Podcasts about Alpine valley

Send the show a text message!In this episode of the Space Between Podcast, host Renae Lipsmeyer engages with fans Elisha and Cole to explore their unique experiences with the Dave Matthews Band. They discuss how they discovered the band, the significance of venues like Alpine Valley, and the emotional connections formed through music. The conversation highlights memorable concerts, the atmosphere at Dave Matthews shows, and the impact of the band's music on their lives. The episode also touches on future concert plans and includes a fun trivia segment about the band.Peace, Love and DMB Support the show

Send us a textHi everybody and welcome to today's episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. Since their return to the stage in 2009, all the way to today, Phish has continually proven that they still have the goods–that they've avoided the trap of becoming a nostalgia act. They've proven it in a number of ways: reinventing themselves as different bands for Halloween, releasing several albums, changing their touring setup to allow for more multi-night runs, or the tried-and-true method of keeping fans interested: playing extremely long and exploratory jams that go down as some of the most perfect examples of extended improvisation in music history. Today's guest, Andy Rapacz, picked one of those jams to discuss today: “Simple” from July 27, 2024 at Alpine Valley. Starting from the ashes of a typical Sigma Oasis that opened the 2nd set, this Simple is easily in the conversation for the title of the best version of the song ever played. Just as impressive as the music, the fact that it was played 40 years into the band's career adds a certain psychological boost to the idea that it was played at all! Andy is a Wisconsin native, so he gives plenty of background context to Alpine Valley, what it was like to see such an impressive jam in his home venue, and the fact that he's an exercise physiologist who deals with neurological dysfunction adds a whole new dimension to the discussion about how Phish's sound makes you feel. So let's join Andy to talk about Halloween 1994, how time is relative, and steep lawns as we discuss Simple from July 27, 1994 at Alpine Valley.

This episode of Seeing Them Live features an in-depth and in-person conversation with Ray the Roadie and Hollywood Mike, hosts of the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Joined by producer and co-host Doug Florzak, the episode was recorded inside the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 in downtown Joliet, Illinois, where the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is also recorded. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast provides a platform for bands and musicians from the Chicago area, delving into the history of rock and roll in Chicago and Illinois, the current scene, and the challenges and opportunities for musicians today. Mike and Ray share humorous anecdotes, such as Mike jokingly proposing 'The Procrastinators' as a name for his next punk band, and Mike mentioning his varied musical activities, including performing with bands like Cadillac Groove and Mike and the Stillmasters, and his solo work. Mike also uncovers a rich musical heritage after meeting a cousin who fronts a Zydeco band in Louisiana, leading him to discover his extended family's significant contributions to various facets of the entertainment industry. Ray recounts his multifaceted career journey, involving roadie work, being a firefighter for 28 years, and later diving back into music and podcasting post-retirement. Personal anecdotes include Ray's memories of his first concert, seeing Chicago Transit Authority, and his best concert experience with ZZ Top, where he enjoyed backstage access and partied with the band. Mike fondly recalls his first concert, a Billy Squire show with Def Leppard as the opener, and his best concert experience, which was a transformative Buddy Guy performance that inspired him to become a musician. The episode concludes with Ray and Mike previewing their plans for upcoming podcast episodes and discussing the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum's ongoing development and various exhibits, including guitars from Buddy Guy, and its status as a non-profit organization reliant on donations and memberships for support.BANDS: 4 Non-Blondes, Alison Krauss, Billy Joel, Billy Squire, Buddy Guy, Cadillac Groove, Def Leppard, Flat Cats, Iron Maiden, Joker, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mabel's, Mike and the Still Masters, Outlaws, Rage Against A Machine, REO Speedwagon, REM, Robert Plant, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Train, Vulgar Boatmen, Wrought Iron Soul, ZZ Top.VENUES:  Alpine Valley, Chicago Theater, El Macomber, Illinois Rock and Roll Museum, Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, International Amphitheater, Mabel's, Ravinia, Rialto Square Theater, Rosemount Horizon, Route 66, Taste of Westmont, The Amphitheater, The Flat Cats, The Forge, The Riviera Theater. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

Tylor Barrett is the founder of Alpine Valley Mushrooms, a family-owned certified organic mushroom farm and business I the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Tylor and his family are in their fourth year of running their mushroom venture, and share a ton of wisdom they've learned from their journey so far.Please rate and review this episode wherever you're listening ( : Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this interview on Seeing Them Live, the guest, Ben Apatow, shares his insights and experiences in the music world. Ben is an accomplished author of the books Metallica, the $24.95 Book, and Body Count, part of the Bloomsbury 33 1/3 series. Ben's writing has been featured in various well-known music publications. He begins by recounting his first concert experience, seeing Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead at RFK Stadium in 1995, a formative event for him. He also highlights memorable concerts, including two Prince shows at Madison Square Garden, citing Prince as an extraordinary performer. However, he also shares his most disappointing concerts: Bad Brains and a recent Jane's Addiction show, noting specific incidences that led to his disappointment with these performances. The Jane's Addiction show, in particular, was tarnished by Perry Farrell's visible struggle, which affected the overall performance quality and led to tour cancellations shortly after.Transitioning to his literary works, Ben discusses the events around his book Body Count, which covers Body Count's controversial debut album featuring the song Cop Killer. The song elicited backlash from police unions, the Senate, and even the President, leading to its removal from the album after only three months. Ben details the dichotomy of the intense reactions to Cop Killer and the larger issues of censorship and societal fears in the early 1990s.Regarding his book on Metallica, Ben describes its comprehensive coverage, spanning the band's history, individual members, concerts, and broader cultural impact. He also delves into the influence of punk and metal within their music. Ben emphasizes the significance of word-of-mouth and live performances in Metallica's rise to popularity and reflects on how their approach to live shows continues to engage and expand their fan base. He concludes by expressing his enthusiasm for writing these books and outlining potential future projects, including collaborations and new biographies.BANDS: AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Body Count, Fiona Apple, Fishbone, Iron Maiden, Living Color, Metallica, Patti Smith, Prince, Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies, The Grateful Dead, The Kinks, The Ramones, Ultimate Classic Rock, Velvet Underground.VENUES:RFK Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Alpine Valley, Navy Pier, Salt Shed, Lollapalooza. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

Music News: Pink Floyd and Joni MitchellIn this episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show, Larry Mishkin reflects on the intersection of music and cannabis in the wake of the recent elections. He delves into the Grateful Dead's legacy, highlighting a notable performance from 1973, and explores the lyrical depth of 'To Lay Me Down.' The conversation also touches on music news, including Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' and Joni Mitchell's recent birthday. The episode concludes with a discussion on recent research indicating that cannabis may serve as a substitute for more dangerous substances. This conversation explores the complex relationship between cannabis use and substance consumption among young adults, the implications of Florida's failed marijuana legalization initiative, and the potential of cannabis as a harm reduction tool for opioid use. It also highlights popular cannabis strains and their effects, alongside a cultural reflection on the Grateful Dead's music. Chapters00:00 Post-Election Reflections: Music and Cannabis08:29 The Grateful Dead's Musical Legacy14:48 Exploring the Lyrics: To Lay Me Down21:59 Music News: Pink Floyd and Joni Mitchell37:06 Weather Report Suite: A Musical Journey43:10 Second Set Highlights: Mississippi Half-Step and Beyond49:36 Marijuana Research: Substitution Effects51:24 Cannabis Use Among Young Adults56:13 Florida's Marijuana Legalization Initiative01:05:01 Cannabis as a Tool for Opioid Harm Reduction01:11:10 Strains of the Week and Cannabis Culture Larry's Notes:Grateful DeadNovember 11, 1973 (51 years ago)Winterland ArenaSan Francisco, CAGrateful Dead Live at Winterland Arena on 1973-11-11 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive Happy Veteran's Day  A very famous show from a very famous year.  Many feel 1973 was the peak of the band's post psychedelic era.  Certainly right up there with 1977 as top years for the band, even by November they were still in full stride during a three night run at Winterland, this being the third and final night of the run.  In 2008 the Dead released the box set:  “Winterland 1973: The complete recordings” featuring shows from Nov. 9, 10 and 11, 1973.  This was the Dead's second “complete recordings” release featuring all of the nights of a single run. The first was “Fillmore West, 1969, the Complete Recordings” from Feb. 27, 28 and March 1 and 2 (IMHO the best collection of live music ever released by the band).  The band later released a follow up, Winterland 1977: The Complete Recordings a three night run June 7, 8 and 9, 1977 that is also an outstanding box set. Today's show has a 16 song first set, a six song second set and a three song encore, a true rarity for a Dead show of any era (other than NYE shows). The second set consists of ½ Step, Big River, Dark Star with MLBJ, Eyes of the World, China Doll and Sugar Magnolia and is as well played as any set ever played by the band.  They were on fire for these three days.  A great collection of music and killer three night run for those lucky enough to have snagged a ticket for any or all of the nights. Patrick Carr wrote in the NY Times that: “The Dead had learned how to conceive and perform a music which often induced something closely akin to the psychedelic experience; they were and are experts in the art and science of showing people another world, or a temporary altering (raising) of world consciousness.  It sounds pseudomystical pretentious perhaps, but the fact is that it happens and it is intentional.”  INTRO:                                 Promised Land                (show opener into Bertha/Greatest Story/Sugaree/Black Throated Wind)                                                Track #1                                                0 – 2:10 "Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in December 1964, it was Berry's fourth single issued following his prison term for a Mann Act conviction. The record peaked at #41 in the Billboard charts on January 16, 1965. Berry wrote the song while in prison, and borrowed an atlas from the prison library to plot the itinerary. In the lyrics, the singer (who refers to himself as "the poor boy") tells of his journey from Norfolk, Virginia, to the "Promised Land", Los Angeles, California, mentioning various cities in Southern states that he passes through on his journey. Describing himself as a "poor boy," the protagonist boards a Greyhound bus in Norfolk, Virginia that passes Raleigh, N.C., stops in Charlotte, North Carolina, and bypasses Rock Hill, South Carolina. The bus rolls out of Atlanta but breaks down, leaving him stranded in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. He then takes a train "across Mississippi clean" to New Orleans. From there, he goes to Houston, where "the people there who care a bit about me" buy him a silk suit, luggage and a plane ticket to Los Angeles. Upon landing in Los Angeles, he calls Norfolk, Virginia ("Tidewater four, ten-oh-nine") to tell the folks back home he made it to the "promised land." The lyric: "Swing low, sweet chariot, come down easy/Taxi to the terminal zone" refers to the gospel lyric: "Swing low, sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me Home" since both refer to a common destination, "The Promised Land," which in this case is California, reportedly a heaven on earth. Billboard called the song a "true blue Berry rocker with plenty of get up and go," adding that "rinky piano and wailing Berry electric guitar fills all in neatly."[2]Cash Box described it as "a 'pull-out-all-the-stops' rocker that Chuck pounds out solid sales authority" and "a real mover that should head out for hit territory in no time flat."[3] In 2021, it was listed at No. 342 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Apparently played by the Warlocks and the Grateful Dead in their earliest days, Bob Weir started playing this with the Dead in 1971, and it remained a regular right through to the band's last show ever in 1995.  Among those deeply touched by Chuck's genius were Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. They often paid homage to Chuck by weaving his songs into their performances, breathing new life into his timeless melodies. "Promised Land," with its relentless drive, became an anthem of journey and aspiration. Their electrifying renditions of "Johnny B. Goode" were not mere covers but jubilant celebrations of a narrative that resonated with the dreamer in all of us. The Grateful Dead's performances of "Around and Around" echoed Chuck's mastery of capturing life's cyclical rhythms—a dance of beginnings and endings, joy and sorrow. And when they took on "Run Rudolph Run," they infused the festive classic with their own psychedelic flair, bridging the gap between tradition and innovation. A moment etched in musical history was when Chuck Berry shared the stage with the Grateful Dead during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. The air was thick with reverence and electricity—a meeting of titans where the past, present, and future of rock converged in harmonious resonance. Again, in May 1995, Chuck opened for the Grateful Dead in Portland, Oregon. It was a night where legends collided, and the music swirled like a tempest, leaving a lasting impression on all who were fortunate enough to witness it. This version really rocks out.  I especially love Keith's piano which is featured prominently in this clip. Played:  430 timesFirst:  May 28, 1971 at Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, USA  SHOW No. 1:                    To Lay Me Down  (out of Black Throated Wind/into El Paso/Ramble On Rose/Me and Bobby McGee                                                Track #6                                                2:21 – 4:20 David Dodd:  “To Lay Me Down” is one of the magical trio of lyrics composed in a single afternoon in 1970 in London, “over a half-bottle of retsina,” according to Robert Hunter. The other two were “Ripple” and “Brokedown Palace.” Well, first—wouldn't we all like to have a day like that! And, second—what unites these three lyrics, aside from the fact that they were all written on the same day? Hunter wrote, in his foreword to The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics:”And I wrote reams of bad songs, bitching about everything under the sun, which I kept to myself: Cast not thy swines before pearls. And once in a while something would sort of pop out of nowhere. The sunny London afternoon I wrote ‘Brokedown Palace,' ‘To Lay Me Down,' and ‘Ripple,' all keepers, was in no way typical, but it remains in my mind as the personal quintessence of the union between writer and Muse, a promising past and bright future prospects melding into one great glowing apocatastasis.” “‘To Lay me Down' was written a while before the others [on the Garcia album], on the same day as the lyrics to ‘Brokedown Palace' and ‘Ripple'—the second day of my first visit to England. I found myself left alone in Alan Trists's flat on Devonshire Terrace in West Kensington, with a supply of very nice thick linen paper, sun shining brightly through the window, a bottle of Greek Retsina wine at my elbow. The songs flowed like molten gold onto the page and stand as written. The images for ‘To Lay Me Down' were inspired at Hampstead Heath (the original title to the song) the day before—lying on the grass and clover on a day of swallowtailed clouds, across from Jack Straw's Castle [a pub, now closed and converted into flats--dd], reunited with the girlfriend of my youth, after a long separation.” Garcia's setting for the words is, like his music for those other two songs, perfect. The three-quarter time (notated as having a nine-eight feel), coupled with the gospel style of the melody and chords, makes for a dreamy, beauty-soaked song. I heard it on the radio today (yes, on the radio, yes, today—and no, not on a Grateful Dead Hour, but just in the course of regular programming), and it struck me that it was a gorgeous vehicle for Garcia's voice. By which I mean: for that strongly emotive, sweet but not sappy, rough but not unschooled instrument that was Garcia's alone. I have started to think that my usual recitation of where a song was first played, where it was last played, and where it was recorded by the band borders on pointless. All that info is readily available. What's interesting about the performance history of “To Lay Me Down” is that it was dropped from the rotation for more than 200 shows three times, and that its final performance, in 1992, came 125 shows after the penultimate one. The reappearance of the song, in the 1980 acoustic shows, came nearly six years after the previous performances in 1974. “Ripple” had a similar pattern, reappearing in those 1980 acoustic sets after 550 performances, or nearly ten years. Of the magical trio from that day of molten gold in West Kensington, “Brokedown Palace” had the most solid place in the Dead's performance rotation, with only one huge gap in its appearances—165 shows between 1977 and 1979. So, in terms of story, what can be discerned? The short version, for me: even if it's just for a day, even if it's just once more, even if it's just one last time—it's worth it. It's golden. It's home. This version is really great to listen to.  Jerry's voice is still so young and strong.  And the group singing works really well.  Jerry's also kills it with his lead guitar jamming. Released on “Garcia” in 1972 Played:  64 timesFirst:  July 30, 1970 at The Matrix, San Francisco, CA, USALast: June 28, 1992 at Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA MUSIC NEWS:                                                           Music Intro:                       Brain Damage                                                                                    Pink Floyd                                                                                    Pink Floyd - Brain Damage (2023 Remaster)                                                                                    0:00 – 1:47             "Brain Damage" is the ninth track[nb 1] from English rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.[2][3] It was sung on record by Roger Waters (with harmonies by David Gilmour), who would continue to sing it on his solo tours. Gilmour sang the lead vocal when Pink Floyd performed it live on their 1994 tour (as can be heard on Pulse). The band originally called this track "Lunatic" during live performances and recording sessions. "Brain Damage" was released as a digital single on 19 January 2023 to promote The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set.[4]             The uncredited manic laughter is that of Pink Floyd's then-road manager, Peter Watts.             The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK and Capitol Records in the US. Developed during live performances before recording began, it was conceived as a concept album that would focus on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and also deal with the mental health problems of the former band member Syd Barrett, who had departed the group in 1968. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London.             The Dark Side of the Moon is among the most critically acclaimed albums and often features in professional listings of the greatest of all time. It brought Pink Floyd international fame, wealth and plaudits to all four band members. A blockbuster release of the album era, it also propelled record sales throughout the music industry during the 1970s. The Dark Side of the Moon is certified 14x platinum in the United Kingdom, and topped the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, where it has charted for 990 weeks. By 2013, The Dark Side of the Moon had sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it the band's best-selling release, the best-selling album of the 1970s, and the fourth-best-selling album in history.[3] In 2012, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. David Gilmour Addresses Synchronicity Theory Between ‘The Dark Side of the Moon' and ‘Wizard of Oz'On Thursday, November 7, 2024, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon amid his extensive run at New York's Madison Square Garden, where he is supporting his latest solo release, Luck and Strange. During the music industry legend's stop by the late-night talk show, he spoke with the program's host, who questioned the theory of synchronicity between TheDark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz, commonly referred to as the Dark Side of the Rainbow.“You said that you think it's your best work since Dark Side of the Moon,” Fallon questioned at the top of the segment, comparing Gilmour's comments regarding his latest release, and the Pink Floyd classic. “When we finished Dark Side, there was a lot of crossfades and stuff between all the tracks. They had all to be done separately and then they all have to be edited in the old days before Pro Tools. When we finally finished, we sat down in the control room at Abbey Road and listened to it all the way through. And, wow. I–I guess all of us–have the feeling that it was something quite amazing–that we got it, and at the same point on this album, I had a very similar feeling, which is why I said that.” Fallon stewed on Luck and Strange during a series of follow-up questions that assisted in painting a portrait of familial involvement during the making of Gilmour's 2024 release–harnessing the conversation to the artist's preferred homebred approach before they segued into the realm of the Emerald City. Fallon landed on the topic of Oz during a bit aimed at busting rumors that have populated throughout the musician's 60-year tenure in the spotlight.“The Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon, was written to synchronize with the movie Wizard of Oz,” Fallon suggested. Prompting Gilmour's humor-tinged response, “Well, of course it was.” Fallon threw his hands up in response, acting on the comedic angle, before the musician clarified, “No, no. We listened to it, Polly and I, years ago–” Fallon stopped the artist to ask, “There's no planning that out?” Gilmour continued, “No. No, I mean, I only heard about it years later. Somebody said you put the needle on–vinyl that is– and on the third–you know you got the film running somehow–and on the third roar of the MGM lion, you put the needle on for the beginning of Dark Side, and there's these strange synchronicities that happen.” Fallon asked if Gilmour had ever tested the theory, to which he exclaimed, “Yeah!” He went on to admit, “And there are these strange coincidences–I'll call them coincidences.”  Joni Mitchell turns 81 - Joni Mitchell was born on Nov. 7th in 1943, making her 81 this past Thursday. Mitchell began her career in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew to become one of the most influential singer-songwriters in modern music history. Rising to fame during the 1960s, Mitchell became a key narrator in the folk music movement, alongside others like Bob Dylan. Over the decades, she has released 19 studio albums, including the seminal “Blue,” which was rated the third best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” In 2023, Joni Mitchell at Newport was released, a live album of her 2022 performance at the Newport Folk Festival.  More recently she was the featured performer at the Joni Jam at the Gorge in George, WA in June, 2023 3.    Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz to Celebrate 50th Birthday at Sweetwater Music Hall with Members of ALO, Tea Leaf Green and More Sweetwater Music Hall (in Mill Valley, CA) has announced details pertaining to Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz's 50th Birthday Bash. The event is slated to take place on Saturday, November 23, 2024, and functions as a celebratory occasion to honor the jam stalwart and beloved member of the Bay Area music scene's five decade ride.  The six-string virtuoso, known for his work with Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO), Phil Lesh & Friends, and his own self-titled Friends project, has tapped an all-star group of regional talent to assist during the live show. Appearing on the birthday lineup, in addition to the bandleader are Vicki Randle (percussion, vocals; The Tonight Show Band), Steve Adams (bass; ALO), Trevor Garrod (keys; Tea Leaf Green) and Scott Rager (drums; Tea Leaf Green).  “Possessing a signature tone, the vehicle for his fluid, buttery sound is a flat top acoustic guitar that he has personally sliced and diced into an electric flat top, with a vintage style humbucker pickup. Inherently committed to an improvisational approach, Lebo embodies the realm of melodic and soulful sounds,” the press release includes, drawing on the unique factors which have made Lebo a standout amongst his musical contemporaries. As an added distinction, and play into the birthday angle of event's surprise and celebration, special guest appearances are slated to occur, as referenced via press release and the artist's post on Instagram, where he noted additional inclusions as TBA.   SHOW No. 2:                    Weather Report Suite Prelude  (out of China >Rider/Me & My Uncle/Loose Lucy                                                Track #14                                                3:10 – end                                                   INTO                                                 Weather Report Suite Part I  (out of WRS Prelude/ into WRS Part II (Let It Grow)/Set break  - 16 songs                                                Track #15                                                0:00 – 1:03 David Dodd:  This week, by request, we're looking at “Weather Report Suite,” (Prelude, Part 1, and Part 2). For a short time, the three pieces that comprise the Suite were played as such, but that was relatively short-lived by Grateful Dead standards. The Prelude debuted in November 1972, originally as a separate piece from its eventual companions. The Dead played it, according to DeadBase, four more times in the spring of 1973 before it was first matched up with Weather Report Suite Parts 1 & 2, in September of that year. It was played regularly through October of 1974, and then dropped from the repertoire. The instrumental “Prelude,” composed by Weir, sets the stage for the two pieces to follow. I think it's one of the most beautiful little pieces of music I know—I have never once skipped through it over years of listening. I just let it wash over me and know that its simplicity and beauty are preparing me for the melancholy of Part 1, and the sometimes epic grandeur of Part 2. Part 1 is a song co-written with Eric Andersen, a well-known singer-songwriter who wrote the classic “Thirsty Boots.” He was on the Festival Express Tour (of “Might As Well” fame) across Canada along with the Dead, and I'm guessing that's where Weir and he met and concocted this piece. Happy to be corrected on that by anyone who knows better. Andersen and Weir share the lyric credit, and the music is credited to Weir. Once it appeared in the rotation, in September 1973, it stayed in the repertoire only as long as the Prelude did, dropping entirely in October 1974. The song addresses the seasons, and their changing mirrors the the singer's state of mind as he reflects on the coming of love, and maybe its going, too: a circle of seasons, and the blooming and fading of roses. I particularly like the line “And seasons will end in tumbled rhyme and little change, the wind and rain.” There's something very hopeful buried in the song's melancholy. Is that melancholy just a projection of mine? I think there's something about Weir's singing that gets at that emotion. Loss, and the hope that there might be new love. Weather Report Suite, Part 2 (“Let It Grow”) is a very different beast. It remained steadily in the rotation for the next 21 years after its debut, and the band played it 276 times. Its season of rarity was 1979, when it was played only three times, but otherwise, it was not far from the rotation. It could be stretched into a lengthy jamming tune (clocking at over 15 minutes several times), building to a thundering crescendo. And the “Weather Report” aspect of the song is what was really the most fun many times. Released on Wake of The Flood in 1973. WRS Prelude and Part I:Played:         46 timesFirst:  September 8, 1973 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, USALast:  October 18, 1974 at Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA, USA SHOW No. 3:                     Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo  (Second Set Opener/into Big River/Dark Star)                                    Track #17                                    3:17 – 4:55 Released on Wake of the Flood in 1973. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo was first performed live by the Grateful Dead on July 16, 1972. It was a frequent part of the repertoire through to 1974. From 1976 onward it was played less frequently with usually between 5 and 15 performances each year. It was not played at all in 1983 and 1984. The last performance was in July 1995. In total it was performed around 236 times. The majority of performances from 1978 onward were as the opening song of a show. Huner/Garcia special.  Great story.  Great lyrics:  “what's the point of calling shots, this cue ain't straight in line.  Cue ball is made of Styrofoam and no one's got the time” Always one of my favorite songs to hear in concert.  ½ Step>Franklin's were especially fun as a one two show opener punch. Played:  236 timesFirst:  July 16, 1972 at Dillon Stadium, Hartford, CT, USALast:  July 6, 1995 at the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO MJ NEWS:                 INTRO MUSIC:       Willin'                                                Little Feat                                                Little Feat - Willin' sung by Lowell George Live 1977. HQ Video.                                                0:10 – 1:32                                                1977 "Willin'" is a song written by American musician Lowell George, and first recorded with his group Little Feat on their 1971 debut album. The song has since been performed by a variety of artists.          George wrote the song while he was a member of the Mothers of Invention. When George sang an early version of the song for bandleader Frank Zappa, Zappa suggested that the guitarist form his own band rather than continue under Zappa's tutelage.[1] He did just that, and the song was subsequently recorded by Lowell's band Little Feat. The song was included on Little Feat's 1971 self-titled debut album. The band re-recorded the song at a slower tempo to much greater success on their 1972 Sailin' Shoes album. A live version recorded in 1977 appears on their 1978 album Waiting for Columbus. The lyrics are from the point of view of a truck driver who has driven from Tucson to Tucumcari (NM), Tehachapi (CA) to Tonopah (AZ)" and "smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico"; the song has become a trucker anthem.  And of course, he asks for “weed, whites (speed) and wine” to get him through his drive. 1.      Using Marijuana Is Tied To Lower Consumption Of Alcohol, Opioids And Other Drugs, New Study Reveals 2.     Why Florida's Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative Failed Despite Trump Endorsement, Historic Funding And Majority Voter Support 3.     Marijuana Has ‘Great Deal Of Potential' To Treat Opioid Use Disorder, Study Finds, Predicting It'll Become More Common In Treatment 4.     Colorado Springs Voters Approve Two Contradictory Marijuana Ballot Measures To Both Allow And Ban Recreational Sales Strains of the week: Sub Zero - Sub Zero is a potent Indica-dominanthybrid cannabis strain that combines the robust genetics of Afghan, Colombian, and Mexican origins. This marijuana strain offers a complex flavor profile with notes of apple, menthol, chestnut, lime, and berry, providing a unique and refreshing sensory experience. The aroma of Sub Zero is as intriguing as its flavor, characterized by a rich combination of woody, earthy, and citrus notes, thanks to a terpene profile rich in Humulene, Limonene, Linalool, and Carene. These terpenes not only enhance the flavor but also contribute to the strain's therapeutic properties. Apple Fritter - Apple Fritter, also known as “Apple Fritters,” is a rare evenly balanced hybrid strain (50% indica/50% sativa) created through crossing the classic Sour Apple X Animal Cookies strains. Best known for making the High Times' 2016 “World's Strongest Strains” List, this baby brings on a hard-hitting high and super delicious flavor that will have you begging for more after just one taste. Extract:             Dulce Limon – hyrbrid sativa dominant            Pineapple Fizz – slightly indica dominant hybrid strain SHOW No. 4:                    Dark Star  (Mind Left Body Jam)                                                Track #18                                                34:45 – end This is the name given to a 4-chord sequence played as a jam by the Grateful Dead. It is thought by some to be related to the Paul Kantner song "Your Mind Has Left Your Body." The title "Mind Left Body Jam" was originally used by DeadBase. The first Grateful Dead CD to include a version was "Dozin' At The Knick", where the title was "Mud Love Buddy Jam" in a humorous reference to the DeadBase/taper title. But subsequent releases have adopted the "Mind Left Body Jam" title.Here, it comes out of a 36 minute Dark Star that many say is one of the best ever and links it to an excellent Eyes of the World.Fun to feature one of the band's thematic jams every now and then.  The truly improvisational side of the Dead and their live performances.  Played:  9 timesFirst:  October 19, 1973 at Jim Norick Arena, Oklahoma City, OK, USALast:  March 24, 1990 at Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY, USA                                                 INTO                                                 Eyes of the World  (into China Doll/Sugar Mag as second set closer)                                                Track #19                                                0:00 – 2:25 David Dodd:  “Eyes of the World” is a Robert Hunter lyric set by Jerry Garcia. It appeared in concert for the first time in that same show on February 9, 1973, at the Maples Pavilion at Stanford University, along with “They Love Each Other,” “China Doll,” “Here Comes Sunshine,” “Loose Lucy,” “Row Jimmy,” and “Wave That Flag.” Its final performance by the Dead was on July 6, 1995, at Riverport Amphitheatre, in Maryland Heights, Missouri, when it opened the second set, and led into “Unbroken Chain.” It was performed 381 times, with 49 of those performances occurring in 1973. It was released on “Wake of the Flood” in November, 1973. (I have begun to notice something I never saw before in the song statistics in Deadbase—the 49 performances in 1973 made me look twice at the song-by-song table of performances broken out by year in DeadBase X, which clearly shows the pattern of new songs being played in heavy rotation when they are first broken out, and then either falling away entirely, or settling into a more steady, less frequent pattern as the years go by. Makes absolute sense!) Sometimes criticized, lyrically, as being a bit too hippy-dippy for its own good, “Eyes of the World” might be heard as conveying a message of hope, viewing human consciousness as having value for the planet as a whole. There are echoes in the song of a wide range of literary and musical influences, from Blaise Pascal to (perhaps) Ken Kesey; from talk of a redeemer to the title of the song itself. In an interview, Hunter made an interesting statement about the “songs of our own,” which appear twice in “Eyes of the World.” He said that he thinks it's possible each of us may have some tune, or song, that we hum or sing to ourselves, nothing particularly amazing or fine, necessarily, that is our own song. Our song.  The song leaves plenty of room for our own interpretation of certain lines and sections. The verse about the redeemer fading away, being followed by a clay-laden wagon. The myriad of images of birds, beeches, flowers, seeds, horses.... One of my all time favorite songs, Dead or otherwise.  A perfect jam tune.  Great lyrics, fun sing along chorus and some of the finest music you will ever hear between the verses.  First really fell for it while at a small show one night my junior year at Michigan in the Michigan Union, a Cleveland based dead cover band call Oroboros.  We were all dancing and this tune just seemed to go on forever, it might have been whatever we were on at the time, but regardless, this tune really caught my attention.  I then did the standard Dead dive to find as many versions of the song as I could on the limited live Dead releases at that time and via show tapes.  Often followed Estimated Prophet in the first part of the second set, china/rider/estimated/eyes or scarlet/fire/estimated/eyes and sometimes even Help/Slip/Frank/Estimated/Eyes.  Regardless of where it appeared, hearing the opening notes was magical because you knew that for the next 10 – 12 minutes Jerry had you in the palm of his hand. This is just a great version, coming out of the Dark Star/Mind Left Body Jam and then continuing on into China Doll (two great Jerry tunes in a row!) and a standout Sugar Mag to close out the second set.  Any '73 Eyes will leave you in awe and this one is one of the best. Played:  382 timesFirst:  February 9, 1973 at Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USALast:  July 6, 1995 at Riverport Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO  OUTRO:                               And We Bid You Goodnight  (encore out of Uncle John's Band/Johnny B. Goode) 3 song encore!!                                                Track #25                                                :40 – 3:03 The Grateful Dead performed the song a number of times in the 1968-1970 and 1989-1990 periods but infrequently during the rest of their performing career. On Grateful Dead recordings the title used is either And We Bid You Goodnight or We Bid You Goodnight. The Grateful Dead version of this traditional 'lowering down' funeral song originates from a recording by Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family which was released in 1965. The title used on that recording, as on many others, is I Bid You Good Night. This song appears to share a common ancestry with the song Sleep On Beloved from North East England. I got to see it the first night at Alpine Valley in 1989 (the Dead's last year at Alpine) and it really caught the crowd off guard.  Great reaction from the Deadheads.  Kind of a chills down your spine thing.  I was with One armed Lary and Alex, both had been with us at Deer Creek right before.  Lary stayed for all three nights but Alex had to take off after the first show.  Great times.  Played:  69 timesFirst:  January 26, 1968 at Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA, USALast:  September 26, 1991 at Boston Garden, Boston, MA, USA  Thank you for listening.  Join us again next week for more music news, marijuana news and another featured Grateful Dead show. Have a great week, have fun, be safe and as always, enjoy your cannabis responsibly.   .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

Phil Lesh: A Tribute to a Musical IconIn this episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show, Larry Mishkin discusses the significance of the Grateful Dead's concert on November 4, 1977, at Colgate University, along with various music news updates, tributes to Phil Lesh, and reflections on Quincy Jones's legacy. The conversation highlights the dynamics of the band during the concert, the impact of newer jam bands like Goose, and the importance of preserving musical legacies through releases like Dave's Picks. In this episode, Larry discusses the latest music news, particularly focusing on the Grateful Dead's legacy and their recent box set releases. He reflects on the band's unique performances and the significance of their music. The conversation then shifts to marijuana legalization efforts, particularly in Florida, where a recent ballot measure was rejected despite public support. Larry expresses disappointment in the political landscape surrounding marijuana and emphasizes the benefits of legalization. The episode concludes with a deep dive into a specific Grateful Dead performance, highlighting the band's improvisational style and the joy their music brings to fans.TakeawaysThis episode was recorded on Election Day, November 5th.The Grateful Dead's show on November 4, 1977, is a highlight.The Jones Gang incident showcased the band's playful dynamics.Goose represents the new generation of jam bands.Phil Lesh's influence on music and improvisation is profound.Quincy Jones's legacy in music is celebrated.Dave's Picks Volume 52 features a remarkable concert.The importance of preserving musical history through recordings.Larry reflects on his personal experiences with the Grateful Dead.The episode blends cannabis culture with music appreciation. Music brings joy and relaxation after a long day.The Grateful Dead's legacy continues to inspire new generations.Unique performances can redefine classic songs.Marijuana legalization faces political challenges despite public support.The benefits of marijuana legalization are well-documented.Music and cannabis culture often intersect in meaningful ways.The improvisational nature of the Grateful Dead's music is a hallmark of their performances.Public sentiment can sometimes clash with political decisions.The Grateful Dead's music remains timeless and relevant.Engaging with music and cannabis responsibly enhances the experience.Sound Bites"This is a special episode being taped on Election Day.""It's just a big love fest with all these guys.""Phil has changed my life.""Quincy was the man I won my first Grammy with.""It's a wonderful, wonderful show.""You just don't know what you're missing out on.""It's just cool to hear it.""This is a pretty amazing second set.""It's a very cool segue from one into the other.""It's a must hear.""It's a wonderful part of the show.""It's a very unfortunate thing that this happened.""People in Florida are gonna smoke marijuana anyway.""It's a great way to end this wonderful show."Chapters00:00Introduction and Context of the Episode03:45Exploring the Grateful Dead's November 4, 1977 Show11:34The Jones Gang Incident and Band Dynamics16:49Music News: Goose and Gen 3 Jam Bands20:51Tributes to Phil Lesh and Reflections on Legacy25:30Remembering Quincy Jones: A Musical Legend30:06Dave's Picks Volume 52: A Review36:30Celebrating Music and New Releases38:53Exploring the Grateful Dead's Legacy44:17Marijuana News and Legalization Efforts01:01:01Deep Dive into Grateful Dead Performances01:09:55Closing Thoughts and Reflections LARRY'S NOTES:Grateful Dead November 11, 1977 (47 years ago)Cotterrell GymnasiumColgate UniversityHamilton, NYGrateful Dead Live at Cotterrell Gym, Colgate U on 1977-11-04 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Dave's Picks #12 This show literally “popped up out of nowhere” during the very famous fall tour of the very famous 1977 year of touring.  On November 1st they played in Detroit's legendary Cobo Hall.  The next night up in Toronto.  They had Nov. 3 set for Utica, NY but the show fell through a few weeks before.  They were still set for Rochester on Nov. 5th (which was released as Dick's Picks #34) and Binghamton on Nov. 7th.  So less than 4 weeks before this show, while already hitting the road, negotiations began for this show which were only finalized the night before.  Cotterrell gym on the Colgate campus is a small venue.  Think large high school gym with pull out bleachers.  There were only 3,000 folks at the show.  But 2300 of them were held for Colgate students so only 700 were sold to the public or really the Deadheads.  A tough ticket as the Heads used to say.  But those who made it in had a ball and saw one of the best shows of the year. One of those shows that lots of Deadheads wished they had seen. This version of the show from Archive, is an audience tape and a great contrast to other episodes where we have featured Dead show clips from audience tapes.  This one was taped by Jerry Moore who was set up directly behind the soundboard.  Go to Archive and check  out the entire show. On a personal note, glad to see that Archive is back up and running after its hacking episode a few weeks ago.  INTRO:                     Dupree's Diamond Blues                                    Track #8                                    2:50 – 4:52 "Dupree's Diamond Blues" is based on an American folk song titled "Frankie Dupree," which was based on a real historical figure named Frank Dupree.According to In The Pine: Selected Kentucky Folksongs, Dupree tried robbing a diamond wedding ring from a jewelry store in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1921. He intended to give the ring to his girlfriend Betty. When a police officer showed up, Dupree shot him dead. He then fled to Chicago where he killed another officer and wounded others.Authorities eventually apprehended Dupree while he was getting his mail. They shipped him back to Atlanta where he was executed on September 1, 1922.The song is the second track on the Grateful Dead's third album, Aoxomoxoa (1969). As with most of the songs on the album, Dead lyricist Robert Hunter wrote the words and Dead frontman Jerry Garcia wrote the music.Well when I get those jelly roll bluesThe term "jelly roll" was once common African American slang for a woman's genitalia. The great ragtime pianist Jelly Roll Morton took his name from that very meaning. In 1924, Morton recorded an influential jazz song titled "Jelly Roll Blues," which is most likely what Hunter is referencing here. Debuted in January, 1969 and played a total of 17 times that year. Then dropped until Oct 2, 1977 at the Paramount Theater in Portland, OR, played 4 times that year, this version being the last one of the year. Played twice in 1978, then put back on the shelf until Aug. 28, 1982 at the Oregon County Fair in Veneta, OR (home to the famous show from August 27, 1972 to support the Creamery). From '82 to '90 played at least once a year, '85 was the outlier with 16 performances Only played two more times, both in 1994. This is a great version with Jerry's lyrics and playing both very strong. The 8th song of the first set following:  GO TO ARCHIVE LINK A beautiful Bertha opening but I have featured that song so much, and it is such a common opener, that I needed to go with something else today.  I love it from the 1969 Fillmore West shows where two of the nights the second set would start with DuPree's into Mountains of the Moon before jumping into the fabulous Dark Star/St. Stephen/11/Lovelight suite (in my humble opinion, the best suite of songs ever played by the Dead and certainly the one that best defines the band and the basic foundation that supports so much of their music. Played:         82 timesFirst:              January 24, 1969 at Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA, USALast:              October 13, 1994 at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA   SHOW No. 1:         Tuning (start of second set, stage banter re Jones Gang)                                    Track #10                                    :15 – End Why did Phil do this?  To kill time, he was dosed, adding a bit of levity to the evening's proceedings.  Or there is this:Two nights before the Dead played in Toronto at Seneca College's Field House.  The night before was at Cobo Hall in Detroit.  So they took the 3d off while traveling from Toronto to Hamilton, NY to play this show.  Apparently, the band could not or did not want to try to take their stash into Canada.  Keith Richards of the Stones had just been busted in Canada for possession and no one wanted to take any chances.  SO . . . . it seems they were “jonesing” from something, weed, acid, or whatever. Many of the Deadhead reports of the show in Archive and at the Dead Setlist Program note that the guys seemed very stoned or, more likely, dosed.  They were wearing sunglasses indoors in the evening. Good friend Henry was a student at Colgate in 1977 and attended the show.  In telling me about it, he basically began with the Jones Gang episode.  So it was cool to finally hear the show and hear Phil do his thing.  A great way to keep everybody entertained while waiting for some technical issues to be resolved.  And something that was sadly missing in their later years when basically none of them said anything while on stage, Bobby sporadically with a comment and Jerry I saw speak from the stage maybe 5 times out of 110 shows.  This is the kind of stuff that normalized them and separated them from the button down rock acts that showed up, played the same set list that they had played all tour and would keep playing  When they spoke it was all pre planned, “Thank you (insert name of city where they are playing). And then launched into a killer Samson (even though it was a Friday).  Just part of another great Dead experience and the kind of thing that makes it easy to remember the show even years later.  Everyone talks about the Jones Gang show, maybe more than they think of it as a Colgate show or Hamilton, NY show.  Sure took Henry back.  MUSIC NEWS:      Music Intro:                                    Cold Rain & Snow                                    Goose                                    10.25.2024                                    LJVM Coliseum                                    Winston-Salem, N.C.                                    Goose - “Cold Rain and Snow” (10/25/24 - LJVM Coliseum - Winston-Salem, NC) (youtube.com)                                    0:10 – 1:05 Another Phil tribute by one of the most promising Gen3 (Gen1 = Dead; Gen2=Phish) jam bands on the scene.  Not the first time they have covered the Dead, but it's a damn good cover of a tune that traces its Dead roots to their very first album and even before that.  Jerry loved it.  Phil made it happen and restarted his singing career on the closing chorus in 1982 at MSG.  And Goose nails it here.  They really bring it every time they play.  The jam band that I figure will outlast me! Mickey and Mike Gordon statements on Phil's passing: Quincy Jones dies: Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024 at 91) was an American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer.[1] Over his course of his career he received several accolades including 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.[2] Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before producing pop hit records for Lesley Gore in the early 1960s (including "It's My Party") and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Jones produced three of the most successful albums by pop star Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). In 1985, Jones produced and conducted the charity song "We Are the World", which raised funds for victims of famine in Ethiopia.[3] Jones composed numerous films scores including for The Pawnbroker (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967), In Cold Blood (1967), The Italian Job (1969), The Wiz (1978), and The Color Purple (1985). He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the miniseries Roots (1977). He received a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical as a producer for the revival of The Color Purple (2016). Throughout career he was the recipient of numerous honorary awards including the Grammy Legend Award in 1992, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, the National Medal of the Arts in 2011, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2014, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2024. He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time.[1] "I woke up today to the Terrible news that we lost Quincy Jones.. Genius is a description loosely used but Rarely deserved. Point blank, Quincy was the MAN. I won my 1st Grammy with Quincy and I live with his Wisdom daily," Ice-T on X. Dave's Picks, Volume 52 (The Downs At Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM • 9/11/83)Time to order Dave's Picks 2025 subscription.  I say it every year.  SHOW No. 2:         Eyes of the World                                    Track #15                                    11:10 – END                                     INTO                                     Estimated Prophet                                    Track #16                                    Start - :20 The unique thing in this segment is that it is the first, and one of the only times, that the band played Eyes into Estimated as it was almost always played as Estimated>Eyes.  This is the end of Eyes jam and segue into Estimated.  Very cool to hear it played “backwards”.  This entire Eyes (all 13 minutes of it), is magnificent and a must hear if you are looking for some great Dead jamming to rock to.  On this night, the boys were apparently in a state of mind that let them do a bit of exploring away from the norm for them, if there even is a “Dead norm”.  It sure worked out well for the rest of us.  SHOW No. 3:         The Other One                                    Track #17                                    :52 – 3:00             We've featured this song so many times, discussed the whole That's It For The Other One suite and all of its subparts. This one is the opposite, a 4 minutes 20 seconds version, with the first 3+ minutes just a hard jam.  They only sing the first verse of the standard Other One and then head straight into Drums.  This clip just features the jam with Jerry leading the way.  So clean and powerful, if 1977 is the best year ever for the band, then this has to be one of its peaks.  Maybe not the best of '77 because Barton Hall, but still way up there for nights when the band was truly smoking hot and holding nothing back.  Some of the best post-1970 psychedelic Dead that you will ever hear.  Everyone in sync and making the magic that kept us all coming back for more until there was no more to come back to.  Just buckle in and enjoy the ride. Played:         550 timesFirst:  October 31, 1967 at Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago MJ NEWS:    SHOW No. 4:         Playin Reprise                                    Track #21                                    3:00 – 6:34 "Playing in the Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitaristBob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart.[1] The song first emerged in embryonic form on the self-titled 1971 live albumGrateful Dead. It then appeared in a more polished form on Ace, Bob Weir's first solo album (which included every Grateful Dead member except Ron "Pigpen" McKernan). During a Bob Weir and Wolf Bros concert livestream on February 12, 2021, Weir credited David Crosby with the composition of the main riff. Weir stated, "David Crosby came up with the seminal lick... and then he left. We were out at Mickey's barn. So Mickey said, 'Make a song out of that'. Next day, I had it".[ It has since become one of the best-known Grateful Dead numbers and a standard part of their repertoire. According to Deadbase X, it ranks fourth on the list of songs played most often in concert by the band with 581 performances. In the Grateful Dead's live repertoire, all songs featured musical improvisation and many featured extended instrumental solos; but certain key songs were used as starting points for serious collective musical improvisation—the entire band creating spontaneously all at once. In this regard "Playing in the Band" was of major importance, second only to "Dark Star". During "Playing in the Band" the Grateful Dead would play the planned verses and choruses of the song itself; then they would improvise and explore brand new musical territory, sometimes for twenty minutes or more; and then the chorus would usually be reprised, to bring the song to its end. Sometimes during these extended "jams", the band would even perform other entire songs, before at last coming back around to the final chorus aka the “Reprise”. On some occasions, more early on than later, the band would play the main song, jam for some amount of time and slide back in for the reprise.  Its performance in this style on 21 May 1974 at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle has been cited as the longest uninterrupted performance of a single song in the Grateful Dead's history, clocking in at 46 minutes and 32 seconds.[3][4] It was released in 2018 on the boxset Pacific Northwest '73–'74: The Complete Recordings and as its own LP.  Very cool – an entire album just for one song.  Like Phish' Ruby Waves at Alpine Valley in 2019 got its own album. Then later they might add a song or two in between the main portion and the reprise. Then later they might hold it for the encore the same night the main song had been performed. Then later, they might hold it until the night after the main song had been performed and then two nights later and sometimes 3.  Not uncommon for play the main song the first night of a multi-night run and then the reprise the last night.  Usually during the show, but as stated, sometimes in the encore. Then they might forget to ever get back to it, play the main song again and the whole process would repeat as everyone would wait to see if and when they would finally play the reprise. David Dodd:  To me, the unpredictability of a “Playin” jam was always a highlight of a show. It could get incredibly far out there—completely away from anything—and then, just like that, snap back in, quietly and cautiously or slam-bang, or later, after they'd played most of another song, or a whole set, into the “Playin Reprise.” Sometimes the reprise would never occur. While it usually ran 3 or 4 minutes, this show's reprise went almost 7 minutes with an extended jam before they every got to the reprise lyrics. For Phish fans, think Twe-pri.  For non Phish fans that's the song Tweezer and its “reprise” and that band takes all sorts of liberties with it.  Not so unlike the Dead's style as previously discussed but most famously, at least as far as I know as a still neophyte Phish head, during their 13 show Baker's Dozen run at MSG, Phish played Tweezer the very first night on July 21st to open the second set and then the Twi-Pri finally showed up on August 6th as the second song of the encore after On The Road Again to close out the entire 13 night run. Reprises are great! Played:  648 times (no separate breakdown for how may Reprises were played but I'm sure there were times they never got back to a reprise although one year April Fools 1985 at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland MA – actually March 31st but called it their April Fools joke even though they did play again the next night, April 1, at the same venue - they played the reprise first and then the main song)First:  February 18, 1971 at Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, USALast:  July 5, 1995 at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO  OUTRO                     Johnny B. Goode (Bob – “Happy Homecoming”)                                    Track #22                                    0:12 – 2:08 We've also featured this song quite a bit, a Chuck Berry classic covered by almost every rock n roll band that ever played a set of music and even some that never did.  Its guitar intro is as famous a song opening as any in the genre.  I love this version because of Bobby's greetings to the students wishing them a happy homecoming!  Imagine going to your high school or college homecoming dance and the band is the Grateful Dead.  Now that's a story to tell.  Not sure and I don't think it really matters whether that weekend was or was not Colgate's homecoming.  It just showed that stoned and all, Bobby knew he was on a college campus. Almost always played as an encore or show closer if no encore.  Unlike another Chuck Berry classic covered by the Dead, The Promised Land, which could be played as a show opener, set closer, second set opener, encore, it would pop up just about anywhere. Great way to end a great show.  The boys just blow the walls down on this one.  Or, as commenter RFKROX posted back in 2008 about this version, “Oh, and the Johnny B. Goode is the most incredible rockin' version I've ever heard this band play!! It's the fucking SHIT!!”  I couldn't have said it any better myself! Played:   283 timesFirst:  September 7, 1969 at Family Dog on the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  April 5, 1995 at Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum, Birmingham, AL, USA  - very interesting, not played at all on the final summer tour.  .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

In this episode, we dive into the wonders of August 2024 skies. This month, you can look forward to viewing several planets, the Perseid Meteor Shower, the Moon's Alpine Valley, and we'll examine some of the best globular clusters in Sagittarius. We'll also update you on some space missions and much more! I'm apologizing in advance for the nasal sound of my voice, my allergies were bothering me. If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe, comment, and share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Carpe Noctem! Links: Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee or two! We really appreciate it! https://tinyurl.com/AstroGuyCoffee Our Facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/astro... Stellarium: https://stellarium.org/ August 2024 Episode Guide: https://tinyurl.com/AGSept24Guide The Full Episode Guide of DSO's sorted by Catalog Name: http://tinyurl.com/AGFullGuide Saturn Occultation: https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20... Cranford TV-35: https://www.cranfordnj.org/tv-35 Clark TV-36:

A Festival Odyssey: Phish, Mondegreens, and Moments with My SonLarry Mishkin reflects on his recent experience attending the Mondegreen Festival, a Phish festival in Dover, Delaware, with his son and friends. He shares his enthusiasm for the event, highlighting the performances and the significance of certain songs, including "The MoMA Dance" and "NICU," which have deep ties to Phish's history and fan culture. Larry provides a detailed history of Phish festivals, from the Clifford Ball in 1996 to the most recent Mondegreen Festival, noting memorable moments, attendance figures, and unique aspects of each event. The episode also includes a brief discussion on the 60th anniversary of The Beatles' performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado. Larry expresses his excitement about attending the festival with his son and reminisces about the special bond they shared during the event.MONDEGREENPhishAugust 15 – 18, 2024The WoodlandsDover Delaware Band's 11th festival, NOT counting Curveball set for 2018 that was canceled at the last minute due to contaminated water supply due to heavy rains and flooding. Nine year gap between MagnaBall in March, 2015 and Mondegreen, biggest gap between festivals in band's history.  INTRO:                                 Moma Dance                                                Night One, August 15, 2024                                                First Night, First Set, First Song (into Back On The Train)                                                Phish @ The Woodlands, Mondegreen Festival, Dover DE 2024-08-15 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive                                                Track #2                                                2:31 – 4:05 By:  Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/McConnell/MarshallPlayed:First Played:  6/30/98 in Copenhagen, DenmarkMost recent: August 15, 2024 (Mondegreen)Current Gap:  3 shows The title of “Moma” is another example of Phish Phonetics, cleverly transforming the moment ends lyric into a reference to a display of “The Rhombus” at New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).Mondegreen:  are they saying, “The Moma Dance” OR “the Moment Ends”??                               SHOW No 1:                     NICU                                                Night One, August 15, 2024                                                First Set, 6th song (out of Roggae and into A Wave of Hope)                                                Phish @ The Woodlands, Mondegreen Festival, Dover DE 2024-08-15 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive                                                Track #7                                                3:00 – 4:56 By:         Anastasio/MarshallPlayed 156 timesFirst Played: 3.6.92 at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NHMost Recent:  August 15, 2024 (Mondegreen)Gap: 3 shows Has any Phish song had as many names with as many explanations as “NICU”? At its debut in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Trey introduced the song as “In an Intensive Care Unit.” Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to “NICU,” which some considered a play on a line from the backing vocals in the chorus (“and I see you”) and others noted was the abbreviation for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Shortly thereafter, the “controversy” began, as controversy can only begin among rabid Phish fans. Some called the song “And I See You.” Some stuck with the original “In an Intensive Care Unit.” Other interesting theories developed, including one from the Internet where a fan noted that the elements Nickel (NI) and Copper (Cu) are side-by-side on the Periodic Table and that the title “NICU” may thus be a reference to nickels and pennies or, more likely, small change.  Title is a Mondegreen for “And I See You” Music News (from Mondegreen) Matthew's crew:  Matthew, me, Donny, Jake, Dave and Seth Michigan Crew:  ??? NYC Crew: Max & Jess, Joey and Darby, Darby's brother, Brad and Sam, Dan the drummer (and?), Dude from Florida and girlfriend (??), Tesh,WHO ELSE SHOULD I MENTION? CLEVELAND CREW:  Kevin, two buddies?  Aaron   Anyone else? Hot and humid/ AC unitsTents v. RV's/bathrooms/food/water and ice/maintenanceStorm – cut Sunday short                        Modern weather technology – good and bad                        Just like 2022 Sacred Rose Festival Secret Set on Aug. 16th second night Driving 12 hours each way                                                  SHOW No. 2:                    I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove                                                Night 3, August 17, 2024 – Second set opener traditional Mike's Groove>Theme From The Bottom                                                November 11, 2012, MSG, NYNY                                                Mike's>Chalk Dust Torture>I Am Hydrogen>Weekapaug                                                Phish | 12.29.11 | Mike's Song → Chalk Dust Torture → I Am Hydrogen → Weekapaug Groove - YouTube                                                15:44 – 17.43 I Am HydrogenBy: Daubert/Marshall/AnastasioPlayed: 350 timesFirst: April 6, 1985 at Finbar's in Burlington, VTMost  Recent: August 17, 2024 (Mondegreen Night 3)Gap: 1 show The story of “I Am Hydrogen” is a love story. Conceived by Tom Marshall and Marc Daubert around 1984-85 on piano and acoustic guitar, they brought their creation over to Trey's house, where it was recorded. Trey added a harmony to it on his electric guitar, and the “Hydrogen” we have come to know was born. Initially intended for Tom, Marc, and Trey's band Bivouac, “Hydrogen” ended up in the Phish lineup and made its debut, all alone, on 4/6/85.  After a few years, it became the connector between Mike's Song and Weekapaug Groove. Into Weekapaug GrooveBy:  Anastasio/Fishman/McConnell/GordonPlayed: 523 timesFirst: 7.23.1988 at Pete's Phabulous Phish Phest in Underhill, VTMost Recent:  August 17, 2024 (Mondegreen Night 3)Gap: 1 show “Weekapaug Groove” takes its name from the town of Weekapaug, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in southwestern Rhode Island. According to Mike, the song's lyrics (“Trying to make a woman that you move, sharing in a Weekapaug Groove”) are meaningless. As Mike said in a 9/9/97 interview with Parke Puterbaugh: “So we came back to Boston [from Weekapaug, after playing a gig there at a yacht club], and I guess we were in the van or the Voyager we used to drive in, and that song “Oh What a Night” came on the radio. You know that one? That awful Four Seasons song? We just constantly listened to songs and changed around the words as to what they might sound like. I always had a particularly hard time hearing lyrics anyway, so I always would sing a song on the radio, sing along with the wrong words. So the bridge of that song goes ‘Oh I-I-I trying to something,' but I was singing it, ‘Oh I-I-I trying to make a woman that you move,' which means nothing, 'sharing in a Weekapaug groove.' So we all just started singing that, as complete nonsense: ‘trying to make a woman that you move.' It never occurred to any of us that it had any meaning, ever. There was a period of time that we were singing it, and I used to just yell out the lyrics, between singing them I would just yell them out as if I was preaching them, just to sort of make it more ironic that they have no meaning.”  SHOW No. 3:                    Yamar                                                Night 4, August 18, 2024 – First set 10th song out of Stash and into Timber                                                August 17, 1996, Clifford Ball, Plattsburgh AFB, Plattsburgh, NY (1st Phish Festival) into It's Ice                                                Phish-Ya Mar-Clifford Ball (youtube.com)                                                0:13 – 1:45 By:  Cyril Ferguson                27th November 1951 - Cyril 'Dry Bread' Ferguson was born in Nassau, New Providence, Bahama Islands.Ferguson was a Bahamian musician and entertainer. He composed songs in the genres of goombay, calypso and Bahamian pop music.Some of his more popular songs include: Ya Mar, Sunshine On My Body, Bahamian Music and Don't Squeeze The Mango.Ferguson died of complications related to diabetes on 9th April 2009. “Ya Mar” resides as a favorite in the hearts of many fans. It represents one of Phish's few forays into calypso and is among the most playful and danceable songs in the band's repertoire. And anytime Trey screams for Page to take the reins – “Play it, Leoooooo!” – the crowd is apt to go wild. Page's nickname actually comes from this line in the original, where The Mustangs urged their own piano man to step into the spotlight. The title seems to reference the slurred interpretation of “your ma,” as the singer recounts the disdain his lover's family has for him. Phish put their own unique stamp on it by often changing the “no good pa” lyric in the chorus to mimic their own “oh kee pa” phrase.  Played: 232 timesFirst: 2.21.1987 at Slade Hall, UV, Burlington, VTMost Recent:  8.18.2024Gap: 0 shows Marijuana News Senator Says Harris Will ‘Be Ready To Sign' Marijuana Reform Bills If Elected PresidentGOP Senators Claim Marijuana Is A ‘Gateway Drug' As They Oppose Rescheduling And Legalization3.      People Who Use Marijuana Are Less Likely To Be Obese, New Study Shows                 SHOW No. 4:                    Simple                                                Night 4, August 18, 2024 – First set second to last song of Izabella and into Golden Age                                                July 27, 2024, Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI second set out of Sigma Oasis and into The Howling                                                Phish - 7/27/2024 - Simple (4K HDR) (youtube.com)                                                0:18 – 1:28 By:         GordonPlayed:  209 timesFirst:     5.27.1994 at the Warfield Theater in San FranciscoMost Recent:  August 18, 2024 (Mondegreen Night 4)Gap: 0 shows "Simple" was first written and recorded by Mike Gordon in a four-track medium in the Doo-wop style and introduced to the band during the studio sessions forHoist. This version reflected the country and bluegrass writing style of many previous Gordon compositions. The song was left off of the albumand the band showed hesitation in performing it live. Then, on 5/27/94, “Simple” debuted in a very strange and raw fashion during the “Mike's Song” at the Warfield in San Francisco. In contrast to the song we know today, the debut version of “Simple” was Mike's original lyrics sung by the band members over a jam that had emerged from “Mike's.” Three weeks later, “Simple” was played for a second time at the historic 6/17/94 gig, the same night that much of the country was watching the low-speed police chase of O.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco through L.A. This version was significantly reworked and sounded much like the “Simple” we are accustomed to hearing today, with the exception of a minor humoristic augmentation providing the line “We've got O.J., cause we've got a band.” Mondegreen:  We've got a cymbal (simple) cause we've got a band   OUTRO:                               Twee Pri                                                Night 3, August 17, 2024 – Encore out of YEM into end of show                                                April 20, 2024, The Sphere, Las Vegas, NV Encore out of A Life Beyond the Dream into end of show                                                Tvidler 202202 11 by Ryan Maguire (youtube.com)                                                0:00 – end By:  Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/McConnellPlayed:  321 tiesFirst:  2.1.1991 at Alumnae Hall, Brown University — Providence, RIMost Recent: 8.17.2024 Mondegreen Night 3Gap: 1 show A "reprise" is a sort of musical afterthought – basically a reintroduction of and variation on the main theme of a piece of music. Thus, “Tweezer Reprise” is a slight variation – a condensation of sorts – of “Tweezer.” As it does on the album A Picture of Nectar, the “Reprise” often follows “Tweezer” in concert, most frequently as an encore song. It is also common as a second set closer following an earlier “Tweezer.” A few times, the “Reprise” has even been spewed out of some long, monster “Tweezer,” serving as the thrilling exclamation point at the end of a raging, set-long sentence (e.g. 5/7/94, 6/22/95).On occasion, “Tweezer Reprise” has shown up as a surprise in a show where there has been no performance of “Tweezer” proper. Although usually this occurs because the “Reprise” will be referring back to a non-reprised “Tweezer” at the previous night's show (e.g. 12/30/96's “Tweezer” was reprised on 12/31/96), the song has been known to appear, albeit rarely, completely free from its Granddaddy counterpart, like on 9/29/99. The most interesting example of this, and perhaps the most unusual “Tweezer Reprise” ever performed, was on 12/8/99, which featured an a cappella version that came out of a “YEM” vocal jam to close the second set. The band later finished off the show with a traditional “Tweezer Reprise” to end the encore. Other interesting versions include 10/27/94 and 10/21/95. .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

This week on Dopey - we had a very special opportunity to spend some time with Tim Kelly - a super inspirational alcoholic/drug addict in recovery. Tim and I did this talk 3 weeks ago - he was basically on his death bed. Last Friday morning Tim finally succumbed to his cancer and died. This episode allows Tim to tell his story of what its like to face death sober. It was humbling and powerful and I was extremely grateful to be able to do it. PLUS John 'Sugar Bear' Bukaty got to travel to 'Tim Fest' where a bunch of Tim's friends - and legendary musicians like Anders Osborne, Ivan Neville, Jason Ricci and Alex Orbison went to see them play. John also got to talk to some of them as well as his friends! All that plus some Dopey emails and more on this heart wrenching new episode of that good ol Dopey Show!   AI SAYS: While he was episode of Dopey is dedicated to Tim Kelly, a man with 21 years of recovery who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Tim's friends organized Tim Fest, a concert event to celebrate his life. The episode features interviews with Tim and his friends, including musicians like Anders Osborne and Jason Ricci. Tim shares his journey of addiction, recovery, and his love for the Grateful Dead. The episode also includes stories from Dopey listeners and sponsors promoting addiction recovery centers. Tim shares his experiences of attending Grateful Dead shows and his struggles with alcoholism. He talks about his journey of finding spirituality through the 12-step program and the importance of willingness and vulnerability. Tim also discusses his current battle with cancer and his perspective on life and death. This conversation covers Tim Kelly's battle with cancer, his journey in recovery, and the impact he had on others. The themes include spirituality, family dynamics, addiction, sobriety, and acceptance. The conversation highlights the importance of support systems, the challenges of addiction and recovery, and the power of love and connection. The takeaways include the significance of living a meaningful life, the importance of being present, and the impact of Tim's legacy. The titles could be 'Finding Meaning in the Face of Adversity', 'The Power of Love and Connection', and 'Embracing Life's Challenges with Courage and Resilience'. keywordsTim Kelly, addiction, recovery, cancer, Tim Fest, Grateful Dead, music, Dopey listeners, sponsors, Grateful Dead, alcoholism, spirituality, 12-step program, cancer, life, death, Tim Kelly, cancer, recovery, spirituality, addiction, sobriety, family dynamics, support systems, love, connection takeaways Tim Kelly, a man with 21 years of recovery, was diagnosed with terminal cancer Tim Fest was organized to celebrate Tim's life and featured interviews with Tim and his friends Tim shares his journey of addiction, recovery, and his love for the Grateful Dead The episode includes stories from Dopey listeners and sponsors promoting addiction recovery centers The Grateful Dead played a significant role in Tim's life, and he attended numerous shows throughout the years. Tim struggled with alcoholism and found solace and support in the 12-step program. He emphasizes the importance of willingness and vulnerability in finding spirituality. Tim is currently battling cancer and has a positive outlook on life and death. Living a meaningful life in the face of adversity The importance of being present and embracing life's challenges The power of love and connection in recovery The impact of Tim Kelly's legacy titles From Addiction to Recovery: Tim's Journey Stories of Hope and Healing from Dopey Listeners The Grateful Dead and the Impact on Tim's Life Embracing Life and Death in the Face of Cancer The Power of Love and Connection Finding Meaning in the Face of Adversity Sound Bites "Welcome to the show. Well, thank you for having me." "I always say that AA, the Grateful Dead, and yoga have influenced my life." "When I was at the top of Alpine Valley, I had arrived." "John Belushi, I see the light." "Violent Thumbs are opening up." "People started coming around to me to get things done." "And that's why I was so bummed. You know, obviously it was God's fucking tropical storm or whatever that, but I was so bummed because I, I never, don't say never. rarely go." "Phenomenal man. Agreed. I want to talk more about, I want to talk about your son. Okay. Like when your son was at his worst, does he go straight to you? In two ways, in violent ways, and then when he's in remorse for help." "But a wrestling altercation, you it's not punches, it's more wrestling. And he hates me. He hates me because he hates my recovery. He knows since then and he's made his amends to me. He says it was, I knew that's where I was going to be and you were cheating me." Chapters 00:00Introduction and Sponsor Promotion 02:22Reflecting on Loss and Life 03:20Life's Challenges and Gravitas 04:14Impactful Stories from Dopey Listeners 06:06Humorous and Disgusting Stories 10:19Encouraging Listener Stories 11:13Sponsor Promotion and Introduction to Tim Kelly 12:41Tim Kelly's Journey and Tim Fest 14:07The Last Recording of Tim Kelly 15:06Interview with John Bucati at Tim Fest 20:16Interview with Tim Kelly 41:00The Influence of the Grateful Dead and Yoga 45:52Falling in Love with the Grateful Dead 46:51Conclusion and Sponsor Promotion 48:19Struggles with Alcoholism 56:02Finding Spirituality through the 12-Step Program 01:19:43Love and Relationships in Recovery 01:28:32Embracing Life and Death 01:33:17Embracing Unexpected Opportunities 01:34:44Family Dynamics and Addiction 01:36:41Navigating Recovery and Rebuilding Relationships 01:39:07Acceptance and Finding Support 01:42:03Spirituality and Facing Mortality 01:45:26Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery 01:48:49Living a Meaningful Life in the Face of Adversity 01:52:44Reflecting on Life's Challenges and Legacy

Send us a Text Message.Hi everybody and welcome to this week's episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. You know, everybody has their own standards for what constitutes a “special” Phish show: a killer setlist, monster jams, rarities, meeting up with old friends, making new  friends, going to your hometown venue, and more. I mean, that's the entire premise of this podcast! But every now and again, Phish plays a show that is an undisputed SPECIAL SHOW. A show that encapsulates all of the above, and maybe even a little more. Today's episode with guest Chris Bojar revisits such a show from the recent past: July 14, 2019 at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. There can be little doubt that Phish has a special affinity for the summertime shed, as they've played several great shows there. However, few shows are as explicit as this one, where the band went out of their way to tell the crowd how much they love playing at Alpine Valley, both directly and through goofy antics and banter, including a breakout version of Ruby Waves and putting the pressure on a certain couple to get married. Throw in the fact that Chris is from Wisconsin, and was able to have a buddies weekend at the height of summer and the table is set for an all time great show. And, boy, did Phish deliver.  So let's join Chris to talk about planning setlists, Spock's Brain, and getting harassed by Kentucky police as we discuss July 14, 2019 at Alpine Valley.

Send the show a text message!New Episode of The Space Between Podcast is available now! In this episode, Renae Lipsmeyer interviews Alexander Brandt, fan of the Dave Matthews Band. Alex shares his journey of discovering the band and walks listeners through several of his first live shows such as, Principal Park in Des Moines in 2009, Alpine Valley and Wrigley Field. Alex discusses his Dave Matthews Band TikTok account where he shares information and updates about the Dave Matthews Band.  Renae and Alex discuss the importance of social media in connecting Dave Matthews Band fans and building a sense of community. They highlight the role of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook in bringing fans together and providing a space for sharing content and engaging with the band.  Alex and Renae also mention several Dave Matthews Band podcasts, including The Pod That Jane Likes,  The Corner of Grey Street Podcast and Posters in Every Direction. Available NOW on your favorite podcast APP and on YouTube.  Support the Show.

Send the show a text message!In this episode, Renae Lipsmeyer interviews Alex Brandt, fan of the Dave Matthews Band. Alex shares his journey of discovering the band and walks listeners through several of his first live shows such as, Principal Park in Des Moines in 2009, Alpine Valley and Wrigley Field. Alex discusses his Dave Matthews Band TikTok account where he shares information and updates about the Dave Matthews Band. Renae and Alex discuss the importance of social media in connecting Dave Matthews Band fans and building a sense of community. They highlight the role of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook in bringing fans together and providing a space for sharing content and engaging with the band. Alex and Renae also mention several Dave Matthews Band podcasts, including "The Pod That Jane Likes", "Corner of Grey Street", and "Posters in Every Direction".Peace, Love and DMB Support the Show.

Phish's three-night run at Alpine ValleyLarry Mishkin features a Grateful Dead concert at a "funky" venue on July 29, 1994, at Buckeye Lake, Ohio.  The Grateful Dead opened with "Rain" by the Beatles, reflecting their admiration for the Beatles' music. "Rain," primarily written by John Lennon, was a song exploring themes of reality and illusion and was notable for its use of reverse audio effects. The Grateful Dead incorporated several Beatles songs into their performances, demonstrating their appreciation for the band.The conversation touches on the Grateful Dead's setlist, which included several opening songs like "Feel Like a Stranger" and "Bertha." The speakers recall personal experiences and the excitement of attending these concerts, sharing memories of Buckeye Lake as a vibrant venue despite unpredictable weather. The conversation transitions to "Wang Dang Doodle," a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and performed by artists like Howlin' Wolf and Koko Taylor. The Grateful Dead's affinity for blues music and their ability to blend various musical influences into their performances is highlighted. Larry changes his focus and shifts to a discussion about the band Phish, detailing a recent three-night run at Alpine Valley. He express his excitement and nostalgia for the venue, sharing experiences of attending concerts there over the years. The recap of Phish's performances includes a detailed analysis of the setlists, noting songs like "46 Days," "Moma Dance," "Cities," "Cavern," "Axilla," "Down with Disease," "Bathtub Gin," and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times." Larry's enthusiasm is evident as he recount the energy and musicianship of Phish, highlighting the unique experience of attending their concerts and the connection it fosters among fans.  Grateful DeadJuly 29, 1994  (30 years ago)Buckeye Lake OhioGrateful Dead Live at Buckeye Lake Music Center on 1994-07-29 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive  INTRO:                                 Rain                                                Track #1                                                :26 – 2:10 John Lennon wrote most of "Rain." It was his first song to get really deep, exploring themes of reality and illusion - after all, rain or shine is just a state of mind.Written by John “about people moaning about the weather all the time” as he was becoming more in tune with his role as a social leader – as is evidenced by the lines “I can show you” and “Can you hear me”Played 29 timesFirst:  December 2, 1992 at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, CO, USALast:  June 30, 1995 at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA  SHOW No. 1:                    Wang Dang Doodle                                                Track #4                                                4:03 – 5:43 "Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon. Music critic Mike Rowe calls it a party song in an urban style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat.[1] It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960 and released by Chess Records in 1961. In 1965, Dixon and Leonard Chess persuaded Koko Taylor to record it for Checker Records, a Chess subsidiary. Taylor's rendition quickly became a hit, reaching number thirteen on the Billboard R&B chart and number 58 on the pop chart.[2] "Wang Dang Doodle" became a blues standard[3] and has been recorded by various artists. Taylor's version was added to the United States National Recording Registry in 2023. In 1995, Taylor's rendition was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recording – Singles or Album Tracks" category.[17] The Foundation noted that the song was the last blues single produced by Dixon to reach the record charts, and "became Koko Taylor's signature crowdpleaser, inspiring singalongs to the 'all night long' refrain night after night".[17]Taylor's version of "Wang Dang Doodle" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2023.[18]Chuck Berry, Bruce Hornsby, John Popper, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Willie Dixon's daughter, Shirley Dixon, performed "Wang Dang Doodle" in tribute to Willie Dixon at the 1994 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.In his autobiography, I Am The Blues, Willie Dixon says;Wang Dang Doodle meant a good time. Especially if a guy came in from the South. A wang dang meant having a ball and a lot of dancing, they called it a rocking style so that's what it meant to wang dang doodle. Wang Dang Doodle was first performed by the Grateful Dead in August 1983. The song was played only a few times each year through the rest of the 1980's. From 1991 onwards it was performed more often averaging about 15 performances a year through to 1995.  Played: 95 timesFirst:  August 26, 1983 at Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, USALast:  July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, USA  MUSIC NEWS: Phish shows, Friday and Saturday night at Alpine ValleyRIP – John Mayall  SHOW No. 2:                    Althea                                                Track #7                                                9:40 – end                                                 INTO                                                 Eternity                                                Track #8                                                0:00 – 1:39 Co-writing a song with one of your personal heroes—that seems like a dream come true.Willie Dixon (1915-1992) was one of the preeminent blues songwriters and performers of all time. The Grateful Dead covered a fairly lengthy list of his songs, attesting to his influence on the band: “Down in the Bottom,” “I Ain't Superstitious,” “I Just Want to Make Love To You,” “Little Red Rooster,” “The Same Thing,” “Spoonful,” and “Wang Dang Doodle.” Plus a couple they only played once, or only in soundcheck.The song was written during the sessions for Rob Wasserman's Trios album. “Guitar Player” magazine ran an interview with Weir in 1993:I had this chord progression and melody that I wanted to run by Willie to see if he liked it .... he did, so he started dashing off words. He wanted me to run a certain section by him again and stuff like that, and we started working on a bridge. Then he dashes off this sheet of lyrics and hands it to me. Now I'm really stoked to be working with the legendary Willie Dixon and I'm prepared for just about anything.He hands these lyrics to me and I'm reading through them. And they seem, you know, awfully simplistic. Like there wasn't a whole lot to them........Now he wants me to read through it and sing the melody I have and see if they fit. And so I started singing through these simplistic lyrics, and that simplicity takes on a whole other direction.By the time I had sung through them, it's like my head is suddenly eons wide. I can hear what's happening just sort of echoing around in there and I'm astounded by the simple grace of what he has just presented to me. I'm sitting there with my mouth open literally, and Willie's laughing. He's just sitting there laughing, saying, 'Now you see it. Now you see it. That's the wisdom of the bluesPlayed:  44 timesFirst:  February 21, 1993 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA, USALast:  July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, USA  SHOW No. 3:                    I Want To Tell You                                                Track #11                                                0:00 – 1:35 "I Want to Tell You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. It was written and sung by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. After "Taxman" and "Love You To", it was the third Harrison composition recorded for Revolver. Its inclusion on the LP marked the first time that he was allocated more than two songs on a Beatles album, a reflection of his continued growth as a songwriter beside John Lennon and Paul McCartney.When writing "I Want to Tell You", Harrison drew inspiration from his experimentation with the hallucinogenic drug LSD. The lyrics address what he later termed "the avalanche of thoughts that are so hard to write down or say or transmit".[1] In combination with the song's philosophical message, Harrison's stuttering guitar riff and the dissonance he employs in the melody reflect the difficulties of achieving meaningful communication. The recording marked the first time that McCartney played his bass guitar part after the band had completed the rhythm track for a song, a technique that became commonplace on the Beatles' subsequent recordings.George Harrison wrote "I Want to Tell You" in the early part of 1966, the year in which his songwriting matured in terms of subject matter and productivity.[2] As a secondary composer to John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the Beatles,[3] Harrison began to establish his own musical identity through his absorption in Indian culture,[4][5] as well as the perspective he gained through his experiences with the hallucinogenic drug LSD.[6] According to author Gary Tillery, the song resulted from a "creative surge" that Harrison experienced at the start of 1966. In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says that "I Want to Tell You" addresses "the avalanche of thoughts that are so hard to write down or say or transmit".[1][12] Authors Russell Reising and Jim LeBlanc cite the song, along with "Rain" and "Within You Without You", as an early example of the Beatles abandoning "coy" statements in their lyrics and instead "adopt[ing] an urgent tone, intent on channeling some essential knowledge, the psychological and/or philosophical epiphanies of LSD experience" to their listeners.[13] Writing in The Beatles Anthology, Harrison likened the outlook inspired by his taking the drug to that of "an astronaut on the moon, or in his spaceship, looking back at the Earth. I was looking back to the Earth from my awareness." Played: 7 timesFirst:  July 1, 1994 at Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, USALast:  May 24, 1995 at Memorial Stadium, Seattle, WA, USA MJ NEWS  SHOW No. 4:                    Standing On The Moon                                                Track #19                                                7:23 – 9:00 Garcia/Hunter tune from Built To Last (1989) Played:  76 timesFirst:  February 5, 1989 at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, CA, USALast:  June 30, 1995 at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA  OUTRO:                               Quinn The Eskimo                                                Track #21                                                2:28 – 4:17 "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written and first recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the Basement Tapes sessions. The song's first release was in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" in a version by the British band Manfred Mann,[4] which became a great success. It has been recorded by a number of performers, often under the "Mighty Quinn" title.The subject of the song is the arrival of Quinn (an Eskimo), who prefers a more relaxed lifestyle [" jumping queues, and making haste just ain't my cup of meat"] and refuses hard work ["Just tell me where to put 'em and I'll tell you who to call"], but brings joy to the people.Dylan is widely believed to have derived the title character from actor Anthony Quinn's role as an Eskimo in the 1960 movie The Savage Innocents.[5] Dylan has also been quoted as saying that the song was nothing more than a "simple nursery rhyme". A 2004 Chicago Tribune article[6] said the song was named after Gordon Quinn, co-founder of Kartemquin Films, who had given Dylan and Howard Alk uncredited editing assistance on Eat the Document.Dylan first recorded the song in 1967 during the Basement Tapes sessions, but did not release a version for another three years. Meanwhile, the song was picked up and recorded in December 1967 by the British band Manfred Mann,[7] who released it as a single in the US on 8 January 1968 under the title "Mighty Quinn".[8] A UK single followed within a week.[8] The Manfred Mann version reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for the week of 14 February 1968, and remained there the following week.[9] It also charted on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 10, and reached No. 4 in Cash Box. Cash Box called it a "funky-rock track" with "a trace of calypso [to] add zest to a tremendous effort."  Played:  59 timesFirst: December 30, 1985 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA, USALast:  July 2, 1995 at Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA  .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

In this episode, we dive into the wonders of August 2024 skies. This month, you can look forward to viewing several planets, the Perseid Meteor Shower, the Moon's Alpine Valley, and we'll examine some of the best globular clusters in Sagittarius.  We'll also update you on some space missions and much more! If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe, comment, and share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Carpe Noctem!Links:Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee or two! We really appreciate it! https://tinyurl.com/AstroGuyCoffeeOur Facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/astroguypodStellarium: https://stellarium.org/August 2024 Episode Guide: https://tinyurl.com/AGAug24GuideThe Full Episode Guide of DSO's sorted by Catalog Name: http://tinyurl.com/AGFullGuide Saturn Occultation: https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20240821_16_100What's Up in the July 2024 Skies?: https://youtu.be/exxfO4v2wSM?si=E7pyblWwIB1nxKZK

Phish Tour Kicks Off: Anticipation and Reflections from the RoadLarry Mishkin is excited about the ongoing summer tour of the band Phish, particularly looking forward to their upcoming shows at Alpine Valley and St. Louis. He reflects on a Grateful Dead concert from July 22, 1984, at Ventura County Fairgrounds, sharing personal memories of attending shows in 1984, which was a significant year for him. He discusses the song "Loser" by Jerry Garcia, noting its Americana themes and its history with the Grateful Dead. He praises Garcia's performance at the 1984 show and the song's growling vocals and guitar work.Larry also talks about the song "Day Job," highlighting its unique history with the Grateful Dead as a song fans petitioned to be dropped from their setlists. He reflects on why the song wasn't popular among fans, comparing it to another song, "Liberty," which he personally didn't favor. Despite this, he appreciates the version performed at the Ventura show for its energy and Jerry's engagement.In the music world segment, the he provides updates on Phish's summer tour, sharing setlists from recent shows in Mansfield, Massachusetts. He expresses excitement about attending multiple shows and describes how his appreciation for Phish has grown, comparing it to his experience with the Grateful Dead. He anticipates hearing specific songs and is eager to connect with fellow fans.The show also features a segment on Stanley Jordan, a musician known for his unique guitar style. Jordan shares his journey to creating a project called Stanley Plays the Dead, a tribute to the Grateful Dead. He recounts meeting Phil Lesh and performing with him, which inspired his current project. Jordan's distinctive two-hand tapping technique on guitar is highlighted, along with his diverse musical collaborations over the years.    Grateful DeadJuly 22, 1084 (40 years ago)Ventura County FairgroundsVentura, CAThe Grateful Dead Live at Ventura County Fairgrounds on 1984-07-22 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive _____________________________________________INCOMPLETE BUT IT HAS ALL THE MUSIC CLIPSCAN WE TAPE TOMORROW AT 10 A.M. MY TIME?Let me know. Thank you______________________________________Fake Intro for my nephew, Ben Mishkin's 11th birthday, I will just introduce it as “my podcast”, play the clip and wish him a happy birthday, then we cut back to our normal intro tune and I do a regular introduction.  What do you think? Bennie and the Jets - Elton John - Live in London 1974 HD (youtube.com)0:08 – 1:18 "Bennie and the Jets" (also titled "Benny & the Jets") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John.[3] The song first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. "Bennie and the Jets" has been one of John's most popular songs and was performed during his appearance at Live Aid.The track was a massive hit in the United States and Canada, released in 1974 as an A-side using the spelling "Bennie". In most territories the track was released as the B-side to "Candle in the Wind", using the spelling "Benny". Album artwork (back-cover track listing and center-panel design) consistently lists the song as "Bennie" while either "Bennie" or "Benny" appears on the vinyl album depending on territory. The track was released as an A-side in the UK in 1976, as "Benny and the Jets".It is ranked number 371 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Happy Birthday to my nephew Ben who turns 11 today while at summer camp in the Poconos.  Great time to be alive.  There with his big sister Lily and lots of good friends while his younger brother Nate has the run of the house!  Have a great day big guy. And now, back to our regularly scheduled show: Normal house intro music   Great show today from one of the Deadhead's favorite venues, Ventura County Fairgrounds.  Basically on the car racing track and demo derby.  View is of the beach and ocean.  Shows start in the afternoon, 2 or 3, so no real light show except mother nature and if you are lucky, a beautiful sunset just as the show ends or shortly thereafter.  Location of my first show ever and the only time I saw the boys there. This show is two summers later and finds the Boys cranking along in 1984, a big year for me in terms of shows that included a big chunk of Spring tour, Red Rocks, my first summer tour experience, first Alpine, and first New Years shows. Still found time to graduate from Michigan and start law school. INTRO:                                 Loser                                                Track #4                                                2:40 – 4:20 The song seems covered in the Americana dust of so many songs from this period of Hunter's and Garcia's songwriting partnership. Abilene, whether in Texas or Kansas, is a dusty cowtown—at the time in which the song seems to be set, the cattle outnumbered the human inhabitants by a factor of tens. It's easy to see the scene Hunter so casually sets, of a broken-down gambler in a saloon, with a dirt street outside full of armed cowpokes.Appearing, as it does, on Garcia (Jan, 1972), the song seems to pair naturally with the other gambling song on the album, “Deal.” It could be sung by the same character on a different day, in fact. And it fits in, as I mentioned, with a whole suite of songs that might be set in the same generic America of the late 19th or early 20th centuries: “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Jack Straw,” “Mister Charlie,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Cumberland Blues,” “Candyman,” and others, as well as certain selected covers, such as “Me and My Uncle,” and “El Paso.”The crowning glory of the song, as in many other Garcia/Hunter compositions, is the bridge.The song culminates in this cry of hopefulness: “Last fair deal in the country, Sweet Susie, last fair deal in the town. Put your gold money where your love is, baby, before you let my deal go down—go down.”(It's noted that “Sweet Susie” was dropped at some point, but then, occasionally, brought back. I think it was an optional decoration to the line. Alex Allan, in his Grateful Dead Lyric and Song Finder site, notes that “Sweet Susie” rarely appears after 1972, but that it's sung in performances in 1974 and 1979.)The version at this show is one of the best I've ever heard.  Garcia's voice is growling, his guitar playing spot on, energy bursting out of him.  1984 was a great year for the Dead and this show, and this tune, really epitomize all of it.  Almost always a first set tune, usually first part of the set, traded off with Candyman, Must Have Been The Roses, and other first set Jerry ballads.Played: 353 timesFirst:   February 18, 1971 at Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, USALast:   June 28, 1995 at the Palace at Auburn Hills, MI (Detroit)  SHOW No. 1:                    Day Job                                                Track #8                                                1:00 – 2:39 Garcia/Hunter “new tune” Never released on any studio recording, appears on Dick's Picks #6, Hartford Civic Center Oct. 14, 1983 in case you've never heard it.  It's claim to fame, per Robert Hunter himself, is that “this song was dropped from the Grateful Dead repertoire at the request of the fans.  Seriously.” I heard it a few times.  Not my favorite, but good when Jerry was sharp and rocking like this version. Really one of the best. Played:  133First:  August 28, 1982 at Oregon Country Fair Site, Veneta, OR, USALast:  April 4, 1986 at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT, USA  SHOW No. 2:                    I Just Want To Make Love To You                                                Track #11                                                1:27 – 3:10 "I Just Want to Make Love to You" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon. In 1954, it was recorded by Muddy Waters,[2] and released as a single with the title "Just Make Love to Me". The song reached number four on Billboard magazine's R&B Best Sellers chart.[3]Backing Waters on vocals are Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and Fred Below on drums.[1] Waters recorded the song again for the album Electric Mud (1968).The Rolling Stones covered the song on their 1964 debut album The Rolling Stones. In 1972, British blues rock group Foghat recorded a studio version for their self-titled debut album in 1972. The song was also released as a single and it became their first single to reach the charts, appearing at No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100[9] and No. 31 in Australia.[10] An eight-minute version from a 1977 concert performance is included on Foghat Live. It was edited down to 3:56 release as a single, which reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100[9] and No. 28 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.  I heard this on Foghat Live and thought it was a Foghat song.  Could not believe when I heard the Dead had played it! Dead played it 4 times:  Pig in ‘66                                                Brent in ‘84                                                Jerry in ‘95 Times:  4First:  November 29, 1966 at The Matrix, San Francisco, CA, USALast: February 21, 1995 at Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA  SHOW No. 3:                    Drums                                                Track #14                                                7;00 – end                                                 INTO                                                 Space                                                Track #15                                                0:00 - :36                                                 SHOW No. 4:                    Space                                                Track #15                                                10:59 – end                                                 INTO                                                 Morning Dew                                                Track #16                                                0:00 – 1:28   Birthdays:                 Benny                John Gross                OUTRO:                               Midnight Hour                                                Track #19                                                1:42 – 3:27 .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

Bad national anthems, the continued mess between Alpine Valley and Noah Kahan, and so much more!  Chicago's best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page.  Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101.    Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nothing says "let's party" like hosting a concert on a Wednesday.  Chicago's best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page.  Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101.    Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian wants to launch a missile, Case's trip to Alpine Valley, a new game for Brian & Kenzie, and so much more!  Chicago's best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page.  Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101.    Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Case's trip to see Noah Kahan over the weekend did not go as planned.  Chicago's best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page.  Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101.    Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Cannabis, COVID, and Concerts: A Grateful Dead Fan's Journey"Larry Mishkin is back from a break spent in South Carolina with his granddaughter he shares his experience of contracting a mild case of COVID, attributing his quick recovery to his cannabis use. He references studies suggesting that certain strains of sativa marijuana may mitigate COVID symptoms.The episode features a detailed discussion of a special Grateful Dead concert from July 15, 1989, at Deer Creek Music Theater in Noblesville, Indiana. Larry reminisces about the venue, the band's setlist, and the memorable experience shared with friends. He highlights key performances from the show, including "Bertha," "Greatest Story Ever Told," "Candyman," "Walkin' Blues," and others.Larry also covers recent music news, mentioning Melissa Etheridge's performance in Colorado and her upcoming summer tour. He shares updates on the String Cheese Incident's New Orleans-themed show at Red Rocks and Phish's recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where they performed "Evolve" from their new album. Grateful DeadDeer Creek Music Theater CenterNoblesville, INGrateful Dead Live at Deer Creek Music Center on 1989-07-15 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive With:  Judy, Andy K., Lary V., AWell and others First Dead show ever at Deer Creek which had just opened that year.  Became a regular stop on the Dead's summer tour thereafter and one of the favorite places for the Deadheads given its relatively small size as compared to the stadium venues that soon became the norm for summer tours.  Ironically, two days after this one-off Dead played their final 3 shows at Alpine Valley, switched to Tinley Park in 1990 and then starting in 1991 Chicago summer  tour shows were confined to Soldier Field with 60,000 attendees. INTRO:                                 Bertha                                                Track #2                                                1:20 – 3:00 Garcia/Hunter – first appeared on Grateful Dead (live) aka Skull and Roses or Skullfuck (1971)Played: 401First:  February 18, 1971 at Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, USALast:  June 27, 1995 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI  SHOW No. 1:                    Walkin Blues                                                Track #5                                                1:38 – 3:20 "Walkin' Blues" or "Walking Blues" is a blues standard written and recorded by American Delta blues musician Son House in 1930. Although unissued at the time, it was part of House's repertoire and other musicians, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, adapted the song and recorded their own versions. "Walkin' Blues" was not a commercial success when it was issued as a "race record" marketed to black listeners.  However, the song was received with great enthusiasm by a small group of white jazz record collectors and critics. Producer John Hammond chose "Walkin' Blues" and "Preachin' Blues" as the records to be played at his 1938 From Spirituals to Swing concert, when Johnson himself could not appear (Johnson had died a few months earlier).[15] The 1961 Johnson compilation album King of the Delta Blues Singers was marketed to white enthusiasts. According to most sources, John Hammond was involved in the production and the selection of tracks. The album included the two House-style songs and a song with House-style guitar figures ("Cross Road Blues" and excluded songs in the commercial style of the late 1930s. Notable exclusions were Johnson's one commercial hit, "Terraplane Blues", and two songs which he passed on to the mainstream of blues recording, "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Dust My Broom". Dead first played it in 1966, once in 1982 and 4 times in 1985.  Then, beginning in 1987 it became a standard part of Dead song lists, peaking in 1988 when it was played 23 times.  Became one of Bobby's early first set blues numbers with Minglewood Blues, CC Rider and Little Red Rooster. Played: 141First:  October 7, 1966 at Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  July 2, 1995 at Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA   SHOW No. 2:                    Crazy Fingers                                                Track #12                                                4:30 – 6:12 Pretty standard second set song, usually pre-drums.  Fist played in 1975, a few times in 1976 and then dropped until 1982 at Ventura County Fairgrounds (day after my first show).  Played 7 times that year, dropped until 1985 (10 times), then dropped until 1987 and then played regularly until the end.  Great tune, Jerry often forgot the lyrics and this version is great because Bobby saves him on the lyrics when Jerry starts to go astray.  Good fun considering how many times Bobby would forget the words to his songs. But one of those things you remember if you see it happen Garcia/Hunter, released on Blues For Allah (Sept. 1, 1975)Played: 145 timesFirst:  June 17, 1975 at Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  July 5, 1995 at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, MO (St. Louis)  SHOW No. 3:                    Truckin                                                Track #13                                                7:00 – end Hunter/Garcia/Weir/Lesh/Kreutzman (Pigpen went inside to take a nap) by the side of a pool.Released on American Beauty (November, 1970) final tune on the albumPlayed: 532 timesFirst:  August 17, 1970 at Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  July 6, 1995 at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, MO                                                  INTO                                                Smokestack Lightning                                                Track #14                                                0:00 – 0:36  "Smokestack Lightning" (also "Smoke Stack Lightning" or "Smokestack Lightnin'") is a blues song recorded by Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett) in 1956. It became one of his most popular and influential songs. It is based on earlier blues songs, and numerous artists later interpreted it.  Recorded at Chess Records in Chicago and released in March, 1956 with You Can't Be Beat on the B side. Wolf had performed "Smokestack Lightning" in one form or another at least by the early 1930s,[1] when he was performing with Charley Patton in small Delta communities.[1] The song, described as "a hypnotic one-chord drone piece",[2] draws on earlier blues, such as Tommy Johnson's "Big Road Blues",[3] the Mississippi Sheiks' "Stop and Listen Blues",[4] and Charley Patton's "Moon Going Down".[5][6] Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning." In a song review for AllMusic, Bill Janovitz described "Smokestack Lightning" as "almost like a distillation of the essence of the blues... a pleasingly primitive and raw representation of the blues, pure and chant-like. Wolf truly sounds like a man in otherwise inexpressible agony, flailing for words."[8] In 1999, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, honoring its lasting historical significance.[13]Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 291 in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[7] and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it in its list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[14] In 1985, the song was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings" category[15] and, in 2009, it was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress. Janovitz also identifies "Smokestack Lightning" as a blues standard "open to varied interpretation, covered by artists ranging from the Yardbirds to Soundgarden, all stamping their personal imprint on the song".[8] Clapton identifies the Yardbirds' performances of the song as the group's most popular live number.[17] They played it almost every show, and sometimes it could last up to 30 minutes. Dead often played it out of Truckin, would also play the blues tune Spoonful out of Truckin. Played:  63 timesFirst:  November 19, 1966 at Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  October 18, 1994 at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA   SHOW No. 4:                    Space                                                Track #17                                                7:45 – 9:20  On November 28, 1973, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and drummer Mickey Hart staged a performance at San Francisco's Palace Of Fine Arts. At the time, Hart – whose 80th birthday is today – was on a sabbatical from the Dead, having last performed in public with Garcia and the band in February 1971. Hart would rejoin the Dead for good in October 1974.A poster promoting the concert shows a clean-shaven Garcia dressed in black beside an equally freshly shaven Hart wearing all white. At the bottom of the advertisement was printed “An Experiment in Quadrophonic Sound.”Hart recalled his experience at the duo concert with Garcia in 1973 that was not only a Seastones precursor but also planted the seeds for the band's mind-bending “Space” jams.“There were so many exciting that we've done together. Adventurous musical things. He was also into adventure and creating new spaces, so we had that in common. We got together many times out of the ring – where he first discovered synthesizers, being able to synthesize his guitar, which led to MIDI.“The first concert we did was in 1973. It was just a duo. He got an Arp [Odyssey], an electric instrument, a keyboard, and he plugged his guitar into it and that was the first time I had heard his guitar I had heard his guitar running through sophisticated synthesizers.“I just thought of that concert, which kind of was the beginning of ‘Space' – ‘Drums' and ‘Space' actually – it might have been the very beginning of it. And I think of that on his birthday, the seminal things we did together.” After the November 28, 1973 concert, the Grateful Dead began to occasionally incorporate elements of a “Space” jam into their shows. In January 1978, Dead shows almost always included a nightly “Drums” jam paired with a freeform “Space” jam, consistently showing up mid-second set throughout the rest of their career. Played:  1086First:  March 19, 1966 at Carthay Studios, Los Angeles, CA, USALast:  July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL   OUTRO:                               Brokedown Palace                                                Track #22                                                5:04 – 6:43  The lyric to “Brokedown Palace” was written by Robert Hunter as part of a suite of songs that arrived via his pen during a stay in London in 1970. He entitled it “Broke-Down Palace,” and now that it exists as a piece of writing, it seems to have always existed. It was composed on the same afternoon as “Ripple” and “To Lay Me Down,” with the aid of a half bottle of retsina.Its first performance was on August 18, 1970, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, and became a staple of the live repertoire. After the 1975 hiatus, “Brokedown Palace” appeared almost exclusively as the closing song of the show, as an encore. It had the effect of sending us out of the show on a gentle pillow of sound, the band bidding us “Fare you well, fare you well…”Garcia/HunterReleased on American Beauty (Nov. 1970) Played: 219 timesFirst:  August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  June 25, 1995 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

This week we have the second set from the band's performance at Alpine Valley on July 7, 1984. This is a strong set throughout, with the band really coming together I think to deliver some great versions of these songs.  'Samson and Delilah' opens with the drummers providing the familiar beat.. Jerry follows with 'Cold Rain and Snow' - always appropriate for a July show. They then seg into 'Playin' In the Band', while not overly long, this version does feature some interesting Brent effects and seqs interestingly into 'China Doll'. Jerry hits this one just right and then they move into a very good Drums segment. They come out of drums surprisingly into 'Terrapin Station' as you think you hear some 'Other One' notes being played.. but the Terrapin is told well and goes into Bobby doing 'Throwing Stones' with a few different lyrics. 'Not Fade Away' follows, but is short, as Phil insists they move into 'Lovelight'! the first since NYE 82.. Bobby does a fine version here, and they close with a return to 'Not Fade Away'.  A 'Brokedown Palace' encore prepares the faithful for that long trek up the hill...    Grateful Dead 1984-07-07 Saturday Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI Two      Samson And Delilah Cold Rain And Snow Playing In The Band > China Doll > Space > Drums > Space > Terrapin Station > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away > Turn On Your Love Light > Not Fade Away Encore      Brokedown Palace  You can listen to this week's Deadpod here:  http://traffic.libsyn.com/deadshow/deadpod071224.mp3  Enjoy and be kind :) 

In this episode, Charles welcomes Paul Peterson, a retired technology manager and lifetime audiophile who created, hosts, and produces the podcast "An Avid Listener" available on Spotify. Paul shares his experiences attending concerts since 1969, starting with his first concert seeing The Doors at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. He reminisces about the vibrant music scene of the late '60s and early '70s, recounting memorable performances by legendary bands like The Beatles, The Doors, and Paul McCartney and Wings. Paul vividly describes the concert atmospheres, such as the excellent acoustics of the Auditorium Theater, and the more challenging sound environments of larger venues.Charles and Paul discuss various concert experiences, including Paul's attempt to attend Woodstock and the Kickapoo Creek Rock Concert, which ended in unexpected adventures and challenges. Paul humorously recalls falling asleep at a Deep Purple concert and shares an anecdote about receiving a cigarette pack from Paul McCartney at a Wings concert. They also delve into Paul's memorable experience at Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon tour, highlighting the unique and powerful visual and auditory effects of the show.Charles and Paul exchange stories of their favorite concerts, mentioning notable performances by artists such as Pink Floyd, REM, Jane's Addiction, and The Lumineers. They reflect on the evolution of live concert experiences, noting improvements in acoustics and stage production over the years. Paul talks about his podcast, "An Avid Listener," where he connects musical dots by exploring the interconnected histories of albums and artists, providing listeners with fascinating insights and lesser-known backstories. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the value of sharing music and concert experiences, emphasizing the enduring joy and connection music brings to fans and audiophiles alike. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

This week we travel to one of the beloved summer venues - Alpine Valley - for a show that took place back on July 7, 1984, a Saturday night.  The first set starts with 'Hell In A Bucket', then moves into a fine 'Dire Wolf' Jerry really belts it out here, and its fun to listen to. 'New New Minglewood Blues' follows with Bobby telling us its 'T for Alpine Valley' .. 'Dupree's Diamond Blues follows - a bit slower, but still one that brings a smile. 'My Brother Esau' shares Bobby's anti-war message. 'Brown Eyed Women' may be the highlight of the set with some strong work by Jerry here. 'Looks like Rain' goes into 'Might as Well' to close the set, and Jerry sounds like his voice needs a break..   Grateful Dead 1984-07-07 Saturday Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI Set 1: Hell In A Bucket Dire Wolf New New Minglewood Blues Dupree's Diamond Blues My Brother Esau Brown-Eyed Women Looks Like Rain > Might As Well  You can listen to this week's Deadpod here:  http://traffic.libsyn.com/deadshow/deadpod070524.mp3  Have a safe and fun holiday weekend!  thanks for your kind support of the Deadpod! 

This week… The degenerates were goofing from the start. They're back from a damp, soggy camping trip. They tried to see the Dave Matthews Band at Alpine Valley but tornados almost killed them! Luckily the security at Alpine Valley had AK's, the nados didn't stand a chance! They dialed up Andy to break down the NBA Draft. What were the Bucks doing?! The Brewers are red hot and the Pack are eying up training camp. Max still can't spell. One of the degenerates became a back to back dart champ. Wild WYRs. Challenge updates. Laughs, jokes, burps,swearing and so much more! But, before any of that nonsense, they saved the best for first, with the Beer of the Week! During the BOW the fellas rate and review a new beer. They discuss the history of the brewery and examine what's in the beer they're drinking. Then, they break down the beer by its drinkability, the probability they'd drink it again, its chugability, and the can's attractability. Find out if Tivoli Brewing Company's Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer passed the HUA test. Beer of the Week: 06:00 - 48:05 The Bing Bongs go Camping: 48:10 - 01:10:20 WI Sports w/ Andy!: 01:10:27 - 02:02:05 Dictionaries: 02:04:42 - 02:10:30 Darts & WYRs: 02:10:40 - 02:37:10 Challenges: 02:37:13 - END BOW: Tivoli Brewing Company, Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer COW: New movies report Big shout out to the talented Adrian Pell! He created the intro and outro music for us. Check him out on IG: @AdrianPellMusic If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, rate and review the show, it helps us out a lot! Check us out on YouTube and subscribe to our channel! ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRVYu7zopmxja1RsmVpOucQ/featur⁠ We're live on Twitch, check out our page! ⁠https://www.twitch.tv/holdusaccountable⁠ Find us on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/hua_pod?s=11&t=DqKX0s9j1XzF2xFF3dBlDA⁠ If you want to let us know what you think of the show, or have an idea for the show, you can DM us on Facebook or Instagram @HoldUsAccountable --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/max-hutchison/message

"Deadhead Adventures: From Minneapolis to Alpine Valley"Larry Mishkin delves into a nostalgic recount of a Grateful Dead concert he attended on June 17, 1988, in Minneapolis, part of their Midwest Summer Tour. He reminisces about attending the show with friends Mikey and JT, detailing their travel adventures and the concert's setlist, which included memorable performances of "Hell in a Bucket" and "Far From Me."Larry also shares personal anecdotes about his experiences following the Grateful Dead, including the challenges of balancing concert trips with his professional life and the thrill of attending multiple shows in a short span. He transitions into discussing the significance of the song "Hell in a Bucket," its debut, and its frequent performance as a show opener. He explains the concept of "Mondegreens," humorous misheard lyrics, using an example from a Grateful Dead song review.The show revisits a story about a Phish fan who was initially banned from all Madison Square Garden Entertainment venues for smoking a bong at the Sphere. MSG later rescinded the ban, citing an internal error. Larry expresses surprise and amusement at the quick reversal and discusses the implications for fans.Finally, Larry discusses the resale of Dead & Company tickets for their Las Vegas Sphere shows, noting that many are being sold at face value or below on cashertrade.org. He expresses mixed feelings about fans having to sell tickets at a loss but appreciates the platform's role in preventing scalping.  Grateful DeadJune 17, 2024 (36 years ago)Met CenterMinneapolis, MNGrateful Dead Live at Metropolitan Sports Center on 1988-06-17 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveAudience Tape First show of the 1988 Midwest Summer TourWith my good buddies Mikey and JT – weekend in Minny, Friday night show but had to stay until Sunday to fly home because if you stayed over a Saturday night, round trip airfare was much less expensive.  Got home on Sunday and headed straight for Alpine Valley for the first of four shows S, M, W, Th.  Each night headed home, slept for 4 hours, got up for work, left work at 3 p.m., ride the El to the middle of the Kennedy Expressway at Addison, hop in a car and drive straight up.  Fight the crazy post show traffic in that horridlbe parking lot (unless you have one-armed Lary as your driver).  Hardcore.  My law firm didn't know what to make of it.  I got in four shows at home with no vacation days taken! INTRO:                                 Hell In A Bucket                                                Track #2                                                0:00 – 1:34                [From David Dowd]:  The Bob Weir / John Barlow / Brent Mydland song “Hell in a Bucket” directly references the biker scene, and I'm sure that somehow Barlow just wanted to put that element into the band's repertoire somehow. After all, there are plenty of outlaw elements sprinkled through the band's songs.           “Bucket” debuted on May 13, 1983, at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Alice Kahn wrote a review of the show, in which she promulgated one of the best-ever Mondegreens, referring to the song as “Police on a Joy Ride.” The song frequently featured as the show opener over the course of the next two-plus decades, although it wasn't used in that role until about a year after its first performance. It was performed by the Dead for the final time on June 30, 1995, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.“Hell in a Bucket” appeared on In the Dark, released in July 1987 (aka Touch of Grey album).Played:  217 timesFirst:  May 13, 1983 at William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, USALast:    June 30, 1995, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaSHOW No. 1:                    Far From Me                                                Track #6                                                3:18 – 4:45Brent MydlandGo To Heaven (April 28, 1980)Strong Brent tune.  I saw them open the second set with it a my second show ever (also with my buddy Mikey) in the Carrier Dome on September 24, 1982, the night I got on the bus forever.Played: 74 timesFirst:  March 30, 1980 at Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, USALast:  July 22, 1990 at World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL, USA (the night before Brent's last show).  It died with him.MUSIC NEWS:MSG ENERTRAINMENT REDACTS INDEFINITE VENUE RESTRICTION FOLLOWING PHISH FAN BONG/SPHERE CONTROVERSY 2.     Dead & Company Sphere Tickets Listed for Face Value or Below on CashorTrade! Dead & Company announced 24 dates at the Las Vegas Sphere, and many fans eagerly bought tickets. Now, some can't attend and are selling their tickets at face value or less on CashorTrade.org. Built by fellow Deadheads in 2009 to protect fans from scalped tickets, 3.     Roger Daltrey Shares Thoughts on Sharing Setlists Online and More, Ahead of The Voice of The Who Tour - Touching on his feeling toward revealing the contents of a performance online, Daltrey asserted, “I'm not gonna talk about songs.” Providing reasoning, he added, “Too many people reveal songs. There's no surprises left with concerts these days, 'cause everybody wants to see the setlist. I'm f–king sick of it. The Internet's ruined the live shows for me. Who wants to know what's coming next? People forget about surprises. I can't stand it.  Here's an idea for Roger – don't play the exact same show every night!  Mix up your songs and then set lists can only give you probabilities of what might get played.  See the Grateful Dead, Phish and every other jam band ever. 4.     As promised last week, here are the deets on Trey playing with Billy Joel in MSG last week:  Madison Square Garden residencies have long been a career-defining staple of the New York City live entertainment location, with names like Billy Joel and Phish dominating multi-night show cycles, making the venue a known place to catch a memorable Big Apple performance. However, last night's performance was a truly unique event, a planned convergence for the two title-holders, Joel and Phish's Trey Anastasio. They teamed up on select songs, including “Sleeping With the Television On,” a cover of Derek and the Dominos' “Layla” and night closing “You Might Be Right,” featuring a Led Zeppelin “Rock and Roll” insert, sung by Mike DelGuidice.                                                 SHOW No. 2:                    Victim Or The Crime    (First time played)                                                Track #9                                                0:00 – 2:13 (long clip but it's the first time played so I had to run with it)                 Written by Bob Weir and Gerrit Graham                               Garcia – “It's one of Weir's stunningly odd compositions, but it's also very adventurous. It's uncompromising; it's what it is, and the challenge of coming up with stuff to play that sounds intelligent in the context has been incredible, but also appropriately gnarly. I really wanted that part of it to work.I think we did a nice job on the record with it. It works. Whatever it is, it works. I'm real happy with it because it was one of those things that was like, "What are we going to do with this?" It's like having a monster brother that you lock in the attic. It's like a relative that you -- "God, I hope nobody comes over when he's eating...." But that's one of the things that makes the Grateful Dead fun.”             “The text of it -- I don't believe I've ever actually listened to all the words to it. Ever. I have the gist of it; by now I probably could recite it if I really had to, but the text of it is more of the same in a way, it doesn't have a whole lot of light in it. It's very dense, and it's angst-ridden to boot.”             Played 96 times, “Victim” debuted on June 17, 1988, at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota THIS SHOW. It remained in the rotation thereafter, and was played for the final time on July 2, 1995 at Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana.    SHOW No. 3:                    All Along The Watchtower                                                Track #19                                                1:22 – 3:22  (another long one but could not break up the jam)                 "All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston.             Covered by numerous artists, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded with the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their third studio album, Electric Ladyland (1968). The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 20 single in 1968, received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001, and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 (40th in the 2021 version). Dylan first played the song live in concert on the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour, his first tour since 1966. His live performances have been influenced by Hendrix's cover, to the extent that they have been called covers of a cover. The singer has performed the song live more than any of his other ones, with over 2,250 recitals.             I always loved the Dead's cover of this tune.  As you heard in the clip, it is a rocking tune and Jerry would really jam hard on it.  Great snappy second set tune that would always get the crowd moving in the next gear.  Played:  118 timesFirst:  June 20, 1987 at William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, USALast:  June 22, 1995 at Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY, USA  MJ NEWS 1.        Biden Admin Is ‘Mischaracterizing' Marijuana Rescheduling Impact As Big Pharma Is ‘Waiting In The Wings,' Former Massachusetts Regulator Says (Marijuana Moment) 2.       GOP Congressman Says ‘Millions Of Marijuana Users' Own Guns And Shouldn't Face Prosecution Like Hunter Biden Did 3.    Marijuana Rolling Paper Company Will Pay $4.20 To Volunteers To ‘Smoke Joints For Science'  SHOW No. 4:                    Black Peter                                                Track #20                                                1:36 – 3:11                 Garcia/Hunter tune released on Workingman's Dead in 1970.                  Robert Hunter was not afraid of death; he experienced it a thousand times over. The American musician composed the lyrics to many of The Grateful Dead's most successful songs and played an essential role in curating the band's mythos, one that saw the psychedelic rock outfit earn hordes of dedicated fans, or ‘deadheads'. One such song was ‘Black Peter' – written for the band's 1970 album Workingman's Dead.          By 1969, The Dead were practically synonymous with the liberal drug culture of the hippie era. In the June of that year, Robert Hunter and the gang were given a glass of apple juice laced with “probably a full gram of crystal LSD … worth perhaps $50,000.” The intense trip that followed would completely reinvigorate Hunter's understanding of death and influence his subsequent lyrics for ‘Black Peter'. Bassist Phil Lesh would later recall tasting the LSD in the juice after a single sip: “I wish you could be where I am right now—it's so beautiful,” he told drummer Mickey Hart, “but I couldn't possibly play music now. I don't even know what music is.” Still, there was a job to do, so the band played anyway. In the ‘80's and ‘90's, one of Jerry's rotating post-drums second set ballads along with Morning Dew, Wharf Rat and Stella Blue. This version was one of the highlights of this show.  Jerry's voice is strong if not a bit “ragged” around the edges just the way Deadheads liked it, with just enough emotion to really convey the song's meaning and its statement about the end of life. Played: 351 timesFirst: December 4, 1969 at Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, USALast:  June 22, 1995 at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY  OUTRO:                               Black Muddy River                                                Track #23                                                4:09 – 5:55  Played:  66 timesFirst:  December 15, 1986 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA, USALast:  July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, Il – looked like it was going to the last song of the show (encore) and the last song of the difficult summer tour.  Turns out, it could have been the last song ever played in concert by the Dead, until Phil stepped in to leave everyone with a smile on their face and no bad taste in their mouths with a great second encore Box of Rain which then became the last song ever played by the Dead in concert. By contrast, this version is outstanding with strong playing and singing by Jerry.  And, with the show practically on the banks of the Mississippi, it was a geographically appropriate song for the venue. Mikey, JT and I rolled off into the night, a crazy weekend in Minny, and then the next four shows on the tour at Alpine.  Ah, to have the kind of energy again, even if just for a night.  Thank you psychedelics!! Enjoy the Summer Solstice and the beginning of summer. .Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast

On August 25th and 26th, 1990, Alpine Valley Music Festival hosted 2 sold-out shows featuring headliner Eric Clapton, along with special guests, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and the Robert Cray Band. Both shows played to 40,000 strong, and the second show ended with one of the most legendary collections of guiratists on one stage at the same time, when Clapton was joined on stage by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, Jeff Healy, Buddy Guy, and Stevie's brother, Jimmie Vaughan. The concert turned out to be Stevie Ray's final show, as by the end of the night he would be dead, and the music world left stunned and saddened. What exactly happened on that night? And why, almost 35 years later, do people who witnessed the show still talk about Stevie appearing almost supernatural... as if almost already a ghost? Scott and Mickey discuss one of the most iconic shows in rock music history, its aftermath, and Stevie Ray Vaughan's life, one that ended way too soon, on the side of a ski hill in East Troy, WI. Hear it all, on episode 41 of Badger Bizarre, "Stevie Ray Vaughan."   Facebook Twitter Website Email us:  badgerbizarre@outlook.com   Opening Trailer: Ed Gein Sound Byte : "Hard Copy" - Paramount Domestic/CBS Televsion Frank Lloyd Wright and Jeffery Dahmer Sound Byte - WISN 12 News - Milwaukee, WI Jeffery Dahmer Quotes: "Inside Edition"  - King World/CBS Television/CBS Media   Attribution for Music: Trailer: Composer: Adam Phillip Zwirchmayr https://www.pond5.com/ Intro: https://pixabay.com/ Outro: Composer: Viacheslav Sarancha  https://www.pond5.com/   Attribution for logo design: Red Claw Scratch Photo   Sources: Aledort, Andy; Alan, Paul; "Texas Flood; The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan" "Amplified; Stevie Ray Vaughan - Rise of a Texas Bluesman" Cahoon, Colin P; "The Truth About What Really Killed Stevie Ray Vaughan" Huffington Post https://srvarchive.com/                

This week Producer Tyler is busy being Captain Tyler, so the ladies are on their own. Amy and Maya kick the ep. off with a controversial take on art fairs. Amy has a weeds problem. There's some serious garden talk going on here. Now we know why '80s dads were staring off into the distance. No one will steal Amy's catalytic converter. Maya's car is old as hell, and she wonders if she should get a new car or ride that bitch till it dies. Amy lays out the downside of new cars. Tennis Report: There's hard core coach tension and Maya's sister gets caught in the awkward crossfire. It's like a tennis divorce custody battle. Concert report: Alison Kraus and Robert Plant at Mystic Lake amphitheater. Amy relives Farm Aid at Alpine Valley. Amy and Warren discover Brookview golf course, where they're paired up with terrible strangers, and fear the consequences for covert lawn bowling.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-spirit-of-77/message

In this episode of The Space Between podcast, Renae interviews Trey about his journey as a fan of the Dave Matthews Band. They discuss topics such as how Trey discovered the band, the evolution of the band's sound, other music genres they enjoy, and their experiences traveling to see the band perform. They also talk about the unique experience of attending Dave Matthews Band concerts, the thrill of chasing rare songs, and the camaraderie among fans. Renae and Trey discuss their experiences at Deer Creek and Alpine Valley, two popular venues for Dave Matthews Band concerts. They talk about the welcoming community and the affordability of attending shows. Peace, Love and DMB Support the Show.

In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles welcomes accountant and live music enthusiast Steve Pothel, a prominent figure from Charles' book, "Ticket Stub Stories: A Memoir of Live Music." Joining them is co-host and producer Doug Florzak. Steve reminisces about his early concert experiences, correcting his memory about his first concert, which turned out to be The Cure's "Wish" tour followed by Lollapalooza ‘92 before U2's Zoo TV show. They discuss iconic venues like The World (now known by various names) and Alpine Valley, sharing stories from their concert adventures. Steve recalls a memorable moment during an Ice Cube performance at Lollapalooza involving a sod fight instigated by the rapper, creating an unforgettable atmosphere.The conversation shifts to their DJing days at a bar called the Tender Trap, where Steve and Charles spun records for an alternative night. They reminisce about attending concerts together, including a memorable encounter with L7 at Lounge Axe, arranged through Louie, who happened to be related to the drummer. Steve also recounts their experiences at House of Blues shows, including a chaotic Danzig concert where the crowd was rowdy, and a Monster Magnet show where Louie's connection secured them access to the Foundation Room.They delve into their shared love for bands like The Psychedelic Furs and their numerous concert outings together, highlighting the influence of music on their lives and relationships. Reflecting on their concert experiences, they share anecdotes of meeting band members and navigating the vibrant Chicago music scene. Throughout the episode, Steve and Charles' passion for live music shines through, offering listeners a glimpse into their memorable concert journeys.Steve also reminisces about a memorable encounter at the Foundation Room, where he found himself chatting with members of Stabbing Westward and Monster Magnet. The lively atmosphere of the venue, complete with private rooms for bands and a third-floor balcony offering prime seating, sets the stage for unexpected interactions. Steve recounts how Monster Magnet's Phil reached out to invite Lisa, his girlfriend, to their show, ultimately sending a limo to pick her up from a wedding reception. Reflecting on past concerts, Steve shares his disappointing experiences at shows by System of a Down and The Killers, citing crowd behavior and sound quality as factors. Charles joins the conversation, recalling their shared love for live music and their experiences attending concerts together, including memorable shows by the Psychedelic Furs. The discussion turns somber as they remember Mars Williams, the saxophonist for the Psychedelic Furs, who passed away after battling cancer. Despite the loss, they cherish the memories of his electrifying performances.BANDS:Adele, Alanis Morissette, Cypress Hill, Harry Styles, House of Pain, Ice Cube, Imagine Dragons, Jesus and Mary Chain, Joan Jett, Journey, Korn, L7, Led Zeppelin II, Liquid Soul, Lush, Metric, Ministry, Monster Magnet, Monster Magnet, Pearl Jam, Porno for Pyros, Psychedelic Furs, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Stabbing Westward, Stabbing Westward, Stone Temple Pilots, System of a Down, Temple of the Dog, The Cult, The Cult, The Cure, The Cure, The Killers, The Psychedelic Furs, Two Ton Boa, U2, Wetleg.VENUES:Alpine Valley (East Troy, Wisconsin), Aragon Ballroom (Chicago, Illinois), Chastain Park (Atlanta, Georgia), House of Blues (Chicago, Illinois), Lounge Axe (Chicago, Illinois), The Congress (Chicago, Illinois), The Metro (Chicago, Illinois), The World Music Theatre (Tinley Park, Illinois). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

This week Steve sat in with Paul and Ryan to talk about Brandon Woodruff's return, the beginning of the Cactus League season, translucent pants and Alpine Valley escape routes. Support the podcast on Patreon and receive the Monthly Minor League Extra and Weekly Packers Preview. Music: Fair Weather Fans by The Baseball Project recorded live at WFMU --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mketailgate/message

"Ruby's Groovy Journey: Cannabis, Music, and the Deadhead Show"Larry Mishkin  shares his excitement about the birth of his granddaughter, Ruby. He discusses how the song "Ruby Waves" by the band Phish may have inspired her name and how the family is already introducing her to great music. Larry also dives into Grateful Dead, sharing details about a 1979 concert from the Spectrum in Philadelphia and highlighting the song "Jack Straw."Larry then talks about recent Grateful Dead releases and encourages listeners to consider subscribing to annual releases for access to exclusive content. He provides insights into the song "Jack Straw," its lyrics, and the band's performance of it throughout the years. The episode also features the Jerry Garcia Band's song "Rubin and Cherise" and its connection to the love story of Ruby..Produced by PodConx  Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinRob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-huntJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergSound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/Recorded on Squadcast  INTRO:                  Ruby Waves                                Phish                                July 14, 2019                                Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI                                Phish - 7/14/2019 - Ruby Waves - YouTube                                0:09 – 1:35                 Part of today's show is in honor of my first grandchild, Ruby, born late last month in Georgia.  My son Matt  is a huge Phish fan and his wife Elena enjoys them too if not quite to the same degree.  But they both love this song which may or may not have been the inspiration for their daughter's name.  Regardless, Ruby is wonderful and her father is already playing this clip by her bassinet – she lays there and smiles! Phish first played the song on June 18, 2019 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto.  Of the 164 Phish shows since that debut, the band has only performed it a total of 27 times (less than 2% of the Phish shows played since its debut), most recently October 11, 2023 at the Erwin Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton, OH.  So not only was seeing this song a rarity, but this version is particularly well known as it is from a legendary show at Alpine Valley a few years ago. This particular version of Ruby Waves runs an incredible 38 minutes and was only one of the many highlights from that show (which featured a huge Olivia's Pool breakout among other big moments).  Check out the clip, check out the show, and when you hear Ruby Waves think of little Ruby making her appearance into the world. DeadAlso featuring the Dead from The Spectrum in Philly 44 years ago today.  A year of big transition, Jim Marty's first Dead show, and some almost under the radar amazing shows, including this one.  An eleven song first set followed up by a four song second set (plus drums and space;  who do these guys think they are, Phish?) and strong encore.  Here is how it all started SHOW #1:                           Alabama Getaway                                                Track No. 1                                                0:10 – 1:35                 This is only the second time the Dead played this song in concert, the first being two nights earlier on Nov. 4th at the Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island.  Song would first be released six months later (4.28.1980) on Dead's album, Go To Heaven.  Ultimately played by the Dead 143 times, with an almost five year gap from 1990 – 1994, Jerry brought it back to the stage for a handful of performances in 1995, including the last one on June 2, 1995 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.                  Great cultural references to Alabama's complicated legacy, Bill Bojangles, the Twenty Third Psalm from the Bible and more. Great up-tempo tune usually played as a show opener, although it was known to move around from time to time.                 Extended this clip to catch the Brent breakout during the jam.  Still new to the group Brent was not shy and made his presence known with authority even in the first year.  SHOW #2:                         Jack Straw                                          Track No. 10                                           3:16 – 4:47                 One of the highlights of this show, fantastic version of this crowd pleaser and great jamming tune.  Brent again jumping into the mix with his backing vocals and his strong keyboard work filling in the gaps.                 Written by Bobby and Robert Hunter, was never released on a studio album but was released on Europe '72 album.                Originally, Bobby sang all the vocals, but at a show in Paris on May 3, 1972, Bobby and Jerry began trading off vocals on different verses and it stayed that way until the end.  The song appeared in both the first and second sets until the band's short hiatus in 1974-1975. After re-forming, the song almost exclusively appeared in the first set. After Brent Mydland joined the band in 1979, the song almost exclusively opened the band's first set. The band also often extended the jam after the second verse after Mydland's joining, often extending the song to over six minutes. Dead and Company have also further extended the song, often adding an abstract opening jam prior to the song's first verse. Bob Weir stated in a 2004 interview that the song's lyrics were partly based on John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men.[2] The song's themes include riding the rails, the Great Depression, and hobo (homeless) camps of the era. Jack Straw is also—perhaps coincidentally—the name of the original plantation owner, who lived controversially with his gay lover, Peter Ochello, in Tennessee Williams's play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.                 Long a staple of live Dead shows, the song was first heard live on October 19, 1971 at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis (another legendary show due to it being Keith Godchaux's first show with the band AND the large number of breakout tunes including Tennessee Jed, Mexicali Blues, Comes  A Time, One More Saturday Night, and Ramble On Rose – continuation and new wrinkles to their Americana style that began a year earlier with the releases of American Beauty and Workingman's Dead and now reflected Keith's newly introduced input from the grand piano).                 Ultimately played by the Dead a total of 476 times putting it very high up on the list of most played Dead tunes.                Last played on July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field in Chicago.  Time for more Ruby SHOW #3:                        Ruben and Cerise                                         Grateful Dead                                         March 17, 1991                                         Cap Center, Landover, MD                                         Grateful Dead Live at Capitol Centre on 1991-03-17 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive                                         2:05 – 2:29               Sweet Ruby dressed in Red is one of the main characters in this Garcia/Hunter song that was first released in April as the opening tune on the JBG's only studio album, Cats Under The Stars (Run For The Roses is considered a “studio album”). Although played with some frequency by the Jerry Garcia Band (76 times), the Grateful Dead only played it four times in concert, this clip being their breakout.  Last played on June 19, 1991 at Buckeye Lake Music Theater in Thornville, OH.  A classic tale of love found and lost set in the Carnival season in New Orleans.  Beautiful lyrics for a sad and cautionary tale.  Sorry to say I never saw it live by the Dead or JGB.  I have seen it since by Phil, JRAD and others. Nice but not close to the same.  Back to the Dead SHOW #4:                        Terrapin Station                                         Track No. 12                                         8:00 – 9:31               Beautiful Hunter/Garcia epic mulit-part suite with Hunter composing the lyrics during a single sitting one night during a rare Bay Area lightning storm.On the same day, driving across the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge, lead guitarist Jerry Garcia was struck by the idea for a singular melodic line. He turned his car around and hurried home to set it down in notation before it escaped him. Hunter said "When we met the next day, I showed him the words and he said, 'I've got the music.' They dovetailed perfectly and Terrapin edged into this dimension."[10] Hunter based the lyrics for the "Lady with a Fan" section on a traditional English folk song known variously as "The Lady of Carlisle", "The Bold Lieutenant" and "The Lion's Den". The ballad is No. 396 on the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also O 25 on the Laws list, which synopsizes "The lady decides to choose between two brothers who love her by determining which is braver. She tosses her fan into a lion's den and asks them to retrieve it."[11] Hunter, who was also influenced by Sir Walter Scott, had composed "Terrapin Station" in two parts, the second never recorded or performed by the Grateful Dead.Drummer Bill Kreutzmann ironed out the arrangement, explaining "We sat down and mapped it out. I said, 'This is how the song goes.' I showed [Mickey] all the parts that I felt worked really well, he added a couple, and that's what the song is today. We went back into the studio the next night and got it right. With the drum parts worked out, everything else snapped together like puzzle pieces.            As the opener of a four song second set, this is a strong version, jammed out, but not too much is a show highlight.  Barely two years old (Terrapin Station album released on July 27, 1977, first performed a few months earlier on Feb. 26, 1977 at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, CA) at this point, you can still hear Garcia playing around with the timing of the lyrics. Ultimately played in concert by the Dead 303 times with the last rendition on July 8, 1995 in Chicago.         An song for fans of fun tales of all ages, I suspect young Ruby will become quite familiar with this tune over time!  OUTRO:                      Goodbye Ruby Tuesday                                    Rolling Stones                                    Live – 1991                                    The Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday (Live) - Official 1991 - YouTube                                         1:52 – 3:12

Episode Summary This week on Live Like the World is Dying, Margaret talks with Sam and Amadeo about their experiences shepherding in the Swiss Alps. They talk about the problems that shepherds are facing in Switzerland with wolves, climate change, city mentalities, and right-wing propaganda. Host Info Margaret (she/they) can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: Sam and Amadeo on Sheep, Wolves, and Climate Change **Margaret ** 00:16 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the times. I'm your host today, Margaret Killjoy and this is an episode about sheep...and sheep farming. Shepherding, I believe we might want to call it, in the Alps. I'm really excited about it. We've been planning this episode for a while, because we are going to be talking to two sheep farmers in the Alps about climate change and about the return of wolves and about ecology and about why the right-wing picks all the wrong talking points and a bunch of other stuff. But first, we are a proud member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchists podcasts. And here's a jingle from another show on the network.  **Margaret ** 01:52 Okay, we're back. So if y'all could introduce yourselves with your name...your names, your pronouns, and I guess just a little bit about your background with shepherding. **Sam ** 02:05 All right, Hi, I'm Sam, my pronouns she/her and we are in Vienna right now. And yeah, I'm an artist and also a bit of a writer, filmmaker. I do a lot of that kind of stuff. Lately I have been working a lot with metal and smithing And yeah, I went with Amadeo on a sheep farm and Alps in Valais in Switzerland. And we want to tell you a bit about our experience. **Amadeo ** 02:38 Yeah, my name is Amadeo. He/him. I'm 38. Actually, I started to work as a teacher now. I teach biology and some other stuff, politics, and so on. And yeah, This was my third year...third summer, not third year, third season to work as a shepherd but the first time with sheep, actually. Before that I worked with cows and milking and so on. Yeah, and for me it was also the first time with sheep and the first time in this area of Switzerland. I'm Austrian. But the payment in Austria is really bad so we went to Switzerland. So we are also the working migrants. Or what do you call it in English? **Margaret ** 03:31 Migrant workers, I guess.  **Amadeo ** 03:34 Yes.  **Margaret ** 03:36 Okay, so what brought you all to sheep farming or to farming in general as like the thing to go do with your summers for work?  **Amadeo ** 03:47 Should I?  **Sam ** 03:48 Yeah, you can. **Amadeo ** 03:50 So, I had this experience in 2020 and 21, I think, and I really liked it in a way. It was very hard work back then, but I learned a lot. And we met after that, actually, and decided we would like to go together. And then we just hit up the internet and looked for work and places to go and then we found this place that sounded pretty ideal for us because it was sheep farming and no milking, which is nice. I didn't want to do the milking job and do cheesemaking and so on again, I wanted to stay outside mostly, like the whole day under the sky and not in the staple. And yeah, we found this place where you don't need your own dogs, which is nice. We were working with blacknose sheep, they're called. It's like a breed that is only bred in this area. Or not only but traditionally there. And yeah, we tried to get the job and we got it. **Sam ** 05:08 I guess we also got in because Amadeo also already had a lot of experience. And yeah, they were looking for two people there and without dogs. And yeah, I also got...I was really lucky that I was with Amadeo because, you know, like some very daily stuff, he already was prepared for this job. Like, you need a lot of some equipment and know what to take. And yeah, I was really.... **Amadeo ** 05:36 The thing was that, of course, the owners of the sheep, they want someone who has some experience because it happens often that you think, "Oh, it's nice. It's in the mountains. It's beautiful." And then people after two weeks, three weeks, they say, "No way. I can't work here. It's way too hard." I mean, it's like pretty hard work. It's outside all day. With rain, with snow sometimes. And you work from sunup to sundown every day, seven days a week. And many people underestimate it because there's like, I don't know, this idea drawn of what it's like to work in the mountains and it's always beautiful. And it is. But it's also very hard work, actually. **Margaret ** 06:22 It seems really hard. It wouldn't immediately occur to me that I could just go run out and become a shepherd like tomorrow. But I have two questions. And they're related. And one is, what does an average day look like for a shepherd in an Alpine Valley? And the second question that's related is, do you get a shepherd's crook? **Sam ** 06:42 Yeah, well, the day starts with sunrise. Around five was when the summer started. We got there in mid of June. I stayed till mid of September. Amadeo had to leave a bit earlier. And the day ends with sunset. And yeah, you bring the sheep back into the night pen. You say, "pen," huh? Like a space where there is electricity on. Pen? [Said with air of not being sure if it's the correct word] **Amadeo ** 07:15 Do you know what that is? Or, did we get the right word?  **Margaret ** 07:17 Like an animal pen? Or is it a barn? **Amadeo ** 07:19 Yeah, it's like it has no roof. It's not a barn. It has no roof. It's just a fence. An area fenced. A fenced in area with strong electricity because of the wolves. **Margaret ** 07:35 Oh, yeah. Okay, it has an electric fence. Yeah, **Sam ** 07:37 yeah, exactly. And yeah, we would move every two weeks to a new pasture with the sheep. And there were 12 farmers or sheepherders. They're not all farmers. They also have another life. Most of them have another job. They work as bus drivers in heavy industry. And yeah, they also are doing a lot of work. So they're working with us there. We were there most of the time alone, but they come on weekends. They bring us food. They set up the pastures, lines, the fences too. Yeah. And so then we stay out with the sheep all day, any weather. And yeah, also, when we moved the pasture, they came for help because it's hard to change the pasture. You sometimes have to cross a river. And.... **Margaret ** 08:29 Wait, how do you cross the river? Do you just like drive them through the river? **Amadeo ** 08:33 Yes.  **Margaret ** 08:35 Like , "Go swim!"  **Amadeo ** 08:38 It was not such. It was more like a stream than the river. A river sounds bigger than it was.  **Sam ** 08:48 It was like this, like we always make a plan in the evening. Even a drawing. We were five people planning this. And then it always ends up in pretty much chaos and completely different. And in the end they were screaming, "Sam! Go! Go!" And I was like, I even had shoes on and the first sheep I was pulling, just one sheep, with all my strength through the river. And then all the sheep follow. **Margaret ** 09:14 Okay, okay. I have friends who keep sheep but in the city. And they just keep like six of them or something. And it's just a very different thing than like a free ranging sheep. And so it's hard for me to conceptualize.  **Amadeo ** 09:30 We had 400. **Margaret ** 09:32 Yeah, that's more than six. I'm good at numbers. That's amazing. Okay, cool. **Sam ** 09:38 So part of the daily routine is also to do the basic medical care. So we were introduced to that. Sometimes they have claw problems. [Claws are sheep toes] **Amadeo ** 09:38 Problems with the claws.  **Sam ** 09:39 Problems with claws. So this was a regular thing. And sometimes using antibiotics against.... **Amadeo ** 09:58 Yeah, and we had to clean the pen every day, which was like three to four hours of work for one of us. Like shoveling shit. **Margaret ** 10:09 Yeah, okay. But you didn't answer the second question. Did you have a shepherd's crook? Do you know what that is? [Laughing] **Amadeo ** 10:17 Not a real one. We had like umbrellas. Big ones that were very useful against the sun. And so preparedness thing number one, if you stay in the high alpine areas, the altitude of the higher pastures were 2500 meters [8,200ft], you need something to cover you against the sun and against the rain. So big umbrellas were pretty handy. **Sam ** 10:46 And also the sheep have horns so it's easier to catch them. You have to learn this also, but you throw yourself on the sheep and then you tackle them down. I got really good at this. And also the blacknose sheep in the valleys, they have very long hair. And, I mean, it's breeding, right? They do it for breeding, the sheepherders. So the wool, it doesn't get any money. It's nothing. It's not worth anything anymore. But for the beauty contests that the sheep go to it's really important. It's a tradition. And they let it grow.... **Amadeo ** 11:26 They have very long face hair so some of them are basically blind. Most of them have like, how do you say something that rings? What is it? A bell? Yes.  **Sam ** 11:39 Yeah, but they get lost because they don't see anything and our job was also to make them hair ties and to tie the hair. And also the sheepherders would come to do this because we could not do this for 400 sheep. Yeah, so that was also part of the job, Yeah, it adds up. There are some different tasks. And yeah, since we would move with the sheep, maybe also that.  So also the moving is part of. You're always packing your stuff. You need to think, okay, how much food we need to...how much will we eat and how much do we need to take to the next hut. So organizing this is part of it. And then we had a small hut that was flied in with a helicopter. It was... **Amadeo ** 12:12 Flown in. Flown with the helicopters for the most remote places where we would stay with the sheep because otherwise you would have to walk a long way, like 45 minutes to the cabin every day. So they brought in a tiny hut for one person, actually.  **Margaret ** 12:47 For you all?  **Amadeo ** 12:49 Yeah, yeah. Flown with the helicopter so we could stay next to the sheep.  **Sam ** 12:55 But it was so small. Like one was sleeping on the floor, the other on this little bed. And also you always need to organize this hut when you come with very wet clothes. You have no space in there. We had a little solar panel. So this was doing.... We had a fridge at least. Very high tech. I guess 20 years before, we would not have a fridge. And some light even in the cabin and a stove. A wood stove. It got crazy hot because it's so small and yeah. So organizing this hut was also not so easy. And we were lucky because there was a lot of water in this valley. Like it's full of water. And so we would get water from the... **Amadeo ** 13:43 From the springs around.  Wells? How you say? **Margaret ** 13:48 Well, I mean, a well is a hole dug in the ground and then a spring is usually a natural spring or it's like a pipe stuck in the side of a hill that the water comes out of. **Amadeo ** 13:57 Yeah, it was a natural spring. No pipe, though. Just some moss and it was nice. **Margaret ** 14:04 And so you can just go straight from that or do you have to filter it? **Amadeo ** 14:08 It depends. We had, at some points, we could just drink it from there. We didn't filter it. At the cabins we had covered springs, wells. Or springs? So we could...it was okay. But the open ones, we had to take care of where the sheep were. If the sheep can go around then it's not so good. It was better if it was higher up where they wouldn't go. **Sam ** 14:42 Yeah also good that there were a lot of springs so the sheep would get water. They need to drink. And sometimes there were pastures where they could only drink one time in the day, so they also learn when they have to drink in the morning because we had really hot days also where these blacknose sheep with all the wool, they really get hot. And yeah, then also we learned how the sheep walk in every pasture. They have the same kind of routine that follows the sun also. And you kind of learn their ways. And also maybe when it's time to act to get the sheep back, I mean, without a dog. Yeah, you need to learn this also, I guess, when it's time. **Amadeo ** 15:33 I always said, if you want to move against their will, you are the dog, you have to run around like crazy. They have their rhythm and they have their ways, you know? **Margaret ** 15:46 So, did you all use dogs? Like also? Or is it sometimes dogs, sometimes no dogs? **Amadeo ** 15:54 No, we had none. The thing is that this kind of race [breed of sheep] is very used to people and they're not moving that far. So you can walk with them. It's okay. It's just the problem is you can have two kinds of dogs, right? You can have dogs to protect against wolves, for example. Then they live with the sheep. They're inside of the flock all the time. But it's a problem with hikers and so on. Because they attack everyone that comes near, right? **Margaret ** 16:33 This explains a little bit about my dog.  **Amadeo ** 16:36 Yeah, and so you can really have them there because it's also like a recreational area. This area, like a lot of people go hiking there and so on. So you can't have dangerous dogs. And the other thing would be like dogs that help you move the flock.  **Margaret ** 17:01 Herding dogs?  **Amadeo ** 17:02 We didn't really need it, right? Because we would have not.... I mean, it was big areas but still we would stay in one area for two weeks and then we would move on to the next area. So you didn't really need dogs to guard them the whole day. **Sam ** 17:23 But it's really a calm.... The blacknose sheep are really really calm sheep. We learned this also because like certain sheep breeds, you say, right, they run way more. They run all day. And you really need dogs there. Yeah, so we.... **Amadeo ** 17:40 But with the blacknose, no, they are kind of calm. Yes. And they have a long...during the day they have a long break time.  **Sam ** 17:48 Resting time.   **Amadeo ** 17:49 Yeah, because if it's getting hot up there, the sun is very strong. It can be like, I don't know.... Like I mean the degrees don't get up that much like in the flat areas but the sun, how you say...the sun rays are really strong. **Margaret ** 18:11 Yeah, because when you're at a higher altitude there's less atmosphere to protect you, right? I know what I mean. But I don't know the words for it. **Amadeo ** 18:22 Yeah, the sheep have some...if it's a hot day, they rest for four hours during midday. They try to find, you know, shady spots and just rest. And so at that time, you can also rest. If it's rainy, you can't rest because then they are moving too. Yeah. **Margaret ** 18:48 It makes me...the no dog thing, I'm like.... My dog was bred to have a million different jobs. My dog is just a complete mutt of a lot of different working breeds. And so Rintrah, my dog, is never quite sure whether he's supposed to be herding, or chasing, or retrieving things. He just wants to do all of it all the time. And one of the proudest things I've ever had, my proudest dog mom moment, was staying with my friend who has goats and sheep and one of the baby goats just got out of the pen and was running around the yard. And so Rintrah just herded it into a corner and then like calmly barked to inform us that he had trapped the goat. And I was just like, no one taught you how to do that. He wasn't a year old. He just was like , "This is what I do." And so like, I imagine how happy my dog would be as a sheepdog, a herding dog, which isn't necessarily true because he has adhd. This is a complete tangent. I just like talking about my dog. But you all, one of the reasons I want to talk to you, you talked about how a lot of this ties into preparedness and how it feels you've learned a lot about preparedness that you're like taking into the rest of your life by having done this work. I was wondering if you wanted to talk more about that. As a complete, look how expertly I tangented...pivoted from one topic to another. **Sam ** 20:11 Yeah, yeah, actually your podcast was really a bit with us in this time. It was cool, the topic of preparedness. And yeah, for me in this way, thinking about preparedness, what's also weighed in with this work was to get somehow familiar again with the conditions of doing this work, of ways of living in this open environment, of existing there with the sheep and in this non-human environment. And also, maybe, in this threatened environment that somehow you would.... And also the organization structures, how this work is possible, that it needs a lot of people and it needs a lot of people who do this. I mean, there's the farmers or sheepherders, they do this because they love this work. Because they have done this all the time. It's tradition. And yeah, that they somehow save something. **Amadeo ** 21:17 I mean, to talk about the practical side, if you stay outside the whole day, every day, seven days a week, you learn a lot of what you really need and what you don't need. I think that was big. Yeah, it was like very valuable to me to see what I really need. And I remember listening to your podcast, and you talk a lot about being prepared in a way, like having podcasts on your phone, for example. Because if you have to stay with sheep for 10 hours a day, you need to...you had a lot of time to think. And I loved having a good book because I could read and then think for hours about it and have like, I think, yeah, more time than in the city where you are distracted from one topic to another. So this really is good to have more, I don't know, space in my head. This was a good thing. And yeah, I think looking at, how you say, like, being outside in nature everyday and witnessing all these little changes from day-to-day. This was very, very, very special. And I think I learned so much about life and also about survival because all the animals and the plants there, they are...like, they have to survive in a very harsh environment with very short growing period, for example. I mean, lots of snow during.... Winter lasts, I don't know, for 10 months, or like, let's see, nine maybe? You know what I mean? Like when we came mid June, there was still snow. And in August before we...the end was the 16th, I think, of September, but we had to leave the higher pastures at the end of August because it was starting to snow heavily. And yeah, it's like very different too.  **Sam ** 23:30 But still to also learn about the fears and the sheepherder have. And also, yeah, it's an environment that's threatened and that will change through climate change for sure. Like it is changing. And I thought also on some days that it gets hotter and hotter every summer. And also last year, the grass was really dry. So the sheep would get this disease called, in German, Lipinkin [cannot translate], which is little bit like herpes. Yeah. And yeah, they had to be treated, every sheep, and give some.... **Amadeo ** 24:05 Some cream. But do that for 400 sheep, man. **Margaret ** 24:11 Yeah, that sounds like it would take a while.  **Sam ** 24:14 Medication for 400 sheep. So yeah, they have struggles they face. And then the wolf, of course, is a new topic. And yeah, they have to deal with a lot of stuff. Yeah. **Margaret ** 24:27 Well, let's talk about wolves. Let's talk about--you all mentioned beforehand when we were getting ready to talk about how wolves have maybe either been reintroduced or are coming back in that area to a certain degree and how that threatens this way of life but like not as much as climate change does and how it all ties into the right-wing and I kinda wanna to hear about it. **Amadeo ** 24:51 Yeah, since a few years, since I was like.... 2020 was really when I was first introduced to this life, to these people in Switzerland. First of all, I came from the city and I didn't know that it's such a big topic already. Because in Austria, we have a few wolves. But not to mention, you know, maybe a dozen. But I learned that in Switzerland since the last, I don't know, 20 years, from a dozen they now have, I think, 250. Around 250. And, like, I don't know, 25 packs or something, or something like this. Which doesn't sound so much, but it's like...it's not such a big country. And they are a lot in these areas. For example, in Valais where we stayed, we knew that the nearest wolves are just two kilometers away. And they have offspring. So for them, they need meat and so on. And I mean, the sheep are puffy, you know. It's like, go get them. **Sam ** 26:01 Also, on the other side of the mountain, actually, there was another shepherd with a, I think, also around 400.... Fuck, I don't know exactly how many sheep. And there the wolf came. And he killed, I think, seven sheeps. And also one of his dogs was attacked. So it was really close. And also the fear that we might face an attack was also really with us. And also there was a guy who takes care of the area.  **Amadeo ** 26:34 A ranger.  **Sam ** 26:35 Yeah, and he came and told us, "Hey, you really have to watch out. They're really close." So yeah.  **Amadeo ** 26:42 But the thing is, the crazy thing for me is that, of course, this threatens, in a way, people that are used to putting their cattle, putting their sheep just in a meadow and leaving them, you know. Have a look once a week or something. Of course now with the wolves, it's not possible because a wolf would kill many. They start to, you know, get into like.... If they can they kill 10 and then just take one, you know. They just.... If they [sheep] don't run away and they don't run far, you know, 100 years of, I don't know, living with humans and being petted and so on, they don't have--you know what I mean? They don't have it in them anymore to really run. Because normally, if a wolf attacks a  deer, for example, the pack can't find any deer for another week or something because they're all alert. They're alert as soon as there is an encounter. With the sheep, it's not so much. So now it's a problem, of course, but there would be solutions. You just, you need to adjust. You need to change the way it works. Yeah, you need protection. You need people to look after the sheep and so on. And for many areas, this is really hard. Because if you have an alpine pasture that is very remote, steep hills everywhere, you know, it's so hard to really fence it off or something. It's not possible. So I can understand it for the farmers. It's hard. And when we talked with them about it, they were always like, "We have to kill the wolf," you know? And it's now protected. It's under national protection. You cannot just shoot them. Even if they kill some of your sheep, you can't. And there was a big--in Switzerland you have more, how you say, basic democracy. So many of the laws are decided by a vote of everyone. So there was a big vote about if the protection status of the wolves should be loosened in a way. Not that you can just hunt them but loosen in a way that you can, I don't know, shoot some if they're attacking cattle or.... **Margaret ** 29:11 Can you shoot them if they attack you? **Amadeo ** 29:13 No, we had no gun. I mean, they won't attack  humans but... **Margaret ** 29:20 I'm an American, so I'm like....Okay, so like, I think about this a lot. Okay. I'm really...the wolf thing is so interesting to me for a thousand reasons. And one is that the destruction of wolves is such a emblem of civilization. It is such an emblem of the conquest of nature, right? And you have, for example, the no wolves in Ireland thing. You know? And that the British were very into killing all the wolves in Ireland and part of that even.... Like, so you even have the Irish rebels who would be to a certain degree, would be like, "Oh, we are the wolves. Like we are the people that they're trying to conquer," because it's like they are the unconquered, you know, wild folk, or whatever fucking bullshit colonial thing that gets thrown at them, you know? But at the same time, it's like.... So I'm kind of rooting for the wolves here with what you're describing, right? I like sheep. I don't specifically want the sheep to die. And where I live, we have coyotes, right. And we don't really have wolves where I live, but we have coyotes. And they kill, you know, they kill livestock. And they also kill dogs, right? And I have a dog. And I very actively want my dog to not be killed by coyotes. And apparently coyotes will do this thing where they'll befriend a dog, and be like, "yeah, totally, come hang out with us," and then kill and eat that dog, right? And so I have a neighbor who oversees about 400 acres. And he's from France. And he carries around a handgun. And he's so confused by this. He's like, "I came to America and now I have to carry around a handgun." But he carries around a handgun in case he's attacked by coyotes. Right? And it's like, interesting to me because it's like.... The urge to be like, "Oh, we should kill all the wolves so we can happily raise our sheep in peace," like fuck that, right? That, to me, is like the example of a negative form of peace, where you have conquered and like flattened everything. Sorry, it's a little bit of a rant, but I'm going somewhere with it. I promise. And then, but at the same time, there's this balance, right? Like, I'm not going to let a coyote kill my dog. Or if I was around wolves, I wouldn't let the wolves kill me, right? I mean, whatever I...as much as I can control that, you know? The coyotes are kind of on the other side of the hill. So I don't carry a gun around my property. But that would be a thing that I would need to consider in certain circumstances. So, it's just really interesting to me that, like, I get why the sheep farmers are like, "Oh, we got to get rid of all these wolves." But I'm also like, "Whatever. Fuck you. Let the wolves be." But then I'm also like, it's complicated. And I get why you have to defend the sheep. But I don't know. Anyway, that's where I'm going with it. I guess I wasn't going anywhere with it after all. **Sam ** 32:15 Yeah, no, I think it's a really complex situation. Yeah, there is not an easy answer to like kill the wolf or.... Yeah, I'm also pro Wolf. And there needs to be a different solution. And yeah, like to see what the sheepherders really face, what kind of struggles they face with this was really interesting. And also, I think the problem is that it's super instrumentalized [wonders if that's the right word]...instrumentalized by right-wing people politically.  **Margaret ** 32:55 Weaponized? [Offering a different word] **Amadeo ** 32:58 Yeah. In a way. I mean, the thing is, it also turned in Switzerland, for example, into a city versus countryside. Because at the vote, most people from the cities would vote for the wolf for what keeps the protection. But many people in the countryside, with also more like conservative political beliefs--and the conservative parties--said, "No, no, no, we have to change that because it threatens our way of living around in the remote areas in the countryside. And so this is somehow so stupid because.... **Sam ** 33:37 Yeah, that's also covering certain other threats, right, like climate change. They don't talk about climate change. The only thing they speak about is the wolf and the wolves. And yeah, that's really.... So it's somehow a weird thing that it's so taken over by this discourse, which is, yeah.... **Amadeo ** 33:57 Yeah, you can shoot climate change. That's the thing. It's easy to say, "Oh, it's all the wolf. We have to kill the wolf. And then we get rid of this problem." But on the other hand, climate change.... [interrupted] **Margaret ** 34:11 I can think of some ways to solve climate change with guns, but.... Anyway.... **Amadeo ** 34:16 I mean, I got so sad up there because it's so special. I mean, this area was a natural reserve too. And it has golden eagles. It has vultures, it has marmots, it has like.... **Sam ** 34:35 A lot of marmots. Everywhere. [Laughing] **Amadeo ** 34:38 And some protected bogs, some plants that are really like really rare, like at the brink of extinction. And I know, I stood there and I saw this, I don't know, this beauty and I know in 50 years from now it will be gone. Probably. It's very, very likely. Because.... I mean, some species can move.... Like, seen on a global level, they move north because it's getting warm. But on the on fucking mountain, there is an end. There is no moving more up. Because at 4000 meters or something, it's....stops, you know? Like there's nothing there. And all the farmers there, for example, if you ask them, they see these changes. They witness it. They say, "Yes, it's so much different than it was when I was a kid." And the glaciers, for example, in Switzerland--I read about it--there were since the 70s, 800 glaciers are gone. And there is still 1400 glaciers in Switzerland. And they say 2100 [year], they will be probably most of them, like 95%, will be gone. And it's so sad. But still, if you say something like, "Climate change," even those farmers there, that witness it every fucking day, they say like, "Well, you know, I don't know if you can call it that." It's ridiculous. And it's because the discourse, the political discourse, is framed by conservatives mostly. And they say, "Your problem is the wolf. We can shoot the wolf." So.... [Margaret starts talking and apologizes] No, no, it's, I'm, I'm done with ranting. **Margaret ** 36:40 No, this is so interesting for a thousand reasons. And one of them is that we always.... It goes back hundreds of years that leftists will be like, "Oh, the countryside are all right-wing. Fuck them." And this is not true, right? This is like.... The most interesting leftist revolutions have generally involved also the rural folks, right? I mean, like, famously, the fucking Russian Revolution was all rural people. And to be fair, Marx was.... I think he owned up to getting that wrong, because he was one of the people who started this myth that "The peasant is not the revolutionary subject, only the proletarian worker in the city is," right? "And the peasants are always reactionary." And I think he owned up to, when he looked at Russia, he was like, "Oh, I got that one wrong. Okay, cool." You know. It's true if we let it be true, because you have this thing where.... I think it is actually a flaw that we have to be careful with in democracy--and majority rule in general--is if people in the cities make the rules for the people in the countryside, and they don't understand the people in the countryside and they don't understand their way of life. And so it's like, really easy--even though I'm still on the wolf's side--I see it as complicated. Whereas it's like really easy to live in a city and be like, "Whatever. Fuck it," you know, because it's not their livelihood, or dog that is being threatened, right? And so I feel like, to me, it's this thing where we can't cede that ground to the right-wing, you know? And I really, I think it's cool that you all.... And that's one reason I want to talk to you about it is that there's like all of these.... It doesn't have to be this inherently conservative space to be in the countryside, to be in a rural area. And then the other thing that I was thinking about with what you're talking about, about mountains and how things retreat, is that mountains are so interesting to me because they're always where people run to, right? And you look at.... I mean, you look at Switzerland as a country and as the history of the country is people fleeing there in order to--well, I don't know enough about how Switzerland was formed--but in World War II, every time I'm like reading about Dutch revolutionaries, or whatever, they're like, "Fuck!" and they all run over to Switzerland and climb up the glaciers with their bare hands, or whatever the fuck. I don't know. I clearly know what I'm talking about. And in the United States, you have. where I live in Appalachia, that is the place that people would retreat to. That is the place where people losing wars against the conquest of the United States would go to. And it is. It's that weird thing where you're always free in the mountains, but there's only so far you can run. And that's just so heartbreaking to think about, you know? There's only so far up the mountain that these plants can migrate. On the other hand, I have a feeling that's what we're all going to be living. We're all gonna be in Antarctica. Antarctica bloomed this year, I think. I think we're being on Antarctica and on the mountains. So...  **Sam ** 39:39 Yeah, but it's interesting how it's idolized and romanticized. I mean, we had like...and how extreme, actually, the weather really changes. I really didn't know. I had never lived for three months so high up. And yeah, but also, they're so romanticized. There's this huge hype around survivalist shows, at the moment on TV, which is also really interesting and comes with this. And on the opposite for me the...Yeah, the question was how does being there in the Alps, what does this really change with me and what does it do to experience this? And yeah....  **Amadeo ** 40:20 Yeah, what does it do?  **Margaret ** 40:23 We're asking.   **Sam ** 40:23 It's still settling in. And it's about reconnecting and really realizing what it takes to do this work. And I have a lot of respect.... Also, to be in a very patriarchal space where the shepherds were only older men. Yeah, they have their ways of acting. They have their ways of being. And for me, this was really difficult. Yeah. And still, somehow to not say, "Hey, I won't enter this space," but to go there and.... Yeah, also see what community they have, you know. Yeah, to also go beyond this, I think, that they have their tradition and they have to face this, but yeah, it was also.... [Interrupted] **Amadeo ** 41:11 Maybe you can maybe explain a little bit this, I don't know, this group of people we worked for, because it was actually pretty interesting because it's a conservative area, but they were very working class and very, very nice to us. I think. They treated us really respectfully. And I know, in my other place where I worked as a shepherd, it wasn't like that. I was treated, actually, a little bad. And that's...I don't know. **Sam ** 41:45 Yeah. And to see how they are with the animals. I mean, for them, that's...they are their life. And it's this encounter.  **Amadeo ** 41:50 They love them. **Sam ** 41:51 And for us, to get to know every sheep personally, it's really interesting what connection you get. You watch them all the time. You learn, hey, they are totally different. They have totally different characters.  **Margaret ** 42:09 Yeah. Okay, my question to you is how do you, when you're working with people who are seeing this climate change happen, how do you--but but can't acknowledge it--do you have any insight or thoughts about how to connect with people about that, about how to talk to people, you know, who want to focus on the wolf instead of the bigger wolf, the climate wolf? What's the name of that wolf that's gonna eat the sun and Germanic paganism? Wow, how do I not remember that.  Anyway, whatever, at the start of Ragnarok. Someone's gonna get really mad at me for not knowing this. Fenrir! **Amadeo ** 42:51 I think we had some very good discussions at times. Right? With the guys.... Sorry? [Margaret interrupting] **Margaret ** 43:01 No, no, no, I was just...I remembered the name of the wolf that eats the sun and starts Ragnarok. It's Fenrir. Anyway, or Fenris? Oh, God, no people gonna get mad at me. Anyway, please continue. Tell you something.  **Amadeo ** 43:13 I think also, even though some of them were a little bit panicky about wolves, and so on, I think the system with the night pens and with having shepherds like us, since a few years, to look after the sheep, day and night, basically, it works pretty well. I mean, they told us they have one to five, maybe, sheep per year that are getting killed by the wolf. But that's okay. I mean, they're realistic about it, right? And when we talked about climate change, of course, it was--I mean, for me, it's not much different--I mean, they acknowledged that things are changing. They didn't use the, I don't know, scientific vocabulary or whatever. And they acknowledged in a way--or some of them at least--that there are new problems that we have to face. For example, it's too dry, and so on. Water issues.  Dying out of certain plants, animals in certain areas, and so on. They all see this. More avalanches in the winter. All of this. But, I mean, they were a little helpless. And I mean, we are also often a little helpless, because it's getting individualized. How should you react? Not drive a car? Great. I mean, we have to, you know, rise up and change all of the economy, you know, and this is hard to do. **Sam ** 44:53 But I guess, I mean, I also came there with my artistic background and as an artist and I also was filming a lot--more some of the sheeps but also us--and I think for me to show as someone coming there with a city background, but also with our backgrounds as biologists and artists, and showing how this encounter happens maybe from us as city people with also another perspective in encountering this world. I think I find this really interesting. Also showing some part of this being not exactly in this. I think that's an interesting perspective, also, for other people to see. And yeah, I'm probably cutting a bit of a movie out of this. And I think it can.... Yeah, it's good to go to this place and to show our perspective.  **Amadeo ** 45:53 I mean, I'm so grateful for what these people taught us, right, and that we were accepted and we did this job. And I think we did a good job. But also they trust us, right? **Sam ** 46:06 And what the sheep teach us.  **Amadeo ** 46:08 Yeah, the human and non-human individuals that trusted us. And it was, I think.... I'm very, very grateful. But on the other hand, also, for them, I think it was kind of interesting to have unorthodox people there, people who didn't grow up around the corner with animals, and sheep, and so on. Because for them, they all grew up with this. They inherited this from their parents and grandparents. And we came.... Actually it was a meeting of different worlds, right? We came....  **Sam ** 46:45 And I want to show this, also, this discrepancy that there is some dialog or some encounter that needs to happen. And I mean, many people are so disconnected to this world and don't know. They have lived in Switzerland all their life and they don't have so much connection to this work. Yeah. And it's cool to....  **Amadeo ** 47:05 I think, yeah, it was really...like we came from 1000 kilometers away. But even what made more of a difference was that we live in a city of 2 million people and they live in tiny mountain villages. But we came. We had a good time together, right? They were like helping us. We were helping them. It worked out. And I mean a lot of prejudicism, I had also, as a young radical from the city, dogmatic, and so on, about people back in the days. I mean, it changed over the years, but more and more when I encountered these, I don't know, social places, I have to say, yeah, they were very social with us and very helpful and very, I don't know, cool. Very cool also. Even though they have like strange habits like drinking coffee that isn't coffee but.... [Laughing] **Margaret ** 48:04 Wait, what do they drink that isn't coffee? **Amadeo ** 48:07 It's called Lupinion. It's made out of Lupin, I think. I don't know the English word, like some grain. And it has no caffeine at all. And they always say, "Let's have a coffee and then they drink this." **Sam ** 48:21 But with a lot of schnapps.  **Margaret ** 48:24 I don't drink caffeine. So I'm like, I want to drink that shit. That sounds great. **Sam ** 48:28 That would be the place for you to go.  **Amadeo ** 48:32 They put Apple booze inside like apple schnapps instead.  **Margaret ** 48:38 Okay, well, are there any last things that we didn't cover that you wish we had? Or things that you're really excited to say about sheep and climate change? Oh, does it make you want sheep? That's my...that was like the question. Like, are y'all gonna get sheep? Do you have a yard? I don't know where you live. **Amadeo ** 49:00 We live in the city. But we are planning to move in the coming years. And actually, I would love to have some sheep.  **Sam ** 49:10 Maybe not 400. **Amadeo ** 49:16 Some 20 or something? 15. **Sam ** 49:18 Or we will continue doing this work. It's cool to also work with them and then for a long time be with them. I guess we're.... And then also say, "Hey, gratz [congratulations], that was the summer." . And give them back. **Amadeo ** 49:35 Yeah, like sometimes it's nice to play with kids but having your own kids it's kind of a different cup of tea. **Sam ** 49:42 Like co-parenting. [Laughing] **Amadeo ** 49:45 Maybe some sheep co-parenting? Yeah. Right. **Margaret ** 49:51 Alright, well, is there anything that you want to plug, that you want to direct people towards, either your work or something else that's going on that you want to draw attention to.  **Amadeo ** 50:01 I wanted to say, because I always said while I was there, that it needs more people to help the little farmers deal with the wolves, because if we don't help them then they will always tend to the parties that say, "Oh, let's just get rid of the wolves." And I found out that there are some NGOs to do that, that come from an environmental side. There's one group called Au Pair. I think they're in the French speaking part of the country, mostly. And they actually sent volunteers to alpine pastures where there are wolves nearby, to help, to guard, and also monitor the wolf activities. So it's for research and also to help the farmers. And if I can't go next year to work as a shepherd, I will volunteer there. And I think it's a great, great thing and somehow a solution for how ordinary people can get in touch with the small farmers and help with maintaining the alpine pastures that are also so important for biodiversity. Yeah. And to help save the wolf from people. **Margaret ** 51:22 Yeah. No, that's so good. Because instead of just abandoning people to being like, "Whatever, the wolf is good and you suck," just being like, "Hey, what will it actually take? Like what resources do you actually need in order to be able to continue to do your work in a world full of wolves?" That's cool. **Amadeo ** 51:40 Yeah, I think it needs a lot of growing together, the countryside and the cities, in understanding and talking and like supporting each other. **Sam ** 51:51 Hey, thanks for having us, Margaret.  **Margaret ** 51:54 Yeah, thanks so much. And good luck next year with the sheep season. And I'll talk to y'all at some point soon I hope. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, go try to convince sheep and wolves to be friends. No, that's not going to work. Hang out with sheep and then separately hang out with wolves. Actually, you probably just shouldn't even hang out with the wolves. You should probably leave them alone. That's pretty much what we want. But that's what you can do. You can also support this podcast. You can support this podcast happening by helping us pay our transcribers and our audio editors. I say this is if there's a plural of each, but there's actually one of each. And thanks to those editors. And thanks to everyone who helps us do that. And the way we do that is through Patreon. This podcast is published by Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. We have several other podcasts, including one called Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, as well as one called Anarcho Geek Power Hour. And if you support us on Patreon, we'll send you a monthly feature that we put out. We'll send it anywhere in the world. And if you pay us $20 a month, I'll read your name out right now. In particular, I'd like to thank Eric, Perceval, Buck, Julia, Catgut, Marm, Carson, Lord Harken, Trixter, Princess Miranda, BenBen, Anonymous, Funder, Janice & O'dell, Aly, paparouna, Milaca, Boise Mutual Aid, theo, Hunter, S.J., Paige, Nicole, David, Dana Chelsea, Staro, Jenipher, Kirk, Chris, Machaiah, and of course, Hoss the Dog. I hope everyone is doing as well as you can and don't let the people divide us along cultural lines because we just shouldn't let that happen. Talk to you all soon.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Oct. 2. It dropped for free subscribers on Oct. 9. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoDan Grider, General Manager of Great Bear, South DakotaRecorded onSeptember 25, 2023About Great Bear Ski ValleyOwned by: The City of Sioux FallsLocated in: Sioux Falls, South DakotaYear founded: 1966Pass affiliations: NoneReciprocal partners:* 3 days at Seven Oaks* 2 days at Mont du Lac* 1 day each at Buck Hill, Powder Ridge MN, Snowstar* Discounts at several other local ski areasClosest neighboring ski areas: Mt. Crescent (2:37), Mount Kato (2:16)Base elevation: 1,352 feetSummit elevation: 1,534 feetVertical drop: 182 feetSkiable Acres: 20Average annual snowfall: 49 inchesTrail count: 15 (7 most difficult, 5 more difficult, 3 easiest)Lift count: 3 (1 fixed-grip quad, 1 ropetow, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Great Bear's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himFrequent Storm readers have probably started to notice the pattern: every fourth or fifth podcast swerves off Megapass Boulevard and takes four state highways, a gravel path, a Little Caesars pit-stop, and ends in the Wal-Mart-sized parking lot of a Midwest ski area. Which often sits next to a Wal-Mart. Or a car dealership. Or, in the case of Great Bear, between a construction supply depot and the Sioux Falls chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a conservation society.Why do I do this? My last three podcasts featured the leaders of Killington, Keystone, and Snowbird. The next one to drop into your inbox will be Northstar, a Vail Resorts staple that is the ninth-largest ski area in America. If you're reading this newsletter, there is a high probability that you either already have skied all four of those, or plan to at some future point. Most of you will probably never ski Great Bear or anywhere else in South Dakota. Many of you will never ski the Midwest at all.Which I understand. But there are several reasons I've worked Midwest ski areas into the podcast rotation, and why I will continue to do so for as long as The Storm exists:* The episodes with the leaders of Caberfae, Boyne Mountain, The Highlands, and Nub's Nob are for 18-year-old me. Or whatever version of 18-year-old me currently sits restlessly in the ski-mad but ignored flatlands between Ohio and the Dakotas. I devoured every ski magazine on the drugstore shelves of the 1990s, but if I could scrub 500 words of Midwest content from their combined catalogue each winter, I was lucky. I was dying – dying – for someone, anyone, to say something, anything, about the Midwest or Midwest skiing. Even a list of the top 10 ski areas in Michigan, with 50 words on each, would have made my year. But the ski mags, great as they were in those days, barely covered the rich and varied ski culture of New England, let alone the Midwest. I would have lost my goddamn mind had someone published a 90-minute conversation with the owner of the mysterious (to me at the time) Caberfae, with its hills upon hills of abandoned lifts and ever-changing footprint. * The Midwest is home to one of the world's great ski cultures. If you don't believe me, go ski there. The region hosts 122 ski areas across 10 states, most of them in Michigan (43), Wisconsin (33), and Minnesota (21). But the volume matters less than the attitude: Midwest skiers are absolutely unpretentious. They'll ski in hunting gear and Carhartts. They'll ski on 25-year-old sticks they found at a yard sale for five dollars. They'll ski when it's 25 below zero. They'll ski at night, in the rain, on a 200-vertical-foot bump running 60-year-old chairlifts. These are skiers, Man. They do it because it's fun, because it's right there, and because this is one of the few regions where skiing is still accessible to the masses. If you want to understand why every third Colorado liftie you meet is from Grand Rapids or Madison or Duluth, go ski Canonsburg or Cascade or Spirit Mountain. It will make sense in about five seconds.* Because the Midwest has so many owner-operators, and because it takes a certain sort of swaggering competence to run something as temperamental and wild as a 300-vertical-foot, city-adjacent ski area with 17 chairlifts all built before the Reagan Administration, these tend to be very good interviews. The top five most-downloaded Storm Skiing Podcasts of 2023 are Alterra CEO Jared Smith, Holiday Valley President Dennis Eshbaugh, Pacific Group Resorts CMO Christian Knapp, Indy Pass President Doug Fish, and Whitecap Mountains owner David Dziuban. Those first four are fairly predictable (Holiday Valley is a bit of an outlier, as the resort heavily shared the conversation), but the last one is remarkable. Both because only five people have actually skied at Whitecap, and because the 33 podcasts that I've pushed out this year include many prominent and popular megapass headliners with well-known and highly respected leaders. Why did the Whitecap podcast land so hard? I can't say for certain, but I suspect because it is completely raw, completely authentic, and absolutely unconcerned with what anyone will think or how they will react to it. Dziuban, an industry veteran on a mission to salvage a dying business from the scrapyard, has no boss, nothing to lose, and no one to impress. It's an incredible conversation (listen for yourself). And while Dziuban is a special character, bolstered by a fearless Chicago moxie and the accent to match, every single guest I have on from the Midwest brings some version of that no-b******t attitude. It's fun.* I'm from there. I grew up in Michigan. Many of my best friends still live there. I return frequently, hold Michigan football season tickets, camp in the UP every April, still rock the Old English “D” ballcap. I moved to the East Coast in 2002, but the longer I'm gone, the more I admire the region's matter-of-fact work ethic, the down-to-earth worldview, the way Midwesterners simplify the complicated (next time you ride a chairlift with a Michigander at Keystone or Breckenridge, ask them how they got to Colorado – there's a better than 50 percent chance that they drove). Midwest skiing is the reason I love skiing, and I will always be grateful for these hills, no matter how small they are. Plus, I gotta represent.So, there you go. Skip this ep if you want. But you shouldn't, because it's very good.What we talked aboutGreat Bear's record-shattering 2022-23 ski season for skier visits; how the ski area has been able to recruit and retain staff in a difficult labor market; staying open into April; the importance of Christmas Week; memorializing Roxie Johnson; Great Bear in the 1970s; the quirks of running a city-owned ski area; the appeal of working at a small ski area for decades; what it means to a flatland city to have a ski area; the best age to make skiers; “if you can sit, you can tube”; “The nice thing about our profitability is that there's no owner here, so our money just stays in the bank”; contemplating a new chalet; the location, size, and timeline for Great Bear's potential expansion; the glacial phenomenon that left Great Bear in its wake; reflecting on the Covid season; what it means for a small municipal Midwestern ski area to put in a brand-new chairlift; why the outgoing Borvig quad had to go, even though it was “a tank”; the brilliance and cost-effectiveness of high-speed ropetows; scarves and ropetows don't mix; the story behind the “Children's Dental Center Beginner Area”; the power of tubing; Keeping season pass and lift ticket prices low; the story behind the season passholders-only timeslot on Sunday; holding strong on wicket tickets; free buddy tickets for passholders; Flurry the mascot; and the Indy Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewLike many small ski areas, Great Bear publishes a periodic newsletter to complement its social media presence. I subscribe to as many of these email digests as I am aware of, as they often contain nuggets that larger resorts would celebrate with a big campaign and press release. Great Bear's April newsletter hooked me with this:We are excited to finally start sharing with you our plans for future expansion! Efforts to expand have been in the works since 2013. Our top priority is adding another 7-acres of skiable downhill terrain with a second chairlift. Additionally, we are working on plans to significantly expand the lodge.As a city park, our next step is presenting a detailed plan to the Parks Board next month. We appreciate all your enthusiasm for a bigger and better Great Bear. Projects of this size take an enormous amount of work and collaboration. We are so grateful for our partnership with the City of Sioux Falls and all the community support!An expansion project at a municipal ski area marooned in a state with a population of fewer than 900,000 people is a big deal. It means the place is well-run and well-cared-for, and most likely a community staple worthy of some national attention. The fact that Great Bear was served not by a collection of ropetows and a 60-year-old Hall double, but by a carpet and a brand-new Skytrac quad, complemented with a high-speed Park Brah ropetow, were further evidence of a highly capable management team.Intrigued, I reached out. It took a minute, but we set up the podcast with Grider, who's been running the bump since 1992. He's a great storyteller with an upbeat disposition and a good mind for business, and he convincingly lays out a long-term future for Great Bear that will ensure the mountain's status as a skier assembly line for many generations to come. If you love skiing, you'll enjoy this one.Questions I wish I'd askedI'd meant to ask about this “I Ski 182 Vert Campaign,” which profiles locals who have put Great Bear at the center of their recreational lives:Why you should ski Great BearThere are different ways to think about yourself as a skier. One is as a sort of progressionist. Like a student working their way through school, you graduate from one grade to the next. Always forward, never back. So a Jersey kid may learn at Campgaw as a 6-year-old, join after-school ski bus trips to Mountain Creek in junior high, take weekend trips to Mount Snow in high school, and spend college spring breaks at Palisades Tahoe. But by the time he moves to the Upper East Side and has two kids of his own, he only skis on his annual trips to Deer Valley. He sits on his laptop in the lodge as the kids run beginner-chair laps at Thunder Ridge. He's not going to bother with this little stuff – he's graduated.But this is a strange way to think about skiing. We don't apply such logic to other facets of our lives. Consider food – sometimes you have the inch-thick porterhouse on a special-occasion outing, sometimes you have Taco Bell, and sometimes you eat Pop-Tarts on your drive to work. But I don't know anyone who, once they've dined at Peter Luger, never deigns to eat a hotdog again. Sometimes you just need to fuel up.I approach skiing in the same way. A dozen or so days per season, I'm eating steak: Snowbird or Big Sky or Vail or Heavenly. But since I'm not content to ski 12 days per winter, I also eat a lot of pasta. Let's call that New England and the Catskills on their best days, or just about anyplace with fresh snow. And I snack a lot, skiing's equivalent of a bag of Doritos: a half-open Poconos bump, a couple hours on a Sunday morning at Mountain Creek, a Michigan T-bar when I'm visiting family for Christmas. My 6-year-old son is in a seasonal program at 250-vertical-foot Mt. Peter in New York. The vast majority of the parents sit in the lodge on their phones while the kids ski. But I ski, lapping the Ol' Pete double chair, which accesses the whole mountain and rarely has a line. When his lesson is over, we often ski together. It's fun.Everyone funnels the joys of skiing through different lenses. The lift or the freefall, the high-altitude drama, the après electricity of crowded places and alcohol. For me, the draw is a combination of dynamic movement and novelty, an exploration of new places, or familiar places under the changing conditions wrought by weather and crowds. Even though Mt. Peter is familiar, it's a little different place every week.Which takes us to Great Bear, a 182-foot bump that is, most likely, nowhere near you. I'm not suggesting you cancel your Tahoe reservations and book yourself into the Sioux Falls Best Western. But there are two groups of skiers who ought to consider this place: locals, and cross-country road-trippers.If you live in Sioux Falls and are over the age of 16, you probably consider yourself a progressionist. Maybe you learned to ski at Great Bear, but now it's too small for you to bother with. You'll ski your five days per year at Copper Mountain and be content with it. But why? You have a ski area right there. The season pass is $265. Why ski five days per year when you can ski 25? With that Great Bear season pass, you can ski every Saturday morning and two nights a week after work. Consider it your gym. The runs are short, but the sensation of dynamic movement is still there. It's skiing. And while it's (typically) a materially a worse form of skiing than your high-altitude Colorado version of the sport, it's also in many ways better, with less attitude, less pretense, less entitlement, less ego. Just kids having fun. It's fulfilling in a different way.The second group is those of us who live east of America's best versions of skiing. Most East Coast skiers will fly west, but the most adventurous will drive. You see them on Facebook, posting elaborate three- or six-week Google maps dotted all over the west. But why wait until you arrive in Colorado or Wyoming or Montana to start skiing? There are ski areas all along your route. Great Bear sits two miles from Interstate 90, the 3,021-mile-long route that runs from Boston to Seattle. So why not scoot through Kissing Bridge, Buffalo Ski Center, and Peek'N Peak, New York; Alpine Valley, Boston Mills, and Brandywine in Ohio; Swiss Valley, Michigan; Four Lakes and Villa Olivia, Illinois; and Cascade, Devil's Head, and LaCrosse, Wisconsin en route? Yes, you want to hurry west. But the drive will take several days no matter what. Why not mix in a little novelty along the way?My first trip west was over Christmas break in the mid-90s, a 22-hour bender from Michigan to Summit County, Colorado with my buddy Andy. We'd booked a Super 8 or some similar thing in Lincoln, Nebraska, at our approximate halfway point. We rode into Nebraska sometime after dark, but early enough for a night session at Nebraski, a run-down hundred-footer between Omaha and Lincoln. The chairlift coughed up the bump like a cartoon contraption and skiers yard-saled all over the hill and it was just about the most amazing scene you could imagine. Four days later a two-footer hammered Copper, dropping an exclamation-point powder day onto our first Rocky Mountain adventure. Nearly three decades later, when we reminisce on that trip, we talk about that Copper pow day, but long-gone Nebraski (I don't think the place made it out of the ‘90s alive), is an equal part of the legend.A Great Bear stop would be a little different, of course. This is a modern ski area, with a 2021 Skytrac quad and modern snowmaking and solid financial backing. It will make you feel good about skiing and about its future. It may even be a highlight of your trip.Podcast NotesOn the remoteness of Great BearIt is impossible to overstate how important Great Bear is to curating skiers among the 300,000-ish residents of greater Sioux Falls. There are two other ski areas in South Dakota – Terry Peak and resurgent, probably semi-private Deer Mountain – but they sit nearly six hours west, in the Black Hills. Mt. Crescent, Iowa, sits two-and-a-half hours down I-29. Mt. Kato, Minnesota is two hours east. And that's about it. If you're a teenager in Sioux Falls without Great Bear, you may as well be a teenager in Fort Lauderdale. You're probably never going to ski.That wasn't always true. A 175-vertical-foot (at most) bump with the amazing name of Hole In The Mountain once operated with up to three ropetows near Lake Benton, an hour north, according to the Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project. But that's been gone for decades.  On Great Bear's potential expansionGreat Bear is in the process of a sizeable expansion, which could add a second chairlift and several more trails. Great Bear provided this preliminary map, which shows a new lift sitting adjacent to the learning area and a new entrance road and chalet:On the outcome of the Sept. 25 masterplan meetingGrider referenced a meeting he had coming up “later this week,” which means last week, since we recorded this on Sept. 25. I followed up on Sunday to see if the meeting had thrown any landmines in the way of Great Bear's potential expansion. It had not. The reception from local officials had been optimistic and enthusiastic, Grider said.“What we've got to do here in the next six weeks is they're going to formalize the plans and we'll get some drawings, we'll get a rendering,” Grider told me. “Then we go in front of the park board and we just keep our foot on the gas pedal.”On the stem in the middle of Great Bear's old Borvig chairGreat Bear's spanking-new Skytrac replaced a gorgeous but problematic Borvig centerpole quad. Luckily, Lift Blog documented the old lift before the ski area demolished it.On high-speed ropetows and Hyland HillsI remain obsessed with high-speed ropetows as the ultimate solution to terrain park-driven congestion. They're fast, they're cheap, and they tamp down liftlines by drawing Parkbrahs away from the workhorse chairlifts. Here's one I documented at Spirit Mountain, Minnesota last season:And here's one at Hyland Hills, which Grider mentions:On me not knowing who Mary Hart isAt one point in the podcast, Dan Grider asked me if I knew who Mary Hart was. I said I did not, which was true. It turns out that she is quite famous. She was Miss South Dakota 1970 and hosted a show called Entertainment Tonight for 29 years. I have never watched that show, nor was I aware of its existence until I looked up Ms. Hart on Wikipedia.This probably sounds dubious to you. But there is something wrong with my brain. I simply do not process information having to do with pop culture or celebrities. I say this not out of proud ignorance, but as a matter of observable fact. I have always been this way. Hit me with a well-known movie quote, and I will stare at you as though you just spoke to me in Elvish.An anecdote to illustrate the larger void in which I exist: my wife and I began watching a show called Suits the other day. She asked me if I recognized the young woman who plays a paralegal on this show. I said no. She asked if I knew who Meghan Markle was. I said no. She asked if I knew who Prince [can't remember the name] was. I said no. Because apparently they're married. And that matters somehow. Though I'm not exactly sure why. Though I am curious why we still have princes in this world, because I thought we got rid of them when we exiled the dragons back in like 1502 or whenever.We all have gaps, right? Or shortcomings. One of mine, and there are many, is aggressive indifference to things that I find boring. It's probably how some of you feel when I write about skiing in Ohio. Like, Man, get me to the next thing.On charging the same for kids as adultsMost ski areas kick you a discount for a kids' lift ticket. And why not? Expenses add up for a family, and when you start multiplying everything by three or four, you get to a scary price range pretty quickly. So some of you may have been surprised when Grider mentions, during our interview, that Great Bear doesn't offer discounted lift tickets for kids.There's a simple reason for that. A discounted kids ticket doesn't do much for you when most of your clientele is children. Great Bear is one of our skier factories, where busloads of kids prime themselves for roadtrips to Colorado 10 years from now. So the parents don't need the incentive – they're just signing the waiver to get the kid on the ski bus.Plenty of ski areas follow a similar model. Mount Peter, where my 6-year-old participates in a seasonal program, is currently selling adult season passes for $499, and kids' passes for $479. Nearby Campgaw posts similar rates: $389 for adults, $359 for kids. But it makes sense to minimize the discount: both are 300-ish-foot bumps that are dwarfed by nearby Mountain Creek, a thousand-footer with a killer terrain park and high-speed lifts (and, incidentally, a less-expensive season pass). They can't compete from a terrain point of view, but they can offer something that Creek can't: an unintimidating atmosphere to learn in. And the skiers who mostly need such a thing is kids. And if Mt. Peter and Campgaw discount kids too much, their whole model falls apart.In the case of Great Bear, well, the season pass is currently $265. This winter's lift ticket price will be $38. So, really, who cares?On Flurry the MascotIf your ski area doesn't have a mascot, it should:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 81/100 in 2023, and number 467 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Heidi takes us back to her first concert experience in 1976 with the Eagles, just months before the release of their iconic album "Hotel California." Little did she know this concert would mark the beginning of her unique role as what we call the "Concert Mom." Heidi opens up about her journey as a concert mom, sharing stories of the one-of-a-kind live music experiences she had with her sons including what happens when a food fight broke out at a Loop FM concert event. From attending various concerts together to creating lasting memories, Heidi describes fascinating tales of music and the special bond that live performances can create between loved ones. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

Not all talent buyers are nice guys. To be honest, it's a profession that seems to attract more than its fair share of bastards. But that's not the case with our good buddy Marc Solheim — who went from being a welcome fixture on the Milwaukee concert scene to being a big-cheese booker for Chicago's own Riot Fest without ever losing an ounce of his good humored charm (not to mention a single strand of his famously perfect hair). In fact, the guy's filled with so much goodwill that he actually attended Local H's very first show (at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1990) and years later he was STILL willing to book the band. Anyway — on this episode we talk to Marc about serving food to Mark Slaughter at Alpine Valley, Stevie Ray Vaughan's last show, flyering for “Jesus Christ Superstar”, working at The Rave, shows at The Unicorn, Corey Feldman's bodyguard, Wesley Willis and The Frogs, Walter Schreifels' three-peat weekend, vegan chimichangas, what goes into organizing a world class music festival, and a WHAT'S THE BEST?!? with Riot Fest headliners The Cure.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's final resting place (Alpine Valley), music from Secret Menu, and a review of Old Style.

Valerie takes us back to the mid-1980s starting with back-to-back concerts as well as her experience at The Lumineers concert just weeks before the Covid shutdown.Bands Mentioned: Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Black Crows, Jimmy Page, Doobie Brothers.Venues Mentioned: Poplar Creek (Hoffman Estates, IL), Aragon Ballroom (Chicago, IL), Rosemont Horizon (Rosemont, IL), Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

On the 41st anniversary of the Grateful Dead's legendary 8-7-82 Alpine Valley concert, Howard digs into the extraordinary performances from this show, and the following night in Alpine. Howard also recalls his epic road trip to Wisconsin, and the early days of his Grateful Dead obsession.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on August 1. It dropped for free subscribers on August 4. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe for free below:WhoJim Rochford Jr., Owner and General Manager of Trollhaugen, WisconsinRecorded onJuly 10, 2023About TrollhaugenClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Rochford familyLocated in: Dresser, WisconsinYear founded: 1950Pass affiliations: Indy Pass – 2 daysReciprocal partners: NoneClosest neighboring ski areas: Wild Mountain (18 minutes), Como Park (1 hour), Afton Alps (1 hour, 3 minutes), Elm Creek (1 hour, 3 minutes), Hyland Hills (1 hour, 18 minutes), Buck Hill (1 hour, 22 minutes), Welch Village (1 hour, 33 minutes), Christie Mountain (1 hour, 24 minutes), Powder Ridge (1 hour 54 minutes), Coffee Mill (1 hour, 56 minutes)Base elevation: 920 feetSummit elevation: 1,200 feetVertical drop: 280 feetSkiable Acres: 90 (2023 expansion will increase this total)Average annual snowfall: 50 inchesTrail count: 24 (28% advanced, 43% intermediate, 29% beginner)Lift count: 9 (4 fixed-grip quads, 5 ropetows – lift count includes new Partek fixed-grip Chair 1 that Trollhaugen is installing this summer – view Lift Blog's inventory of Trollhaugen's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himWhat if the greatest ski town in America is not Aspen or Telluride or Park City or Jackson, but Minneapolis? Within an hour of downtown, eight ski areas: Elm Creek, Como Park, Hyland Hills, Buck Hill, Afton Alps, Welch Village, Wild Mountain, and Trollhaugen. Not one of them tops 360 vertical feet or collects more than 60 inches of snow in an average season.Underwhelming stats that underscore the point: only the hardcore would swarm such bumps, endure the windblown cloud-cluttered upper Midwest dead-winter, in pursuit of the turn, the loft, the float, that singular moment of ski-high. There's a reason Vail's first stop on its march east was Minneapolis – this is a ski town (and one you can actually afford to live in).Midwest skiing is a bizarre world for the uninitiated. Chairlifts everywhere, often side-by-side, trolling up clear-cut hillsides seemingly conjured from the flats. Between these chairs, high-speed ropetows, hauling more skiers than you'd thought possible, faster than you can believe. You assume the ski areas are small, but they just keep going, rolling hillock after hillock over vast snowy complexes. At Afton, 17 Hall chairlifts ordered in industrial rows, threading a chutes-and-ladders labyrinth of gullies and tunnels and wide-open faces. At Welch, a mini-Vail Mountain, endless linked trailpods terminating at the Back Bowl, a spiderweb of burners diving through the trees. At Buck, every inch reserved, the place a vast school for racers, for bumpers, for flippity-flap flip-flap Brahs.Trollhaugen is a little bit of all of these things: four quads and five ropetows serving a hunk of Wisconsin countryside that feels bigger than 260 vertical feet on 100-ish acres. The Rochford family – which has owned the bump since the ‘60s – has resisted the urge to clear-cut, instead carving tree-lined tracks through the gullies. Wide-open faces aplenty, still, and zones for ropetow rockers fast and slow. The base area is themed Euro-Alpine, Bavarian perhaps, or Scandinavian.Don't let the Midwestern kitsch, wicket tickets, Rube Goldberg beginner tows, or pair of vintage ‘70s Borvig quads distract you: this is a terrific, and modern, ski area. The grooming is excellent. Snowmaking and night-skiing cover 100 percent of the hills. Trollhaugen erected a brand-new Partek quad two years ago, and it's installing another this summer. It was an inaugural Indy Pass partner, hyper-aware of the rapidly evolving lift-served skiing landscape and its competitive place within it. When you have seven direct competitors, one of which belongs to the Epic Pass, excellence is your only option. Trollhaugen delivers.What we talked aboutThe Covid outdoor surge just keeps on surging; limiting lift tickets; how different Covid-era policies impacted ski areas near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border; Wild Mountain; Trollhaugen's tradition of early-season openings; why Trollhaugen closed April 1 after a 10-inch snowstorm; post-closing railjams; what happened when Vail Resorts bought nearby Afton Alps; whether the Epic Pass' arrival contributed to Trollhaugen's decision to join the Indy Pass; how Indy visitation has evolved over time; three generations of family ownership; remembering an era in which a mailman and a firefighter could start a ski area; the non-skiing dentists who bought a ski area to party; a brief history of Trollhaugen's lifts; growing up with a ski area as your backyard; the surprisingly circuitous route that Rochford took to eventually run the family business; respecting the family legacy while building upon it; going deep on Trollhaugen's expansion; glade skiing at Trollhaugen; why the conceptual expansion map shows a triple chair but we're getting a quad; the quiet brilliance of Partek chairlifts; stepping up to automated snowmaking; how the expansion may change the annual terrain-opening plan; connecting the expansion to the ski area proper; parking expansions; the story behind the parking lot sign equipped with old double chairs; Welch Village; ropetows versus carpets; the fate of the Summit ropetow; high-speed ropetows rule; a fenced ski area; 3 a.m. Fridays; and behind the Trollhaugen name and theme.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interview  Trollhaugen is the only one of the eight metro Minneapolis-St. Paul ski areas that sits in Wisconsin. It's four miles east of the state line, and 18 minutes from Wild. Usually, that doesn't matter. U.S. state borders, practically speaking, are mostly roadside signs. No checkpoints or paperwork. Perhaps a speed-limit adjustment. Perhaps a slight state-of-mind shift.But during Covid, that address mattered. Wisconsin, for the most part, introduced less stringent Covid safety measures than its neighbor, and relaxed them faster. No need to itemize them here: the net impact was a clanging cash register for Trollhaugen. Record numbers of skiers dumped record revenues into the joint. And, as Rochford tells me on the podcast, “if the skiers are going to invest in us, then we're going to invest in them.”So Trollhaugen ripped out a 52-year-old Hall double chair and stood up a brand-new Partek quad in 2021. That was phase one of a three-year capital project and expansion that is set to open this coming winter, with three-and-a-half new trails and yet another new Partek quad.It's hard to overstate how big of a deal this is for a small Midwestern ski area. Skiers acclimated to New England or the Rockies would be stunned at the condition of the average lift fleet in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. Lots of Riblets. Lots of Halls. Very few detachables. Very few safety bars. It's vintage skiing, often quite good – snowmaking tends to be excellent – but unadorned by the trappings of big-time resorts in other regions. In this neighborhood, two new lifts in three years is an enormous flex.Trollhaugen is not the only family-owned Midwest ski area investing this year. Buck Hill, Wild Mountain, Nub's Nob, and Perfect North are also erecting new quads this summer. And the big Midwestern operators have fully activated their cash cannons: Boyne is dropping a D-line sixer onto The Highlands and a fixed quad and triple at Boyne Mountain; Midwest Family Ski Resorts is building six-packs at Snowriver and Lutsen; and Wisconsin Resorts is adding a second high-speed quad to Mt. Holly and a triple to Alpine Valley, Michigan. But Trollhaugen's new lift will serve the region's only terrain expansion for the 2023-24 ski season. That's a really big deal, and worth taking a deeper look at.What I got wrong* I said in the intro that Trollhaugen had been the first ski area to open in America for the 2022-23 ski season. It was actually the first to open a chairlift, on Oct. 19. Wild Mountain and Andes Tower Hills, both in Minnesota, opened ropetows on Oct. 18.* I intimated that Loveland was in Summit County, Colorado, along with Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. Loveland actually sits just across the border, in Clear Creek County. Breckenridge and Copper Mountain also sit in Summit County.* I said that Welch Village “must have had a dozen chairlifts.” It has eight.* I said that Trollhaugen had a “Bavarian” theme, but the backstory that Rochford told us suggests that the ornate buildings clustered at the ski area's base are better classified as “Scandinavian.”Why you should ski TrollhaugenThere's something about Midwest skiing that is extremely gratifying. Even for those who have other options. Remember that 2000 movie, The Family Man, where a rich a-hole played by Nick Cage is shoved into an alternate timeline where he's stripped of his Ferrari and closetful of $10,000 suits and self-important Wall Street job? And suddenly he's living in suburban New Jersey as a tire salesman who drives two kids around in a minivan. And at first he's like, “Oh boy this sucks a fat one.” But by the end of the film he's b******g about the price of a bag of rock salt and relishing domestic life in his messy falling-apart house in Maplewood or wherever.Midwest skiing is kind of like that. If you're accustomed to RFID and superfast lifts and 3,000-acre playgrounds stuffed with chutes and glades and 15-foot bases of natural snow, you may be unable to imagine skiing unadorned with those jewels. But what if you forced yourself to? What if you pulled up to a Midwest bump on a jam-packed Saturday and skied just for the sake of doing it? Surrounded by thousands of skiers who didn't seem to give a damn that the chairlifts didn't have heated toilets or Netflix-equipped safety bars? Who act like they're at the best party ever? Who seem as giddy as any skiers you've ever seen anywhere?It's odd that the people who seem most insecure about Midwest ski areas are those who've never been within 50 miles of one. I see this every time I write a post about the Midwest – the hate, the impulse to belittle a thing that so many people love. It's all so stupid and tedious, so boring. Midwest skiing is about relishing what's there, not bemoaning what isn't. Yes, it's a different sort of skiing than you get in the Rockies or New England. But it's fun. An often-overcomplicated thing boiled down to its essence.If you love skiing, you will love skiing at Trollhaugen. Yes, it demands a certain creativity to stay engaged, to draw new lines out of the hillside, to sink into the moment between frequent chairlift rides. But, just as a minivan gets you to the same place as a Ferrari, this stripped-down version of skiing can get you exactly where you need to go. If you let it.Podcast NotesOn the view from Spirit MountainThe view from the summit of Spirit Mountain, overlooking the St. Louis River just before it drains into Lake Superior. At the base of the lifts (Spirit is an upside-down ski area), the mountain is only about a half mile from the Wisconsin border.On Wisconsin's lost ski areasRochford's grandparents purchased Trollhaugen in the 1960s. During the podcast, he commented that “of the ski areas we had in Wisconsin in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, I bet half of those are open today.” It's hard to get exact numbers on what may or may not have existed 50-plus years ago, but I did dig up these old maps from the Wisconsin Lost Ski Areas Project:19671971For context, here's a complete list of active Wisconsin ski areas. In some cases, ski areas have changed their names: Rib Mountain is now Granite Peak, for example. I'd love to do a side-by-side here, but that would be a project I just don't have time for at the moment:On other ski area expansions happening this summerTrollhaugen's expansion is one of seven happening at U.S. ski areas this summer. Here's an overview:On Trollhaugen's parking lot chairliftWe briefly discuss the cool chairlift structure (which I referred to as a “sign”) at Trollhaugen's entrance. Here it is:On Trollhaugen's ropetowsTrollhaugen has two types of ropetows – these whacky Rube Goldberg contraptions in the beginner area that look like they're about 175 years old:And these burners for the Park Brahs:On the border fenceTrollhaugen, like the vast majority of Midwest ski areas, still trades in metal wicket tickets. But rather than station an attendant at the bottom of each lift, the ski area fences off the base area, leaving just one access point to the lifts. One attendant checks the ticket one time – a pretty brilliant (and inexpensive), fraud-prevention system:On the spring skiing surchargeMany ski areas use free spring skiing as an incentive for new passholders. Buy your 2023-24 season pass in February 2023 and ski the rest of the 2022-23 season for free. But many ski areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin charge for the spring skiing option. Trollhaugen is one of them, charging new 2023-24 passholders $75 for spring 2023 access if they wanted spring skiing. Not a bad deal, actually, as that's probably not much more than the cost of a weekend lift ticket. Here are the other ski areas in the region that charge new passholders for spring access:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 66/100 in 2023, and number 452 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Alpine Valley has been a staple of the Pearl Jam touring route going all the way back to Lollapalooza in 1992. In the seven instances in which they've played there, there's no lack of unforgettable shows and unforgettable moments. A few of the shows even have monikers that they go by such as PJ20, when they played there for their 20th anniversary, and the Ice Bowl in 2000 where they played a full show in freezing cold weather. In this episode, we're gonna go back to 25 years ago where they played their first headlining gig in East Troy. To help us tell the story, we've enlisted our Patron Aaron Redmon who requested this show. This was very early in Matt Cameron's tenure with the band, and there are some things that we'll hear out of Matt that show that he was still getting adjusted to being on tour with them. Songs like Do The Evolution and Brain Of J feature a harder edge than we're accustomed to today. This show will feature technical difficulties, botched lyrics and early indications that certain songs were ready to become massive crowd friendly moments. The two big moments to look out for are Black with a highly intense We Belong Together tag and Alive with an improv within the solo. With Alpine Valley being such a historic venue, we asked you to share your favorite moments from seeing shows there, which we'll share during our question of the week segment. And our Gear Guru segments this week will feature Mike's clean guitar sound on Even Flow, well deserved love for Jeff Ament and a tag of Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun at the end of Yellow Ledbetter. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Purchase the Tour Shirt! - http://liveon4legs.com/2023tour Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Defecting Lawmaker Calls for Marijuana Legalization and Criticizes GOP StanceLarry Mishkin discusses the Grateful Dead's June 19, 1988 show at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. He shares personal experiences of attending the four-night run of shows and highlights the energetic performances of the band, particularly emphasizing Brent Mydland's contribution as a keyboardist and singer. Alongside the music discussion, Mishkin also mentions a New Hampshire lawmaker who defected from the Republican party to become an independent due to the party's opposition to marijuana legalization, reflecting the growing importance and acceptance of cannabis in politics.Produced by PodConx  Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-showLarry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkinJay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesbergRecorded on Squadcast

We kick off the series with an interview with actor Chris Witaske (The Bear, Love, Second City). Hosts Gabrielle Bluestone and James Del talk to Chris about his Phish fandom, the Chicago "Harpua" and hanging with the band at Second City, a memorable trip to Alpine Valley, and a lot more. We've Got A Band is presented by Section 119 and Osiris Media. Created by Gabrielle Bluestone and James Del. Executive Producers are Gabrielle Bluestone, James Del, RJ Bee and Matt Dwyer. Edited and Produced by RJ Bee and Matt Dwyer. Mixed and Mastered by Matt Dwyer. Marketing by Nick Cejas and Eric Limarenko. Art by Mark Dowd.

Stephanie Klett, President & CEO of VISIT Lake Geneva - as well longtime Discover Wisconsin host and former Miss Wisconsin and Secretary of Tourism - joins Eric, Ana, and Logan in The Cabin to get an update on the Lake Geneva area, including some of the fun summer activities and events. We discussed some of the Lake Geneva area's background and handy tidbits and proceeded to the bounty of shopping, shows, sights, and more you can experience - especially during the summer. Included are the particular unique features offered along Geneva Lake, including rides on the Lake Geneva Cruise Line (which is celebrating 150 years in 2023!), hand-delivered U.S. Mail by boat, and a 20+ mile shore path circling the lake that leads you through a variety of topography and through the backyards of beautiful mansions and parklands. The bustling downtown Lake Geneva dining, shopping, and recreation opportunities mean you can stay for a long time and experience something new every day. Shows like the Tristan Crist Magic Show and performances at the Belfry Theater, the Dancing Horses Theatre & Animal Gardens, even nearby Alpine Valley - offer amazing experiences. Outdoor fun includes ziplining, hot air ballooning, and even a drive-thru safari you wouldn't believe is right here in Wisconsin. Enjoy unique shopping with individually-owned stores lining the streets and a variety of worldwide cuisine - or just fun drinks from the beaches and street seating to little hideaways.  The Lake Geneva area offers world class golf, and one fun event coming up June 5th is The Beauty vs. The Beast Celebrity Match June 5th, which tickets are on sale for now. There's also Venetian Fest August 17th-21st and plenty of other fun activities throughout the summer to enjoy. Listen to the episode for more and you can always get the latest at VISIT Lake Geneva.com!Find out more about the Lake Geneva Area and its many sights to see and enjoy here:Instagram: @VISITLakeGenevaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/mylakegenevaPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mylakegeneva/https://www.visitlakegeneva.com/More on The Beauty and the Beast Celebrity Golf Match at Geneva National: https://www.destinationgn.com/beauty-beast

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on April 7. It dropped for free subscribers on April 10. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe for free below:WhoJody Churich, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Breckenridge, ColoradoRecorded onMarch 27, 2023About BreckenridgeClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Breckenridge, ColoradoYear founded: 1961Pass affiliations: Unlimited on Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass; limited access on Summit Value Pass (holiday blackouts), Keystone Plus Pass (unlimited access after April 1), Tahoe Local Pass (5 days shared with Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Crested Butte, Park City)Closest neighboring ski areas: Frisco Adventure Park (15 minutes), Copper Mountain (25 minutes), Keystone (25 minutes), Arapahoe Basin (30 minutes), Loveland (38 minutes), Ski Cooper (1 hour, 5 minutes) – travel times can vary considerably pending traffic and weatherBase elevation: 9,600 feetSummit elevation: 12,998 feetVertical drop: 3,398 feetSkiable Acres: 2,908Average annual snowfall: 350 inchesTrail count: 187Lift count: 35 (1 gondola, 5 six-packs, 7 high-speed quads, 1 triple, 6 doubles, 3 platters, 1 T-bar, 11 carpets) – Breckenridge plans to replace 5-Chair, a 1970 Riblet double, with a high-speed quad this summer.Why I interviewed herThe audacity of it all. Many ski areas reach. Breck soars. Above the town, above the Pacific Ocean-sized parking lots, above the twisty-road condos and mansions, above the frantic base areas and trail-cut high-alpine - there lie the bowls, sweeping one after the next, southeast to northwest, across the range. Chairlifts, improbably, magnificently, will take you there. Or most of the way, at least. Kensho Superchair – a six-pack, rolls up to 12,302 feet, to the doorstep of Peak 6 – it's a short hike to the tippy top, at 12,573 feet. But Kensho is holding Imperial Superchair's beer, as that monster climbs to 12,840, just 158 feet shy of the 12,998-foot summit of Peak 8.Why don't they go all the way to the summit? Why do you think? Listen to the podcast to get the answer, or go there for yourself and see how those wild winds hit you at the top – or close enough to the top – of America.The Brobots have plenty to say about Breck, Texas North, Intermediate Mountain. A-Basin is where the Summit County steeps live, don't you know? There's some truth to that, but it's a narrative fed by bravado and outdated information. Breck's high-alpine chairs – Imperial in 2005 and Kensho in 2013 – have trenched easy access to vast realms of gut-punching terrain. Beat your chest all you will – the only way out is straight down.Breck is one of the most complete resorts in America, is my point here. And that didn't happen by accident. Since Vail took ownership of the joint in 1997, the company has deliberately, steadily, almost constantly improved it. Sixteen new lifts, including the inbound 5-Chair upgrade (Breck will swap out a 53-year-old Riblet double for a new high-speed quad this summer); massive expansions onto Peaks 6 and 7; steady snowmaking and parking upgrades. If you want to understand Vail's long-term intentions for its other 40 ski areas, look to the evolution of this, one of its original four resorts, over decades of always-better incremental upgrades.Of course, plenty of people know that. Maybe too many. Breck is often – always? – America's busiest resort by pure skier visits. It's easy to access, easy to like, mostly – I said mostly Peak 10, E, 6 chairs – easy to ski if you stay below treeline. The town is the town, one of the great après hubs of North American skiing, thrumming, vibrant, a scene. Don't go unless you want some company.So what becomes of a place like Breck in a 21st century filled with existential questions about what lift-served skiing has become and what it is destined to be? How does a high-alpine but extremely accessible mountain adapt to its parent company's insistence on dropping it onto the budget version of its ultra-affordable Epic Pass? Can the super-modern lifts that these pass sales fuel fix the liftlines that spoil the experience without overloading the trails in a way that spoils the experience? How can a town of 5,000 residents accommodate a daily influx of 17,000-ish skiers without compromising its bucolic essence that drew those visitors to begin with? And to what extent do even our highest ski areas need to fortify themselves against the worst outcomes of a changing climate with ever-more-aggressive snowmaking?Every ski resort-blessed mountain town in the West is grappling with this same set of questions, but Breck, I-70 adjacent and Vail Resorts-bound, is perhaps the most high-profile among them. And where the town and the resort succeed or fail, they inform where our other icons will go. It's a fascinating story, and we're still in the book's early chapters.What we talked aboutUnseasonable Colorado snow and cold; Breck's strong 2022-23 ski season; how late the season could go and what could be available to ski; that California ski life; thoughts on Tahoe's big season; Sierra-at-Tahoe's fire recovery; Alpine Meadows in the pre-Powdr Corp ‘90s; why Alpine Meadows eventually dropped its snowboarding ban and what happened when it did; the early days of terrain parks; reaction when Powdr suddenly sold Alpine; how tiny Boreal and Soda Springs compete in a Tahoe market bursting with mega-resorts; the rise of Woodward; Vail's ongoing efforts to promote women; leaving Powdr for Vail; Breck magic; four giant ski resorts, mere miles apart, but all distinct; the largest employee housing bed base in Vail Resorts portfolio; an assist with childcare; how a ski resort prepares for and responds to on-mountain fatalities; Breck's “better not bigger” masterplan; nudging guests toward underutilized terrain; big plans for Peaks 8 and 9; upgrades on Freedom Superchair, Rip's Ride, and 5-Chair; how a gondola could change Peak 9; a mid-mountain learning center; prioritizing upgrades for Peak 9's 50-plus-year-old Riblet lifts; why Horseshoe T-bar is an unlikely candidate for an upgrade; why Kensho and Imperial Superchair don't go to the very top of Breckenridge; the Peak 8 Super Connect chair detachment in December; how the resort determined that the chairlift was safe to run again; massive snowmaking upgrades and how these sync with Vail Resorts' environmental goals; why Breck is only available on the top-tier Epic Day Pass, but is unlimited on the Epic Local Pass; and why Breck has remained on the Epic Local Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewLate last year, Breck updated its masterplan, as all ski areas operating on U.S. Forest Service land are obliged to do every decade (or so, as it actually ends up working out). Themed “bigger, not better,” the masterplan amounted to a modernization blueprint to maximize the resort's existing footprint with modern lifts and selective trail- and glade-cutting:Breckenridge's goal is to tame its wild peaks. “The structuring vision for the next 10 years at [Breckenridge] is ‘Better not Bigger,'” the master plan states. Noting that the resort's “significant congestion … can diminish the guest experience,” Breck says that its “goal is not to increase overall skier and rider visits on or around peak days, but rather to concentrate on improving the guest experience and better managing visitation.” To accomplish this, the resort hopes to both better move skiers out of its base areas with more and better lifts, and to keep many of them on the upper mountains with a combination of better chairs and a subtly re-imagined trail network.Here's the overview:And a more granular look at what would and would not change in the mountain's massive lift network:The full article is worth a read, as I went peak-by-peak and broke down the proposed changes to each, including upgrades to the snowmaking footprint :So, what better time to discuss America's most vibrant ski resort than at the moment when the folks running it just outlined their vision for the far future? Breck will be an important test case of the extent to which a high-profile flagship can climate-proof and crowd-proof itself in an era of climate uncertainty and megapass maximalism. If Breck can thrive without breaking itself and everything around it – including the town at its base, the county it sits in, and the big road that leads up from the flats – then 21st century skiing will follow, adapt, adjust.Questions I wish I'd askedChurich and I briefly discussed a skier death at Breckenridge from a few weeks ago. Per the Aspen Times:An Illinois man clearing snow from his chairlift seat with the safety restraint up fell out and died at Breckenridge Ski Resort a week ago, the local sheriff's office reported.John Perucco, 60, of Elgin, Illinois, was pronounced dead March 17 at St. Anthony's Summit Hospital in Frisco after the fall, the Summit County Coroner's Office said in an email. He was reportedly wearing a helmet when he fell from the lift.He had not yet reached Tower 1 of Zendo Chair when he fell 25 feet and landed on a hard-packed, groomed trail below, according to the Summit County Sheriff's Office. The department was reportedly notified around 11:20 a.m. of a death at the emergency room.What I would have liked to explore a bit more was the issue of the raised safety bar. This is something I've thought a lot about lately. In New England and New York, all of the lifts have safety bars, and most skiers use them most of the time. Their use is required by law in several states, including Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts – patrollers and lift attendants often aggressively pressure skiers who don't lower them. If you load a lift with strangers and you're not prepared, you're liable to be conked in the head by a down-coming bar – Easterners' etiquette around this is abysmal, as it's polite to at least call out, “coming down.”In the Midwest and the West, bar use is much spottier. Forget the Midwest, where modern lifts are rare and most of the old ones have not been retrofit with bars. But skiing's money is in the West, where most major lifts at most major resorts have been upgraded to detachables, which all have bars. I get a lot of passive-aggressive irritation when I lower the bar (with warning, of course), particularly in Utah and Colorado. This has always puzzled me. What's the resistance? I'm aware of the NSAA research casting doubt on the efficacy of bar use – I'm skeptical, as there is no way to tell how many accidents have been prevented by a lowered bar.Anyway, there is a cultural resistance to chairlift bar usage in the western United States that, as far as I can tell, is unique to the world's major ski cultures. Vail, for its part, retrofits all of its inherited chairlifts with safety bars. So does Alterra. Vail requires its employees to use them at all times. Alterra allows each mountain to set its own policies (Palisades Tahoe and Solitude, for example, require bar use for employees).I want to dig into this more, to understand both why this resistance exists and why it persists, despite the proliferation of modern chairlifts. It's a bigger story than can be explored in a single anecdote, and hopefully it's one I can write about more this offseason. Will this resistance fade, as once-ubiquitous helmet resistance has? Or is this skiing's version of a cultural wedge issue, set to divide the tourists from the locals in an escalating game of Who Belongs Here?What I got wrong* I said that 10 of Vail Resorts' 41 ski areas were currently led by women. The correct number, at the time of recording, was nine out of 41. Here's a complete list (several of Vail's ski areas share a regional general manager: Boston Mills, Brandywine, and Alpine Valley in Ohio; Jack Frost and Big Boulder in Pennsylvania; and Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel in Pennsylvania). With yesterday's news that Beaver Creek COO Nadia Guerriero would move up to VP/COO of the Rockies Region (replacing Bill Rock, who was promoted to head of Vail's Mountain Division), that number is now eight, I suppose. But who knows how Vail will stir up its mountain leadership team over the summer.* I also named off all the large ski areas around Lake Tahoe, to give context to Churich's challenge running tiny Soda Springs and Boreal in that realm of monsters. The only thousand-plus-footer I missed in that riff is Homewood, but here's a complete list of Tahoe-region ski areas. It really is amazing how these smaller spots exist (and seem to thrive), alongside some of the nation's largest and most-developed resorts:* Churich and I also discussed what I referred to as “Vail's new app” for the 2023-24 ski season. Its official name will be the My Epic app, and it should be a considerable upgrade from Epic Mix. The app will be your Epic Pass (no more RFID card unless you still want one), and will feature interactive trailmaps, real-time liftline wait times, operational updates, blackout date info on your pass, weather updates, resort charge, and more.Why you should ski BreckenridgeBecause you kind of have to. Trying to navigate life as a U.S. American skier without skiing Breck is kind of like trying to go through life without hearing a Taylor Swift song. It's there whether you want it or not. Even if you're in the habit of driving past to hit the Eagle County resorts, or you prefer A-Basin or Copper, or you avoid the I-70 corridor altogether, eventually your cousin or your boys from college or your aunt Phyllis is going to plan a spring break trip or a bachelor party or a family Christmas get-together at Breck, and you're going to go.And you're going to like it. This is not the busiest ski area in America by accident. It's a damn good ski mountain, even if it has more people and fewer steeps and less snow than some of its high-profile ski-biz peers. Yes, liftlines at Peaks 8 and 9 can test your patience at key times. And, yes, the intermediate superhighways can accumulate interstate-esque traffic. But it only takes a little creativity to find quiet glades off Peak 10 and 6-Chair and E-Chair, and tucked between the groomers off every other peak. As with any big western resort, you can follow the crowds or you can follow your skis. The kind of day you have once you stand up and push off the top of the lift is entirely up to you.Podcast NotesI've hosted several other Colorado-based Vail Resorts leaders on the podcast over the past year. While Bill Rock and Nadia Guerriero have recently moved positions, these conversations are largely still relevant:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing all year long. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 32/100 in 2023, and number 418 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Beth shares a brief history of Barn Quilt Trails. Elizabeth interviews Shelley Cavanna of Cora's Quilts and chats about her book, Barn Star Sampler, being re-released this spring. They also discuss her upcoming fabric line, Alpine Valley, and the inspiration behind it. For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/quilting-podcast/episode-595-barn-quilts Email us at APQPodcast@meredith.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. The discounted annual rate is back through March 13, 2023.WhoChristian Knapp, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Pacific Group ResortsRecorded onFebruary 27, 2023About Pacific Group ResortsPacific Group Resorts (PGRI) owns and/or operates six North American ski areas:While they don't have a single unified pass like Vail Resorts or Mountain Capital Partners, PGRI's ski areas do offer reciprocity for their passholders, largely through their Mission: Affordable product. Here are the 2022-23 exchanges – the company has not yet released 2023-24 passes:Why I interviewed himThere are more than a dozen companies that own three or more ski areas in North America. The National Ski Areas Association itemizes most of them* here. Everyone knows Vail and Aspen, whether they ski or not. The next tier is a little more insider, but not much: Alterra, Boyne, Powdr. These are the ski companies with national footprints and Ikon Pass headliner resorts. If skiers haven't heard of these companies, they're familiar with Mammoth and Big Sky and Snowbird. Everything else on the list is regionally dense: Invision Capital's three California ski areas (Mountain High, Dodge Ridge, China Peak); Wisconsin Resorts six Midwestern bumps (Alpine Valley, Pine Knob, Mt. Holly, and Bittersweet in Michigan; Alpine Valley in Wisconsin; and Searchmont in Ontario); the State of New York's Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface. Some – like Midwest Family Ski Resorts' trio of gigantors – align with Indy Pass, while others stand alone, with a pass just for their mountains, like Mountain Capital Partners' Power Pass.PGRI doesn't fit any of these templates. The company has a national footprint, with properties stretching from coastal BC to New Hampshire, but no national pass presence (at least before the company inherited Jay Peak's Indy Pass membership). Its properties' season passes sort of work together but sort of don't. It's all a little strange: a small ski area operator, based in Park City, whose nearest ski area is more than a 400-mile drive away, on the edge of Colorado's Grand Mesa. PGRI is built like a regional operator, but its ski areas are scattered across the continent, including in improbable-seeming locales such as Maryland and Virginia.Despite the constant facile reminders that American Skiing Company and SKI failed, small conglomerates such as PGRI are likely the future of skiing. Owning multiple resorts in multiple regions is the best kind of weather insurance. Scale builds appeal both for national pass coalitions and for banks, who often control the cash register. A larger company can build a talent pipeline to shift people around and advance their careers, which often improves retention, creating, in turn, a better ski experience. Or so the theories go. Independence will always have advantages, and consolidation its pitfalls, but the grouping together of ski resorts is not going away. So let's talk to one of the companies actively growing on its own terms, in its own way, and setting a new template for what corporate skiing balanced with local control can look like.*Missing from the NSAA's list is the Schmitz Brothers trio of Wisconsin ski areas: Little Switzerland, Nordic Mountain, and The Rock Snow Park; the list also includes Sun Valley and Snowbasin, which are jointly owned by the Holding Family, but excludes the other two-resort groups around the country: Berkshire East/Catamount, Labrador/Song, 49 Degrees North/Silver Mountain, Homewood/Red Lodge, Perfect North/Timberline, and Mission Ridge/Blacktail - there may be others).What we talked aboutThe bomber western winter; closing Wintergreen early; the existential importance of Eastern snowmaking; why Mid-Atlantic ski resorts are such great businesses; growing up in the ski industry; Mt. Bachelor in the ‘90s; Breck in the early Vail days; why founding the Mountain Collective was harder than you probably think; the surprising mountain that helped start but never joined the pass; how essential the existence of Mountain Collective was to Ikon Pass; why Ikon didn't kill Mountain Collective; the origins and structure of Pacific Group Resorts (PGRI); reviving the historically troubled Ragged Mountain; the two things that PGRI did differently from previous owners to finally help Ragged succeed; the Mission: Affordable pass suite; how Jay Peak turbocharged reciprocity between the company's resorts; how reciprocity for Jay Peak may shape up for 2023-24 passes; why we're unlikely to see a Mission: Affordable pass at Jay Peak; why Mount Washington Alpine hasn't had a Mission: Affordable pass; the future of Jay Peak – and, potentially the rest of PGRI's portfolio – on the Indy Pass; the fate of Ragged's Pinnacle Peak expansion; how and why PGRI started running and eventually purchased Wisp and Wintergreen; wild and isolated Mount Washington Alpine; could that Vancouver Island resort ever be a destination?; thoughts on replacing the West End double at Powderhorn; why PGRI has not prioritized lift replacements at the rate of some of its competitors; priorities for lift upgrades at Wisp; winning the bid for Jay Peak; reflecting on receivership; the chances of getting a new Bonaventure lift; and whether PGRI will buy more ski areas.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewThe lazy answer: PGRI just bought Jay Peak, and while writing the various stories leading up to and after the auction in which they acquired the joint,  I established contact with PGRI corporate HQ for the first time. My first impression was not a great one (on their side), as I managed to not only jack up the company name in the headline announcing their opening bid, but get the fundamentals of the story so wrong that I had to issue a correction with a full article re-send for the only time in Storm history. Which apparently created a huge PR pain in the ass for them. Sorry.Maybe the stupid jokes eventually disarmed them over or something, but for whatever reason Knapp agreed to do the pod. As you know I don't typically host marketing-type folks. I work with them all the time and value them immensely, but that's just not the brand. The brand is talk-to-whoever-is-in-charge-of-whatever-mountain-or-company-I'm-talking-about. But Knapp is a unique case, the former CMO of Aspen Skiing Company and the creator of the uber-relevant-to-my-readers Mountain Collective Pass. So Knapp joins the equally impressive Hugh Reynolds of Snow Partners as the only other marketing lead to ever carry his own episode.Ahem. What I was trying to get to is this: yes, this was a convenient time to drill into PGRI, because they just bought one of the most important ski resorts on the Eastern seaboard and everyone's like, “Now what, Bro?” But this is a company that has been quietly relevant for years. It cannot be overstated what an absolute shitshow Ragged Mountain was for five decades. No one could get that thing right. Now it is one of the most well-regarded ski areas in New Hampshire, with knockout grooming, a killer glade network, one of the state's best lift systems, and a customer-friendly orientation that begins with its ridiculous Mission: Affordable season pass, one of the few all-access season passes under $400 at a thousand-foot-plus mountain in New England.Which set them up perfectly to glide into the Jay marquee. Almost any other buyer would have ignited mutiny at Jay. No one I've spoken to who skis the mountain regularly wanted the place anywhere near the Ikon Pass. So no Alterra, Powdr, or Boyne. Epic? LOL no. Locals have seen enough downstate. Another rich asshat cackling with cartoon glee as he shifts hundreds of millions of dollars around like he's reorganizing suitcases in his Escalade? F**k no. Jay will be shedding the scabs of Ariel Quiros' various schemes for decades. PGRI hit that Goldilocks spot, a proven New England operator without megapass baggage that has operated scandal-free for 15 years, and is run by people who know how to make a big resort go (PGRI CEO Vern Greco is former president and GM of both Park City and Steamboat, and the former COO of Powdr Corp).PGRI is just good at running ski areas. Wisp opened Thanksgiving weekend, despite 70-degree temperatures through much of that month, despite being in Maryland. Visitation has been trending up at Powderhorn for years after steady snowmaking improvements. It's hard to find anyone with a bad opinion of Ragged.But PGRI has never been what business folk call a “consumer-facing brand.” Meaning they let the resorts speak for themselves. Meaning we don't know much about the company behind all those mountains, or what their plans are to build out their network. Or build within it, for that matter. PGRI has only stood up one new chairlift in 16 years – the Spear Mountain high-speed quad at Ragged. Powderhorn skiers are side-eyeing the 51-year-old, 1,655-vertical-foot, 7,000-foot-long West End double chair and thinking, “are you kidding me with this thing?” Five years into ownership, they want a plan. Or at least to know it's a priority. There are lesser examples all over the portfolio. It was time to see what these guys were thinking.Questions I wish I'd askedI had a few questions teed up that I didn't quite get to: why is Ragged still owned by something called RMR-Pacific LLC (and operated by PGRI)? I also wanted to understand why some PGRI ski areas use dynamic pricing but others don't. I'm still a little confused as to the exact timeline of Pacific Group purchasing Ragged and then PGRI materializing to take over the ski area. And of course I could have filled an entire hour with questions on any of the six ski areas. What I got wrongWhen I summarized Ragged's traumatic financial history, I said, “ownership defaulted on a loan.” It sounded as though I was suggesting that PGRI defaulted on the loan, when it was in fact the previous owner. You can read the full history of Ragged's many pre-PGRI financial issues on New England Ski History.I said that Midwest Family Ski Resorts had announced two new high-speed six-packs “in the past couple years.” They've actually announced two within the past year, both of which will be built this summer: a new Eagle Mountain lift at Lutsen, and a new sixer to replace three old Riblets on the Jackson Creek Summit side of Snowriver.Somehow though I got through this entire interview without calling the company “Pacific Resorts Group” and I would like credit for this please.Why you should ski PGRI's mountainsWell let's just fire through these real quick. Jay: most snow in the East. Nearly 300 inches so far even in this drab-until-the-past-two-weeks New England season. Some of the best glade skiing in the country. Just look:Ragged: Also strong on glades, though it gets maybe a third of Jay's snowfall if it's lucky. When the snow doesn't come, Ragged has some of the best grooming in New Hampshire:Wisp and Wintergreen: you know, I take my kid to Mt. Peter, a small ski area outside of New York City, every Saturday for a seasonal ski program. I'd say 80 percent of the parents arrive in street clothes, drop their kids, and sit in the lodge zombie-scrolling their phones for 90 minutes. Why? Why wouldn't a person ski every opportunity they have? This is what Wisp and Wintergreen exist for. Sure, you live in the Mid-Atlantic. No one is trying to pretend it's Colorado. But these are good little mountains. Wisp is a zinger, with terrific fall line skiing. Wintergreen sprawls, with a fun trail network and two high-speed sixers. If you live anywhere near them, there's absolutely no reason not to pick up their sub-$400 season passes (though Wintergreen's is not a true season pass, excluding Saturdays and holidays, which are reserved for club members) to supplement the Epic or Ikon Pass you use for those Western or New England vacations:Powderhorn: If you live in Grand Junction, you can fight your way east, or stop on the Mesa and go skiing:Mt. Washington Alpine: I know you'll all tell me this is for locals, that no one would bother trekking out to Vancouver Island when they can reach Whistler in a fraction of the time. But I don't know man, I've done enough wild voyages to the ass-ends of the earth to have convinced myself that it's always worth it, especially if skiing is involved:Besides, you're not going to find Whistler crowds here, and this is about enough mountain for most of us.Podcast NotesOn Wisp and Wintergreen opening and closing datesI mentioned on the podcast that Wisp opened in November. The exact date was Nov. 25 for Wisp. The resort is still open today, though on “limited terrain,” and I imagine the season is winding down quickly. Wintergreen opened on Dec. 20 and closed Feb. 26. Ugh.On the world's largest snow fortKnapp said he helped start this tradition when he worked at Keystone:On the Mountain CollectiveKnapp and I had an extensive discussion about his role founding Mountain Collective, which debuted in 2012 with two days each at Alta, Aspen-Snowmass, Jackson Hole, and Palisades Tahoe. At $349, it's underwhelming to today's ski consumer, but it's impossible to overstate how miraculous it was that the product existed at all. I won't give away the whole story, but this 2012 Powder article crystalizes the shock and stoke around the realization that these four resorts were on the same pass, Brah!On Pinnacle Peak at Ragged PGRI is probably hoping I will stop asking them about this stalled expansion at Ragged sometime this century. No luck so far, as I presented Knapp with the same set of questions that I'd asked Ragged GM Erik Barnes on the podcast last year. Here's what I was talking about: in 2007, PGRI took over Ragged. From 2014 to 2019, the mountain teased this future expansion on its trailmaps:Then, without explanation, the expansion disappeared. What happened? “The expansion does not make financial sense,” Knapp told me last year. But I wanted a more thorough explanation. Knapp delivered. This is still one of the most talked-about projects in New England, and its sudden abeyance has been a source of curiosity and confusion for Ragged skiers for a few years now. Listen up to find out what happened.The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The discounted annual rate is available until March 13, 2023.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 19/100 in 2023, and number 405 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Hi everybody and welcome to this week's episode of Attendance Bias. I am your host, Brian Weinstein. A few months ago, I arranged an episode with a guest who wanted to talk about Phish's performance of “Free” from August 2, 2022 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. After trying to set up a recording date and time with the guest, things eventually fell through. I was left with a great jam and a boatload of notes with no one to talk to about it.I put out a call on Phish Twitter and got such a response! It seemed like everybody wanted to talk about this jam, and I can see why. Luckily, we were able to arrange two guests for this fantastic jam: one returning guest–Mike Lowe, who was previously on Attendance Bias to discuss the all-time version of “Fluffhead” from Alpine Valley ‘99, and a brand-new guest: Mercedes from Phish Twitter, or you may know her better as ZzBenz. Either way, it was a perfect way to blend the familiar with the new to go over what several people referred to as the 2022 Jam of the Year.Moving through several sections, Phish took the second set opener and took the audience on a musical journey that felt like it was composed and spontaneous at the same time. But I don't want to spoil it. Let's join Mercedes and Mike to talk about Summer 2022, planetarium music, and Hansen, as we discuss “Free” from August 2, 2022 at Blossom.

The Cabin is presented by the Wisconsin Counties Association and this week we're featuring Racine County; https://bit.ly/3nZOask The Cabin is also presented by WCA's Group Health Trust; serving local governments and school districts, the WCA Group Health Trust partners closely with members to fulfill their employee health benefit obligations in a fiscally responsible manner. Learn more here; https://bit.ly/3JMizCX Campfire Conversation: Cari Greving from Real Racine joins Eric and Ana and discuss the cities, towns, notable landmarks, historic sites, and unique features across the “262” area. The inventions, industrial heritage and redevelopments of Kenosha and Racine began the discussion. Topics ranged from Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural marvels in Racine, including Wingspread, to museums and lighthouses along the Lake Michigan shores. Ana got the update on the Peeps Competition at the Racine Art Museum. We moved inland to discuss unique places to visit including the Mars Cheese Castle and the Bong Recreation Area. The conversation continued to cover Burlington – in part for chocolate and their famous “Liar's Club” - and the nearby towns of Waterford and Rochester. From there, we worked clockwise into Walworth County with the draw of Lake Geneva and the incredible beauty and bevy of things to do and see around Geneva Lake, the ski hills at Alpine Valley and Grand Geneva, Elkhorn and the productive farms, orchards, and breweries nearby. The East Troy Railroad, which runs on the original interurban line that extended into Milwaukee, still runs to Mukwonago in Waukesha County and it's a great experience for kids and grown-ups alike. We then proceeded to cover Waukesha County, which combines dynamic cities and suburbs with the natural appeal of Kettle Moraine and numerous glacial lakes. Waukesha itself is vibrant and is getting increasingly known as “Guitar Town” since Les Paul, inventor of the electric guitar and multi-track recording, hailed from Waukesha. You can enjoy everything from history at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle to professional baseball with the Lake Country Dock Hounds in Oconomowoc. The 262 also covers areas north into Washington County, including Hartford with its automotive history, museums, and architecture; West Bend with its appliance manufacturing history and popular downtown; and Holy Hill, a national shrine that draws people from around the world. Finally, we head east into Ozaukee County, from Mequon up through Port Washington and Cedarburg. The shoreline of Lake Michigan north of Milwaukee's 414 area is quite different from south of Milwaukee, and we discuss how – and why. The accessible parklands along Lake Michigan in Ozaukee County include Lion's Den Gorge County Park and Harrington Beach State Park. Port Washington itself is a charming town with a New England feel, famous for fishing and its marine, lighthouses, and more. All these areas offer great history, museums, breweries, wineries, and unique spots to enjoy. We list and cover many of them by topic towards the end of the conversation, spreading the love all around “the 262.” Inside SponsorsBest Western: https://bit.ly/3zCCK3fMarshfield Clinic; All of Us Research Program; https://bit.ly/3Wj6pYj

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 3. It dropped for free subscribers on Feb. 6. To receive future pods as soon as they're live and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoBrett Cook, Vice President and General Manager of Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel Mountain, PennsylvaniaRecorded onJanuary 30, 2023About Seven SpringsOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Seven Springs, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1932Closest neighboring ski areas: Hidden Valley (17 minutes), Laurel Mountain (45 minutes), Nemacolin (46 minutes), Boyce Park (1 hour), Wisp (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour, 30 minutes)Base elevation: 2,240 feetSummit elevation: 2,994 feetVertical drop: 754 feetSkiable Acres: 285Average annual snowfall: 135 inchesTrail count: 48 (5 expert, 6 advanced, 15 intermediate, 16 beginner, 6 terrain parks)Lift count: 14­­ (2 six-packs, 4 fixed-grip quads, 4 triples, 3 carpets, 1 ropetow)About Hidden ValleyOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Hidden Valley, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1955Closest neighboring ski areas: Seven Springs (17 minutes), Laurel Mountain (34 minutes), Mystic Mountain (50 minutes), Boyce Park (54 minutes),Wisp (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour 19 minutes)Base elevation: 2,405 feetSummit elevation: 2,875 feetVertical drop: 470 feetSkiable Acres: 110Average annual snowfall: 140 inchesTrail count: 32 (9 advanced, 13 intermediate, 8 beginner, 2 terrain parks)Lift count: 8 (2 fixed-grip quads, 2 triples, 2 carpets, 2 handle tows)About Laurel MountainOwned by: Vail ResortsPass affiliations: Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Northeast Value Epic Pass, Northeast Midweek Epic PassLocated in: Boswell, PennsylvaniaYear opened: 1939Closest neighboring ski areas: Hidden Valley (34 minutes), Seven Springs (45 minutes), Boyce Park (1 hour), Blue Knob (1 hour), Mystic Mountain (1 hour, 15 minutes), Wisp (1 hour, 15 minutes)Base elevation: 2,005 feetSummit elevation: 2,766 feetVertical drop: 761 feetSkiable Acres: 70Average annual snowfall: 41 inchesTrail count: 20 (2 expert, 2 advanced, 6 intermediate, 10 beginner)Lift count: 2­­ (1 fixed-grip quad, 1 handle tow)Below the paid subscriber jump: a summary of our podcast conversation, a look at abandoned Hidden Valley expansions, historic Laurel Mountain lift configurations, and much more.Beginning with podcast 116, the full podcast articles are no longer available on the free content tier. Why? They take between 10 and 20 hours to research and write, and readers have demonstrated that they are willing to pay for content. My current focus with The Storm is to create value for anyone who invests their money into the product. Here are examples of a few past podcast articles, if you would like to see the format: Vail Mountain, Mt. Spokane, Snowbasin, Mount Bohemia, Brundage. To anyone who is supporting The Storm: thank you very much. You have guaranteed that this is a sustainable enterprise for the indefinite future.Why I interviewed himI've said this before, but it's worth repeating. Most Vail ski areas fall into one of two categories: the kind skiers will fly around the world for, and the kind skiers won't drive more than 15 minutes for. Whistler, Park City, Heavenly fall into the first category. Mt. Brighton, Alpine Valley, Paoli Peaks into the latter. I exaggerate a bit on the margins, but when I drive from New York City to Liberty Mountain, I know this is not a well-trod path.Seven Springs, like Hunter or Attitash, occupies a slightly different category in the Vail empire. It is both a regional destination and a high-volume big-mountain feeder. Skiers will make a weekend of these places, from Pittsburgh or New York City or Boston, then they will use the pass to vacation in Colorado. It's a better sort of skiing than your suburban knolls, more sprawling and interesting, more repeatable for someone who doesn't know what a Corky Flipdoodle 560 is.“Brah that sounds sick!”Thanks Park Brah. I appreciate you. But you know I just made that up, right?“Brah have you seen my shoulder-mounted Boombox 5000 backpack speaker? I left it right here beside my weed vitamins.”Sorry Brah. I have not.Anyway, I happen to believe that these sorts of in-the-middle resorts are the next great frontier of ski area consolidation. All the big mountains have either folded under the Big Four umbrella or have gained so much megapass negotiating power that the incentive to sell has rapidly evaporated. The city-adjacent bumps such as Boston Mills were a novel and highly effective strategy for roping cityfolk into Epic Passes, but as pure ski areas, those places just are not and never will be terribly compelling experiences. But the middle is huge and mostly untapped, and these are some of the best ski areas in America, mountains that are large enough to give you a different experience each time but contained enough that you don't feel as though you've just wandered into an alternate dimension. There's enough good terrain to inspire loyalty and repeat visits, but it's not so good that passholders don't dream of the hills beyond.Examples: Timberline, West Virginia; Big Powderhorn, Michigan; Berkshire East and Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts; Plattekill, New York; Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania; Mt. Spokane, Washington; Bear Valley, California; Cascade or Whitecap, Wisconsin; Magic Mountain, Vermont; or Black Mountain, New Hampshire. There are dozens more. Vail's Midwestern portfolio is expansive but bland, day-ski bumps but no weekend-type spots on the level of Crystal Mountain, Michigan or Lutsen, Minnesota.If you want to understand the efficacy of this strategy, the Indy Pass was built on it. Ninety percent of its roster is the sorts of mountains I'm referring to above. Jay Peak and Powder Mountain sell passes, but dang it Bluewood and Shanty Creek are kind of nice now that the pass nudged me toward them. Once Vail and Alterra realize how crucial these middle mountains are to filling in the pass blanks, expect them to start competing for the space. Seven Springs, I believe, is a test case in how impactful a regional destination can be both in pulling skiers in and pushing them out across the world. Once this thing gels, look the hell out.What we talked aboutThe not-so-great Western Pennsylvania winter so far; discovering skiing as an adult; from liftie to running the largest ski resort in Pennsylvania; the life and death of Snow Time Resorts; joining the Peak Pass; two ownership transitions in less than a year, followed by Covid; PA ski culture; why the state matters to Vail; helping a Colorado ski company understand the existential urgency of snowmaking in the East; why Vail doubled down on PA with the Seven Springs purchase when they already owned five ski areas in the state; breaking down the difference between the Roundtop-Liberty-Whitetail trio and the Seven-Springs-Hidden-Valley-Laurel trio; the cruise ship in the mountains; rugged and beautiful Western PA; dissecting the amazing outsized snowfall totals in Western Pennsylvania; Vail Resorts' habit of promoting from within; how Vail's $20-an-hour minimum wage hit in Pennsylvania; the legacy of the Nutting family, the immediate past owners of the three ski areas; the legendary Herman Dupree, founder of Seven Springs and HKD snowguns; Seven Springs amazing sprawling snowmaking system, complete with 49(!) ponds; why the system isn't automated and whether it ever will be; how planting more trees could change the way Seven Springs skis; connecting the ski area's far-flung beginner terrain; where we could see additional glades at Seven Springs; rethinking the lift fleet; the importance of redundant lifts; do we still need Tyrol?; why Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and Laurel share a single general manager; thinking of lifts long-term at Hidden Valley; Hidden Valley's abandoned expansion plans and whether they could ever be revived; the long and troubled history of state-owned Laurel Mountain; keeping the character at this funky little upside-down boomer; “We love what Laurel Mountain is and we're going to continue to own that”; building out Laurel's snowmaking system; expansion potential at Laurel; “Laurel is a hidden gem and we don't want it to be hidden anymore”; Laurel's hidden handletow; evolving Laurel's lift fleet; managing a state-owned ski area; Seven Springs' new trailmap; the Epic Pass arrives; and this season's lift-ticket limits.        Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewWhen Vail bought Peak Resorts in 2019, they suddenly owned nearly a quarter of Pennsylvania's ski areas: Big Boulder, Jack Frost, Whitetail, Roundtop, and Liberty. That's a lot of Eagles jerseys. And enough, I thought, that we wouldn't see VR snooping around for more PA treasures to add to their toybox.Then, to my surprise, the company bought Seven Springs – which they clearly wanted – along with Hidden Valley and Laurel, which they probably didn't, in late 2021. Really what they bought was Pittsburgh, metropolitan population 2.3 million, and their large professional class of potentially globe-trotting skiers. All these folks needed was an excuse to buy an Epic Pass. Vail gave them one.So now what? Vail knows what to do with a large, regionally dominant ski area like Seven Springs. It's basically Pennsylvania's version of Stowe or Park City or Heavenly. It was pretty good when you bought it, now you just have to not ruin it and remind everyone that they can now ski Whistler on their season pass. Hidden Valley, with its hundreds of on-mountain homeowners, suburban-demographic profile, and family orientation more or less fit Vail's portfolio too.But what to do with Laurel? Multiple locals assured me that Vail would close it. Vail doesn't do that – close ski areas – but they also don't buy 761-vertical-foot bumps at the ass-end of nowhere with almost zero built-in customer base and the snowmaking firepower of a North Pole souvenir snowglobe. They got it because it came with Seven Springs, like your really great spouse who came with a dad who thinks lawnmowers are an FBI conspiracy. I know what I think Vail should do with Laurel – dump money into the joint to aggressively route crowds away from the larger ski areas – but I didn't know whether they would, or had even considered it.Vail's had 14 months now to think this over. What are these mountains? How do they fit? What are we going to do with them? I got some answers.Questions I wish I'd askedYou know, it's weird that Vail has two Hidden Valleys. Boyne, just last year, changed the name of its “Boyne Highlands” resort to “The Highlands,” partly because, one company executive told me, skiers would occasionally show up to the wrong resort with a condo reservation. I imagine that's why Earl Holding ultimately backed off on renaming Snowbasin to “Sun Valley, Utah,” as he reportedly considered doing in the leadup to the 2002 Olympics – if you give people an easy way to confuse themselves, they will generally take you up on it.I realize this is not really the same thing. Boyne Mountain and The Highlands are 40 minutes apart. Vail's two Hidden Valleys are 10-and-a-half hours from each other by car. Still. I wanted to ask Cook if this weird fact had any hilarious unintended consequences (I desperately wish Holding would have renamed Snowbasin). Perhaps confusion in the Epic Mix app? Or someone purchasing lift tickets for the incorrect resort? An adult lift ticket at Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania for tomorrow is $75 online and $80 in person, but just $59 online/$65 in person for Hidden Valley, Missouri. Surely someone has confused the two?So, which one should we rename? And what should we call it? Vail has been trying to win points lately with lift names that honor local landmarks – they named their five new lifts at Jack Frost-Big Boulder “Paradise,” “Tobyhanna,” “Pocono,” “Harmony,” and “Blue Heron” (formerly E1 Lift, E2 Lift, B Lift, C Lift, E Lift, F Lift, Merry Widow I, Merry Widow II, and Edelweiss). So how about renaming Hidden Valley PA to something like “Allegheny Forest?” Or call Hidden Valley, Missouri “Mississippi Mountain?” Yes, both of those names are terrible, but so is having two Hidden Valleys in the same company.What I got wrong* I guessed in the podcast that Pennsylvania was the “fifth- or sixth-largest U.S. state by population.” It is number five, with an approximate population of 13 million, behind New York (19.6M), Florida (22.2M), Texas (30M), and California (39M).* I guessed that the base of Keystone is “nine or 10,000 feet.” The River Run base area sits at 9,280 feet.* I mispronounced the last name of Seven Springs founder Herman Dupre as “Doo-Pree.” It is pronounced “Doo-Prey.”* I said there were “lots” of thousand-vertical-foot ski areas in Pennsylvania. There are, in fact, just four: Blue Mountain (1,140 feet), Blue Knob (1,073 feet), Elk (1,000 feet), and Montage (1,000 feet).Why you should ski Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, and LaurelIt's rugged country out there. Not what you're thinking. More Appalachian crag than Poconos scratch. Abrupt and soaring. Beautiful. And snowy. In a state where 23 of 28 ski areas average fewer than 50 inches of snow per season, Seven Springs and Laurel bring in 135-plus apiece.Elevation explains it. A 2,000-plus-foot base is big-time in the East. Killington sits at 1,165 feet. Sugarloaf at 1,417. Stowe at 1,559. All three ski areas sit along the crest of 70-mile-long Laurel Ridge, a storm door on the western edge of the Allegheny Front that rakes southeast-bound moisture from the sky as it trains out of Lake Erie.When the snow doesn't come, they make it. Now that Big Boulder has given up, Seven Springs is typically the first ski area in the state to open. It fights with Camelback for last-to-close. Twelve hundred snowguns and 49 snowmaking ponds help.Seven Springs doesn't have the state's best pure ski terrain – look to Elk Mountain or, on the rare occasions it's fully open, Blue Knob for that – but it's Pennsylvania's largest, most complete, and, perhaps, most consistent operation. It is, in fact, the biggest ski area in the Mid-Atlantic, a ripping and unpretentious ski region where you know you'll get turns no matter how atrocious the weather gets.Hidden Valley is something different. Cozy. Easy. Built for families on parade. Laurel is something different too. Steep and fierce, a one-lift wonder dug out of the graveyard by an owner with more passion, it seems, than foresight. Laurel needs snowmaking. Top to bottom and on every trail. The hill makes no sense in 2023 without it. Vail won't abandon the place outright, but if they don't knock $10 million in snowmaking into the dirt, they'll be abandoning it in principle.Podcast NotesThe trailmap rabbit hole – Hidden ValleyWe discussed the proposed-but-never-implemented expansion at Hidden Valley, which would have sat skier's right of the Avalanche pod. Here it is on the 2010 trailmap:The 2002 version actually showed three potential lifts serving this pod:Unfortunately, this expansion is unlikely. Cook explains why in the pod.The trailmap rabbit hole – LaurelLaurel, which currently has just one quad and a handletow, has carried a number of lift configurations over the decades. This circa 1981 trailmap shows a double chair where the quad now sits, and a series of surface lifts climbing the Broadway side of the hill, and another set of them bunched at the summit:The 2002 version shows a second chairlift – which I believe was a quad – looker's right, and surface lifts up top to serve beginners, tubers, and the terrain park:Related: here's a pretty good history of all three ski areas, from 2014.The Pennsylvania ski inventory rabbitholePennsylvania skiing is hard to get. No one seems to know how many ski areas the state has. The NSAA says there are 26. Cook referenced 24 on the podcast. The 17 that Wikipedia inventories include Alpine Mountain, which has been shuttered for years. Ski Central (22), Visit PA (21), and Ski Resort Info (25) all list different numbers. My count is 28. Most lists neglect to include the six private ski areas that are owned by homeowners' associations or reserved for resort guests. Cook and I also discussed which ski area owned the state's highest elevation (it's Blue Knob), so I included base and summit elevations as well:The why-is-Vail-allowed-to-own-80-percent-of-Ohio's-public-ski-areas? rabbitholeCook said he wasn't sure how many ski areas there are in Ohio. There are six. One is a private club. Snow Trails is family-owned. Vail owns the other four. I think this shouldn't be allowed, especially after how poorly Vail managed them last season, and especially how badly Snow Trails stomped them from an operations point of view. But here we are:The steepest-trail rabbitholeWe discuss Laurel's Wildcat trail, which the ski area bills as the steepest in the state. I generally avoid echoing these sorts of claims, which are hard to prove and not super relevant to the actual ski experience. You'll rarely see skiers lapping runs like Rumor at Gore or White Lightning at Montage, mostly because they frankly just aren't that much fun, exercises in ice-rink survival skiing for the Brobot armies. But if you want the best primer I've seen on this subject, along with an inventory of some very steep U.S. ski trails, read this one on Skibum.net. The article doesn't mention Laurel's Wildcat trail, but the ski area was closed sporadically and this site's heyday was about a decade ago, so it may have been left out as a matter of circumstance.The “back in my day” rabbitholeI referenced an old “punchcard program” at Roundtop during our conversation. I was referring to the Night Club Program offered by former-former owner Snow Time Resorts at Roundtop, Liberty, and Whitetail. When Snow Time sold the ski area in 2018 to Peak Resorts, the buyer promptly dropped the evening programs. When Vail purchased the resort in 2019, it briefly re-instated some version of them (I think), but I don't believe they survived the Covid winter (2020-21). This 5,000-word March 2019 article (written four months before Vail purchased the resorts) from DC Ski distills the rage around this abrupt pass policy change. Four years later, I still get emails about this, and not infrequently. I'm kind of surprised Vail hasn't offered some kind of Pennsylvania-specific pass, since they have more ski areas in that state (eight) than they have in any other, including Colorado (five). After all, the company sells an Ohio-specific pass that started at just $299 last season. Why not a PA-specific version for, say, $399, for people who want to ski always and only at Roundtop or Liberty or Big Boulder? Or a nights-only pass?I suppose Vail could do this, and I suspect they won't. The Northeast Value Pass – good for mostly unlimited access at all of the company's ski areas from Michigan on east – sold for $514 last spring. A midweek version ran $385. A seven-day Epic Day Pass good at all the Pennsylvania ski areas was just $260 for adults and $132 for kids aged 5 to 12. I understand that there is a particular demographic of skiers who will never ski north of Harrisburg and will never stop blowing up message boards with their disappointment and rage over this. The line between a sympathetic character and a tedious one is thin, however, and eventually we're all better off focusing our energies on the things we can control.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 9/100 in 2023, and number 395 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. 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