I owe a lot to Phil Lesh.
You can't help when you were born, and I was only going into the 7th grade the summer that Jerry Garcia died. I'd heard of them. I remember seeing an article in the newspaper the morning of the "rain show" at Three Rivers Stadium during the Grateful Dead's final tour in 1995. But I was still a few years away from really getting what being a fan of the Dead was all about.
By the time I graduated high school in 2001, I'd listened to as much of the Dead's music as I could find — at least as much as a kid with a lousy home internet connection and a very limited bank account could — and I was hooked. I still had a lot to learn, but I felt like I was becoming a part of something much bigger and more cosmically connected than anything I was accustomed to previously. There was just one problem: This was a band that built its reputation on live performances, and I felt like I'd never get to experience that. I didn't yet know that music would never stop.
Luckily, that all changed in the summer of 2002. I was a little older and I had a little more autonomy when it came to my social life, and my friends and I finally got our chance to experience Grateful Dead music live. Phil Lesh brought his band to the old IC Light Amphitheatre on a beautifully hot July night. They opened with "Here Comes Sunshine" and I knew from that moment that this music would be a part of my life until I ceased living.
Later that fall, I got to see a couple more members of the Dead when The Other Ones played at the Civic (Mellon?) Arena. Coincidentally, they also opened with "Here Comes Sunshine." As the years go on, I continue to experience this music whenever I can. Whether it's from a bar band or original member, it matters not. The music will always be bigger than any one person or group.
Phil gave us so much, so let's celebrate him this evening at 7 p.m. I'm excited to share some songs you know, some you may not know, and a taste of a Phil-heavy show from the Civic Arena in 1971. Let's never stop searching for the sound.
