Nice post Jsonic.
The job of Dead keyboard is a dangerous one indeed. Almost like selling your life for a few good years.
My "era" for seeing shows began in the late 70's but most were 1981-1987. I've seen/herd the "post Jerry" gigs and the thing I miss most is Jerry's voice! I understand the "lost his voice" comments but I don't think his voice lost its soul. I really missed his overall musicianship post stroke. He kind of played like he was imitating himself if you know what I mean.
My best shows were in the early 80's when the Dead was out of fashion and you could get a great seat in a small hall. I saw so many shows in intimate settings I just couldn't bring myself to go to many after the large venue thing became the norm. My absolute best show was Vaneta, OR the summer of 82 with the Pranksters and Robert Cray opening and the '81 (or was it 80) show in Portland when Mt. St. Helens blew during Fire on the Mt. The middle night of a three night run of Jerry and John Kahn at the South Eugene Auditorium in 82 was pretty amazing too. Jerry stopped playing at one time and there was absoute silence for what seemed like several minutes...like the entire audience was in a trance. He quipped "pretty quiet out there" and the usual song requests and background noise started up.
I am grateful for the Dick's picks, archive.org and my rig for helping me remember the amazing times... I threw away all of my poor sounding concert tapes and only listen to the good stuff now.
The job of Dead keyboard is a dangerous one indeed. Almost like selling your life for a few good years.
My "era" for seeing shows began in the late 70's but most were 1981-1987. I've seen/herd the "post Jerry" gigs and the thing I miss most is Jerry's voice! I understand the "lost his voice" comments but I don't think his voice lost its soul. I really missed his overall musicianship post stroke. He kind of played like he was imitating himself if you know what I mean.
My best shows were in the early 80's when the Dead was out of fashion and you could get a great seat in a small hall. I saw so many shows in intimate settings I just couldn't bring myself to go to many after the large venue thing became the norm. My absolute best show was Vaneta, OR the summer of 82 with the Pranksters and Robert Cray opening and the '81 (or was it 80) show in Portland when Mt. St. Helens blew during Fire on the Mt. The middle night of a three night run of Jerry and John Kahn at the South Eugene Auditorium in 82 was pretty amazing too. Jerry stopped playing at one time and there was absoute silence for what seemed like several minutes...like the entire audience was in a trance. He quipped "pretty quiet out there" and the usual song requests and background noise started up.
I am grateful for the Dick's picks, archive.org and my rig for helping me remember the amazing times... I threw away all of my poor sounding concert tapes and only listen to the good stuff now.