1/3 A few months ago, I got an invite from my aunt and my cousins for a Dead & Company show. I’ve always been into hip hop and aggressive music, and never really felt much for the calmer, easier stuff. I’m really not much for jam bands and I’m not much for happy-go-luckiness, but my aunt and cousins have been going to roughly 10 Grateful Dead (or Dead & Company) shows every year for as long as I’ve been alive and I’ve always wondered what a show would be like.
The fact that @johnmayer joined the band within the past couple of years was also enticing. Contrary to my regular choice in music, I often fall into John Mayer when I’m feeling a bit less aggressive. And it’s also kind of cool that John Mayer is a bit of a sneaker guy so even if the music were terrible at least I could peep if Mayer had some heat on his feet.
Anyway, I got the invite and decided to go. December 30, 2019, at the new Chase Center in San Francisco. Usually when I go to a show, I want to make sure I have a super comfortable pair of shoes on because it’s hard for me to justify walking long distances and standing for extended periods of time in something that isn’t super comfortable…so I picked my presto flyknit mids – my GO TO for any and all shows.
What I saw there didn’t exactly surprise me, but it was a real cool scene. It definitely wasn’t MY scene – it was roughly 18,000 white folks and a few non-white folks working the booths and almost everyone was as nice as could be and high as a kite. I didn’t partake, but I did purchase a $14 beer and just observed.
I saw a handful of dudes with Jordans and Yeezys and one dude with some Off-White UNC 1’s, but everything else was bright colors and tie dye. For real – the branding that the #gratefuldead and @deadandcompany come with is amazing. Unfortunately I couldn’t actually see what shoes @johnmayer was wearing and I looked up the videos from that night and a ton of pics and still can’t make it out…I want to say they’re @off____white 90’s but can’t totally make it out…what do you think?
