39 years ago today, I had it done to me by the Grateful Dead for the first time. About four days before, a girl friend of mine and I were walking across the parking lot at the Mann music center in Philly to meet up with about a dozen friends at a James Taylor concert. Two guys were arguing in the parking lot. ‘Thirty’. ‘No, thirty five’. I walked up to them and asked what they were arguing about. ‘ two tickets for the Grateful Dead Saturday night’. I immediately pulled out my wallet and said ‘I ‘ll give you thirty five.’
My first show is pretty much a blur, remembering only that it was like nothing else I had ever experienced. We sat, mesmerized, watching the people as much as the band. Smiling the whole time. Seven weeks later, I ‘m getting snuck into Radio City, catching an acoustic 15th anniversary show. Two shows later, I’m going to a show by myself, without a ticket. No problem. Thirty nine years later, I just caught a Dark Star Orchestra show down the beach while they were passing through. Life is good.