The time is 3:45 p.m. We have to catch a 4:00 p.m train to Penn Station and we’re still in my friend’s driveway. Now, if we miss this train, we miss the show, so we drove like wild people to the station. We made the train by the skin of our teeth. We’ve been waiting to see the Grateful Dead ever since middle school. I remember in seventh grade when my friends and I would always hang out in my garage and work on our bikes, we were always fascinated with the electric guitar. When we were shown the Grateful Dead from my older brother, we loved it at first listening. We knew if we ever had the chance, we would go to a Grateful Dead concert. Though their was a change in this concert, John Mayer was the lead singer for the show.
Before this concert, I’ve never been to Madison Square Garden, but I always wanted to. This was a perfect opportunity to knock out two birds with one stone. When I say that this venue was huge, I mean huge! The concerts I go to are only the size of two story houses, so you can imagine the excitement that was running through me: I loved this venue. The vibe that was created within the venue was euphoric. The smell of drugs and beer lingered throughout the venue. When we got to our seats within Madison Square Garden, we noticed that we didn't have the best seats and we were afraid that the music would be faint. Nope! The drums and bass throughout the concert had my seat vibrating. We knew going into the concert that there was going to be a lot of older folks there, but we didn't mind because we were all enjoying the great vibes. When we got to our seats, we also introduced ourselves to our seat neighbors that were sitting in front and behind us. Even though they were in their late 30's and early 40's, we all shared an awesome, unforgettable time.
Grateful Dead rarely interacted with the audience, which was a little disappointing. Nevertheless, this didn’t take away from a once in a lifetime experience. When the band came out, I noticed that John Mayer was dressed different than all the other band members. All the orginal band members wore a T-shirt and jeans, while John Mayer wore an orange button-down shirt with a golden rolex, jeans, and moccasins. Honestly, I think John Mayer looked more comfortable on the stage than anyone else. Throughout the concert, all the band members stood besides the drummer, and my friends and I stood with them the whole concert. Many of the songs they played throughout the night were a lot of their classics and some of them sounded like they were written just the other day. I absolutely loved this show! I’ve wanted to see this band since 7th grade and the fact that I actually saw them in person was an indescribable experience. One thing I do wish the band would improve was the lights. The lights can affect everything within a concert. Iit would've been really cool to see a psychedelic light show while I was there.
The instruments that were used throughout the show consisted of drums, bass, piano, organ, and two electric guitars. While I was there, I was wondering why they had rugs on the stage. That seemed to be a strategy to get rid of all the wires that were placed all over the ground. I was very surprised that they didn't use bluetooth connections on their guitars and bass. They all used wire connections, which gave an authentic feeling to it. Another factor that impressed me was how beautiful the vocals were. I thought that John Mayer was going to ruin the sound of this amazing band, but infact he enhanced it. When the band was doing their sweet guitar solos with Mayer’s voice coming in and out of the solos, it made me feel like I was in the music.
Going into the show, I had high expectations for the rest of the band, but had doubts that John Mayer could pull it off. I thought no one could match the original band's vocals, but I was wrong; I loved the vocals. I fell in love with a lot of bands while I was in middle school, but never had the ambition to go. After this concert, I’m going to at a lot more band-oriented concerts. It was unbelievable and a life changing experience. The next band I'd love to see is AC/DC; that's been on the list for years.
--Bryan Olsson
