Zaike, Slip,
Glad you enjoyed the Kirk story.
Zaike, your friend is undoubtedly familiar with Nancy's yogurt, a local creamery in Eugene. Nancy is Ken K's sister.
A very good friend of mine worked for Nancy's as a delivery truck driver while he completed his Masters at the UFO. He was an Opera major. My girlfriend, was an Opera aficianado (until I intorduced her to Miles, Coltrane, etc). So, as a friend, I'd go to hear/see the Operas which my friend was a part of. These performance were in the newly constructed Eugene ... for the Performing Arts building. Very beautiful, elegant Opera house with waves of balconies, very ornate. Of course, it was a great place to sleep during an opera. Out of 12 operas, I was probably awake a total of 5 minutes.
Anyway, one evening after my friend and his wife had cooked dinner for us, he told my girlfriend and I that he had a t- shirt and 2 tickets for a Grateful Dead show that evening . (He was the limo driver for the Dead whenever they came to town, although they never used the limo. But he had to pick it up, drive it to his house and let it sit there for the night. Really dumb. The Keseys would just drive the band wherever they neede to go).
Anyway, I was offered the tickets. I took them both and headed to the opera house where the concert was to start.
I'd never seen the Dead, but I was curious. As I approached the building, it was a completely different atmosphere. No stiffs in gowns and ties. More like tie-die, hacky sacks, color, smiling faces. Nice aroma.
I announced to the crowd that I had an extra ticket and held it out. A swarm engulfed me, but no one took it. Someone said, how much??? I said, FREE!
Instantly snatched out of my hand. And big cheers and hugs from many, many folks. Really cool. I was the hero.
I go inside. The energy was up about a thousand notches compared to the many boring hours I'd spent there. As soon as the curtains opened, I understood why every Deadhead declares that a Dead concert is the best party on the planet. Instant, explosive ECSTACY, joy, frenzy! The performing arts center was never the same.
On another note. I grew up in East L.A. with Los Lobos. David Hidalgo told me that shortly after Jerry had his second stroke, he could not play guitar. He could hold it in his hands but could not form a chord, or strum the strings. So David spent a few months helping him get his chops back. Which he did, eventually.
After Jerry passed, there were rumours that David would join the Dead. But these were just rumours. No one ever considered it.
