Sorry, slept in....
FIRST THING- Sandy Sohcot is incredible- She's the REX lady and she pulled a great evening together!
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Scott got home from work at the appointed time...changed his clothes and off we flew to the city...Found parking right by GAMH!
Scott took the box o Dragon right into the venue -I oughtve followed him-as Bobby was on the loose inside- but instead stopped to say hi to friends (Vera & Dick are always among the first in line) As we were schmoozin, Bob came out side and dashed away with a big grin..From first glance, Bob looks fine, happy, YAY! Phew!
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Scott hung out a little while inside before he remembered he had our tix and came back out. By then Christine & Ben, our Bobby loving friends from Burlingame were with me in line. Along came Matty who had an extra Sparkle ticket for Trinks..Then, Annegram & Dean (another Bobby luvin couple- we come in pairs as well as singles) Anne's studying photography and brought me some amazing Bobby photos! Graceful stopped for a hug and to drop off a yummy baked good..damn, yummy! And just as she moved down the line,came Reisha with a pack of those wonderful bath salts she MAKES HERSELF! All the goodies had Chris-who is not online in the various Deadhead communities asking "I thought your birthday was NYE?"
Eventually, a familiar fellow came out and announced that Sparkle and Exuberence ticket holders had assigned seating at the tables on the dance floor and the rest of the folks could sit upstairs...And then the doors opened..we found our assigned seats- goody bags awaiting! Oh look what's inside! A lavender sachet? bwa ha ha!
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It was mingling time, a few musicians were playing. Magnificently costumed stiltwalkers danced through the crowd..Annegram had her camera and I'm sure caught some great shots of them...The buffet of food included a striking display of individual containers of noodles with chopsticks, roast beef and turkey sandwiches, tray after tray of shrimp, all kinds of small hordervesy things, dipping sauces and fresh veggies...hearty enough to pass as dinner for us!
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Spent sometime saying hello to some of the usual suspects, cruising the silent auction table where I saw the Austin guitar -signed by Bobstar and Mickey Hart (where was Mickey last nite?) Looked nice! Then checked on Rex the Dragon, demonstrated how it works with the incense...then did some bidding myself
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If you are wondering, Mountain Girl, Susanna Millman, Dennis McNally, Wavy Gravy & Jahanara, Cameron & Cassidy(she's all grown up) Sears, Merle Saunders,Grisman, Pete Sears and some other super familiars were there...We were especially happy to learn that Wavy & Camp Winnarainbow received the Jerry Garcia Award (that's $10,000!!!).
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Right as the show was starting, our friends Tim & Linda arrived...
Assorted musicians from Tea Leaf Green, Jambay trio, and Samatha and the ritual filled the stage and played for awhile before Mark and Bobby joined them for some songs...Not Ratdog but a good ensemble- long jams,too.
Cheers for Mark! Big Cheers for Bobby! A little nervous stumbling with the lyrics at the beginning of FOTD , but then smooth sailing through the rest of the evening- maybe a few moments to transistion into the Everyone Orchestra but once it got going Bobby looked like he was enjoying the experience- I know we in the audience were! It was crowded and no one was standing or dancing in the Sparkle section. Some folks were dancing by the rail- just a few because tables were filling up most of that area- I ran upstairs and enjoyed the music dancing in the balcony by Chris & Ben..Then, I wanted to be closer and found the area above the stage was empty and loved being a water balloon's throw away from Bobby...I could see Scott was sort of looking around (for me) so. I returned to my seat but didnt sit- Didnt seem like I'd be blocking anyone's view so I stood and rocked- which was funny and cool because no one else in front of me (5 or 6 rows from the stage)was standing - Bopping out in the audience like a sore thumb...Bobby sounds great and so did Mark- MK sang lead on the CS&N' song..
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The Everybody Orchestra has this thing where the conductor-Jamie Janover, writes what he wants to happen on a whiteboard and shows it to the band...really interesting and fun- not an everyshow must but fun- anyhow, music built up to a point where the audience became part of the sound- and Jamie would write "WOW" or "YAY" on the board and show it to us and countdown for us to play along...I gotta try that with my prechoolers !( oops- excuse creative digression)...
So happy to have Bobby back!!!!!- looks like we may soon have another version of ponytail Bobby coming up- his hair is getting long!
Hoping so much that the rumors of west coast warm up shows comes into being- we really miss our Bobby and his little Ratdog too!
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Little frozen chocolate yummies were put out - maybe pastries too- were passed around...the music ended and there was more schmoozin and hugging time til the movie was set up- Scott and I retreated to the auction tables -he spoke with the guy who bought the amp & guitar (looking awesome with those signatures) I met the man who bought Rex...Linda was happy with the event poster signed by all the musicians she bought... We bid on a few items but won the "Music Never Stopped" autographed by R.Crumb! It's a fine looking poster with cariacatures of various musicians on it.....
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More in a while- gotta answer the phone!
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So much to write but so little time today!
We settled back at our table with more complimentary beer & water & soda & winein time for the movie- Sunshine Daydream! It was shown on a large screen above the stage..So clear! Wowza, more Young Bobby & Jerry! Unlike all the newer releases from the daze goneby- there was NAKED peoples running all over the place and babies and puppies and hilarious little Keseyish things...They MUST do something about getting this out!
Scott was getting fuzzy so we figured we had better get going- snagged an event poster (one of the last) as we bid everyone goodnight!
Ah- my family is calling me for dinner!
(((((REX))))
That's the Austin :o)
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