Deadhead girl misses summer tour pt II

As concert season heats up, I had my heart set on many shows.  As I do every year, I see the different acts coming to my city and surrounding areas, and mark on my calendar, all the ones I think i'd like to see, knowing full well I may only make a few, but, hopeful just the same. 

With the newest cycle of Grateful Dead, one of my most favorite bands of all time, I, like most Deadheads, start mapping out how to "do tour".  I "got on the bus many years ago, and never looked back.  Yes, I love and adore many other bands and genres of music, but, The Grateful Dead, and all post manifestations of these musical gods have long been so very near and dear to my heart.

I was unable to attend Far Thee Well 2 summers ago, but, as soon as John Meyer joined up and Dead and Company came to be, I knew I'd be heading out to see them at some point. 

I was in the midst of a very long and heartbreaking break up, but the man i was involved with got 2 tickets to see Dead and Co. in Vegas just after Thanksgiving, and took me with him.  That was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. 

 
Last summer, at the very last minute, I changed plans to travel to AZ for an annual event, to head to Boulder with some girlfriends for Dead and Company.  I'm so very glad I did!  i had SUCH an amazing experience! I bought a ticket from a friend for the first night, but, didn't have one yet for the 2nd show, even up to the time my friends were headed in.  I was on a tight budget, and figured that I'd be happy having seen at least one night.  Well, guess what??? THIS GIRL WAS MIRACLED!!!!
Yep, some kind strangers stuck a ticket through the fence saying "Happy Birthday! Merry Christmas! We love you!"  I was ECSTATIC!!!  i found my friends and got to have one more night of the music, and of shaking my bones!  WOW!  Seriously.... NEVER MISS A SUNDAY SHOW!!!
The boys played one hell of a show that night!!!!
I really try to go to any local or traveling Grateful Dead cover bands as possible, as well as just live shows in general.  I have a wide range of likes and faves, so, if and when I can, I will always opt to "buy the ticket"~
Just this past March, I met my best friend in Vegas and we got to see John Mayer live!  I had only seen him with Dead and Company, but have always been a fan.  This was a treat!  Our tickets were pretty much "nose bleed", but, we pretended to be 20 again, and made several attempts at getting closer.  They all failed and we ended up enjoying the show from our very far away seats.  The sound there at T-Mobile stadium was phenomenal, and we really did end up having a wonderful time!

Fast forward to this summer. 
I had planned on going to a few of the closer shows.  I really wanted to go to Vegas for the tour opener, and then quickly down to Phx where i knew tons of my AZ Deadhead friends would be, having lived in N. AZ for many years.  Well, i was in a relationship that had become serious, and we had decided to move in together.  It just so happened that we had a June 1st move in date and I had a whole apartment to pack up.  I put my big girl panties on, and sucked it up.  I figured I'd be able to get to, hopefully Boulder...
I was somewhat heart hurt and yes, I did cry a few times, but, I really enjoyed seeing all of the FB posts and live feeds form folks i knew at the shows. 
Well, unfortunately, things with that man did not work out, and after what one could only perhaps call, "unfortunate circumstances", we have broken up and i have been left basically "homeless and carless", due to the fact that although we were both on the lease, he had paid for the initial move in, and when my old pathfinder finally took a dump a few months ago, he bought me my older Volvo wagon, which I LOVED!  So.... yes, my 16 year old and I are living our of bags, staying with friends and in hotels, etc for now.  My 8 year old is with his dad until I find a safe and secure home. 
Needless to say, I will not be in Boulder this weekend.  Now, I'm an artist, and i have a full time job, so, it's not like I'm standing on a street corner.  I am just trying to pick up the pieces is all. 
I am sad again to be missing another show, but will be listening to the live stream and dancing it up with all of the Deadheads in Colorado! 
Next Saturday, I turn 45!  There was talk between the now ex boyfriend and I of heading to the Boston show.... UGH! Maybe a listening party somewhere instead? 
~Hey! If you're at any of the shows this summer, shake your bones for me, will ya???~



Deadhead girl: Summer tour missed

 

As I sit at my desk on the Tuesday after Memorial day, I can't help but feeling a little blue.  This past weekend, Dead and Company began their summer tour.  I had planned on going to both shows, and making it a bit of a whirlwind weekend, and then, due to time and money and other things, I decided to cut out Vegas, and opted for just the Phoenix show.  I live in Albuquerque, but spent several years in Prescott, AZ and I knew several people going.  Plus, my 18 year old is living in Prescott and i wanted to take him.  Well, as life does, circumstances changed.  My fiancé and I have been house hunting, and found just the right place at just the right price.  Well, this meant that my weekend was going to need to be spent packing for the move, and our travel money was going on moving expenses, etc....

 

I had friends at both shows that i was excited to see, and of course, most of them did some sort of live stream, or pics, or snapchat of the shows, so I was privy to their experiences.  The thing is, i have not been able to listen to them at all since I had to change my plans.  It makes my heart hurt.

The memories of summers past, Grateful Dead, Further, Phil Lesh and friends, The Dead and last summer, Dead and Company, made me ache for a little taste.

I wanted to be on Dead Lot, selling my handmade wares out of the back of my car, and enjoy the day with friends, then head in to the show and boogie my toosh off for a few hours.  This makes my heart happy.  Alas...  I am finally sitting here listening to the stream from the Phx show, and just enjoying the ride while I finish up my day at work.  I work for a large hotel chain, in the sales office, so, my week is "ho-hum 9-5"

I am hoping to catch at least one show this season, and as I've seen that places like Portland or New Orleans are not on the list of concerts, I am crossing my fingers for a late summer/fall tour after Johnny boy finishes his solo tour.  Oh, ya know....  Albuquerque would be a GREAT place to play, guys!!! Johnny will be here in July, he can tell all the good things about our fine city and it's music lovers! (I'll be there, Johnny!!! Look for me! )

So.....  As I get ready to finish my work day, and go home to pack, I am allowing my sore heart to mend and hoping that perhaps, my fiancé will surprise me with tickets to the Boston show which is on my birthday! My 45th to be exact.. come on...  it's a big one and that's what I want!!! 

Thanks for letting my whine!

"She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes,
And I knew without askin' she was into the blues."

 

 



Dead & Co 4th of July 2016

*** This was written by me, 4th of July weekend, 2016***

(just now editing and publishing)

I just got back from the most amazing weekend!
I ran off with The Grateful Dead!
When you first meet me, you will see a big smile and greenish eyes.  Usually a cute outfit of some sort that I cleverly put together from thrift store duds, and always a lot of jewelry.  As you get to know me, get to know my story, you will understand that things are not always what they seem.  That we all have had the journey behind us, to get to where we are, and make us who we are.  My heart is big, and my soul is old, but my spirit is young and free.  In my early 20s, I did what a lot of young people were doing in the 90s. I was going to concerts, going on trips both physically and in an enhanced mind trip sort of world.  I, myself spend most of the early 90s in Southern Cali, working at Disneyland, doing a little modeling and such for extra money and hanging out with the hippies on Venice beach.  Then one day I got to see the Dead play in California.... my life was never the same. 
I feel lucky to say that I got to see Jerry a few times before he died and enjoyed several shows on the west coast from 92 and 95.  I wasn't a super follower, so, I wouldn't want any Deadhead who has been to hundreds of shows to think i'm comparing myself in any way, but I did see them and I did love the  experience, every single time! The people, the parking lot, the feeling of unity and love, the sights, the smells, and of course, the music.
I moved back to Albuquerque sometime in '94 for school and to be near my family.  In '95, I started working at the great little hippy shop in Nob Hill, called Birdland.  Tye dies, tapestries, Grateful Dead art and paraphernalia.  The owners were a wonderful couple who I soon became very, very close to.  While I worked there, I met Grateful Dead artist Michael Everett and The Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans, along with an assortment of local 
Deadheads and fabulous people!  What a fun time! 
We had some great events and parties surrounding the local Deadhead community.  Such a wonderful time in my life.  During that time, i met and married someone i met working at a local nightclub.  Great guy, we had some wonderful moments, lots of camping and hiking and getting high, but, alas, he was not a Deadhead.  He never understood my love of the lifestyle.  I mean, he got used to me being a hippy, crunchy girlfriend and later, mom, but... never did go to a show with me.  
15 years and 3 kids later, we finally called it quits.  That shitshow story is for another post.
After a few years of being single and dating around, i met a wonderful man in the smallish mountain town we had been living in, in Northern AZ.  On our 2nd date, he wore a Grateful Dead shirt! i knew then he was "the one".
We spent 2 years together, loving one another so hard, i thought i was on a cloud.  Unfortunately, circumstances were not ideal, and again, leaving my long, sad story for  another post, i moved back to Albuquerque, because of my kids and a long drawn out custody battle with my ex husband.  I left the town i loved, the job i loved, the family of wonderful people i'd created, that i loved, and most of all, the man i was madly in love with.  Having felt that kind of love with someone for the 1st time in my life, now in my early 40s, and having to leave him behind and choose being near my kids nearly shattered my spirit.  It broke my heart in way that made me feel somedays like i was literally dieing.
When The Dead announced their Anniversary shows last summer, i wanted to go SO bad!  It just wasn't a good time financially or emotionally to rally and get to The Bay area.  When the fall tour was announce, an ex boyfriend of mine, got us tickets.  We'd been broken up, we still kept in contact once in a while, and were trying to remain friends.  When he bought those tickets though, told me, no matter what, he wouldn't have wanted to take anyone else.  We met in Flagstaff the day after Thanksgiving and drove to Vegas together.  
We had floor tickets and went as far up to the front as we could and got to see Dead & Co together, just a few feet from Bobby and Johnny.
It was such a blast!  

So, now it's summer and Dead and Company is on tour.  My Deadhead friends in Albuquerque have all talked about what shows they're going to, and i've been wondering off and on how i can get to a few.  
This past week, my friend Jenny says "let's go Boulder this weekend hope for a miracle"
Well, i had other plans, but, couldn't help but think about how much i wanted to see my guys play!  Little by little, things regarding my 1st plans started to fall apart, and getting to go see the boys in CO started to magically come together!  Then on thursday, one friend who was supposed to go decided she couldn't and was trying to get rid of her ticket for saturday! That was it! i had to do it!
Friday afternoon i hopped in my friend's volvo with her, her 15 month old and another friend, and got on I-25 north to CO~
As is always the case, the closer i get to the venue where The Dead is playing, and i start to see signs of "my peeps", i get that excited and wonderful feeling of being "home".
We got there a little late and didn't get to actually enjoy the lot scene, but, just being around the crowd and going into the massive arena with all of the Deadheads was like heaven!
The boys jammed about as hard as i'd ever seen or heard them jam , and love him or hate him, John Mayer is FUCKING AMAZING!!!!!
Good Golly Miss Molly!  What an amazing show!!!!!
Here's the setlist if anyone is interested:
 http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dead-and-company/2016/folsom-field-boulder-co-5bff93ac.html

***

Day Two

The girls and I headed back to our hotel room to sleep and get ready for the Sunday show! (Never miss a Sunday show!)

We had already decided that we were going to spend the day on the lot.  Old school style Dead Lot!

Shakedown Street

WOW!  i have not felt like that, and had such fun since my old Dead days in the 90s!  We ran into people we knew, we sold our handmade wares, i did henna, and yes, we smoked a lot of pot! (Hey, we were in Colorado!)

My friends had tickets for that night, i however, did not.  All day, as we people watched from the car, i saw Deadheads walking by with signs asking for a miracle, or just with one or two fingers up in the air.  A sign that they needed tickets.  I definitely wanted to go, but, hadn't stressed about it at all.  i guess i just thought i'd figure it out, ya know?

So... as everyone decided to start heading up toward the stadium, i figured i'd just walk up with 'em.  As my friends all entered, my friend Jenny yells back at me, "i'll see you in 10 minutes".  I stood there for a few, one finger up in the air... just hoping for that miracle...

Then, behind me, i hear "hey, do you need to get in?"  i turned around and there were 3 guys and a girl sticking a paper ticket out of the fence at me! One of the guys says "Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, We love you, Have fun!"  

I WAS FREAKIN' MIRACLED A TICKET!!!!!

i was too excited for words! i ran in and went straight to where i knew my friends would be!  They had stopped at the restroom, and hadn't even gotten there yet!  They were so happy to see me when they did get there!  

Another night of dancing to our fave!  Something i've said about those 2 shows, is that, as fantastic as the Saturday show was, it was a crowded stadium and i felt like the boys played for the masses.  Oh, it was AMAZING, but... Sunday's show? Now THAT was worth going to!  Those boys played for shear, unadulterated FUN!!!!  We, the audience, the fans, the Deadheads were privy to one hell of a show! It felt like we were each getting a personal show.  It was so powerful and perfect! 

Leaving that show felt like i was leaving one of the best church services i had ever been to.  Like i had just had a spiritual experience like now other.

I for one can NOT wait for 2017 tour! 

Oh, and if Johnny Boy is still single.... 

<3