04/15/2024
WOW!
Turn my whole world upside down!
The creation and cancellation of SKULL & ROSES has produced a tremendous effect which ripples throughout this tight knit community in numerous and unexpected ways. As an avid fan with a voracious appetite for all things Grateful Dead, I was a little worried that this might just be a little too much, but somehow it felt just exactly perfect. I attended twice and was impressed and amazed to see so many different obsessive parts of our community come together in a Grateful Dead convention and it be perfectly normal as if it was as it always should be. The guitar collection curated by Nathan Bidner, the photos by Jay Blakesberg Photography, the Wall Of Sound backdrop, meeting the most famous deadhead of all Mr. Bill Walton, talking to Rosie Mcgee along with seeing my friends old and new that make up the fabric of the Grateful Dead community was so comforting. This is before seeing the bands, once the music started it was a Utopian dream come true with the likes of Dark Star Orchestra, Phil Lesh and Friends, Jerry's Middle Finger and this year a huge Colorado contingent led by Shakedown Street, The Cosmic Charlies and the illustrious Dave Hebert on the stage all working together to elevate the music felt like a Utopian dream It was so nice to see others so dedicated to a cause that is close to my heart.
When me and my brothers first opened Quixote's True Blue it was to fill a deeply personal hole in our heart created by the unfortunate departure of Jerry Garcia way too soon. What we found was something way bigger than the walls of any space could contain. We discovered each other and discovered that we indeed were everywhere. This thing was no flash in the pan. Soon we opened Sancho's Broken Arrow and my brother Phil Bianchi would hold court in the friendly confines of that building and extolling the virtues of a certain Standing on the Moon or how the band controlled the weather. It was glorious thing.
There were successes and there were failures, but we kept forging ahead. There is always risk and the line that delineates success and failure is so thin. Skull and Roses built the foundations of something beautiful, but as I have learned thorough trial and error, "it seldom turns out the way it does in the song."
I have also learned through my adventures that when one door closes, another opens. I wanted to salvage some of the energy keep the music flowing, so I reached out to my friends Jake Wolf and Ben Rafferty and we conjured up a way to keep the music flowing for all of our friends who were planning a big weekend. What we came up was pretty sweet and mostly intake version of Sages And Spirits along with Cosmic Kush for an event that same weekend.
This is a epic way to spend you weekend!
Sages & Spirits Bicycle Day & 420 Fest: w/Cosmic Kush
