The good old Grateful Dead are coming back to town in less than a week. I mean, not exactly, the Grateful Dead, it's Furthur, as they are called in this incarnation.* This concert will be at Madison Square Garden and I'm both anticipating and a little nervous about it.
On the one hand, we've been waiting for this concert for months. Since July, the last time we saw them. Though I have not exactly written about this passion of mine, I've alluded to it and these concerts are among the highlights of my year. Of course, MSG is known as an historical place to see a concert. The buzz outside is very exciting and they get the biggest names. But since Jerry Garcia (of blessed memory) died in 1995, the band in its many forms has taken the stage in much smaller venues and we fans have had the good fortune to see our boys up close and with great sound. It's not a trade-off anyone would have chosen, but it's the one we got. So the cavernous Garden is not my first choice. But it's where they are playing, so it's where we'll go.
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| Jerry Garcia z''l Storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice. |
How did it get to this? How did I, an established Jewish educator, a mother of three with a responsible job, actually several jobs... get to a place where I'll drop everything when the Dead come to town? Is it enough to say "they're a band beyond description?" (We do that, you know. We quote the Dead lyrics and unless you know we're doing it, we get away with it all the time! I've snuck lyrics into my bulletin articles, my divrei Torah, and they've already been the titles of a few of my blog posts. Yup. That's what we do.) Is it enough to tell you and other non-heads that this is what keeps us going? It's the giant dose of adrenaline that we get two or three times a year that charges us up, and fills us with peaceful energy.
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| How they looked in the early 80's |
Of course, it's about the music. I guess the best I can tell someone who asks me what I find so compelling about it is that it takes me to another place. Maybe the way jazz does for some, or classical music does for others. Or prayer for others. I have heard people describe praying in a Carlebach-style service with similar adjectives to the way I feel at a concert. Uplifting and awakening. It helps that there are thousands of hours of CDs and tapes (and yes, records) available to play in between the long breaks between concerts. But I guess the greatest thing is that each concert will be a completely new experience with unexpected gifts and surprises. This new formation of the band, now two years old, has really started to gel, and each time they play they are stronger, more cohesive and their jams are more exciting. I know that they plan their set lists in advance, but they are full of surprises that keep a smile on my face from start to finish.
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| Empire State building, decked out in tie-dye colors, the last time Furthur played the Garden. Cool. |
"Are you going?" "What section?" "Want to meet for a drink before the show?" "Have you heard if they're bringing out any new tunes this tour?" "Got any extras?"
In case any of you are reading this and haven't asked me yet, my answers to those questions are:
- Yes
- 104
- Of course
- They played "Golden Slumbers" by the Beatles in Amherst last night.
- Maybe
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| How they look now. That's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir in the front. |
I'm not sure what else I can tell you about this experience that has kept me coming back for more since 1978. I only know that Bill Graham captured it when he said "They're not the best at what they do, they're the only ones who do what they do!"
And if you're going too, let me know. We can meet for a drink before the show!
*Why Furthur? I'll tell you sometime, but if you want to know now, and you have the time, go ahead and read "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe, written about Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. I think this might shed some light on a lot of things, actually, including a few songs, historical characters and artwork in my house.
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| Me, at a show, last summer. Waiting for the music to start. |
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