Grateful Deadhead Tribute Webpage #2 ART, and MyTales... Many thanks to all that made the Grateful Dead an American Miracle... Just remember, if our lives together were written as a fiction story, everyone would dismiss it as being unbelieveable... Yet it all really happened! Link to my other Deadhead webpage...ART, Poetry and MyStory... grateful dead psychedelic art files for your viewing pleasure... The wonderful Winterland Arena in San Francisco was the home to many Grateful Dead Concerts... It was the ONE PLACE where the Wall of Sound really worked! They had days to set up the equipment and tweak it to perfection... The Movie with the cartoon at the beginning was filmed there... and it was a fine show! They included fire on stage and ladies dancing with silk scarves... 
Golden Gate Park, site of the Human Be In 
One thing that happened surrounding the Dead was an Intentional Community of people that followed the band around... They earned a living by selling things in the parking lot of the show during the daytime... There were vendors selling tie-dye shirts, bumperstickers, illegal drugs, legal drugs and food... But it was not all capitalism for currency... A group called the Diggers founded a free store/free meal in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco and many of their IDEAS were carried along with the Deadheads on tour. Somehow, just giving away gifts to friends is a practical alternative to cash retail sales... If everyone just shares, we can all just bliss out and have a fine time... So, I tried to bring things to give away... and miraculously, people gave me stuff too! and we didn't worry about keeping score with money. At RFK stadium in Washington DC, I was showing a person some rainbow glasses that I had made. The Air and Space Museum sold diffraction grating by the sheet and I would cut out small pieces and scotch tape them to paper eyeglass frames... this caused the viewer to see rainbows surrounding every light... quite magical... so this fellow asked me "Would you like to break bread brother?" I said yes and he gave me the center square off of a round loaf of Sourdough French bread... I let him keep the glasses and we parted ways... about an hour later I realized that I was tripping on acid... I guess the bread was dosed! That show involved a terrific thunder and lightning storm and dancing in the mud on the football field. Near the end of the evening I decided to practice a Carlos Casteneda type POWER WALK. I took a step and then waited a moment to thouroughly experience that precise location and then I took another step. Then I waited until I had "GROKED" fully that location and took another step... So the ultimate effect was extremely slow walking in a crowd of dancing people... I walked like that for an hour... all the way out to the parking lot where I left my car... This caused some fellow Deadheads to satirize me by making mocking statements... "Watch out for that guy! He's moving so fast he might run you over" I ofter found a feeling of family at these events... that guy could make fun of me because he was a relative of mine... and after all... "We are all one beneath the Infinite Sun" link to my OTHER Deadhead webpage... 
Dead Related Events... Since many people who like the band have learned to play musical instruments, quite often they feel like being IN the BAND instead of being in the AUDIENCE. In 1972, a friend of mine went to San Francisco and went to the Fillmore West and came back to our high school and said... LET"S BUILD OUR OWN. That was the beginning of Forbes Mill in Los Gatos California... We had a light show and electric rock music every weekend at an abandoned stone flour mill in the center of town... On Wednesday nights we performed folk music. My band performed... I was the head of security and did advertising posters. Since we had Town sponsorship of our "Teen Club" thru the organization Youth Unlimited, we had to make sure no laws were being broken or the police would shut us down. Certainly no drinking or illegal drug use or housing of runaways. My take on law enforcement was to direct potential lawbreakers to the nearby hole in the fence that lead to the wooded area next to the freeway. I admit that a lot of laws were broken on State of California property, but that was NOT MY CONCERN. I was responsible for making sure that OUR property was crime free. The light show was created by using four slide projectors and two spinning wheels with variable speed motors that blocked the light from reaching the white wall behind the bandstand. Each cardboard wheel had holes cut into it so that the slides would be projected in a stroboscopic manner. Some slides were abstract art created by "crystal craze" paint and others were photographs. We also owned a strobe light and I learned to not point it at the electric organ player because the blinking light made it impossible to see which keys were black and which were white...
Other Dead Related Events: When I was living in Washington DC I got an Invitation to a concert that was to be held deep in the woods near Quantico Marine Corps Base. Some people carried in a generator and about a quarter mile off the road they had a rock concert. The only people that attended were fellow Deadheads that were given invitations at the Grateful Dead concert at the Capitol Center. Quite fun. A more formal event was held at Wilmer's Park in Brandywine, Maryland. You needed a ticket for that one. Mr Wilmer has been holding barn dances and rock concerts since the 1950's at his farm... Generally it was fiddle square dancing on weeknights and in the summer, local bands... Generations of people enjoyed this recreational facility. The band I saw was called "New Potato Caboose". They played tribute songs and Bob Marley... In researching this webpage post, I wanted to spell Wilmer's Park correctly and so I googled it... Mr Wilmer has passed away and It is under new management and they plan to build a big place there to play... marketing bands that are not popular enough for Basketball Arenas but too big for bars. They also say that in recent years, almost all of the groups were for a black audience... Go figure, once again Deadheads and Blacks partying in the same location... Just like The Spectrum and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
Grateful Dead reunite to play Obama benefit concert... May go on Spring Tour just because they had fun! 
deadheads for Obama.
Rainbow Gathering in Pennsylvania in the 1980's.
This event really started at the Spectrum Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at a three day Grateful Dead concert. It eventually turned out to be a five month vacation traveling from Florida to Canada looking for the best beach... I drove up from Washington DC and camped out in the parking lot in my car. During the daytime, we were able to swim at a public pool across the street from the Spectrum. The local residents had the lifeguards pull a rope across the pool so we swam on one side of the pool and they enjoyed the other... sort of like segregation except the black people were the ones that wanted us over on the other side of the rope... One afternoon I ran into a fellow from Manassas, Virginia that called himself "Lumpy the Biker". He asked if he could rest by sitting in the front seat of my car. He had injured his leg in a motorcycle accident and had trouble standing. So we were relaxing in the car and he told me that he didn't really LIKE the Grateful Dead and did not have a ticket. He was just here to have fun at the parking lot party and to score some acid for resale back home in Virginia. By this time I had already eaten a dose...
I decided to wander over to look at the railroad tracks and admire the trains. They were underneath of some freeways and reminded me of an Escher Drawing.
When I got back I found out that "Lumpy" had been dealing out of my car. He was selling bottles of Visine LSD: Each drops of water had one dose in it. Somehow, someone had started the rumor that since he was dealing out of my car, that I must be his supplier... Therefore, later that night at the concert, many people came up to me and thanked me for the excellent quality of the acid. Then they asked if I wanted any and I stuck out my hand, they squeezed a couple of drops and I licked my hand... many times... this was a classic case of an unknown large dose... I ended up dancing in the concourse area where the refreshments were sold. There were many flashing lights on the advertising billboards for the Atlantic City Casinos. Many other Deadheads encircled me to tell me stupid jokes because they were guaranteed that I would laugh... A friend wrote in the dirt on the back window of my car "Mush Brain"... I got his address and visited him in New jersey later that summer. He was a teen ager that had built a shack way out in the woods for a party house. I have quite a bit of admiration for creative construction like that! At some time during those three days, someone gave me a card with an invitation to the Rainbow Gathering to be held at an undisclosed location somewhere in Pennsylvania July 4th. I put the card on the dashboard of my car and forgot about it... As luck would have it, I got fired from my job that week for lack of attendance. I just did not show up for work and a couple of days later my boss knocked on my door and told me to not come in... He was not amused... So, there I was, time on my hands and money in the bank... I had been working steady for about six years and had been throwing my loose change in a dresser drawer for the whole time. So, I pulled the drawer out and put it in the trunk of my car and headed towards Florida. As I headed down the road, I picked up some hitchhikers and they informed me of the location of the Rainbow Gathering. I had no Idea what it was but from their description, it sounded like fun. I dropped them off and went to Epcot Center and Disney World.
I ended up staying there for five days. I found a campground and every day woke up early, went to EPCOT for a few hours, went back to the campground when it got hot and took a nap, then went back to EPCOT near sunset. The place is totally different at night. The most impressive spot is at a lake near the big sphere. They project LASER light that looks like the planet Earth... Outlines of the continents... and then animate the globe to give the impression that it is revolving... at the same time, they have fountains dancing in colored lights, fireworks and loud classical music. Specifically, the Russians: Tchaikovsky and Mussorgski... Quite the sensory overload. Everyone had told me that the best ride was Space Mountain but it's only good the first time when it has the element of surprise... So, for the first day at EPCOT, I took LSD and pretended that I was a secret agent with a goal of climbing space mountain... handy to remember that while tripping in public it's a good idea to maintain one's composure or the Munchkins would throw you out of the park! Space Mountain was excellent but standing in line for a half an hour was difficult while the faces of the people were distorting... Yes, it was an astounding ride.
Ialso rode the Monorail over to the hotel and went to the top roof and admired the fine view from 10 stories up of Florida... Remember that when tripping, it is not a good idea to wear a t-shirt with a physics joke on it... The "straights" won't understand the joke and will ask you to explain... I made that mistake... I had a shirt with the picture of Einstein wearing a policeman's hat with the saying "186,000 miles per hour, not just a good idea, IT'S THE LAW!" I also liked the Kraft Foods singing and dancing fruits and vegetables show. They had a giant refrigerator onstage and food came out and did song and dance numbers... Just like in ZAP COMIX by Robert Crumb. and the Carousel of Progress will stay with me my whole lifetime... especially the SONG! "Now is the time, now is the best time, now is the best time of your life! Right here and now, you've got it made... The world's forward marching and you're in the parade!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carousel_of_Progress originally, the General Electric Display at the New York World's Fair, it shows the same happy fimily and their technology thru time... A diorama shows them in the 1800's using oil lamps, then we sing the song and the Audience rotates to view the next era... electric lights! The song was written by the same fellows that did "It's a Small World" and most of the other Disney classics... The Sherman brothers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Brothers  Mickey Mouse and the Space Mountain.
My hitchhikers said the Gathering was at the intersection of 6 and 666 in Pennsylvania. I drove there by myself and was greeted by a man that said "Welcome Home, Brother". I parked and walked in carrying a backpack and sleeping bag... no tent... so the entire time I was sleeping in random different locations... When I arrived at the main campfire circle I noticed that the Gathering was located on a creek and so I wandered downstream to find a nude swimming hole... There by the creekside was a sweat lodge and a group of bathers. I went swimming and waited for the opportunity to go into the lodge. By this time I had been approached by someone's child who recommended that I not smoke tobacco during my time at the Gathering... I took that advice and soon was feeling the withdrawl symptoms from my addiction... A group left the sweat lodge and I went in... a person asked me to leave as there were two couples that wanted a private sweat and I was a fifth wheel... I got angry because I had no knowledge of a queue waiting for the sweat lodge... and I was freaking from the tobacco "JONES"... I left after arguing a bit and later got to sweat with many other men... The sweat was very therepudic and helped with my nicotine anxiety. I wandered up to the main circle and met a fellow that manufactured plate glass xylophones and wooden marimbas. I borrowed one and played at the main circle. Then went over to a stage near the entrance and joined a group performing there. I was not wearing any clothes... It's the one time in my entire life that I have performed on stage nude... We mostly played songs like "JINGO" by Santana... that classic beat... And the song "Infinite Sun" Lyrics: We are all one 'neath the Infinite Sun, forever, forever, forever... I will never forget you, I will never forsake you, forever, forever, forever... Later that day I met some women and retired to their blanketed campsite for a back rub... One was named Terri and we became friends... Traded phone numbers... She decided to leave the Gathering Early because she wanted to go to the Bob Dylan and The Dead concert at RFK Stadium in Washington DC. I selected to not go because the Gathering was a better event... In my opinion... 
On July 4th at the main circle I found a bowl of Peyote unattended... It had a sign saying Sacrament, Help Yourself... and I did... For the entire day I ate small bits of Peyote... Just a small amount and then wait a half an hour, then another small amount and wait... after about 12 hours I had eaten a LOT and truly got the Mescaline High without barfing. The flavor of Peyote is quite bitter and many people find it to be so bad that they barf... I prefer the slow, steady approach. I wandered over to a stage made out of hay bales and enjoyed the music. There was a cable slide built into a tree and I rode that often. How it worked: there was a steel cable leading from a platform about 15 feet up in a tree streatched taughtly to a stake in the ground... A person sat in a leather seat that was attached to the cable by a freespinning wheel and chain... Jump off the platform and ride the cable to the ground... whee! swing the seat back up the cable for the next rider... That was an amazing ride, home made by Rainbow Gatherers just for our own amusement... Thanks!!! Then I started dancing with a lady that had coarse brown hair... we became friends and were kissing on the ground when she suggested we go on stage and sing for the rest of the tribe. By this time I was very high on Peyote. She gave me a choice of three songs to perform... the names of the first two songs were incomprehensable so I selected Kumbayah, the third choice. We did go onto the stage and sang for the rest of the tribe... by that time she selected to go to her campsite and we parted ways... I located my sleeping bag and found that another lady was in it... I told her to not worry or leave and we slept together like spoons... In my reading about the Native American Church, one of the things that happens is that a person high on peyote meets Mescalito and is taught their song... then they perform it for the tribe... My experience was similar... I felt as if the woman with the coarse brown hair was MescalitA and we did perform my song... A couple of days later I drove home and went out on a date with Terry. We had a fine time and she and her girlfriend wanted a ride to an Ashram in rural Virginia. So the three of us went to visit Dar San Singh near an army base on the Potomac. We could hear the explosions of the warriors practicing with their weapons. The sound provided contrast for what was happening at the Ashram. The Spiritual Study of Indian Religion. I didn't quite grasp the message of this GURU (mainly because I could not understand a word he said-heavy accent, talked quietly) so I and the Terry's girlfriend came back to DC and I dropped her off at her house. And THAT's how I spent my summer vacation...
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oh wow, they are spinning around in a circle... 
New Years Eve Shows... Add a little theatre to your classic dead show. I was lucky enought to see Carlos Santana and the Dead at the Cow Palace. Santana played up until midnight... then a float was pushed from the back of the arena to the front with Father Time riding it and a Newborn Baby took over the hourglass. Then the Dead started playing after midnight... I went with my first wife and we had a fine time... Such a blessing to be in love, stoned and at a Dead Concert! Maui-Wowie! another New Years eve show was at the San Francisco Convention Center and they let us in really early. We played volleyball until it was time for the band to play. That is just the type of experience that is totally unavailable at any other rock concert... Many Thanks to Bill Graham for allowing us to be part of the family. 
Another New Years show involved me purchasing 10 tickets in Washington DC for a concert at the Oakland California Baskeball arena. Then I flew out to visit my parents in Los Gatos for Christmas. I sold (at cost) all the tickets to my friends from high school. They were so very happy because the show was sold out and I had the miracle tickets! I got to be a passenger in back of my friends truck... playing guitar and singing as we sped down the freeway... outdoors... with the wind in my hair... FREE! That show was really drenched with the feeling of family... I was introduced to "Laser" Lester and his wife Marsha... Lester and I walked down to the dance floor in order to score some acid and sure enough, I saw a distortion in the crowd... like someone was dealing... I said "Lester, Lester, Look at that!" and he agreed that it certainly LOOKED like a spiral of deadheads surrounding a dealer... and it was.. all the time Marsha kept hold of our seats... every once in a while we visited her and the kids and my friends but mostly it was dance dance dance... My other friends (who shall remain nameless) brought their two 16 years old daughters... I enjoyed playing guitar and singing for the girls and one of them wrote down the lyrics to a song she had written in my notebook... In my guitar case are some notebooks where I write down the lyrics and chord changes for all my favorite songs... many people over the years have requested that I learn their favorite song and I do the research and add it to the playlist... but to write in my book is quite a special event... usually I have to do all the work, but sometimes someone else has a song in their heart! I forgot the tune to her song but a year later I was visiting Walden Pond near Boston and had the time and the inspiration to formalize a tune and the chord changes... I was missing a pencil or pen so I burned a stick and wrote the chords with the charcoal... BIG LETTERS... in E Minor... "Laser" Lester got his nickname because he was a laserist for Bill Graham. psychedelic art ...at my zazzle giftshop 
including this Question Reality Bumpersticker... so, why not take a moment to create your own artwork and email it to me? I'll post it on this website and give you a link to your space... gregvan@yahoo.com
a fine illustration by Jaff Jackson 
trippy art done during a meeting at work... Thanks, Jeff!
and then, My mind sprouted... The classic "too much information to grasp" artform... We did it at the Fillmore West with a lightshow, rock band, psychedelic drugs and people dressed in bizarre costumes... ahh... that WAS a little MORE multimedia than just a computer playing sound and displaying images... WAY MORE... OK, What is a mind sprout anyway? Well, on LSD, I feel as if my mind had given birth to a new way of life... a new and better path between the dawn and the dark of night... At the very least, it caused me to become interested in the search for enlightenment as a worthy goal in life. The Western World was permanently re-arranged by the millions of people that had the psychedelic experience... but over half of the world simply missed the bus!
LINK to my other Deadhead webpage... 
US BLUES: a popular concert song in the DC Area 
What IS the League for Spiritual Discovery??? 
link to a webpage about the League for Spiritual Discovery 
Dr. Timothy Leary's church, with their sacrament: LSD. A great series of books were written by Carlos Casteneda. 
Carlos Casteneda: The Teachings of Don Juan a Yaqui Way of Knowledge. |