October 4, 2016
Bob Weir, founding member of The Grateful Dead, performed an intimate acoustic show at Amoeba Records in Hollywood to promote his new solo album Blue Mountain on last Tuesday, September 27th.
As a huge Grateful Dead fan, the opportunity to see Weir up close and personal exhilarated me and I zoomed to Amoeba the moment I heard about the event. I may only be 23 years old, but you can never be too young to be a Dead Head.
To receive a ticket for the show, I had to pre-order Blue Mountain in stores and sign up for a raffle contest for a "secret prize." A Bob Weir CD, poster, and intimate show all for $15?! I would call this a pretty sweet deal.
Hoping to get a good spot at the show, I arrived about 2 PM (three hours before the show) to get in line. There was a sea of tie-dye, long hair, and gray beards wrapped around the building and I was stoked to join in this crowd.
I began chatting with the interesting characters surrounding me and was so intrigued with the concert stories I was hearing. To protect the jobs all of these fans who called in "sick" for work, I will be using fake names. Sally Ruben, who has been following The Grateful Dead since the '60s, told me all about her career as a Dead Head. She would hitch hike to a Dead Show, boogie all night long, make friends, and then hitch a ride from a stranger to wherever the next concert was. This story was very common throughout the Dead community considering the extremely friendly and welcoming crowd that shadows the band at all of their shows.
Another fan, Larry Sanden, has met the band multiple times, even with Jerry Garcia, and described the peaceful, friendly demeanor the band exudes with every person they have come in contact with. I was extremely jealous and told him that it was my goal to somehow sneak backstage and meet Bob Weir after the show.
The three hours of waiting went by quickly as I bonded with all of my new Dead Head friends. Finally around 4:30, they escorted the enthusiastic crowd inside and lined us up in between the shelves of CDs and vinyl records. I was only about four rows away from the stage as Weir was already performing a few quieter songs for his sound check. As someone who has freaked out just from being in the presence of Weir in the nosebleed seats for Dead & Company shows, standing within feet of the legend made me go numb.
After the sound check, an Amoeba employee announced the raffle prize would be a Meet & Greet with Bob Weir. Before I had time to process the words that came out of her mouth, I heard her announce the first name...."Emily Morenz!"
My body then went into shock and I eventually started screaming and getting teary eyed, even though I still could not fully understand what I had just won because it had to be too good to be true. The audience laughed at me as the entire shop could hear how excited I was for my prize.
Bob Weir then took the stage again so I gathered my composure to enjoy his music before I would become best friends with the man. Weir came out alone with his acoustic guitar and opened the set with a cover of the 1930s classic "Walkin' Blues", which was followed by a cover of Bob Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece." The 7-song set was peaceful and relaxing with a country vibe, showing the cowboy side of Weir. After performing the title track "Blue Mountain", Weir was joined by his collaborator Josh Kaufman for the last four songs. The two contributed to a beautiful atmosphere as they kept things slow with the album's songs "Only a River" and "Lay My Lily Down." The whole audience cheerfully sang along as they played The Grateful Dead song "Peggy-O" and then closed with "Ki-Yi Bossie." Weir gave a warm thank you to the audience and then left the stage.
Everyone then began to leave, but the fun wasn't over for me just yet! While shaking, I was led with the other raffle winners to the exclusive backstage area. We waited in line within a narrow stairwell covered in posters autographed by bands who had played shows at Amoeba over the years, including ZZ Top and a few members of The Mamas and Papas. Knowing that I was in the same room of these legendary bands was enough to make me feel like the most special person in the world. As we walked up the staircase, my body became limp and I felt like I was going to pass out from nervousness. I was trying to gather the words to tell the man who has been singing to me all throughout my life...Would I show him a picture of my tie-dye surfboard named Jerry? Would I tell him my favorite songs? Why did I leave all of my Grateful Dead albums at home that he could have signed? I had no idea.
We were then led to the green room and there he was...a three dimensional Bob Weir right in front of me! He shook my hand and listened to me obnoxiously tell him how honored I was to meet him and how amazingly awesome he was. Even though I know he has heard that millions of times from crazy fans, he still looked me deep in the eyes and with the most genuine smile told me, "Thank you so much, I really appreciate that." I thanked him for his incredible music and we took a quick low quality picture that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I could not wipe away the smile and giggling from my face as I walked away telling him "Bye" over and over again. Even though the meeting was short, anyone could have seen how laid-back and kind Weir was from the way he spoke and presented himself. Those 60 seconds will forever be some of the best seconds of my life.
If you were not brave enough to be "sick" on Monday, you still have a chance to catch Bob Weir! The Amoeba show was the kick-off to a nine show tour to promote Weir's album Blue Mountain, which will officially be released on September 30th. Weir will return to Los Angeles on October 10th to perform a full show at The Wiltern. Remember, if there are any raffles occurring do not be afraid to sign up!
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