Niche media moment - this one’s for the deadheads!
Thank you @williamshear for helping me write this. Here’s to your lifetime fandom of The Grateful Dead/Dead & Company.
On Instagram you can watch this video with music by the Dead playing - sadly, it was not possible on Substack because of copyright agreements.
Deadheads are known for their commitment to attending numerous shows, sometimes following the band across the country, and creating their own subculture within the music scene; with a focus on collective experiences, personal expression through clothing and accessories, a rejection of mainstream values, and a willingness to engage in psychedelic experiences.
In order, this is our cast:
The fairy
The grilled cheesemaker who travels with the band and can be found at every show on "Shakedown Street” (a reference to The Grateful Dead album). It is the informal, pre-concert scene where vendors, musicians, and fans gather outside concert venues. This began at the Oakland Auditorium in California from 1979 to 1982. Deadheads realized they could sell their wares (anything from tie-dye T-shirts to veggie burritos) in order to follow the band around more.
The self-described socialist from the Upper West Side. If you don’t know who George Carlin is, now is the time to educate yourself, run to the Tube of You.
The Texan who’s worked for the phone company for 40 years
The 23 year old “bruhski” who attends concerts with his dad. The period of the show known as “Drums/Space” work much better on psychedelics apparently, but a lot of people choose to go and get a beer while Micky and Billy play their two drum kits. I once watched Mickey Hart lead 100 tech execs in a drum circle on the Hawaiian island of Lanai (I was on a shoot).
The venture capitalists who drove in from their beach houses in The Hamptons
One great-grandmother and her friend who’ve followed the band around the world
The gent who spins all night long, whilst also ramming into everyone all night long, reminiscent of a poorly-coordinated whirling dervish
The knitter/crafter (who also has a table on Shakedown Street see above). GDM stands for Grateful Dead Merchandising, which some people refer to as “the never-ending marketing monster”.
• 1. The photographer. The Sphere in Las Vegas is a massive venue where Dead & Company have a residency. Their music is accompanied by enormous immersive projections. The Grateful Dead's "Wall of Sound" was a collection of six separate PA systems, stacked together on scaffolding, and powered by 48 McIntosh amplifiers. Pigpen was a founding member of the band but he isn’t into psychedelics, “just” booze which killed him eventually. He was found dead of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at age 27; Janice, Jimi and Jim all went at this age too.
I’m just scratching the surface here guys, describe some more characters for me please!
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