ASK THE BAND

1. What was your first exposure to the Grateful Dead?

VIC: Discovering Europe 72 in my older sister’s record collection in 1976 or so.

JIMBO: Probably by around age ten (1975) while I was rampant into KISS, my older brother of six years had the record “Skeletons From The Closet”, which had a few rockers like One More Saturday Night, Lovelight (from Live Dead) and St Stephen (studio AOXOMOXOA).  He played it enough for those songs to get my attention. Then a year or two later my sister (four years older) had Workingman’s Dead and Mars Hotel.  Those albums didn’t interest me right away until around age 14, listening to mix tapes w a lot that material some friends had made that we’d listen to while away on ski weekends and other stuff as we were growing up. Not much longer after that, I would sneak those records out of her room and listen to them when she wasn’t home. 

MARK: A friend in high school lent me 2 Grateful Dead albums to listen to (American Beauty and Europe ’72).  I loved them both!

DAVE: My first exposure to the Grateful Dead was hearing "Touch of Grey" on top 40 radio as a middle schooler - I remember really liking that song but knowing nothing of the band.  Fast forward a few years to my freshman year of college at Northwestern.  I lived in a dorm that had a separate annex of about 10 rooms nicknamed "The Vault," and the kid with the loudest and best stereo in the hall was a huge Deadhead from Sarasota, FL.  I began hanging out a lot with him and listening to Dead music, and it's been that way every since!

BRIAN: Aside from hearing some Dead tunes occasionally on classic rock radio when I was growing up, I didn't really get into the Grateful Dead until my freshman year of college (1995), when I met one of my closest friends who turned me on to it.  He was a huge Deadhead and I was a huge Phish fan, a band which he was not very familiar with, so we exchanged tapes and off we both went down the respective rabbit holes.
 
 


2. What was the song, album, or show that put you on the bus?
 
VIC: Jack Straw

 JIMBO:  That depends on how one defines getting “on the bus” lol. As previously mentioned, Mars Hotel, particularly Scarlet Begonias and Billy’s drumming on that track (as I began as a drummer at age 11) really had me into it. Then I picked up Dead Set on my own by age 15, first GD album I chose for myself. All the tracks had me w one foot on the stairs as the door to the bus opened. By ‘82 went to my first show 9/18 Boston Garden, but it wasn’t until a year later 10/18/83 Cumberland Country Civic Ctr where Bobby Weir melted my face and then stole it with a Lazy Lightnin - Supplication just as my first “taste” of the “kool aid” at a show began to kick in. Hadn’t heard the song much, but by the end of that night I was most definitely on the bus…and still am of course. It virtually changed my life forever…but I was still yet to pick up a guitar. 

MARK: My first Grateful Dead show was on 5/16/80 at Nassau Coliseum (excerpts from that show were release on "Go To Nassau” official CD).   I got on the bus then, and continued to see shows for the next 15 years!

DAVE: Probably One From the Vault - I just love that jazzy, single drummer, mid 70s sound.  Blues for Allah was also a favorite.  I remember taping a David Gans Grateful Dead Hour off the radio where he played the Eyes > Stella from 12/6/73 and I damn near wore out that cassette.

BRIAN: The first nibble for me was American Beauty, but then I heard Workingman's Dead and the hook was SET....that album really spoke to me


 
3. What is your favorite era of the Grateful Dead, and why?

VIC: Late 70s to mid 80s, where I saw the bulk of my shows, before the MIDI guitars, and when Brent was in his prime.

JIMBO: This is a tough one because one of my first tapes when I’d begin collecting in 1981 was from Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, 10/12/68.  Epic and incredibly well played Dark Star->St. Stephen->The Eleven, and as a drummer in my teens, what Kreutzman and Hart did on the Eleven was staggering, let alone Jerry and the rest of the band. So, I LOVE the late 60’s, but, my first shows and most of my first tapes were early 80’s and there’s a lot of great performances and music from between ‘80-‘82…almost as though they were an entirely different band. And of course there’s spring tour ‘77…enough said. 

MARK: Most of my shows were in the 80’s (Brent era), so that is typically my favorite… but when listening back to all their live shows, my favorite year is probably 1972.  The band had a bunch of new material, great energy, Keith and Pigpen together, and they could switch on a dime between short tight songs and long improvisational jams!  

DAVE: As mentioned in the previous answer, by far my favorite era is 1972-1974.  Such a great mix of songs, playing, singing, and wild exploration that hits me every time I listen to those shows. 

BRIAN: The '72-'74 era is my hands down favorite.  Billy K swings so hard in those shows and the band's exploratory jams lean more towards jazz than the psychedelic soundscapes of the 60s dead.  Of course, I love the 2 drummer era, too, and the tunes that can with it....I am just partial to the jazzy stuff.


 

4. Did you see a lot of shows?
What do you remember most about those experiences?

VIC: About 80 Dead shows and a bunch of Garcia Band, plus a few Bobby and the Midnights gigs. After Jerry passed, Furthur Festival a couple times, The Other Ones, The Dead, plus plenty of Ratdog and Phil and Friends shows. And a handful of Dead and Company shows. But the Grateful Dead shows are what I remember and still hold dear … six shows at Red Rocks 82 and 84, a lot of East Coast shows (Hartford, New Haven, Philly, Saratoga, Merrierather, Radio City, MSG, Rochester, Nassau Coliseum, Hampton, Charlotte, Atlanta). This was in the era of smaller halls and arenas, not stadiums. I remember Jerry singing Stella Blue for 9,000 people and you could literally hear a pin drop, everyone was mesmerized. Caught 6 in a row with Hornsby in 91. My last two in 94 and 95 were pretty forgettable, sadly.

JIMBO: Comparable to most deadheads I really didn’t see “a lot” of shows, and honestly after their early 90’s week long runs at Boston Garden in ‘91, ‘93 & ‘94, I racked up several in a short time, living in the immediate Boston area at the time, just outside the city. So honestly I don’t know and lost track but, for shows WITH Garcia, from ‘82-‘94, if I had to guess I’d say about 40.  I didn’t travel much to see them. I’m essentially a New England Deadhead and saw them all around the region mostly, but a few road trips to Buffalo, Albany, Saratoga, and one to Orlando in ‘91 on a total whim, which most of them were. What I mostly remember about them are some of the performance moments, special songs like catching Rubin & Cherise and Black Throated Wind in Orlando in ‘91, but then again the four days at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine in ‘88, for two shows back to back were some of the most unforgettable and funniest deadhead moments I ever witnessed.

MARK: I saw 75 shows from 1980 -1995.   Not only did I meet many lifelong friends through the Grateful Dead scene, but it shaped me as a musician.  The freedom to improvise, the chemistry of having intense musical conversations with your bandmates, the feeling of bringing joy to audiences through live performances.   Every show I saw had an impression on me in one way or the other.   I tell people, I can’t remember what I ate for dinner last night but I can remember the set list of my first Grateful Dead show from 46 years ago!  So many great memories of both the music and joyful times with good friends!  

DAVE: Being a bit on the younger side, I only saw the Dead about 10 times, whenever they came through Chicago.  First show was spring 1993 at the Rosemont Horizon, but I also saw summer shows at Soldier Field, including the last two!  

BRIAN: Since I did not get into the Grateful Dead until 1995, right after Jerry passed, I was not fortunate enough to see the Grateful Dead with Jerry.  I have seen many shows from the later bands like The Dead (with Warren Haynes), Further, Dead & Company, etc....but sadly, never with Garcia.  Of the later bands, Further was probably my favorite although the last 2 years of Dead & Company were awesome.  FWIW, I have seen Phish 50+ times lol.  Overall, I like to look at the jam community as a collective, and attending all of these shows by all of these bands has been such an important part of who I am.



 
5. What does it mean to you to help keep the Grateful Dead's
music and legacy alive?

VIC: I consider it an honor and a privilege to carry that spirit and music forward in some small way, whether it’s a reminder to people my age who saw Jerry play, or the younger people who were born after the fact but got on the bus with Bobby and Phil, may they rest in peace.

JIMBO: This is a great question and not easy to answer; honestly, it’s both an honor and a privilege to be playing with a band that plays so well, and to play a specific role as that of Bob Weir. It means a lot to me personally for numerous reasons, but one is mainly because Bobby was never really recognized as a musical talent publicly unless people were already into the Grateful Dead, and more so if they’d “tasted the kool-aid” along the way.  After my experience in Portland, ME, 10/18/83, I felt that a lot more people other than deadheads needed to know who this incredible performer was. The world already knew Jerry, but it didn’t know Bobby as much. Not for nothing but I also recognized that he looked a lot like my older brother, who used to play guitar and who I’d jam with on my drums as kids. He’s six years older than I am, so, the first time I actually saw Bobby up close it had a profound effect on me. It was almost like my older brother had walked up from our parents basement and had stepped on stage with the Grateful Dead. Essentially it’s what inspired me to grab a beat up old guitar off the wall from my parents living room in 1987, and take it to school w me, where I barely graduated because I’d become obsessed with learning to play. Without lessons, and being self taught, because in those days and at that time, everyone knew me as a drummer and wanted me for that. A few friends showed me a few things along the way and the rest is history. 

MARK: It is an honor to be able to play this music and introduce the next generation of fans to the magic of the Grateful Dead.  It always amazes me that something that brings me so much joy, can bring others so much joy!   It is indeed a “win win”!  

DAVE: It's just so fun to get to put my own spin on some of these classic tunes; in fact, I think Grateful Dead music is a close cousin to jazz standards - the form and lyrics are there, but you can do whatever you want within the framework of the tunes.  I also think Playing Dead's approach of not having setlists helps bring the excitement to the audience - they (as well as we) have no idea what's going to happen on any given night!  It's also great to see a huge age range at our shows - we have the old heads that were seeing shows back in the 70s as well as younger folks who are all having a good time together.  

BRIAN: It means everything!  I've heard it said that the Grateful Dead's music is like jazz or classical music, where you have these amazing pieces of art that are out there for musicians to interpret in their own ways and I really love that.  To me, the Grateful Dead's music is just like the works of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Miles Davis, or John Coltrane, and it is as important as all of those amazing composers.  It is both fulfilling and humbling to be a small part of interpreting this music and continuing to perform it for the people who understand just how meaningful it is and to help enrich their lives (as well as my own) in some small way.



Encore - If you could go back in time and attend one Grateful Dead show, which one would it be and why?

VIC: I think either Sunday October 26, 1980, one of my three nights at Radio City Music Hall with the acoustic sets, or The Spectrum in Philadelphia, April 7 and 8,1985, which was just off the charts for energy, despite Jerry’s ragged vocals. 

 JIMBO:  Probably 10/12/68 Avalon Ballroom, simply for that Dark Star-St Stepen-The Eleven. Not just for the epic levels of that jam, but I’ve also always wondered what it would have been like to see them in the early days and when they were all young people and musicians. 

MARK: This is a really hard one to answer… but I think it would have to be a show on Europe ’72 tour… I’ll go with Frankfurt, Germany 4/26/72 (excerpts released on Hundred Year Hall officially released CD).

DAVE: That is so hard!  I'll go early and say one of the shows from the Fillmore West run in February-March 1969, probably 3/1/69.  Love those shows, and it would be so cool to see the band in those formative years in a small venue. 

BRIAN: UCLA at Pauley Pavilion 11/17/73.  Vic turned me on to this show years ago, when I was preparing to play my first single drummer Playing Dead show.  I just love the vibe of it, Billy's playing is outrageously good, and I think it perfectly captures my favorite Grateful Dead era.  Bobby's guitar work is incredible, and the band is simply locked in!  Plus, I have been chasing Billy's snare drum sound from that show for 20 years lol.