SHARING THE SHOWS
As if the four shows I did last week weren’t enough, I did one more. Maggie, a star in this blog’s inaugural post, rode with me to pick up Johnny Mac in Williamsburg before we hit the road. Traffic was rough on the way to Williamsburg (I think they’ve been doing construction on I-64 for about two years now), but we made it. I have this four-disc compliation, 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965-1995, of live Grateful Dead tunes that consists of a live song played each year for all thirty of their years. As we pulled into the Silver Diner just two miles from the venue, we sang the “Scarlet Begonias” from October 3, 1976 at Detroit’s Cobo Arena (I can’t help citing; I just love these little historical tidbits).
The diner reminded me of my youth in New York, going to diners for meals with family, as well as at 4 a.m. after many late nights out with friends. I had a chicken sandwich with fries; perfect preshow carb load. The little jukebox had tunes from the 50s and 60s, such as “Mr. Sandman,” “Love Potion No. 9” and the pre-psychedelic Beatles. As we’re playing on our phones, Maggie said, “I think we need Mark here.” Mark is arguably the most extroverted of our tribe; conversation never stalls with him around. Anyway, Thanks to Johnny’s handicapped sticker, we were able to park super close to the venue. It’s not a very popular one among us Deadheads. The venue banned Shakedown. Shakedown essentially consists of booths selling wares like jewelry, T-shirts, food, and, ummm, devices. It’s also as corporate-looking a landscape as you can find. My whole attitude: beggars can’t be choosers. On the way into the show, we ran into people we know, including Billy, Evan, Ken, Dawn, Ivan, John "Trip," and a bunch of others who sorta blur together for me. So we found our spot stage left. A couple of Johnny’s friends were “stage right” as we found later, and I had to mention that “stage left” and “stage right” are the directions used when you’re on the stage facing the audience. I have Ms. Fialkoff, a prominent figure from my high school theater days, to thank for teaching me that one. J Dark Star Orchestra is a Grateful Dead tribute that reenacts Dead shows in their entirety, note-for-note. Part of the fun is trying to guess what show they’re playing, which you can do in a heartbeat if you Google something like “shows that started with Foolish Heart” into your phone. I prefer to keep guessing until the end, but that’s just me. Anyway, they opened with “Foolish Heart.” My first guess was late 1980s at the earliest. “New Minglewood Blues” was next. The following dialogue ensued: Rob Eaton: There’s tea right here in Richmond Me: Hey, they said our town’s name! “Blow Away” is beautiful, and the first time I had seen it performed live. “So Many Roads,” “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” and “Bird Song” are meditative. The band closed the first set with “Man Smarter, Woman Smarter.” I do fully believe women are smarter; it’s actually based in science, which I explained to Maggie on the drive home later that night. During setbreak, “Respect” and “Liberty” played over the loudspeakers as a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who passed away that morning. The second set opened with “Here Comes Sunshine.” I observed that the Grateful Dead crowd is a lot more mellow than the Phish crowd. Many hula hoops in the audience, but no glowsticks. “Keep on Growing” grooved, as did “Corrina” (I’m in the minority on this one, but I LOVE that 90s tune). When “New Speedway Boogie” played, I reminisced about Dead and Company’s version of this song from last year’s show in Bristow, during which I flailed about on the lawn, shirtless, essentially having a religious experience. Speaking of which, I went shirtless at some point during the second set. Security had ordered me to put it back on when I came here last year, so I knew I was taking a risk at being tossed out for indecent exposure. But they weren’t gonna find me in the dark among all these hippie figures. Bwhahahhahh… “Drums/Space” always provides a space (pun intended) for me to get water. “I Need a Miracle” came next, followed by “Not Fade Away.” During “There Comes a Time,” I meditated while lying on Maggie’s blanket. During my meditation, one of Johnny’s friends, who shall remain nameless, interrupted my meditation by yelling, “Don’t sleep, brother! This is the best part!” My response, “I’m meditating!” He backed off. I still didn’t care for that; one of the golden rules at a show is you don’t trample on someone else’s good time. But, now he knows. I did get up to dance for “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” during which I had trouble finding my shirt. Fortunately, it was under the blanket. I wonder how the hell it got there, but the important thing is it was there. We all knew it was an elective setlist (they were all over the chronological Dead map), but they announced it at the end. “The Weight” encored the show. Truly amazing. This show concluded my summer of concerts. I do have these concerts to thank for helping me reconnect with my writing. Since I started this blog, I’ve made some nice headway on my screenplay, written a number of posts for my other blog, published a short guide to academic interview etiquette on a colleague’s professional blog, and I’m taking notes for a memoir to come about my experience as a professor. I mentioned on my last post I may be ready to move onto a new phase from all the traveling I’ve done over the summer. That phase may very well involve writing. More will be revealed…
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