Grateful Dead Flag (and its story), 1976
I flew this flag at the Grateful Dead/Who concert at the Oakland Coliseum on October 9, 1976. I drew it with smelly marking pens on part of a bedsheet while I was sitting on my parents’ living room floor. I used the back of a Risk board to keep my little project from permanently decorating the carpet. My grandfather watched with a bemused smile. (For the design I combined elements from the Dead’s "Almanac" mailings and a Disneyland “Pirates of the Caribbean” souvenir magazine that my brother had.) The finished measurements were 40” x 45”.
My friend Bob stapled the flag to a sturdy piece of wood molding that was probably ten feet long. I remember it sticking out of the bed of his pickup truck. We carried it through security (guess it wasn't contraband!) without question (I think the guard smiled). I dug a divot in the Oakland Athletics' home field with my boot heel and stuck it in the turf.
After the Dead finished their set Bob and most of our group had enough of sitting on the grass and headed to the upper deck to watch the Who. Susan and I stayed put, thinking that the sound would be better on ground level. Before long, a stoned young man who thought the flag was unattended started to pull out the pole. When I explained that it was ours he apologized and moved on. After the show my buddies said they watched the encounter unfold from their perch. Bob treated me like a conquering hero for "defending the flag" and made it sound like a skirmish with fifes and muskets.
I didn't get a medal, but I still have the flag. I still have the Risk board, too, for that matter. (No, Mom, I don't ever throw anything away.) A recording of the concert was released in 2004 on the Dead's "Dick's Picks Volume 33."
Grateful Dead Flag (and its story), 1976
I flew this flag at the Grateful Dead/Who concert at the Oakland Coliseum on October 9, 1976. I drew it with smelly marking pens on part of a bedsheet while I was sitting on my parents’ living room floor. I used the back of a Risk board to keep my little project from permanently decorating the carpet. My grandfather watched with a bemused smile. (For the design I combined elements from the Dead’s "Almanac" mailings and a Disneyland “Pirates of the Caribbean” souvenir magazine that my brother had.) The finished measurements were 40” x 45”.
My friend Bob stapled the flag to a sturdy piece of wood molding that was probably ten feet long. I remember it sticking out of the bed of his pickup truck. We carried it through security (guess it wasn't contraband!) without question (I think the guard smiled). I dug a divot in the Oakland Athletics' home field with my boot heel and stuck it in the turf.
After the Dead finished their set Bob and most of our group had enough of sitting on the grass and headed to the upper deck to watch the Who. Susan and I stayed put, thinking that the sound would be better on ground level. Before long, a stoned young man who thought the flag was unattended started to pull out the pole. When I explained that it was ours he apologized and moved on. After the show my buddies said they watched the encounter unfold from their perch. Bob treated me like a conquering hero for "defending the flag" and made it sound like a skirmish with fifes and muskets.
I didn't get a medal, but I still have the flag. I still have the Risk board, too, for that matter. (No, Mom, I don't ever throw anything away.) A recording of the concert was released in 2004 on the Dead's "Dick's Picks Volume 33."