It was the summer of '87, I just turned 17 and my big brother was about to turn me on to something that would change my life forever. He was bringing me to Alpine Valley to see my first Grateful Dead show. We met up with some of his friends on the north shore and started taking the trek. On the way, I was turned on to some live Dead like I have never heard before. Sure, I was exposed to the stuff we all heard - Truckin', Fire On The Mountain and I remember loving Alabama Get Away when I was a little boy but, what I was hearing now was not at all what I expected. The one that stuck hard in my head was Feel Like a Stranger, not sure why but, I really liked it. It was right around then, that we saw some guy heading up to the show on his motorcycle with a big back-pack. Without knowing him, we threw it in the back seat for him so he could have a more comfortable ride. This was my first taste of "Strangers stopping strangers just to shake shake their hand" and 30 years later, I still remember it fondly
We get to Alpine and after a walk around the parking lot for pre-show festivities, we headed in. It was a scene filled with all types- Bikers,hippies, yuppies, college kids, high school kids, freaks,....the whole gamut. It's getting closer to show time and the energy was thick. I don't know how to explain it but it was there and it was real. All of a sudden, I see this mop of grey moving behind the large PA on the stage- this grey mop of hair was so iconic there was no doubt as to whose it was. The band had a quick sit down to talk, the crowd lit up even more and the biker dude next to me screams "SING THE BLUES TO ME!" This was going down and I was home.
After a little tuning, I heard them start to play the one song that I had just been turned on to hours earlier, Feel Like a Stranger. They went through a great first set and then came back for a much more trippy second set followed by some stuff that I was very familiar with- All Along The Watchtower and Gimme Some Lovin'. Musically my mind was blown. Spiritually, I was hooked. This scene, this music, this band forever changed my life. All of a sudden, I was a pickle and I could never be a cucumber again. Yes, I have had times that I was sick of it and needed to get some "strange" but the Grateful Dead are the foundation of my musical experience.
Through the next 8 years, I spent a ton of time with the Dead. They opened me up musically to the best of Americana. They were larger than just this. Shit, they created a whole frickin genre that many of the best touring bands of today give credit to.
While Jerry Garcia was adamant that he was not the leader of the Grateful Dead and I buy it, he was the biggest personality and frankly a musical genius. I was lucky to be there for some of the good times and for his unfortunate self destruction. I caught the last 8 years of his life as a deadhead. My ears and my heart opened to many of the influences of Jerry and the Dead. I learned about Blue Grass, flat picking, jazz/fusion, R&B, Soul and one of my biggest passions FUNK. In the scene I got to travel my country and learn to be kind. It really wasn't about drugs for me, as a matter of fact the majority of the time, I was sober. It was about a musical experience and a human experience. I am torn between saying how much I miss those summer nights (even when it was winter in San Francisco) and how grateful I am to have been there for them. These words by the Garcia/Hunter team sum up my feelings on the 22nd anniversary of Jerry's passing "Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell. Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul"
