Memories of Grateful Dead Concerts

Speaker 1 0:24

Tales from the Lot, episode 20. That bus has a lot of wheels, an old friend joins me to talk, 62892 at Deer Creek and a whole bunch of other shows we saw together. Here we go. Hi, welcome to Tales from the Lot. This is Will. My guest this week is Kurt. He's from Peru, indiana, and I kind of know him for like 20, 30, 43, I don't even know how many years, but how you doing, kurt, I'm doing good Thanks, thanks for coming on here.

Speaker 1 0:52

We, kurt and I, saw a ton of shows together and so we'll go over a bunch of that, but honestly I don't know when we met. I can't remember when we met, like 90?.

Speaker 2 1:05

Yeah, I was like 15 or 16.

Speaker 1 1:11

Yeah, I don't remember the moment though.

Speaker 2 1:14

I don't either. It must have been through Johnny. Do you know Johnny? Maybe through them.

Speaker 1 1:21

I think it was. I think it was.

Speaker 2 1:23

And then.

Speaker 1 1:24

So you know, I sort of know your family was a musical family. What were you listening to growing up before I met you as a kid and through your grade school and middle school years, musically.

Speaker 2 1:37

I'll give a brief 20 minutes prologue. My parents were both musicians. My dad is a songwriter. They were into Christian music, that kind of stuff, you know, but the music I got into the first tape I ever bought was the Boogie Boys, which was like this early 80s rap group. They had this song called A Fly Girl. I remember that I was like 11 years old and I found this tape and I thought it was so cool.

Speaker 1 2:09

So sorry to interrupt you, but I just bought that on record like two weeks ago.

Speaker 2 2:13

The Boogie Boys.

Speaker 1 2:14

With Fly Girl on it and like, really, yeah, and you're so fly, you're so fly, go ahead With yourself. A fly, a fly, a fly, a fly, a fly, a fly. Yeah, that's hilarious. I literally just like two weeks ago, bought that on my phone.

Speaker 2 2:27

That was it. That was the first set I ever had. I thought it was so cool. And then I got in some like Run DMC, you know the Fat Boys. We did some rap, you know. And then I remember I bought the Poison album. You know the one that had Every Road's has a Sword, right with the tongue or whatever on it.

Speaker 2 2:45

Yeah, yeah, in which I don't know how I convinced my parents. Maybe I snuck around and bought it, you know, or something. Yeah, they wouldn't have let me out. There's a being in a religious council for them. But then, like when I got into high school, I met Todd Gee. I don't know if you remember who I'm talking about, but he's an artist alternative music. He loves Susie Mabanchese. That was like his jam and so he turned me out of them and it's like the cure and all these like got fans.

Speaker 2 3:18

So I got really developed for a little bit, and that's what I was into when I met you. I think I was like yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 3:24

I remember you were like the first person to tell me about, like Morrissey and the Smiths.

Speaker 2 3:28

Yeah, Morrissey and the Smiths. I loved James Addiction and that was like that was the music from our era. You know and I really got into that stuff. But I didn't even know who to break the dead work until I met Matt Lee and he had like this t-shirt on. I was like who's that I'm not into heavy metal? You know heavy metal bands like the great Right, it's like some heavy metal. And then, well, we went to your house and you played an album.

Speaker 3 4:06

Yeah, it was your 72.

Speaker 1 4:10

Your 72.

Speaker 2 4:11

That was the first album I heard. It was also the first time I had ever taken psychedelics. Oh yeah, so out in your garage, man Remember that I do.

Speaker 1 4:23

Yeah, I had a wannabe Midwestern punk band going on in there.

Speaker 2 4:29

Oh yeah, so it was my first psychedelic experience and also the first time during the Grateful Dead, and I remember you put on trucking after we got going there, you know, like an hour into the trip, and I kept on thinking, okay, it's cool, so country. It just kept going and it kept going. And I remember looking at you like dude, is this still trucking?

Speaker 2 4:59

Oh yeah, I remember that I got like I rewired my brand or something here in that, trucking all the way through into the morning. That was it. I was on the bus, you know. Yeah for sure. So then I don't know how much longer it was that summer, but Grateful Dead came to Deer Creek, to 92.

Speaker 3 5:22

And that was my second psychedelic experience.

Speaker 1 5:29

It was. I gave that one a listen and a couple things stood out to me. The first set as a monster helps look fray Tons of other sort of first set staples, and then it ends with a new speedway or something. Yeah, and new speedway, smokestack lightning to end the first set Like what's going on there?

Speaker 2 5:55

You know, as a I was like 17, maybe I was 16. I don't know. I was pretty young and just like I had just gotten turned on to this stuff. So to me I'd heard Europe 72. And I think we'd listened to it out of the net. So I was a little familiar with some of the new stuff. But I didn't really. I just remember thinking like these these old beatnik hippie dudes were up there and they're just playing the funkiest far out jazzy music, you know. And it just blew my mind. I was trying to remember, yeah.

Speaker 1 6:33

The China writer, and then so the estimated. I mean, if you're into estimated, bob Weir, ha, fests like that one is particularly good, and then after that it just sort of just melts. It just melts down for a few and that's a great estimated.

Speaker 2 6:49

One thing I remember. I mean, we were experiencing this together. I was standing right next to you and I remember I'd never heard some of the songs. When we started playing, jerry started singing to lay me down and I've never heard this song. I remember you had such a reaction to it Wow, you know, this is just some slow songs and you know, looking back now I'm like realizing how special that was. That was a treat, yeah, and and oddly enough, the Casey Jones is sort of a treat too, Because at that point it had been many a year, you know, I can't remember exactly but it's been a while since.

Speaker 2 7:24

it's been a while yeah.

Speaker 1 7:25

Yeah, and, and another thing that, if I could add that the China doll, the guitar solo that Jerry rips in there, which is like the Jerry slow song at the end of the second set, which it doesn't usually do, but but the Tony's got in there, is just so nasty, like, just like, just the right amount of distortion, just.

Speaker 2 7:46

And it's in such a weird place like the band at that time. You know Vince on his own, which you know in 30 years of perspective. Looking back, I kind of like the shows with Vince alone sometimes better, just because he was like trailing with him playing with Bruce. It didn't always turn out as good with Vince, but he could really shine on his own and, man, the band was like the wheels were falling off, but they've been falling off a long time, you know, and that that bus had a lot of wheels you know it's still had that further sign on the front of it.

Speaker 2 8:31

Yeah, so it wasn't as good as they've been, like that era not just not that show, but just that era. But there were still a few concerts. We saw that they were the real grateful guys there that kicked it up.

Speaker 1 8:46

Yeah, I think the following year the Buckeye Lake show, the one where you were, the one where Sting opened, right.

Speaker 2 8:53

Yeah, I was there for that.

Speaker 1 8:54

Yeah, I think that one in particular, which you can see the whole show on YouTube now. Yeah, it's just amazing, like, yeah, we did see some great shows, actually, I pulled it up. So, like, did you go to Richfield I think Richfield 93 in the spring? You might have been and you were still in school at that time.

Speaker 2 9:15

I don't think I went to that one, but I was at that legendary 94 Richfield show.

Speaker 2 9:20

The one with the Stella Blue and the Love Line. I just listened to that the other day and it was. I didn't. I hadn't listened to it in a long time and I was shocked at how good that show was. They're all in sync. Jerry's voice sounds great and he's playing these licks. That it's like okay. Yeah, I know he's got to die. Be mean to him All the problems with our thrace, but man, he could still rip it up, yeah. Yeah for certain, I mean I mean, look at this.

Speaker 1 9:52

We probably saw 15, 12, 15 shows together Grateful Dead shows, silverfield 94, deer Creek 94 and 93. You know what, though, I remember, right before Deer Creek 93, we brought the Grateful Dead movie from Blockbuster or somewhere and to your house to watch with your dad, to turn him into a deadhead. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we. Right there in your living room we watched the Grateful Dead movie and that's well. That's what got your dad sort of on board with going. He's like they're not bad.

Speaker 2 10:28

He went to. Was it 93? He went to 94. He went to one of those boxes with me.

Speaker 1 10:33

Right. So like I have this, this vivid memory of you and I rolling up to his office, because he was sort of the boss of what he was doing, and we go up there and he's on the phone and he's like yeah, I gotta go, yeah, I gotta go. Listen, I'm going to a Grateful Dead concert.

Speaker 1 10:49

I gotta go and you guys take it off to that. And I think we met you somewhere along the way Because I was like you know, I was too cool for that. I was like I like your dad and all. But I think I'm going to go hang out with these people who are taking the ass.

Speaker 2 11:03

I kind of remember a little bit. You know my dad. Like I said, he's into Christian music but he was a good dad. He still was a good dad. He's still around and he always showed up. He was there, he'd show up, he'd go to all the stuff and I think, you know, I'm like 17 or 18, and he wanted to see what I was into. And it's weird because that's their era. You know the great thing about that he never got into that stuff. He was into other music, never got into the hippie shit, you know, but I think it was just. He was a fish out of water man, you know, doing cartwheels and kicking their balls off.

Speaker 1 11:45

Didn't he take your mother back the next year, or something like that? Like no, no, no, no, okay, all right.

Speaker 2 11:56

I still, I was a good dad. I was a good dad. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 12:04

For sure. Have you been to Taylor Swift or something? Yeah?

Speaker 2 12:08

I'd be like taking my girl yeah.

Speaker 1 12:15

So you went. You went West also. Right, you saw a bunch of shows that I didn't see out on the West Coast. Did you go with Matt to those, or?

Speaker 2 12:22

who was. I went with the late great Chris. Oh, I'll say some Chris Long. He's not with us anymore, which is sad because he was a great guy.

Speaker 1 12:35

He was. He was a truly great guy Like he was like just a good soul.

Speaker 2 12:40

Yeah, he was a deep dude and he called me up one day and he's like dude, we're going to West Coast tour. I went with him, and also the late great Tully. Remember him. He's not with us anymore either. Jeff Jeffrey Sullivan.

Speaker 1 12:55

Oh right.

Speaker 2 12:57

He went with us, but he was. He was like full work at that point and I didn't really hang out much. He somehow make it back to the car after the concert, you know. Go on to the next one Difficult yeah.

Speaker 2 13:14

We went out there, all we care about out there, and I mean I got some good stories about that trip. That was my first like real trip out West, you know without my parents or something, and it was. It was magical, like rolling up over Washington state and like over the mountains and the sunrise. It was truly magical. And then getting into Seattle, you know Seattle is known for it to be always rainy and this is late May and it's the most gorgeous day. It's like 78 degrees, sun is shining. You know all the heads are out partying and you could hear the music outside the venue perfectly, just like being in the lawn. So we went into the first night. We got there late and I saw like half the first set and the site was finished In Seattle. I don't know the name of it, Just whatever War Memorial maybe, I don't know. Okay, sorry to interrupt you. You're looking up this is spring two or 95.

Camping, Concerts, and Coffee

Speaker 2 14:19

So we went to the first concert and it was. It was okay. The second night we didn't get in but we sat outside and we're just sitting on a blanket hanging out and they played. They played a Starlet Fire. I don't know if you've heard this one, but the fire in the mountain. Jerry got this crazy effect, this like octave. We was like you know, so we I've never heard him play anything like that and it was. You can tell he's having so much fun. He's like trying out new sound and like really getting into it and that was a treat. That was really cool. The rest of the shows weren't that great. Portland, like I remember him, he played um, they played Shake Down and Jerry didn't even. He wouldn't even play the solo, it was just the rest of the band you know just playing rhythm.

Speaker 2 15:10

He's just kind of like, oh, doing his thing, you know, um, so those weren't that great, but it was an awesome experience.

Speaker 2 15:16

It was really cool seeing all that part of it but we, we decided Chris and his wife at the time, we were with his sister too Um, all of us decided we're going to camp in out in the mountains in Oregon. We're just going to take this water trail, you know, take him up there and camp Right. That sounds great, that sounds cool, yeah. And so you were actually there. And then there's these tornadoes, man of mosquitoes, like rural giant columns, like swirling, and they descended upon us and we're smoking cigarettes, we're smoking fiber too, with everything that's spoken, maybe we'll get them stoned or something. Believe us a lot.

Speaker 1 15:58

They'll lose their way and go away.

Speaker 2 16:00

No, it didn't happen and so finally we gave up. We're like we can't, we're going to get killed here by these mosquitoes, you know. Yeah, so we left and we're coming down the mountain and I'm following them and we hit the road and we hit this. I hit this pot hole or something and I got clapped. But just, we made it like I drove. It was real close to the main road. I kind of drove to the road and just pulled over. I'm like what am I going to do? You know, I don't know, this is 1995. No, I don't know, you know, and this guy, this these hippies like pulled over, the guy like got out, helped me fix the tire and was just like the kindest guy, you like gave me some buds, you know, and he's like you man got you, you know, my guardian angel. So just that kind of trip, just a lot of positive vibes. It was really cool.

Speaker 1 17:00

Yeah, I remember when you came back from that, yeah, you came back from that talking about the the Jerry Whale call. You're like dude, he's doing these crazy yeah.

Speaker 2 17:11

It's from that fire in the mountain. It just blew my mind and I've never heard him do something like that. And you know we're talking about the later day grateful bed I. I just loved the direction they were going. They came up, came out with all this new material and some of the songs were easy answered. I like eternity. I think the lyrics are really dumb but the song itself was cool, like the jam they would do. I was listening to that rich field 94 show and not a 10 of these are good, yeah, and it's like a good blue song, but they would take it like the next level, you know, and like lazy river road so many roads, great song.

Speaker 1 17:49

Yeah, so many roads.

Speaker 3 17:50

Great song Days between yeah.

Speaker 2 17:54

So they had some really good material they were working on. Yeah, the time was up, you know, but I would have loved it.

Speaker 1 18:01

Even Liberty's okay.

Speaker 2 18:03

Yeah, I was groomed with that the other day.

Speaker 1 18:06

It's okay when you don't hear it every night. I felt like there's a minute there where we were hearing it, you know, every other night or so.

Speaker 2 18:16

I thought the law. Everyone just started growing in the air, yeah.

Speaker 1 18:21

Time to go. There's a cool song, you know we were there for the first one of those, by the way. Was that the first game 93.

Speaker 2 18:30

Oh, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 18:32

Yeah, jeremy and I drove over there and then I think you did, you fly or something.

Speaker 2 18:37

I don't think so.

Speaker 1 18:39

You came the second day.

Speaker 2 18:41

I think I came to. I know I went to Rosefont with Matt B.

Speaker 1 18:46

You were at Richfield 93 and I'm pretty sure you flew and we went and picked you up at the airport.

Speaker 2 18:51

Really.

Speaker 1 18:52

Yeah.

Speaker 3 18:54

Because we had.

Speaker 1 18:54

we got snowed out the first night and they got canceled and there was a big party and we all just partied in this hotel and then you had something. Are you thinking?

Speaker 2 19:03

I don't know if it's because I flew into Memphis and this was definitely Richfield because there was the Terrapin station and that super weird, carina. Yeah, which I like that song now.

Speaker 3 19:21

It's a kung fu morning. The sun is shining on me. I'm just trying to get my space together, can't you see? I need some kung fu coffee. Ugh, I had this 8 o'clock meeting at the office and I'm not feeling it here.

Speaker 1 19:45

babe, try some kung fu coffee.

Speaker 3 19:47

Kung fu coffee. Damn, that coffee kicked my ass. There's five more bands at the festival today and I didn't sleep at all last night.

Speaker 1 20:00

Here, try some kung fu coffee. Motherf*****, that coffee kicked my ass.

Speaker 3 20:11

Our coffee beans are growing in our secret laboratory deep underground in Canada, the recipe handed down from my uncle Tom. Our facility is protected by several hundred top-notch ninjas who also participate in grinding the beans with their bare hands. And well, I suppose that's where we got our name. It's a kung fu morning. The sun is shining on me. I'm just trying to get my space together, Can't you see? I need some kung fu coffee.

Speaker 1 20:54

Kung fu coffee. It kicks your ass. Okay, so you're a bit of a musician yourself too, right?

Speaker 2 21:06

Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I mean I've been playing guitar for like 30 years but I'm not very good at it. I know enough to like play the songs I like and I've been working on scales and trying to be able to do some lead. Mostly I just play chords and stuff. But what I like to do is like MIDI music. You know, I like to make like a. It's not really reggae, but it's in that style, like that's the roots, that's my roots, the reggae dub stuff, and so I kind of take that approach to my music. I still work with Johnny and Spencer. We do a lot of music together and they're still doing stuff too. We all use recent software, which it's great because I can do. I can plug in my guitar and chord analog and also play MIDI with my keyboard.

Speaker 1 22:05

Speaking of our local hots back in the day, there was one in particular that I did the Waffle House. I don't even, I can't even explain why groups of teenagers would hang out there in the number of like 10 to 12 to 13 of us.

Speaker 2 22:24

Sometimes it's a lost. People do that anymore, you know, Maybe some people do, but not as much. Maybe we grew up there. We spent hours. We did.

Speaker 1 22:34

We would just drink coffee and bullshit until the sun came up sometimes.

Speaker 2 22:38

Yeah, we would just go out by one pot of coffee.

Speaker 1 22:44

Pour a way to the sun.

Speaker 2 22:46

Right, we'd go out to your car and smoke dudes and look into the bed all night. Yeah.

Memories of Music and Concerts

Speaker 1 22:50

Yeah, oh, man, just okay. So the last episode of this I did I did with a guy who was at the Warlock show and so I was listening to that and brushing up and I was just like listening to that just took me back to a moment sitting with you at the car, like playing a kazoo or something, listening to this Warlock show. Just like I knew this thing. Note from, note from that happening.

Speaker 2 23:17

Yeah, we wore those tapes out. You would send off your Maxl XL twos to like a random. Just people use them how it went like a concert or something and they sent you back to the six generation tape. Some of them are good, no, but we had, we loved it.

Speaker 2 23:36

They were treasured possessions. When I think Peru, I had all these old cassettes and we just we didn't have the room for I got rid of them. But I was just the whole time like man. I poured so much energy into the living creatures at this point, you know, but it's so deep for me. We've got everything better sounding on the internet and fall free. Archive.

Speaker 1 24:02

It's true. Yeah, you can go to the internet archive and really just pull up anything you need, and it's all there Did you keep your tapes. You still got them. No, I let them go a long ago. I do have somewhere in the neighborhood of thousands of final records still.

Speaker 2 24:21

There you go, yes, yeah.

Speaker 3 24:25

But no, I got rid of the tapes, just didn't need them.

Speaker 2 24:29

Yeah, I mean there's. Yeah, I don't even have a cassette player, it was just, these were the treasured possessions. We worked so hard to collect them and I remember going into your little bedroom and we'd have, you know, just have it running, constantly making copies of the tapes that you got.

Speaker 1 24:48

Totally, I was trying to, you know, I was trying to give them to anybody who would take them to, like you know, around school or wherever. Wherever, didn't matter. Listen to this, it's good.

Speaker 2 25:01

Yeah, those waffle house years were the formative years. You know those were a good time. Yeah, we discovered all these things.

Speaker 1 25:12

Totally yeah. We listened to a lot of Zappa and a lot of, a lot of just Zappa.

Speaker 1 25:19

And great P-Funks snuck its way in there too. I know you and I went to the world Mardi Gras and it was. It was, it was like a bar. It was like a bar where they could like, yeah, they, it was a.

Speaker 1 25:29

Well, you and I didn't know about it, but you were, I remember, walking into your room one day and you had, I think it was like maybe parliament's greatest hits or something and we listened to it and you're like, yeah, they're coming to India and I was like, well, we should go, let's go, let's look into it.

Speaker 1 25:42

So we did, and it was at this place called the world Mardi Gras, which no longer exists. But but just sort of I tried to look this up and sort of from memory also, I want to say it had several bars that could close off and it would be like a band playing on this part and a band playing over here and they would close the walls. But but this particular night they totally opened it up to one big thing, because you know it's parliament, so you know it's P-Funks or whatever they got. They're going to need more people, but but, but, but my memory of it is they didn't stop for like four hours, like it was just like a nonstop, longest, longest concert I've ever been to. That didn't have a set price, yeah, and just being blown away, and, and, and have been. I've seen as many P-Funks shows as I could get to after that, for sure.

Speaker 2 26:31

That's the only one I saw.

Speaker 1 26:33

Yeah, they're probably a close third.

Speaker 2 26:37

I don't remember too much what's that?

Speaker 1 26:39

They're probably a close third between like fish, Grateful Dead and then.

Speaker 2 26:43

Oh yeah, yeah, that's the stuff I mean. I love the funk music band, that's the stuff I'm into now, but I like, from what I remember of that and I don't know if we were taking any, any substances or anything you know, or if we were just spoken to or something but I remember it being at like some hotel and like like walking into a lobby.

Speaker 2 27:07

I don't know what it was, but I remember like going in there and thinking this wasn't like a regular concert, it wasn't an arena, you know, it was just like real laid back, and I don't remember there being a lot of people, but I remember them busting it out, you know. Yeah, and they just kept going going going, going, yeah.

Speaker 1 27:29

And we saw, you and I, we saw a ton of fish shows too, like uh, oh, yeah, when in particular the Halloween 95, which I thought I was there with Johnny and I.

Speaker 2 27:43

We had seats together, johnny and I. You guys were there, but I didn't. I don't remember being with me at the concert. No, I thought that was a legendary show.

Speaker 1 27:52

Yeah, it was.

Speaker 2 27:54

I wish there was a video of it, yeah.

Speaker 1 27:57

And like well, we, we did see a ton Like uh, you know, when they came to Drew Creek, and like, uh, just all the stuff right. Like we went to like Dayton and Louisville and like yeah, the Dayton show I do.

Speaker 2 28:08

I'm pretty sure we were at that 94 University Chicago show.

Speaker 1 28:13

Oh yeah, that was my birthday actually with Joe. Oh really, no, yeah, joe was there. I think that was his first show, uh, and then he actually uh, just no doubt. And he's been on the bus ever since I just he we were just texting a couple of days ago. He's seen 23 shows this year.

Speaker 2 28:32

He came out and stayed with me.

Speaker 1 28:33

I thought that was Joe C from Washington. Joe, I'm talking. I'm talking about Joe O or Joe H, rather.

Speaker 2 28:39

Oh, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, right, I know you were talking about that, yeah.

Speaker 1 28:43

So yeah, he's seen 23 shows this year and he came out and stayed with me for dicks and did all four of those.

Speaker 2 28:49

I, you know, I got out of fish for a long time. Like I think my last concert I actually went to was in 99. We went to um, I was living with this guy in Bloomington and he took me. We decided we were just going to go to some fish shows and we went to that big um airfield it's festival right In 99. And um, then we went up to Canada and saw a concert there. The one at the airfield was pretty good, but the Canada show was terrible. At least that's how I remember. It was probably great, but I was like yeah, and I just never saw them again until I got back into them last year and I watched like every concert this year, uh, from my couch and they're pretty good, man, I mean, and going back and revisiting all that stuff and like, dude, I saw the barat 93 show that was legendary performance and didn't even realize it and like oh, that's a big shit there.

Speaker 1 29:52

You know, I was like you're like oh yeah, after 96, um, I didn't see fish for a long time, I. And then, uh, you know, like I said, they're playing super close at Dix every year, and so, 2014, I decided to go check it out, and then, uh, yeah, and so I've been back every year since and and it's like you know, it's not what we saw in 94 and 95.

Speaker 2 30:15

But trees. That doesn't have speed, but he's still got the music, yeah.

Speaker 1 30:19

Yeah, but it's like the best thing out there still.

Speaker 2 30:23

Oh yeah, some of the jazz. In fact wasn't it at Dix that um split open and know, but just went way out there and that was good stuff and I was like oh this is bringing me back.

Speaker 1 30:36

Yeah, I, you know man, I love Dix, like just getting down there on the field, like right in front of page or something, or like just sort of off to the side. You know right in the front cause Trey cruise me out. He gets all starey and stuff and likes to wait yeah.

Speaker 2 30:50

And the people.

Speaker 1 30:52

Yeah, but uh, man, it's just. It's just such a I don't know that's. You know you played your trip around that. Come out for Dix next year, that'd be cool, that'd be really cool.

Speaker 2 31:01

Yeah, I want to see fish one more time, just cause they're getting old. They've been I think they're 40 years. You think about the grateful bed. They only did it for 30. Yeah, you know, it's so much longer they're going to be doing it.

Speaker 1 31:18

No doubt Did you see any dead in company shows.

Speaker 2 31:20

I saw one uh like four years ago with uh Michael M. I don't know if you remember him.

Speaker 1 31:28

I do yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 31:31

I saw it with him and, um, it was really good. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised they played this terrible. That was great.

Speaker 3 31:39

But you know it's.

Speaker 2 31:40

It's like seeing Bob Marley and the way we sort of Bob Marley. That's how I feel.

Speaker 1 31:46

It's just not that's what I feel that was a big reason I stopped sort of going to see a fish and a lot of other bands too, is because you know when we were seeing them.

Speaker 1 31:54

you know, here I sound like the, the curmudgeon, the old man but you know it was you know 30 bucks, you know, and we were going to see you know 3250, and we're seeing the grateful debt of Soldier Field, you know. And uh, and then you know, and then I'm looking up and I'm like I'm like, oh, let's go see fish. And it's like 60 bucks. I'm not going to pay 60 bucks for a, for a concert, and then, and then all of a sudden it's like all right, maybe I will. And then I'm, then I'm paying it, I'm all right, and then it's 70, and then it's 80. And then this year it's like 112 if I want to be on the field, but like dude that's. I mean, I guess that's the cost of of everything they got to pay their people and you know, as you say that's what I was saying.

Speaker 1 32:36

Who knows how much longer they're going to do it, and maybe they're just, you know, saving up a little too, yeah, but but at the same time, what else am I going to see that's going to give me that bang for the buck? Like man that, that Saturday Night Fish Show I saw this year when they had that five song encore, yeah.

Speaker 2 32:54

You saw one of the best. Yeah, I was just like I've got that. Waited like second of the year below eight four. Msg show was really good, yeah, but yeah, I've got that. Dick show is one of the best this year, yeah.

Speaker 1 33:11

I agree. Yeah, it's blew my mind.

Speaker 2 33:14

But but you know, like the older I get to, it's it's just there's so much that goes into going to a concert. It's not just buying the ticket, it's like showing up and having to deal with all the people. You know everyone chained smoke in there. Whatever you know, it's just I do it outside. I don't know if I go to an indoor concert, I'll tell you we're talking about other bands now but the. Did you catch any of the Goose concerts out there? Are you a fan?

Speaker 1 33:42

I've heard a little bit of Goose. I'm not going to say I'm not a thing. I like what I've heard of Goose, but I just I haven't dug into it like they don't really get like into them.

Speaker 2 33:53

They don't take it out Out there jam. It's more just like just jamming, you know. But they're really good man. They just played red rocks and they were amazing concerts. That's another band I've been into lately. I've been doing it for a long time, that's cool. I like the Rick guy the guitarist. He's great. They bring the funk. You know what I mean. They have that like bitch funk, cow funk, whatever you call it. You know they got that thing for them, so I really like that stuff.

Speaker 1 34:24

I definitely like what I've heard. I just haven't taken the time. I don't know if you somebody's impressed me recently that I've seen, like on. I think he did Bonnaroo and then he did that thing in Indiana that I can't all in. I think it was called All done. Yeah, but Corey Wong, are you familiar with him?

Speaker 2 34:42

Yeah, yeah, I've heard of him. I haven't I haven't checked him out much, but I've heard of him.

Speaker 1 34:45

Yeah. He's just really super funky and his band is so tight, like, just like a giant horn section amazing drummer, great, just great, great, great Everywhere. You look. Great in the band, right?

Speaker 1 35:02

But he specifically decided I want to be known as a crazy badass guitar player, but I'm not going to play lead guitar and so it's just all like, just the funkiest out there just rhythm, just crushes rhythm, you know, Like just super funky, Like a little Princey you could tell he's he's listening to some Minneapolis a little bit, but but he also has a group called the fearless flyers, which is Joe Dart, I want to say his name is from Wolfpeck, the bass player from that and the and this drummer and I can't forgive me, I can't remember his name right now, but but he just plays only a kick, a snare and a hi-hat, Okay, that's it, that's it Just but but it is blow your mind level Neilpert, level drumming on on on just a kick a snare and a hi-hat, like how is he doing what he's doing?

Speaker 1 36:09

on on just that. You know like his. His crashes are, you know, like just so.

Speaker 2 36:14

Right, right. So, After getting into fishing and and watching like the spring tour, summer tour I've been still impressed with John Fisher, just the way he does it. He plays so around the beat, you know, but he's always right on the one. He was like the most steady guy, but he's playing so backward around it Like some of those jams, he just takes it all the way around. Yeah. He's a monster, I've never heard anyone play like that.

Speaker 1 36:42

You know as Tray said there's a reason they named the band after him.

Speaker 2 36:46

Yeah for sure, and like, so you know, by top drummers Bill Kreuzman. You know he's maybe not like the later days. I feel like the, the era we got into a lot of the band and kind of checked out like some like still isn't really on it as much. I mean, that was moment. Yeah, it's kind of they're going through the motions. But man back in the 1972, 73, he was just tearing it up, he was just pumping about through it, you know back in the 80s.

Speaker 1 37:18

You know, I think, what's some of the shows we saw in 93 and 94, I felt like. I felt like like 92 might have been not quite a seller, but I felt like 93 and 94, there were.

Speaker 2 37:28

There was sort of a bounce back and and there were yeah, those were good shows Like the ones we saw, like Jerry's birthday show. That was really good. Oh, the palace.

Speaker 1 37:38

That was such a good time.

Speaker 3 37:40

That was so good yeah.

Speaker 1 37:42

And everybody I remember like we went that whole tour and and they never played Scarlet Fire. Like, come on, they're not going to play, like when are they going to play? And they're like, okay, they're going to save it for Jerry's birthday. We get all the way up to the night and it's it's Jerry's turn to open the second set, because Bobby just closed out the first and instead they play victim or the crime, and then Scarlet.

Speaker 1 38:03

Fire. Yeah, like, oh, they're not going to do it at all. And then they, you know, they unload this just a really good starlet fire. I felt like too. So what are you into these days, like you know, beyond the fish and the grateful dead? Like, have you found a and goose, I mean, have you found something like maybe a movie or a or a TV show or an album or a band Like what's something that's really knocked you out recently?

Speaker 2 38:31

Well, my wife and I. She loves she calls this genre sad dad music.

Speaker 3 38:37

Okay.

Speaker 2 38:38

Sad dad, folk music right. And this guy that lives out there, well, he lives near Boulder, so I don't know, that might not be really. It's not too funny. He lives in your state, you know, to that general age Like 40 minutes. Yeah, so, but his name's Gregory Allen Isaacov. Have you heard of this guy?

Speaker 1 38:55

I have not, you know who he is.

Speaker 3 38:56

Ah, he's great he's.

Speaker 2 38:58

It's not like jam band music. He doesn't jam out the song, but he's a great songwriter, he's a great lyricist, he's a great poet. That's one of our favorites, but it's emotionally. I mean, it's sad. Dad music, you know, very sad bond Sometimes are the best you know.

Speaker 3 39:16

Those are all exciting with Jerry's song.

Speaker 2 39:18

You know the sad Jerry's song so I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 39:20

Right, what's the?

Speaker 2 39:20

instrumentation what?

Speaker 1 39:22

do you mean Like, what kind of Like guitar based drum?

Speaker 2 39:26

Oh yeah, he's got like it's very acoustic, so he's playing acoustic. He has like a banjo player with him. He got upright bass drummer, sometimes a steel guitar. That might be the banjo player too. You know a lot of guitar playing, you know. Check it out. He's awesome. And he's got his own little farm out there in Boulder where he grows medicinal marijuana. You know he does that part time too. That's cool. He's on tour right now and to all you guys out there, I'm talking, gregory Allnacht's song is great.

Speaker 1 39:59

All right, awesome. I'll check him out too. Always looking for new music to listen to, for sure.

Speaker 2 40:04

Yeah, like I said, it's very different. It's not jam band music, but it's just well-written songs. You know, good cool music, Not that sad.

Speaker 1 40:11

Awesome. You know one thing I didn't touch on and I gotta say this we wore out the. You're only in it for the money, cb. Oh yeah, do you remember that thing like over my place? Just on repeat.

Remastering Music and Memories

Speaker 2 40:26

What did they for? Oh, yeah, yeah, I got really into that, but I had all the albums.

Speaker 1 40:33

Yeah, yeah, we were just like we would and it had lumpy gravy. So those two, I think like the two for one, and sadly I didn't know this at the time, but it was the remixed ones you know with like the Chad. Wackerman drums.

Speaker 2 40:48

And I didn't realize there was-. Did he do all the music on there with Chad Wackerman?

Speaker 1 40:52

Well, yeah. So what happened? Frank went back and re-recorded all the bass and drums for rolling in it for the money lumpy gravy, ruben and the Jets I think that was it, but there might have been one or two more, and had Chad and Walter Barrow, I want to say, but I can't remember exactly play overdubbed the bass and drums and then they re-released it as remastered on those CD that we were listening to back in the 90s.

Speaker 2 41:23

Yeah, that's exactly how Chad Wackerman to like that old style, totally, totally, and he just wanted an updated sound.

Speaker 1 41:31

Yeah, he wanted an updated drum sound, an updated bass sound, because he felt like it all sounded dated. So I got it on vinyl and I'm listening to it. I'm like what the hell is this? Because I'm listening to like the original version you know, no, I got to check out the original one, that's only what I've heard too.

Speaker 1 41:46

Yeah, it's out there. I think there was a they did a release that had like several different versions on it. But yeah, check out the original version of that of those two albums and it's like a whole new experience.

Speaker 2 42:00

Okay, I got one more story for you and it's kind of crude and let's see if you remember it and we don't have to include this. We don't want to, all right, but okay. So it's 93, dear Creek. You and I rode together and we stopped at the Taco Bell on the way there.

Speaker 1 42:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:18

And this must have been before I was vegan, vegetarian, because I got myself one of those chili cheese, cheese, orito things or whatever they were. You know, uh-huh, we got to the, we got to the Grateful Dead concert and we parked and I'm feeling a little. You know my belly.

Speaker 1 42:39

Taco Bell will do that.

Speaker 2 42:40

Yeah, so you know what's coming right. So in our family we refer to a shard as a pestle, because we did as a pestle. We made up this word. Okay, A pestle. Right, that's proper. We didn't want our five-year-old daughter to know what a shard was. It's like a shard, Indeed, it's called a pestle. So yeah, we got to this Grateful Dead show 93, and I'm I just pep-ed all over myself. Do you remember this at all, Do you?

Speaker 1 43:12

by any means, I do vaguely remember that yeah.

Speaker 2 43:14

And I'm like, oh dude, I just pep-ed, we're at a Grateful Dead show. What are we gonna do, you know?

Speaker 1 43:19

Mm-hmm, like I remember. I sort of remember that moment because I feel like that was the exact moment I was eating like eight hits of LSD and you were trying to tell me that and I was a little distracted on what?

Speaker 2 43:31

might be about to happen.

Speaker 1 43:32

I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember. Sadly, what happened was not very good for me that night, but you know, really, I don't remember.

Speaker 2 43:41

Did you have a tough time that night? I don't remember.

Speaker 1 43:43

Oh man, I had a super tough time and I remember we're walking back to you. We're walking back to you. You had that. What was it like a Bronco or something, or Blazer or something Blazer Blazer. Yeah, we're walking back there and I'm just, I'm just having a bad time and we get back there. You're like I got it, man, I got the tunes for you, you just hop in the back, I got this. And you throw on like R-E-M or something. I'm like whoa, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 44:04

That was listen to this tape, bush, you'll love it.

Speaker 1 44:07

Yeah, I'm like no, no, no, no, no. And so we finally agreed on burning and looting.

Speaker 2 44:13

And I was like, yes, yes, this is what I need right now.

Speaker 1 44:17

And all was right with the world at that point.

Speaker 2 44:20

Yeah, that was my coming down music that out. Yeah, that song, put it on. You know that's the one you want when you're coming down.

Speaker 1 44:29

Totally. I do remember you, like you were trying to explain to me like, dude, I got to go find like a port of fire, I got to find something. And at the same time I'm like, okay, man, but okay, that's not what I'm thinking.

Speaker 2 44:42

Yeah, Well, I bet I have this like old pair, this pair of shorts from like when I was a junior high or something. They were like Bob Weir shorts, right, cosplay. So I'm like, yeah, I got these shorts, shorts, you know. Luckily I had an extra pair of shorts. I looked at the nasty porta potty and cleaned the flip. It's my commando with these Bob Weir shorts. So we and Bobby, we were on the same page.

Speaker 3 45:11

Nice.

Speaker 2 45:12

We had his shorts shorts and I had mine and people probably thought it was Bob Weir shorts.

Speaker 1 45:18

Yeah, I do sort of remember playing some hacky sack while you were wearing short shorts and you're like I can't kick too high, yeah.

Speaker 2 45:26

Yeah, man. So, that was a funny story. My family loves that story. They could do some squares.

Speaker 1 45:34

Let's pass it down for generations.

Speaker 2 45:38

That's my petly shart in myself. That's a great woman's show. Do not recommend.

Speaker 1 45:44

We played a lot of hacky sack, though, like we would like, for like, hours and hours we would play.

Speaker 2 45:51

To this day. I have an amazing balance when I'm on my left foot. You know, I can stay on my left foot for hours. All the hacky sack before.

Speaker 3 46:00

Yeah, like Ralph Machio.

Speaker 2 46:03

This is before. They were like good video games. There were good enough phones. You know that we carried around with Play hacky sack. We got stone and play hacky sack.

Speaker 1 46:11

We did. We would go to the park and just crank up the stereo and play hacky sack for hours next to the river.

Speaker 2 46:17

Yeah, junior, remember you had that big van We'd like all the hot puppies. Oh man, yeah. We'd all hop in the van and just go play hacky sack.

Speaker 1 46:28

But you're like we're going to smoke weed every possible way we can figure out and you got to where you're just like lighting it on fire and holding it in front of you.

Speaker 2 46:39

I'm like burn this van just right here. That probably worked nowadays with us opponents. We were smoking things and that's when we got the ditch weed back then, you know.

Speaker 1 46:51

That's no doubt. That's no doubt.

Speaker 2 46:55

I remember we'd have, like you, had some old friends that were like in their 40s and they had that good next to them. Oh yeah, I was playing to that classic rock band. I don't know.

Speaker 1 47:07

Dennis, I think I was playing to some classic rock band with some older guys and just learning how to play. You know, those guys were funny.

Discussion About Music and Personal Stories

Speaker 2 47:16

They, we. I was in the band with you for a second. I was going to be the singer and they played the Toad the Wet Sprocket song. It was so awful I was like I can't.

Speaker 1 47:29

No, it was all so awful. I didn't last too long either, but I did make a friend out of that Dennis guy. He was a. He was a pretty good guy and I'd seen him around time quite a bit.

Speaker 2 47:37

But he was the guy that was playing guitar. Yeah yeah, he was a cool At his house. I liked him too.

Speaker 1 47:43

Yeah, he was like the sane one, the other guy, I don't even know, some other guy. Oh, the guy who was singing before you came, he was like 40, right, but he had a girlfriend who was like 16. And yeah, it was the worst. It was like I got to get out of here.

Speaker 3 48:01

And then they got rid of him.

Speaker 1 48:03

And it wasn't so bad, but it still wasn't great.

Speaker 2 48:06

I just came over for all the duties.

Speaker 1 48:09

Yeah, there was, there was, there was a good times man.

Speaker 2 48:16

Well, that's about all the stories. I mean we could probably go over all kinds of stories. Totally, that's what I got.

Speaker 1 48:23

All right, kurt. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I've been bugging you, I know, for a while to come and do this and this is fun man.

Speaker 2 48:30

Maybe we can do it again sometime.

Speaker 1 48:32

Yeah, for sure. We have a lot to talk about, no doubt, all right, take care.

Speaker 2 48:37

Music.

Speaker 1 48:43

I just wanted to add a couple of things to the end of this episode. This was my 20th episode, so if you've made it through all 20 so far and you're hearing this, thank you so much for listening. This episode was also recorded on my 50th birthday, so, pardon, I had had a couple of beers, not typical. And lastly, I'll be closing out the show with a song from my guest Kurt. He goes as Veganic Vibes on SoundCloud. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. That hears a song called New Funk Stroll.

Speaker 2 52:15

I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes. I'll be putting a link to his music in the show notes.