Comments on: Furthur in Portland, Maine

By: Peter Peteet

Peter Peteet — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:39:31 +0000

Flowers on your own grave,that’s somebody else’s job-or perhaps it’s what we all should be doing;easy?-sure,as long you get your mind right.Waiting,I applied for that job but wound up washing dishes till I could not stand it anymore and cursed the manager in rhyming ribald verse …skunk cabbages are flowers too,ya know.Bloom and die and let the seeds make the flowers,and vice-versa,same as it ever was.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:47:30 +0000

Thanks, dog. I was definitely smiling…

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:45:05 +0000

thanks, JBK! I still haven’t gotten over Pig Pen’s death, so Jerry might take a while… He’s very much onstage as the band plays on…

By: uncle seth's band

uncle seth's band — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:14:35 +0000

beautiful piece (the story, not you. well, you too.)

wish i was there.

nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. (is that trite?)

By: J. Bebe K.

J. Bebe K. — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:47:34 +0000

Hi Bill. Is it a coincidence that my initials are JK? (meaning that they are the same as those of Furthur’s guitar player, John Kadlecik). You know, I certainly understand your grief and sadness over the loss of Jerry Garcia. Thousands of people feel the same way still. Jerry was, as you said, a genius, a light of the universe. When your wife Juliette told you to “get over it” I bet she was referring to the process of grief. Feeling your feelings is an important step with grief (and everything else, eh?). And then, once we are done (however long it takes), isn’t it time to recognize and appreciate what we have left? You know, it’s not like after the patriarch or matriarch of a family dies you stop seeing the rest of the family even though you might feel like you don’t want to, that it’s too painful. The show must go on. We form and adjust to new cosmologies. I think that’s what we all aim for in a perfect world. I told this analogy to a friend of mine talking about Furthur and how some people had trouble seeing Furthur because Jerry wasn’t there. He said to me, “You know, for some people the Grateful Dead was family, for others they were just a rock band.” Maybe you fall into that category, Bill. Maybe you can work with your grief. I know for me that I feel SO thankful to have John Kadlecik in the picture – the son Jerry never had (or knew he had…….), a talented soul who clearly reveres Jerry and is the catalyst for sparking Bob and Phil’s energy and giving the whole scene one more time around. It won’t last long. A speedy Jerry grieving period would be most practical at this point in time. John K. must be a special guy for Bob and Phil to trust him the way they do and let him step into Jerry’s shoes. They are playing songs Jerry wouldn’t let the band play for the last 15 years or so they toured. I love the music of the Dead, and although I thought Jerry was the soul and sparkling gem on the crown, I am way more drawn to the music of the Dead than say of The Jerry Garcia Band, or of Grateful Dawg (his work with Dave Grisman), or of Jerry and Merl Saunders collaborations (though I adore them ALL and think they are fabulous). But for me there was something that happened with the music/philosophies/collaborations in the music of The Grateful Dead that just sends me in a way nothing else does. I love seeing Furthur, seeing and hearing Bob and Phil out there. Senior citizens, with that wonderful spirit of JK and the others (including some strong back up singers helping to fill in all the vocal gaps….and there are plenty. I am not deaf to that….). Feeling how we are all older. Together. With lots of young people enjoying the music, too. On the planet sharing a brief time together. Feeling our youth inside us as our souls, spirits and bodies stay the same and get older. We are one, man. Peace out.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:00:15 +0000

I had a gate over the entrance to my silver mine, I guess–couldn’t go in, but could look. I’ve ordered a powder keg on Amazon and will blow it up now, per suggestion… I’m mean, I ‘m not that old!

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:59:09 +0000

This is really nice, Ginger, thanks. I’m finding as the days go by I’m thinking more and more fondly of the show and the evening, and remembering songs they played by finding them playing in my head as I go about other stuff… wonderful…

By: Ginger

Ginger — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:53:56 +0000

Hey Bill! I got this link from the Furthur site, someone read your review and put up a link. It was so poignant in some parts, and in other parts I laughed so hard I was crying as I read it aloud to my husband, thanks for that! “Where is this?” “Gum tastes really good.”

I feel you on the Jerry situation. I took off many years from the scene and the music after we lost Jerry. It was too sad for me to allow myself to feel that spirit of music and know I’d never hear Jerry play again. But I went to a few Dead shows in the early 2000′s and I’ve seen Furthur quite a lot. I enjoy the show, hell, it’s as close as we can get to a real GOGD show nowadays. Sometimes I cry a little, like during a tune that Jerry did particularly well. But there is something healthy and youthful about being able to dance at a show when one is in their middle years. I have so many friends who never do anything “fun” anymore. So I relish the fact that I can still go to shows, and with a partner who enjoys them no less!

Sometimes feeling sadder and feeling gooder is a good thing…

peace, love & jerry

By: kitchel

kitchel — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:01:27 +0000

Furthur is great – enjoy the music – seeing my second show at MSG in 2 days. “If all you’ve got to live for is what you left behind, get yourself a powder charge and seal that silver mine” or something like that.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:09:01 +0000

I can’t get some of the songs out of my head… Crazy fingers all day… I’m with you–they do a great job… And Bob and Phil are older than we are! Someone at the show said she went to every show in the summer tour and intended to do every show this fall. She was young and maybe had some money, cuz it can’t be cheap. I said the only way I’d do that kind of travel at my age is if I were onstage playing. Thanks, Ralph.