from Jeff Bednar- I remember seeing an announcement on the spectrum scoreboard at my first GD show, april 25, 1983, that the Jerry Garcia Band was playing at the tower in June. It got a round of applause and my interest. Later that spring I grabbed a friend, my older sister (who could drive, I wasn’t old enough to drive!) and she brought a friend and we departed the hour plus to the tower. Drank Schlitz Malt Liquor bull on the way down, we weren't quite as enlightened about drinking local (and good) as we are now. I distinctly remember playing workingman’s dead from a boombox on the way down and my sister and her friend becoming a tad aggravated at the “long” jam during Easy Wind. I told her she better get used to it because that’s what this concert is going to be about. There was a noticeable silence after that like “what did we get into.” After a few bulls in the parking lot we rolled in for the early show. I remember some women trying to get me to donate to a cause. I had no money for them but they gave me a button anyway. Our seats were about half or 3/4th back and the show was not full. There was an awful opening band… they played a sort of pop punk that was popular at the time and had female singers. One song in particular was bad where they would just shout the words “fresh fruit!” during a musical break in the song. That became a running joke for my sis and I for years afterwards. I wonder if anyone remembers that? Anyway, regarding Garcia’s band I didn’t really know any of the songs except, vaguely, Run for the Roses (at least it sounded familiar) as I was a concert neophyte but that was to change, and I already had my tickets to see the Dead at City Island later that month. Those were the days when you could see Jerry about every other month on the east coast outside of the winter! I remember thinking the backup singers were kind of cool, and added a nice dimension. I probably thought the show seemed short but I know I didn’t care much, as it was an event and a great time. I think it was still light when we left the theatre and the late show crowd was waiting outside! When I finally got a recording of this show some 25 years later it confirmed my suspicion—that I really had no recollection of the music from this one!