil returned once, said nothing,but picked up a glass jar and shook it at us and gave us one of those "what"s doin" looks and left. About 20 minutes later, Pigpen walked in and said "Who the Hell are you people?" You should have seen three little hippy chicks come to attention fast. It's all an upward swirling after that. We spent the afternoon on the top floor with Jerry, Phil, our friends, whoever, listening to some albums we had brought along and ended up down at Fosters or Mannings on Market Street, downtown, eating piece after piece of blackberry pie and laughing our asses off. "Just a little light".

I took my then 3 year old son to a Mets game in the summer of 1996, one of those mid-week day games (Businessman's Special). Because the crowd was so sparse, we ended up moving to seats right behind home plate. I was looking around and there was a guy with 2 or 3 really BIG guys sitting there a few rows behind me. I heard him talking, bragging that this rookie named Jeter was going to be a big star with the Yankees. I chatted him up, saying the Mets rookie shortstop was going to be even better (Um...I was SO wrong...and he couldn't have been anymore right!!!). We laughed, and it just hit me that I was "Talkin' Baseball" with the one and only Branford Marsalis. I didn't want to let on and we just kept BS'ing about the Mets and Yankees. Finally I said "Man, you look an awful lot like Branford Marsalis." He and his boys laughed like hell, and he said he was. I told him that I was at the Coliseum shows in 90 when he played with the Boys. He replied that he "Had a LOT of fun playin' with those guys." We kept on chatting and I asked him to sign my program. He smiled and asked what my son's name was. I told him John and he signed it..."To John, Your Dad is a bigger baseball freak than me..." and signed his name. I shook his hand, thanked him and left. A GREAT memory... I love breaking that out and looking at it once in awhile.

I met Bob Weir in the Bohemian Grove back in the 1990s. He played some fantastic music including "West L.A. Fadeaway" & "Misty". I may have been the first Dead Head to dance in the streets of the Grove! He was backed by the great band "Marley's Ghost". See them if you get the chance! "The experiment continues..."

I was a sophmore at UC Santa Cruz, I think it must have been 1989-90. My friend was taking a music appreciation class. The teacher was a very straight guy, not a deadhead in the least. On one of the first classes, he played touch of grey as an example of a perfectly composed song. I heard through the grapevine that the professor was friends with Jerry. There was a very vague rumor that Jerry was going to come to class at some point in time. UC Santa Cruz in the late 80's had alot of hardcaore deadhead kids, so this rumor made us all nuts! So I went to that class every single session, even though I was not enrolled in that class. I think it was probably the only class I went to consistently during college. Anyways after many many many weeks, Mickey showed up! It was awesome. I think he lectured to us, but I can't remember for sure. After the class, I went up to introduce myself. He was very gracious. I remember asking him if he could PLEASE play shakedown street at the next california show. Then spent alot of time anticipating if they would..... They didn't but it was awesome meeting Mickey. My sister , who is not a deadhead, claims she met Bobby in a casino in Nevada. She got me a signed cocktail napkin from him. Im not sure if that really happened or if she was just pulling my leg.

It was 9/25/88. My girlfriend and I had flown back east to visit family. My mother had offered to drive us to the airport to fly back to the Bay area. My mother as always had to get there WAY too early. I think it was about 6am when we were shuffling through JFK airport in NY on the way to our gate. Barely awake, my girlfriend says to me, "Hey, there is Jerry". Sure enough I look to my right and Jerry was sitting there relaxing. I kept walking. My mother screamed, "JERRY, JERRY"! I looked in horror at my girlfriend. My mother was going to make a scene. She started yelling at me, "Go get his autograph". I shook my head as I knew she was not going to let this go. My mother marched straight up to Jerry and said, "You don't have any idea what my son goes through to see you." Here I was thinking, yes mom, he does and as a matter of fact as much as I tried to see them as much as possible regrettably I had never quit my day job to go on tour. She then asked Jerry if he would sign an autograph for me. He smiled and said sure. I had my boarding pass in hand and handed it over to him. He asked my name and signed, "Marc, Hiya, Jerry Garcia". As he handed back to me he says that we would probably see other members of the band in the terminal but they had just done 9 shows at the Garden and they were all pretty tired if we could please leave the other members alone. I thanked him and then apologized profusely and walked off seeing Brent and Phil making sure my mom had no idea they were there. As it turns out we were on the same flight to SF. On the flight I remembered I had my camera with me. Jerry, being in 1st class had got off the plane before me. When we finally got off the plane we ran by my buddy who was picking us up and told him Jerry was on our flight and wanted to get a picture of him. We ran through the terminal. We then saw Jerry on a people mover and ran to the other end. I stood off to the side and snapped a quick picture as discreetly as I could just before he got off. He gave me a big smile and a nod. At the time I could not believe what my mom had done. I now cherish my note from Jerry and will post it along with the 1 picture here.

One of my friends had an extra ticket for the 6/29/90 "Creating Our Future w/Jerry and Bob" at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF and asked if I wanted to go. I drove there and luckily I got the last legal parking spot in the row. I stood outside and waited for her to show up with my ticket. As I waited a friggin BMW pulls up and parks illegally blocking me in. Well, I decided that I was going to let this guy know that I knew he was blocking me. I walked up to my car, opened the door and got an extra pack of smokes out. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guy getting out and shutting his door. I shut my door and am prepared to give him the "I know your blocking me in look" as I turned to face the guy who was walking up to me I realized it was Bobby. I was thrown. My jaw dropped as Bobby walked up to me and asked if it was okay that he parked there. I stuttered uh, uh, ya, it's cool (now feeling like the total a$$ I had just made of myself). I shook his hand and walked away. Inside the venue both Jerry and Bobby just hung out in the lobby talking with everyone. We stopped by and said hi to Jerry, my friend complimenting him on his new haircut which he thanked her for. We then went over to chat a little with Bobby; everything was copacetic. He signed an autograph for me and we shook hands again. After the show (neither of them ended playing that night-they let some of the kids borrow their quitars to play) I was ready to leave. Bobby still had me blocked in. I waited and waited. The problem was that there were too many people hanging around Bobby's car and I overheard that he did not want to come out until the crowd thinned. I sat on the hood of my car. Finally after a long wait Bobby emerged with a woman carrying his guitar for him. As she walked by me she turns and says, "Nice parking job" to me insinuating that I squeezed in behind Bobby. I smiled and thought about how things come around.

At Telluride in '87, Bill Graham was everywhere --no surprise, as he had a home there and was both promoting the gigs and pretty much playing Head of the Travel and Tourism Bureau for the weekend --and also doing his very damnedest to keep the scene as clean as possible. On the day of the first show, I saw him strolling around, eyes behind dark glasses, schnozz in the air and inspecting the general scene for the even the slightest hint of disarray. With deference of the kind that a kindergartner displays toward the school principal, I gave him a "G'moring, Mister Graham" as I walked past him on the main drag, to which he silently replied with a smug nod. After the second show ended, he gave what was by then his familiar spiel thru the house mike from the stage ("...and r'membuh t'pick up yuh sh*t aftuh yoo..."), immediately after which he comes barrelling out onto the Town Park lawn with a big plastic trash bag in his hands (and a roll of several dozen others shoved into a pocket of his shorts), barking orders in every direction all the while. So I start stuffing soiled paper napkins, discarded drink cups and cigarette butts into his trash bag until satisfied that the area within a fair-sized radius of where I had been seated was neat, tidy and free of debris, and then I scrammed on outta there back to the adjacent camping area with a vague sense of fear that he'd be dropping by before dark for a rigorous tent and campground inspection. A week later, on the morning of the first show at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, I was walking thru the parking/camping area at the venue, looking for a ticket for the second show. I happened upon a couple of high school kids wearing official-looking teeshirts and ID laminates who seemed to be selling tickets, and I started digging for my wallet as I approached them. Out of nowhere, this noisy bundle of energy comes charging onto the scene, barking, "A'right, ah we sellin' tickets heah? Hah? Ah we sellin' tickets? A'right, [he roared,] who needs a ticket heah?" "One for tomorrow please, Mr. Graham --*tomorrow*." Elsewhere in the family, I got to say hi ("Hey, Headster") to Bill Walton about eight years ago at some small, very informal sportsy corporate/promotional type thing (Roger Craig from the 'Niners was there, too). Based on what I saw and what I've heard, I'd describe him as a red-headed, seven-foot ("Pleeeeeeease...six-*eleven*") version of Bobby who plays basketball not guitar. An erstwhile roommate of mine from a college town in Illinois moved to State College PA in mid-'80s and fronted a band that did GD covers (he's in Oregon now). He was at a GD show at Nassau, I think, somewhere around '89-'91, and from where he was seated, he could see this vaguely familiar-looking guy in an enclosed, restricted-access area near but not on the floor, like the penalty box or bench area used for hockey games. It occurred, either to him or to someone seated with him, that the guy in the restricted area was none other than Rob Wasserman, and my guy managed to make his way over to where Rob was, make his acquaintance and hang out with him in the restricted area for the remainder of the gig. They ended up becoming quite chummy for a while beyond that one show, and for all I know they still are. Lastly, I used to do apartment painting and light maintenance for a Bay Area native who's a property manager in the Illinois college town I mentioned earlier. In early September of '93, he went back to the Bay Area for Labor Day weekend, and upon his return, he calls me into his office and hands me this sheet of lined yellow letter pad with a personalized note scribbled in red felt-tip. So he tells me that as he was on the plane returning to Chicago, he got to talking to the woman who was in the adjacent seat, and in response to the old familiar "so what do you do" inquiry, she says she's the lighting director for a professional touring rock band and is in transit to Ohio for the start of fall tour. So back and forth they go, and it leads inevitably to, "Y'know, I got this fella on my work crew who absolutely loves those guys, and I haven't done anything like this since I was a kid at Candlestick Park with Willie Mays and Willie McCovey --but d'ya think I could get your autograph for him?" So she wrote me a nice little note (still have it), did Candace Brightman, the pride of Winnetka, Illinois ("Hi...I'm the Grateful Dead's lighting director..." --as if she needed to tell me!), and she told my boss to be sure to tell me not to come hitting her up for tickets to shows on the fall tour --LOL!

yesterday lunch time i went into the local bar for a drink Some friends of mine were in the bar with 2 of their clients ( they run guided walking holidays in the mountains around here). The clients were to ladies about my age. we were chatting and the conversation got to the Grateful Dead. I was wearing a GD tiedie. One of the women said she met them in 67 at a party in London. If rememeber correctly in the Rock Scully book, only he went to London the band didn't. They certainly didn't play. The Lady, Ann,said she went to the party with a friend who later became a Dead Roadie i replied Sam Cutler, Ann was astonised i knew him. After this Ann told more tales of Mr Cutler Strange Occurences in The Mountains The strangest thing was they had been here for week and we hadn't met, on their last day we met Bob W happy 60th Bobby W - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

I was camping on the beach at X-Cacel, an hour or two south of Cancun on the Carribbean coast of Mexico. It was paradise back then before all the hotels came. We went to Akumal, which had a dive shop and resturants, a couple of condos and most importantly a TV. The 49ers were in the playoffs (shows how long ago this was) and we wanted to watch! The bar was small and crowded and someone came up behind us and asked if he could share the table. Without turning around I said "Sure, so long as you're a niner fan. " He said "That I am" It was Bobby. He watched the whole game with us. I never let on that I knew who he was until we were all leaving. He was really nice and we all had a great time.

Saw Robert Hunter with Comfort back in 1978 at My Father's Place...a great club in Roslyn, Long Island...anyway walked back stage between sets and patted him on the back, saying "thanks for all the great songs" Met Micky at a book signing for "At the Edge" told him we listened to "Music to be Born By" when we were expecting our first child. Met Phil at his book signing ain NYC 4/05. I told him about my 17 year old nephew Colin who was killed in a car accident, and my brother and his wife donated some of his organs, Phil took both my hands and thanked me. Later I chatted for a while with Jill, what a gracious lady. She said Bobby got Phil his first acoustic upright bass one Christmas.

I saw the Dead concert at the RAC in Piscataway, NJ in the late 70's after the release of Reckoning. I had a great time and ended up tearing off my underwear and throwing them to him - he's so sexy, especially when he plays. He said a few funny things - we had a little exchange there during the show and I really enjoyed that. It seemed like every time that I called out a song title, they played it, even Dark Star and Alligator. I had a blast.

stopped at a hotel/resturant on long beach island summer of 97 i think .anyway saw a tourbus walked up to it and its the jgb.talked my way on and there is melvin eatin chicken with the girls.good times..............

RobertaRubies Well guys,here goes...opening the Pandora's Box! Anyone out there in the vapours remember when my then hubby,Rob and I hosted a post Greek party in ? '87 or '88 at our Hearst St. abode? Dr. Flash was present and to our suprise there was a knock at the door and Bobby and Co. arrived!! He ended up on our bed with a few lady friends of ours attending him. My son Chris,who is now 26 (choke...let's see that makes me...uh...) remembers the party goers playing with his Marbleworks in his bedroom in the wee hours. He (Bobby) then proceeded to have a rather "robust discussion" with the lady he came with on our front stairs. She left. Anyone out there remember...gosh, I am getting sentimental now! I am living in rural Wales now (with occasional visits home to Bezerkely)? and would like to reconnect. Any old cronies willing to come out of the woodwork?

i was working at the National Gallery of Art in DC in september 1988 and i sold a book to Phil on the off day (sunday) of a 4show stop at the Cap center. the saturday show was the famous "Ripple" show. me: "hey phil i can't believe you guys played ripple last night" phil: "yeah it kinda surprised me too" i proceeded to ring up his sale (a book of a renaissance muralist whose name i can't recall, Tiepolo maybe) and asked him to play "Bertha" for me and he said "i'll see what i can do". alas it was not to be. they played "touch of grey" and my friend Joe and I freaked out after the first few notes b/c they sorta sound like the opening to "bertha"(to us anyway) till we quickly realized it wasn't. this was when "touch" was top40 material and we were embarrased to seem like a coupla of noobs screaming for the "popular" song. anyway when i got back to work later that week my co-workers informed me that the whole band came in that monday morning. oh well i was where any self respecting Head would be: the parking lot getting hassled by cops for an open container.