STORY OF THE WEEK
"ThePyramids"
Well I have three tales of increasing length.
The first is really only an incident.When Pigpen died I was a teenager at school in Oxford, England yet to me this was an important though sad occurance.I remember announcing to the man we called Holy Joe,who was in charge of religous instruction,during one of his classes the tragic news'Pigpen is Dead' & the bemused look on his face.
The second is the Ally Pally gig.The Alexandra Palace was an aircraft hangar of a venue(it has since burnt down).I went up to London with a group of squatters who organised a free festival in Oxford on the first of May called Mayfly.The local band called the Global Village Truckiçng Company were in many ways England's Grateful Dead,living in a commune in Norfolk & playing free form gigs for free around the country.Anyway we all piled in a Ford transit which was the requisite form of transport in those days.Arriving in London we entered the venue & I wandered off by myself & enjoyed the gig especially 'Playing in the Band'
The third is the pyramids in Egypt of which I have photos should you be interested.Taking the Magic Bus from London to Athens & then flying to Cairo.On the plane the seat in front of me was occupied by someone with a Grateful Dead emblem embroided on the back.As she stood up after landing in Cairo I said'Grateful Dead!' at this Donna Godcheaux turned round and said 'Dead right!' Having found a cheap pension the night was spent on the roof under the Egyptian stars playing dodgy versions of 'Friend of the Devil'.The actual concerts were nice because the audience was small & we could get close to the stage.The setting was mind blowing.Bill Kreutzmann had his arm in plaster & prior to one of the gigs,(we went to all three nights),my friends & I were sitting at a cafe terrace having a salad when at the table next to us was the man himself.At this point I blacked out,whether due to starstruckness or sunstoke I haven't decided.Later in the evening after the event Garcia waved us goodnight from a taxi.The last night was also an eclipse of the moon & we got very stoned on strong Egyptian hashish before setting off for the pyramids.So stoned in fact that we forgot the tickets, however it was one of those nights where we just floated through whatever security there might have been.Wonderful,at the end someone in the band told us to stick around as there was gonna be a party.I guess there still is.Now if only I'd thought to take one of the Mouse/kelley posters off a Cairo wall.............Story by Richard Arridge
The Greatest Story Ever Told- True Stories For The Imagination Copyright 1998
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