In the fall of 1978, I had been living in San Francisco for just over two years. I had come out from Delaware in September 1976 to study audio engineering at the College for Recording Arts, but had abandoned any dreams of working in recording studios by the time I got my degree in 1977. It was a great time to be in the city, especially if you were into the Dead. My first Winterland experience was the March ’77 run, quite the experience for a 21-year old with just 10 shows under his belt. By the fall of ’78 I had planned to return to the East Coast to finish college, but delayed my return specifically to go to the 12/31/78 show.
I got there early to take in “Animal House” and just enjoy the scene, it was my 10th Dead show in the hall and I was well aware of the historical nature of the evening. I had a habit of sitting behind the stage in that hall. You were right over the band, didn’t have to get there too early and the sound was fantastic. I had a bag full of liberty cap mushrooms but held off ingesting until after the opening acts in order to make sure that I made it through the night. This wasn’t a problem of course, because everywhere you turned someone was putting something up your nose.
The first set was fantastic (still one of my favorite Scarlet-> Fire’s) and during the break, I decided to ingest another gram of mushrooms. Liberty caps are small and I had figured out that 20 of them was just about a gram so I started counting. Problem was that every time I got to around 12, I’d lose count! After a few failures, I just decided to eat the whole bag.
By the time Drums rolled around, I was fighting to stay in my body and decided that Rolling Thunder was directly under me in the backstage area doing some spell that was sending its energy directly up through me. I managed to retain my physical form and, during the break before the third set, I walked around to regain my sea legs and ended up plastered up against the wall at the top of the stairs. Some friends walked by and asked if I was OK, to which I mumbled “yes,” and by the time I got back to my seat I felt that I had fought for my sanity and was ready to take on the world.
I often think about just how lucky we were to have been a part of this scene, that we had the opportunity to experience something that most people can’t even imagine.
Needless to say, the third set remains one of the most spiritual experiences of my life, an experience that I will be remembering on my death bed. I had been hit like that by the band a few times before, but this one was special and remains a formative experience of my life. There was a really long break before they came out to sing We Bid You Goodnight. By that time, I had worked my way downstairs to get some breakfast and had the chance to shake Bill Graham’s hand and say “thanks.” I left S.F. two days later.
I went on to see another 220 shows before it all ended in the summer of 1995, but 12/31/78 will always live in my heart as the best Grateful Dead show I ever saw. I often think about just how lucky we were to have been a part of this scene, that we had the opportunity to experience something that most people can’t even imagine.
Most of the major decisions made in my life were made in the context of what I learned at Grateful Dead concerts, they really did provide a signpost to new space. And it’s all worked out better than I could ever have imagined. I feel blessed that I had a chance to be at one of the seminal shows in the band’s history and, even after 40 years, I still think of that night often. This NYE I’ll be watching the DVD and remembering just how lucky we were to be alive at that time and to be part of this scene. Just amazing.
~ Tom Melvin