Just A Box Of Rain - Not For DeadHeads Only

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and we got to reminiscing, as Old Dudes sometimes do, and we soon settled on a topic of mutual interest - The Grateful Dead. Now my friend is about as button-down looking as you get, a suit-and-tie kind of Realtor, brush-cut hair, well respected in his community, active in his Association, very successful but with a crazy gleam in his eyes - if you look closely. 

Well, he gets to telling me about the first Dead show he went to in '68 and the copious amount of pharmaceuticals that were present and how long it took him to return to some semblance of normalcy after this mind-expanding experience. In some ways he will tell you, he has never fully recovered since that was the beginning of a love affair with a band and it's music that has lasted until today. Though he no longer has his old Bluebird bus and doesn't travel the country in pursuit, he still catches every show he can by the descendants of the Dead.

I had to share one my favorite Dead memories with him about the time the Dead played in my home town of Telluride, Colorado in 1987. Bill Graham owned a house there at the time and the Boys were just coming off a run at Redrocks so Bill brought them down for a R&R  weekend show in our little town of about 1,000 people.

Tickets went on sale to locals first and since I was living in Arizona at the time I talked my mother into buying tickets for me. She was about 73 at the time and stood in line for 2 1/2 hours with all the local DeadHeads, Rastafarians and other assorted crazies for me. She made some friends in line that day 21 years ago  who attended her funeral last year.  

It was a blow-out show, nearly 15,000 Deadheads descended on our little village. It also coincided with the Harmonic Convergence and Telluride was one of the focal points of that psychedelically addled venture as well so it was an event to remember (if you remember it, you probably weren't there). It gave new meaning to the term 'There's nothing else like a Grateful Dead Show'.

It was a peaceful weekend with few, if any, arrests. There was one death when a Harmonic Convergence attendee donned a lion skin cape, became one with the universe and flew off a 300' waterfall. Unfortunately for him, the laws of gravity were stronger than the faith & pharmacopoeia that propelled him.

As you take a break from your diligent posts about SEO & blogging & technology & politics, stop by the Musical Rainers Group and post a concert review, a story about your first or your favorite concert, your vote for best band or a video of your current band. All things musical are welcome here so take a little musical break to wash the dust from your soul, then it's back to the ole' blog stone.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta and the Southern California Wine Country.

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