Shut Up and Dance

Over the July 4 weekend the Grateful Dead played what was billed as the "Fare Thee Well" Shows. As a way of celebrating fifty years of their music, the Core Four came together one last time to thank the fans for half a century of dancing, singing, and shaking the bones.

For those who could not attend the shows in Santa Clara, California the last weekend of June, or Soldiers Field over the July 4 weekend, YouTube offered pay-per-view streaming, as did MLB.com.  Sirius XM streamed the shows' audio feeds and Twitter was blowing up with multiple hashtags so that techno-savvy Deadheads could get play by play, song by song updates and share in the moment even if they couldn't be there in person.

It had been twenty years since Deadheads have been together in this way and it was truly a moment to be remembered.

But even with so much to celebrate, I was surprised by the negativity and judgment.  I guess even Deadheads can be trolls, sadly enough.

"Why is PHIL singing vocals on this song?"

"Why isn't TREY singing vocals on this?"

"Why is the mix off? I can't hear Bruce (or Bobby) (or Trey) (or Jeff)."

"Why didn't they play [insert favorite song title here]." (This one blew me away because after 30 years of playing together (1965-1995), the band had amassed a catalogue of 317 cover songs and 184 original tunes!) Like they could possibly hit everyone's favorite song...

What I really enjoyed, though, were the replies that said something along the lines of "How about you just live in the music and dance?!" I also noticed that the positive tweets got retweeted and favorited, while the negative stuff just kind of disappeared into the Twitterverse.

I encountered a text this week for preaching that I've come across before (the lectionary is good for that, right?) but following the Fare Thee Well shows I listened to it a little differently this time around.

In 2 Samuel 6 David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant home from its captivity with the Philistines. The Ark, the sign of G-d's presence with the people; the thing that helped the people of G-d remember they are the people of G-d. It held the tablets with the Ten Words and, according to the letter to the Hebrews, it also held Aaron's rod and a jar of manna.  After being gone for so long (at least seven months) David was happy to have the sign of the covenant there. So happy in fact that as the procession of 30,000 people moved along with lyres and tambourines and cymbals, that he breaks into dance.

Maybe not quite what David looked like, but you get the point.

I imagine in the movie in my head that David is dancing in his linen ephod and only mindful of his joy before G-d so when he accidentally offers up..."The Full Monty"...he offends at least one person.

As the saying goes, "Haters gonna hate." And maybe something like, "If you don't offend at least one person you aren't doing it right."

But the person he offends is the daughter of the former King, Saul.  Saul, you may remember was let go from being King because he didn't observe the command given by Samuel, and made a wrong offering before G-d.  He had good intentions, I really think that Saul had good intentions, but he wan't following the Law. So he's let go, so to speak, and David is anointed King. (It's not quite as complicated as Game of Thrones, but close.)

And this new King is marching into town, dancing, spinning, shaking those bones with all manner of lost dignity and rather than catch his joy, Michal gets caught up in judgment. "Saul would never act that way...I can't believe we have just a fool for a king...doesn't he know what he looks like? Doesn't he know we can see EVERYTHING? How embarrassing for him! How embarrassing for us all!"

I can't help but feel a little sad for Michal, and not just because she's missing out on the joy.  I feel bad for her because she's feeling all the guilt and shame for being "the former King's daughter."  We excel at shaming the families of people who are guilty of something. Somehow we feel like it's not just the fault of the person but that the guilt is shared by the family too.  I've seen family members shamed by others because they are "guilty by association" some how.  It was painful to witness.  So I feel for Michal because I'm sure she felt that same guilt by association shame.

And as is wont to happen, people in pain lash out at others.

Once the celebrations are done, and David has made and shared the offerings, Michal catches him and tells him exactly what's on her mind. "How the King of Israel honored himself today..." Sarcasm drips from her words as she tries to help David understand how a King is supposed to act.  Kings are supposed to act like her Father, Saul, did.

David replies with a bit that Matt Redmon turned into a song that the Crowder Band made hugely famous, "I will be even more undignified than this."

And then the text ends with a really crummy bit, "And Michal the daughter of Saul had not child to the day of her death."

I'll be honest, I wanted to leave this line out.  The assigned pericope didn't even go as far as the Undignified comment, so who will notice if I leave out that sad little bit out Michal not having any babies?

But I have a friend who likes to say, "Everything is in Torah for a reason, even the stuff we wrestle with or don't like."

So I had to find out...

I had to find out because I didn't like it.

Here's what I've come up with this time around.  Maybe what we can get from the text is that judgment isn't meant to bear fruit.

David's joy had 30,000 people in procession (and yeah, maybe it helped a little that he was the King) but at the end of the day, Michal's judgment left her fruitless.

I'm always hesitant to say that texts warn us because then we're prone to look at reasons to be afraid; but I think the text warns us that judgment isn't fruitful. Not that if we're judgmental we won't have babies, but that it's judgment isn't supposed to be contagious.

It's easy to see how difficult that might be when so much of what we see is finger pointing and judgment.  The left says the right is wrong and the right says the left is wrong and Bill O' Reilly says Jon Stewart's wrong and vice versa. And the evangelicals are labeling the progressives and the progressives are labeling the evangelicals and even the middle/centrists are jumping onto the bandwagon and saying what's wrong with both ends.

Or maybe we're wondering why church can't be traditional or why it can't be contemporary and hip.  Or why we have to celebrate the Eucharist AGAIN (or wondering why the pastor/priest did the fraction there??? when it so obviously goes AFTER the great thanksgiving not DURING.)

And so we're back to the mix being wrong.

And we're back to wondering why Phil's singing and not Trey or Bruce.

And we're back to wondering why, out of the 500+ songs in the catalogue, the band isn't playing OUR favorite song.

When maybe what we really being invited to do is just live in the music and shut up and dance.

The Grateful Dead and Fare Thee Well

When I first saw/heard the news I was instantly sad that I wouldn't be able to go to Chicago and get in  even one final show.

Then I started reading the comments...you know, like you aren't supposed to...I began reading the comments.

Trey playing Jerry's parts? Say it ain't so!

Okay...back story time.

Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995 and the Grateful Dead haven't played as a cohesive unit, all of them together, for more than a handful of times in twenty years.

2015 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Grateful Dead. What a great time to put on three final shows at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL over the July 4th weekend.  

Why Chicago?  Chicago is close to the center of the country, making it somewhat accessible to the majority of fans.  Additionally, Chicago is the location of the final show the Dead played prior to Jerry checking into rehab and his death.

There were a few choices to choose from in terms of guitarists and vocalists, but the band went with Trey Anastasio (of Phish Phame) and at that point the haters started hating.

I admit it; I tried getting into Phish back in the day, and never really acquired the taste. But I wasn't familiar enough with Trey's playing--even though he's played a few times in one or maybe two iterations of the Post-Grateful Dead Grateful Dead--to make any kind of a judgment about whether or not he was good enough.  Mostly I was concerned with hearing the band perform live post-Jerry Garcia, and feeling sad and not being able to appreciate the music regardless of who got to play in Jerry's place.

So, for once, I was glad to be living in Okinawa and unable to even entertain the idea of seeing these shows. Then I saw the live-streaming Pay Per View option and, since I was actually going to be home for a few days, purchased the three night stand of the Fare Thee Well shows in Chicago.

Yesterday--July 3rd--the band played their first of three shows and they played well.  They played more than well.  It was amazing.  Today they played a monster second show and it was even more amazing. 

Another bit of back story: In 1994 and 1995 I dropped out of work a few times to chase down the Grateful Dead at Shoreline Amphitheater, LA Sports Arena, and in Las Vegas.  Then Jerry died in August 1995, and as far as I could tell, so did the music.

But I learned--in those few shows--about family that happens where you least expect it, and I learned about a communal vibe of happiness and joy. And I feared that with the death of the music so would be the death of that community.  And for about 20 or so years, for me, it was. 

Except when people would nod and smile at my Steal Your Face ball cap; and the nods and smiles from the Okinawan couple that owns my favorite bagel place just down on the sea wall who always say how much they like my shirts when I walk in wearing a tie dye or a Grateful Dead Tee.  I knew the family was there, but the shared joy was missing.

There have still been recordings and CD's and podcasts, but all the listening has been without community. And my biggest fear of watching shows as Pay Per View live streams was of watching the shows from afar and missing my "Grateful Family." 

Enter the hashtags...and no, not that kind of hash...

#dead50
#FareTheeWell
and #couchtour (for those of us watching and dancing from home)

these helped me find my family again as we called songs out of improvs and shared the joy of the music.

Even if there were times when it was like reading the comments after an article, I loved reconnecting with the community of Deadheads.  I didn't know I missed them so much.

I missed the acceptance of strangers--all because we were seeking joy in music.
I missed the communion of the song--when the band and the crowd is in sync and you look at what someone close to you is saying or feeling and you know that you're in the same place that isn't really a place at all.
I miss strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hand...

So back to what I meant to say at the beginning.  I'm happy that I jumped in and opened my ears and my heart and my soul to the music again (even if I wasn't sure if I could do it in a post-Jerry world) because the music is beautiful, even if "we" (the collective we of the band and the audience) are getting old and missing words.  It's beautiful.

The band pulled out one of my absolute favorite songs tonight, "Standing on the Moon." A song with Jerry's vocals, sometimes tender sometimes tired, and Jerry's lead guitar, with scorching solos. And as I lost myself in the song, I fell in love with it all over again for the very first time.

I hope we can all get back to a place where we can share in the joy of the music, even if we don't know what to expect. I hope we can all get back to a place where we see some kind of shared experience in the smile of a stranger.

Maybe there's a metaphor in here for something bigger, I don't know.  I'm just happy to have experienced that extended family of Deadheads again.  I've missed you. 

More than anything, I'm happy to have the music again.