Some stories from Deadheads
How did they become Deadheads?
Shelia Rene, 56, music anthropologist, Texas via San Francisco:
"I have a list of every show beginning in 1966 to 1993, every year, every show, who opened, if it was a benefit or not...the whole bloody history. ...My first Dead show was very spiritual. I felt safe, like it was a good place to be, I felt taken care of, and moist and warm. Because of that I went back to see them many, many times."


Tom Constanten, 51, pianist/composer, San Francisco:
"I saw the Grateful Dead back when they were the Warlocks. They were like a lot of other garage bands, doing the pop tunes of the day. It was sort of funny seeing Jerry Garcia singing "Wooly-Booly"!"

How did they get tickets?
Ken Fine, aka Kew, 36, organic T-shirt salesman, Liberty, ME:
"I've had a few fiascos. I once lost my ticket in Oakland and I walked back, retraced my steps, went back into the bar we were at, an all-black-folks bar in Oakland, and said, "Has anybody seen a ticket on the floor?" And they all looked at me like "You're back here again? You're really pushin' your luck, pal." And then I walked back to the concert, totally dejected, head down, and there was my ticket in the gutter!"


Staurt Wax, 37, music manager, Los Angeles:
"The greatest gift is when you have a few extra tickets and somebody says, "How much! How much!" And you say, "Just a smile or a hug. That's it." And they can't believe it. It's exciting when the person gets their miracle, their ticket. Then, part of my getting off on it is just walking away from them-not trying to connect with them or anything. Just letting them have it in their hands and really believing that they were blessed with this good time."

How did they get in?
Jeff Brown, 36, landscape architect, San Francisco:
"It wasn't that tough to get into shows back when I moved to San Francisco in 1978. I was nineteen. It was so easy and so much fun, kind of like, "How many burritos are we gonna get?" I've seena couple hundred Dead shows. I followed them around a bit on the East Coast when I was first getting started, back when they were playing in colleges in the 1970's. The most I've done in a run was when they did the Warfield in San Francisco. I think they did twelve nights, and I made it to nine shows. It was great. All you had to do was hop on the bus, go down Mission Street, and you were there. Things were different."


Annie Myles, 24, music manager, New York:
"After a couple years of not being in the scene at all, I ended up running smack into the Grateful Dead scene down in Georgia by accident in 1988. I didn't realize they were there, and I ran into some old friends of mine. So I decided to go to the show. It was really weird; I was very pensive, and I felt like I was coming into it from a very alone point of view. My friends had been on tour and they were all caught up in the scene and everything, and kind of walked into the show by myself. It was reallt eerie. Really quiet. There was no line at the ticket gate. I walked tight up, and everyone was like, "Good evening. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much for your ticket." It was "dead" silent, no preshow screaming or anything. I thought it was so bizzare. It was a killer show. I had a blast."

And Now?
Stanley Mouse, 55, poster artist extraordinaire, Sonoma, CA:
"A man isn't dead until he's forgotten..."


Jerry Garcia, radio interview:
"I'd like to disappear gracefully..."



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