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I am far from a closet Deadhead. My earliest memories of listening to music as a child are hearing Anthem Of The Sun(1968) while being driven to pre-school. Maybe there was something in the Kool-Aid at Mrs. Howell's, because as long as I can recall, I've worn my tie-dyed heart on my sleeve as a badge of courage. My most honored credentials include being marked "present" at somewhere between 100 and 120 Grateful Dead shows between April 3, 1979 and July 9, 1995 — although I lay claim to 120 different ticket stubs, as a rule, I don't count the ones I can't remember.
My personal Grateful Dead sojourn began less than four months after New Year's Eve 1978. Although I wasn't aware of it, by the time the bus came by and I got on, a distinct era in music history had passed. However, as evidenced by the six-plus hour concert captured on the recently released Grateful Dead DVD, The Closing Of Winterland (2003), the era did not conclude quietly. Contained within this double-DVD package is far more than just a stellar Grateful Dead performance. It documents the last rites of one of America's premiere rock ?n' roll palaces, the Winterland Arena. For a lucky 13 years, the venerable venue represented the crown jewel in rock' n 'roll entrepreneur Bill "Uncle Bobo" Graham's San Francisco-based live music establishments. Although Uncle Bobo had retained the lease on the building since 1965, it was only after the demise of his bi-coastal Fillmore Auditoriums in 1971 that the former ice rink became prominent as a Mecca among Bay Area concert attendees.
The Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, and Quicksilver Messenger Service were among the local bands that came of age during San Francisco's ballroom scene, and went on to become regulars at Winterland. However, as the late ?60s Summer Of Love soundtrack turned into the heavy metal thunder of the early ?70s, Winterland became a haven for a who's who of rockers, ranging from the Rolling Stones, to Bruce Springsteen, to the Sex Pistols. In fact, it is little wonder that the best selling live rock album of all time — Frampton Comes Alive (1976) — was recorded there. Or, that The Band chose to hold their epic finale, The Last Waltz (1977), within Winterland's hallowed halls. Coups such as these made Bill Graham a powerful figure in the increasingly corporate world of popular music and the Winterland Arena a true rock' n 'roll monument.
As the 1970s drew to a close, the building's physical structure on the corner of Steiner and Post in San Francisco was beyond need of repair. As such, Graham chose not to seek renewal of his lease. For a fond farewell, he summoned one final gathering of the tribes on New Year's Eve, 1978. As The Grateful Dead had logged nearly 60 shows at Winterland since 1965, they headlined an all-star musical epic, joined by the New Riders Of The Purple Sage (NRPS), along with John Belushi (vocals) and Dan Ackroyd (vocals/harmonica) under their musical nom de plume, The Blues Brothers.
