This is a copy of a post I made in rec.music.gdead in the 'memories of shows' thread. I was going to write just a few lines, but
look what developed!
Do with it what you will...

Dave Johnston

3 memories from the first tour I followed, in the fall of 88. A crazy schedule, 18 shows in 25(?) days. I made it in to 10 of them. The Capitol Center, Landover, Maryland:

Back then, there were still speakers out in the halls, and I spent a lot of my time out there, as it was the prime dancing spot. There were two arena staff members detailed to watch over the speakers themselves. One of them was a young black girl, who obviously had never seen a crowd quite like this in her life. The first night, she looked freaked out and a little scared by all these smelly, wildly gyrating hippies. The second night, she seemed more comfortable. She was smiling, chatting with people between
songs and sets, and seemed to be having a good time. Third night, she was all smiles, and even dancing around a little bit. Fourth night, she was grinning ear to ear and dancing up a storm, just like the rest of us. A deadhead had been born, methinks!
And also in Landover: The famous 'Ripple' second encore.This was only my 5th or 6th show. I was well aquainted with Ripple, and was certainly glad when they started to play it, but had no idea it had been in the closet so long. So I didn't quite understand exactly why every person in the place suddenly went totally and completely insane, but HOLY SHIT! I was quite familiar with the ebb and flow of audience energy dead shows produced, that feeling of being a part of the show, rather than an observer of it. That was part of what hooked me in the first place. But I had NEVER imagined that such a sudden, extreme, and sustained elevation of audience energy was possible! That initial cheer just didn't seem to end! It just got bigger and bigger, and went on and on! 20 minutes after the show, out in the lot, the cheering didn't seem to have diminished at all.Incredible.
I wonder what the girl guarding the speaker thought of it! Later in the tour, I had a "deadhead cops" day. All in one day:
-I was hanging out outside the gardens. A guy smokes me some hash. We chatted for another 1/2 hour or so, then I bought some hash from him, and we smoked another one. Chatted some more, before he mentions that he's a New York state marshal, but he'd booked some time off to come down and catch a few shows. I professed disbelief, so he show'd me his ID. It looked real to me. We chatted some more, then went our seperate ways.-A friend of mine got busted for selling Guatamalan woven bracelets without a permit. (you'd think the cop's would have something better to do... people were smoking crack a little further down the sidewalk, fer christs sake!) He gets hauled down to the station, and, as a transient, is supposed to be put in lockup till court the next day. But one of the cops is a deadhead, and lets him go, after securing his promise to show up when
he was supposed to the next day. (He did.)-It's a 'Brokedown' encore, and I'm in that perfect mellow groove we all know so well, just bopping along down the tiny, tiny third floor hallway in MSG when who do I see bopping along towards me but a NYC cop in full uniform, who seems to be having just as much fun as I am. We stopped and talked for a bit; turns out it was his 96th show, and he'd had a great time,even though he'd been stationed out in the lobby where he could hardly hear the band for the whole first set.

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