
rec.music.gdead â€º
Deadhead Community Center report
1 post by 1 author 



David Gans	

9/22/97



Here are some of my notes from yesterday's phenomenally successful
Deadhead Community Center Benefit at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley:

I don't know if I can remember all the players, but I'm gonna try.

From BlissNinnies: David Lichterman, Victor Manning, Jerry "Homer"
Brown, and their keyboardist whose name escapes me. [Nick Chargin]

From Jerry's Kids: Duane Day, Scott Fernandez, Liz Warren

From the Webs: Andrew Koblick, Mike LiPuma, Steve Farzan.

From the Reptiles: Al Feldstein, David Gans, Steve Ramirez

From Buffalo Roam: Rich Brodsky and Chuck Rosene

Phil McGee, Bob Bralove, Stevie Blacke, Mika Scott, Orlando Obligacion,
Clayton Call, Gary Lambert, Anthony Aversano.

Eric Thompson and Henry Kaiser did a special set, with Ramirez on bass
and Garth Powell on drums.  Eric was in bands with Jerry Garcia, Bob
Hunter, David Nelson et al. in the early '60s, and he and Henry
performed a set of songs that were popular among those players in that
era but never made it into the Dead's repertoire (except Viola Lee
Blues, which did).  This set was a highlight for me as a spectator.

I was jazzed when Phil arrived, and very happy to observe him standing
in the crowd, boppin' and grinning.  Rita talked with him quite a bit,
and he indicated that he was getitng a very new perspective on things.

I think last night showed Phil, for the very first time, a little bit of
just how happy the Grateful Dead made so many people for so many years. 
That much joy in the room for a band playing Dead music - imagine how
much more juice the real thing produced!

And of course, playing with him was a very high moment for me (and Al,
as he said above, and for the others.  Mika was pretty psyched, too!). 
Phil rocked!  We had chosen Scarlet->Speedway before we started, but
getting there was way more than half the fun!


I'm still sorting out all the fun moments, high experiences, and
benefits that have fallen out of this event and will continue to do so. 
I am deeply grateful to all the creative souls who poured their energies
into this thing:

The Art Police!  Freddy and Marty led the Bozos, inside and outside the
building - I first saw them sitting on a bus bench across the street
from the venue!!!

James Olness, Steve Brown and many others whose names I didn't get: the
light show was terrific, complete with live video.  Awesome!

Chelsea (I don't know her last name!) took responsibility for a
collective art project: an 8' square canvas in the back room, with many
colors and brushes and an open invitation to add to the painting.  I
really enjoyed going back there from time to time, watching the image
develop and adding a lick or two of my own here and there.  I expect
we'll do that again next time, too.

Mary Buffington volunteered to run the raffle, and just as we were
telling her we'd find someone else to take a turn at selling tickets,
John Berger walked up and made himself part of the team.

That effort brought in another $300, by the way.  Blair Jackson won his
own prize - a complete set of The Golden Road - and promptly handed it
back to be awarded to another entrant!

Dave Greenberg, Adam Cahen and Dan McGonagle, the DJs who brought the
Dead tapes - they did a lot more than that.  They were part of this team
from the start, and they worked hard to get the word out and the vibes
right.  Adam said when it was over that it was the coolest Dead-related
scene he'd ever been a part of, and I have to agree.

Paul Cogan, the house sound guy, did an amazing job of keeping the mix
clear - with the help of Dan, Adam and Dave, I hear :^)

Michael Zelner and Matt Kora, who regularly tape Broken Angels shows,
were there with their DAT decks.  No board tape, because there was just
too much else going on to hassle making those connections - but hey! 
It's a Meyer Sound system, so we know the auds are gonna sound fine!

Kathy Sunderland of the SF Hilton (with whom my wife Rita and I serve on
the Unbroken Chain Foundation board, about which more later) brought
some munchies and beverages that were sold at the cafe, adding to the
economic benefit to the Ashkenaz.  And trust me on this: The Ashkenaz
management was ECSTATIC!  I know Dave and Adam have already got some DJ
nights booked, and I think there's a VERY good chance we'll have a
weekly Dead scene at the Ashkenaz before the year is over.

The net from the box office was $1135.  Add to that a check for a
thousand dollars handed to me at the beginning of the evening by someone
who prefers to remain anonymous, and $300 from the raffle, plus nearly
$900 in advance donations, and we're about halfway toward getting those
Meyer speakers paid for.

Hoo-boy, what an experience!!

I said this onstage last night, and I'll say it again.  This whole thing
was dead in the water until I whimpered about it in the WELL, whereupon
Gordon Taylor piped up and got it going again.  This thing wouldn't have
happened at all if it weren't for you, warfrat. Thank you.

And here's my letter to Phil:

Phil,

I can't begin to thank you for your contributions to the Deadhead
Community Center event last night.  It was a roaring success on every
level, and your presence added a lot to both the financial and the
aesthetic bottom lines.

For me, personally, it was a glorious treat to play some of my favorite
music with you in the company of many of my favorite players, and to
witness your evident pleasure at being there with us.  You have an open
invitation to join the Broken Angels any time you feel like dropping by.

I also got the impression - from watching you, from talking with you,
and from [my wife] Rita's account of her conversation with you - that
you had a good time being in the audience while the big hairy experiment
was taking place on stage.  You never got to attend a Grateful Dead
concert!  What you saw and, I assume, felt last night was a small
indication of the tremendous joy the Grateful Dead brought to hundreds
of thousands of people over those thirty years.  I mean, imagine how
much more exciting the "real thing" was, from that perspective!

We were $1800 to the good before we even opened the doors yesterday,
thanks to generous donations in repsonse to our appeal on the net.  We
netted $1135 at the door, plus $300 from the raffle - so that Meyer
speaker system is already half paid for.  That is the tangible result;
the intangible result is on the faces of the people who were there and
in the conversations that are taking place all over town in the
aftermath.

I speak for a lot of people when I say, from the bottom of my heart,
thank you and thank you again.

***

We've still got nearly $4000 to raise before the speakers are paid for. 
If you'd care to make a contribution - and no amount is too small -
please make your check or money order paytable to EYES OF CHAOS
FOUNDATION - ASHKENAZ and send it to David Gans, 484 Lake Park Ave #102,
Oakland CA 94610-2730.

-- 
  David Gans    t...@well.com
  Truth and Fun, Inc., 484 Lake Park Ave #102, Oakland CA 94610
  http://www.well.com/user/tnf/