I just came back from the 60th anniversary Dead & Company shows in Golden Gate Park, and wow, what a wild blend of nostalgia and upscale reinvention. My mom, a longtime Deadhead, was emotional seeing the transformation from running into shows for $20 back in the day to watching fans book Fairmont suites and drop $6,000 on tickets. The music still worked its magic, though, drawing in young fans and keeping the spirit alive with tie-dye, Shakedown Street, and a few psychedelic mushrooms in the art.
It was definitely a far cry from the Summer of Love era, but still felt deeply rooted in SF’s cultural DNA. Curious, do you think the commercialization takes away from the Dead’s ethos, or is it just the natural course of cultural legacy growing up?
0