Prequel...

It's been nearly four months since Furthur parted the heavens at Shoreline in June. The rain never came as they brought down the house with a rousing opener of Here Comes the Sun. Every single fan was soaked with joy as the harmonies found their groove and the guitar amps teetered at "11!" From the thunderous tale of Jack Straw into an awe-inspiring Bertha; night #1 found us on our feet for the entire show. Night #2 was one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever been part of. I say “been part of” because It felt like a true night of synergy, when the band gave to the audience in spades and the audience approved and approved and approved! This “follow Furthur” idea evolved from being at those shows. I'll bet nearly every fan who’s ever attended a show can share these sentiments; “wow, this is the best time I’ve had a in a long time, this really feeds my soul, wouldn’t it be great if I could follow them on the road?” They had already announced the early Fall tour dates and I thought, “why not, how many shows can I go to without disrupting my family and my ‘real’ life too much?” As I watched all the happy strangers having such a great connection with each other and the music, I thought it would be fun to write about what it’s like to go to a show – solo and immersed with a sea of like-minded revelers. And so, the FIRE FROM THE ICE blog idea was born.

For a while during the second night of the June shows, somewhere between Tennessee Jed and Shakedown Street, I was trying to remember what the show would sound like if Jerry was the front man on the stage. And, suddenly, I couldn't put the sounds together in my head. I've seen Furthur many times in the past couple of years. Their sound, with added vocals by Jeff Pehrson and Sunshine Becker, the solo drummer, Joe Russo, the mission-driven fingers of Jeff Chimenti, the guitar mastery of John Kadlecik and Bob Weir and Phil Lesh are the members of one band that’s moving the music of the Grateful Dead forward. It's the sound I now seem to gravitate toward and crave. When the show was over and we were numb with excitement and every bone ached from dancing, we had one of those typical parking lot experiences that only happens when Dead-heads convene. With the comic privilege of VIP parking, we found ourselves essentially held hostage in the front parking lot until every other fan departed. Much to our delight, parked a few spaces from us, was a giant RV with an iPod speaker system on steroids. And, lo and behold, they were blasting a Grateful Dead show from 1987. And, there was Jerry, sweet Jerry! And I suddenly remembered the sound and I knew the difference between the sounds. It was an unexpected juxtaposition of entertainment. But, it worked. And, after an hour of parking lot dancing and Frisbee throwing, we were on our way, with a bit of nostalgia thrown into the mix.

Enough with tripping down memory lane. This week-long experiential blog, this adventure, is about now. About watching summer turn into fall, about the starting of the school year; and about the gumption of one woman willing to leave her daughters and UI desiger start-up husband to hit the road for a week of song, cheer and merriment. A week to let my soul breathe and rejoice. From Red Rocks to Las Vegas, to Los Angeles, to Monterey, the songs will carry me from venue-to-airport-to-venue. I know I’ll travel with a tribe of family strangers. Many of whom have been on a tour before. We'll all arrive ready to share a good time and with plenty of dance in our feet. Let’s share the experience.

Comments

[Sharon]

I love this! What a great prequel. I will be coming along for the ride, at least via this wonderful blog. Thank you so much!

[Deadhead_A]

Blog is off and running! Woo-hoo! Been two great shows so far at Red Rocks. Looking forward to reading your blog as the journey proceeds!

Taking tonight off.. See you in Vegas!