Arguably one of the coolest names for a fan base, of any kind, is the name given to the fans of rock band The Grateful Dead: Deadheads. It’s simple, to the point, and pretty badass. These fans supported the Palo Alto, California-hailing band for its four-decade run in what seemed like one never-ending jam session. Unfortunately, though, the session did come to a close following the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995. The Grateful Dead subsequently disbanded.
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Deadheads, though, have continued to carry on the band’s legacy, and the band remains as present in pop culture as ever. (Just look at the prevailing prominence of The Grateful Dead Bears for one example of the band’s longevity.) And in honor of their devoted fan base, The Grateful Dead recently posted a clip of its Deadheads from 1991 via Twitter. This clip, pulled from old CBS News coverage, features brief interviews with Deadheads as they attend a Grateful Dead concert.
“At a Grateful Dead concert, the band is only the half of it. This is the other half,” the CBS announcer says as the video pans across countless Deadheads flocking to the concert.
“It’s gonna be a cool time. Yeah, it’s my first Dead show,” one fan says.
“I’ve seen at least 20, 20-something shows since September,” another fan says.
Still another fan adds, “I’ve been seeing ’em since ’81. I’ve seen ’em about 100 times.”
“It’s the people, it’s the music, it’s everything put together,” another Deadhead says of the band.
Then, the announcer comes back on after we see a few more Deadheads. “The Grateful Dead has already made a generation of people happy,” the CBS announcer says. “And there are whole generations of Deadheads yet unborn.”
There was no way of knowing just how true those statements were.
Watch the video below.
Photo by Kirk West/Getty Images
