Music Friday: For AC :My Last Grateful Dead Show

It was April 1985 and after 6 months of arguing with the Navy, 1 letter to my state senator had finally put my travel paperwork, passport and airline ticket in hand. I would be leaving in 5 short days to join my husband in Japan, where I would be living for the next 4 years. I knew I had to do something really great before I left. Fortune was smiling upon me by way of a Grateful Dead concert. They would be playing for 3 days and being it was last minute I had my work cut out for me in hunting down a ticket. I made dozens of phone calls and finally tracked down a ticket to the second night. I would be going with my buddies Tom & Joe. Now I can tell you that the night was fantastic, doses were being passed by way of electric strawberries and cosmic orange slices. The music was enchanting and a good time was had by all. A fun night but not one that engraves itself into the memory banks for all time. It’s just a necessary lead in to the night that was to follow.


Anyone that has been to a Dead show or followed for any length of time knows if they are playing for more than one night, the last night is the night to be there. Now I knew I had to be there, I couldn’t just up and leave without seeing one more show. Though try as I may, I found no ticket. Joe & Tom already had tickets and they were going. I decided to saddle up and go with them anyway, if I couldn’t get in then c’est la vie. There’re always plenty of people hanging out and I knew I’d find a good time amongst them. I packed up some face paints, we loaded up Joe’s beetle with beer, rolled a few for the show and away we went. As we rolled into the parking lot I leaned out of the car holding up my “I need a ticket” sign high & proud. Two guys that were just walking by approached the car and asked who the ticket was for. I told them it was for me, much to my surprise and rapture they said, “here ya go honey, no charge.” Man I was shrieking with delight, I was in baby! I was so sure I wouldn’t be getting in, last night and all that I didn’t even wear shoes. So here I am, no shoes and a bag full of face paints, but I had a ticket! To show our appreciation we sparked up the first joint of the night with my heroes, I never did get their names. We passed beers around to everyone and the party before the show had officially begun. They stayed with us for a little while then moved on saying they had to meet up with some friends. The parking lot was alive with music, people were partying and dancing everywhere. Before we knew it a dozen or more people had joined us at Joe’s beetle we were all laughing and drinking beers, joints were passed and someone had a whip it balloon that was being filled and passed through the small crowd. I started talking to a chick named Rachael who informed me that her group had driven out from California for the show. I was so envious, I told her that driving across the country was one of my dreams. Then this angel handed me a quaalude, a rare sight since they had recently been taken off the market. I popped it with much gratitude and handed her another beer. It was getting close to door time and we would be heading in soon. The beers inside would be expensive, money we just didn’t have so we tried to down as many as we could before going in.


We finally started wandering toward the doors there was a huge crowd just starting to file into the venue, we lost Rachael and her brood in the process. Once inside we decided to separate since my seat was no where near theirs and we resolved on a place to meet up after the show. The miracle ticket I received was for a seat somewhere up in the nosebleed section so I decided that I would just wander about for the night and paint faces. So as Joe and Tom went off on their merry way, I proceeded to find a spot to set up my face painting. Not that there was much set up required, everything I had was crammed into one little baggy. Now if you’ve never been to a Dead show, you just wouldn’t understand why people say, “there’s nothing like a Dead show”. If you have been then you would know exactly what I’m talking about. I can honestly tell you that I have never been to a show that matched the mood and ambiance of any Dead show that I have ever attended. I’ve been to Phish, Rusted Root, Hot Tuna and any number of bands that claim the same crowd. The people may be the same but the mood just doesn’t quite capture the magic that was always present when the Grateful Dead were taking the stage. This night was no different, that special magic was all around, people were dancing throughout the place. Laughter and smiles filled the air intermingled with the sweet scent of patchouli and good herb. I no sooner had my paints out when the first person approached me to ask what I was doing. I said I was painting faces so this lanky bearded gent asked if he could be the first. He plopped down in front of me and I turned his generous beard into a rainbow of colors, he thanked me with a kiss on the forehead and skipped off merrily into the masses. This had attracted a small crowd and the next thing I knew I had at least half a dozen people waiting while I painted face after face succumbing to the gentle wave of the quaalude that Rachael had given me as it washed over me so sweetly. I wanted no money for my painting, I do it purely for my own pleasure. I did receive many gifts in trade for my services, even though I contended that it wasn’t necessary for them to give me anything. Some folks just insisted on giving me things. I left that show with 6 or 7 t shirts, a ton of hemp jewelry, bumper stickers and enough drugs to keep me wasted til the end of the year. Well, more than enough to keep me set for the next 3 days before I left anyway. One guy gave me 8 hits of Gold Medallion blotter 2 of which I immediately rested on my tongue, I stashed away the rest for another time. I later had 4 of these hits mailed to me in Japan concealed under stamps, but that’s another story.


We knew the band had hit the stage when we heard the roar of the crowd so we filed into the alcove to see what was going on. If memory serves me I believe they opened with Alabama Getaway. The entire arena was a sea of bobbing heads and twirling bodies. I stayed in that alcove dancing for some time, I can’t say how long I was there but at some point the blotter had kicked in and I was riding the trip. The music lulled down with a remarkable version of Crazy Fingers, I was just floating along with it when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Rachael, she introduced me to Mike who was part of her group from California and they wanted to know if I would paint their faces. I agreed warning them that in my present state of mind I couldn’t be responsible for the quality of my work. We laughed and planted ourselves on the floor just outside of the alcove I had been dancing in. I offered them doses of the gold medallion but they respectfully declined saying that they had already hooked up with the electric strawberry fairy from the night before and were feeling quite happy at the moment. I dove into painting straight off, there is something so wonderful about painting on acid. It’s like the paints become a direct extension of my soul or something like that. Again people started to gather and I found myself painting face after face while Rachael, Mike and I got better acquainted. They told me of their adventures on the drive to Rhode Island, I was fascinated with their stories. They were living one of my dreams, it was amazing. They told me they had tickets for all the shows from here to Sacramento, Ca and they were going to follow the Dead back to California. Then Mike proceeds to tell me that one of their friends had to back out of the trip and they have an extra set of tickets. He tells me that they want me to come with them. Man, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn’t believe it, here I was getting ready to depart for Japan in just 3 days and now these sensational people step into my life and hand me one of my dreams on a silver platter. Holy shit! Now as I said in the beginning of this story it took 6 months of fighting with the navy and a letter to my senator to get me my travelling papers. My husband was awaiting my arrival in Japan, could I just put that all aside and take off with these beautiful strangers. I gotta tell you, I actually thought about it. I mean really thought hard too but in the end I had to decline. No regrets, my hubby and I didn’t last but I did leave Japan with my beautiful baby boy and a whole lot of new adventures to tell. I never did see Rachael or Mike again after that night but I will be forever grateful to them for their generous offer. I was still awestruck when I met back up with Joe & Tom. As we relayed our adventures of the night they told me I was crazy for turning down such a phenomenal offer. The next day the news did a spread on the show and talked to many people with painted faces, it made me happy to know that I was responsible for that. I will never forget that magical night even though at the time I didn’t know that it would be my last Dead show. Jerry died just 10 years later, regretfully I never saw him play again.