Lewis Black Recalls Seeing The Grateful Dead At Folsom Field

[@ehrichweiss]

We saw some other form of magic at a Dead show in 1994 at Buckeye Lake, OH. It had rained and we had a long hill to climb, and it was already muddy so you couldn't do it by yourself BUT what we all did was put our hands on the backs of the people in front of us and the people behind us did the same and we pushed ourselves up the hill but not only that, it wasn't any more effort than walking. We were all cooperating fully with one another because we realized that we are all in it together. It was the most magical thing I think I ever saw, and I say that as an actual magician.

[@davegibbs7665]

I was at that show too in buckeye. The woods walking into the venue were crazy

[@dyrwolf]

Buckeye was a one a a kind venue and experience. The 94 show had to have as many in the lot as in the show

[@notbraindead7298]

Wow, that is unusual.

[@scottieruck]

That was my first show!

[@Heavilymoderated]

You guys really pulled a rabbit out of a hat, there.

[@gradyrm237]

Every show is NOT the same. Ergo seeing every show

[@jackstraw4129]

WE know because Weir everywhere. :)

[@saml302]

hey now!

[@GetMasty]

Ya, he lost me when he said that. lol.

[@TangoCharlie-mz8lh]

"they're playing the same shit" Tell me you don't know the dead without saying "I don't know the dead"

[@nschmalenberger]

The whole point of that part of the story was to illustrate that he's not a deadhead.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Grateful Dead concerts affecting the weather is legendary.

[@billbeliakoff5589]

I forget where they were playing playing in 1980 the night Mt Saint Helens erupted, but they played "Fire on the Mountain" and after the show when they heard that it erupted they checked the time of it and the time they played "Fire" and guess what ? It was the same !

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

@@billbeliakoff5589 yeah I’ve heard that. Opened that song with some heavy drums too. Earth shook back.

[@billbeliakoff5589]

@@Hartlor_Tayley That sounds about right. Fire on the Mountain coming out of Space and Drums would work nicely.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

@@billbeliakoff5589 no they opened the second set with drums which they never do and then played scarlet begonias into fire on the mountain. The eruption was predicted and warned for,so I guess the dead did that on purpose. People got out of that show as it rained ash. The mount st Helen’s show is on yt.

[@noodle71110]

I got hailed on at folsom field seeing dead and co

[@bobschenkel7921]

Ah yes, the MAGIC of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, they can make anyone, even Lewis Black, feel better. And make the clouds disappear, no prob.

[@steveleff269]

I was at Folsom Field for this show. It was beginning of September 1972. The Dead played 2 sets and towards the end of the 2nd set it started to rain. Then it became a full blown torrent. The band left the stage for about a half hour because they didn't feel like getting electrocuted playing their instruments in the rain. They returned for a 3rd set which they opened with a song titled Cold Rain and Snow. They also played Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu. That apparently was played on behalf of Lewis feeling "under the weather". 😂

[@D-Fens_1632]

I wish we would see an official release of this show, it really needs an upgrade, especially that last set. But unlikely since they put that fabulous Other One on the release of 9/21/72.

[@_aspyinthehouseoflove1822]

I was at this show as well! He does not mention the amount of frisbees that shot into the air as the sunlight broke thru the clouds... or the bunch of guys in black suits that came out with sacks and started throwing baggies of pot into the crowd... and the massive cloud of smoke that arone from the field! A most excellent show andf memory! Saw Pink Floyd two weeks later!!

[@sharplessguy]

I was there

[@clifford7594]

The Grateful Dead NEVER play the same shit.

[@billj8817]

Well, they sort of do, but they never play the same shit twice

[@colourfaze86]

How can you tell?

[@clifford7594]

@@billj8817 OK, they never do, they sort of do, but they never... Got it. Good luck!

[@clifford7594]

@@colourfaze86 Um, you know, listening, watching, feeling... stuff like that.

[@sideshowbob]

In the spring of '78 they settled on Drums/Space as a ritualistic segment of the show mid 2nd set. From then on, the post-drums/space segment of the show was VERY rigidly formatted: Psychedelic Bobby song -> Jerry Ballad -> Rockin Bobby song closer. So, a choice of: The Other One, Not Fade Away, or Truckin -> Black Peter, Stella Blue, Wharf Rat -> Sugar Magnolia, Around & Around, Good Lovin'. They stuck w/this format, with a few rare exceptions (which were the Off the Charts shows the faithful chased around), till around the late 80's, when they added Throwing Stones, Standing On the Moon to the mix, & Morning Dew became fairly routine. Dead & Co sticks rigidly to this "format" nowadays too, which is one big reason I refuse to go see them. Also a lot of bar band cover bands. I guess the "Touch Heads" were used to this & like the Familiar. Sad.

[@westtexastiger]

I thought it was beyond hilarious how the close captioning translated those random noise bits that Lewis made.

[@bscherer90]

"Oh fuck! They're gonna play there? We gotta go there!" Lmao sums it up perfectly

[@CaptApple]

More Dead magic. In '92 at the Dead's Vegas show there was a mountain standing alone maybe 5-10 miles behind the stage that everyone not on the field could see past the band. This mountain had a lone dark stormcloud hanging over it and that cloud was just flat out smiting that mountain with lightning as the band played Dark Star. So much lightning, so many strikes. Made the acid trip SO much better and it was already sublime. Spoke with the friends I went with just this week and we all remarked on that.

[@ChIGuY-town22_]

I used to have a bootleg cassette tape of that show...good stuff, great times.

[@sideshowbob]

@@ChIGuY-town22_ ~2:00 on that vid = 1st Spanish Steps Jam since the Brent era I'm pretty sure. Full version w/entire band. Wished it didn't go into I Need A Miracle tho . . .

[@ChIGuY-town22_]

@sideshowbob It's been twenty years since i've listened to any of those shows... When Jerry died, my grove died as well. 😞

[@sideshowbob]

@@ChIGuY-town22_ Same reason I can't go see Dead Co or Phil w/his son, or even local GD cover bands who regurgitate the same old mid 80's playlists. I've moved on to young hungry up & coming jambands & other "edgy" "genre's who can use my support & whose music breathes fresh air into my soul.

[@ChIGuY-town22_]

@sideshowbob lol me 2! I'm into German metal and Japanese power trios. I still prefer musicians who actually play instruments.

[@gwshelton4875]

Saw them and Allman brothers at RFK stadium in 73 or 74. 2 days 12-12 each played 6 hours. Quaaludes, weed and naked people in DC stadium, no cops. Never forget it

[@johnr.8275]

6/9 and 6/10/73. The second night is a MONSTER!

[@petesashlyn]

He's not kidding. I saw The Dead at an indoor arena and it looked like the London fog somehow found its way over the Atlantic from all the pot in the air. It was magical.

[@sideshowbob]

The worst was in the late '00's, seeing whatever version of their reunion tours at an indoor venue, the air was thick with a green & purple haze, that smelled downright Awful, very chemical-ey, like someone lit a plastic bag full of dried dog poo on fire. "Why is everyone smoking such Awful weed?" I wondered. I pieced it together gradually, that was the era of that new "Synthetic Pot" you could buy at gas stations, & that didn't (at the time) show up in drug tests. That stuff was God awful. I'd just rather be Sober.

[@leeshiflett1863]

I've grown up with this man's comedy and he only gets better.

[@colourfaze86]

Only thing comparable to this was when I seen the stones in a stadium about 10 years ago. It was one of the hardest rainy days I've ever experienced that afternoon. Continued to pour through the opener which was Grace Potter who was excellent and did the female vocal later for Gimme Shelter. About 10 minutes before the band went on, the rain just completely stopped. And a huge rainbow appeared over the stadium. And the band called an audible and opened with She's a Rainbow. Amazing

[@howardrobinson4938]

No. When you SAW.

[@ChIGuY-town22_]

At a Soldier Feild show, I started a chant"dose the horse!" This went from a small group to thousands of people in a minute 🤣 😂 😅 23 shows, and most of those were at the end of the band...what a long strange trip it's been.

[@fatamorgana4318]

I saw that horse! He was tripping balls! 🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎🦄🐎

[@Lobosank]

Those were the days my friend...😊

[@tncorgi92]

... we thought they'd never end...

[@stephenhenion8304]

Oh yeah!💐🔥🌷💥💥🎩🎃

[@phillipphinney206]

Never to be seen again. .

[@stephenhenion8304]

From April 1975 till 1983.... we saw them when ever they came thru... down here in Connecticut..probably 20 shows all together... New Haven Colesium is GONE!! The first Hartford Civic Center "It snowed so hard that the roof caved in"... but i picked up my guitar, and i cannot put it down... Cuz the Music Plays the Band!

[@timothyedsall9424]

I saw them well over 400 times. Loved every day of it

[@jerseyguy1274]

Loved your show at Parx in Bensalem. Have a wonderful retirement. God bless you!

[@phredrolltek]

One of the most amazing shows I've been to was in the summer of '83' at Merriweather Post (MD). Violent thunderstorms and the band was paying right along. The next day was mud slide city.

[@juliemccaslin6141]

Ok... I seen the Dead 82 times. 3 shows; Friday thru Sunday... and a different set each night. A lot of shows were camping shows too... Bill Graham would ride a little scooter 🛵 thru the campgrounds chatting with us campers... I still have set lists written on napkins, a few empty match books and paper plate... with the venue and date as well. We mail ordered for our tickets. Each time they played Irvine Meadows our tix were orchestra pit Friday night. Orchestra section Saturday and Sunday be back in the pit... Met some great people who are very close friends now. Good times had by all. Nothing left to do but smile smile smile 🎶

[@Chris-kf8mx]

Grateful Dead is a healing experience. Good observation.

[@richardsiciliano7117]

There are so many examples of Grateful Dead voodoo that I wonder if it should be studied in classrooms. They were playing "Fire on The Mountain" when Mt St Helens erupted ffs.

[@brianshields985]

Mt St Helen’s erupted at 9am Pacific time. Noon in the east. Very unlikely the Dead were playing .

[@trainingxtrish]

Saw this show in Boulder on Saturday. So glad I finally saw him live

[@reetglass9748]

I had just spent most of a year running a record store in downtown Denver. Came from Boston with my pal Tony. Some guys from NY showed up at my store the day before that concert because they were informed I knew people who traded Dead tapes across the country. So I went with them to Folsom Field. At that show, one of these guys points to a guy and says, "That's my cousin Willy". So I met Willy (who we sadly have lost) and he was going to college in Boulder. He became one of my best friends. Yes, it was a magic day...the rain that came and left. I'm so glad that show exists to hear!!! After that day, I had made more new Boulder friends and when my store went belly up, I moved up there and began my new life as Boulder hippie/college student. It was a Dead show unique unto itself! By 1973, I could no longer listen to that construction of the band and never found my way back to them or any band that impersonated them. Luckily for me, PUNK arrived and I was saved!

[@michaelcelani8325]

@street. glass...I thought maybe " Twist and Shout" a famous Denver record store...now moved to East Colfax. In Boulder you must have gone to " Albums on the Hill " and the restaurant " The Sink ". Yeah , I lived in Boulder for 35 years had my Stereo business there.

[@NoSacredCowFla]

I was one of those Deadheads a looong time ago. I had a mushroom incident at the Greek in Berkeley you'd enjoy.😂

[@jackcurtin5772]

Let's here

[@matthewatwood8641]

They're a band beyond description.

[@rjbenson9621]

Like Jehovah's favorite choir

[@matthewatwood8641]

@@rjbenson9621 People joining hand in hand While the music plays the band Lord, they're setting us on fire!

[@markbonner1139]

2nd concert(1stFramptom/Yes JFK,Philly)was@Spectrum.1st Dead tho.Best experience EVER.Had a pipe we called 'the magik bowl'.Filled it,passed it,when it got to end of row,my bud passed it the to NEXT ROW.I had a shit fit,oh no my 'magik bowl',out of my sight & GONE FOREVER,oh well!!Deadhead on OTHER side passed me a dubb & basically my bowl was 4gotten about,est la vie right? ½hr.-45min. later, get tap on shoulder, I glance back & lo & behold, there's Mr.Magik Bowl,staring me in the face, smokin like a chimney. Take a toke & it's PREMO MAUI WOWEE!!Passed it 2 my bud,he says "Told ya it'd be back"!!! DEADHEADS R(well,were)THE BEST!!!THANX 4 THE MEMORIES!!!

[@AllanAdamson]

Colorado Springs is a beautiful place

[@michaelcelani8325]

Mr. Tesla moved there in 1910 or so. He did his big electric experiments there trying to transfer current without a wire. Spent years trying...but failed. Still has not been done.

[@aprilkepler1702]

Dancing will break a fever. 💃

[@pac3br]

This was hilarious Lew!!! I just kept laughing and laughing, what a great start to my morning, thank you!❤

[@InService77]

I drove from Atlanta to Uniondale NY for 3 shows in '85. By the end of the first night I was getting sick and had a fever. Being 21 I dropped acid for the second show danced all night, and I was healthy again by the end of the show - not what I expected, but I was grateful.

[@howlinhobbit]

I went to half a Grateful Dead show at Seattle Center’s indoor concert venue. everybody was rocking on and it suddenly got silent. I looked up and someone’s guitar cable was still swinging back and forth like they’d just set it down. I was flabbergasted at how fast the band had vanished. now the entire audience is getting up and heading for the concourse that circled the auditorium. I thought the show was over, so once I hit the concourse I headed for the exit. dude at the door says, “you know, once you exit you can’t get back in.” I’m thinking duh! why would I want to? so I listened to the second half of the show from my van in the parking lot across the street. did I mention I’d engaged in a little amateur mycology prior to the concert?

[@geargeekpdx3566]

i lived up the hill from there and apart from the terrible view from any part of the outdoor stage, the sound was much better from outside the stadium than inside and I heard everyone from Soundgarden to Elliot Smith and Death Cab and many others from my porch up the hill in Queen Anne

[@D-Fens_1632]

My story is kinda similar but worse, except it was just a DSO show. Was my first time seeing them in Feb 2001 and I knew the show they were playing well. So during the "meh" encore when my buddy suggested a head start to the car I said sure. I didn't know they often did their own elective encores after the one of the show they "recreated." We were pissed our other buddy took 30 minutes to get to the car. It was because we missed a big Dark Star>Mind Left Body Jam, etc encore sequence. As a Deadhead I always assumed a 2 set format should be expected, but that one threw me for a loop. Though I've since listened to it and it was just a cover band Dark Star, and fairly rushed being an encore.

[@JB-Deadskins]

I was at the 9/3/88 show where they played the only electric Ripple ever as the second encore after One More Saturday Night. After the show we went out to the parking lot where the vendors were all kicking themselves for leaving early to set up when they heard OMSN 😅

[@D-Fens_1632]

9/3/72 is one of my favorite Other Ones, in my top 3 of the year. Great show.

[@judyknapp3489]

It was good to see you in Modesto 😂

[@tomknoblauch5164]

,I forgot about the band asking us to dance. Thanks for the memories.

[@jeffshadow2407]

I have over 240 Jerry Garcia ties. Got the first one in 1994.

[@jackcade68]

I saw the magic first hand. During a show at JFK in Philly in July the temps were near 100° and the sun was beating down. During their song 'looks like rain' it clouded over and a welcome rain squall passed through and cooled us off noticably. When the song was over so was the rain.

[@larrymarkowitz8386]

Nothing will ever beat an ultralight circling a beautiful blue sky in the middle of Birdsong in Oxford Plains, Me. Ever.

[@billh.1940]

The dead! Come for the acid, stay for the music!

[@mikegalvin9801]

I had just started my freshman year at CU - Sept 72. My new roommate had some windowpane and off we went. I had gone to a small private high school and considered a couple of small liberal arts schools for college. Going through the check in process I'd wondered if I hadn't made a mistake coming to this huge place. But that day I decided - No, this is Home now!

[@dagger6467]

And that sums up my Greatful Dead experience. Foxboro, MA, Worcester, MA, Orchard Park, NY and East Rutherford, NJ.

[@Carlito_Sway]

As someone who has seen a LOT of Dead shows, it is the “same shit”- i.e., magic every night! I’ve been at a show at Deer Creek where I swear Mickey Hart was controlling the weather. I’m an agnostic, a professional scientist, a great believer in logic and reason, and what the Grateful Dead could do on stage is beyond my knowing- to paraphrase Arthur C Clarke, it may be technology, but it is sufficiently advanced that it’s indistinguishable from magic!

[@joefilter2923]

It was definitely not magic every night! “We pay the teller off in gold, But he cannot be bought or sold.”

[@pdwalker6072]

That was a magical concert.I was there 👍

[@jerrycallender9352]

1992-1993 I was driving a friend from Tucson to the Phoenix airport and the Dead were playing in a field off I 10 the cars were backed up over 2 miles from the exit.

[@danielpenney1455]

Something you apparently don't understand. The Dead played unique sets at every stand of shows, and even when we went to another stand of shows we weren't gonna see the same versions of songs. Every instance was an experiment that was influenced by circumstances, the crowd, etc. Why else would we go to hundreds of shows? :)

[@jeffsilverman6104]

Exactly. It's the main thing that defines the Grateful Dead, that people who've never seen them will ever understand. Three shows? Three different sets. The guys themselves, didn't even know how the night would go until it started happening. A nice Dark Star into Wharf Rat into China/Rider is something that might have only happened once every few blue moons. I miss those days.

[@markw9512]

‘Twas a joke, man.

[@anthonyrichardson343]

Yes and no ,they had a rotation basically every 3 shows, and would work in a different song from time to time,.After the break in 75,they became a different but equally amazing band

[@richardsiciliano7117]

Take it easy, brother. It's just a joke. Overall, this is a pretty positive view of the band.

[@danielpenney1455]

@@richardsiciliano7117 I'm totally easy. Did you miss the smile that I ended my post with?

[@bobthomas4651]

Every show is different even thou they may play the same music. The music plays the band. And the people bring the energy. I miss the whole wonderful greatful experience. I had the same thing happen in Eugene or. It was raining before the shows and stopped after the shows where all over it started raining again. What a weekend.

[@patrickhackett3878]

Got a fever? Share it with 50,000 people!

[@saulorocha3755]

Even the fever couldn’t stand The Dead!

[@dverygrateful1]

They are special!

[@NebulizerChi]

It did lend itself to taking on a Field of Dreams/Merry Old Land of Oz quality. Weir said that when they were living in that house in L.A. in '66 (and Owsley was upstairs making acid), they were dealing with phenomena like telepathy on an everyday basis. I only tell my own story to trusted confidants lest I be taken for a nutcase ---but it really did happen...

[@anthonymalovrh2912]

Was in Boulder for a few hours in June 1976, probably not as high as you were.

[@johnr.8275]

The only time the sun came out during the freezing, foggy and rainy weekend of the Bickershaw Festival in Wigan, England in May of 1972 was when the Dead came onstage Sunday to close out the festival. Wavy Gravy once called them "the rainbow makers", and I don't think he was wrong.

[@ChristopherDonegan-n6m]

Yep, totally saw a rain storm happen during “looks like rain” at my last show in ‘94. Well, it was in Eugene, Oregon. We’ll call it a parlor trick

[@arthurburlington8994]

I love it lewis

[@FaradayBananacage]

"Why the fuck don't I live in Boulder?" says everyone ever.

[@bobbyrichardson7377]

Nothing like a Grateful Dead show back then.

[@valedslinger6290]

Took my vacations for years to follow the show from Greensboro to Nyc or Nassau. Maybe didnt hear the same song. Lol. They got more songs than anyone.

[@bobthomas4651]

How about the Las Vegas lighting show. I forgot the dates. Anyone remember that?

[@observer7418]

Richfeild Ohio 91' Beautiful day a few clouds in the sky. Nice out, cool not too hot. And some guy I'd seen at other shows, a tall, long red haired never wore a shirt in his life hippie, points up over the stadium and yells "look everybody! Its a Rainbow!!" the parking lot erupted with a wave of cheers and sure enough there was a fucking rainbow!, over the stadium on a beautiful sunny day out in the lot. MAGIC

[@dyrwolf]

Richfield shows always delivered. The 91 run was hot

[@walterlippmann6292]

I didn't know this guy was still alive

[@karlhungus1569]

Good...except for one thing: The Grateful Dead never played "the same shit"

[@sideshowbob]

Well the shows became very rigidly formatted in structure, with songs appearing only in their designated "slot", after the spring of 1978. Even Bruce Hornsby was disappointed with this when he played with them in 1990/1991.

[@karlhungus1569]

Valid point sir@@sideshowbob

[@AllanAdamson]

it is always that way, your favorite band is playing & you're sick as a dog...

[@joesphschramm3754]

Was anyone in Boulder the day Garcia died? I wasn't a deadhead. But the deadheads came out that day. My friend, Tong, played drums for about 12hrs straight while I just ran around getting people high. News crews were all down on Pearl St. This old dude, Reverend Friendly did some speach that touched everyone. Man I'm glad I never got into the Dead.

[@cameronholt1916]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@SmokeyTreats]

I went to this show, they played for 6 hours. They also supplied the entire audience with killer Panama Red weed. They set up on the 50 yard line & played to half the stadium which was completely full. In fact a guy fell off the top back wall & died when he landed on a parked car. Me & a couple friends snuck back behind the stage & they had around 50 Weber grills each full to the max with Filet Mignons for their Dead Heads. Only saw two cops there. Long haired students with Boulder Uni shirts on were security & each one carried a large full grocery bag stapled shut along the top. Around an hour into the show we saw one of them tossing bags of weed to different areas, then another, etc until the whole crowd had some nearby. The guy in front of me caught the bag for our area & he let me look at it. Huge 1.5 oz bag with two packs of Big Bambu papers inside. The reddest weed I'd ever laid eyes on, had to be Panama Red. Nuthin but big ole buds. Killer pot! Great show except for the downpour.

[@rickyaughinbaugh6780]

I was carried in passed out on top of a cooler after partying all night. Rallied up for show. Was with my friend Craig right by guy who went over wall, never knew if I really saw that happen, thanks for verifying. I gave told stories about that and the weed tossed to us but most people don't think I was truthing , if you weren't there I can see were you might think oops too high. Maybe but it was real.and to mark I always believed 50,000 volts from the music most definitely .

[@SmokeyTreats]

@rickyaughinbaugh6780 Right on man! Thanks for your post.

[@SHaTRO11]

When I left the Louis Black show in Modesto (yeah, Modesto was the puncture) the last song they played on the speakers was Good Lovin rate outtake from Workingman's Dead. So weird. The Dead definitely were in sync with the weather.

[@richierugs6544]

they probably played Here comes the rain into Wake of the flood

[@sideshowbob]

There were several instances of them playing "rain songs" during downpours then "sun songs" when the sun came out at outdoor gigs. A Eugene OR show in June 94, Pittsburgh June 95, somewhere in summer of 73.

[@richierugs6544]

i am well aware--juba juba holey moley@@sideshowbob

[@jamesomahoney2181]

You can see them a dozen times in a row.. and never hear same jam twice.. it looks like rain feels like rain..

[@Eric777-r1h]

No they didn't play the same shit, that is why we followed them, different sets every show 😁😁😁

[@sideshowbob]

Within a very rigid "format" post spring 78

[@Eric777-r1h]

@@sideshowbob fair enough.

[@joefilter2923]

It was definitely not magic every night! “We pay the teller off in gold, But he cannot be bought or sold.”

[@briangriffin5524]

I couldn't give a shit about Lewis Black, in the long run. 😂

[@bigtoepapa]

I can confirm❤

[@66_Stella_Blue]

Bob Weir controls the weather.

[@joanclawser5990]

Your fever broke from the pot. It has antipyretic properties (fever reduction or quelling). So it wasn’t voodoo from the band, just the voodoo that you do so well. 😁

[@edbail4399]

NO

[@emmerfarro]

He is not kidding about the Grateful Dead / weather channeling phenomena. He is serious. You would have had to have been there before Garcia passed on, not after.

[@SoFloCo-ne4rk]

Short version: It rained. Then it stopped.

[@brianm7278]

Tripping balls, no doubt.

[@AllanAdamson]

one time in Green Bay Wisconsin it was raining & it was ruining my day so I asked it to go away & I don't know if it was timing or God but then the sun came out & it all went away

[@Saturday8pm]

“That’s not supposed to happen”. Yes, it CAN happen here. ✌️

[@direwolf6234]

Lewis saw the bus .. but clearly wasn't on it ...

[@MarkDemarest]

🤘💀

[@RandallGrubbs-r6h]

We call that a party! 🙃

[@beonthebrightside]

Dude definitely does not get the Dead!!

[@stephenwelsch4728]

All 2000 shows they have played were different which is why people chased the dead. They never played a song the same way twice and there is not a single setlist played in the same order. Not to mention they are still playing shows and they are still not the same.

[@hazelmoore4754]

I think Jerry would appreciate this story..he didn't care if you saw one show or a million..he just wanted people to have these kind of experiences 🎸

[@cma4127]

😊

[@patpetersen7645]

Des Moines Ia. fair grounds fathers day, GD with the wall of sound can't rember if it was purple haze or orange sunshine, but it was one wonderful day with a rainbow 🌈 🌈 right over the stage.

[@KOZGERFWAD]

Boy, I haven’t seen Lewis in a long time. I hope he’s doing well.

[@markgigiel2722]

This has got to be one of Lewis' best stories ever.

[@markm3346]

So all the people were able to bring pot inside the stadium?🤔

[@fatamorgana4318]

Tell me you've never seen the Dead without telling me you've never seen the Dead. 😂

[@markm3346]

Seriously! What a tired old joke too.🙄@@fatamorgana4318

[@kimberleyedwards833]

You must have not been going to rock concerts any time between the 60s and 2001. All rock concerts took place in a massive, dense cloud of weed smoke. They didn't "allow" it so much as turn a blind eye and not even attempt to stop it. It was just a given. All the stopping and frisking, checking bags didn't exist prior to 9/11/01. Everybody smoked weed with complete abandon at concerts; ask your parents and grandparents.😉

[@markm3346]

No. I went to plenty. Lewis obviously didn't.@@kimberleyedwards833

[@scottoblander9419]

Bob Weir controls the weather

[@Nizodizo]

The captions are destroying this video.

[@saml302]

if you see the dead play three nights in a row in one venue they won't be repeating songs night to night

[@TTM9691]

"They're playing the same shit". No, that's the reason people were addicted to seeing them every night; they cycled through their whole repertoire (which was huge) before they'd start repeating songs (which would take a couple of weeks).....which made every song/show played have a sense of occasion. Even in the earlier years, when they did repeat songs night to night, they were so open ended and different that it was a completely different show.

[@carycrediford7036]

Who were the Grateful Dead and why did they follow me around all those years 😎✌️🇺🇸

[@LorenRoseman]

There was a serious misstatement; the Grateful Dead played the same shit over and over. They didn’t. It was a huge part of their draw; every concert was different. The end result was if they showed up in one’s town for 3 nights, one could go to all 3 shows and not hear one song repeated- 3 different sets of songs. In addition to their set lists being improvised, their music was highly improvisational. No song was repeated the exact same way especially the long jammy parts. This was utterly contradictory to every other rock band and every rule of the music industry. Typically acts rehearse a set of songs and an act , took that show on the road with little deviation, played the same show over and over. Also, the Grateful Dead did not travel with hair, makeup and wardrobe staff. There was no choreography, extra dancers, and hired gun musicians. What they did bring was best lights and sound available (and the sound system wasn’t about volume but clarity). They brought the lights and sound, the deadheads brought the show. And they were a very psychedelic dance band. Everyone was up and dancing. They also rarely addressed the crowd. There weren’t band introductions, etc. They also allowed and facilitated the recording of their concerts. That was a huge no-no in the music industry. Ultimately, allowing taping turned out to be the greatest free promotional tool in the history of the music industry. Most deadheads found the Dead through an older sibling or a friend with an older sibling by being played these bootleg concert tapes which were freely traded. And since every concert was different, it was worthy of being recorded because anything can and would happen. That also made them one of the most documented bands ever. They were a big middle finger to the music industry. All expectations and cliches of what a live rock concert should be didn’t apply. They were musicians more than entertainers. They broke all of the rules and succeeded on their own terms. However, they didn’t earn their money through record sales, but the old fashioned way of playing live music for live people. Again for most bands, a concert performance was a promotional event to sell more albums, especially a new album. Tours did not even have to make money to be successful if records sales went up accordingly. Live performances were the Dead’s primary source of income with record sales were a minor part of the income. What they became was the slowest rising band ever. They weren’t hit makers or pop stars, they were musicians making their money the hard way. And their popularity snowballed over the decades and by the late 1980’s they’d become the largest concert draw in US history. However, they became too successful for their own good. People who weren’t deadheads started showing up in droves, not to attend her concert (and many did not have tickets or any interest in the music or actually attend the concert) but for the scene outside the concerts. That brought in non-deadheads who were just there to get as wasted as humanly possible and basically cause problems. City after city had to deal with overflow crowds in the thousands and tens of thousands. Basically they became unwelcome in many cities. So an unground band snowballed into the mainstream which became a serious hindrance. I’d bet in 1967 if you asked a Bay Area hippie which SF band would have an uninterrupted 30 year career would become the largest concert attraction in US history, no one would have said the Grateful Dead. Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin and Big brother probably would have topped the list. In hindsight, the Grateful Dead were the least likely band to succeed and yet succeeded and out lived every other band in their time and place. There are lessons to be learned about staying true to yourself, ignoring the naysayers and breaking all of the rules and succeeding on one’s own terms.

[@billphipps453]

they were majic.

[@lsporter88]

🤣🤣😭😭💀

[@utubesux1]

A man should have walked up to him and say.....The sun never sets here.... and just walk away.....