grateful dead

Comprised of a sampling of high points from the much larger yet-to-be-opened archive housed at the University of California Santa Cruz, the new Grateful Dead installation at the New York Historical Society contains an unintended irony for its visitors, one whose magnitude multiplied exponentially for jamband fans after the past few weeks. Given the high correlation of Grateful Dead fans and the so-called heirs to their jam throne, Phish, anyone traipsing through the exhibit can’t help but notice the stark contrast in the area that has perhaps changed most (and for the worse) since the proverbial torch pass: buying tickets.

With jam fans currently experiencing the difficulties of procuring ducats to some of this summer’s toughest shows, Phish’s three night run at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, the Grateful Dead exhibit provides fans with a fond taste of how it used to be, as the smallish museum room contains an eyebrow-raising amount of Greek Theater-related swag. From hand-edited drafts of instructions for mail order requests (asking fans to simply write their name and address on a standard index card and send a money order), to a sampling of favorite hand-decorated mail order envelopes, to the letters from Deadheads offering their ideas, advice, and gratitude, the exhibit successfully paints the picture of just how close to home the band kept it.

Other highlights of the exhibit include excerpts from GD vault archivist, Dick Latvala’s notebook complete with his internal dialogue about some of the band’s most legendary shows, a blueprint diagram of the famed Wall of Sound from the ’74 tour, including a full description of its ridiculous cost to transport and maintain ($350,000 to build, $100,000 a month for upkeep), the original letter to the powers-that-be to access the rights to perform at the pyramids in Egypt, and Jerry Garcia’s Rosebud (the gorgeous guitar designed by Doug Irwin). READ ON for more…