Wednesday, July 7th, started off like no other morning for me. I was awake, not by choice, close to 3am, getting camera gear ready to head out on a long morning drive. I dropped my wife off at work, went to the store and gathered a few necessities that I would need on the four-hour car trip to St. Louis Missouri and back. But with the clock hitting 8:45am, regardless of what I had done and what I still needed to get done, the first and foremost thing was to get on the road.
My trip this time was to photograph a legendary band, similar to the last time crossed the state. But this time, it was the well-known last tour of none other than The Dead and Company. If that name is unknown to you, or you think you MIGHT have heard is somewhere, Let me refer you back to The Grateful Dead. Yes, that band, and their amazing time and influence in the world of music that was the 1960s and 70s, noted for their live performance sound, being better than almost anyone else in the industry at that time.
As I was leaving Lawrence for the trip, there was nothing but blue skies and a nice breeze, but as I crossed over to Missouri, clouds quickly started to fill what was once blue and would continue to be that way for the remainder of the day, with only one or two short exceptions. The trip was long and uneventful, passing by what seemed like a never-ending stream of billboards advertising alcohol, fireworks, weed, porn, and Jesus (one small, yellow sign particularly caught my eye, saying only “Adult Films and Spa”. With a raised eyebrow, a few questions popped into my head, but I feel that they were better left unanswered. Besides, who am I to judge. You do you). I knew that I was getting close to the St. Louis Metro when I finally saw one for a Bar-B-Q joint with vegan options that was placed next to one of those yellow “Don’t Tread On Me” flags. Oh, the things you will see on a road trip.
Yet, as I arrived, very early I might add, to the parking lot that I was supposed to catch my shuttle in to arrive at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater, I remembered all of the other big shows that I had photographed, the people that were there, the issues that arose, and so on. I learned that staff (which I was considered for that day since I was a photographer covering the show) parking had been moved to a more “secure” location, due to the fact that there had been some issues in the past with staff cars, and some angry concert goers. At one in the afternoon, there was already a line of cars stopped in the street, trying to find parking for the show that started at 7:15 that night. Far away from the front gates of the venue were a row of tents filled with arts and crafts that accompanies the tour called ”Shakedown Street”, named after the 1978 album by The Grateful Dead. By the time that I got up to the front gates (after taking a little break in my car for an hour or two) there were already people lined up, waiting to get in, or sitting around the Will-Call ticket booth, smoking both cigarettes and weed, just lounging around, waiting for the hour or so before the gates actually opened at 5:30.
I was lucky enough to be able to get in about an hour early which enabled me walk around the venue without the massive crowds that would soon be filling sold out, 20,000 max capacity venue. Being my first time here, I was thankful that I was able to get in early and just check it out. The venue, which reminded me of a mixture between Azura Amphitheater and Starlight, was fantastic, with enough venders to ensure that even if lines got long in the cashless venue, people would be moving faster rather than just standing around and waiting. The only issue that I encountered was when I went up to the grassy hill during soundcheck. I was on the phone, walking up the steep steps and when I got to the top, I immediately saw a guy, dressed in all black, starting to walk up the hill from the stage, towards me; only realizing when he caught up to me that he was with the band and asked me to leave the hill, since the band was finishing up their soundchecks and they were “very particular about their soundchecks” meaning that no outside people, not even venue staff and security, could see it. We could hear it just fine from anywhere in the venue, even outside of the venue gates, but we just couldn’t physically see it take place (regardless of the vantage point that I was, at the very top of the hill, looking towards the stage, due to the roof of the seated section was blocking any view that I might have had).
But by the time that the soundcheck was over, the crowds were in their seats and the show was about to start, one could feel a certain energy in the air. One that I normally don’t feel at other shows; or maybe it was the smell of weed and body order, mixed with the original overpowering deodorant, patchouli, and a sense that some of these older Dead Heads were still living out past shows and experiences, while the newer ones were awaiting an experience of a lifetime, one that they will recall for years to come.
And I will say that the Dead and Co. lived up to expectation. The show, broken up into two sets (with a 45 minute intermission) plus a one song encore, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, mixed with an incredible light show that was on par with ones that I have witnessed with Roger Waters and Tool (maybe even slightly better in some aspects) mixed with that said before left every one of the five senses covered to the max for the night. It is unfortunate that the tour is not coming through the KC Metro area, as throughout the night, I ran into almost two dozen people from our great area, talking about the trip on I70, all the construction, and even recalling old favorite local bands like Danger Bob, TV 50, Cher UK, The Bubble Boys, Exit 159 and Frogpond, just to name a few. No, the next closes spot that the tour will be is in Boulder, Colorado, when the band plans on a three day stay from July 1st to the 3rd, where not only weed is legal in the state, but where Proposition 122 had passed last year, which decriminalize the personal possession, growing, sharing, and use, but not the sale, of five natural psychedelic substances by individuals aged 21 and over, including two substances found in psychedelic mushrooms — psilocybin and psilocin — and three plant-based psychedelic substances dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline; and by late 2024, allow the supervised use of psychedelic mushrooms by individuals aged 21 and over at licensed facilities and require the state to create a regulatory structure for the operation of these licensed facilities; or simply put, it could be Woodstock 69 all over again for three days.
Set 1:
Good Times (Sam Cooke cover), Big River (Johnny Cash cover)(tour debut), Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead cover), The Love Each Other (Jerry Garcia cover), Black-Throated Wind (Bob Weir song)(tour debut), Big Railroad Blues (Cannon’s Jug Stompers cover), Dark Star (Grateful Dead cover)(verse 1), Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover)(tour debut)
Set 2:
Eyes of the World (Grateful Dead cover)(‘Dark Star’ verse 2), Fire on the Mountain (Grateful Dead cover), Shakedown Street (Grateful Dead cover), Drums (Grateful Dead cover), Space (Grateful Dead cover), The Eleven (Grateful Dead cover), Death Don’t Have No Mercy (Reverend Gary Davis cover), Going Down the Road Feeling Bad (traditional song cover)
Encore: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)(Bobby on acoustic guitar)(tour debut)