William P... Grateful Dead, Lewiston, Maine, Sept 6, 1980

[JimHow]

I was 21 years old.
It was the first September in four years that I was not returning to college, kind of a turning point in my life.
It was September 6, 1980, about 30,000 Dead Heads invaded Lewiston.
It was the last gig of their summer 1980 tour.
When you look up these things, it is considered "one of the ten best Dead concerts ever," whatever, I dunno.
I was drinking a Ramonet with this kid, a BWEer, from NYC, one of Whuzzup's boys, great guy, you would all remember him if I could remember his name, we were chatting over a 1995 Ramonet, he told me he was a Dead Head, I said, you now, I was at the Lewiston, Maine, concert...
He finished my sentence.... "...September 6, 1980.... One of the greatest Grateful Dead concerts ever."
I was there with my brother Tom and another friend, Stevie Roy, our childhood buddy with whom we used to play street hockey, in another lifetime.
We were drinking beers from a cooler out in the parking lot, during Levon Helm's opening set.
It was a place in time, about 4:30 in the afternoon on as splendid a September afternoon as ever existed in New England...
All of a sudden, my brother Tom said, "Hey, that sounds like Alabama Getaway..."
We ditched the beers and proceeded across the parking lot to the concert, for 3.5 hours of pure bliss.
The sound on this bootleg, I'm told, is as good as anything produced from the Dead bootleg era.
We saw them a few years later, at two epic concerts in Oxford, Maine, in 1988.
But nothing will match that place and time in Lewiston, Maine, September 1980.
My brother Tom saw them about 50 times.
That Saturday afternoon, they started the concert with the sun up, but it descended quickly.
There were thousands of young 18-19 year old Dead Head girls dancing by themselves in the Maine early September sun, stoned, tie-dye tee-shirted, the Sugaree set about fifteen minutes by itself alone, pure, pure ecstasy... please forget you knew my name, my darling, Sugaree....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxBcGFxKr7Y

Listening to some Sugaree, remembering that late summer afternoon when the Grateful Dead invaded my little town at the end of their summer tour, a time and place, an eon ago....

Uncork a fine Bordeaux or west coast pinot of your choice, William P, and listen to the September 1980 Lewiston, Maine, Grateful Dead gig, it is a really clear bootleg, they were really, really on that night....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxBcGFxKr7Y

Sincerely,
Your BD

[JimHow]

Here is just the Sugaree set, I think it's the third song in....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy4LRfbVNOs

[William P]

Jim, I'm glad you had one of those "incredible" Dead experiences. I first saw the Dead in May of 1969. I just graduated from High School. It was in a terrible hall and the sound was not very good. A bad concert that was not their fault. BTW, they never played there again. From there I followed their music and made more than a few concert appearances. I admit, I remember very few of them for different reasons. On day of the Green 1 May of 1973 it was the cute girl next to me who shared her brownies. In 1969 they shared the bill with the Airplane which "shortened" their set. Decent concert but not ethereal. In 1974 at Winterland it was a bottle of Jack that dulled the senses though I do remember some fine music.

However, there was in 1972 a free concert in Golden Gate Park where they played and played. The sun was out and it was sublime. A true Dead experience.

Bill

[Jay Winton]

Nice story. I saw several shows in the late 70s, 80 and 90s. It was a lot more fun when they could play venues like Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland. Then it became a thing and the crowds were huge and frequently unruly-not fun. I saw a show on their last tour and we all knew, sadly, it was only a matter of time for Jerry,

[Racer Chris]

I was a space cadet but never a deadhead.

[William P]

Chris, I never considered myself a Deadhead. I've have friends that have gone to 50 concerts over the years. I did not. I was a child of 60s living in San Francisco and the Bay Area. I went to many concerts, saw many groups, some multiple times. (Airplane, Dead, Santana, Who, Quicksilver, Tower of Power and the list could go on and on.)

I always enjoyed their music and I think it has stood the test of time at least to my ear.


Bill

[Racer Chris]

"I never considered myself a Deadhead."

But the avatar says otherwise.