Grateful Dead: August 14, 1971

No question, I'm deadhead.  I've been listening to them since I was about 12 or 13 years old and pretty much love the band and the imagery associated with the band.  I hadn't given them a good listen in a while, but about two years ago I dusted off some of my favorite bootlegs and have been reinvigorated.  I usually give them a break when the weather starts getting cold here in the northeast, but once springtime rolls around and I can start driving around with the windows down, the dead just seem like a natural pairing.

The "Steal Your Face" (often called the "deadhead") might be one of the greatest designs of all time.  At first glance, menacing as all hell, but if you know the band and their music it becomes decidedly less threatening.

Adding to this renaissance of sorts is this little gem I discovered on a music blog I like to frequent called Aquarium Drunkard.  They really nail what I have always thought about the band which is that, "There is a raw stigma that runs parallel with the mention of the Grateful Dead. Far too often the circus surrounding the band trumps the actual music, instead placing more emphasis on skeletons, dancing bears, hacky sacks and other vestiges of the ‘parking lot’ scene." While I do love a lot of the imagery what is more important to me is that when they're rocking they're essentially an great rock and roll band.

This show from 1971 really highlights that fact.  It's a burner and as always crank your speakers up to get the full flavor.

The whole thing is stellar, but some of the highlights include, "Bertha, "Sugaree," "Big Railroad Blues,"Sugar Magnolia," and "Truckin' - The Other One" and for some reason, it's not showing in the list of song, but if you click on "Not Fade Away" and then use the controls to go forward one song, the diamond is "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad"