Grateful Dead

Compared to the very lively gig in Portland Oregon a couple weeks earlier, this run was a bit flat. Echoes in the joint seemed to force the Dead to play louder than they would've liked at the cost of some dynamics.However, this second night did have an unusual pairing of Let It Grow and China/Rider (probably the fastest version this side of 1969) to finish the first set. A slightly truncated second set appeared as a 2-disc vinyl bootleg on Tricky Dick Records, which was our first Brent soundboard Shakedown, and the new Never Trust A Woman Who Wears Her Pants Too Tight (Good Times). All was quickly transfer to a tidy 90minute tape, copied a couple dozen times, and disseminated to all friends and interested parties. Bootleg the bootleggers!!

Uncle BobI had a room mate that enlisted my help with painting a mural on the dorm wall from a record album with no name on it. There was a goofy guy with a psychedelic ice cream cone on his forehead that I worked on. Afterward, this fellow offered me an extra ticket (a miracle, no less) to see the "Grateful Dead" at Long Beach Arena. Me being a cool new-wavy Elvis Costello / XTC / Cars / Bowie etc. fan, I immediately understood what I was in for: Black Sabbath Style Heavy Metal ! Right ? I arrived late during Althea, a bit confused about all the bare feet and mellow metal heads. Little Red Rooster was a revelation - everyone is dancing like a chicken !?!! I must be going nuts, but they all know each other and they know the lyrics and they all know the chicken dance ! By the end of the set, when I figured the concert had ended, I was completely perplexed as to how everyone knew all the songs and I had never heard even ONE ever before on the radio. And I was a very hip new wavy kinda guy that knew all the Steve Martin routines! WTF ?!? I was sooo confused by the blues - when I had expected the black-n-blues or Blue Oyster Cult. It was a cult of a different feather. And I was a pigeon. I really didn't get it for quite a while......I worked at 3 more shows in the next 2 years, with backstage passes, and I still didn't appreciate the scene. It wasn't the Pretenders. It finally hit me, quite accidentally, upon getting a free pair of tickets to Calaveras Mountain Air 1987 (even though we gave away our Sunday tickets to go instead to Yosemite because there was no point in seeing the same concert two nights in a row....ha ha)

My first show. My girlfriend Kim G. at the time, wore tight jeans and during Good Times when Brent sang "Never trust a woman who wears her pants to tight," I saw Kim there in front of me. Always trusted her though. ... lol