I grew up in Orinda and my love for Winterland and the Grateful Dead started pretty early. The first show I saw at Winterland was Cream in 1967. We were 15, so my dear dad drove us across the bay and waited for us until the show ended. It was a great show that included the James Cotton Blues Band and the early Blood Sweat and Tears with Al Kooper.
I first saw the Grateful Dead at Campolindo High School in Moraga in 1968 which was the neighboring high school. It was a very disappointing show and we really panned the Dead. It seemed like they played the same song for an hour. I then went to U.C. Davis after high school and saw the Dead at Freeborn Hall in 1972 with a counterfeit ticket and was blown away. The New Riders opened and Jerry played beautiful pedal steel guitar with them. The Dead sounded fabulous and I remember well the Fender twin reverbs stacked very high with tie-dye grill cloths. We became huge fans then and there. For the rest of the ‘70s, if the Dead were playing between San Diego and Seattle we would try to go.
The best shows for me were the Winterland shows. The old ice rink in my opinion had great sound and my favorite spot was dancing on the floor behind the sound board. I became used to bringing in the New Year at a Winterland Dead show. The final closing of Winterland came as a shock and the demand for tickets became huge. I had always been able to get tickets somehow, but struck out this time as a new lottery system had been established. I was never one to go to the city without a ticket and hold a little miracle ticket sign. I was bummed out, but wrote a hail Mary letter to Bill Graham. I was elated when I received a letter from Bill Graham Presents telling me how to pick up my ticket.
I was bummed out, but wrote a hail Mary letter to Bill Graham. I was elated when I received a letter from Bill Graham Presents telling me how to pick up my ticket.
The last show was as good as it gets and the Dead played their hearts out. One of my vivid memories of the show was when the Blues Brothers were introduced and Belushi came out and did a somersault on the stage. They were great, and it was a wonderful time in my life. I loved Bill Graham and the last time I saw him was on the floor of the Oakland Coliseum at the Jeff Beck/Stevie Ray Vaughn show. It was right after the earthquake in 1989 and I went up to him and thanked him for his generous $1 million check that he had just written. I attended his massive funeral in Golden Gate Park and loved the Dead playing Creedence songs with John Fogerty, as well as the old cargo plane flying over and dropping roses.
~ Ken Lawver