Before I dive into my adventures on the road, I think it’s best for me to share how I got to the point of leaving my job to follow Dead & Company on their final tour this summer. In the following weeks I plan to share blog posts every few days documenting my trip. The writings will be in retrospect as I believe experiencing everything first will allow me to better tell the story. I however wish that I would have at least kept daily journals of the events. What I am sharing is based on my memories (probably incorrect), receipts, and emails from the trip.
My first time experiencing the Grateful Dead was watching the TV series Freaks and Geeks during the summer of 2010 before my Freshman year of college. SPOILER: The series finale depicts the main character Lindsay sneaking off to follow the Grateful Dead on tour before attending her freshman year at University of Michigan. The Dead’s song “Ripple” plays in the background.
The scene resonated with me given I was a fellow Michigander preparing for my first year at Michigan State University. I discovered that the song came from the album “American Beauty” and I became slightly enamored upon first listen. My favorite tracks were “Sugar Mangolia”, “Box of Rain”, “Truckin’”, “Friend of the Devil” and the aforementioned “Ripple”. My fascination was brief however, and I did not expand my listening beyond the American Beauty studio album.
On a side note, if you have not viewed Freaks and Geeks, I highly recommend you give it a watch. The series follows high school and junior high outcasts growing up in Chippewa, Michigan during 1980 and originally aired in 1999. The laundry list of names that would go onto successful careers includes series creator Paul Feig, executive producer Judd Apatow, and actors Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogan, James Franco, and Martin Starr.
My next experience with the Grateful Dead came in the spring of 2017 while waiting at the Detroit Airport for a bus back to East Lansing after visiting a childhood friend in Dallas. I had run out of things to listen to and I happened to come across an article on the music blog Pitchfork that documented the journalists’ favorite Grateful Dead live tracks. The commentary about the pairing of “Scarlet Begonias” to “Fire on the Mountain” from the live recording of Barton Hall at Cornell University on 5/8/77 drew my attention.
I proceeded to listen to the whole Cornell recording front to back on the bus ride home. The live recording was very different from the American Beauty studio album with drawn out instrumental jam sessions and covers. The music made for a perfect soundtrack to the dull Mid-Michigan landscape that was passing by my window. I enjoyed the country western feel of the track “Jack Straw” and the cover of Marty Robbin’s “El Paso”. “Scarlet Begonias” transitioning to “Fire on the Mountain” also met my expectations from the article and I had not heard a seamless meshing between tracks like that before.
I continued to listen to the Cornell concert throughout the summer of 2017 while driving in my ‘03 white Jeep Wrangler 2-door with the top down and the wind whipping at my face. I unfortunately sold that Jeep the next year, but I still have the fond memories.
Later in September 2017, I traveled north to my hometown of Traverse City, Michigan for the annual film festival. I made it a priority to attend every year as the films were always eclectic and very entertaining. It just so happened that “Long Strange Trip”, a 6 part documentary on the Grateful Dead directed by Amir Bar-Lev, would be airing at the festival. I scored a ticket for a showing at a small venue inside the local museum and Amir Bar Lev was present for a Q&A after.
It was surprising how intimate the space was, with seating for about 50 people. The epic, nearly 4 hour film, documents the Grateful Dead’s history from their beginnings as the Warlocks in 1965 San Francisco to Jerry Garcia’s untimely death in 1995. There was a much needed 20 minute intermission for bathroom breaks and to grab more food and drinks, so it wasn’t completely masochistic. My penchant for drawn out music documentaries left me hooked by the end of the film. If you have interest in the documentary, you can view it on Amazon Prime.
When I got back to East Lansing after the film viewing, I became an evangelist for the Dead to any friends that could bear to listen when I played them incessantly. I picked up used copies of “Live / Dead” and “Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel” at Flat, Black, and Circular, my favorite record store that I visit any time that I am back. The store has had the same owners since 1977, which I consider a miracle given every other place on the main street of Grand River has become a chain restaurant or high rise apartment. It’s a sad predicament, but a testament that mom and pop businesses can survive.
I would play the records through my Project turntable, silver era 1970’s Pioneer Stereo with wood paneling, and large 26” Advent loudspeakers also from the 1970’s. Although the records were a bit beat up and one of them warped, they still sounded great to my naïve ears on the vintage sound equipment.
I did find one friend to join me in my enthusiasm for the Dead after a night of listening to the 23 minute long “Dark Star” on “Live / Dead”. It wasn’t clear if the 10 minute guitar solo had just put us into a hypnotic haze or if we actually enjoyed the song.
Up until this point, my musical tastes focused on short and direct punk songs from Wire, Gang of Four, Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, Bad Religion, and NOFX. If you had told me at the time that I would get into jam band music, I would have believed you to be psychotic.
Later that year, my same friend who became intrigued by “Dark Star” happened to have an extra ticket from his work for a Dead & Company show at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on 11/24/17. I joined him along with his dad and another friend for what would be a transformative experience.
I entered the Little Caesars show expecting listlessness from a 4 hour jam of songs I had never heard, given my limited listening of the group. Elation poured over me when the second song played was “Jack Straw” as I knew the words and could sing a along to “jack straw from Wichita, cut his buddy down”. I was also happy to hear them play “Dark Star” followed by “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain”.
I ended up smiling and dancing throughout the night. The feeling of being in the present moment washed over me. The closest thing I had experienced to this was chanting Kirtan at a meditation retreat a few year prior.
Was I becoming a hippy? I hoped not.
The iteration of Dead & Company that night included the original members of Bob Weir on rhythm guitar and vocals, Mickey Hart on drums, and Bill Kreutzman on drums. John Mayer filled in for the late Jerry Garcia on lead guitar and vocals and Oteil Burbridge did the same filling in for Phil Lesh on bass. Jeff Chimenta was on the keys and brought an energetic and bluesy sound that added to the lexicon of Dead keyboardists that includes Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan, Brent Mydland, and Keith Godchaux. I left the concert that night in a surprisingly euphoric state and vowed to see Dead & Company again when possible.
In May of 2018 I moved from East Lansing down to Chicago for work and I was excited by the opportunity to see all the live music that came through the city. I attended all the punk, hip hop, and indie rock shows that I could manage. I would stay out til midnight on weekdays and get up at 5 AM for work the next day. It was brutal, but the stress release that I got from the shows was well worth it. I still somehow had a yearning to listen to the Dead though, even after seeing most of the artists on my bucket list from The Melvins and Bad Religion to Vince Staples and Danny Brown.
I was not however enjoying the Dead’s recordings as they lacked the magic that came with seeing them in person and being in the energy of the crowd. Like a junky, I needed a fix that came from the odd microcosm of the tie die clad long haired freaks and 60 year old lawyer types looking like they just got off the golf course in their polos and khaki shorts. Despite the dichotomy at Dead shows, everyone seemed to get along and there was a real sense of peace and community. A Dead show was a welcoming scene compared to the usual 20 something angry men looking for a fight that came to the punk and hip hop shows that I frequented. I ended up venturing to see Dead & Company 3 times between 2019 and 2022 with each show being better than the last.
I attended two Dead & Company gigs at Wrigley in 2019 and 2021 with vivid memories of a thunderstorm rolling in just as the 9/17/21 concert began. The storm caused a long rain delay, but I was content as my nosebleed seats under the rafters in the upper deck became a cover from the brunt of the rain. My section went from a few people sparsely spread out across the many seats to jam packed as everyone came seeking shelter from the storm. “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones rang in my head as the thunder and rain came pouring down. I could hear Mick and the the gospel singers belting out “It’s just a shot away, it’s just a show away” as lightning lit up the distant sky.
The clearing of the storm eventually came and Dead & Company went on to play their usual two sets with the first set cut a bit short. I met a lot of interesting people that night and they all shared their stories of past Dead shows, each one trying to top the last.
The third Dead & Company show that I attended was in 2022 at the Pine Knob Amphitheatre in Clarkston, MI. My same friend from the initial show at Little Caesars Arena just so happened to have an extra ticket again and Clarkston was somewhat on my way back to Chicago as I was traveling from a visit to Traverse City. This was a period of change for me as I had finished up grad school at Northwestern that May and had just found out earlier that day that I would be taking on a new Manager position in Evanston, just north of Chicago.
It was an extremely hot day and we had seats in the lawn portion of the amphitheater. As the sun blared down, I removed my shirt to save it from my pouring sweat and I lay on the grass atop of the hill letting the rays burn into my skin. I swear some day that I’ll get skin cancer from my stupidity of avoiding sunscreen.
Dead & Company kicked things off with “Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo” and the crowd joined in with a raucous singalong of “Across the Rio Grande-eo”. The first set also included my first time hearing “Feel like a Stranger” and “Cold Rain and Snow”. During the second set, we walked through the lower portion of the amphitheater while they got into “Playing in the Band”. It felt like everyone we passed in the lower bowl had a bright beaming smile on their faces and I couldn’t help but smile back.
A sense of bliss came over me as we passed the spinners dancing away in the section they had carved out. The spinners are a group of hippies that spin like whirling dervishes through out the whole show. I would get sick within minutes as I can’t even handle the rides at the county fair.
This would be the last time that I saw Dead & Company before embarking on their final tour.
While not Dead & Company, I did make it to see Phil Lesh and Friends at the inaugural 2022 Sacred Rose festival in Bridgeview just outside Chicago. My friend from the Little Caesars Arena and Pine Knob show came down for the concert and we had a great time exploring the festival grounds. There was a tent with fire breathers blowing flames upward at the roof making it resemble something like the sky of a Dante’s Inferno painting.
The Phil Lesh and Friends crew that night included Jeff Chimenti on keys, Phil’s son Graham Lesh on guitar, along with Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline from Wilco. What really stood out to me was Karl Denson on saxophone as I had never heard horns played on a Dead song prior to that. Hearing “Shakedown Street” with Phil’s funky bass line and Karl’s smooth sax was the highlight of the show.
The night prior to Sacred Rose, I made my way to Thalia Hall in Pilsen for a Europe ‘72 50th anniversary Dead show. I lived across from Thalia Hall in 2021 though I never made it to a show then because of the pandemic. I was however able to enjoy some delicious tacos from the authentic Mexican restaurants while living in the neighborhood.
The band at Thalia Hall that night was a bit of a super group including Aaron Magner from Disco Biscuits and Ross James and Alex Koford from the Terrapin Family Band. While the songs were familiar, there seemed to be more raw energy with an aggressive edge, which I enjoyed.
I snagged my first Grateful Dead T-shirt that night, a replica of a vintage Aiko-Aiko shirt made by Relix. I would go on to wear that same shirt at every show I attended during the final tour.
That concludes part 1 of the prelude. In part 2, I’ll get into why I left my job to follow the Dead and the planning process that proceeded. I hope you come back to read more.
