Ask me to fantasize about a dream venue for a show, and I’d likely feel that I was asking too much, but still, I just might close my eyes and dream up the following:

A majestic cliff overlooking the prehistoric Columbia River Gorge in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain range. Perched above it all; a state-of-the-art amphitheater, where the stage is built at precisely the right angle to watch the sun set behind the stage, and turn the sky into a psychedelic water color painting. All this, while watching a band beyond description, and dancing with my favorite peoples, especially on a summer night. Add in a really chill campground situation on acres of grassy fields, with some hot showers and flush toilets and we’ll call it done. Yes, you heard me right—flush toilets. Hey, it’s my fantasy.

Oh, wait, what? Yup, that happened.

The Gorge Amphitheater.

And you’d like to stream the shows as you read, click on the links for some great recordings from 6/7/19 and 6/8/19 from a new taper friend of mine; the kind, generous, and talented John Hermsen. (Hug a taper and say thank you!)

As an East to West Coast transplant in 2007, the Gorge has always held a special mystique for me. And it’s even better than I had imagined. The Gorge can feel like a slice of private heaven, despite the potential presence of about 27,500 other humans. Seeing Dead/Co at the Gorge was like being in a fantasy summer camp with the colorful gatherings of friends, and “strangers stopping strangers”. All this while feeling the constant magnetic whisper from the west to soak in the magnificent cliffs, river, and sky.

Third Time’s A Charm

June 2019 is only the third time I’ve been to the venue since moving to the West Coast, and it was by far the best experience, thanks to early entry Thursday through Sunday tickets. I hopped aboard my good friend’s truck camper in the Seattle area with my tent in tow, and we arrived early enough on Thursday 6/5, to set up camp in a windstorm, and watch the day fade into night as we cracked open some ice cold beverages, played some tunes, met our Irish neighbors, and cooked some dinner. While my friends snoozed in their camper, I crashed in my sweet tent with loads of blankets.

My first time at the Gorge was back in 2009 to see ‘The Dead’ with some friends who insisted on partying so long at the campsite that we all got in to the show late and ended up on a tiny scrap of hilly real estate far right, super far away from the stage, and I felt all disconnected. It basically sucked and I can’t remember anything.

My 2nd time at The Gorge was only last summer, when a friend broke my Phish cherry with a miracle ticket for the first night of Phish (a fascinating experience to be explored at a later time). I had fun, but it was like being a stranger in a strange land.

Luckily, this year, someone in the Dead/Co management finally had their thinking cap on, and scheduled the band for 2 nights, Friday June 6th, and Saturday, June 7th, with early-entry available on Thursday, 6/5. A whole new ball game, this.

Logistical side-note: A friend and I actually skipped the previous year’s Dead/Co 2018 Gorge show because there was no way we were going to shake our bones all night at the Gorge, only to stagger out of a tent early enough in the morning to hightail it down for an a six and a half-hour ride to Autzen Stadium in Eugene by showtime, and live to tell. Those days are done, my friend, (although my inner young Deadhead self scoffs at me from warp time). Instead, as the smart (and not as broke) older Deadhead I have become, I opted to skip the Gorge, and flew to Eugene on a cheap Seattle-to-Eugene Alaska shuttle, ending up with enough time to actually nap, rent bikes to take to the show, and get silly. Worth every penny.

The Joy is in the Journey

All Deadheads worth their salt are familiar with the phenomenon of pre-show jitters, (think:: excitement with a serious focus on logistics) or maybe that’s just my crowd; we get serious about tickets, arrival times and space in the venue, but for those of us heading to The Gorge for a long weekend, the excitement level was off the meter. My friends and I plotted a camping list that had to cover the possibility of freezing our asses off at night, protecting our pale, sad, pre-summer rain-soaked Pacific NW skin during the day, and stocking up on enough food, drink, and medicinals to keep us comfy in the style to which we have become accustomed after all these years. I’m talking Copper River Salmon grilled by my friend J and lovingly placed on ice. We like to do it up right.

I always feel like a double agent while planning for a Dead-related adventure. On one hand, I’m going about my daily routine; working, family, household, and relationship tending, while also secretly jumping up and down with excitement, checking tickets and travel plans, all while plotting colorful outfits. It’s almost like if I admit how much this means to me then it will be taken away. Nope, nothin’ to see here, folks.

Heading East from Seattle, my small posse jiggled and chugged our way down the interstate in a truck camper through the mountainous Snoqualmie Pass, past gorgeous mountain lakes in towns with odd sounding native names, like Cle Elum, and watched the landscape shift suddenly from the lush green of patchwork farms to arid high desert in East Kittitas.

Whooping as we crossed the Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River and turned sharply north, we made our way for the final few miles past small vineyards, and eventually were waved in to the entrance of what most certainly has become one of the most beloved settings for many a live music fan. Arriving a day earlier than the shows started was a brilliant move, as we drove straight in, no line, and headed to Premier Camping (like I said: free showers, flush toilets AND port-a-pottys. And damn it, I won’t feel guilty for this small luxury!)

Not my tent, but Ali Walters let me use her photo for the awesome views~

The next day we watched as the campground filled up with an amazing array of vehicles, ranging from tricked out vans to vintage Airstreams, pop-up campers, and million dollar luxury buses. My fantasy is to get a small turtle shell of my own, and since the only thing friendlier than a Deadhead is a Deadhead who owns a camper, I made tons of new friends as I pleaded to peek inside their weekend living quarters. Parked a few spaces over (seen below) was the most excellent landmark for those of us staggering back from the show or the port-o-potty, or for giving directions to friends who wanted to find us.

**Bones, frequent visitor and landmark for many a show**

Strangers Stopping Strangers

One of the great joys of this Deadhead life is meeting up with those in our ever-widening circle, thanks to the various Facebook dead-related groups. I belong to a couple of local DH groups, and some regional groups, as well as a couple of secret streaming groups (if i told you, it would burn off both of yer ears). After countless nights of sharing the live-show streams, and just getting to know each other virtually, to meet up with some of our brethren in the flesh was heartwarming and smile-inducing.

My traveling companions and I met up with 2 facebook groups at the picnic tables near the Shakedown, and engaged in the love fest. Dead/Co at the Gorge was an extra-special gathering, much like Red Rocks, as folks from far and wide, both coasts and in between, flew, drove, or somehow made their way. In one fell swoop, we were able to put names to faces, exchange gifts, share stories and hugs, and take silly group photos. Without naming names, my life has certainly been enriched by the generous spirits of some of these faraway folks, as they stream shows, share art, and just plain good energy.

Bigfoot County: A state of mind, and a peaceful group of PNW heads

On With The Show! Night One 6/7/19

People had warned us about sweltering days and freezing nights in the Columbia River Gorge, and on night one, Friday, this proved to be the case. We bundled up, and made our way down the windy and hilly path from the campground to the amphitheater, only to be stuck with many thousands of deadheads in a line that lasted for several hours as Live Nation management completely lost control of ingress. They did a really shitty job, and it was actually laughable, but I don’t want to focus on this ineptitude when there are more important things to share. (Let’s just say that I wrote a letter to LiveNation)

We found a great spot on the lower hill, and found ourselves face to face with good friends who also had landed in the same spot without any discussion beforehand. This happens all the time, this cosmic kismet. Let’s Get On With The Show!