For a lot of us here in the Fly Over, Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin,  was the best place to see the Dead.

The Venue was great.  It was just close enough to be convenient, but far away enough for the trip to be Epic, and you could camp out on the Golf Course if you worked it out right. It wasn’t Madison Square Gardens, and it was neither Fillmore East nor West, but it was our Ground Zero and that’s where we heard our first Phil Bombs.

It’s where I got acquainted with the fact that Anything could happen at a Dead Show. Literally, anything…

One example. I met Henry Rollins of Black Flag under the tree at Center Field. For those who may not know Henry, he was at the time Lead Singer of Black Flag. For those who may not know, Black Flag was a Hardcore Punk Rock Band from the West Coast. For those who…ah, fuck it… He was also growing as a spoken word Artist and had published a number of books of his stuff, which I had discovered in school and really liked. I sat down and we talked for a little bit and then split because you don’t want to be that person who talks too much when you’re talking to someone you look up to (See Barlow, John Perry). As I got back to our spot I mentioned to one of my Deadhead friends that I never would have predicted that.

“That’s why we’re here, dumb ass” he replied, “If you want something obvious, watch TV.  This is where we go for the other stuff…”

Most of all though, I remember being on the Hill with my close friends. It occurred to us that if Aliens happened to come down to Earth on that particular Saturday night, maybe around mid-2nd Set, and asked the people in Washington or the Hague or wherever they landed,..

“Hey, we don’t have this “Music” thing in our World. It seems cool.  Where should we go to             hear it at it’s most Exciting and Alive?

We knew that the only legit answer was to send those Music-Starved Green Beings to Alpine Valley, where musical Alchemy was taking place, fearlessly in by 6 guys in front of Thousands.

Plus, a couple more weirdos wouldn’t hurt anything, and they might just help…

-Chief