cannabisnews.com: Wheel Keeps Turning for Grateful Dead Wheel Keeps Turning for Grateful Dead Posted by CN Staff on November 13, 2002 at 22:44:43 PT By Chris Kahn, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press Roanoke, Va. –– The last time the Grateful Dead rolled into this sleepy Southern city, 15 years ago, thousands of merrymakers followed with their tie-dyed shirts and veggie burritos and sunny indifference to public nudity.The civic center parking lot became a camp site and the city's new fountain was used as a shower. There were drugs and there was free love. And, of course, there was Jerry Garcia. Thursday, the four remaining original members will begin again, touring together for the first time since Garcia's death in 1995. But this time will be different in many ways.The parking lot will be chained shut until a few hours before the concert, and police are beefing up patrols – standard precautions, concert officials say, in this post-Sept. 11 world.The band also shows little resemblance to the gang that first entranced a generation 40 years ago.Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are all over 55 now. Each has his own band and they've moved in different artistic directions. Hart continues to produce records like Kodo's new Mondo Head album. Lesh started the Unbroken Chain Foundation, a charity, with his band.The decision to tour together came gradually, band members say, as each began to play the old tunes. One by one, they realized how much the music had adhered to their souls."The muse is telling us what to do," Hart says. "We're not really directing traffic here."This latest incarnation of the Dead – which plays under the moniker "The Other Ones" – will shuffle about 130 songs during a 14-city tour, including a number of Dead standards and some from their own bands. They've pulled out several songs from the early 1960s, such as "Till the Morning Comes," that have never been played live."Everybody's grown and expanded their horizons," Lesh says. "It's exhilarating ... this music demands to be played, and differently every time."To get back into tour shape, The Other Ones met back at the Dead's California studios for three weeks, singing around a piano at first to remember everyone's part."I don't ever remember rehearsing like that, except for in the '60s when we'd play all day everyday," Hart says. "My callous is back."Jimmy Herring, a journeyman who's sat in with the Allman Brothers and Jazz is Dead, was brought in to handle Garcia's guitar part. He said he'll try to stick to how Garcia played, but fans will most likely hear something different."It bothers me, too. I wish I could sound the way they sounded in 1962, but the equipment they used to make recordings back then were totally different," Herring said.While the band may have grown up, the fans are expected to be as earthy and raucous as ever.At a warmup concert in August, thousands of Deadheads converged on East Troy, Wis. The crowd was peaceful, but police issued 411 citations for drug violations and seized more than 51 pounds of marijuana, 7,300 doses of LSD, 10 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a tank of nitrous oxide and small amounts of other drugs.In Roanoke, no camping is allowed on the civic center premises, and ticket holders can't enter until three hours before the concert begins. Incense and cigarettes have been banned except in one designated area, as has the sale of any merchandise not officially sanctioned by the band."Those are the rules for every concert now," said civic center marketing director Robyn Schon. "We are aware that the Grateful Dead have a following that likes to partake in illegal drugs, so we've beefed up our security. But that's the only change."When the Dead last came to town, in 1987, more than 60 people were arrested for drugs and running naked in the parking lot. Authorities turned off the fountain when they discovered people bathing in it."We certainly know what it was like last time," police spokeswoman Shelly Alley said. "We'll have a large number of officers working the event."Deadheads, who started showing up Wednesday morning, weren't pleased with the new rules."Wow, they're going to turn everyone away?" asked a 21-year-old New Yorker who goes by the name Star. "We're all big adults here – what, do they think we're going to put graffiti on the walls or something?"Star, who doesn't have a ticket to the concert, quit his job at a merchandise distribution company and plans to follow the band with his dog, Molson, all the way to the tour's finale, Dec. 6, in Oakland, Calif."I left yesterday morning with a tank of gas and less than $20," he said with a laugh, his hair tucked in a brown stocking cap. "But I've got like 40,000 of my best friends here. They'll take care of me."Hart and Lesh said they weren't sure whether the group would get back together again after the tour. For now, they're happy simply to be back on stage together."The world needs this kind of vibe," Hart said. "We're chasing that feeling, that magic too. And we'll continue until the day we die."Note: Band's Surviving Members Go on Tour. On the Net:http://www.dead.netSource: Associated Press Author: Chris Kahn, Associated Press Writer Published: Wednesday, November 13, 2002Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Article:Grateful for the Deadheads http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13633.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 14, 2002 at 21:08:33 PT Update On Grateful Dead Tour Deadheads Gather for Start of Tour The Associated PressThursday, November 14, 2002ROANOKE, Va. –– Deadheads, their children and others – many of whom weren't even born when the Grateful Dead started playing in the 1960s – swarmed the city, arriving for the first show in the band's new 14-city tour.Officials refused to allow fans into the parking lot at the Roanoke Civic Center until 4 p.m. to minimize the rowdiness and illegal activities that followed Garcia and crew when they last appeared in Roanoke in 1987. But when 4 p.m. came, the lot filled fast.Police made their first arrest within seven minutes – and about 30 altogether – mostly for drugs or alcohol. Vendors hawked tie-dyed shirts, glass pipes, posters and veggie burritos, despite earlier statements by Civic Center officials that vendors wouldn't be allowed in the area.The smell of marijuana was evident despite the presence of mounted police patrolling the crowd, undercover and uniformed officers.Many said this time around, people are going to be more respectful of "the scene," which included riots and deaths at concerts when the band last toured in 1995."When I went to my last show it was a zoo," said Steve Smith, who came from Alaska. "As long as everybody has a good time, it'll be all right. I'm just excited to see some rock 'n' roll."The concert, which became an 11,000-seat sellout late, started at 7 p.m., and the crowd quickly went into its standard formation, swaying with the music.The band opened with perennial favorite "Saint Stephen," and the crowd kept moving to other Dead favorites like "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider."The band hardly resembles the gang that first entranced fans 40 years ago. Lead singer Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995, when the band last toured, and Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are all older than 55 now – and each has his own band.Jimmy Herring, a journeyman who's sat in with the Allman Brothers, also was brought in and given the daunting task of handling Garcia's guitar part.Band members say they will shuffle about 130 songs during the tour, including a number of Dead standards.They've also pulled out several songs from the early 1960s, such as "Till the Morning Comes," that have never been played live, as well as songs from their own bands. © 2002 The Associated Press [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by DdC on November 14, 2002 at 18:06:12 PT A Major Part of the Show was the Lot... Oh well...Grateful Dead http://arts.ucsc.edu/GDead/AGDL/#songs Avalon Ballroom [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by canaman on November 14, 2002 at 16:20:13 PT Till The Morning Comes Till the morning comes, it'll do you fine. Till the morning comes, like a highway sign, Showing you the way, leaving no doubt, Of the way on in or the way back out.Tell you what I'll do, I'll watch out for you You're my woman now, make yourself easy, make yourself easy Make yourself eeeeeeasyTill we all fall down, it'll do you fine, Don't think about what you left behind The way you came or the way you go Let your tracks be lost in the dark and snowTell you what I'll do, I'll watch out for you You're my woman now, make yourself easy, make yourself easy Make yourself eeeeeeasyWhen the shadows grow, it'll do you fine When the cold winds blow, it'll ease your mind The shape it takes could be yours to choose, What you may win, what you may loseTell you what I'll do, I'll watch out for you You're my woman now, make yourself easy, make yourself easy Make yourself eeeeeeeasyYou're my woman now, make yourself easy. You're my woman now, make yourself easy. You're my woman now, make yourself easy. You're my woman now, make yourself easy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Dark Star on November 14, 2002 at 06:48:18 PT Doing my heart proud Now you now where my name comes from. I wonder if they still do my song. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by SWAMPIE on November 14, 2002 at 03:34:09 PT: Roll Another One Just Like The Other One Check out the website,it has streaming radio.As a musician,I can really relate to this!Never really listened to the Dead though before now.It helps with my depression about probably losing our home.Any loansharks available? E-mail me if you could possibly help? SWAMPIE [ Post Comment ] Post Comment