Grateful Dead

The New York Yankees will jump on the bandwagon of Major League Baseball teams, along with many minor league teams, in celebrating the late rock n' roll legend Jerry Garcia and his band, the Grateful Dead. The Pinstripes will join the San Francisco Giants, Garcia's hometown team, the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds in such celebrations during the 2022 season.

Growing up near New York City, performers that played Radio City Music Hall were given instant prestige. My first rock music show at the historic venue was October 29, 1980. The Grateful Dead were on their historic 8-night tour in New York City prior to 8 nights in San Francisco, from which they made two live albums, "Reckoning" and "Dead Set."

Sneak in a VHS camcorder and try not to get caught, that's the way we bootlegged in the 90's. Luckily for our viewing pleasure, quite a few people did just that at some Albany shows.

When today's large rock bands, with elaborate stage shows and video backgrounds that synchronize with the music, they have to find a place to work out the kinks before playing in front of sell-out crowds. Albany's MVP Arena seems to be just the place for one of the music industries hottest artists. On Thursday, John Mayer kicked off his "Sob Rock" tour in downtown Albany but Mayer and his massive stage crew showed up four days early to get things right.

On Friday, the Nassau Coliseum turns 50 years-old. Every major musician from Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney, to Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, U2, Matallica, Billy Joel and some form of the Grateful Dead 44 different times, targeted a concert run at the Nassau Coliseum. It's an intimate venue to play with 14,000 of your best friends.

Dead & Company is the latest rendition of the Grateful Dead put together by surviving member, Bob Weir. In years past accomplished musicians such as Jimmy Herring, Warren Haynes and Trey Anastasio sat in place of the late lead guitarist for the band Jerry Garcia. But following what were supposed to be the final 50th Anniversary Grateful Dead shows in 2015 with the surviving members, Weir, Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann and Phil Lesch, Weir put together Dead & Co.

Wow. If you ever want to start an argument these days, ask someone to define “patriotic.” However, if you get a group of sports fans together and you ask about cool, patriotic stadium rock songs, you definitely get a fun conversation. No matter what, every Top 5 has some personal bias.

Maybe a building doesn’t have feelings but I know many that have feelings for it. Memories that will never fade were made inside and outside. Tailgating in the parking lot for playoff games during their 4 consecutive Stanley Cup runs. Standing in the first row in front of Jerry Garcia for one of more than two dozen concerts that I’ve seen there. My dad taking me to see the circus for the very first time, awesome experiences that will not fade away.