collected from rec.music.gdead
From: "Michael E. Carver" <mcarver@techbook.com> Subject: Dead @ Eugene Reply-To: mcarver@techbook.com Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1993 21:45:41 GMT
Just a few tidbits I would like to share about the Eugene Shows:
Had a GREAT TIME!!!
Spent Friday evening with some friends who live in the country near Dallas, OR. We took the back roads into Eugene Sat. morning (thus avoiding the traffic problems). Arrived in Eugene around 10:00. Cruised the Camping/Parking lot. We never ran into any "heavy" police presence. Sure there were a few cruising about. Gotta remember that drinking booze on an Oregon Univ. campus is illegal. And of course partaking of drugs anywhere is illegal! (I'm not making any value judgments, just stating a fact of life here in the Land o' the Free!)
Had a great time Saturday down on the floor next to the sound booth. However, we decided to head for the luxury seats (in the shade) for Sunday's show. Watched Healy enter bliss during Help/Slipknot! -- Grinning ear-to-ear and dancing about. He also enjoyed Ship of Fools (was singing along with the boys). Enjoyed watching Jerry give Bobby a few lessons in playing slide.
Maybe Bobby should have guitar problems more often (since he missed most of Jack Straw-Phil & Jerry worked GREAT together-I think this really got Phil going for the rest of the show!). It was cheesy to see Bob's pink guitar again!
I wasn't too sure I wanted to hear Phil attempt
to sing Broken Arrow, but was PLEASANTLY surprised! He did an almost perfect job and his voice sounded strong and
on key. The new songs almost sound ready for the studio. Thanks to Vince's influence and the in-ear monitors the
boys are finally able to harmonize in the same key!
My only disappointment was no stage appearance by Ken Kesey, though I did see him back stage Sunday.
For those who did make the show and had a good time, please write the Eugene City Council and thank them for their hospitality. Again, remember whether you like it or not-the police were only there to enforce the law and not hassle us. (And as far as I saw there were no major problems or hassles.) As a matter of fact, the police reported that we were an "underwhelming" crowd!
From: jhumphre@slate.mines.colorado.edu (John Humphrey ) Subject: Autzen Reflections Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1993 14:55:22 GMT
What a pair of shows! These were my first west coast shows but I've been on the bus since 1982. If this is the way things happen for west coast shows, count me in for many more. As someone already posted, the crowd was excellent...really tuned into what was going on.
I took my older brother and my sister-in-law to these shows; a first (and second!) for both of them. They live in Portland, and I arrived there in a grey, dank drizzle on Thursday. My brother and I started out for Eugene around 1 pm on Friday, again in the rain. The clouds hung black in the sky all the way down I-5, with off and on drizzle. The forecast wasn't promising, either. We drove by the parking lot at Autzen to check out the camping, but it looked fairly grim; rocky and muddy and wet. So we bailed out of Eugene and headed west on 126 towards the coast. We found a great site at Whitaker Creek campground on BLM land. Our site was next to other heads who had been there since Wednesday and had gotten soaked in those earlier reported deluges (Hi Garth, Jessica, Mike and Mikita!). We drove back to the sleepy hamlet of Noti after setting up tents to call Sarah and let her know where we were. She was still at work in Portland and had to pick up two of my friends from Dallas at the airport before coming down to Eugene. Everyone rolled into camp by midnight.
Saturday dawned with cloudy skies, but we could see hints of blue sky through the trees. We piled on into Eugene and came to an absolute halt at the exit to Autzen from I-105 (?). Standstill. We moved maybe 200 meters in an hour. A little after noon, the traffic started to move a little bit more and we were parked in a great field off to the west of the stadium.
Went in and caught the last of the I-Girls, pretty good, but I've seen them in really small venues where, I believe, they are much more effective. Oh yeah, security getting into the stadium was pretty relaxed...just a quick glance in my pack. The sky was breaking and the sun was starting to shine and everyone guessed that Here Comes Sunshine would be appropriate. The harmonies sounded excellent. Walking Blues was funky and Lazy River Road has found a home early in the first set. Queen Jane was standard, but well-played. Good jamming in Birdsong and a rocking Promised Land to end the relatively short first set.
Second set started off hot with a China>Rider
followed by Vince wailing on Way to Go Home. Then, Bobby decides it's time to check out the new vocal chords (surgery
about a month ago), with Truckin'>Schoolgirl>Smokestack. Yikes!!! Huey was cranking on the harmonica. Everyone
around me (and me too) thought that Truckin' was going into Smokestack. But NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Good Morning Little
Schoolgirl got everyone rockin' before a smooth segue into smokestack. Excellent drums (real African veldt feel
to it) and a pretty funky space, although I was out getting water and standing in the spray showers that were set
up on the northwest side of the stadium. Got back to my people just as a rocking Last Time geared up out of space.
One could barely detect a crescent moon in the high southern sky and Jerry smoothed out a great SOTM. I'd rather
be with him, too. Perfunctory but rocking Sat. Night closed out a strong bobby second set. I Fought the Law was
a cheery but short encore (Vince on mock guns with his hands).
Oh yeah, it was my birthday, too.
Good lot scene afterwards and we never saw an overwhelming security presence. In fact, we hardly saw anyone at all. Super relaxing, I thought.
My brother and his wife liked the show, but hadn't been won over. That would happen on Sunday. More on that later.
Peace,
Rocko
Breaking rocks in the hot sun.
jhumphre@slate.mines.colorado.edu
From: jhumphre@slate.mines.colorado.edu (John Humphrey ) Subject: Eugene reflections Part II Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 15:29:51 GMT
Well, after making it back safely to Whitaker Creek on Saturday night, we hung out by the campfire and ate clam chowder (dunking with white squishy bread, of course).
Up Sunday morning for a frolic in the creek and then rambled on into Eugene. We got there about the same time as on Saturday, but there was absolutely no traffic back-up. We drove right into the grassy lot that we were in on Saturday where, incidentally, people had camped out the night before. Way too close to the nitrous tanks for my liking ;-).
Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day - all warm and sunny. I tried to say that it was hot a couple of times, but my friends from Dallas wouldn't even entertain the notion that it was hot. Ah, but the show soon would be.
We wandered the lots and made it in to see the last couple of I-Girls tunes. Nice touch to have them come back to lead the sing-along of "Get Together".
The crowd was really stoked when the boyz took the stage, but it seemed to take an inordinate
amount of time for them to turn away from their racks and turn toward the crowd. Eventually they kicked in with
Jack Straw, which was precisely what our group was hoping for. We had no idea that it was going to be such a killer
Jack Straw. By now, you've all heard about Bobby's guitar problems and his tantrum. All I can say is what a bonus.
Bobby left the stage just after the "keep us on the run" line where Jerry normally steps up and lays
down a few bars. 
Welllll,
Jerry just kept going and going...head down, rocking back and forth, crescendo after crescendo - you know the one.
And PHIL just wouldn't let down. Man, Dario, he IS evil. Absolutely the best Jack Straw I've ever heard...live
or on tape. Bobby should have equipment problems more often ;-)
Jack Straw rocked straight into a long Bertha. Jerry vegged a bunch of the lyrics, but it didn't detract. I'm getting to like Rooster more and more, especially now that Vinny works some magic with it. Broken Arrow, as previously reported, was sung very well and in key. Slow and quiet lead into Althea, with a good outro jam. Smooth Masterpiece. Totally ripping Tennessee Jed, though once again Jerry vegged on the lyrics. I think he actually said "Went down to play the kicked my dog". Anyone else confirm this??!! Then a happy, happy Music Never Stopped to close out the first set. Huge cheer from the crowd - everyone was very appreciative of that set.
Second set opener with Help>Slip>Franklin's. What can I say? This was spectacular. The
Slipknot went on forever and every single person in the crowd was bopping away to Franklin's. I think someone said
it lasted a total of 26 minutes.
Very strong Samson followed with Phil kicking in low and mean and Bobby playing rock star. Dance, dance, dance.
Jerry gave us a little rest of our bones with Ship of Fools. Very sweet. I really like Corrina (I'll take it over
Victim any day) and this one was funky and hot. Drums were excellent, with a real Australian Outback feel. Really
sounded like the boyz were experimenting with some new toys during space...enlightening, you know. I haven't heard
the Wheel in a while and I really dig it, so this was a nice smooth and sweet transition out of space. Bobby dug
in hard with a rocking Miracle (though my sister-in-law asked me if he was saying "I need America every day"...file
under The Lyrics we Hear :-) ). The Days Between was awesome. Better than the first time I heard it in Vegas. Not
to mention the fact that we had not seen a cloud all day until the Days Between. A few clouds blocked the sun and
a welcome cool breeze picked up. They rocked off the set with NFA, though it seemed to take the crowd a long time
to start up the "you know our love will not fade away" and Jerry looked impatient. Oh yeah, he even took
his hands off the guitar and started the NFA clap...no shit. Someone back me up on this one. Then he left the stage.
It's not that I don't like Liberty, I just don't think it belongs as a set closer or an encore (like on Sunday). Especially not after such a rocking show.
Phil hung out with his children at the left side of the stage between NFA and Liberty.
My brother finally realized why I'm a deadhead. He wants tapes. He wanted to know exactly how they controlled the weather ;-). He wants to go again. I say all I can do is let people see what I go to see, and let them make up their minds for themselves. He got shown the light. Even my sister-in-law was impressed -- she who thinks Madonna is great.
The police were never a problem for us.
The veggie enchiladas in the parking lot after the show, sold by the Burrito People, were awesome. These people make it to most of the shows and I highly recommend their huge plate of healthy and delicious food, for a mere $3.
Sorry for all the rambling. I'll be back to Eugene if the boyz are there.
Great venue. One of my favorite shows of all time.
Peace,
Rocko
From: cassidy@cygnus.com (Jeffrey Wheat) Subject: Re: Fuzzy in Eugene Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1993 00:01:56 GMT lawder@ohsu.edu (Kathryn Lawder) writes: >Saturday's show at Autzen stadium concluded with a brief and pointed >rendition of "I Fought The Law and the Law Won". >The police presence in Eugene and surrounds was breathtaking. There >were more cops per square inch than I've seen ANYWHERE in 25 years. Granted, >this was the first non-CA venue I've ever attended, but to say Eugene >was unprepared [and downright TERRIFIED] of the deadhead presence is >not overstating it.
I found that the police energy in Eugene was quite a relief of that felt in places like Atlanta, Cap Center MD, Nassau NY, etc.
>We made Eugene city limits by 12:50pm traveling south on I5. We made >Autzen by 3pm, where there was no place to park and police barricades >at all surrounding residential streets.
There was plenty of parking right next to the lot if you wanted to pay the $5.00 for it. If you wanted to park for free, well, you were shit out of luck. Not everything in life is free.
>In answer to our polite question about where we might park, the police >told us to drive up the road and out of the city limits and park on >the Springfield, OR residential streets! >They also told us the busses were running for free and frequently.
I love it when a city kicks down free transportation. Shows that a city is concerned about the environment, and making its guests feel more at home. Helps solve the traffic jam problems too.
>We got in the door of the stadium at 3:45 in time to hear the last tune >before the break.
Bummer. I always make sure that I am at the city limits at least 6 hours before a dead show. There is no telling what sort of traffic that may exist. When the Dead play, there seems to always be more chaos giving that there are a lot of people stopping, saying Hi to friends, asking for miracles, buds, directions to camping, etc. Deadheads are more of a family than most other band groupies, so it's hard to just drive, park, see the show and leave. Always allow about 4 hours before the show.
>After the show, we started walking in the direction of our car and >walked all the way to our car without ever once seeing a bus go by. >We did see people being ticketed for walking with open containers; we >saw civilian patrol trying to warn people as they came toward such >goings on. We saw five or six dead vans pulled over along I5. We saw >one man being hand-cuffed and removed from his vehicle.
I was there both days, and never once saw a person ticketed for open containers, unless they were off the main lots, or being rude and disrespectful. When a cop tells you that you can't drink in public, or hell if you know damned well that you can't, don't give them a hard time. If you do, you deserve you be ticketed. Respect goes both ways. One has to show respect to get respect. If one travels with no registration, or no insurance, or drives like an asshole, I sure as hell hope that the police does something about it. Nothing sucks more than being hit by an asshole with no insurance and you have to foot the bills. If one travels in a vehicle that is in without question in violation (too many in front seat, swaying, no lights, etc.) then they are cop magnets. They need to fix the cars, and make sure that they are safe for those who ride in them, and those that have to drive near or next to them feel safe as well.
>The vibration of fear was very strong. . . and so surprising, since >everyone I saw was being cool, polite, well-mannered.
Paranoia strikes deep... Neither myself nor any of my friends/family or a lot of the people I spoke to felt fear or heavy cop energy. The general feeling was of coolness.
>Inside Autzen, it was business as usual and a great time, but >the atmosphere in Eugene was disappointing and not the impression >I would have liked to provide my daughters (9 and 12) who were >attending for the first time (not counting the 12-year old's trip >to Frost in 85). They were very disappointed to miss the Indigo Girls.
It's too bad that you had to miss the better part of the day with the problems encountered. But all the same, Eugene is a very kind and caring city, and does its best to provide for all. There is a very large group of new comers to the dead scene that are making things really suck for those of us that have been around long enough to remember shows at the Frost and Greek and etc. The only thing that can be down is to show love and help teach the new crowd that feels "we do what we want" or "we are only having fun" that there is more to it than fun.
>I sure hope Oregon will see more shows [Could it be the last time-may >be the last time, I don't know], but perhaps they could find some place >where there is enough parking, where they can handle the traffic and >that isn't so afraid of the whole scene.
cassidy