Greensboro Coliseum
Greensboro, NC
After a huge meal 5am meal at the 24 hour Georgetown Cafe (known as “PLO Cafe” to village residents), I set off hitchhiking to Greensboro for the first show of the east coast tour. The promise I made to myself the previous year at Hampton that I’d do the entire east coast tour was off to a good start so long as I made it to the show.
After I-85 splits from I-95, I got a ride all the way to Greensboro in a family RV. The parents and kids let me crash in the back on the way south.
I ended up in the second row center just by walking up, and stayed the entire show — which I consider one of the ten best Grateful Dead shows I’d see, and the best I’d seen thus far. The combination of the largely college-aged crowd, the energy of an east coast tour opener, and a band game for playing an explosive show was captivating.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the friends I’d run in to from Boston after the show, whom I’d planned to ride with overnight to Hampton. I was left to do a solo overnight hitchhiking run out on the Interstate.
Standing on I-85 alone, looking up at the black, starry sky, I’d never felt so happy, and so empowered and inspired by a show. Arriving in the Hampton area sometime after sunrise, I made my way to the Coliseum by noon. I promptly got in line and crashed for the rest of the afternoon.