Grateful Dead

I always thought that it was basically someone who followed the band around over a number of years, and saw them...many many times. I first heard the band in 1975, and have been listening to their recordings ever since. But I only saw them 5 times - in 1981 and 1990 in England where I live. So despite the fact that I have far more music by them than by anyone else - and listen to 3-4 shows a week - I wouldn't call myself a Deadhead. I am not really keen on labels of any sort, truth be told.

Sometimes I wonder if the image of the band puts off some people of my generation, who have never previously heard the band. People in their 60's who weren't living the freak lifestyle in their youth. To me, the band transcends the freak lifestyle, and some of the associations of that lifestyle that are linked to the band may actually be a bit reductive.

I'm not sure about linking moral qualities to rock bands. I would have thought you got all sorts of people following all sorts of bands. Apart from when I was a teenager, I have never concerned myself much with the moral implications of liking any one group or artist. Maybe it's this also that stops me from being a Deadhead.

Sorry for going on a bit - great idea for a book, Graceful and I hope it comes out so I can read it.

I left my contact in your inbox. thanks. I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

PS: you've initiated an interesting exchange. Thanks

I have turned on literally dozens of people of our generation, who, as you said, made a judgement about the band without ever having heard them. All of them were surprised by the breadth of songs the Dead played. I usually start out with a very curated list of songs from studio albums and/or shorter live versions of others' songs (Me and Bobby McGee, e.g.). This whets their appetite. Eventually, I'll introduce them to live shows. Some get the live shows; some don't.
All become at least luke - warm fans.

To me "Deadhead" connotes a state of mind. "Deadhead" can’t be fenced in by a dictionary. It’s an elusive, subjective proposition. It can’t be reduced to a lifestyle or checklist or dress code. "Deadhead" seems to begin with a love of and fascination with the Grateful Dead and their timeless, transcendent, mesmerizing music. Almost from the start, at gatherings for Grateful Dead shows, "Deadhead" took on a broader, inclusive meaning that embraced folks from all walks of life. Just as individual shows coalesced into runs and tours and years, those in attendance merged into a dynamic, seamless experience that surpassed “ego” to become “tribe” or “family” or maybe something more cosmic. Whether attending a single show or following a tour, Deadheads eventually returned to their respective realities, but they were never quite the same. They became and always will be “Deadheads”.

Sadly, I didn’t get on the bus until a few years before the Fare Thee Well shows of 2015. In the weeks leading up to FTW, some of us banded together here on dead.net. After helping each other through “ticket madness”, we stayed together as a motley group we decided to call Sunshine Daydreamers. This Sunshine Dreamers Keep On Truckin’ thread is an artifact from that time. From our original homepage:

"Strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their (virtual) hand. We’ve been searching for miracles for our needy, gossiping, singing and dancin’ while counting down the days ’til FTW. There’ll be fireworks, calliopes, clowns and celebration.  We are Deadheads . . . we are everywhere . . . and WE MISS JERRY!"

We grew to just over fifty from fourteen states and two provinces with lots of other followers. We made a shirt that listed each of us along with our first Grateful Dead show. Unfortunately, for some of us FTW were our first shows, but we were quickly accepted as “Deadheads” by the more seasoned Deadheads. Maybe with a lowercase “d”, but “deadheads” just the same. Better late than never.

Because the Grateful Dead unselfishly allowed taping at their shows, catch-up for us late-to-the-bus has been an amazing journey. Maybe not like passing an Acid Test, or wondering if the show at Ugano’s really happened, or being at Veneta or Watkins Glen or Cornell . . . or. . . Maybe not like cherished first-hand memories, but, still, searching for the echoes (to paraphrase Phil’s book) has turned out to be a rich, never-ending, if vicarious trip.

Since Jerry shuffled, the various permutations of remaining band members with other incredible musicians, not to mention all the excellent tribute bands, are tending the flame and passing the torch to the next generations of Deadheads. Dead and Company became an annual pilgrimage for many including Sunshine Daydreamers. Not sure about the Sphere, but, then, maybe what’s over-the-top for some, is actually what keeps the Grateful Dead alive and relevant and meaningful for Millennials and Gen Z . The Music Never Stop(s).

The Sunshine Daydreamers got it right: “We are Deadheads . . . we are everywhere.”

Nice essay!
A+
Cheers

very elegantly, and accurately, phrased.

actually, maybe the correct adverb is "eloquently"? both of them work!

It's a simple answer: whoever loves and identifies with the music. I used to (36 years ago) resist the label for myself, but who am I kidding? It is just a love for the music, a love for sharing the live experience, and recognizing the very real alchemy that exists between this music/band and its listeners, especially in a live environment. There should be no gatekeeping, nor any stigma. Are you kind? It really doesn't need to go any farther than that. And we are especially kind and caring to each other at a show. Sometimes we are absurdly nerdy about the music (somewhat like an obsessed sports fan), but even this is not a requirement. Go to a show, and celebrate life with 15,000 of your best friends, most of them complete strangers! Maybe even convert others to the joy of subsuming your ego to the greater whole.

What he said: Just exactly perfect HunterGatherer.

And
Howdy Jeff!

Hey, Sunshine Daydreamers!!

We weren't Deadheads at first, but once we morphed into that we were all in. Never viewed that label as derogatory. To us it always meant folks who are very into the music of the Grateful Dead. Not everybody made it to shows, but that didn't matter........

LOL everybody in my office knows I'm a Deadhead, one look at my car and you can just tell........

So Jeff, how do I join? Can I afford the dues? Are there meetings??? LOL maybe all these years I was an "honorary member" and never really knew it..............

Rock on!!

Doc
Everyone has a dark cloud hovering over them at some point, but then there is sunshine.....

I can remember reading an interview with Jerry Garcia once, in which he was asked about Deadheads and how many shows some of them had attended. The interviewer said words to the effect that no matter how many shows that was , no one Deadhead had attended all of them. Jerry responded by saying he was wrong, because he had. Pretty cool.

Doing my homework, I came across salient entries in the Skeleton Key: Dictionary for Deadheads (Shenk and Silbermnan, 1994).
Much like the sentiment expressed by MKAV and DAVEROCK, under the entry "No but I've been to shows" is:
"a reluctance to be tagged with the word "Deadhead", not wanting to be lumped in the category with Tour Rats or with the negative portrayal of Heads in the media".

And again, under the entry for Deadheads, Blair Jackson is quoted as saying, "I wish I had a dollar for every person I've met who said "I like the Grateful Dead but I'm not a Deadhead".

I'd say this is a different response than saying "I don't wish to be labeled that way"; many people have heard a few tunes and liked them, and otherwise do not show outward signs of having caught the bug (e.g. downloading shows).
Later Jackson adds "..what it IS about is a certain openness in spirit and attitude" and "...if you say you're a Deadhead, you are". Yep, no barriers, no qualifications to meet.

But I am left wondering how to regard those who appear to be Deadheads, but who have broader tastes that covers all the acts at a jam band festival: Jam Hearts?

PS Enjoying the holiday

Hey rockers!!!

Previous/other definitions of deadhead:

one who has not paid for a ticket
a dull or stupid person
a partially submerged log
a faded blossom on a flowering plant
to make especially a return trip without a load
excess metal in the riser of a mold

I guess that explains it...............

Rock on,

Doc
Deadhead

I am sure I am a Deadhead by most definitions, but I still don't necessarily like being called a Deadhead (or being labeled as anything, for that matter). The narrow connotation of the unemployed unwashed drifter may not even be current anymore. I've enjoyed the music, overall scene, concerts, etc. since the mid 70s so I guess I'm still hanging onto a passé trope.

Thinking about this subject took me back to 1990, and those three shows I saw at Wembley. Listening to The Dead had really taken off for me in 1987, when I discovered a fanzine in England called "Spiral Light" which was devoted to the band. Through them a tapers library, and through them other tapers. Incredible shows coming through my letterbox every week. It was virtually all I listened to - on a very basic mobile cassette recorder. I didn't know anyone else who knew, heard or cared about The Dead. My girlfriend did, of course, but she wasn't really into music of any sort.

Fast forward to Wembley and I am in the balcony surrounded by crowds of shouting, singing, talking, dancing people. On average, they looked younger than me - I was 33. A lot of noise before the band came on, and it increased when they did. They responded as loudly to Stella Blue as to U.S.Blues. I wondered if they were actually listening to the music at all, or if they had seen so many shows that it was just background music to them for their own partying. In a way it was more like being at a giant football game than a music concert.

When I got back home, my mates asked me what it was like. I told them it was incredible - and that there were all these people from America there, who had followed the band around Europe. I told my mates these people did this all the time, across America and that they were called " Deadheads". They seemed very different form the kind of people who write on the board - but maybe they are the same people.

go to the Sphere and you wont regret it. easy to say because we live in Nevada. it is worth whatever price you pay.

I'm counting on your being right about this. Going for one show: 8/9/24. Can't wait!

Sounds like you caught some good shows with some kind fans. Always talking, singing , dancing at Dead shows.
I started going to Dead shows in 1975 (Legion of Mary)...I was probably median-aged at the show. Still attending, and I'm STILL median aged. It's amazing and wonderful how the various iterations continue to attract "youngsters" just hearing them, and to "oldsters" who still are hooked.
I hope they won't fade away. In say, 10 years or less, there will be no original members left, but I'll bet the music will never stop.

By the way: they were most definitely listening to AND feeling it.

MKAV- they were great shows to be at, those in 1990, but I did sense a kind of disconnect, if that's the right word, between the people in the audience and those on the stage. The Deadheads at that time were quite domineering. Quite significant, perhaps, that the British press at the time spent as much time reviewing the band's following as they did the band itself. In a sense, the Deadheads, if that's what they were, became more of a media event than the band itself, and to some extent served as a misleading distraction. The behaviour of the crowd seemed incongruous with the music being played.
We had to leave half way through the second night as my girlfriend couldn't stand it. It wasn't the music she objected to, it was the people in the audience pushing and shoving.

It was very different at the two shows I saw in 1981, at The Rainbow in London. There was still plenty of dancing and high times of course, but it felt as though it was more in response to the music. In 1990 the music was more like a background to a party. In 1981 it was the party.

Very subjective, all this of course! The first night at Wembley, 10/31/90 I was right at the front in the stalls, so there was less people between me and the band. Amazing watching Jerry so close, singing Black Peter. That couldn't have had the same impact if you were up in the balcony, where, if the following two nights were anything to go by, people could have been singing along. That first night was great - my favourite of the three.

Your description of crowd behavior in days gone by is very interesting. I had a big gap in my show attendance, from later ‘70s to FTW 2015.

I’m intrigued now by what seems more and more prevalent behavior:
people walking around passing out stickers and other trinkets at no charge.

How common was this in the 90’s?
It may not have really gotten going until graphics arts software became widely available.

Saw a few shows between Jan 79 and at the last one, 29 years ago tonight!
Not sure I remember as much free stuff early on, more so over the years for sure.
Same with the folks that Daverock described.
Basically no hangers early on, but by the end the ratio was phuched, with too many posers and way too many people who came just to party, (or worse, bye/sell bad drugs,) wether for only Shakedown street or the show itself.
All I can say is I’m glad there were no phones yet…these folks were clueless enough! And I try not to be prejudiced, but I will always unfortunately have an aversion to extremely unwashed dudes wearing nothing but a skirt…

And I’m not singling out touchers either, as there were always plenty of nice new young people coming along who were really into the music and wanted to learn the ways and means from us veteran heads etc,
No, these folks I speak of were not heads!
I have younger cousins who came up then who saw hundreds of shows and ended up working in and around the organization that are nothing like the clueless hordes that overtook us.
Unfortunately, the sudden popularity brought a literal explosion of too many and the wrong kind, to an all ready fragile environment that could in no way sustain itself. It saddens me all these years later to think back to it while it was happening, experientially. The thing you loved more than anything, slowly dying right in front of you and not much you could do.

You could feel it building slowly through the eighties, probably similar to how my “generation” of heads noticeably grew and thus felt to originals during the late seventies success, but it hadn’t gotten too bad yet.
85 was perhaps the peak of how big it could get and still be fun etc.
And boy was it fun ; )
I don’t recall it in 90 as much as Daverock describes—probably perspective, and after 87 which became so unbearable I skipped fall tour (that and the venues they now played because of the population explosion)—so maybe after 87, we were just desensitized and 90 didn’t seem so bad? I’m also positive the venues I was at in 90 helped a little.
But then you could still have some choices…
Luckily, I recall things did settle back somewhat, though never like when I started, or before I’m sure, and by the end it seemed completely ruined.
Too many people, most of whom didn’t know or give too shits for us, our culture, our host places, (or even the music )we so lovingly tried to keep alive all those years.
Popularity, this kiss of death, like that Eagles song, the last resort “call something paradise and kiss it goodbye”

All these years later I’ve had a long time to reflect on it, and get better acquainted with the music of later era (91-95) shows. What I’ve found is, it wasn’t so much the music that turned me off near the end, it was the set and setting etc. I grumbled then because I wasn’t seeing what I wanted to see, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Just perspective…
No, I now think where and how I experienced the Dead then had much more to do with my dwindling enthusiasm at the end.

And I’m not talking about being electric, I mean in any psychoactive state or not, having to go to big, expensive cities with all they are, instead of kind small and/or awesome outta the way places like Maine, Roanoke, the Rocks or all the sweet little places: Greek, Frost etc Even Hampton BITD…
Yeah, big, horrible venues in big horrible expensive cities, with uptight cops, overrun by selfish clueless rude wannabes, and worst of all, shitty sound!
Although the dead’s legendary crew always did a damn fine job with what/where they were forced to work, let’s face it, sitting up on the side of a giant stadium hearing only half of an overly stereo mix if your an Audiofile tech is torture!
We went to try to experience the MUSIC the best way we could, wether in the front row, or in front of the soundboard. Later, when GA unfortunately was not allowed, or only existent on the floor of huge stadiums, we’d just hope we could find a spot directly back but in the middle to try to get the best stereo sound we could under the circumstances, and hope some non DH regular civilian type concert goer didn’t show up half way through the first set and want “their” seats…
Yep, I’ve loved the Dead probably more than is healthy lol, but getting in your thirties, and becoming a returning poor college student, having only horrible big crowded places to go to, it’s no wonder I wasn’t able to better grasp and enjoy the new music.
Now, all these years removed, in the comfort of home etc, most of those negatively influential conditions and their memories are gone or smoothed over as age will do, and I’ve been able to finally get to know and really enjoy much of the later music. Im not suggesting that things weren’t changing musically too, just that I haven’t found things to be as dire as everyone seems to just off hand suggest.I blame that on the internet…
But Add the setting changes, to the human practice of comparing now to “the glory days” and it’s perhaps too easy to just write it all off as undesirable.
Im mean even if things hadn’t gotten so outta hand later on, it was never going to be the same for me as the early years in the front row, or say in 85 hanging out at the SB, just like that probably wouldn’t have felt the same to someone who experienced the music and scene ten years prior to me.
As awesome as say front row Rochester in 1980 was, I’m sure it was nothing like hanging at the Fillmore west etc.
So comparative experiences and personal change will always be an influential factor, but upon much further review, I’ve found the unfortunate changes popularity fostered a much bigger negative factor than just the music.
I’ve said before, I’ll say it again, they should have taken another hiatus after Brent died! Or, if not then, after JG had the second health scare in 92.
Sigh…
Well, at least it was a Hellava run while it lasted!
Singing, thank you, for a real good time!

Nice essay Pedro!
It is about perspective I suppose.
I had so few shows compared to everyone here but that timeline felt the same. Luckily I had nice venues so the ugliness just wasn't that noticeable. That said I knew I was done after my '94 show and even had the weird feeling that either Jerry or I wouldn't be around much longer. Somehow I'm still here, lol.
Cheers

I saw the GD and offshoots when I could from 1975 until, well, today. I was never what you'd call "hardcore" in that I never went on the road, but was, and am, a very avid fan. I guess I'm a little clueless since, other than the sheer size of the crowd and therefore venues, I never really noticed the deterioration in the "quality" of the fanbase that I've read so much about.
Well, until 1995. I was in Maryland Heights, Mo. for the show after the Noblesville fiasco. The fans in the lot were pissed. The band was pissed based on the letter they circulated, nd their general demeanor.
The 7/6/95 show was lackluster (great setlist, though)...partly due to Jerry's health, but I'm also sure due to the band's state of mind.
I appreciate the perspective of those were more intimately involved with the entire scene than I was, over time. Thanks for posting.

Another factor in crowd behaviour may be related to where the show took place. The shows I saw were in London, so U.S. Deadheads had to travel some considerable distance to be there. This must have made it impossible for many who followed the band to attend. I have never read a message on the board from anyone in the U.S. who went to Wembley in 1990. What distinguished those who travelled from those who didn't ? Lack of responsibilities? More money? Youth...
I don't know if this relevant, but young Brits abroad used to have a terrible reputation for behaving less responsibly abroad than they did at home, simply because they were on holiday. They were renowned for over doing it in Amsterdam in the 90's where some of them flocked for the ready availability of dope. A few hours after arriving, many of them would be incapacitated!

So...in a nutshell, the shows I saw cannot be regarded as typical simply because they took place in England.

Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to articulate.
That the environment that we and the band were now forced to live in was perhaps the biggest factor in the diminishing returns etc.
I don’t think they liked it any more than we did, but what were they going to do, other take a break like they should have…
And of course that environment was created to attempt to deal with the over extended masses. And yeah, overall the people weren’t generally as bad as I may portray, but bad actors and behavior were increasingly evident, and often more heinous, and especially in specific places or types of places etc.

Daverock, Im guessing in your unusual situation:
1- yes, probably not your usual run of the mill DHs like some of us here.
Fanatics with the ways and means perhaps. Ya know, the more invested in something, the more folks will get worked up. For some perhaps combined into a lifetime European vacation.
I know DL saw some of those 90 shows, as I think he was studying there? I forget…
2- extra hype and excitement as they hadn’t been to Europe recently
3- I believe Kesey and co were there and even brought Futhur 2
4- the return of DS, Attics etc inserted a huge hit of adrenaline to the scene in general, so guessing over there also.
5- the popularity explosion via TOG/ITD must have had an effect over there too
6- concerts and crowds in general had changed by then
7- perspective: you weren’t that experienced in live GD madness etc (that’s not a criticism! I mean how would you be…) and the saying “there is nothing like a GD concert” worked on many levels. So unlike us, who almost took for granted usually hitting as many shows as we reasonably could on spring, summer, and fall tours (say between 5-15 a year average) it must have been a very unusual and eye opening experience, especially compared to 81!

But of course as first show says, much of this is perspective dependent fo sho!
Like many of our more aaa “mature” heads here, they got turned off in the 80s because of the environment changes etc.
if your normal perspective was the Fillmore, even a small hockey rink might become unenjoyable, especially with reserved seating and so many people, comparatively.But If all you’ve ever known is Giants stadium, and never freaked freely in Maine, or Cali, Hampton, or any of the many sweet, smaller, outta the way places they used to be able to play, well your perspective might not think things so bad?
To me no more GA was the biggest negative factor that effected our show enjoyment. Sure a stadium is never gonna give you the same vibe, but if you were able to hang out where you wanted, which as sound freaks was usually the SB, it made a big positive difference.

So the slow but steady population growth, later exasperated by the tsunami after 87, which also attracted too many civilian non heads just about for the bollocks, which led to having to play big crappy venues in crappy places, and no wonder folks used to a completely different experience in every way, gave up…

Oro-yes, what you say is consistent with how I saw things at the time - and how I see things now. I didn't know anyone into the band at that time, but excitement was generated by the "Spiral Light" fanzine that came out every two months or so. So I was aware of the recent return of Dark Star, and also of the increased popularity of the band in the U.S, following Touch of Grey. This was tempered by Brent's sad demise during summer 1990 - so there was also a sense of not quite knowing how this would affect the band. I can remember thinking that Tom Constanten would probably rejoin - which shows how much I knew !

I wasn't aware of the Merry Pranksters coming to Britain in 1990 - although they did come in the year 2000 for the millenium celebrations. Both Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs were part of this, and they put on a show at The Barbican in London - showing footage of the bus trip from 1964.... interspersed with comedy sketches!

Back to the Dead - I was amazed at how many Americans had travelled over for those shows. They seemed to make up most of the crowd. I saw Santana at Wembley in 1991, and I wondered if a similar scene would follow them over. It did not. No other American band I saw - I saw live shows from 1972-2019 - had anything like the same following The Dead did, that travelled over here to see them.

I saw that written about in Golden Road fanzine

Paul Bodenham was publisher

The Ticketless Hordes was my name for the cling-ons

My final 3 attended GD shows were fine in my opinion 5/24, 25, 26/95. No problems, perfectly acceptable shows. Then came the Tour From Hell after Shoreline. Oy.

I saw almost all my 90s shows in the Pacific NW. Eugene 90, 93 and 94, Seattle 94 and 95, Portland 95. I think the scene was overall a lot healthier but the 94 Eugene shows still attracted enough fools clowns and jerks to kill the Dead's return there the next year which is why they ended up at a lame Portland race track in '95. By the third show in Eugene 94 (a huge show) it was clear that they wouldn't be allowed to return. The camp zone in the parking lot was a freaking trash dump (I was lucky enough to be staying on a "peacock farm" outside of town). Stories of messed up and disrespectful behavior throughout the town - and the locals being rightfully angered by that - were already circulating. By chance I was visiting family in the Midwest early July 95 and saw the last 2 shows in Soldier Field (brother had extra tickets he bought for friend who then changed his mind.) Wasn't there for the scene so didn't spend much time in the lot but do remember a young woman describing all the weird stuff that had gone down earlier on that summer tour and it was clear she was spooked by the vibe. The 12/89 shows at LA Forum (my only SoCal shows) were the only time I was offered "chiva" - what's that I had to ask and it was H - by a non-scene, just dealing, guy out in the lot. Politely turned down that offer.

I didn’t look up, but I think I mixed up the Pranksters trip.
Thanks for correcting and straightening out the ole synapses lol
Now that you mention about/for the millennium etc…and not in 90…

And also, now that mention, Brent’s passing probably would have added to the energy factor. We were at the first shows in Richfield with Vince after Brent’s much too early demise, and there most definitely was a lot of extra energy.
A lot of what now and uncertainty and ?
Will it suck? Will it be good? Things had been steadily improving the last couple years before so there was a lot of anxiety or uncertainty.
But man, once they started playing all that energy morphed into that big ole ball of “1” that everyone in the building became, and as the night progressed it was like you could feel 18K people all exhale in relief all at the same time, as we all realized that, “yeah, this is going to be different, but it’s gonna be alright” we will survive, we will get by!
So I’m sure that must have been a variable too.

Back to the bad actors thought. Again, I’m struggling to not be so ?
I feel I’ve painted an overemphasis or oversaturated picture of people?
Let’s think of it this way, it’s like BITD when grownups used to say “one bad apple spoils the barrel” meaning, most certainly most of the folks at shows were like the good apples, but now there were more and more bad ones getting into the barrel. And though there weren’t so many relatively, the bad ones were now a whole new kind of bad that spread the rot more prominently. ?
Hopefully that makes better sense?

Edit: Or lol
What BC just said ; )

And perhaps the biggest factor was just sheer size like BC said.
No matter what kind of head, there just were now too many for the scene to function healthy…

That really moved things up a gear for me with The Dead. Not just the magazine, with it's great reviews, articles and news items, but also because through them I was able to access tapes. In fact, if I am a Deadhead, I would date it from about 1987, when this happened. Up to that point I had all the official albums and the odd bootleg, but from then on I was getting tapes delivered regularly. And once you discover one source, others seem to open up too. Great stuff!

This October will be the 50th anniversary of the first set of farewell concerts.

How many have there been since then?

Appropriate time for the Kennedy Center honor

Agree 100% on the first post-Brent shows (rather "show" as I only got to see the 2nd one).

I saw many shows in Richfield 1990 - 1994. Always a decent vibe IMO even for a Coliseum. I lived close by, my family included 2 little boys so could not travel but did make a point to see as many as I could in Richfield.

oops..sorry about the double-post.

Agree 100% on the first post-Brent shows (rather "show" as I only got to see the 2nd one).

I saw many shows in Richfield 1990 - 1994. Always a decent vibe IMO even for a Coliseum. I lived close by, my family included 2 little boys so could not travel but did make a point to see as many as I could in Richfield.

Saw 90 & 91
Enjoyed them all!
Really liked 91.
Still think a show or two from there could be part of a very nice fall 91 box.
Fond memories camping out with the GF at the time, getting down to the nearby whale cries from Sea World or what ever it was?

GOGD turned us onto the fine 92 shows, especially the stellar 6/8/92.
Haven’t heard 3/14/93 yet, recall the fall shows were so so
Haven’t heard 3/20/94 yet, but WTJ turned us onto the enjoyable 3/21/94.

Being from WNY it’s weird we never hit a Cleveland Dead show (Cleveland Rocks!) but saw everywhere else around there.

I must have sung along to Tennessee Jed 1,000 times without it ever dawning on me that the first lines refer to an incarcerated person. “Listen to the whistle of the evenin' train” really evokes the character in Johnny Cash’s song who is stuck in Folsom Prison.

I'm wondering if any fellow SSDDers made it to Vegas and if so, I'd like to hear others' observations. I got to see one show 8/9.
It was maybe the 4th or 5th time I've seen D&Co. The band was definitely "on". Tight. Not overly meandering with slow, pointless noodling, (Dallas in May 2023 actually was pretty bad in that respect). Better tempo than previous shows. The pace on most songs and jams was spot-on IMO.
I have to imagine timing the ends of songs to coincide with the visuals' changing was a challenge, but it was seamless.
Going there was a hassle and expensive, but I'm really glad I went. The band was really good. Boy, that Johnny B. Mayer can play!
Having said that: the venue overshadowed the band IMO. Between the 168,000 speakers delivering pure, crisp sound to every seat, and the massive 3.7 acres worth of very cool visuals, it would have been hard to not put the venue as the highlight. YouTube videos are nice but really can't capture the magnitude.
We had seats in 4th level, right in the middle. I can't imagine a better seat for the visuals. The sound was perfect. A friend was in a lower section and he related the "experience" was cooler down in 100 level, but the visuals were much better higher up.

Anyway, IF they do it again, AND I can financially swing it next time, I'll definitely go again. If your circumstances allow it, I'd encourage you to go, too.
By the way: my "mind-altered" state was not dramatic at all, but the visuals were so large, so intense and just so cool, at times it felt like a hallucination...in a good way.
Las Vegas is and never was my thing, but the overall show made it worth it. Shakedown Street definitely had a "corporate" feel to it, but there a shroom sales lady there...very low key...so at least we had that going for us; which is nice. No veggie burritos, though.

Hey MKAV,
Thanks for taking the time to write. I feel I have a better sense of what went on.

I watched lots of YouTubes; some with better camera work than others, but on a BIG screen at home you get some feeling for it. And can hear the crowd all oooh and aaaah together. Interesting to me how often the visuals were so bright that it did not look resemble the darkened concert hall that we are all so used to.

Must be a very different experience for the performers to not have every eye locked on them. At times they appear to be playing accompaniment for the visual, as you have said.

As for the timing of the musical transitions: it is my impression that as the run went on, the band id more adjusting to the visual, and not the other way around. Clearly the technology is not yet there to be quite interactive (like different color swirlies reacting to individual instruments); my sense is that the band knew the plan for the big visual transitions and they could tread water a little as needed to make the music transition match the visual. Just my view from the free seats.

And PS: I just received a third contract offer for my book manuscript, Thanks for your support.

Hey Graceful...congratulations on the contract offer. I can't wait to read the final product.

I read an interview with Weir in which he envisioned the artists being able to control the visuals somehow, with real-time interaction. I won't pretend to understand the technology, but neither will I underestimate it. I'm sure it will happen.

You made an astute observation about the shows. We, and most people in our section, were watching the screen more than we watched the stage. Often, the stage was projected onto the screen. Imagine Mayer and Weir 100' tall!