I often talk about music here. How I travel to see concerts. How much I love music. All totally true.
But I thought, I never mentioned the first concert I went to.
Solider Field. July 1983. The Grateful Dead. I would send my entire summer with them.
I don't even know where to start. Maybe the most memorable thing was the Chicago fire department turning their hoses on us. Not in a mean way, but pointing the hoses up to the sky and letting us dance under them. To cool off. It was like 105.
I walked into the concert and honestly I couldn't tell you a single Dead song. I was just a small town guy. I'd never been to a place where there were like 500 people, much less 60,000 in a single place.
What happened was close to game changing. I mean I can't put it to words.
I recall that first note played. Thinking to myself this is the most amazing thing ever. Heck I just got up and danced a little even talking about this.
The Dead. I recall the first time going to San Fran. The first three places I went to where to see where the Dead had been. The women I was with said she didn't understand, I said to her if I had to explain it, well she wouldn't understand.