Half Step opener, Unbroken Chain, and the last Stella Blue

I was there with my older high school buddy that turned be onto the band 10 years earlier.   It was our last shows together.

First and only time in MO.  Went day drinking at a riverboat casino, but never knew those things actually moved??   Was tracking time to make it easily to the show but we were up the Mississippi.  Beat the freeway traffic by driving several miles on the shoulder and cruised in 15 mins before opener.  Had my wife's younger sister (she was 16 at the time) save lawn space for us.  
 

good ol' Grateful Dead...

I read in Ron Rakows book that sometime in the early 80's or late 70's he proposed an idea to the band of doing a riverboat tour.  Starting up in Minnesota and riding the boat down the river stopping in different river towns along the way and putting on a show.  Everyone thought it was a great idea except Jerry, who vetoed it for no reason.

One of the better end-of-times performances.

My last GD show.

When the storm started I set off straight for that ledge that would collapse, I think, only moments later.

I'm not really sure. In my memory the sirens didn't start until almost dawn.

But something told me to turn around and head for my tent. 

I can't remember if I saw the number of people cramming onto the deck, or if I was simply tired having been on the road for days.

I was 19. I was at Deer Creek too when the fence got jumped.

My family saw the gate crashers and the aftermath of the collapsed deck on the news back home in TN.

By the time I returned home, my family was completely done with the GD.

I did enjoy the show, although it had less momentum than the Deer Creek show carried all the way up until the gate crashers cast a shadow over the rest of the tour.