Article: Why are so many Grateful Dead fans being murdered?

Right on, I appreciate your candor. And I'm obviously not deleting your posts or anything, this is a conspiracy theory website after all -- the best damn on on the planet, as far as I'm concerned -- and yeah this thread is ideal for discussing this sort of stuff.

So, thank you for posting. It's food for thought, and I'll certainly keep an open mind on this matter.

As far as the Dead being left-leaning? Absolutely, just as you say, that's "a matter of public record." Save the whales, save the snails... all that stuff.

I think Jerry Garcia considered himself to be a libertarian -- live and let live, if I remember correctly. But yeah, most of their benefits and over political leanings were definitely left of center.

Which doesn't mean jack squat, of course, if it comes down to child murder or irredeemably awful stuff like that, white slavery. That would be the kind of thing that sends somebody straight to hell, or invents hell if there isn't already one.

Keep posting, AC, you seem to be an honest person, and I appreciate your contribution to this thread.

for the record i don't know what to think about phil on this issue but that guy was definely more serious sounding than south park's al gore. like 72 menrioned about having a breakdown. it was showing in that vid. desperate to get the word out.

Last Edited by guitar ace on 10/22/2020 01:19 PM

LOL, you have a way with words, guitar ace

I can picture it now...

Weirdo guy: "Hey kid, want to try some homemade acid?"

Guitar ace: "Um, I gotta go..."

Good intentions mixed with drugs. I was around that crowd many years ago. Lots of good people but drugs (specifically) pot is just a slow decay. It brings in bad elements.

Sorry but I have never seen anything good come from pot over the long term. My life got better once I ditched that scene. FACT

Just a wild guess here, maybe they are too grateful?

if your looking at this thread you may enjoy this vid

Right on, AC. Probably saved you a lot of money in the long run too!



To each their own

I saw the GD at Angel Stadium in Anaheim in 87 when I was 19. Saw Mormon looking young people with stacks of sheets of acid. Hawking it like hotdogs right in the open. But I bought my sid from some scurvy guy with a medicine bag around his neck. Gave me the worst headache ever.

So they can be grateful?

So, you're like: Hmm Mormans with acid? Or a guy suffering from scurvy? I'm going with the scurvy guy...

LOL

1987 was a relative good year for the Dead. Jerry had recovered (mostly) from his stroke and Brent (the keyboard player) was getting better by the year. They also had some new material then, and songs like "West LA Fadeaway" had their best years in 1987.

I'm jelly :)

That's correct about the veil, it has to do with all the mind opening psychedelics we used to do.

Hence the bumper sticker I used to have on my bus: "I love my country but fear my gov ment".

250 plus shows here buddy, inluding Jerry's band, yeah, I've been around the block a couple of times.

Jerry seemed to be the most genuine of the band for sure.

The problem with promoting left wing politics is of course all of the things the left stands for that get second billing to "altruistic" endeavors, for example where leftism leads to....basically dissolution of freedom and ultimately war and death, historically.


I've had some great times at dead shows, most notable the huge RFK show wit Tom Petty, Steve Miller, Bob Dylan and all of them on stage together jamming "Like a Rolling Stone" for what seemed 45 minutes! Also the RFK show where the drummers brought out the train horns for the first Casey Jones in years......a tribute to Mayor Barry! Getting tear gassed at the Warlock show in Hampton! good times. Strolling the lot at Capitol Centre playing dead tunes on acoustic with friends etc etc.

I certainly don't want the bad things to be true.

250 shows plus JGB? Dude that's awesome!!!

What were the Garcia Band shows like, if you don't mind me asking? Were they as laid back as I've read?

They always said that Jerry loved his JGB, he could do covers that he loved, and take extra long solos. Plus, the backup singers, the black ladies were awesome and so was the Rev. Melvin Seals on organ!

Do you have any highlights from those solo-Jerry shows?

Just curious!

the dude made his way into our camp and wouldn't leave and carried at least an 8-inch killing knife holstered on his side. it turned into a spiritual war. i'm pretty positive he wanted to butcher one of my friends. it was really intense actually. it was me and about 6 other friends against one guy who refused to leave. we were all tripping when it went down actually. before we knew this guy was a threat we had told him we had dropped. later on he kept asking us, "so, are you tripping yet?" of course that sobered us up real quick. everything that went on would take too long to write. we verbally mind fucked him indiovdually but at the same time. he was met with an onslaught of insanity. i hid behind a tree and shined my flashlight directly into his eyes and then would strobe it. other friends would chat gibberish. he couldn't handle it and fell back into a tree. we were uphill on a good sized slope. then a friend said that tree is home to a lot of black widows (which was kind of true since they were crawling around our camp earlier). he looked at the tree and then backed downhill and we never heard or saw him again. good ol' missouri. that's just the basic story.

Last Edited by guitar ace on 10/22/2020 01:46 PM

Wow... Dylan, the Dead, and Steve Miller? That sounds like a dream come true. And that LARStone version, man I gotta check that out. I know the Dead played with the Petty band back in '87, is that where I should look for it?

Never heard about tear gas at the Warlock shows... weren't they supposed to be kind of a 'surprise'? They advertised it as '...(formerly) the Warlocks' for the express purpose of not over-selling the venue? Funny how, apparently, word got out and it was (apparently) necessary to use such extreme measures of crowd control... Damn.

Capitol Centre, was that in Washington DC? Do you still play music these days? That must have been a super cool time, all of your memories, I mean. I'm super jealous

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks for posting on this thread, I appreciate your contribution and thanks for bringing up some stuff which isn't exactly pleasant, but is entirely germane to the topic.

Rock on, buddy

i didn't know they gassed people at the warkock shows. was it the gate crashers like at deer creek?

That's an amazing story, guitar ace! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

I didn't mean to make light of your situation, it seemed funny to me when I responded... but now it seems like a magical/spiritual moment and I can really picture it. Some day you should write a full accounting of that experience. Obviously you haven't forgotten it, and the stuff about mindfucking that guy, and using non-violent measures to get that crazy fuck to back down is brilliant.

The more you post, g.a., the more I respect you and like you.

It's always great to see you on GLP and on my occasional threads, and you are always welcome, my friend.

I'm glad you have led such a rich and memorable life. Cheers to you, and your brother, and I can't wait to hear the next story you care to share with us :)

That's what I was thinking!

Funny enough -- as much as it relates to this thread, and/or violence and the Grateful Dead -- Jerry got death threats at one of those Deer Creek shows. Apparently the local SWAT had snipers at the ready, and heightened security.

According to the book I read (Dark Star: Life of Jerry Garcia), Phil lesh was packed and ready to cancel the entire tour and everyone was waiting behind the stage curtains for Jerry to tell them the concert was off...

But nope. Jerry said, "Fuck that, I'm not going to let some death threats stop me from doing my thing," and he even played a defiant version of Dire Wolf that night.

"Don't murder me, I beg of you don't murder me..." he sang.


Fuck yeah, Jerry. I still miss you, man

Yeah the one with Miller, Petty and Dylan was '86 RFK, maybe July 6 I think. It was 110 degrees on the floor and water girls were bringing parched people jugs of water, staff was spraying down the crowd with fire hoses (kindly) it was awesome!

The Warlocks show was because the Dead was banned there! I don't remember the "formerly" part however......

Capitol Centre, yes near DC on the Maryland side.

I'm a working musician, was touring a few years back but just doing local stuff these days.

yes, I was lucky to experience all of that stuff, thanks for the props.

Okay, I can't help it...

It was a crowd of folks up on the mezzanine entrance, I think most didn't have tickets.

The cops were pissed because the band had tricked the town by using a different name.

Damn near caused a stampede.

hampton and noblesville are shit areas

lol that's awesome, not the gassing part of course.

i have a theory that the deer creek thing was more staged than not. cops were getting explsoives thrown at them. jerry had the death threat. that was one dark night.

I must say and admit that once I went to my first Jerry show at the Orpheum in SF (87 I think) I was hooked and preferred them over the dead.

Small venues, awesome bar on the floor (Warfield), definitely more mellow than the GD crowd and shows.

Best times of my life.

Riiiight, that's what I remember reading. They had called themselves The Warlocks back in '65, before they changed it to the Grateful Dead.

I think they were trying to test out some new material/warm up for another pending tour, and the only venue they could book was a smaller one, and as long as they didn't use the GD name....

But, of course, some sleuths figured it out pretty quick and things got out of control...


Would you say, looking back, the use of tear gas was appropriate? You mentioned a near-stampede...

According to the band, they got "too famous" after Touch of Grey became a hit single. After that, they basically HAD to play stadium venues and large amphitheaters, and never again could get away with playing smaller theatres and places where the ambiance/acoustic were actually good.

It's sad, because basically everybody except for Jerry was so happy to have the money rolling in. But Garcia already had more money than he knew what to do with (songwriting royalties, etc.) and was more inclined to do JGB stuff rather than the hassle of playing Giants Stadium and shit like that, where the music wasn't able to be heard as well...

Thanks for more of the backstory about those Warlocks shows, though, AC. I love hearing the details, and you've done a lot for this thread. I want to make sure and say Thank You for posting

Two seconds into this video: "Don't tell me no, man; this is First Amendment..."

Classic! Thanks, Dogfood!!!

Aww, hell yeah! That sounds awesome, especially the bar. I didn't realize that Warfield had a bar! Explains a lot why those acoustic shows were so well received, lol!

Thanks for sharing the memories, I really mean that



(*Edit = Opps, this is the meme that shows up with ..hellyeah.. I'll keep it because it's kinda funny...)



Last Edited by Wharf Rat on 10/22/2020 02:21 PM

this is the third attempt of posting, glp is blocking the archive link maybe? here it goes. you'll have to tweak the url. i'll try to make it obvious.


no worries i don't get offended andd my sense of humor allows me to laugh with you.
thanks for the good words and i do want to share something. not bragging, just sharing. i'm one of the drummers in this band (left it in 2011) we're playing with vince and sugar blue walks in and stars playing with us too! one of the funnest nights with this band listen from standing on the moon to the end. archive org/details/tf2001-09-03.flac