Long Live The Dead

He’s Gone, but the Music Never Stops

As the witching hour arrived, bringing Easter Sunday to a close, the message was clear: The Dead have risen!

We arrived in Greensboro, North Carolina—where The Dead (the latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead featuring original members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann, along with Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti) would kick off its 2009 tour of 20-plus shows after a five-year absence—earlier in the afternoon after a five-hour drive. Checking into our hotel, already abuzz with Deadheads, we quickly located the bar for a much-needed beer. Within minutes, as it always is, strangers became friends.

We soon departed for the venue, only about a mile away, stopping for necessary supplies (i.e., a case of beer and snacks) on the way. As we entered the parking lot of the Greensboro Coliseum, paying the unexpected and unwarranted $15, the family reunion was already well underway. After hanging by our car for a bit, taking in the sights and sounds around us (including some bluegrass jamming from a father/son violin-guitar duo) and acclimating to the atmosphere of the wonderfully alternate sphere we had just entered—a process greatly accelerated by a few cans of Modelo.

After a brief introduction with our new neighbor Lloyd, a good-natured character who had seen his share of Dead shows, we meandered through the cars toward Shakedown Street—a longstanding tradition where rows of vendors (typically Deadheads trying to scrape together enough cash to get themselves to the next stop on the tour) sell tie-dye T-shirts, artwork, jewelry, food, head-shop items, and other goods that shall remain unnamed here. And on this sunny spring afternoon, Shakedown vibrated with a pulse of anticipation, tempered only by a rhythm of contentment. It’s the heart of the party, the center of the universe for a few blissful hours, where songs (and certain substances) fill the air. And despite the band’s half-decade-long hiatus and the resulting welcome-back vibe, no one seemed to miss a beat, instead simply stepping back into the scene as if no time has passed. As Piotr Orlov of Rolling Stone wrote in his review of the show, “Attending Dead shows is like riding a bike: you never forget how to do it, you try to remember enjoying the ride, but you also hope not to crash and burn (always a possibility).”

We then stumbled upon the omnipresent drum circle, where we bumped into Lloyd and grooved to the beat for a bit—almost ending up in a Getty Images photo, below, by Sara D. Davis. (Well, our sleeves did: that’s my shoulder in green tie-dye and Heather’s purple arm in the right side of the shot, obscured by the costumed man who needs “a miracle”—Deadhead language, symbolized by the raised index finger, for a ticket to the show.)

Eventually we made our way back to the car. For the next hour or so, the party continued, hanging with newfound friends we met a few cars down (from Roanoke), others Heather met on the bathroom line (from Raleigh), and so on—trading stories, speculating about what we might get from the The Dead this evening. With minutes until The Dead would take the stage for the first time in five years, we headed to the entrance of the Coliseum, encountering congestion worse than D.C. during rush hour—starts and stops, bottlenecks at various points of entry, a sea of humanity trying to move in unison while filing into too few number of lines. Once inside, the hoots and hollers bounced off the walls and ceiling of the tunnel-like corridor, the energy and excitement palpable. Winding our way through the crowded concourse, we soon found our section (113), descending the stairs in the now darkened arena to our seats in the third row, which seemed to contain more people than seats. We squeezed in, no need—or desire—to actually sit down. The band had taken the stage; the music had already started.

But as Bob Weir reminded the crowd with the apropos opening song, “The Music Never Stopped.” They jammed into an inspired playing of “Jack Straw”—the set unfolding into a thematic narrative of The Dead’s reincarnation, with familiar (trademark, even) phrases eliciting elation from just about everyone in the crowd, from hundred-plus-show veterans to first-timers. “We used to play for silver, now we play for life,” one such lyrical moment that produced a roar early in the show. “Estimated Prophet” might have been an easy one to predict—it being Easter Sunday—but a treat nonetheless. Then came another arguably the highlight of the first set. “He’s Gone” automatically evoked the late great Jerry Garcia, resulting in the show’s first singalong. “He’s gone, nothing’s gonna bring him back.” A moment of collective catharsis, if not a metaphysical reburial, the band also seemed to be saying, “We’re The Dead, not the Grateful Dead, that’s just the way it is and will be.” The lyrical narrative, and brilliantly constructed setlist, continued as they lead straight into “Touch of Grey”: “We will get by, we will survive” seeming to possess a heightened meaning, now more than ever, for the band and their followers. A great version of the Dead classic “I Need a Miracle” came next, followed by a spirited “Truckin”—and its iconic line, “What a long strange trip it’s been”—to close the 85-minute first set.

During the brief break, everyone (or so it seemed) exited at the same time, making it nearly impossible to move freely through the concourse. Finally, we made it back to our seats—only, as we soon realized after some conversation with those in our row, they weren’t our seats at all. We were in the wrong section the entire first set. As the second set began, our neighbors graciously invited us to stay, but we scurried to next section and our actual seats (a better spot, in fact).

The band jammed their way into the second set for about seven minutes before striking the funky opening chords of “Shakedown Street,” rousing the crowd into equally funky dancing—an amazing start to the set. They segued into a red-hot rendering of “All Along the Watchtower,” led by the dynamic guitar of Haynes as well as his rich vocals. Haynes, throughout the show, was a perfect fit—not intimidated by the potentially daunting role yet not insistent on standing out, adding to rather than distracting from the band’s efforts. The second set consisted of some early bluesy classics that didn’t regularly make the setlist in the band’s latter days: “Caution,” “Cosmic Charlie,” “New Potato Caboose.” The Drums section of the second set, called “Rhythm Devils” in this instance, allowed Kreutzmann and Hart to put on a show of their own—a primal, almost tribal hammering away by Hart, with beats that easily shook your core. A 13-minute “Space” ensued, a trippy jam—at times delightfully wild but also lacking cohesion at points. The set ended the way it began—inspired and spirited—with the much-loved trifecta of “Help Is On the Way,” ”Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower.” The show ended with an tightly played encore (quite predictably, this being Sunday) of “Samson and Delilah.”

The Dead, unquestionably, are alive and well. This show soared high above any of the other post-Jerry reincarnations of the band—an almost audible commitment to making this work permeating from the stage. And work it did: an unforgettable Dead experience, both in terms of the vibe and the music. Phil’s bass, and even his vocals, were brilliant. Bob seemed focused and inspired. The setlist couldn’t have been any more suited to the occasion. This was a much the band welcoming back Deadheads, new and old, as it was the fans welcoming back The Dead. If this first show is any indication of what’s to come on the tour, and I think it is, this will be one hell of a long strange trip for a bunch of guys with more than a touch of gray that you won’t want to miss; you’ll surely enjoy the ride.

Listen to the show, taped by Daniel Kopp:

Check out versions from other tapers at Internet Archive, or download from the official Grateful Dead site.

Setlist | Greensboro, North Carolina | April 12, 2009
Set 1
The Music Never Stopped>
Jack Straw
Estimated Prophet>
He’s Gone>
Touch Of Grey>
I Need A Miracle>
Truckin
Set 2
Shakedown Street>
All Along The Watchtower>
Caution (Do Not Stop On The Tracks)>
Rhythm Devils>
Space>
Cosmic Charlie>
New Potato Caboose>
Help On The Way>
Slipknot!>
Franklin’s Tower
Donor Rap
Encore
Samson And Delilah
*Check out Rolling Stone‘s setlist, which indicates jam sections as well.