Inside Stories
There is Nothing Like a Grateful Dead
Concert
by Capitol Theatre co-founder Al Hayward
My first experience producing the
Grateful Dead was memorable, even though I was producing Rod
Stewart in Syracuse at the time. Just before Rod was to go on in
Syracuse I received a call from John. He was very upset. It
seems that he received a call from the Passaic police
complaining that there were about 1000 kids camped out in front
of the Capitol Theatre.
Dumbfounded, I asked John, “What
are the kids doing? The Dead aren’t going to play until
tomorrow night”. I learned afterward that the Deadheads
followed the band throughout the country and it was normal for
them to camp out the night before the show. What was happing at
the Capitol was not unusual, but just as surprising to John and
me as to the Passaic police.
I also remember a time when John and I
produced the Dead at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ. They
showed up with about 40 friends, wives, girlfriends, etc. The
band requested dinner for about 45 people before they would go
on. I sent one of my helpers to a diner in Jersey City near the
Stadium. He walked in and ordered dinner-to-go for 45
people. You can imagine the skepticism with which this
stoned-out looking hippie-type was greeted—until he
showed them my cash. We got 45 dinners-to-go in hurry!
Producing the Dead in concert is an
experience I will never forget!!!