Grateful Dead

My second show.I went with a buddy from Buffalo and met two friends that had travelled there from Syracuse. It was a meltingly hot day. We bought some acid in the parking lot that turned out to be no good, so we bought another round of red dragons. About 10 minutes later we realized that the first hits we did weren't so bad after all. I remember sitting up near the top of the stadium rolling/smoking joints during the Good Rats when some guy comes running up the aisle with an unplugged electric guitar and starts playing. Turns out it was their lead guitarist with a wireless. I wondered why everyone was watching him. By the time the boys came onstage I was in full bake mode. It was about half way through Half-step that I realized they were playing it. They also played a version of FOTD that was so slow and unlike what I knew from the record. I remember dancing and having a great time, but have no memory at all of them playing the second set.

We were at this show and we sat with a couple who held a "dire wolf" image on a posterboard and stick. I felt like were were in the promised land..no water, and very hot. The sun was relentless. After the show, in the lot, our ice had melted and beer was warm. Our grill food looked spoiled and we were going to throw it out, but a head said he could "cook it up"! Dosed popsicles anyone?! Bobby did warn us about the "cops on the building with cameras and such, looking out for our interests! Then they broke into a great Scarlet/Fire.

But I was a fan of the Goodrats and familiar with their music, unlike the Dead scene, which I was not familiar with at all. I thoroughly enjoyed both opening acts, The Greg Kin Band and The Good Rats. But by the time the Dead came on, I was feeling the effects of the two red dragons that attacked me in the parking lot, and mostly walking around in a daze, blown away by the whole scene. I vaguely remember a moment of clarity during Franklin's Tower, and just started singing "roll away" with the band and the crowd. It was amazing and life altering for me. Looking back, I can see now how the Goodrats were not a particularly compatible choice for an opening act. Not that they weren't good, in their own way, but just didn't quite fit with this crowd. Regardless, I have dreamt often of owning this show, but never got around to acquiring it. That will change soon! Thanks guys! You rock!