When Push Comes to Shove; Real Life on Dead Tour

It's 1988 and the rock band - The Grateful Dead - are at the top of their game. The author and her intrepid friends have left the "real world" behind in favor of following The Dead full time - anywhere - everywhere.

If you ask them, they'll tell you they're here for the music, the people, and the fun. But the truth is, they are really here to be a part of everything that matters about being human. They are here to bear witness to the power of being fully alive. The truth is akin to what Joseph Campbell said of the Dead and the Deadheads:

"This is more than music... It turns something on in the heart, and what it turns on is life energy... A wonderful fervent loss of self in the larger self of a homogeneous community. This is what it's all about!"

Grateful Dead concerts are transformative, life-affirming events but it's not always easy to live like this. It is a life of transcendence and magic, absolutely. These hippies are honored to be part of this dream, but it's not all smiles and roses living out on the road, and out on the streets.

Living full time on Grateful Dead Tour is not for the faint of heart. Following psychedelic troubadours around the country during a War on Drugs is dicey on the best of days, and things can get real pretty fast when the world goes sideways. Nonetheless, these Tourheads never doubt that whatever troubles they deal with are worth everything, anything - so long as they get to be part of those magic moments when the Dead take the stage and the entire audience opens their hearts to dance the world into existence. Any challenges faced are positively worth it for the magical experiences that unfold. For these folks, Tour is what it means to be fully alive.