Friday, January 30, 2009

Red Rocks Dead

I did not take this photograph, as much as I would have liked to have been there, I was not... I did, however, purchase this image, which was a postcard I sent to my soon-to-be but not-as-yet wife in early 1992. The postcard does not say who the photographer was, so I can't give credit where credit is due, but it does specify that the picture was taken at Red Rocks, Morrison, Colorado, on September 5th, 1985, during Estimated Prophet. I followed up on this postcard by taking my soon-to-be wife to two Dead shows at Deer Creek, Indiana on June 28th and June 29th, 1992. And those were the last two Grateful Dead shows I would ever see... as I moved to France definitively in October 1992.
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So, sadly for me I never saw the Dead at Red Rocks, which was reputed to be a magical venue. I did get to see them in Paris, France; Oxford Plains, Maine; Compton Terrace, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; Las Vegas, Nevada; Deer Creek, Indiana; Pittsburgh & Philadelphia (Civic Center, Spectrum, & JFK with Bob Dylan) , Pennsylvania; Landover, Maryland; Giant Stadium, New Jersey; Albany, New York; Madison Square Garden, New York; Nassau Coliseum, New York; and RFK Stadium, Washington DC where a Dark Star was played; all things considered, I had a pretty good run there for a while, and many of those shows left indelible memories as they picked us all up and swept us away to other worlds in other galaxies for entire evenings at a time. The old saying, "there is nothing like a Dead show" was absolutely true... and from that cup no more. R.I.P. Jerry...
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2 comments:

Zoog said...

It is one of my regrets, to have never seen The Grateful Dead in concert....I knew little of their music growing up...so curious to me how i missed this phenomenon. I went to many concerts in the 70's and 80's and still go to many today...I just saw The Who for the First time in Detroit a couple of months ago....

I remember an artricle by Linda Ellerbee,I read in the 90's I believe, sharing her experience going to a Dead Concert with her son I believe....her trepidation initially,then how she was lifted up and then into the vibe....and that she was reasonably sure the haze of smoke probably had nothing or maybe something to do with it. (smile)
Anyway...I know i would have loved their concerts....but life got in my way I guess......did not have a lot of exposure to them...I enjoyed their music and really wish I had attended one of their now infamous concerts...
Have immensely enjoyed your photos and stories about them these past few years...

Owen said...

The Dead were, in my mind, undoubtedly one of the greatest trips out there... can still remember the wonderful energy in the air for entire weekends going on road trips to catch a Dead Concert. Oxford Plains, Maine was one of the best trips... Well, at least now there is the Dead internet site with 6000 live concert recordings that you can listen to for free at :
http://www.archive.org/index.php
The miracles of the internet... I need a miracle, every day ! ! !Take care Zoog !