The Grateful Dead in 1995

He died of a heart attack. I've never seen his death attributed to anything else. In fact it was reported as a heart attack that day, CNN Showbiz News: Jerry Garcia dead at 53 »

Anyway, I was 16 in the summer of 1995. I saw my first phish on 6/13 (I'm over 100 now) and my only two GD shows on 7/5 and 7/6. What an incredible 3 weeks, it completely turned my world upside down even though I had been seriously listening to both of the bands since 93/94 and had some idea of what was going on. I wouldn't say I knew he was dying, there was no internet in my life at that point, I was too young to be in any way plugged in to the scene and rumor mill. That said, there was no way we were missing those shows. We knew there was something special going on and we had to get there and experience it.

I had to miss the previous summers shows for family vacation. When the 95 tickets went on sale a couple of buddies stayed the night at my house, we walked up to streetside records early in the AM, got our wristbands and pooled our money. It was only then we realized we had enough money between us to buy two tickets for each night! I came home and my parents were slightly upset/mostly confused as to why I would pay money to see the same band :lol

I consider myself very lucky to have seen jerry at all, I don't know many people my age who were fortunate enough to have seen him. I still listen to the shows, they bring back great memories even if they are not the best shows

 

I went to only one Dead show - the last one 7/9/95. I'd been a fan for two years at that point and had recently met some Heads who were going to Chicago, so I bought a ticket and rode out there with them. I don't remember much about the parking lot "scene" except that if one wanted beer it was $3/bottle but one could partake of other substances for free. The show itself wasn't good - it had no spark at all - but I was just glad to be there. The Band opened and they played all of my favorites. So that was good.

Not too many highlights from 1995 but I love this "Standing on the Moon" from 6/30.

 

For the record, I stopped seeing live Dead shows after SPAC 1985 (after some 20 shows). I did attend one show at the Knick in '90 or '91 and it was more painful than having dental surgery done at Home Depot (the scene and the show). Got any tacks that I can chew upon?
Come to think of it; and it only just really occurred to me just now, I dropped R&R for a good 10 years in late '92 after I bought a double bass in Dec '92. I wood-shedded that thang for three years, and made some part-time $ from '96-'01 playing jazz standards. Part and parcel was my disillusionment with '92 GD recordings. My other motivation was learning bass as a fundamental concept of being a true bass player.

 

I was surprised Jerry died, but in less than a day or so I was like "Of course he is", because I'd seen photos of him on the '95 tour, and he did not look good, and given his health history... The thing is, at that time, I had no idea that Jerry was a heroin addict, I just thought he was one of those people who falls ill for some reason at an untimely age.

My last Grateful Dead show was March 29, 1993 at Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY. It was great last show. I was in law school at the time, and all business, and one of my friends from school was with me. He wasn't really into the Dead. He was more of a Metallica, Alice In Chains kind of guy and he didn't move much beyond hard rock. Anyway, he turns to me at one point and says, "I've never see you so happy."

I've told this story here before, but this was the show where some guy from Michigan who was part of the Wharf Rats (sobriety sort-of-club) traded my 2 behind the stage tickets for seats in front of the stage. Only at a GD show would that happen.

I went to March 28th also with another law school friend who was a big Deadhead (who I went to Peach Fest with last summer), but our seats were deep in the left side of the arena, between the stage and the middle of the arena, and our view wasn't so great for some reason. Plus, they played two Dylan covers, and I was not nearly the fan of Dylan then that I am now.

He definitely had diabetes, and I think he did have a heart problem. I remember one of his friends saying, or a member of the band or Hunter saying, that he was a diabetic that loved sugar, and a guy with heart problem that loved smoking. Something to that effect.

It's been speculated that if had checked into Betty Ford instead of Serenity Knolls, he may have survived because Ford has MDs on staff. But, who knows. It's widely reported that Jerry had a smile on his face when he was found, and I think there was a reason for that. It was his time, way to early unfortunately as far as his chronological age, but his time nonetheless.

 

great story about the ticket trade. I think I've read that on here before.

 

'93 was a pretty bitchin' year if you were a fairly new passenger on the Grateful Dead train (I saw my first show in December '90, and managed to squeeze in 50 or so shows over the subsequent four and a half years.)