ZONE OUT with the ROLLING RIDER
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The Dead
9/18/03
Irvine, CA
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Set One: Read Between the Lines

Indulge me, Phans, for this Rider feels a shade different. Catching a breath
between the Dead’s indefatigable summer and Phil’s eye-popping fall, I’m
left reeling.

Up on the hill turned brown by the California summer, it’s a sticky
September night beneath a trace of stars. Irvine Meadows, a 1980s staple for
the Dead, provided the backdrop for a date wrought with history. Jerry
picked September 18, 1987 at MSG to perform what many consider the finest
Morning Dew ever played, containing an intrepid guitar lead that is perhaps
a tip of the cap to the anniversary of the death of James Marshall Hendrix.

Rising like a Phoenix from the opening JAM, a heroic HELP ON THE
WAY>SLIPKNOT helped kick-start the crowd. HARD TO HANDLE followed, providing
a segue for Mickey to deliver Hunter’s poignant remembrance DOWN THE ROAD
AGAIN. “Heard a laugh I recognized come rolling from the earth/I saw it rise
into the skies like lightning giving birth/It sounded like Garcia, but I
couldn't see the face/Just the beard and glasses and a smile on empty
space”.

With all these impromptu remembrances of the leader of the band’s departure,
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Jerry’s own visions, at least of his time
spent in a coma in 1986. They’re a little less nostalgic.

"My main experience was one of furious activity and tremendous struggle in a
sort of futuristic, space-ship vehicle with insectoid presences. After I
came out of my coma, I had this image of myself as these little hunks of
protoplasm that were stuck together kind of like stamps with perforations
between them that you could snap off”.

RAMBLE ON ROSE was its usual rollicking self, the perfect balance of
Hunter’s simple, modest phrasings set to elaborate musical peaks. STRAWBERRY
FIELDS FOREVER dazzled the crowd, creating a reverent setting for MOUNTAINS
OF THE MOON, with Phil beckoning: “Hey Tom Banjo, it’s time to matter”. Set
one culminated with ALL THAT YOU ARE into a thundering rendition of BERTHA.

Set Two: We Can Leave this Place an Empty Stone

To commemorate Jimi’s death, unfortunately we weren’t treated to a Foxey
Lady Jam for a second set opener. In fact, it went by with no fanfare at
all, keeping in the Dead’s tradition with Hendrix.

Dead publicist Dennis McNally wrote, "Hendrix's loss was all the more
poignant because they'd never jammed with him. On the one occasion that he'd
come to a show, ax in hand, the Dead had gotten so high on LSD and so deep
in their music that when Mickey Hart finally remembered to signal for him to
join them, it was hours later and he'd departed." Sorry, Jimi.

FRIEND OF THE DEVIL would have to suffice, followed by a Bobby sampler,
namely EVEN SO>OCTOBER QUEEN>THE DEEP END. Mickey pulled out ONLY THE
STRANGE REMAIN, crooning: “I'm dying of thirst with a drink in my
hand/Praying for something that I don't understand/One foot on the gravel,
one foot in the sky/Too reckless to live and too careful to die”.

WHEEL>OTHER ONE was Grateful Dead 101. Phil’s bass our very heartbeat with
Weir remembering: “It was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever
land”. DRUMS featured John Molo, yet another meshing of Phil and Friends
with the Dead, and Joan provided the bells of heaven for a windy CHINA DOLL
out of space.

The musical highlight of the evening was undoubtedly a flawless version of
THROWIN’ STONES, with Bobby Ace waxing political with oily references. "If
the spirit’s sleeping, then the flesh is ink." Agreeing wholeheartedly we
were On Our Own, we took the opportunity to shake our bones on this hill of
dry shorn grass, silently vowing to protect that shining ball of blue we
call our home.

Jimmy Herring literally took over on SLIPKNOT>FRANKLIN’S TOWER, blazing away
as if on command. Our recessional hymn for the evening was AND WE BID YOU
GOODNIGHT, sending us walking in the valley of the shadow of death with the
shield of love and the sword of hope.

As a closing note, the next appearance for Phil Lesh is on October 29th with
the Hep Kats and Ram Dass at the Great American Music Hall as a concert for
Allen Cohen. You can find out more about why they’re holding a benefit for
Allen, but to show his indisputable connection to our music, I’d like to
leave you one of his poems.

An Elegy for Jerry Garcia--
It was the 50th Anniversary
of the bombing of Nagasaki
when Jerry faded away
It was the day the music paused
but we know it will never die.
It was the day when his karma took hold
and led his soul away.
Will we ever know where?
Will we ever know why?
His hands could make the cosmos
rock and roll and shake all over
Only his hands playing his guitar
His body immobile
a vehicle for the Orphic soul.
His music tamed the wild heart.
Everyone danced when Jerry played -
arms reaching toward the sky.
His harmonies vibrated the soul
and millions understood
the ideals the music embodied
peace, love & community.
Heal the hostile heart
love the creation
and help each other
Orpheus is dead !
Orpheus is dead!
The next new Nova
will be called Jerry's Guitar
-by Allen Cohen

See you this Phall!
Rolling Rider

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Rolling Rider: Dead East Coast Summer Wrap-up

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