I was still at Penn State at the time and we were at the end of one of the most brutal winters I have ever experienced. State College had eclipsed their previous record for snowfall and also broke some records for lowest temperatures. It was really an extreme season. So I was really ready for spring tour.
Myself and Nad ended up staying at a friend's apartment in Slippery Rock, PA. I'll just call her LST. I had heard how great the Rock was and upon arrival, I was a little underwhelmed. Her apartment was a dump, with shitty wood paneling. My first thought was it looked like a place were welfare recipients hang out and shoot drugs in between their checks.
So while we were hanging out, we also were chilling out. LST kept referring to “the greens”. I thought it was just a different strain of bud. I found out later it was bud laced with angel dust or formaldehyde. I remember thinking the ceiling had fallen in on me, and I was slowly sinking into the couch. As I was siting there, I smelled something burning. What I didn't realize for a few minutes was the cherry from my cig had fallen off and my t shirt was slowly smoldering, right underneath my nose. Welcome to the Rock.
We somehow survived and went to the show the next day. It was about an hour away and we had no issues getting there. I was supposed to meet my buddy Kristian at will call but we never met up. I then saw him much later in the bathroom at setbreak. This evidently was such a crazy timing thing I listed it as the “Most incredible thing that happened to you at a Show” on a questionnaire for Deadbase.
| 03-21-94 Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, Oh. (Mon) | |
| 1: Greatest> Bertha, Same Thing, Peggy-O, Queen Jane, West L. A., Eternity> Tennessee Jed | |
| 2: Picasso Moon> New Speedway> Victim> He's Gone> Jam> Drumz> Lovelight> Stella Blue> Lovelight E: Liberty | |
You can stream it here
Second set was really good. Looking back, Picasso Moon is a pretty decent second set opener. New Speedway is a another personal favorite of mine. The Jam after He's Gone is really good. I can't really put a finger on any of the themes they played around with but it's all good. The Space out of Drumz was good and the intro to Lovelight was incredible. Vince hits a really high, long, and outer worldly note on his keybiard as the band goes into Lovelight.
They then surprise the hell out of me by going into Stella Blue without finishing Lovelight. Even before the Internet (and thanks to multiple volumes of Deadbase), I was VERY familiar with the Dead's setlists. It was super rare to come out of space with Lovelight. And this Stella Blue is without a doubt the best version I have ever witnessed. Jerry's voice sounded so full and he was hitting notes I bet he hasn't hit since the early 80's. Listen to the “nothing comes for free” line. Wow!!! How good is this Stella Blue? I looked on Youtube and sure enough, someone uploaded just that song
And how do you top a version of Stella Blue that good? You go back into Lovelight!!!! I was so ecstatic and out of my mind that if they did Johnny B Goode for the encore, I would have flung my orange fishing cap that was almost always upon my head in the early 90's (it was my secret homage to the Manchester scene of the late 80's that spawned the Stone Roses). Alas, the boys said No, keep your hat and we will just give you an average Liberty.
So we spill out into the night, find our car and are ready to roll. Except one problem : LST's roommate is no where to be found. I can't remember when we lost her but I do know we waited over an hour until the police kicked us out of the Lot. Now remember kids, this was way before cell phones so we had no way to contacting her. Evidently, she was/is such a flake that L and her made plans on the assumption they would get separated. We finally got back to L's apartment and there she was waiting for us, with a packed bowl of the “greens” no doubt.
So there you have it ; another chapter in the journey that, along with an honest tune, has taken me this far. Have a great week and the next time I see you it will be another episode of this series. But this one is gonna be a doozy, as I will be retelling the first time I saw The Phish from Vermont.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
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