Ramble On Rose - Box 10

This box was made for my long-time friend, Scott. It is named Ramble On Rose after the Grateful Dead song of the same name.

Scott was my manager at Zabar's - but nevermind that - we had, and continue to have, great adventures together. He is a consummate lover of music. I didn't really appreciate the Grateful Dead before I met Scott. One summer, he convinced me to join him at Giants stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Dead were playing. He rented a limo and we and several others smoked an abundant amount of weed on the way to the show from Manhattan. Then we smoked some more when the concert started. I'm fairly certain the entire stadium lit up as well.

The Dead put on an amazing performance - I saw the legendary Jerry Garcia, the notes from his guitar sounded crystal clear, almost like sonic diamonds shooting out at the crowd. I felt like I could reach out and touch them. The songs made a lot more sense that night; structurally, lyrically, everything just seemed to flow in a way that made perfect sense. There were enormous wall-sized video screens on either side of the stage projecting psychedelic kaleidoscope effects. It was hot and still daylight out - and all I could do was stare at those screens and listen to the music like I was in a trance. It was a visceral experience, to say the least. At some point, one of the good people we were with passed out - I'm pretty sure it was that she had smoked too much weed. Fortunately, she was just fine after a few minutes, and so we lit up another.

I remember being so locked into the music at one point I couldn't help but notice a couple of dudes staring at me in the next row down. "He's trippin'" one of the guys said. That snapped me out of my focus for a second. I was not 'tripping' at all - I was just fully enjoying the moment and I must have really looked like it. I hope I wasn't dancing, but I don't remember.

I saw the Grateful Dead with Scott at least 2 more times - but that first time was the most memorable.

I'm dead certain Scott keeps weed in his box. He'll tell you.

Fun fact: The guitar solo I wrote for the Trailside Ranger's song Peacemaker is directly inspired by The Dead's song, Sugaree. I don't know how anyone would ever make that connection, but there you have it.