on August 12th, 1999
RIP 1943-1999
Geoff Gould's Write Up and Photos
Geoff Gould's Write Up and Photos
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 11:46:16 GMT
From: Steve Silberman <digaman@wired.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
Subject: Dick's Wake in Petaluma
There was a glorious wake for Dick last night
at the funky old Phoenix
Theater in Petaluma. A Dick-mix of family,
Dead family, and old-school
tapers and tape collectors were treated
to a soulful acoustic set by
David Nelson, Sandy Rothman, and Pat Campbell;
followed by two raucous,
unrehearsed, but heartfelt and ambitious
electric sets by Bob Weir,
Henry Kaiser, Bob Bralove, Mickey Hart
(who played the first set), Jeff
Chimenti, Bobby Vega, Greg Anton and Jay Lane.
Someone more memorious than myself will have
to post the setlist, but
the first set roared into St. Stephen towards
the end, and ended with a
Playin' jam that ascended into a kind of supernova
on the wings of a
curious little figure Bob played -- it was
the kind of
storming-the-gates-of-heaven jam that Dick
loved, and a wonderful
tribute. The second set boasted a mindblowing
sequence of Bird Song >
Spanish Jam > Dark Star > Feelin' Groovy Jam
> Bird Song.
The music was ragged, sometimes wrong and sometimes
right (Kaiser has a
million bright ideas but doesn't listen as
hard as he plays), but the
main import of this event was a spiritual
healing of the huge absence
left behind by Dick Latvala's heart gone from
our lives.
Wavy Gravy, who is the most beautiful weird-looking
old guy on Earth,
ran around fuffing spirit-waves of sage smoke
with a feather, and saying
things like, "There's a cake in the back --
don't go home without eating
some Dick" and "Are we a wake?"; sturdy old-school
tape scholars like
Rob Bertrando, Jim Wise, and Eddie Claridge
represented the braintrust
of Dick's greatest passion; Dick's wife
Carol and son Richie both
glowed with Dick's spirit-gift and real beauty;
there was dancing, holy
smoke, and an altar by the side of the stage
where Dick's glasses
resided among photos, incense, candles, tapes,
stones.
The highlight of the healing was a circle of
spoken tributes, passing
"the invisible microphone" as Wavy said.
Mickey was funny, warm, and
touching, marveling at how Dick "listened
to more Grateful Dead music
than *I* did!" Some couldn't speak but wept.
Richie beamed with his
dad's unconditional love. Others spoke
of Dick's generosity with tapes,
how he was a highly critical true scholar,
and what a difficult bitch he
could be at times. Many gave tribute to the
journey he made from
stoner-rabid-tape-spinning-eager-24/7-total-saturation-Deadhead
with a
mountain of notes in careful blue binders
to his dream and destiny,
Grateful Dead tape archivist -- it was obvious
Dick had followed his
path to its realization. It was a full
human picture, a circle of love
and truth that extended to the ends of the
Earth, wherever Dead music
has found a home.
Kudos to Dennis McNally for organizing such
a soulful event -- and to
everyone. Dick would have been so proud
he might have had to leave
<grin>.
Steve Silberman
co-author, "Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for
Deadheads"
http://www.levity.com/digaland/index.html
Hi Folks,
The music was amazing, but the deepest
part was the elegy circle.
Touching memories of Dick.
Bob Weir was playing the loosest &
best that I've recently seen.
Set 1
Bo Diddley Beat Jam(Definitely not NFA)>
Playin'>
Love Supreme Quote>
Queen Jane>
St Stephen>
The Eleven>
Jam>
Playin'
Everyone thought the music was done & many left.
Set 2
West LA
Bird Song>
Dark Star>
Almost The Other One Jam>
Spanish Jam>
57th St Bridge Jam>
Bird Song
I'm sure I made some mistakes. The scene was
really beautiful and really
transmitted the depth of Dick's passion. It
also awakened in me the memory
of the marvel of the Grateful Dead experience,
the enormity we all
experienced which is not always held in my
consciousness.
The music was some of the most vital
I've seen from Bobby in years.
Taking the lead, following others leads. I'ver
enjoyed the Phil & Friends
shows, but Bobby is a huge factor trhat's
been missing from the mix.
The band played amazingly well for one
that had no rehearsal, just a
short sound check.
Bob Weir, Henry Kaiser(Lead), Jeff Chimenti
& Bob Bralove(Keys), Bobby
Vega(Bass), Mickey Hart & Greg Anton(Drums).
Some unknown to me younger
guy replaced Mickey in the second set.
No active tapers in evidence. Just
a bunch of old time tapers giving
their respects to Dick.