David Atlas

Perhaps all the angry Grateful Dead crazies who complained so bitterly about SOTC's past Grateful Dead coverage ("I hope you get a vial poured on your head asswipe village scenester dickwad, suck a d bitch!") might instead enjoy Slate's typography of Dead fandom, subhedded "What your favorite Grateful Dead song says about you." For instance:

"Tennessee Jed": Before you met your wife, there was this girl named Brianna. Man, you still think about her sometimes. The weird thing is, she wasn't really your type. While you were paddling Vanderbilt freshmen over at the Sigma Chi house, she was hot-boxing in a VW bus with her vegan friend Judy. You hated all that drug stuff, but you were fond of Brianna's liberated approach in the boudoir (actually the back of the VW). Brianna dragged you to a few Dead shows, but you never thought Jerry had anything on Gregg Allman. To get through the experience, you'd double down on the Southern Comfort in the parking lot, then say a small prayer that the set list didn't include "Space."

Yearbook quote: "Drink all day and rock all night."

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all photos by David Atlas

"We miss Jerry!" some guy felt the need to observe loudly last night, during the quietest of last night's three sets by the band once known as the Grateful Dead.

"You think we don't?" shot back, Phil Lesh, the Dead's 69-year-old beanpole bass player.

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