rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (06/19/84)
<<They're not the best at what they do. They're the only ones...>>
Ho hum. Three sold-out shows at Red Rocks amphitheatre (just west of
Denver, CO) for the Grateful Dead. Look, this is silly - their lead
guitarist has mostly gray hair. His voice has been (charitably) described
as sounding like a creaky board in an old floor. He's kind of paunchy;
he's 42 and he isn't even the oldest member of the group. What is this,
anyway?
Well, nobody who saw them has any worries that they're running out of
energy. Rocking through a long version of Shakedown Street on Thursday,
June 14, it was clear that the group retains (in fact, continues to build)
talent and energy. Their ongoing success ought to be an embarrassment to
newer groups; no one has come close to them in years.
People who haven't seen the Dead before are always surprised at their
"stage presence". No glitter or flash. (Can you imagine Jerry Garcia in a
gold lame' jumpsuit?!) No "warmup" band - you come to see the Dead; that's
who you see. No hype from an announcer. They just come on stage and play;
they don't need anything else. Music is the medium and the message.
The shows were substantially shorter than usual for the Dead. That means
that they were about average for a rock concert. This left a few people a
little, uh, overexuberant at the end of Thrusday night.
An unusual "Mr. Fantasy" (the old Traffic song) emerged as Thursday's
present to the crowd. In typical every-show-is-unique Dead style, only one
song was repeated over the three-night series. Most of the newer songs
made an appearance - "Throwing Stones", "My Brother Esau", "Touch of Gray",
and "Hell in a Bucket".
Wednesday was probably the best of the concerts. The weather was variable;
the wind and rain passing through seemed to invigorate the band. Weir came
to the microphone once to say, "Lovely day...for a tornado" and later to
say "Hail the size of beachballs." When we got home we found out that a
tornado had touched down about ten miles to the southwest and that up to
two feet of hail, up to baseball size, had fallen about ten miles to the
northwest! The hailstorm turned out to be the most costly weather-related
disaster in Denver's history. Still, it's an ill wind...the lightning and
thunder challenged the best of Phil/Mickey/Billy.
As the header on the article says, this is part I. The band will return in
early September for another three days. Stay tuned to the hotlines for
details. [The Dead maintain two phone numbers for info - one each East and
West coast. Most tickets are available mail-order at the same price as
local sales. They care, obviously.]
--
Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086
...Cerebus for dictator!