I think it's so cool that there are so many young people into the band and the vibe. At Broomfield that was one of the best aspects ~ all ages digging on the same music.

doesn't matter when you found it, just that you did!!!

ruby_claire wrote:


Amen to that!

Growing up in the seventies, I was all about "hippie music" and thought bands like the Doors and Moody Blues were the shit. Then prog rock took over me w/ the long extended songs. Then punk with the rebellion of youth. So I was primed but unaware. I knew a few Deadheads, but I was still an alternative boy. Then I lived w/ a CSN head in '87 after I got outta the Navy, we dropped acid and listened to the studio Terrapin and American Beauty and a spark ignited.

When I moved home the winter of '89, all my punk rock buddies were deadheads, talking all this esoteric spiritual stuff and basically blowing my mind. I'd grown the same way at the same time, but they helped me define and compartmentalize what I'd been learning. Started getting shitloads of tapes from them, and devoured each one! Went to the national Rainbow Gathering summer of '90, and basically that's all she wrote.

Brent died, like three months after I "got it," so I had to wait til '91 for my first show. Coming in through the Rainbow Family door, however, was misleading -- and educational. Not all hippies are deadheads, and not all deadheads are hippies, that was the big lesson for me.

Incidentally, if pressed to be labelled, I'd call myself both. All of the above. Something like that!

american beauty got me hooked, friend threw it in my cd player and it was off to the races..couldnt quite categorize a band like that...beyond description

I was born in 66 so I missed the revolution. I have a faint recollection...I may have been 8 or 9 years old and there was something on the tube about a band or something. Such a faint memory but. I can see in my mind what they showed on the tube was some very freaky looking people. Seems I recall as I look back, it was Jerry in his Uncle Sam hat. Could have been a shot of them on the steps of 713 Ashbury. Of course I had no clue. I just recall how I processed the image as a kid. I recognized that they were on the fringe...weird and circus-like. Bizarre.

When I was 10 I heard Hound Dog by Elvis. From there is was all 50's rock for me . Got in to 70's radio pop as it went. Found The Beatles soon after. Then the whole thing...Doors, Stones, Dylan, Led Zep, you know the rest....all the good shit. Took my first trip at 19. Blew me away....read all I could find....Leary, Keasy, Ram Dass., Be Here Now, Watts, Huxley....you know, all that heady shit. The Grateful Dead showed up in the pages of many of the books I was reading. Some of my friends were "becoming" hippies and asking me about the GD. I started listening a little but was not impressed much. Then I started "becoming" hippie. Some of this Dead was sounding pretty good. I was acquiring a taste. In 1990 me and my crazy-ass friend, Billy, moved in to a new pad. On the first night in, we we painting the living room. I had recently purchased Anthem of The Sun on CD. We dropped and continued painting until it got too weird then Billy said "You wanna trip out for a while"? I said sure and so we did. Put the CD in and it rolled from there. Blasted it loud and we were positioned on the front porch when the chasm opened and gaped and the gestalt hit and our reality was disassembled as it flowered like a dragon in the sun of a thousand suns. At that moment the bond was secure.

Lova ya

Interesting how some folks thought they were over the hill in the 1970s, yet folks are still getting into them in the 2010s.

I remember being at paries in 9th and 10th grade (1974/'75) and listening to American Beauty and Workingman's Dead- i liked both albums, and also felt it was a fad- and I was too much a rebel to be into a fad. I didn't know people who were really into them so I always heard studio stuff, never any bootlegs- and never Aoxomoxoa or Anthem of the Sun -or I would have gotten to a show earlier on... Anyway- flash forward- 1980, I was at a street party dancing to Little Feat Waiting for Columbus- and a friend came up and asked me how many Dead shows I'd been to and I said "none." he said- you dance like that and you have never been to a show ? and told me when they came around he would by me a ticket- and they did that year, and he made good on the ticket and i walked in and my brains melted but in a really healthy good happy way....

It was August 2005. Late summer, early evening, beautiful sunday BBQ. My husband was soaking up the late sun and my 3 yr. old daughter was happily playing with water in the yard. My beloved handed me our portable cd player and said "Check this out." It was Franklins Tower off Dicks Picks Vol. 3 Pembroke Pines Fl 5/22/77. The next song he had me listen to was "Eyes" from Without a Net.....I listened to those cds for the next month.

"how many Dead shows I'd been to and I said "none." he said- you dance like that and you have never been to a show ? " love that quote. i got a ticket as a gift from an exgirlfiend ,who went tto the show with me ,it was 1983 @ msg .im at the show bugging out on all the people listening to peole talk about them going to egypt,people getting high all around me.anyway they play St stephen and the place went insane people were jumping up and down hugging going nuts i was like wow this is so cool.ive been hooked since that moment,saw as many shows as i could afford to go to saw them till jerry died that broke my heart so bad i was devastated couldnt listen to it anymore.well this spring i was on Facebok and was checking out dead sites and i hooked up with Deadheadland they were talking bout streaming shows so i gave a listen and felt that twinge in my spine.i got worked up bought tickets to tower 2 nites and radio city 2 nites.first show back guess what ST STEPHEN and we come full circle got tickets for 5 shows this summer, still friends with the girl too

Thought they were a heavy metal band (the name!) until I heard American Beauty, was pleasantly confused, & fell in love with that album. Then drove 8 hours to my first show 6/30/88 Laguna Seca.

In 1971 I was a student nurse living in London in a flat with roomates. We were a motley bunch, my fav. music up till then had been Motown, UK top of the pops stuff, Jimmy Cliff, ska music was popular in England at that time. Also John Mayall & early fleetwood mac, floyd, zep, genesis etc. anyway, some of the folks were into West Coast sound like Airplane, Spirit, Grateful Dead, Zappa, Beefheart and of course Grateful Dead. Anyway, basically Live Dead (American Flag - ACID) was played and played till eventually the songs grew on me. Definately, a creep upon you type music. I particularly enjoyed the way the music could influence your mood and the different time signatures on some of the songs. Then I listened to Aoxomoxa and really started to love their stuff. We also enjoyed the album cover art and endlessly looked for secret pictures!!

In 1972 they came to Wembley where I was fortunate to hear them. Memories are fuzzy but I do recall Bobby with a long ponytail and Pigpen! Next time they came back was around 81 where we saw them at the rainbow theater in London. I dont recall the shows being packed which meant plenty of grooving space. Fun again. I moved to USA around 82 and saw them when they came to a venue near me. Never did a whole tour but never got jaded with them either. As the old adage goes 'there is nothing like a Grateful Dead show'.

I still have those old 33 and a third rpm albums and they still play beautifully!

It is such a joy to be able to see and hear Further... those live streams for the couch tour are totally boss!

much respect and jealousy to anyone who got into em way back when. (much respect to everyone but ya know!)

a friend many years ago; we would take miny road trips and jam to the 77 ithaca show.