Talk about the recent Tours
 #147869  by Dwarf Rat
 
My son, 27 at the Santa Clara and Chicago shows, asked me as a teen why I never took him to see the Grateful Dead. Going up, he listened to the Dead, Pat Metheny, and what he liked. The Dead stuck to him like glue. He told me that in the last ten years he could listen to a live Dead recording and name the year and location with total accuracy. He devoted two full years to nothing but the Dead. He went to see Phil and Friends at Bonaroo, Furthur all over California, Cubensis, DSO, and lots of Radiohead, Acid Mothers Temple, Animal Collective and other psychedelic bands when not playing and recording his own music of Afro Funk Jazz with friends.

At Santa Clara he and a buddy just walked into the Pit after dark without wrist bands. Once at a Furthur show he went under the stage, climbed the fence in No Mans land, and crawled through the crowd to surface next to Bill Walton. He went early to other Furthur shows and in front of the stage found communities of Heads with food, blotters, tapestries, and brotherly love. With plenty of patchouli and hair to his butt, he was welcomed with open arms.

He got off work July first at 9 pm and we drove 85 mph to LAX from Bakersfield where we met lots of people headed to Chicago.

First night we had three tix and our people. He took off to find a miracle. Thirty minutes later he texted me: Dad, I snuck inside. If they don't throw me out, you have the extra ticket. Twenty minutes later: I am in. Nobody is hassling me.

It went well the first two nights.

Last night he took off to the rest room and never returned.

He texted: Dad, they took my ticket and threw me out.

Next text: "Urinating in a public place" read the ticket.

Restroom line was too long and he went to the stairwell. The cops were watching. They cuffed him,took him into a secure area, wrote the ticket, and before he was ejected, security was bringing in a stream of guys with the same offense.

$140 dollars.

Outside the gate crashes got going and the police went on the attack. Junior told me that the scene outside was so intense that he was glad to be there to experience. Two of his train hopper friends had been selling beer to fund living expenses. Cops came though and were cuffing anyone caught selling. He grabbed their back pack, someone else gave him their dog, anfpd h wandered into the crowd with 60 lbs of beer and disappeared.

After that, he was texting me when a cop in a Segway came by and elbowed him. He avoided any more trouble by being a peaceful hippie.

What a long strange trip!