Fool New Years
Well, where do I start. Christmas 1981, I jumped on a greyhound from Phoenix Arizona and headed so the California Bay Area to catch the Grateful Dead, doing 5 shows in 6 nights culminating in my first New Year’s Eve GD experience. Things I remember, Joan Baez & children of the 80s quicksilver, the juggling pins, Jerry breaking a string on his acoustic guitar during the first song, the guy riding the joint in on a cable, starting the 2nd set at midnight with Aiko, terrapin, ending the set with killer morning dew. The next set of Dark Star, Bertha, Good Lovin, and culminating with Joan Baez in her white blouse, jeans, and boots singing & swaying while the band played It’All Over Now Baby Blue. Jerry was so on. Best GD show I’ve seen ever. Well Dark Star Orchestra just played the whole show and totally rocked it at the beautiful Palace Theater in downtown Albany. My hat’s off to these extremely talented artists. This was their rescheduled NYE show beginning on of all dates April fools 2022 going into the next morning. I feel privileged to have been there along with my high school senior son Max to partake in the celebration. Got to watch from front center right in front of Skip. The performance was close to flawless. They nailed it. Thanks for letting me relieve it and special thanks for letting my son experience it. I was lucky to have caught the GD’ New Years Eve shows 3 times in the ‘80s and the GD more times than I can count. This was my favorite GD by far and last show played in the Oakland Aud. DSO did a great job bringing it back in their special way. If you haven’t seen Dark Star Orchestra and you love great jam band music, put it on your list, you won’t be disappointed.
