Monday, June 05, 2006

East Coast Adventure Day 2 - My First Dead Head Experience

After arriving in New York and going on a small hike in the hills near the apartment of my friend, Senor Tivo. We took off for Pennsylvania and where we were going to hang out with his family for the weekend.

Senor TiVo's brother in law invites us to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead tribute band, at Penn's Peak. Let me state that until that night - the only things I knew about the Grateful Dead are:
1) Jerry Garcia is the lead singer
2) there is an ice cream named for Jerry Garcia from Ben and Jerry's
3) The Dead is Mr. G's favorite band.

Thats it.

Oh yeah, and the whole drug scene. So Senor TiVo is trying to convince me to go - I'm tired and since I dont know what to expect, I agree to go with a disclaimer that I am tired and may not be in the greatest mood. But I forge ahead since I'm trying to have an open mind and be out of my "bubble". So off to Penn's Peak we go. Penn's Peak is a venue in the Appalachian Mountains. On the way there, Senor TiVo is explaining what the show is about. If you dont know, this band, Dark Star Orchestra, basically picks a show. For example, September 27, 1976 at Berkeley. (*G, Dont correct me, I'm using an example) and they recreate it. They sing the same songs, they stand in the same places on stage - EVERYTHING.

So I now I sort of know what to expect. After a long drive we finally get to the top. If it wasnt so freaking dark, I'm sure the view would have been awesome. Anyways, we get there and the show had already been off and running for about an hour. We find Senor TiVo's brother in law and grab some drinks.

On with the show... First impression was "Shit, I'm the only completely sober one here!" Second impression, "Damn this band is pretty awesome!" Everyone kept saying how much they sounded like the Dead - yeah, I have no clue, I was just happy I wasnt passing out and asking for the keys to the truck to take a nap in.

Everyone starts letting loose and the best thing of the night were the people on shrooms (or whatever they were on) that got up and did "the hippie dance". My two favorite people were the 75 year old woman and the school teacher. If you have been lucky to hear my East Coast Adventure story in person - then you've seen my interpretation of the Hippie Dance. Good Times

1 comment:

ghartstein said...

Sounds like LOADS of fun! And no worries, I'm not that hard-core that I know old show dates! Now, if you want to see the real thing, Rat Dog (Bob Weir's band) is coming to the Greek in LA later this month....