It turns out I have seen Phil, the bass player, and his various friends five times, including at George Mason University Patriot Center in 2005 and at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland in 2003.

Guitarist Bob Weir has his own band, Ratdog, and it turns out according to my ticket stubs, that I have seen him/them the most: Six times. Most of them, at the Norva. But one of the times I remember most distinctly is one for which I don't even have the ticket to prove it. I was covering Bill Clinton's second inauguration in Washington in 1997, and Ratdog was playing under a tent on the National Mall. Somehow I determinned that that event would make for an important element of our overal coverage of democracy that day.

Since the death of Jerry Garcia, the members have also performed under the monikers, The Other Ones and The Dead. I have one ticket each of those. Plus they toured one time as part of something they called The Further Festival I have one of those, too.

The world's greatest cover band, which also happens to be the world's greatest Grateful Dead cover band is a group called Dark Star Orchestra. I've seen them at least ten times, but I didn't save the tickets, and I wouldn't count them as part of this conversation. They are awesome, though.

So all that brings me to this. What is it about the Grateful Dead? I guess the smart answer would be, if you don't get it, you just don't get it. Or as they sing in "Casey Jones," "Got two good eyes, but you still don't see." The more reasoned answer would be the deep and varried catalog of songs, the multiple genres that are represented: rock, jazz, country, to name a few. But I think what I like best is this: A different set list every night, and the improvisation of it all. Songs have expanded jams. In Charlottesville, "Sugaree" had to last 20 minutes. The tunes morph off into space, hardly even resembling themselves, and then somehow they come back around and
make sense.

And occasionally you see something you didn't expect. In the case of the Charlottesville show, that would be Phil's new friend, Jackie Greene. His role is to play rhythm or second lead guitar, plus harmonica and Hammond B-3 organ. He sings most of the Jerry parts on the Grateful Dead songs, he looks like 1965 vintage Bob Dylan, but he sounds like a cross between Van Morrison and Mick Jagger. Needless to say he was an unexpected bonus.

I don't claim to be the authority on this subject. Far from it. My friends I went to the Charlottesville show with--Bill, D.T., Don, Lynda and Sandy, have been to many more Dead shows than me. And Don, for one, I know goes way back further than me and my first Dead experience in '88. Still, although a little late in arriving to the party, I'm in now, and I'm not going back.

And, fortunately, the music never stopped. Bob and Ratdog are playing at the Norva the week after next. Think I'll be there? As the band would say, to steal one more line: "Might As Well."