Grateful Dead

My mother went to this show. She wanted to see what her sons were into. Oops. My mother, god rest her soul, died of breast cancer in 1995. She was a wonderful christian woman who was very straightlaced and proper. She loved the first set. It was kind of bluesy, rockin', with a little country thrown in. The trouble started between the sets. Some guy stripped all of his cloths off in the middle of the floor and was walking around on his knees literally jacking himself off. Beautiful, fucking beautiful. Also, with the lights up, mom could see all the freaks sparkin' and communing. The things that we cherish don't always get understood by our parents, Then to top it off the second set was an intense psychodelic music fest. My mom was done somewhere in the middle of the space. She didn't last to the end of the show. Needless to say she left upset bless her. I remeber being worried about her going out to her car alone. I do want to say we didn't bring her, she went and bought herself a ticket and was going to go so we of course tried to chaporone. There is only so much you can do. Great show and I had conversations with my mom later over the years and she understood the attraction and thought that the Dead were talented musicians but the lifestyle was not to her satisfaction. Peace. Dougles

This was my first show...Live was never the same after that! Nothin' Left To Do But Smile, Smile, Smile!

St. Stephen59 I was warned about Charlotte but was dumb enough to just about get busted there. I never made it back to another show in NC.

I lived there for a short time, which while not great for me personally meant I saw a few kick ass shows.

My first show. Couldnt stop talking about it. Still thankfull for the life changing event.

Elston64, My first show in the east. Took a camera to this one and got really good slides. Right in front of Bobby but I didn't get wet. Mostly got shots of Jerry because of my limited line of sight in the gen admission audience. Very crowded in contrast to the Ventura shows that I attended. My buddy's girlfriend wasn't feeling well so they left the crowded floor before the show started. After the first set I went looking for my friends and came to a clearing in this sea of people. Damn near ran over that naked guy that Dougles and his poor mother saw. (Great story Dougles!). Actually walked around a bit and came back and the was still there but masterbating this time. The crowd in the stands were throwing cups and shit at him. This was the start of a run of shows where I kept running into naked people.

This was my first show also... I had met up with a hardcore head in my freshmen dorm. He had the tix and stuff, I had a car so we left our home in Norfolk, Va... we hit the road to head home after the show, but ran out of diesel as we coasted into a rest area. There were already a few other deadheads set to camp there for the night so we slept in the car. Next morning, we found a trucker that allowed us to dip some fule from his tank with a plastic cup... got enough to make it to the next gas station. The first of many great Dead trips to come!

my first show....I was 13yrs. old.

keep your character, enjoy living, share your fortune,OXOX Merple Reddin

I introduced a young friend to the show, and we were both shocked by the what Duggles reported above about the experience of taking her Mother. Well my friend and I were standing around on the floor waiting for the show to start and noticed that people seemed to be avoiding an area nearby. A few moments later we found out why everyone was moving away. Some Guy was walking around on the floor buck naked, and everyone was moving away from him. It was before the show even started. Well my young friend was quite surprised (she was a high school student from the School of Science and Math in Durham...this was her first Dead show and it was a wild one!). We moved up in the stands shortly after that incident. A great think happened later during the 2nd set when a stranger passed a J and the show really blew me away after that. Great show, but not quite as good as my 1st back in 1980.

roadtripped solo from Chapel Hill - had to stop to put water in the radiator of my '72 dodge dart every half hour since the water pump was going - had just started a new job at UNC so I didn't make a big deal about making the trip - trying to fly under the radar - new experience in that I went all my myself - wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world

Kicking off the fall tour in the south with a ton of energy. I loved this China Rider. and post rhythm devils. Energy was flowing and the band seemed excited.

What a freaking trip(rented a stn wagon and 6 pile in and head North from UF) We are fully prepared- We had a couple 1st timers, in more ways than one. What a great showLove Bertha openings( the best) catapults you over the moat and into the Castle. Whirling /Swirling - Charlotte

Wow! My first show

This was the first time that I hitchhiked to a show. I got 2 rides from Amherst to the entrance to the NJ Turnpike, then I was stranded there for 5 hours. Finally, this old station wagon pulls over. These two cool dudes told me they were going to Charlotte to see the Dead. We drove all night and got to Charlotte early the next morning. We had all day to kill before the show, so we found a campground just over the SC border, and tried to get some sleep in our tents. It was a beautiful day, so by the time the sun was high in the sky, it was too hot to sleep. I don't remember much about the show, but it was the first and only time I did an entire tour from GD Ticket Sales. It really paid off as I got some killer seats for a Worcester show.