Solana Beach

[Racetracker]

GD Setlist 2-21-71, Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY.

One drummer (Rob K.),  Lisa on harmonica as needed.

Filler: That's what love will make you do (Dino on drums)

Awesome show and stuck true to the original.  Old-style arrangement on GSET without the chorus, and repeated the chorus before going into the instrumental on Bertha just as in the original performance by the Grateful Dead.  The Pigpen-style Good Lovin'-Drums-DSO Jam-Good Lovin' was a real treat. 

The venue was pretty crowded for a Tuesday night and it got quite warm at times.  Good to see Mr. Walton enjoy more than half the show on his feet. 

[Tea]

Love this show - glad they dusted it off:

 

Uno:  Cold Rain & Snow, Me And Bobby McGee, Loser, Easy Wind, Playin' In The Band, Bertha, Me & My Uncle, Ripple, Next Time You See Me, Sugar Magnolia, Greatest Story Ever Told-> Johnny B. Goode

 

Dos:  China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider, Bird Song, Cumberland Blues, I'm A King Bee, Beat It On Down The Line, Wharf Rat, Truckin', Casey Jones, Good Lovin'-> Drums-> Good Lovin'-> Uncle John's Band

 

Thanks for representing Big Man!:

[Rude]

Wow. Having Bill Walton at the show is a glowing endorsement. He brought mainstream credibility to the dead and never shied away from his love of the music and culture. I believe he also had a part in the Lithuania basketball team wearing the dead tie-dyes which also brought tons of exposure to the boys.

[Dead duck]

Once saw a framed article in a memorabilia shop in French lick Indiana titled,

"Bill Walton is the best center ever to play the game"

Written By Bill Walton

[Island Bro]

Inspiring to see Bill at shows and have wondered if he's been turned on to dso. It was always pretty easy to spot him at New Years runs at Oakland Coliseum since he was a foot taller than anyone else standing down on the floor toward the stage. Helluva a basketball player, but I gotta say, that dude can dance and shake it out real good too.

I like what you said, Rudedogg about how he wasn't afraid to put out his love for this music and culture. Great to see him flying his freak flag--he can still be spotted at basketball games in his tie-dye.

Being from Portland originally,,,he is generally seen as a local hero after his leadership in bringing the blazers to their first and only championship win back in '77. I still get goosebumps when I think about the vibe in town after that (even tough I was only 6 yrs old) and the parade with him at the forefront, huge smile and partying, and waving to everyone...he's definitely the kind of guy you would want to hang out with.

Well, Cheers to ya Bill,,,glad you got a '71 dso show in your bag!

And how was the show?

[Tea]

Here's a legendary quote from fellow sportscaster Mike Tirico about Bill Walton:

 

"If he tells me one more time how he did mescaline with Mama Cass and David Crosby backstage at the Greek Theater, Berkeley, ’71, I’m gong to smack him," said Walton’s broadcast partner, Mike Tirico. "And that’s exactly how he always says it, too: ‘Greek Theater…Berkeley….seventy-one…,’ and then he starts grinning and grooving to some Dead music in his head, going, ‘Yeaaaah, man….yeaaaah’ like a total stoner."

 

How about these gems:

 

Toward the end of the game, Walton managed to shoehorn approximately 168 Grateful Dead mentions into a seemingly endless monologue.

"While these great Chicago fans hope to see Michael ‘One More Saturday Night’ perhaps in the playoffs, he’s beginning to show a ‘Touch of Grey’ in his hair, and while I’ve always believed that Michael must be a ‘Friend of the Devil’ to have had such a wonderful career, and he still plays with the aggression of a ‘Wharf Rat,’ his ‘Unbroken Chain’ of success must come to an end. But his legacy will ‘Not Fade Away’ even as he disappears down the ‘Golden Road.’ For us fans, there’s ‘nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.’"

 

"This is horrrrrible, Mike, just horrrrible," Walton nearly screamed. "I fear the NBA will go to ‘Hell in a Bucket’ without Michael, and the ‘Eyes of the World’ will be upon the next generation of NBA superstars, and David Stern is clearly saying ‘I Need a Miracle’ to the Kobes, the Garnetts, the McGradys, even the Lebron Jameses of the world, hoping that MJ’s retirement doesn’t lead to a serious case of the ‘U.S. Blues’ for NBA fans."

Walton then made a tangental reference to Michael’s wife "Althea," and three children–"Bertha," "Casey Jones," and "Tennessee Jed"–all of whom, he claimed, were in the United Center that evening. When Tirico informed Walton that Jordan’s wife is, in fact, named Juanita and his children are Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine, Walton paused.

"Hey now, Mike," Walton said, "hey now, Aiko Aiko all day, jockomo feeno na na nay, jockomo feena nay. Hey now––"

 

Ok sorry - just had to share.  Back to Solano Beach Reviews

[chuckvegas]

He got in some great licks there. I know he has been to DSO shows at the SD water park and at the Nokia when it was the Nokia because I saw him at them. Seems like there have others; my memory slips away, but I try.

[Rude]

My buddy just alerted me that Walton saw a staggering 650 dead shows. He was def no poser.

[Tom Banjo]

I've seen Walton at the Nokia, the belly up in solana, the wave house San Diego, vegas and Portland for furthur. He's no poser

[Tea]

Saw Walton at some of the Gahhhhden (Boston Garden) shows. He's tough to miss - Dancin and weavin like a maniac in '91

[ducats]

Wow. Having Bill Walton at the show is a glowing endorsement. He brought mainstream credibility to the dead and never shied away from his love of the music and culture. I believe he also had a part in the Lithuania basketball team wearing the dead tie-dyes which also brought tons of exposure to the boys.

if they had any mainstream credibility not so sure it came from Bill

[Tom Banjo]

Great bill Walton story. My friend has us dress up in trailblazers gear for the portald show. He wears a Walton jersey. At the end of the show, bill asks my friend for a picture.

[Tea]

Speaking of celeb GD fans: Spoelstra is a Deadhead - allegedly.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/erik-spoelstra-almost-passed-up-his-first-job-with-the-miami-heat-for-a-grateful-dead-show-043028674.html

[Tom Banjo]

Spo is a poser. You ever see him?

[gr8fulpair]

Bill's son Luke has two rows of dancing skeletons tatoo'd on his shoulder. Plain as day on tv whilst playin for the Lakers. A chip off the ol block. I could be so lucky that one of my kids ends up being a genuine deadhead and not just because his ol man was (not implying that about Luke). For love of the music, culture and what it stands for.

[Tom Banjo]

Speaking of Lakers although you may think Knicks or better yet bulls phil the zen master Jackson has an affinity for the grateful dead.

[Muddy Waters]

He brought mainstream credibility to the dead

 

 

Huh? Not sure what that means...

 

I don't think the Dead ever gave a crap about that and if there was one word to describe Walton...Mainstream would not be in the top 100

[Tom Banjo]

They sell dead shirts at target. It's pretty mainstream. Any successful commercial entity becomes mainstream so the main streamers can make their dollars. Walton played in the NBA and UCLA. He is a household name across america. He did broadcasts for ESPN. He may be goofy and a black sheep but definitely a black sheep in the main stream world. He was no outlaw or recluse. I guess you can challenge the existence of a mainstream altgoether but American business has been brilliant at incorporating the counter culture into their mainstream vending. I saw a kid in airport on way to DSO jam in the a sand 1 wearing a dead tshirt. He didn't even know dso was playing jamaica. Just had a shirt. I don't think jerry and the boys really wanted this but with touring succeas come the commercial piranhas.

[Rude]

My point was that much of America probably had a negative connotation of the dead and here is one of the best college basketball players of all time, if not the best, who is a dead fan. That may have given some a different outlook on the dead heads. Now the Lithuania basketball thing brought the grateful dead to the forefront during the Olympics for sure. I'm actually downloading the doc "The other dream team" now that incorporates how the band invited some of the players to a show and presented them with the Lithuania tie-dye shirt and a check so they could play in the Olympics and they ended up with the bronze medal and wore those tie-dyes on the podium. Looks like an interesting story.

[ducats]

They sell dead shirts at target. It's pretty mainstream. Any successful commercial entity becomes mainstream so the main streamers can make their dollars. Walton played in the NBA and UCLA. He is a household name across america. He did broadcasts for ESPN. He may be goofy and a black sheep but definitely a black sheep in the main stream world. He was no outlaw or recluse. I guess you can challenge the existence of a mainstream altgoether but American business has been brilliant at incorporating the counter culture into their mainstream vending. I saw a kid in airport on way to DSO jam in the a sand 1 wearing a dead tshirt. He didn't even know dso was playing jamaica. Just had a shirt. I don't think jerry and the boys really wanted this but with touring succeas come the commercial piranhas.

not sure where to start.  dead shirts in target after 95.  r u all saying they went mainstream post death? thats a diff story - but otherwise except for the touchhead period sans mainstream to me. the looks we got in some of those towns in the early 80's proved it. and the touring success didnt bring the piranhas.  touch of grey did. u want to try to figure something out try this;  How is it we were hearing it live for (3,4?) years before the touchheads came?

[chuckvegas]

"u want to try to figure something out try this;  How is it we were hearing it live for (3,4?) years before the touchheads came?"

 

I was hearing it live by going to shows.

[John A]

My favorite Walton moment is when Brent Musburger was interviewing him in the Celtics locker room right after they had dispatched the Rockets for the NBA title.  He says he's relieved, because Houston, it's too close to New Orleans.  Musburger looked at him like he had just cracked.

 

I cornered him at the Jerry 70th birthday gig at TRI and told him that story.  He appreciated it. 

[August West]

I was at the Meadowlands watching the Nets play the Celtics and I had brought in a cassette of a nice early show in hopes of giving to Walton after the game by the tunnel. So after they destroyed the Nets that evening I say to him " Hey Red I have a crispy tape here with a Big Boy Pete on it". He stops dead in his tracks speaks with me for a couple of minutes, and says he will listen to it right away. He then gave me his wristbands. Still have them till this day.

[Tom Banjo]

Any band that plays the spectrum and msg has made it to some mainstream success and has started to let the commercial piranhas in. It's a fact. Dressing like a whore is mainstream in a lot of high schools. They get looks. Smoking pot is pretty mainstream. We still get looks. I don't think you can say the dead were not mainstream because certain aspects of our society viewed them negatively. You don't sell out msg without some mainstream success. Yes touch sent them over the edge and the dead will never be the beattles. But I don't know how anyone can think that a band that plays msg has no mainstream credibility or hasn't let the commercial entities begin to make money off them. Not everyone mail ordered. Not everyone boycotted stadium concession. Hey I want to be counter culture and non mainstream too but the business culture in this society is sharp. They capitalize on pro war and anti war sentiments. Both sentiments are mainstream. The grateful dead is an American cultural icon. Pretty mainstream if you ask me.

[PoetryGirl]

It would be for goodness sake if the some if the beautiful ideas espoused by GD music became mainstream.