Furthur away!!
We headed into San Francisco at the end of December 2012. It was chilly with quite a breeze blowing off the bay. We clung on to the streetcars and hit the Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge & Park and City Lights bookshop. There was ice cream to be eaten at Ghirardelli’s and a stroll round Haight Ashbury. It was all a bit of nostalgia for the old folks.
Furthur – San Francisco 2013
We’d rented this cosy little room in a rundown but friendly hotel. I was sorting out a cup of coffee and talking to the nice lady who was packing up Christmas things and putting them away. It seemed a bit early to be putting the Christmas things away and I asked why the rush.
‘I have to pack them away,’ she explained. ‘Because all the weirdoes are gonna come out of the woodwork for that concert tomorrow.’
‘Oh,’ I replied, all innocently. ‘And who is playing?’
‘It’s that band Furthur,’ she replied peevishly. She obviously did not approve. ‘They’re the Grateful Dead. They play every New Year. Every Pot-head in the universe descends on us!’ The lady thought that the owner should deny access to all those damn Pot-head Dead-Heads.
Without more ado we headed off to the Bill Graham Auditorium to investigate. Sure enough Furthur were on and they had tickets. It was only two minutes’ walk from the hotel!
As soon as we walked in to the huge auditorium the heady aroma of pot hit you. You didn’t need to smoke any you just had to breathe. That lady had been right! Every Pot-head in the country had congregated here. All around there were pipes and spliffs. It was like being back in 1967 all over again.
The band was awesome. They did a three hour set with incredible lightshow and it was all vintage Grateful Dead. Wow!!!