95 replies to this topic

[Again and Again]

Its a GDRadio.net 1978 Peggy-O that triggered this. Thank you GD Radio!

Nothing like that ol' feeling. I'll never forget it. Hopefully it'll never stop poking its way into my being like it did this morning. As we roll down to Fennario...

[KittyKindBud]

Here'e The Buds's version of the touring days.......



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[djinn_n_juice]

Yeah. Hell yeah. I miss it too, been rolling on waves of feelings thought long gone lately.

[elder]

Me three.
I was a pro at it, as I'm sure many of you were too.

Start anticipating where, sorting out the rumors. Get my handy old tour journal out, the one with all the preferred hotels and places to crash for tour.
If theres time, maybe get to painting up some posters or t-shirts to vend.

Oh man you're right, that good ole' tingling feeling .... as we get ready to roll down Fennario

Thanks for this

[sums]

78 was a very good year

[Eddie Z]

Oh man...I could reply to this post all week. Don't even get me started! LOL.

I was pretty deep into it for years and years. To use Elder's words..."Pro". It only takes hearing a few Garcia licks to catapult my mind right back to it though. I was always somewhat nervous and tingley before shows.... Stepping into the unknown of the upcoming cosmic drvg/music adventure...knowing that things might get intense, sometimes galaxies more intense than what I bargained for..

I don't always miss all the planning and preparing though. That was a lot of work. ticket acquisition, ticket distribution, travel arrangements, meeting spots, food/beverage, tour support equipment, last minute changes and clusterfucks... what an ordeal sometimes. All done without cellphones too! LOL,

[elder]

.. All done without cellphones too! LOL,

Wow, you're right EZ. I didn't even think about that. No cell phones.
Imagine how easy all that planning and shit would have been with an iPhone?!

[tyedyedee]

me too
i only had a small taste but what a taste it was
soooo many stories
i have some young mule/phish pals whom i saw quite a bit of this weekend and tim was so into hearing my tour stories
made me think about them a lot and miss them terribly

but i feel so lucky to have had the experiences i had

and i am having fun making new ones to different music, too

[TEO]

Yes! The memories still make me feel all warm and smile.

[Mind Left Body]

Been thinking quite a bit about tour days and how much I truly miss seeign the Dead. I'll always have the memories anyway. I think I'll go listen to some Dead now....

[KittyKindBud]

Guess its time to roll down the car windows and get out some of my old cassette tapes!

[KittyKindBud]

......when I watch the DVDs of old shows, I'm lookin' for ya!

[Lemireacle]

Man, I wish my buddies who I used to tour with and I were making plans for a summer Grateful Dead tour!! Just thinking about that makes me all !!

[elder]

Guess its time to roll down the car windows and get out some of my old cassette tapes!

Hey, what do you mean old?!
Just cause my 4-runner doesn't have one of those new fangled cd thingys.

[TEO]

[Eddie Z]

Wow, you're right EZ. I didn't even think about that. No cell phones. Imagine how easy all that planning and shit would have been with an iPhone?!

Man, lots of things would be easier today. Remember the only source of ticket information was the Grateful Dead hotline? We'd sit there for hours dialing that number till we finally broke thru, and try to transcribe the information.

I was big into tape trading too.. I remember our taper parties were all done in realtime, with all sorts of tape decks daisy chained from the source deck. 4 hours later, you were the proud owner of a lo generation copy of the last hot show... That face to face interaction formed the basis of many friendships I still maintain today. Nowadays, you click a button and download a full show in minutes...far less personal, but soooooo easy. (I'm still trying to figure out what to do with 4 milkcrates full of GD cassettes i haven't listened to in years).

[Tim the Beek]

Miss it. And am so grateful I knew it then to miss it now.

I was a reluctant adopter of cell phone technology, and remember going to some post-Jerry iteration of the band for the first time since he'd died, 8 or 10 years ago, seeing alla the kids on alla the phones, and being baffled.

Who remembers payphone lines at setbreak to call home to folks who weren't lucky enough to be there and let 'em know the setlist?

[Kashmir]

I miss my tour days a lot and often get caught up in day dreams of times that were. Its like I'm forever chasing the dragon, trying to re-capture that experience and, while having great times, never again getting that rush.
If there was the technology we have back then, I'd have known a lot of you folks on tour and that would have been really neat

One a side note; I'm going to make my coffee table into my memories ticket table

[Jwheelz]

Wish I'd had the chance to experience this

I prefer the face to face over all this text message/smartphone business too...

[tyedyedee]

"its a first generation soundboard, maaaaaan!"

"can i borrow a dime for the phone to call my old lady, dude?"

"i just got a pack of maxells from terrapin tapes!"

"i heard from this dude that jerry played dark star in philly last night!"

"i am going to go call mars hotel and get the setlist"

all things i will never hear again at a show...

i embrace the new, but the old was just so innocent and fun

[I MAN]

.....i'm starting to well up ...Watkins Glen was my first

[B. Diddy]

I can't imagine how it all worked before cell phones, the internet, and GPS. Maps and payphones? Jesus!

[Tim the Beek]

It was SO much fun...

[Lazy Lightning]

I've been shucking away the GPS for good ol' map navigation lately... Did our trip to MJ and my solo 6.5 hour trip uo to Ontario that way all along the back roads. It's been a good thing!

I don't have a cel phone right now, maybe next month.... I seem to say that every month, tho.

"You can go back, but never to the same place."

[gregoir]

I saw The Grateful Dead once. I have seen many nasty wooks in my day. But damn sooooooo many fucking nasty wooks.

[wookie luvvah]

Miss it - and so glad to have the amazing memories it provided.

[Depends]

.....i'm starting to well up ...Watkins Glen was my first

I was at Watkins Glen, Sound check, and the real show. My first shows were 10/30-31/70. I remember getting on the "fan club" list from the Europe '72 album. A few times (not many) they would send advanced notice for mail-ins.

Might be easier with cell phones and GPS, but that first show was $5.00, and Watkin's Glen was something like $14

[foo]

Hey, what do you mean old?! Just cause my 4-runner doesn't have one of those new fangled cd thingys.

but it does have a bed under it!

[Rayzeeday]

No shit! Life is mundane without it.

[KittyKindBud]

....waiting for mail order.....

I am so grateful I was able to experience CA shows.....happened upon them in 1989, traveling down the CA coast when we came upon East Coast Deadheads - "The boys are in Monterray this weekend - tickets no problem"....Bud pulled up the race track to find a dude with STACKS of tickets for the upcoming 3 shows with Los Lobos and David Lindley....and Jerry's B-day!

JERRY!!!!!

[wonka]

and when mail order didn't hook you up...wristbands!

3 days before tickets were on sale wait in a ticket-tron line to get a numbered wristband (and meet some fine folks!)
Show up morning of ticket sales a couple of hours early, find out what random number wristband the line is starting at and fall in to line.
Stress in line as soon as tickets are on sale cause you know the Friday and Saturday nights are being sold like hotcakes and you will end up with 6 for Tuesday night instead of one for each night.
Spend you wad of cash on any available tickets for the run. Do some ticket trading on the spot. Leave line and smile smile smile.
Start the show run and work the lots for trades to the nights sold out at ticket-tron

and then dance, dance, dance!!!

[Spidergawd]

All done without cellphones too! LOL,

I can't imagine how it all worked before cell phones, the internet, and GPS. Maps and payphones? Jesus!

"Meet me right in front of will call."

It's amazing how well that worked. Sometimes it was easier than meeting someone WITH a cell phone.

[gregoir]

I can't imagine how it all worked before cell phones, the internet, and GPS. Maps and payphones? Jesus!

I didn't have a cell phone until 2004. Still made it around and found people just fine. made it more of an adventure

[elder]

and when mail order didn't hook you up...wristbands! 3 days before tickets were on sale wait in a ticket-tron line to get a numbered wristband (and meet some fine folks!) Show up morning of ticket sales a couple of hours early, find out what random number wristband the line is starting at and fall in to line. Stress in line as soon as tickets are on sale cause you know the Friday and Saturday nights are being sold like hotcakes and you will end up with 6 for Tuesday night instead of one for each night. Spend you wad of cash on any available tickets for the run. Do some ticket trading on the spot. Leave line and smile smile smile. Start the show run and work the lots for trades to the nights sold out at ticket-tron and then dance, dance, dance!!!

I CAN NOT stop smiling when reading this. Spot on Wonka!
Such great memories all coming rushing back....

[Kashmir]

And grabbing the latest Duprees Diamond News in the lot after a show. The disco burrito bus. Vendors shaking ankle bells. Guatemalan shorts and bracelets. The spinny disc things that made a little light show with a flashlight. Caravans to the next show. Living on grilled cheese and Molson Ice. Tour sex!!!!
The original one for 3, two for 5. Strangers hugging strangers. Trades.

I miss it all......so much

[Kashmir]

I remember never really sweating it when I didn't get a Giants Stadium ticket cuz I knew if I circled the stadium, eventually I'd find the gate they opened up at the beginning of the second set

[Karen]

I love this thread!


Yep, we did it all without cell phones, credit cards or glowy things.

Meeting in front of will call DID work out so well

[Tim the Beek]

And grabbing the latest Duprees Diamond News in the lot after a show. The disco burrito bus. Vendors shaking ankle bells. Guatemalan shorts and bracelets. The spinny disc things that made a little light show with a flashlight. Caravans to the next show. Living on grilled cheese and Molson Ice. Tour sex!!!! The original one for 3, two for 5. Strangers hugging strangers. Trades. I miss it all......so much

Hair wraps made from embroidery thread, too.

[Tim the Beek]

I love this thread! Yep, we did it all without cell phones, credit cards or glowy things. Meeting in front of will call DID work out so well

Took awhile sometimes...lotsa damn hippies loitering by will call waiting for their friends. Met some great people that way, and in those ticketron lines.

[Kashmir]

There was no donor rap. Hair wraps. Never going to my actual seat. Burning my tix to check if it was real. Seeing the same guy saying it was his birthday show at multiple venues. Not being afraid of catching a ride to the next show with complete strangers. MSG in the fall.
"and remember, you can't dance with a broken ankle"

[Kashmir]

Hair wraps made from embroidery thread, too.

you beat me to it!! I have a hair wrap in my hair now. So nostalgic! I love it

[musicfan]

Cold Budweiser... 1 buck, what the fuck !!

[Tim the Beek]

you beat me to it!! I have a hair wrap in my hair now. So nostalgic! I love it

Really not appropriate in my line of work, but I'm hoping that line changes soon, and that I'll sport one once more for oldtimes' sake.

[Tim the Beek]

Purple microdots

[Mindbender]

This thread's gotten me all schmaltzy and nostalgic. And at work too!

[Mama Kel]

I only had a few years but what amazing years they were

[Gwendolyn]

some days i miss it so much - miss those youthful carefree times......and Brent and Jerry~~~~

[Stanimal]

By 1990, it was a little later in the game, though that be the case, I was still blessed with the privilge of sharing some of those same experiences of my afore mentioned brothers and sisters. Back in the day...the ticket-tron was the ticket-master located in Marshalls..thats right..a discount clothing store. Some of the people I met on line there waiting for Dead tickets, had turned into life long friends. I remember all those previously mentioned memories, the car caravans, living on grilled cheese, the hair wraps, ankel bells...and lets not forget the sweet smell of patchouli everywhere. The hunt for the perfect head hours before the show...then when you found it...you walked through those doors at whatever venue you were at...and Jerry...captain of the trips was there to take you on ride that was wonderful, beautiful, fun and in some small way ...life changing for the better. Oh how I do miss those days. Sorry for getting sappy, but when I do get the chance to sit down and reflect, I can't help but well up a little with tears of joy.

[Spidergawd]

Don't worry about getting sappy. I think of any thread, this is the one where nobody will give you too much shit about it. I'm guessing that anyone posting here wells up a little thinking back on it.

[Kashmir]

I love the sappiness!! It was quite the ride!
My first show was in '88, my birthday at The Brendan Byrne Arena. I was 15. I remember instantly feeling that I stumbled upon something truly magical and how right I was!! I wouldn't trade that life for anything in the world

I love love love this thread. Its provided me with countless, much needed smiles