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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!aluxe!david1
From: david1@aluxe.UUCP (nelson)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Grateful Dead Concert complaint
Message-ID: <561@aluxe.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Dec-84 15:33:29 EST
Article-I.D.: aluxe.561
Posted: Mon Dec 17 15:33:29 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Dec-84 02:57:12 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Allentown, PA
Lines: 24

I've been meaning to post this for months and finally have done it.

In April I went to a Grateful Dead concert for the first time
in about 10 years.  10 years ago the crowd was generally quiet and sat
during the performance (probably couldn't stand).  It was quite
enjoyable being able to hear and see the performance.  People still
moved from their ticketed seats to the aisles, but at least sat down.

Well, this time, 10 years later, it was a whole different story.  The
crowd insisted on standing for 90% of the concert.  The people in the
aisles stood and blocked the view of people who were sitting
in the seats that they had paid for.  If I wanted to see
the group I had to stand which wasn't nearly as comfortable.  But
what really pissed me off was all the noise.  People cheering, clapping
and just making a nuisance of themselves.

What happened over those 10 years.  The Grateful Dead were revered
back then.  In the '60s and early '70s they were symbolic of
anti-war feelings, long-hair culture and a communal feeling
among the concert goers.  Now the crowd ("oh, these young people today
have no respect") reacted to them as just another rock and roll band.

Well I was warned that the concert would not be as I remembered.  The
Dead still had it, but the crowd was indeed a bummer.