SHARING THE SHOWS
When I heard about the band Better Off Dead, my first thought was, “Where’s my two dollars?” But I still dug the band name, and I was happy to finally get out to see my first Dead cover band in over a year, and on the eve of Jerry’s birthday! Since I’m new to the city and not familiar with the DC show scene, I chose on my Weather Report T-shirt, which is always a good conversation starter, on the theory it would make connecting with others easier. And I was right. Quite a few people asked me where I got the T-shirt, and telling the story of its acquisition (the lot at Dead & Company in Bristow back in 2017) helped me get comfortable with the scene. I naively thought people would be wearing masks given the new DC mandate to do so, but I was one of a handful to people to do so indoors. Not my place to say anything, but after a “Dancing in the Street” opener that brought the Cornell 1977 show to mind, I went outside, where I felt freer to let loose, and I felt connected with my musical spirit in a way I hadn’t been since before the pandemic. I also liked the fact that there seemed to be quite a few people who had gone solo; one thing I’ve loved about DC so far is that I won’t be an anomaly if I go to places by myself, one of my favorite introvert activities, when done in moderation. “Halfstep” followed, then “Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Let it Grow,” a slow version of “Friend of the Devil” and “Box of Rain.” They followed with what appeared to be a JGB song that nobody around me had ever heard of, and closed the first set with “I Know You Rider,” sans “China Cat Sunflower.” By this point, I had developed my first permagrin in two years. Maybe it was the contact buzz, maybe it was my reunion with the showgoer part of my identity, maybe a combination of both. But over the past year and a half, I’ve felt a bit like Bart Simpson in “Bart Sells His Soul,” the Simpsons episode in which he, well, sells his soul to his best friend Milhouse for $5 and experiences a crisis where he’s really lost his soul. This evening, I felt like I got it back. I had a brief conversation with a woman named Amii and a longer conversation with a man named John, and although they ended by the beginning of the second set, I felt like I was part of the scene. I can only hope the shows will go on, even with this new Delta variant. But one day at a time. Set Two opened with the missing “China Cat” and followed with another JGB song I didn’t know. “Playin’ in the Band” meshed into “Crazy Fingers” and back into “Playin’.” At that point, my social battery was drained, which time perfectly with the last Metros of the night. Parking is insane by the Waterfront (see JRAD on 9/28/19 for my adventure with Maggie as we tried to find parking for that show, and the insane $45 price). Additionally, since I’ve moved to DC, driving in this general region has brought out the worst aspects of my personality, while riding public transportation has brought out my best. So if a show is accessible by Metro, I’ll jump on it ($8 round trip, as opposed to the aforementioned parking price). Pearl Street Warehouse doesn’t allow backpacks (understandable, as it’s a small venue), so I couldn’t bring a book for the trip, but it allows for some great people-watching. Tonight’s entertainment came from a group of drunken 20something baseball fans who were riding home from the Nationals-Cubs game. One of them looked at my shirt and said, “Weather Report! Chili today, hot tamale?” I told him it was a Grateful Dead thing and he said, “Cool man.” Their general raucousness on the ride back seemed to annoy some people, one of whom moved to the other side of the Metro car, but I was entertained. When I got home, I gorged out on some leftover pizza from Rome Pizza and Sub (they didn’t’ pay for any advertising) and a small package of Chuckles I bought from True Treats Candy in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia after my section hike on the AT. They were my late father’s favorite candy; I couldn’t resist. I’ve been going through some turmoil related to the pandemic, but tonight’s show, while not a cure, gave me some perspective on it (and I feel I got part of my soul back). Here’s hoping for more (though probably outside for the time being)!
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April 2024
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