Return From The Dead - Part 2

Continued from Return From the Dead - Part 1
by mrjackstraw

The three of us passed out fully clothed and on top of our covers by 2am. A replay of the Carolina/New Jersey game was on the TV. Man, we are getting old. What's funny is that we were all up and about by 8am on Saturday morning, ready to hit the 1-90 east towards Worcester, MA. Our hotel had a free breakfast included so we took advantage of that, showered, checked out and hit the road.

It took us about 3 hours to get to Worcester, MA from Albany and we stopped for Big Mac Combos along the way. It was partly cloudy and a little cooler than the Friday, but it was hard to complain. The scenery gets a lot nicer when you hit Massachusetts. Rolling hills and the interstate winds left and right as much as it goes up and down.

Our only problem on this day was that we were not booked at any hotel. We decided to go straight downtown to the venue and work our way out. There was nothing at all available in the downtown core and it was suggested that we head to Auburn, MA about 5 miles away. On our way to Auburn we notice a heavy metal festival going on at a venue right beside where Shakedown was beginning to be set up. There were all these metalheads dressed in black and chains milling about. It was early, only about 1pm. Did they have any idea the circus was heading straight for them?

Auburn was a no-go and it was at this point we were starting to come to grips with that fact that we may be in trouble here. We ended up in Sturbridge, MA which is about 15 miles away from the downtown core of Worcester. When Sameer went in to ask about room availability their response was, "It's company policy not to rent rooms to 3 adults." OK. His immediate reply was the we are "Two adults with a four-year-old." Good save Sammy. Also a special show out to all those out there who believe in hiring retards. Cheers.

So we had a room, tickets to the show, party favors with a pretty good idea of where to find more if needed, but how were we going to get there? To have someone drive down, watch their consumption and deal with the inevitable traffic would a been a drag. We tried what appeared to be the local Sturbridge cab company. It was apparent they were no longer in business.

Luckily we had taken down the number of a Worcester cab company off a random car we had seen. Just in case, you know? Turns out that was one of the better moves made during the entire trip. We managed to arrange a 3:30pm pick-up at our hotel. We cut a flat rate deal with our cabbie Jim and arranged for him to pick us up after the show at about 1am. This guy was a character and didn't not hesitate to tell us what was wrong with Worcester and the state of Massachusetts. Tolls & their booths were high on his list of "Fuck-ups" along with the building of the hospital right across from the DCU Center (limited access during events) and the fact that a guy could come in from Illinois, never live in Mass and simply become Governor of the state.

Jim kept asking us if he could drop us for food anywhere before the show. "It's only 4 o'clock boys. What are you going to do with all this time before the show?"

"Don't worry Jim. We'll find something to entertain ourselves with." Ha ha.

Tie dye was all over the place now compare to a few hours ago when we first circled the area. We grabbed some Heineken Keg Cans off a vendor and got our bearings. I picked up some earrings for my girlfriend (yes, she liked them) and also grabbed a dancing skeletons patch that I want to put on my bicycle saddle bag.

We wandered over to the main Shakedown and I left the boys to go take a piss. I found a secluded corner of a parking lot and did my business. A little bit of fore site by the city and they could have arranged for some port-a-potties to be put out around the venue. Two days of Dead shows plus the Metal thing. For all the tax dollars being brought in by the traveling Deadheads, they could have really cut down on the smell of piss that was sure to linger long after we left town. Oh well. Live and learn. I should mention that the Hippies had the Metalhead's attention at this point. I'm not sure they had seen anything like this before. Some were even venturing into Shakedown to see what was up. Others were lamenting the fact that the tie-dye army were cramping their style. The hippies didn't seem to notice.

The pre-show included beers, nitrous, a new Jack Straw T-Shirt, pieces of paper with NOTHING on them, and the green. We headed into the venue in a good head space skirting around a huge line-up for a shorter one just around the corner. Here's what happened inside:

Set I:

Jam >
Stranger
GDTRFB
Mountains of the Moon >
Dupree's Diamond Blues
Althea>
Bird Song
China Cat Sunflower >
I Know You Rider


Set II:

Jam >
Dancin' >
Milestones>
Terrapin>
Drumz>
Space>
Days Between>
Jam>
Birdsong>
Sat Night

E: Donor Rap
Johnny B. Goode

Highlights for me included the always fun and surprisingly slotted GDTRFB. I had to do a beer run after this song. They were understaffed to say the least. Three 50 year old women were working the stand. They were all sweating profusely and one looked like she was going to fall over on the spot. I managed to make it to the front just as they ran out of cold beer. WTF? We're three songs into the show and you're out of cold beer? It goes back to preparation and to knowing your audience. I would bet my last dollar that whoever manages these stands is some 22 yr old intern who knew about as much about the Deadheads as the Metalheads outside the venue. I digress...anyways this cost me 2 songs, Mountains of the Moon and Dupree's Diamond Blues.

I made it back to my seat for Althea and started boogieing with the boys. This has always been one of my favorite Dead tunes and I have been lucky to have been hit by it a number of times I have gone to see Grateful Dead music live. Birdsong was followed by the first China>Rider of the tour. It was awesome and the crowd was really into it. You can hear on the recording when Bob says, "Let's do it" just as they are about to drop into Rider. He was trying to talk to the band via the prompters and didn't know the audience mic was on. They lit the place up yellow during "the sun's gonna shine on my back door someday" portion and we the crowd ate it up.

Set 2 started with Dancing in the Streets which was OK. Miles Davis' Milestones was next. To be honest I didn't know it at the time, but it sure sounds nice on the recordings. Terrapin Station! Fucking right! Nothing more to add on that one. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Drums/Space followed and it was great. I had missed the previous night's Drums and was really looking forward to this one. Micky had some looping going before he went nuts on his big gear. Very fun. We smoked.

A surprising run of Days Between>Jam>Birdsong reprise followed Space and was really good. The obvious set closer, One More Saturday Night, was performed really well by Rock Star Bobby and the encore of Johnnie B. Goode showcased Warren's skills on the strings.

Overall a very fun show with a mix of many eras of Dead-dom. We had once again lost Andy during the 2nd set. The plan was to not exit until we were together. Wait at the seats or if you were separated, go back to the seats. Sameer & I were shooed away before Andy returned so all we could do was go back to the lot near where we were last all together. The tanks were hissing so Sam & I grabbed balloons by the handful along with a couple of beers.

((((((((((((((((brain)))))))))))))))

Too fun! Boom! There was Andy and the trio was complete. We hung out people watching and the rain began to pick up. We had our own "driver" so there was nothing to do really except take it all in and indulge in whatever.

We rendezvoused with Jim in front of the downtown post office at 1am. We were hungry and he took us by Dunkin' Donuts. I guess he has some pull there because he demanded a senior's discount for all of us even though we clearly do not qualify. Yet. Unfortunately I had already purchased some beef jerky and a Starbucks Iced Coffee drink. Both were impulse buys which I will do from time to time on a road trip.

Back in the hotel room for 2am or so, we crashed and slept until around 10am. There was a Cracker Barrel right outside of our hotel so that's where we got breakfast. I had sour dough bread french toast with real maple syrup & butter. It was amazing and for $5.99 one of the better deals I got on the trip. I think I paid the same for the beef jerky the night before which although good, I would probably put at the other end of the value spectrum.

There drive back was nice enough. Passing Albany I was kind of wishing we were just heading there again. There is always a feeling of unlimited freedom when you first head off down the road and that inevitable feeling that something really good has ended as you make your way back home. This is not a knock on home, but a nod to the excitement, friendship and adventures that await us all as we travel down the road.

Thanks Sammer and Andy, it was a helluvatrip!