Anyone here been to a Grateful Dead concert?

[Archae]

And stayed awake and sober?

I've never been to any, but I heard lots of weed was passed around, and sometimes the concert could get into an hour (or more) jam session.

[johnsolaris]

1. mostly true

Hi,

The Greateful Dead concerts are the stuff of legend. Yes, there was always quite a bit of that marijuana stuff & some of the Jams were quite long. I only went to a couple of their concerts and they were a lot of fun. The Dead played to their followers, The Deadheads.
One show I went to lasted 4 hours, 2 hours to start then an intermission & 2 more hours. They gave you your money's worth.

There was always a marketplace in front of the venue where they played, usually Deadheads selling beads, flowers, herbs & tapes.
The Dead were one of the Few bands that encouraged Taping of their shows. If you are interested in finding a good bootleg tape, there are plenty offered on the Internet. Many of the Dead fanclubs still offers Good Bootlegs, but be careful in what you purchase; Quality can vary greatly.

The one thing I truly enjoyed at a Dead concert were the Dancers. Many of the Hippee types would dance on the main floor, in the aisles & out in the concourse of the shows I saw. A Greateful Dead show was not like other concerts.

[HarveyDarkey]

5. They always set up a designated tapers area

right in front of where their sound booth was, to assure the best sound. It was interesting to see the difference between the early 70's (huge boxes of equipment, reel to reel tapes, massive boom mikes) & the 90's (a couple of laptops & minuscule, comparatively, mikes).
The best place for recordings is Internet Archive: http://archive.org/details/GratefulDead

[likesmountains 52]

2. I was at one in Boulder in 1972 or so...tossed out "dime bags"..still not sure how that worked out

but what an afternoon it was.

[HarveyDarkey]

3. Stayed awake

but NEVER straight. But I only went to about 150.

[nolabear]

4. Lord, yes. Never fell asleep. The show was too amazing. Not just the band, the show.

Everybody was the show. Of course there were astonishing quantities of drugs but the music itself was a drug. You could wander about during some of those long jams and just play like a kid with other people.

The Dead were a world unto themselves and I loved hell out of them. Really only went to a few concerts but never regretted a minute.

[TuxedoKat]

6. I went to one once

I wasn't that familiar with their music and I only recognized 2-3 songs. Lots of weed there indeed.

[Arctic Dave]

7. Phoenix in 1991.

Stayed awake but was definately no "sober".

I remember a guy running around naked and one of the girls I was with said in the most nonchalant way, "There is always someone who does that".

[Kali]

8. only once

awake, tripping

it was excellent

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. Went to only one in Munich Germany. Did the wrong drugs (red wine and hash) and fell asleep quickly.

.
.
.
Even more than marijuana, Dead shows were known for hallucinogenics -- acid, in particular.
.
I still remember what appeared to be a bodybuilder Little Person wandering around outside,
intoning over and over again about his wares... "Yummy yummy trips."
.
Just before the show, I went to the concourse for some food (a bratwurst sandwich). It was
empty of customers except for this wild-haired American guy who had 3 sandwiches (on
Kaiser rolls with the tops removed) lined up on his forearm and he was applying mustard to
them.
.
"THESE THINGS ARE G-R-R-REAT!!!", he enthusiastically informed me (I already knew
that).
.
.
.
He wandered off with them and it wasn't until I saw him onstage that I realized that I had
just met Jerry Garcia.
.
People used to tour WITH the band, attending shows all along their schedule -- often finding
ways to finance THEIR tour like making and selling crafts or even tuna fish sandwiches to the
folks partying outside the shows.
.
.
.

[RoccoR5955]

10. I have been to many a Dead show

but none sober.
I remember sneaking into the Fillmore East through the fire exit. A guy knew someone who lived in the building adjacent to the alleyway that led to the street exit. He banged on doors, and opened the emergency exit, and let an awful lot of people in that night.
Yeah, those jams lasted an hour or more. I seem to remember that as I was going to the subway, a few blocks away, the sun was rising.

[HopeHoops]

11. Awake, yes. You can't sit through one without getting wasted - even if you didn't bring anything.

The contact buzz from the 10' high cloud of who the fuck knows what will get ANYBODY stoned.