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1/
Thoughts on the just-unearthed video of 5.3.70, the @GratefulDead at @wesleyan_u.
A thread. Link to the vid is here:
Couldn't get it to play on my mobile device; had to use my actual computer.
The whole wonderful fiasco is very Dead, and very Wes.
Thoughts on the just-unearthed video of 5.3.70, the @GratefulDead at @wesleyan_u.
A thread. Link to the vid is here:
Couldn't get it to play on my mobile device; had to use my actual computer.
The whole wonderful fiasco is very Dead, and very Wes.
2/
First off the Deadiest, Wesleyest moment is this, the unveiling of the banner these dudes have spent some effort in creating. They unspool it with great fanfare. And of course, it is backwards:
First off the Deadiest, Wesleyest moment is this, the unveiling of the banner these dudes have spent some effort in creating. They unspool it with great fanfare. And of course, it is backwards:
3/
Some history.
This was made during the nationwide strike to protest the war; Kent State was the next day. The concert was free, an all day affair that also featured the New Riders, and a couple of local bands. There's also a hilarious "open mic" part of this film.
Some history.
This was made during the nationwide strike to protest the war; Kent State was the next day. The concert was free, an all day affair that also featured the New Riders, and a couple of local bands. There's also a hilarious "open mic" part of this film.
4/
Five years later, when I first stepped onto that campus, this concert was already mythological and legendary. It was held up as an example of How Cool Things Used to Be.
15 years later, when I returned to Wes as a professor, students lamented that they'd missed MY era, too.
Five years later, when I first stepped onto that campus, this concert was already mythological and legendary. It was held up as an example of How Cool Things Used to Be.
15 years later, when I returned to Wes as a professor, students lamented that they'd missed MY era, too.
5/
The Dead were there because 1) @Jpbarlow had just graduated there; and also because a professor in the Chemistry dept allegedly made the best LSD on the East Coast. I believe this was Prof. Peter Leermakers; to this day there is a "Leermaker Symposium" at the college.
The Dead were there because 1) @Jpbarlow had just graduated there; and also because a professor in the Chemistry dept allegedly made the best LSD on the East Coast. I believe this was Prof. Peter Leermakers; to this day there is a "Leermaker Symposium" at the college.
6/
You have to admit that "Leermakers" is a very good name for a person who synthesized drugs at the college, assuming this is true, which--who knows?--maybe it is not.
You have to admit that "Leermakers" is a very good name for a person who synthesized drugs at the college, assuming this is true, which--who knows?--maybe it is not.
7/
In any case, as this grainy, jumpy, distorted, almost-unwatchable video makes clear (sic), there is a LOT Of wild abandon and joy in the crowd as the day passes and things get goofier.
In any case, as this grainy, jumpy, distorted, almost-unwatchable video makes clear (sic), there is a LOT Of wild abandon and joy in the crowd as the day passes and things get goofier.
8/
The audience tape of this show is revered as being the absolute worst tape of the band in its entire history, which is saying a lot.
But interesting: that tape was not made originally by an audience member. It was made by a sociology professor, part of an experiment.
The audience tape of this show is revered as being the absolute worst tape of the band in its entire history, which is saying a lot.
But interesting: that tape was not made originally by an audience member. It was made by a sociology professor, part of an experiment.
9/
He distributed colored balloons to different sections of the crowd. As time went by, he noted where the balloons wound up. It was a study of crowd movement.
You hear his voice breaking in sometimes, saying, "Blue is down by the stage now. Red is off to the sides."
He distributed colored balloons to different sections of the crowd. As time went by, he noted where the balloons wound up. It was a study of crowd movement.
You hear his voice breaking in sometimes, saying, "Blue is down by the stage now. Red is off to the sides."
10/
Anyway, here are some other things I learned watching this tape:
A. It was rainy and cold. At one point one audience member says to another, "Are you going back to the dorm? GET SOME BLANKETS!"
B. LOTS OF WOMEN ON CAMPUS for a school that was not (then) coed.
Anyway, here are some other things I learned watching this tape:
A. It was rainy and cold. At one point one audience member says to another, "Are you going back to the dorm? GET SOME BLANKETS!"
B. LOTS OF WOMEN ON CAMPUS for a school that was not (then) coed.
11.
There were two sets, an acoustic one with Bob and Jerry, "Deep Elem" and "Silver Pins and Golden Needles" captured here, then the New Riders, then an electric set. Of the latter, here we get "Hard to Handle," and "China Cat/Rider."
There were two sets, an acoustic one with Bob and Jerry, "Deep Elem" and "Silver Pins and Golden Needles" captured here, then the New Riders, then an electric set. Of the latter, here we get "Hard to Handle," and "China Cat/Rider."
12.
The video quality is really bad at the start, gets a little better as it goes on, but definitely a home movie. The sound quality, meanwhile, gets better. At the end, sound's pretty good, better than the infamous AUD, but its all but dark. All you can see is Weir, really.
The video quality is really bad at the start, gets a little better as it goes on, but definitely a home movie. The sound quality, meanwhile, gets better. At the end, sound's pretty good, better than the infamous AUD, but its all but dark. All you can see is Weir, really.
13.
It is a wonderful time capsule of that time and place.
The war was to finally end in April of 75--just about when I first visited the campus-- but the goofy, joyful, weird energy you see here is very much what I experienced in the last half of the 1970s.
It is a wonderful time capsule of that time and place.
The war was to finally end in April of 75--just about when I first visited the campus-- but the goofy, joyful, weird energy you see here is very much what I experienced in the last half of the 1970s.
14/14
I can only say that what I saw here is very, very familiar; and alas for me, I feel more like a part of this world than the one I live in now.
What a delight to see this, and in some ways, how sad.
Lately it occurs to me, what a long, etc.
-XXX-
@ThoughtsOnGD @mroth78
I can only say that what I saw here is very, very familiar; and alas for me, I feel more like a part of this world than the one I live in now.
What a delight to see this, and in some ways, how sad.
Lately it occurs to me, what a long, etc.
-XXX-
@ThoughtsOnGD @mroth78
PS.
If you don't have time to watch the whole fiasco, You could start at about the 16 minute mark, when the whole parachute-as-trampoline thing begins.
The acoustic set begins about 25 minutes in.
The electric one begins at about the 51 minute mark.
If you don't have time to watch the whole fiasco, You could start at about the 16 minute mark, when the whole parachute-as-trampoline thing begins.
The acoustic set begins about 25 minutes in.
The electric one begins at about the 51 minute mark.
PPS. I can also say that it captures the pastoral intensity of that campus, with the big open green in the heart of the college, the gently sloping Foss Hill leadings up to the observatory. I don't know any other college built this way. It's so pretty. I will always love WesU.
