Re: "For Seconds on End"--your Most Magical Dead Moments?

On May 31, 4:10 pm, "SkyYellowSunUSBl...@xxxxxxxxxxx"
<SkyYellowSunUSBl...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On May 31, 2:58 pm, Lfh <onetaste2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



For those unfamiliar with the quote by Jer, here's the context, a Jer
and Phil interview with Gans back in 83:

"It's slow, it's anarchic, and sometimes it sputters and won't start,"
says Lesh. "But when everybody in the band is happening, I don't have
to think about what I'm playing - there's no time to think about what
I'm playing - and I can't put a finger in a wrong place."

"Yeah, it comes up triple bars, man," Garcia grins. "All the golden
yummies."

"For a short time," Lesh teases.

"For seconds on end!"

Ok, so they're talking about the X-factor, but for our purposes here
I'm widening it out a bit to include anything you deem priceless,
whether for its power or poignancy or what have you.

I'm not talking about shows or songs or long jams, but those golden
"seconds on end" that blow your head off or break your heart or in
some way have placed an indelible mark on your soul.

Just a few of mine:

The climax of the little section in the 8/1/73 Dark Star (about four
minutes before they juke into El Paso) where Phil is carpetbombing the
joint while Jer is doing his wah slide bit on top. When Phil hits that
climactic bomb an octave below the note he's been hanging on, it just
blows my brains out.

The last few seconds of lift off, culminating with the snare roll at
the very end of the 6/30/85 Shakedown jam, the part that blew the hole
in the sky at Merriweather that fine day.

Jer, after butchering the lyrics throughout Crazy Fingers on 4/2/95,
adds the additional "but I try" at the end. Chilling.

Jer, just as Bobby starts the ending vocals after the final jam in the
5/7/84 Rider, abruptly cuts him off and rips into a *second*
"headlight" verse with such completely over the top passion that it
even burns through that shitty sbd. (Anyone got an aud of this?)

That little outro bit after the second verse of the 7/13/84 Dark Star,
just an amazing, signature sequence in an otherwise unremarkable DS.

Jer's glorious vocal riffing before the ending chorus on the 9/18/90
To Lay Me Down.

Bob stepping up without missing a beat and pulling off that little
feedback squall encrusted beauty of a solo when Jer busts a string and
can't play during the outro of the 2/26/94 Standing on the Moon.

The "where have all the people gone today" and "thought I heard a
young man moan today" lines of the 10/12/84 Morning Dew, my favorite
moments of my favorite ten minutes of Dead music, period.

What are some of yours?

Fred

I had a moment of epiphany at Alpine 88(?) during UJB when feelings of
community, joy and happiness coupled with something coursing thru my
mind resulted in me welling up and actually crying. It wasnt just the
music that caused my reaction. It was the whole damn scene.

Interesting post. I know I have cried at concerts where, as you note,
the totality of the experience is overwhelming. For me the one that
comes to mind is the Mothership Reconnection shows in NYC. I had
never seen Bootsy. It was too much to handle. The concert was good,
but the experience was magical. Treme Brass Band is another one
that gets me everytime. Magical indeed!

Kurt

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