RVA: Funny Concert Stories: Square at a Greatful Dead Concert

“My first story involves a Grateful Dead concert. The location was at the New Haven Coliseum in CT, circa 1982. My friends and I were sitting in a limited-view side section, and we noticed something peculiar. It was about 45 minutes before show time, and there was a very un-hip looking gentleman sitting with a kid, who may have been about twelve or thirteen. Clearly, it was Dad escorting his son to a Grateful Dead concert.

The Dad looked to be in his mid-40′s. He had a suit and tie like you might wear for a job interview or to see a ballet. He appeared to be very uptight, telling his kid to sit up straight in his seat like Felix Unger might.

The kid was wearing a tie-dyed Grateful Dead shirt, thumbing excitedly through a tour program. The father kept saying things like, “Look at all the hippies. If I ever see you with hair like that, so help me God.”

One of my friends sparked up a joint. Because it was obviously meant to be, the cloud of smoke it made drifted right over towards the father and son.

The father whipped his head around a-la Exorcist and gave us all a very nasty glare. Then he stood up and started yelling at us. ‘You all think you’re Mr.Cool with your marijuana, don’tcha? I know marijuana when I smell it. Lawbreakers! That’s what you are. Lawbreakers! You need to go into the military!!!’

Then he grabbed his son by the arm and said ‘Come on. We’re leaving! You can forget about this concert!’

They argued for a while, then the kid suddenly ran away from him. Dad chased after him, but his kid was too fast. With binoculars, we watched the kid make his way all the way down to the floor section, where he disappeared into the crowd. The father went down the same stairway toward the floor section and was stopped by the Colliseum Security. It appeared that they wanted to see his ticket. Dad showed them and one of the security guys pointed toward our section, as though showing him where his seat was. He was screaming at them, and they just kept refusing him to enter the floor section.

The Dad guy came back to his seat, this time with a Coliseum Security guy. We were smoking another joint, and it was in my hand when the security guy and Dad showed up. The Dad guy said to the security guy, ‘What are you gonna do about the pot smokers? Those guys (pointing at us) are smoking pot. This is bullshit!’ The security guy came over to us and said ‘Are you guys staying out of trouble?’ ‘Who us? We’re not doing anything wrong.’ ‘And you’re not smoking any wacky weed, are you?’
‘Never! We don’t even like drugs.’ ‘Okay, just checking. Enjoy the show!’

The security guy turned to the dad guy and said ‘I’m sure if you stay at your seat your kid will come back.’

For the entire show the guy sat there looking absolutely livid, with his arms folded. I assume his kid came back…”

-Originally appeared at yesfans.com