I’ve been trying to write about the end of things but it’s impossible. The words I have tried to craft about seeing Dead & Company rip through “Althea” and “Help on the Way” and “Morning Dew” and “Brokedown Palace” and “Uncle John’s Band” and everything else they did at Wrigley Field on a perfect Saturday night in June… well, they’ve all been bad. And that’s why you haven’t heard from me in awhile.
But here we are in early August, once again, and I’m wondering about what it all means, once again.
Last weekend, I saw a 36 year old tribute band cover music from a band that’s 58 years old. What is Dead will never die, right? The show took place in a tiny venue on the outskirts of a city not in America. There were 30, maybe 40 people there. Lots of tie dye. Lots of long hair. Lots of that headshop smell. The works. When we arrived, an old guy at the bar named Brian bought us a round. Later, we got his. At one point, Brian told us that a member of the original Grateful Dead — he couldn’t remember exactly who — once told him that this particular cover band was “one of the best.” He didn’t have any more details about when, where, or why that happened — but I believed him. Why not? Then we ate two frozen pepperoni pizzas as the band opened with “Loser.” At one point, we got a “Dark Star.” Then a “Drums / Space.” Then a “Ramble on Rose” and a “Bertha” and, well, you get it. A couple of guys sat in the back of the room taping the show. I wish I could find that recording now.
Deadheads are seekers. What is the future if not the past? My name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin. Of course he died. That’s all that ever made sense. So it goes.