My husband likes to tell his own story about the ’87 Dead Shows in Telluride. He was just 11 years old in 1987 and doesn’t really remember the music, and in a town full of hippies the crowd didn’t make a huge impression on him, but seared into his memory is the wad of cash he made with his lemonade stand. It was apparently hot enough that August to get the Deadheads to take a break from the Kool-Aid and buy some homemade lemonade—a lot of it.
I found this gem of a video on YouTube and thought it might be fun to stir up some memories. Were you there?
Grateful Dead Telluride Shows 1987
I was there. It was also the weekend of the Harmonic Convergence. Awesome energy, great vibe. I think Bill graham had a home in Telluride so he pulled out all the stops. One morning there was a drum procession led by Mickey.
there is a great video of the event :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xXMmhjG6Q
I was there and I still have the ticket stubs. I was 22 at the time and was lucky that my girlfriend lived in Ridgeway about 1/2 hour away . I was attending Northern Arizona University at the time and was turned on to the Dead in 1983 by a guy from Jersey named Dominic. (my first Dead show was 1984 at Pine Knob in Michigan). I had been to Telluride many times before for the bluegrass festival, but when I heard the Dead was playing there it was a must see event. It was a great time and the African band that warmed up was perfect for the show in my opinion. I was sleeping on a dock over the river wrapped up in sleeping bags and a blue tarp because of all of the “Morning Dew” coming off of the river. I still froze at night and my morning bath in the river was absolutely freezing. I looked up this show today because they were my 2 favorite Dead shows that I ever attended. The shows were not the best shows musically, but the people, the setting, and the vibe was never matched at the other shows that I saw.(I saw the Dead with Jerry only around 50 times so I am not a Deadhead by any means).Anyways, I am going to see the 3 Furthur shows at the Greek in LA in October so I was just reliving the good old days. After Jerry died in 1995, I have seen 6 Phil shows in 2002 (I think it was 2002)and four “The Dead” shows at Red Rocks in 2003 I believe. These will be my first Furthur shows and I am excited to go. Sure its not the Grateful Dead without Jerry, but I haven’t seen any live GD music in 10 years, the band sounds good online, and the music lives on. It is hard to believe this Telluride weekend was 26 years ago.
Yup, was there at both shows. Was great! Been working on editing some digital files I got from the two (for me-last Grateful Dead concerts I attended-Telluride Aug. 1987. I don’t see a keyboard player in any of the photos I took or other friends sent me or on the I-net. I was not certain if Brent Mydland played (He passed away some years later-apparently a suicide). He did play Red Rocks near Denver just days before. Maybe he was hidden behind speakers, drum-percussion stands, etc? Does anybody know? -Jammin’ John-Florida