After receiving copies of the newly circulating versions of the 26th and 28th that Charlie Miller patched, I sent an email to three of the friends that I knew had attended these show's asking for some more specific detail as to their recollections.
Because I was stuck by what a wonderful piece of oral history this is, I would like to share - with the author's permission - one of the replies that I received. The reference to "Fenberg's List" in my original email pertains to handwritten notations from all 222 shows attended by our mutual friend, Doug Fenberg, between 12/10/69 and 12/31/88, just prior to his passing. Enjoy... ==================== Ok guys... I think I may have asked this before but here goes again. The Dead played El Monte Legion Stadium, 12/26-27-28/70. I wanted to go but my folks wouldn't let me. Fenberg's list show's: 12/70 #13 El Monte - 3 1/2 hrs - HIGH - Julie, Nancy (Lesh let's us in) New Riders 12/70 #14 El Monte - 3 1/2 hrs - HIGH - Julie, Nancy (New Riders) Pig Pen [unintelligable] So who all went and which nights? Thanks, Marc ==================== marc -- can't remember exactly how i learned the dead would be playing, but i believe it was because i heard them on kppc, and it was kind of like 'yowza let's go!'. in other words, surf's up! i do know i listened to that show at home, my folk's house. it was about four o'clock in the afternoon. i remember sitting in my folk's back yard, smoking and thinking, this is so hot, the dead tonight! not a lot of time to get things together to go, but i'm sure the phone lines burnt up as plans were made. as i dropped acid both nights that i went (to nights #1 and #2) i hope those that i forget will forgive me. here are the folks i specifically remember going: doug eric julie nancy if the turner bros went, i can't remember [but see below, now i can't remember if bill went]. anyway, i drove both nights, fenberg was with me both times i think. before the show [the first night] i remember the side door being open, and we all walked in and no one challenged us. the bands were kind of milling around on and off stage, i found it fascinating to watch them setting up. this is what i refer to as the 'gearhead' syndrome of musicians, checking out the equipment. i.e. gearheard being me. i remember pigpen trying to pick up on julie and/or nancy. el monte had kind of an odd setup: the stage was about as high as the fillmore's, but on the second level there were seats all around in a u-shaped fashion. the floor was a wooden dance floor. as you look at the stage, on the wall to the left there were two fireplaces in the middle, with double doors on the outside of them. so if you faced them (from left to right), it would be double door - wall - fire place - wall - fire place - wall - double door - wall - steps up to the stage. the reason why i go into this detail, is that after we got in, i just kind of hung out at the back, but like i said there was some interaction between the band folks and us. i particularly remember bob weir standing in front of the rear most fireplace with his guitar, staring into the gas flames, and strumming. i have always wanted to have a picture of that, he looked so reflective. i also remember seeing eric converse with bobby. eric later told us about talking to him, and the subject was ginseng. bobby was into apparently, shared some with eric, and it was a story eric told for many years, but i wouldn't blame him if the details are fuzzy now. there was a little bit of sound check by the new riders (garcia on pedal steel) and then it became apparent the concert was ready to start. there were maybe a couple of hundred, or even less, people there. i went out and bought a ticket (for $5.00; which jerry apologized for the high price on the radio show) and walked in through the front doors. the rest of those who had been let in, stayed in. i think fenberg and maybe eric gave me some shit about paying when i could have seen the show for free. but i told them that i wanted to support the band, and there was no other way to do so. i remember they gave me respect for it, much like you would an eccentric uncle. after all, in those days, the object was to 'get over' in prankster-like fashion, or what i imagine folks imagined the pranksters did. or maybe it was just plain 'let's get in for free'. the ticket, btw, was one of those you would get when you went to the movies, or a carnival. the tear off kind with numbers across one end. it was red with black printing. no reference to the dead or venue, one of those drawing/lottery kind of tickets you might get at a carnival. right now (as i write) i can't remember much else about the first night, except that after the show we went out into the parking lot to hang out before driving home, like we would after every concert. i remember jerry driving by in a light blue mustang with a dent in the right hand front panel. i (we) waved at him and he waved back. the next day was like, that was awesome, and there's more tonight! yowza! so the same thing happened again, everyone else except for me got in for free. again, i paid my $5.00. i want to quickly say that it was all real-life theatre, the fact that i paid doesn't get me any brownie points, but that's what i did, so be it. i'm getting tired so i'll wrap this up by saying that the second night was indescribable. i want to avoid using terms like awesome, cosmic, bitchin, mind-boggling, and etc. there is no way to tell you how good this show was. it was intense, again an over-used word. i guess it's hard to avoid when writing about the dead. at one point, i thought mickey had left/been fired from the band based on something lesh said on stage (you will remember this since we've talked about it before, but it wasn't really that long after that he really did leave the band). based on what i've read, i have to think that being in the dead was much like being in a steel cage match, you are either in or out, and the politics had to have been just as heavy then as later. after all, they tried to fire bobby and pig. so who knows what was going on that night? but there were only a few hundred folks in the audience, maybe the band could fight on stage and the rest of us not know what was going on for real. i just had the thought that rob may have been at the first night, because he reminded me that bobby told the 'dog and a brick' story. i can't remember exactly how it goes though ... the second night was heavy pigpen, i remember midnight hour for sure, and i have always said they did at least 3 pig tunes, but time is wiping out my memory. jerry wore a pearl button cowboy shirt, and played that white strat. for some reason, i think bobby was playing a 335. phil i am not sure about, but it may have been a guild. i believe both bill and mickey were playing rogers drums. rob or eric might remember better about this. the speaker grills were tie-dyed, and rob tells me that they still have them. or at least, they still have tie-dyed speaker cabinets. here are a few things i remember specifically from the second night: #1 the el monte police showed up, and this was the essence of seeing a show in sou cal at that time. there was only one double door on the right (east) side, and a couple of them just kind of came in and stood there in an intimidating way. #2 i remember a guy walking through the crowd looking for fight, he came in and out of sight; it was weird, he was spewing shit and everyone ignored him. #3 you could easily, easily, find a place on the floor to dance where there was 10 feet on all sides of you. it would be impossible to quantify it, but my memory puts the stage dancers at about 2/3 and the dancers behind them at about 1/3. it was pretty cool. i remember driving home in the red vw bug. the next day i was too overloaded to go again, i was drained. man, my ears were ringing and the music just kept going on and on in my head. i always wished i had got it together to go again, but i also remember what it was like to see them two nights in a row. now i can say: awesome. fenberg, however, did go. so even if his notes don't reflect it, i am sure he went to all three nights. somehow i think goldenberg may have been there too. you might want to check with him. alligator, gary
