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Fans grateful for reunion concerts
Date published: 11/15/2002 By The Associated Press
The Grateful Dead, or what remains of the Grateful Dead, was in town to play. Star had driven 20 hours to see his fellow hippies at the Thursday night kickoff show of The Other Ones tour, the latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead sans Jerry Garcia. Officials refused to allow fans into the parking lot at the Roanoke Civic Center until 4 p.m. to minimize the rowdiness and illegal activities that followed Garcia and crew when they last appeared in Roanoke in 1987. But when 4 p.m. came, the lot filled fast. By 4:07 p.m., police made their first arrest, although they wouldn’t say what for, and vendors were hawking tie-dyed shirts, glass pipes, posters and veggie burritos. Civic Center officials had said earlier that vendors would not be allowed in the area. Police also had warned fans that drug use of any kind would not be tolerated, but the smell of marijuana was evident despite the presence of mounted police patrolling the crowd, undercover and uniformed officers. Many fans also were drinking beer. Police said about 30 people were arrested, mostly on drug or alcohol charges. The concert, which became an 11–000-seat sellout late, started at 7 p.m., and the crowd quickly went into its standard formation, swaying with the music. The band opened with perennial favorite “Saint Stephen,” and the crowd kept moving to other Dead favorites like “I Know You Rider” and “China Cat Sunflower.” Earlier in the day, Deadheads, their children and others _ many of whom weren’t even born when the band started playing together in the 1960s _ were all over the city at coffee shops, restaurants and motels, looking for their like-minded brethren.
Date published: 11/15/2002
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