That's It For The Other One

Another oldie, from 9/21/93

For The Faithful

Neon circles dance on the ceiling, mingling with each other and casting shadows as they cross the girders. Crosshatched patterns mingle below, highlighting the faces of the crowd. The lights spiral and blend, as on stage more designs pulsate on randomly-shaped screens, first suggesting clouds, then drops of water.

At some shows, huge television screens fill with animation and computer graphics, such as the band members' faces morphing into each other. Multicolored tapestries drape the edges of the stage, and lights pour onto the players, creating moods, reinforcing beats, blazing as they reflect off polished instruments.

The lights at a Dead show are thrilling, fantastic. But they are only a small aspect of the experience. The cliche, 'there's nothing like a Grateful Dead concert,' is very true. Many Deadheads will admit that they weren't truly taken with the Dead until they saw a show. True, readily-available concert tapes allow one to get the gist of what it can be like. But nothing prepares you for the excitement, the emotions of the crowd, the actual event.

Visually, a Dead show is exhilarating. The light show is one of the best in the business, with constantly changing special effects. Special lights and lenses allow for shapes to be projected, for light to be blended in unusual ways, for precise areas to be lit in subtly blending, changing colors. On stage, the band stands on oriental carpets, and just the spread of instruments and players is impressive. Two guitar players, a bass player, two drummers, and a keyboardist provide a vast panorama for the eyes, not to mention an almost unbelievable range and intensity of sound. In the crowd, one sees clothes of every color, balloons floating above, glow sticks being twirled, and a wide variety of smiling faces of all ages.

The main draw to a show, of course, is the sound. Unlike some bands that simply recap the hits off their latest album, with old standbys thrown in (and play those same standbys at nearly every show in every town), the Dead play a wide variety of songs, both their own and classic covers, changing the lineup every night. They easily go for half a dozen shows without repeating a single song, and it's not like they just start the cycle over at that point. No, they keep pulling out different songs, trying new angles on favorites, dusting off tunes that they haven't played for decades, working in a number from some band you never expected the Dead to cover...All the time, veteran Heads try to guess what will be next in the lineup--and sometimes succeed.

And the way they play! Six musicians- talents honed through more than a quarter-century of playing together- constantly playing in and around each others' melodies, like a half dozen soloists jamming at once yet still creating a unified whole. They hew finely crafted melodies, reach for the edges of the musical envelope, experiment with new sounds and new ways of putting sounds together. In recent years, with the advent of MIDI and other electronic tools, the lead guitar can now sound like a saxophone, while the keyboardist saws at a fiddle...meanwhile the drummers use sophisticated computers as well as traditional drums and percussion instruments from many other cultures to create a lively rhythm which provides a background for the other players.

Sometimes labeled an 'acid rock' band, or viewed as some relic of the sixties, the Dead are in fact one of the more innovative major bands of the nineties. Their music comes from all sources: rock, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, reggae, and all the less easily-defined genres. They cover songs by, among others, Willie Dixon, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bo Diddley, Harry Belafonte, Eric Clapton, Merle Haggard, Buddy Holly, Suzanne Vega...the list goes on and on, and includes many traditional songs whose authors are lost in the mists of time. And not to drop more names, but they have played with, among others, Bruce Hornsby, Clarence Clemons, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, the Beach Boys, the Allman Brothers, Etta James, the Blues Brothers, Kitaro, the Neville Brothers, Santana, Olatunji, and Janis Joplin.

The Dead are not mere imitators, however. They have written hundreds of their own songs, and continue to add half a dozen each year. Again, the songs include all styles, and are rarely repeated in a run of shows. One unusual aspect of the Dead's musical style is that they often blend songs together, not pausing to confer on setlists or shout banal jokes at the audience. They pick up strands of the rhythm, or similarities in time, and slowly weave them together, emerging in a new song. Sometimes the combinations are predictable, sometimes surprising. It's just one more element of a Dead show that draws music lovers of all tastes and ages.  

Flashback

from 4/6/1993

Do The Dead Live?

"Why do those people follow the Grateful Dead everywhere? Why do they spend so much time seeing the same show over and over?"

This question is heard a lot whenever the subject of the Dead comes up. Like so many other questions related to this long-running musical phenomenon, this one is not conducive to a brief answer. There is so much involved, so many different factors and influences on those who enjoy the music of this band of artists who have been playing together for more than twenty-five years.

Let's start with the 'scene,' that is, the environment of a Grateful Dead show. Of course this varies from place to place; the 'scene' at a small outdoor venue in the country-side can be much different from that at a stadium in Pittsburgh or Chicago. But much is the same.

It starts as you approach the entrance to the site. People walk along the roads offering shirts for sale, waving a sign or fingers in supplication for tickets, or just hoofing it to the show. Almost all are smiling. On the road you will see a lot of Volkswagen Buses, the ultimate concert-going vehicle: compact but roomy, dependable (and easy to fix,) and the next best thing to an RV when you're camping. There are also old school buses, vans, and a few gas-guzzling land cruisers. But most of the crowd arrives in cars you might see anywhere in the country: mainly small, fuel efficient hatchbacks and wagons.

The parking lot becomes a combination market, tailgate party, and traveling circus. Anything you might need is for sale: food, drink, blankets, cigarettes, and assorted Deadhead paraphernalia such as T-shirts, crystals, cassette covers, stickers, and anything else creative people can make. Walking through the crowd you might hear drumbeats in the next row, where a group of musicians, dancers, and listeners partake of the muse. There are dogs, loving the attention of thousands of gentle people. Friends greet each other with genuine affection, whether they last saw each other years ago or the night before. There are cookouts, hacky-sack games, and all the accouterments of a huge block party.

The people...well, the people are hard to describe. There is no dress code, no requirement for admission as a Deadhead. The crowd is mostly young adults, but ages range from one to one hundred. Many are students; others are doctors, lawyers, blue-collar workers, artists... All are treated as equals, and as a rule everyone helps out everyone else. Dress is casual and functional; no need for a tie here, though tie-dyes are the closest thing to a uniform. No two tie-dyes are alike, though, and that is symbolic of the spirit of individuality that pervades the scene. Every person is equal, and important, and valued.

All are joined together by a knowledge that they are here to see the best band in the world, and take part in an event based on respect, love and understanding. By the time they get into the venue itself, all are full of excitement and expectation. 'There's nothing like a Grateful Dead show!'

The Music

One question Deadheads hear a lot is 'How can you follow a band around, hearing the same songs?' Well, that's one of the reasons the Dead have such a loyal following: you don't hear the same songs every night. In a quarter century of playing, the Dead have built a repertoire that includes hundreds of original songs, as well as covers of classic blues tunes, traditional bluegrass ballads, and all sorts of rock songs. No matter what genre you're most fond of, you're sure to hear it from the Dead eventually.

Not only is the variety of songs huge, but they're never played the same way twice. In the tradition of jazz improvisation, the Dead can approach a tune from infinite angles. And of course, there's always 'space' and 'drums,' entities that might loosely be called instrumental solos but are more like meandering trips through the musical palette of experienced artists. The band members are always trying new things, exploring the edges of the instruments and their own imaginations. True, some nights it degenerates into somewhat aimless playing, but other times the band pulls amazing sounds and patterns from thin air. On these nights it seems everyone is awed into silence by the force of the music, as if the crowd were on a ship sailing into new worlds.

Music is a force that can release our energy, our emotions, some say our souls. And a truly great Grateful Dead show brings the music to life. At times the notes seem to radiate from the crowd, which undulates to beats not always consciously perceived. The music can unite people, transcend barriers.

Even on a more prosaic level, the music is often uplifting. The musicians and lyricists who write the songs are masters of their art. Sometimes the words tell an archetypical love story, as in 'High Time':

You told me good-bye/ How was I to know

You didn't mean goodbye/ You meant please don't let me go.

Some tell a simple yet eloquent narrative:

Me and my uncle went riding down

South Colorado, West Texas bound

We stopped over in Santa Fe,

That bein' the point just about halfway

And you know it was the hottest part of the day.

(Me and My Uncle)

Or describe a moment in time with understated accuracy, as in 'Scarlet Begonias':

...Not a chill to the winter/ But a nip to the air.

Many songs have intense mystical overtones:

Once in a while you can get shown the light

In the strangest of places if you look at it right.

(Scarlet Begonias)

Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings..

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own...

Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone

Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.

(Eyes of the World)

Or statements of personal conviction:

Sure don't know what I'm goin' for

But I'm gonna go for it it's for sure.

(St. of Circumstance)

Some let us into the mind of the songwriter:

Let my inspiration flow, in token lines suggesting rhythm

That will not forsake me till my tale is told and done...

The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice

His job is to shed light, and not to master

(Terrapin Station)

Contrary to some people's expectations of 'sixties' music, only a few have political themes:

A peaceful place, or so it looks from space

A closer look reveals the human race...

So the kids they dance and shake their bones

While the politicians throwing stones

Singing ashes, ashes all fall down...

And the whole world full of petty wars

Singing "I got mine and you got yours."

(Throwing Stones)

Some, frankly, are all but indecipherable at first listen...or tenth:

Eight-sided whispering hallelujah hatrack

Seven-faced marble eye transitory dream doll

(The Eleven)

Look for a while at the China Cat Sunflower

proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun

Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono

Like a crazy-quilt star gown through a dream night wind

(China Cat Sunflower)

Dark star crashes, pouring its light into ashes

Reason tatters, the forces tear lose from the axis

Searchlight casting for faults in the clouds of delusion

Shall we go, you and I while we can?

Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds

(Dark Star)

After a good show, people wander out in a daze, not quite sure that the world of the parking lot is the real world. Tapes of previous shows, which, unlike many bands, the Dead allow to be recorded, play throughout the lot. The scene is similar to that before the show, but with a more mellow aspect. Everyone is worn out from dancing their hearts out during the show.

So, in summation, why is a Dead show different than any other concert? The uniqueness of the music (and the audience)...there's nothing in the world like a Grateful Dead show, and as the saying goes: They're not the best at what they do--they're the only ones who do what they do.

On The Road Again

I never thought I'd go to another Dead show. But here they are, announcing a series of shows this summer. The last ones, for real. I haven't been for twenty years, not counting spinoffs like the Furthur Festival and the tribute band Dark Star Orchestra.  Hopefully soon my SASE with intricately detailed, mail-order-only tickets will arrive.

It's a band that started before I was born, and kept the ideals of the '60s alive up to now. Freedom, wonder, community, possibilities. I kind of grew up with the Dead in my teens and twenties, so I absorbed those ideals. Thankfully I still have all that; I have had an interesting life, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future. I've found an amazing partner to explore life with, and music is just one of the aspects of life that we both love.

I started listening to them in high school, but much more in college. I remember my first show, just outside Columbus. I went to shows in my Beetle, and then my Bus. Camped out in the Bus to get tickets; never really camped at a show. Guess I like my creature comforts. The scene was always interesting. People wandering almost at random. Someone selling veggie kabobs, another selling mystery meat. Someone selling silk-screened shirts out of a backpack. A guy with a cooler saying “Pop!” Or maybe something else... The hissing of balloons being filled.

Once I went with my brother, but our tickets turned out to be fake and we never got in. Went with Mom once, and she knew more people there than I did. And now I get to go with Miss Mox. I think she'll have fun. She'll be amused by hippies young and old, and by me dancing. I know she'll like going to Chicago...

To me, the Grateful Dead are American music at its finest. Good guitar playing and drumming, great lyrics. All of the American genres: rock, blues, country, jazz, bluegrass. I was introduced to a lot of legendary musicians through them.  They play a lot of covers in their own unique style, which I appreciate in any band.  Add to that the crowd scene and the fact that you could go to several concerts in a row and never hear the same songs, and it's always a fun experience.

I'm not sure what it'll be like, since things have changed so much. It'll be a huge crowd. The guys are around 70; might not be as energetic... The scene outside will be different. The mellow anarchy of the parking lot diminished with Furthur, and is pretty much gone now. But who knows?

I still listen to them almost daily, thanks to satellite radio. I still have Dead stickers on my cars. Generally when I wear a tie it's a Garcia tie. It's part of my DNA now. I've talked about them before, and will again. In fact, I found some things I wrote while they were still touring, so I'll post them in the next few days.

The Conservative Mindset, Part 1 of 496

Someone once told me, long ago, "you'll get more conservative as you get older."  I've always been conservative on some issues, liberal on others.  And I've changed some over time on a few of them.  You know, like a living, thinking human being should.  But overall I haven't gotten more conservative.  One thing keeping me from being more conservative is seeing the batshit craziness coming out of so many conservatives.  We can talk about how high taxes should be, what interventions overseas are necessary (if any,) whatever.  But conservatives as a whole, politicians and individuals, have pushed me away because so many of their positions are simply irrational, not based on facts or on just thinking about issues and coming to different conclusions.

In fact, the older I get, the more I think conservatives just don't live in the real world.  Hey, fantasy is great.  Ideals are great.  Principles are great.  I buy into the American dream, to some extent.  I think our country's entrepreneurial spirit and independent streak are great.  But we live in the real world.  I wish charities and churches could cover all the needs in this country.  They can't, though.  I wish police only shot people who absolutely deserved it, never unnecessarily.  I wish that were all true.  It's not.  We need laws, regulations, taxes, and common sense (for example, don't have the police investigate themselves, like the fox watching the hen-house.)  And we can change laws if need be.  But we live in the real world.  There are other people to compromise with, other governments to deal with, disasters to plan for and recover from.  I think most conservatives assume liberals don't want to work hard, etc.  Which is bullshit, and shows their disconnect from reality.  There are plenty of entrepreneurial liberals, religious liberals, etc.  They live in the real world and deal with problems that are there.  Not just what they want the world to be.  Conservatives make a lot of noise about what they want (everyone to be like them, in a nutshell) but they don't make much effort to improve things in the real world.  I see a few of them try occasionally, and it is nice. But it is noteworthy because it is rare...

Another thing- they tend to look back on their childhood as paradise.  And a lot of childhoods are good.  Mine was.  But they assume that their childhood experience applies to everybody; that it was universal.  Just as they assume their religion applies to everybody.  Partly it's nostalgia. But not everyone's childhood was the same.  Or good; but even if it was good, it's still not the same.  "We didn't have these boom and bust cycles." But we did Maybe not as much in the '50s.  But definitely in the '30s, '40s, a bit of the '50s, '60s, etc.  We just had a big one, but not as big as the Great Depression.  They grew up with stability, and expect life to always be like that, and everyone's life to have been like that.  That's not normal.  And it is narrow-minded.  Anything outside of what they grew up with is abnormal. This idea that your experiences apply to everyone else? Guess what: they don't.  I don't assume my childhood was like everyone else's, or that my spiritual views should apply to everyone else. But conservatives do.  "When I was a kid..."I wasn't raised that way..." So what?  Those are your views, and your experiences, not the way the world is or should be.

Hm.  It feels like I'm working on a Unified Theory of Conservatism.  Trying to wrap all the craziness up in one package, and explain why they are the way they are.  It's hard to do; there are so many random strands of vitriol and delusion, so much ignorance and deception, that it'll be hard to stuff it all into one box.  I'll
give it another shot sometime soon.

Another John

Don't know where I first heard John Prine, but as usual it was probably on the local NPR station.  He does some funny songs, and some sad ones.  Nothing fancy, usually just him and a guitar.  He's been playing music for more than forty years, and has influenced lots of musicians but never had a big hit. But I always enjoy hearing him, so I thought I'd share.  You might have heard the silly "Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" or a spoof country song he wrote, "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" ("You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'.")  Or even his song about aging, "Hello In There."



Dear Abby- Remember Dear Abby?  She used to be in all the newspapers.  Remember newspapers?  Anyway, this one is amusing.




Sam Stone (There's a Hole in Daddy's Arm)- One of the sadder songs I've ever heard.




Big Old Goofy World- This one just makes me smile.  Maybe that's just because I'm goofy.




Illegal Smile- "A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down, and won."

Two wrongs don't make a right. But the first one is still wrong.

Okay, I'll try to keep this simple: Killing cops is wrong.  Killing unarmed civilians is wrong.  Both are true; one doesn't negate the other.  Pointing out that police brutality is bad does not mean that someone thinks all cops are bad.  Don't tell me all civilian deaths are justified.  "Shooting a kid with a cap gun before stopping the car was justified."  Just don't.  "But he was a big kid!"  Yes, we live in America, some people are pretty darn big.  "It could have been a real gun!"  Yes, maybe; did you check?  If it was okay to kill anyone with a toy gun, most boys my age wouldn't have made it past 10 years old.  People are acting out revenge now.  There are crazies on both sides.  It has to stop.  And the NYPD can start to act like adults instead of babies; they don't want to do their jobs because people are (correctly) pointing out that one of them made a mistake?  I thought they were professionals.  Clearly, they are brats.

And then there's the whole "Not just black lives matter" backlash.  "All lives matter!"  Yes, indeed, all lives do matter.  That's the point!  It seems some forget, or don't care, that black lives matter.  Bringing that up doesn't mean white lives don't matter, that latino lives don't matter.  I can't believe I have to explain that.  It's just counteracting what's been going on, and hopefully raising awareness.  Maybe getting people to think a bit, feel for others, act decently. I have to say, observing the cruelty and ignorance of police "supporters," that I don't think any awareness is being raised.  Guess what?  You can't be a better person if you just don't want to be.  I'd like to see a bit of maturity, of decency, of sympathy and empathy on this issue.  I guess that's asking for too much.

I mean, come on, people.  What kind of country are we creating?  Conservatives want to take the country back to the '50s, apparently.  But it'll be even worse than that.  It's justified now to kill kids with toy guns?  Is that what we really want?  People are so cold.  It would be okay if your kid were playing in the alley, and someone shot him?  It's okay to choke someone to death, while he says he can't breathe?  Having asthma makes it justifiable?  Really?  Not horrific?  And conservatives wonder why people view them as cold-hearted bastards.  It makes me lose faith in humanity.  Or at least the possible existence of "compassionate conservatives."