Friday, January 02, 2009

dead again

For about three years in my late teens, I was a Dead Head. I even traveled to California on several occasions to see them in concert -- including one that my mother will never forget, in which I tried to do California for ten days on $50. That one ended with me stranded in Palo Alto calling mom collect and thanking God for Western Union.

I quit drugs pretty soon after that and traded the Dead in for Nirvana. But the other day I got a wild hair and went looking for them online. The band's official site offers live tapes from their vault. I've been listening to them for the last day or so. I'm surprised how much I love them.

It's weird, but as I listen and get lost in the music, especially the long jam sessions on Dark Star and The Other One, I feel like I'm 19 again, stupidly happy with a brain full of wake-and-bake, or mellow and pensive in the wee-morning hours of an acid trip.

Except I'm not. Like, I can actually think and do stuff.

3 comments:

Mark said...

I too love the jams. And, with regard to our previous conversation about working while listening to non-lyrical music, I've created an itunes playlist full of space,drums, the other one, the eleven, cryptical envelopment...

Joe Miller said...

Yes, it's perfect for writing.

Anonymous said...

You can also get tons of shows from archive.org for free. I love to cook to the Dead.