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My friend Leslie’s dad was a dentist and one of his patients was a VP at the Capital Center. She was happy to get tickets for him and his family for whatever show or sporting event they wanted. I’m not sure about the rest of the family but Leslie made sure not to take advantage.
She had a hard and fast rule that no matter who was playing there, how hard the tickets were to get, or how bad she wanted to see the show, she would only ever ask for Grateful Dead tickets. Because of this we always had great seats to every night they ever played there.
God love Leslie, even when she couldn’t go herself, she still used her hookup to get tickets for me. Over the years I took a lot of people to their 1st shows and there are things I remember from each of those experiences. One moment in particular has always really stood out.
We were at the Capital Center and the seats that year were especially good. We always had great seats but these were amazing. A lot of times we were on the floor which is great but this year we were in the first row of the section just off the floor.
We were on Jerry’s side, far enough back that we could see the whole stage but still really, really close. We were eye level with the band with no people in front of us which for me, short person that I am, is so much better than the floor.
This was my friend Jeannie’s first dead show which is not to be confused with her first rock and roll show. So there we are. Great seats. Shows about to start. The lights go down and the band comes out.
We’re in that moment of stomach full of butterflies, bursting at the seams, excited anticipation wondering what they’re going to open with.
As we’re standing there watching Jerry Garcia tune his guitar Jeannie leans over and whispers to me,”I feel like I’m watching history being made.” To which I whispered back, “You are.”
No matter how much time passes, I will always feel an immense amount of gratitude that I got to be a small part of that history.
Happy Birthday Jerry. Thank you, for a real good time.
