I wrote this right as I woke up the morning after the show. It was still thick in the magic of it all and I’m still feeling traces of it now, a week later. There’s nothing like a Dead show, but there’s nothing like spending it with the people you love.
There’s also something to be said about just hopping in your vehicle and doing the thing. Whatever the thing may be. I didn’t have time to think about any of it. I made the call. Came home and kissed the dog, grabbed some clothes and my toothbrush and the rest is a handful of memories I am glad I had the opportunity to make.
All my love.
Not fade away…
June 26, 2023. 7:27am.
Since March, the plan was to spend the weekend in Boston and hit up both shows. We’ve had the whole thing set up, hotel and all, and then life happened and things changed.
I was out. I wasn’t going. I had made the call after sleepless nights of not wanting to make the call. I could tell my friends were crushed, but I knew that they understood where I was coming from – why I couldn’t go.
Then, as if all my synapses sang out in unison – I decided to make the trip to Boston at the very last minute. Everything lined up just right – and I mean everything. And there I was, out on the trail – on my way home to mow the lawn and I made the call.
It was so last minute that I was handing my keys to the valet at the hotel as I was hopping into a cab to steam down to the stadium and get in the door just as Jack Straw from Wichita was taking the stage.
3pm to 615pm were a blur.
It was a knee-jerk reaction – a fit of spontaneity – a sure thing. And sure as you’re born – we all had an amazing night.
Who knows if this was the last time we will see these guys play together. It’s the final tour, but probably just the final tour of this line-up. But there was major magic in the air and the second set was so incredibly executed that if it never happened again, this was a great way to end it.
Something happened in there – some of those jams explored unchartered territory. We ascended and transcended – every single one of us.
I listened to everything from both inside and outside of my body. I experienced a little bit of clarity and levity while surrounded by an unfathomable amount of positive energy.
It left a smoking crater for sure…
Dead & Company – 6/25/2023 – Fenway Park Boston, MA
Set I
Samson & Delilah
Cold Rain & Snow
Jack Straw
Althea
Comes a Time
Mr. Charlie
He’s Gone >
Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad
Set II
They Love Each Other>
Playin’ in the Band >
Help on the Way >
Slipknot! >
Fire on the Mountain>
Drums/Space>
Playing in the Band (reprise) >
The Other One v2 >
Standing on the Moon >
Not Fade Away
E: The Weight
Ripple
Tribe Of Flannel 