#smarcus

司馬庫斯位於台灣新竹美麗的部落，一年四季不同景色

I guess I started giving away tickets in 1972 when I was waiting in line at Winterland to buy a ticket for a Neil Young concert. A person came up to me and asked if I wanted a free ticket. Being very suspicious I started question the guy and he just handed it to me and said, "Don't worry it's real, go in!" And I did.

The next time I was going to a concert and had an extra ticket I just walked up to someone who was obviously wanting to get in to a sold out show and handed it to him and said, "don't worry, it's real, go in!"

It felt good!

Move on to 1980 and the last night of the 15 night run at The Warfield and I had an extra third row ticket for the show and decided I was going to scalp it (bad boy, Steven!) I got to the show a little late and the side walk was clear except for one guy with a backpack and guitar walking away from the box office, obviously bummed out. I asked if he wanted a ticket and he said yes, but he didn't have much money, so I told him not to worry and we walked up to the door, but they wouldn't let him in with his back pack and guitar. I had been a BGP Blue Coat for a few years until late 1979 and knew the head Blue Coat that night and asked him if my friend could leave his stuff with the Blue Coat's backpacks, etc. and he very kindly said, yes. So we went in and got to our seats just as the house lights went down and the band came out. The guy pulled out a baggie of some strange vegetation and asked if I wanted some shrooms...I had never done shrooms and he said they were like a light Acid trip (I had only done Acid twice before and never at a show.) So I took what he gave me and ate some rank tasting crap...30 or so minutes later I started really enjoying the concert, and never saw that guy again!

The funny thing about that show was that I always saw a lot of people I knew at all concerts I went to especially Grateful Dead concerts, but that night I didn't see one single person I knew! Over the next few weeks people would call me and ask what was wrong with me at the show. They told me that they came up to me and that I just looked at them and walked away...

Move on to 1983 when I started working for the Grateful Dead and managing Grateful Dead Ticket Sales. After a few years I would get handed a few tickets to give out to people and I did. This grew and grew until I started going to GD shows outside of California and checking for counterfeit tickets outside in the parking lots. A friend gave me a T-Shirt that read "No, I Don't Have An Extra Ticket!" When ever I wore that shirt I usually had a few dozen tickets in my pocket and would give them to people who had the guts to ask. Sometimes I would walk up behind someone with their finger up and slip a ticket in their hand and literally vanish into the crowd so they couldn't see me, but I could see them... That was fun!

Some years after the Grateful Dead were a distant memory (at least live concerts) I sat down and tried to figure out approximately how many free tickets I gave away to GD shows over the 13 years I worked for them...my best guess was around 15,000...(yes, 15 thousand!) I never did scalp any tickets...