Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England 5/7/72
                          &
The Strand Lyceum, London England 1972


Well it was quite a long time ago! I wish I'd written something down then.

I'd got to know the Dead's music quite well from listening to their albums. Live/Dead knocked us
all out, though it was frustrating to have to change records three times. I missed the 1970 festival
appearance and first saw them at the Bickershawe Festival.

It was miserable weather, and the three of us who were going decided only to go for the last day.
We set off from Cambridge at crack of dawn on a Sunday morning and got there around
lunchtime. It was pouring and muddy, but I had got lots of plastic sheeting.

We got quite good positions and huddled under the plastic through the early acts. Brinsley
Schwarz were one I remember. Then Country Joe got the crowd going. Then the  New Riders
came on and the rain stopped. They did a great set, mostly of the songs on their first two albums.

Finally the Dead came on in the early evening and the sun came out! I remember the excitement
as they opened with Truckin'. Quite a lot of the other songs were new - I remember being
knocked out by hearing China Cat done live after the weirdness on Aoxomoxoa. Their harmony
singing was really tight (eg on Tennessee Jed, which I had not heard before).

By the second set it had got dark. And out came Dark Star. I remember it as meandering and
spacey, but I haven't ever heard a tape of that. Uncle John's Band as the encore was sweet.

That determined me to go to the Lyceum. I went up to London early each afternoon and was near
the front of the queue. So I was right at the front for one of the evenings. The Lyceum is pretty
small and wasn't really packed. Unless my memory is playing tricks there were no seats except
perhaps in the balcony, though there was a bar and some tables right at the back. It was pretty
relaxed. I remember sitting on the floor
for one part. The concerts were all long: 3 hours or so, and with four nights there was no sense of
urgency - if you missed a little bit there was lots more to come. I see from DeadBase that they
played 19 songs on the first set of the first night!

The music was really intense because it was such a small venue. Pigpen was truly amazing, not
moving around much but really powerful. I remember a really soulful Two Souls In
Communion. Again, the harmonies were really tight - Ramble on Rose one night for example.

Remember that most of what they played was then new songs. I don't think I'd got "Garcia" then,
and "Ace" hadn't been released.

I guess the highlights were Dark Star again (played twice), plus a monumental Playing In The
Band (I can't remember which one: they played it every night!).

I spent at least one night right up the front mesmerised by Jerry's guitar playing. It all seemed to
flow so effortlessly, with occasional grins as he pulled out an amazing run. The boys all seemed
to be having great fun on stage, with lots of joking and by-play.

Sorry, this is pretty inadequate. But it was 23 years ago. It really turned me on to the Dead and
I've been a Deadhead ever since.