I am almost 51 and I had 130 or so shows under my belt before Jerry passed. Fall of 78 being my first show. I traveled the country from Maine to Florida...Oakland to Long Beach and dozens of places in between. I got to see some fantastic shows and I still have the memories, plus a box of ticket stubs and a few well preserved T shirts.
I did countless mail orders back in the day and never once got shut out. The last three shows I saw were Spring of 95 at my home venue, the old Spectrum in Philly. Someone in San Rafael smiled on my envelope that time and I had 4th row opening night, lower bowl middle night and 7th row the last night. They played "Unbroken Chain" that last night, which was the only time I ever saw that lick. I typically didn't care too much where I sat as long as I had my space but it was great being so close. This time, I did my mail order as instructed and within 10
days i got my rejection letter. Then seeing the price of tickets in Chicago I was pretty disgusted.
I was tempted to hop a plane yesterday from Philly but in the end the throngs of people and hysteria just doesn't work for me. Sure I went to a lot of stadium shows over the years but too many people and too much hype kept me away this time.
I will miss that glimmer of hope that always existed in the back of my mind that the core 4 would tour and I would get one last chance to go on the road. Hopefully Phil and Friends will camp out at the Capitol Theater again and I can take in a couple of shows. I DVR'd Friday's show and listened to a lot of Saturday's. That will have to do.
Below is a shot of one of my badges from my years on the floor of a few different exchanges. Dark Star Trading got to be a decent sized firm before I sold out. Gives you an idea of what kind of fan I was. The day Jerry died the news came across the big wire board on the floor and I just walked off the floor and went home.
Fare Thee Well
