The date was July 11th, 1998. It was a beautiful Saturday, mid 70’s with clouds that looked like small cotton balls that never seemed to move across the sky. The four of us were packing Mike’s 1990 Toyota van will all the concert essentials. We scored tickets to Further Festival in East Troy, WI otherwise known as Alpine Valley. The concert was otherwise known as a Dead Show. Jerry Garcia died three years ago making every Hippie weep and think, no more Grateful Dead, no more Dead Shows. Three years later the Dead were touring under the name ‘The Other ones’.
I had heard the Grateful Dead a time or two and liked some of their music. I was 18 at the time and full of piss and vinegar as well as an undying love for heavy metal music. I wasn’t going for the music though; I was going for the experience. We had all heard the stories about Dead Shows from our old Hippie drug dealer Tom and our co-pilot Ray. A sea of wild people, crazy, and drug-fueled. Freedom and dancing. Nakedness and tolerance. It was chaos guaranteed for the price of a ticket. We just had to make it there without getting caught with our concert cargo.
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