At 8:50 PM -0800 11/3/01, Floyd &Jennifer Meadows wrote:
>Please forgive how flip this sounds, but I've wanted to know for ages.
>Dead Base says that at the 11-21-70 Sargent Gym show a chimp act opened.
>Does anyone know anything about said chimp act? What kind of show did
>they do? If this really happened, this has to be the craziest opening
>act ever at a Dead show. I really am interested in any info on this
I am editing a lengthy interview with Ned Lagin for an expanded
reissue of "Conversations with the Dead" that's coming out early next
year. The show in question was the first time Ned sat in with the
Dead. Here's what he had to say about the opening act:
>My most vivid memory is of the opening act. It was a chimp act. A
>regular, straight, vaudeville kind of chimp act, with three or four
>chimps riding little bicycles around the small stage in hats and
>little vests, some wearing holsters with cap gun six-shooters which
>they fired, waving American flags. And near the end of the act they
>were given some cigars, which they smoked, also while riding around.
>
>The audience had a rather hostile response to the whole act -
>remember, it was a college anti-war audience, for the most part,
>counterculture - and my response to the whole scene, including the
>audience, was to feel sorry for the chimps who became increasingly
>confused and scared, and maybe even a little insulted, without
>knowing the reason why the audience was so hostile to the chimps
>smoking those cigars and waving those American flags. So half of me
>was excited about getting ready to play, and half of me already was
>put off by an audience that could be so self-absorbed and
>self-righteous as to make the chimps feel uncomfortable and fearful.
>I thought the chimps deserved our sympathy and understanding.
I have been able to find only a small part of the GD's set from that
night for Ned. if any more of it turns up, I'd appreciate a copy to
pass along to him.
--
David Gans [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.trufun.com/perfectible
Truth and Fun, Inc., PMB 102, 484 Lake Park Ave, Oakland CA 94610
