Grateful Dead

This was the first time I saw the Dead and.....along with 2 other friends I went with, I took the first girl I had sex with to this show.What a show! It was the first of many...(girls and Dead concerts) I was a young un' ;)

Great show. I was also at the September 1972 show, which is now a Dick's Pick Vol. 23. I think of the two that I saw in Baltimore the 1973 show was better. Donna Jean belted out Playing in the Band, and one extended Jam really tore the house down. That summer I saw them at RFK. Good year for Concerts.

We were so far up front you could lift your feet off the ground and stay upright. These kids (maybe 13 years old - black city kids) pushed their way up to the stage, then turned around and came charging back. I felt a hand in my back pocket but by the time I reacted the kid was ten people back and gone. I was in no condition to attempt a chase. Fuck it. the show was great and this was in the days before credit cards.

I still remember the revolving mirror ball during "Playing in the Band" that evening, but Wolf Man Jack introducing the second set was an amazing way to lead into the line honoring him in the next song. I'm listening to this show right now for the fist time since that evening all those years ago and being very grateful for the archivists who made this possible. Thank you all--and congratulations on the big article in today's NEW YORK TIMES. I'm also thankful I got to see Mr. Garcia play with Old and in the Way here in my home state of Virginia...but that's another story...

This was my first show while on spring break with my freshman year college Deadhead buds. Great show and seeing Wolfman Jack in his heyday was one of the highlights of the night. The music was blowing my head off from start to finish as to see, hear, and FEEL "Playing In The Band", "Candyman", and "Morning Dew" right in front of me was overwhelming. The one song that hit me in the head, heart, and gut was "He's Gone" dedicated to the passing of Pigpen who we had never seen but felt his presence on stage and in our souls that glorious night. It took me 42 years to post this but it still seems like last night.

We had gone to see Neil Young in January and he walked off the stage like the diva he is. We were very disappointed but the next day, Dead tickets were going on sale. We trudged up to the Civic Center from the University of Baltimore, finagled our way to a good "number" on the waiting list, and were able to score 10 seats in the 8th row. I had Workingman's Dead, American Beauty, The Skull and Bones album but from the first tune, "Promised Land", I was hooked. I thought "This is what it's all about. Play music, don't bullshit with the crowd." Forty-two years ago today. Thanks, guys.

First show of almost 100.I was 17 and was 35 when the trip ended.Listening to this show now on the archive still blows my mind out the roof of my skull!!

First show of almost 100.I was 17 and was 39 when the trip ended.Listening to this show now on the archive still blows my mind out the roof of my skull!!

After listening to albums (over and over) for almost 3 years, being just a few months short of turning 20, I finally was able to get tickets and make the trek up to see my favorite band. The show was wonderful. The Dead started playing around 8:20 and played for a few minutes shy of four hours of music, with a long intermission...the show ended a few minutes after 1:00 in the morning. During the end of the intermission Barry Richards, who hosted a local TV show that presented live music, came out to make announcements to the crowd and introduce the band for the second set. Only problem was that Barry was an asshole and the crowd was insulting him and booing him...when out of stage-right Wolfman Jack appeared and took the mic from Barry and said light it up for the Dead, light it up...all of a sudden it seemed that everyone present in the Civic Center held up a lighter and the place turned into a cathedral of candles. It was quite a moment. I truly believe that the Wolfman was just there as a friend of the band and hanging out backstage and came out to rescue the wreck that Barry Richards was making of the intermission introduction. As the lights came down and the lighters burned, the Dead returned to the stage and opened the second set with Ramble on Rose and it's nod to the Wolfman..."Goodbye Wolfman Jack". The show was sublime and cemented the love that I had for this wondrous collection of misfits, among whom I felt that I really belonged and was home at last. After trading tapes for years and never finding anything other than 2 different audience sources that both sounded like they were taped from the bottom of a barrel, Charlie Miller released a gorgeous soundboard in the mid 2000's and I was able to hear the show again in all of it's glory. I believe that this is one of the stronger 1973 shows, in one of the two consistently strongest years (imho) that the Dead had (the other being 1977). I believe that during this period of heavy change (Pigpen's death, playing without Mickey, incorporating stronger lyrical songs with better harmonies and Keith starting to really gel in the jams, and Donna's recent emergence as the fourth vocalist) brought an energy and freshness to Dead that was buoyed along with a period of great creativity. My second show was the infamous 6-10-1973 RFK show that I'll talk about in my next post...

My 1st GD show also, Spring Break from Va Tech. Somehow got tix for me and a friend, drove to the Civic Center, heard the Dead, and went home. Howdahell you all have such detailed memories of the show & which songs impressed you, wish I had that !. All I remember is being there and heard the tunes, but I took a lot of color slides so I have a pretty good visual record & memory of the show. Several years ago I found a soundboard recording of the concert on Internet Archives, so I can relive the tunes. Also saw them at RFK on June 10, another great show, don't recall specifics of the music but I now have the CD for the show so I can relive it (and also took color slides!)