If you know any deadheads, aka the most "deadicated" of Grateful Dead fans, you have probably heard one say, "there's nothing like a Grateful Dead show!" And I can assure you that they are definitely not just referring to the music.
ATMOSPHERIC
I personally do not consider myself a deadhead; I have never had the privilege of seeing Jerry Garcia live (the late lead singer). I have never been on tour or travelled around the country to follow them. Hell, I don't even look or dress like one, although I probably would if I had the threads! But I have been fortunate enough to be in the deadhead atmosphere a good handful of times and let me tell you, there is nothing like it.
DOES NOT CONTAIN METAL
Before I continue, I have to clear up a common misconception about the Grateful Dead. Don't let the skulls and roses fool you, they are not a heavy metal band. In fact, they do not fall into any one set music genre at all. They are blues, folk, rock and/or roll, bluegrass, psychedelic, Americana, hippie, cosmic, a little bit country, trance and very, very jammy. The only thing metal about the Grateful Dead was Jerry's beLoved electric guitars, and their famous, enormous "Wall of Sound" speaker system.
DSO
I am not 100% positive, but I think my very first dead crowd experience was a Dark Star Orchestra show at Milwaukee Summer Fest in my early twenties. Dark Star Orchestra is a popular Grateful Dead cover band from Chicago founded in 1997. They choose a Dead show from the archives and play it to a tee, and they do it well.
GOOD VIBRATIONS
Upon arrival, I immediately felt at home. The sea of summer tie dye and welcoming faces immediately struck me in a whole new way. As a highly empathic person, I had never in my life been in an environment where the energy wasn't heavy or formidable on some level. Amongst hundreds of total strangers, I felt completely safe and cared for...dare I say, even Loved, which was made even more evident in my second experience.
EAGLE'S BALLROOM
My second deadhead crowd experience was also a Dark Star Orchestra show, this time in Autumn at an old, rundown music venue in Milwaukee called The Eagle's Ballroom. The place had no ventilation and beads of condensation quickly formed all over the grand, marble staircase. I went upstairs to the bar to fetch us some beers, and as I started walking double-fisted back down the staircase, my foot slipped and I slid the rest of the way down the stairs, landing on my elbow, but barely spilling the two full beers that I was conveying...now that's talent! It must have looked absolutely ridiculous and comical, but to my utter surprise, not one person laughed or even smirked...except for myself. In fact, about a dozen or more kindly folks rushed to help me and make sure that I was okay. I even remember one or two of them gasping when I landed. I have never and will never forget that moment. Up to that point, I was so used to being laughed at, mocked and disregarded, that I actually wholeheartedly expected it at that moment. Had it been a metal concert, I am positive that it would have been a different scenario. That's not to say that all heavy metal fans are uncaring, it's just usually a less friendly, different vibe all together.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Turned out that the name of the band itself had super kind-hearted, benevolent origins. In folklore, The grateful dead refers to departed souls who are indebted to those who helped fund or arrange their funeral. As someone who has always been a little bit morbid and totally interested in different afterlife customs around the world, I was really delighted to learn this.
GRATEFUL MYSTICISM
In September, 1978, The Grateful Dead did a series of shows at the Great Pyramids of Giza, one of which played out during a full moon eclipse. I wonder about the many setbacks that they endured trying to get this show going, from two injuries, an out of tune piano, a band equipment truck getting stuck in the sand and more. They said they wanted to "harness the ancient energy" of Egypt. Maybe they got what they wished for, but not exactly like they had hoped. The shows did go on nonetheless, and with the eclipse and the beauty of the ancient, mysterious backdrop, they did get to experience some magic. Also, guitarist and founding member, Bob Weir had somewhat of a mystical experience on stage. In his own words; “I got to a point where the head of the Sphinx was lined up with the top of the Great Pyramid, all lit up. All of a sudden, I went to this timeless place. The sounds from the stage – they could have been from any time. It was as if I went into eternity.”
COSMIC DEAD
The Grateful Dead were not a new age band. They had plethora of songs about women, gambling, drugs and corruption, but they also had a lot of dreamy, cosmic, and trance-like music to balance it out, and I think that can be easily seen as the epitome of mysticism, the yin and the yang, positive and negative, Love and hate, you cannot have one without the other type of thing. Plus, it wasn't about the lyrics. I believe the main reason behind the powerful Love vibes of the crowd was the frequency of the music, not the words. I believe the band were receiving what are called, "cosmic downloads" intended to spread healing energy, not only to the crowd, but to Ripple out to the whole universe. This may all sound pretty "out there", and it literally is haha. And The Grateful Dead were not the only ones receiving these downloads either. I believe many musicians, artists, filmmakers and authors through time also received them.
As a writer, musician and an artist myself, I am fully aware that when I'm singing, writing or doing something else artistic, sometimes an energy seems to "take over" and the creativity just flows out effortlessly. It's in those moments that my vocal chords spontaneously emit polyphonic overtones that seem to come out of nowhere. The same type of overtones that you hear in Mongolia and many other parts of the world, including Tibet, Scandinavia, even Italy and Russia. When I write a meaningful poem, sometimes it's like I go into a trance, and 5 minutes later, there is a true tear-jerker manifested on my page. I believe these types of energies hold a lot of healing frequencies and vibrations, and I think The Grateful Dead were masters of those frequencies.
CONCLUSION
There is nothing like The Grateful Dead.
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