Thanks David Gans: Grateful Dead concerts are like baseball games: no two are ever alike. The plays are always different, and theres always fresh hope. Sometimes the games an all-timer even though individual performances are sloppy; sometimes everybody plays great but the team loses anyway. Some people thrive on yesterdays moments, and arent too keen on the way the games played today. Some have only been fans since last year and dont care what happened way back when. You can cherish the great victories and triumphant seasons and chart them across decades, or you can go simply for the enjoyment of tonight and to hell with the standings. Like all the great teams, the Dead have their pennant years and bleak innings, perfect games and whippings, hits and foul balls, heroes and goats. To many theyre an institution, to some mere childs play, and to others the Grateful Dead is more or less an indispensable part of life. There are those who say the games too slow, that the brief moments of action and excitement are too few and far between. Like Americas Favorite Pastime, the Dead are both celebrated and criticized, and some people will never see whats to enjoy. Like big-league fans, Deadheads are as varied as the game is long. There are scorekeepers who record every detail for statistical analysis and a place in the Hall of Fame; camera buffs and video freaks; armchair umpires, die-hards, groupies. Some are bleacher bums whod be in the stands no matter who was playing; and there are even spousal fans who go because if they didnt, theyd be left home alone. A lot of people attend because theyve always gone and really dont care to stop. It may take a few visits to grasp the subtleties, but if you let yourself into the flow of things, theres something to enjoy from the very first moment youre there. As the old saying goes, the mind believes what the mind believes: Grateful Dead is cerebral if you choose to analyze it, but its basic and instinctive too. Like the game of baseball.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 16:56:28 +0000
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