Late to the party but I saw this run also, like @Crispy Rob , I saw every show the gd played here but it never got better then the first run.... my fondest memory was standing in the freezing line forever to get in as the walls above me began to breathe(maybe I dropped a wee early?)and realizing that I had also dropped my ticket...then watching all the ‘heads part like the Red Sea as I backtracked to find my soggy ticket right where I dropped it, about 20 feet back. Phew! As I leaned forward to pick it up another fella leaned in and our heads collided. Looking up dazed, he says “well that was a fun bit of noggin knockin” which I couldn’t even contemplate in my current state and just laughed. This show followed suit on the heels of Hamilton which we had just come in from, fantastic sound and just the latter day gd at their absolute finest. The lot scene was tremendous and the camping in the preserve was never the same after. Walking around after the show I scored a swell anchor steam which was unheard of outside of the dead scene on the east coast in those days, oh times have changed. I didn’t have a lighter( which we used to pop caps in those days) so I asked someone if they had a bottle opener. Guy in a jean jacket carrying a ferret says “I’ll open it” ....hand him the bottle and he proceeds to bite the entire top of the bottle off and spits it on the ground , handing it back in one swift move. Dumbfounded, I walk away staring at my now dangerous looking beverage, wondering how on the earth I’m gonna get another... We went on from there to Nassau and while they were great shows also, the vibe was just so different there, it really emphasized how special those Albany shows were and that venue is to this day. I still see a lot of shows there, thinking about the bygone gd years every time. There’s a lot of mojo in those walls
IWT. It happened, just as I have described it a thousand pages back in this thread. We also enjoyed Molson Import Ale on tap at this shows, it goes well with mycelium.
I remember reading something back on the old RMGD suggesting that Dead Set should have been a triple album, with one side consisting of "Scarlet>Fire" and one side consisting of "Playin>UJB" or something like that. Apropos of our recent discussion of songs that got left off of live albums... I don't recall discussing this at the time, but did they really never release a live version of "Scarlet Begonias" until DP 6? That's absurd.
RE; 3/24/90 memories, sorry for the" book" length ! For context, this show was the first time I had seen the band since SPAC `88 ( I didn`t like the "vibe" of this show, others may have had a different experience) and a couple of excellent `87 shows (Worcester 4/4 and Silver Stadium 7/2) as I had been moving around a lot in those days (Boston>Rochester>Saratoga Springs) and had zero money and often no car (or steady job!) . All told, I had seen the band about 35 times since `79 by this point (I know, a pittance by many of your experiences!). Anyway, I had finally settled down, met my (future and present) wife and was excited to see the band after such a long break. The Knick had recently opened, featuring Frank Sinatra on opening night, and I was interested to see the new venue. Traveling to Albany on this gray cool day from my then home in Saratoga Springs was a simple 25 minute trip south on the "Northway"( I 87) to Albany. Arriving a couple of hours early I was amazed to see how much the "Scene" had grown in my absence , it was no longer just a couple of bedraggled looking "heads" looking for "miracles" or selling cookies, but what looked like some sort of strange outdoor bizarre taking up not only the sidewalk in front of the venue, but several streets and parking lots, WOW! GD was blaring from boom boxes and cars everywhere and the mood was so.....festive ! The local police had a thankfully light touch and the vibes were good. After checking out out "Shakedown Street" (not sure that it was called that yet or not) and shiny twirly stuff of the dude in the cap pictured in the booklet for "Dozin` (he was on the sidewalk directly in front of the venue) I got in line to get in. Even though I was relatively early in line, it took forever to get in as the staff was new and not ready for a crowd of this nature. With tix and body checked I was admitted, quickly surveyed the new venue (there will be time to more closely check it out later), and met up with my friends in the hallway. As it was now almost show time, we quickly bought our Molson`s and started making our way down to the floor just as the lights went down too. As we felt our way down the stairs, the band had come on to a great, deafening applause, which seemed ....odd, there was some sort of energy already in the room from before a note was played ! After a few minutes of this, the band started playing. It was a song I did not yet know (looked it up later, "Good Times" by Sam Cooke). This song ended after accompanying us happily part way down to the floor. Almost reaching the floor, I heard a "Help on the Way" tease from Jerry, who, with the band, quickly launched into it . Yes, LAUNCHED ! I was anxious to get to my seat so I could settle in, just a little bit further...thinking on the way that this "Help on the Way" sounds great. I was almost to my seat when Jerry started his first solo after the verse. As Jerry -quickly- progressed deeper into his solo (and boy did it go deep!) , something physically happened to me....all of the hair on the back of my neck to the top of my head felt like it was standing up as if I had been engulfed by heat lightning ! WTF! I recall thinking, right then, that the band was on another plain that night, and right out of the gate ! I also realized that this phenomenon was not "just me", it was the entire crowd, feeling the same thing at the same time. For the rest of the night, thousands of people were one with the band, start to finish. That is what made this a special evening.
One of my early tapes actually, I had that show in early '89 as I recall. SBD! 2 days before my first show - and likely a "better" show than 3/18 was - but I guess I was hooked into the trading scene pretty early to be getting board tapes of '88 shows in '89.
Regarding “Shakedown Street” as the name for parking lot vending/activity, I never heard it used in my years of seeing the Dead. We just said we were going to the lot or to check out the scene.
Definitely not that cool. I found an old pack of Bambu in a record that belonged to my mom, or one of her siblings, there was a big crate full at her parents' house. I was like 15, and definitely knew what it was, but pretended I didn't when I showed my mom. That was about 6 months before she came home early and caught me and two friends with a hookah we had made out of a 5 gallon water cooler bottle. That would be around 12 pounds today. One dollar in 72 was worth about 7 dollars in today's money, so it looks like inflation has been a bit worse over there. A pound in 72 was equivalent to about 1.60, which would be around $10 in today's dollars. Any way you slice it, still a great deal.
Agree. If I ever heard 'Shakedown Street' used to refer to the lot scene, it was towards the very end of the Dead's run. Usually it was just 'the lot' or 'the vending scene'. Other things I never heard while seeing the Dead (1986-1995) were "4:20" and "Never miss a Sunday show."
Scarlet would have been a good choice for Steal Your Face, give us some kind of jam on the live album from arguably their jammiest period. To make up for the deficit, it appears on DP 6, 7, 12 and 13. I listened to that jam again in the clear light of day, as it were, and it definitely still stands up. I'd say it's about 2/3 jazzy and spacy and then it goes into 'intense and crazy' territory for the final third. I'm going through in order, so I'll get to the Monterey meltdown eventually. I also realized that Brent does not seem to sing at all on 3-16-88, or at least not in set 2. (I was wondering what was up with Bobby's falsetto on the Wheel...) Last night after 3-16-88 I started 5-16-80. I didn't realize this was Go to Nassau, I always thought that was 5-6-81, which is actually DP13. I love the version of High Time in this set, it reminded me of 1969, except with plinker instead of organ. Obligatory big cheer for 'just like New York City' from Ramblin Rose just now.
I remember seeing "Jerry burgers" for sale on what was called Shakedown Street outside Frost Amphitheater (Stanford U. Palo Alto, CA) in the early 80's.
There’s an episode of Pawn Stars where someone comes in with what he thinks is an original copy of The Who’s contract to play Woodstock which he found in an old copy of Live At Leeds.
No burgers in my lot experience. Veggie burritos and grilled cheese. Bonus was grilled cheese with a slice of tomato. At Fare Thee Well, I think I paid $18 for a grilled cheese. It was excellent, but not $18 worth of excellent
Regarding lot lingo, I knew I was getting old when everything became “kind”, and I don’t mean “ r u kind” and all that lyric related jargon but when it described everything in sight
Broke my 'no Looks Like Rain' streak with this Go to Nassau show. I'm a bit out of practice, Garcia is playing the riff that they would later build a jam around, I didn't realize that was a thing this early. Damn, $18! I'm guessing it wasn't some kind of manchego and roquefort on whole grain sourdough made from an heirloom starter... I feel that way now when I go to the dispensary and everything is 'flower.' I'm always like 'what damn hippie came up with that?'
Shakedown Street on the Lawn Guyland Railroad! Coming home from a show at MSG, 10 March 1981 I reckon, and train cars are filled with smoke from the freely shared jazz cigarettes going around (with the conductor nowhere to be seen). A sparkly-eyed vendor comes through with Jerry Garcia dolls- little stuffed dolls that look like Jerry. Years later Jackie Greene had one on top of his guitar amp during his first couple of tours with Phil. And I must share the tale of the Cali knucklehead: outside of Shoreline at my last run in '94 a fellow is offering nicely done shirts featuring a Buddha image on the front in rainbow colors. He assures me it is a genuine "ti-bee-shan' design. I ask: "So it's a Tibetan image?" "Oh no," replies the knucklehead, "it's ti-bee-shan." PS- I bought one because it was a nice shirt.
