77/5/8 Best show ever?

[laughingwillow]

jrl: I've been doing a lot of comparative listening as of late. The 5-8-77 show has to be one of the tightest of any I've heard, from start to finish.

However, imo, one would have to divide the group's career into at least four different phases. With and without piggers as well as with and without Mickey would have to be the minimum number of configurations to consider. (4)

amom: Please realize that I don't consider the dead scene to be a giant conspiracy, but rather an experiment in group consciousness. And when powerful sacraments are added to the mix, an amazing synchronicity can and does occur that is something like connecting a bunch of pc's.

The fear is/was mine and I own it.

I do what I do for the lessons to be gleaned. To know myself is to know you.......  

lw

[JRL]

jrl: I've been doing a lot of comparative listening as of late. The 5-8-77 show has to be one of the tightest of any I've heard, from start to finish.

However, imo, one would have to divide the group's career into at least four different phases. With and without piggers as well as with and without Mickey would have to be the minimum number of configurations to consider. (4)



lw

Here is another question: how are you judging? How tight they were, how passionate, how psychedelic, how weird?

I think my love of 66-69 comes from me using the the last two scales.

[laughingwillow]

Criteria above would be band performance and set list.

If you are looking for psychedelic interplay, that's another story..... Tours tended to ebb and flow psychedelia between individual shows and maybe days of the week, imo.

Also, most any live dead experience is enhanced with the ingestion of an active sacrament, imo. The live experience is the way to go and listening to shows I caught on disc can bring me right back to a particular emotion, even if not as strong the second time around.  

lw

[Amomynous]

amom: Please realize that I don't consider the dead scene to be a giant conspiracy, but rather an experiment in group consciousness. And when powerful sacraments are added to the mix, an amazing synchronicity can and does occur that is something like connecting a bunch of pc's.

The fear is/was mine and I own it.

I understand.

Recent comments aside, I've often pondered the content of the entheogenic experience, pondered its utter strangeness. Where do these things come from? All the explanations -- Jungian/Freudian psychological, mechanistic, etc. -- would never predict or explain the strange and alien worlds we find ourselves in. Even the most literal, McKenna-esque explanations fall short. There may be a component of all in what we experience, but even taken together they fall short. It is the emergence of a group consciousness, but what a consciousness!

To me it is a mystery to be beheld, not an experience to be analyzed!

[JRL]

Also, most any live dead experience is enhanced with the ingestion of an active sacrament, imo. The live experience is the way to go and listening to shows I caught on disc can bring me right back to a particular emotion, even if not as strong the second time around.  

lw

What did the Deadhead say when his stash ran out?

"This band sucks!

[laughingwillow]

LOL One of the most profound shows I ever experienced prolly fit into that category, jrl.

Toostoned came out onto the prairie for a couple of shows way back when. We caught the dead in wisconsin. Jerry was long gone and Phil was reportedly suffering from equipment failure that wouldn't be replaced for a day or two. Robet Hunter opened and then Dylan did a set. Word was that Hunter bolted after his set figuring the dead would have an off night with a pissy Phil. The venue was a little trashy, etc.

But then the show started and Dylan joined the boys on stage. It was obvious everyone was having a ball. I was laughing my ass off AT Dylan. He set up his keyboard right in the middle of the stage. (For his set, the keys were so far off to the side that it was difficult to even see him.) And when the dead played his songs, Dylan seemed to be impersonating himself. And badly at that. Mickey was chortling, too. But so was Dylan, so who knows.

Anyway, the second set got rolling, there was a seam in the music and toostoned sparked a circus joint. The effects of the circus joint on top of the active sacrament lasted for a half hour to 45 minutes. During that time, we both entered that sacred space and returned three or four times. For me it was like catching passing waves. All I had to do was close my eyes and go. (Toostoned said he kept his eyes open the entire journey.)

Early on it got real deep for me and I almost vacillated on my resolve to remain in that sacred space for as long as possible. When fear came whispering in my ear, it was difficult not to break the spell and bolt from the scene. But this time when the voice mentioned my impending death, I replied that everyone dies and I should be so lucky as to go while doing what I loved to do. The tone changed quickly after that. The ride became exhilarating. I felt exposed and examined and connected and loved all at the same time. The fear was at least temporarily burned away and all the mice came out to play.

I'll never forget that night. And I'm sure it will never make it to the top of any must have shows (except for me) anytime soon....  Christ, I don't even remember the date.

lw