GD ~ Rainbow Theatre, London - 1981

Grateful Dead at The Rainbow ~ London 1981

40 Years Later ~ 3/28/21

40 years ago this week, in March of 1981, I had the amazing privilege of seeing a 4-night run of Grateful Dead shows at London's legendary Rainbow Theatre. Armed with my trusty Canon 35mm camera, and plenty of party indulgences, I was lucky enough to get into all 4 shows. My brother Ed and his Family were living in London back then, so I had a safe haven to stay for the run. These shows were and are my favorite indoor Dead shows that I have ever attended, primarily because they were the first and only shows that I would ever be able to see the Boys in a small Theatre. The intimacy was unprecedented for me. With an open dance floor, you could walk right up to the stage for a great view and sound. Plus you could hear people bantering with the band, like "Hey Phil, how do you like the British Beers?" from an audience member, to which Phil gave a hearty thumbs up! Somebody was handing out space cookies, and we were "off to the races". I had a cathartic experience that 1st night. Maybe "I did a little too much too fast", but I went from a state of ecstatic celebration during 'Scarlet' to a forlorn mess later because I didn't believe I was ‘worthy’ of such happiness. (That good old Irish Catholic guilt trip setting in…)

"This must be heaven, tonight I cross the line...

Got to be heaven 'cause here's where the rainbow ends

If this ain't the real thing, then it's close enough to pretend…”

Dejected and remorseful, I trudged out in the middle of that first show, the only time I’ve ever done so. I felt the strains of ‘He’s Gone’, as if mocking me harshly on my way out. Outside, I felt desperate, and ended up begging Mother Mary for forgiveness. To my amazement and great relief, I felt that She had granted this to me! Emotionally exhausted, I made my way back to Randolph Street in London, to my Brother’s home. Hopefully, I didn’t alarm the babysitter too much when I mumbled something about doing some psychedelics and needing to go to my room for some quiet.

The next day, upon more sober reflection, I felt a bit embarrassed by the episode, and tried to reassess the unnecessarily self-judgmental ”Trip” I had experienced the night before. It’s kinda like Wavy Gravy says, “There are no such thing as ‘Bum Trips’, only ‘Hobo Voyages’…”

Well, with batteries recharged, and lessons hopefully learned, I determined to go to the rest of the run of shows, but “take it easy” on the mind enhancements. My brother was not enthralled with my decision, but allowed me to abide by my intentions. Which, thankfully, I did. I ended up really enjoying the rest of the run, with little more than those ‘British Beers’ enhancing my still-fragile consciousness.

If this post comes off as somewhat confessional, that’s because it is. It took me a long time to process the proceedings of that 1st Dead Show in London, but as I now approach my 61st Trip around the Sun, I know that I long ago learned to become comfortable in my own skin. What I took away from it was that if you ever have a ‘heavenly’ experience on this good Earth, embrace it! If your actions are not harming yourself or others, follow your Bliss and don’t tell yourself “I don’t deserve this.” It took me a long time to understand that.

On a lighter note, this was a great run of shows, which is only documented by some Audience recordings, (No SBDs that I know of), and a few random photos, like the ones I took above*. Thanks to Kevin Papa for the inspiration to capture the muse where I could. (*Note the Photo of Bobby Weir pretending to “Row” his guitar like a boat oar during ‘Row, Jimmy, Row’, with Phil cracking up behind him.) I also vividly remember some spike-haired English Punk Rockers next to me who told me that they came to the show because they thought that with a name like ‘Grateful Dead’ that they’d be seeing a Death Metal band from America. They didn’t quite know what to make of the psychedelic country jazz & rock mélange that was the Dead, but their jaws did hit the floor during a particularly intense Drums > Space!

Big Thanks to the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead for the many decades of fun, good trips & ‘Hobo Voyages’, from which many a life lesson have been learned…”

The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,

You can't let go and you can't hold on,

You can't go back and you can't stand still,

If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.


https://archive.org/details/gd81-03-20.aud.vernon.9198.sbeok.shnf/gd81-03-20d3t07.shn

https://archive.org/details/gd81-03-21.streeter.hogan.3594.sbeok.shnf

https://archive.org/details/gd81-03-23.aud.macdonald.6685.sbeok.shnf

https://archive.org/details/gd81-03-24.streeter.schlissel.10532.sbeok.shnf