Not until the Jefferson Airplane go on do we venture out of the bus.
There is all this kinetic energy zinging about, and when Marty Balin gets into a fight with this Angel named (I’m not kidding) Animal, we fear the worst.
Animal is wearing a grisly cowl made out of wolf fur.
It is road kill, essentially, that he has shaped to go over his head, complete with snout, teeth and whiskers.
All that’s missing from his outfit are horns.
Animal proceeds to smack Marty Balin in the face and has to be pulled off the stage kicking and screaming, still trying to smash Marty in face with his boot.
It is a truly terrifying moment.
Jerry holds up both hands in an involuntary gesture of keeping back some unseen host of demons.
He is petrified.
Speechless, and shaking like a leaf.
He turns every shade of pale and whispers: “Oh, maa-aan, no way are we doing this.
“There is absolutely no way.
“The inmates have definitely taken over the asylum.
“Rock, go sort it out, man.
“Talk to the Angels or something.”
Oh, sure, Jerry.
If somebody would only just talk to the Angels, this misunderstanding could get itself worked out!
Now, it’s true I am dumb enough to go retrieve my suitcase after being busted, but I’ve got a little more sense than to interfere in foreign wars.
It’s not that Jerry fears for his life; he has a lot of friends in the Hell’s Angels.
What is truly disturbing him are the bad vibes, and let me tell you, they are truly ugly.
Of course, being high as a kite makes things that much worse.
The momentum is frightening, too.
“This show is like some kind of runaway train, and we best get the f— out of here before it runs into us,” Jerry moans, making a dash for the bus.
And everybody else is running around and wailing and wringing their hands.
Phil Lesh, who is even more jittery than Garcia, is peeking out through the saggy curtains giving us a running commentary of the savage sideshow outside.
“Jesus Christ, there’s this three-hundred-pound naked guy, and — of God! — the Angels are beating him to a f—ing pulp.”
“Phil, stop, please!”
Pigpen is huddld in the back of the bus too numb to react.
But night must fall.
Healy pokes his head in the bus: “The Airplane are coming off-stage, what do you guys want to do?”
We had planned to go on just before the Stones, but things seem to be falling apart too quickly (including the band).
It’s essential, if more chaos is be avoided, that the Stones play as soon as possible.
A lot more bands have shown up than we anticipated, the show is goinG on too long, and if we go on now the Stones will go on way too late.
It is starting to get dark, and there are no lights and no lit roads to find our way out of the godforsaken place.
At least 350,000 people trapped in this demonic gulley!
Garcia tell me to get everybody together; he wants it to be a group decision.
Well, turns out that Marty Balin’s getting hit has made the band members fairly crazy; nobody wants to go out there and play, lights or no lights!
LIVING WITH THE DEAD:
Twenty Years on the bus with
Garcia and the Grateful Dead
This Darkness Got to Give
Pages 182 – 183
LA ROSA – CCC TRANSCULTURAL PACIFICAN HISTORY 1965 – 2009
NOTA BENE: The Jefferson Airplane band spawned the Jefferson Starship, which is coming to the Royal Theatre in Victoria on October 27, 2009.
Please refer to the CCC BLOGROLL on the right for further ticket details.
- ‘Goyo de la Rosa,’ Editor
LA ROSA
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.