Alpine Valley, East Troy Wi. 7-17-89

I was blessed to have been escorted to my first Dead show by two great friends...
Lori and Gus...last names withheld to protect the innocent...
I could not have asked for better chaperone's. 
They made sure that I had a ticket to get in, and had the proper attitude, & accoutrements.

My life changed that day.  I would not be who I am without that experience.

For me there was not just one song that made it happen. It was the entire package...
but there were clearly lyrical passages throughout the show that had my third ear tuning in...

First Set:

 'Let The Good Times Roll'...

A 'welcome-to-our-house' medley, each of them singing a verse..it was  a song I'd never heard before. What an opener....
Hearing the roar of the crowd afterwards for the first time, was such an awesome tsunami of joy...there really are not any words to properly describe it...but that roar was brief because we had just set sail...

then...right into 'Feels Like Stranger'...and I did.. and it got stranger

 Things got blurry for a few,6-7ish songs...waves of waves... swirls of whirls...mountains full of valleys...lakes full of clouds...yeah you get it. Somewhere around 'Cumberland Blues' I lost my shoes....no biggie...most everyone else didn't have any either....Still had my hat,
which I would later trade for a burrito, a soda, and a hug....

Then came one of the tunes that really delivered the goods, and has always served as my vision of what the Grateful Dead was/is......'Music Never Stopped'.....
...made me feel like I actually had it figured out for once. Like I had achieved a plateau of sorts, in that I MIGHT just fit in here with this Island of misfit toys. This was the closest thing to freedom that I had ever tasted.  & to top it off, It was almost as if I was in a movie or something. Barlow's lyrics just painted it all so clear...
" there seems to be a beat now...I can feel it in my feet now...listen here it comes again!"
...and later...
"Rainbows full of sound, Fireworks, Calliopes, and clowns....and everybody's dancin'!"...
All things in the universe were in their proper place..
I was flying about 5 feet above the ground.

Second Set:

China>Rider>Playin>UJB Opener....Though I know better now, back then I thought the lyric was "have you seen the light"...and yes I had... Then came the gripper...

for me in the second set it was the very underrated 'Standing On The Moon'....


As it started I noticed SOOO many people get up and leave, I thought it might be over...my friends rightly took over the big open flatter space that had just recently opened up on everyone's exit...I wasn't going anywhere till they did...
There was a lot of muttering about new songs suck,..more talking than I'd heard the entire time...blah blah thisnthat etc. 
It was brand new to the fans I guess, so still heavily viewed under the 'not-so-kind' microscope of some of the more purist fans....no biggie for me... so much of all of it was brand new to me......and it was soooo powerful  .."It's like a mighty melody that rings down from the sky ...standing here upon the moon I watch it all roll by - all roll by..
... the tone of Jerry's voice as he fed us Hunters masterful observations on how painful it is feeling isolated and alone, carved me to the core. 'THAT' I could relate to. My synapse consumed with images of those I love...quite a poignant message...& " a lovely view of heaven, but I'd rather be with you".....

...Now I'm not gonna say that it wasn't the L, but I was reeeeaaallllyyy feeling it, and it brought me to tears.  Almost like some sort of osmosis, this song I'd never heard before, climbed inside my chest, and merged with me momentarily, and was literally crushing my heart, while also making it beat..... being there in a sea of strangers, lonely but not alone, I'd never felt so vulnerable to self pity.

but almost like a rescue...came Drums/space...and more people left...
MORE ROOM TO BOOGIE!!  This experience was brand new to me. 
Bordering culture shock, I just kept my hands inside the ride...there is no real estate for scrutiny during drums and space...this primal appraisal of our senses gives NO FUCKS...
..and he lived to tell about it...

'The Wheel' arrived in true meandering style...is it a jam?...is it a song?..with an eventual graduation..."if the thunder don't get ya then the lightning will", almost like a right of passage...you survived drums and space pilgrim....time to dance again!

For the next few songs,....more random loss of time occurred, waves on waves on waves...like 4 million years of caterpillar-tortoise's traveling at the speed of zzzzzzinggg!!   ....time stood still, yet moved onward at a pace that seemed so breakneck I finally decided it would be best to sit down for a spell....well,..lay down...there's all this extra space..why not?... Next thing I know I'm being shook to get up and the band is playing 'Bid You Goodnight', and all those folks that left had come back, and were singing along...

We sat in the grass as hundreds of folks walked past...My friends were smart and they knew your better to just wait till about 3k people get out ahead of you..I remember saying..."they are gonna play another set right?".."It can't be over!"...and it wasn't..the 18th, and 19th were just as incredible, maybe I'll get to the stories about the rain day....someday.


All good things in
 all good time,
-Mace