“Why insert a criminal element where it doesn’t have to exist?” Jerry Garcia
Jerry was responding to the question as to why the Grateful Dead allowed fans to tape their concerts, but I was reminded of the quote as I walked the impromptu Dead Village that emerges in the afternoon outside the venue of each Grateful Dead concert. The groupies sell shirts, pins, hash pipes, warm beer – hoping to make enough cash to buy a scalped ticket. The atmosphere, as always, is congenial and celebratory, aided by a modicum of medicinal herb.
The band is called Furthur now, with original members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh leading a tight band that highlights John Kadlicek from the Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra. He plays very well, and his vocals at times sound heart-wrenchingly like Jerry’s. The band still writes new music, and it is well received. A popular t-shirt at Furthur concerts reads “Jerry Would Have Liked This Band.”
Furthur plays the entire Grateful Dead songbook. They never play the same concert twice, and the great unknown is exquisite. And, like their predecessor, they always play 3-hour concerts, plus an encore.
So, I’ve left the Dead Village and have my appointed spot in the venue here on the lake in Chicago. Some Heads made enough from trinket sales for a ticket Most don’t. I wonder if all those intrepid hawkers have a license to peddle. Well, of course not, and that’s very remarkable in the city of Chicago, where getting a political cash cut is legendary. On a hot summer day, Mayor Rahm Imanuel plays it cool.
Jerry played his last show in Chicago in 1995. Everyone here knows it, and is prepared to twirl in his honor.
And so, the band has opened with “Here Comes Sunshine,” as another hot sun sets behind the Sears Tower.
“Fare thee well….”
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