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I gotta go with Bill Graham’s introduction into the Help>Slip>Frank from 8/13/75 as my all time favorite specific show opener. Gets me all charged up and it’s a killer version ⚡️⚡️

The plan is drive to cincy. See show. Fly direct to Reagan(it’s 2 miles from the venue). Hotel. See show. Next morning rent a car. Drive to Richmond 2 hours. Hotel. See show. Drive back to Reagan in morning. Drop off the 1 day rental and fly back to cincy. Grab car. Drive home. I don’t suggest flying out of Richmond unless you want 1-2 connections. Plus you would need a train from DC to Richmond. We’ve done it before in reverse with the train which made the flight home from Reagan easy. if you haven’t done the anthem yet, many of the hotels are right next to the airport and a super fast Uber to the Wharf. Or you can pay $500 to be at a hotel next to the venue, the intercontinental or whatever it’s called. There are literally hundreds of hotels within 2-3 miles of the venue. But Reagan is so nice as it’s not crowded at all and an easy in and out.

This is true, and I'm glad you recognized boldness for boldness's sake. 😆 Nonetheless, the statement holds its own due to the obviously uneven nature of the Dead by that vintage. To wit, while the Estimated with David Murray later in that MSG run was sensational, the Dark Star that followed it was downright lame.

We had several dance parties at hotels, and the biggest one was 98/12/31. We had three sets that night (on tape), and that set was set two of our NYE celebration. The first set wrapped in a second set, the set closed with China>Rider, a perfection construction to be between a first and second set. Venue was a conference room, we dropped balloons and an absolute mountain of confetti, which I am sure they are still vacuuming up today. Good times. Praise DSO.

Interesting opener tidbit, if we may expand the definition of "opener" somewhat. The 1st of 6 MSG fall '93 shows opened with the sequence of Rain; Shakedown Street -> Wang Dang Doodle; Cold Rain & Snow and it's arguable that the tour never reached the level of that 4 pack again!

Loose Lucy!

Well....not so fast. I live in KY, right outside Lexington. Last year the schools delayed announcing when graduation would be, so I purchased tickets to Dark Star Jubilation. A few weeks prior to the event, the schools decided graduation would be on the same weekend. I had the same thought: who in their right mind would schedule a graduation on a three day weekend? Well, they did. and my wonderful son was graduating. So I did what any loving father would do. I did both! Woke up around 3 am on the first night, drove like a bat out of hell, showered & changed in truck stop, and arrived early, clean, and suited up in Lexington where the ceremony was. Afterwards, celebrated with lunch and a celebration at home, and much joy was to be had. Then I immediately jumped back in my car and made the 4 hour trek in record time and pulled back into Legend Valley, back to my tent, grabbed a couple of beers, and walked into the bowl as DSO took the stage again. It was a whirlwind, but I did successfully manage to attend a much needed festival after covid and also celebrate my Son's awesome achievement. Win win. But yes, even in KY, graduations are planned for Memorial Day Weekend.