The night before we left one of our friends had to bail. He had two tickets to Dire Straits, who were playing the night before the three Dead shows, and he gave them to me and my friend Jennifer. We'd gotten there a day early so it was perfect. We were thrilled to get to go.
I don't know if the policy is still the same, but back then they allowed people to bring in any beverage at all, as long as it was in a plastic container. They didn't care if you walked in with a milk jug half-filled with the gnarliest, most obvious-looking, purplish brew you could concoct, if you get my drift. I couldn't believe it but of course we took full advantage of the policy all four shows. Jennifer was in the mood for screwdrivers, so we went to the liquor store and got a bottle of Stoli and a gallon of OJ. We replaced about 1/4 of the OJ with vodka and we were good to go. We may or may not have had a couple of other concert-enhancement substances on hand.
We settled in and about midway into Dire Straits' second tune the place was rocking. The sound was excellent and they were at the peak of their career and really on that evening. It couldn't have been a more perfect night for an outdoor show. You could see seemingly forever in all directions. Way off in the distance to our right was a massive thunderstorm. It lit up the entire sky but it was completely clear overhead and there were no lightning strikes nearby. I happened to look up and see a nice shooting star, and a minute or two later I saw another one. It dawned on me that with all the excitement going on I'd forgotten that the Perseids were in full swing, and it was a good shower that year. I don't remember if the Moon was up or what phase it was in, but the meteors were plenty visible.
When I think back to the show itself what I see most in my mind is Jennifer smiling the whole time. It was that good. About two-thirds of the way they launched into Money for Nothing, and the crowd went nuts. They started in with the massive drums, synth and guitar buildup, and it's a good thing it was an outdoor venue because I could swear everyone was levitating. The intro was peaking; the energy level was peaking; the Perseids were peaking, and well...so were we. The show was so good we were hugging each other and everyone in the rows above and below us. After a bit the band noticed people looking up, so Knopfler and the other guys up front would occasionally look up and see a meteor, and Knopfler even did a little guitar lick when a big one would go by. I reckon he's a meteor fan.
They played a great show and a blistering encore and we left happy. When we got back to the motel, everybody had gotten into a bit of the "fungus among us." They were all crammed into one room and they were watching The Ghost and Mr. Chicken on TV and just cracking up. Pretty soon Jennifer and I were sucked into the movie too. These days that flick would be viewed as dated, cheesy and maybe even a bit boring, but that night it took on a whole new dimension. If you ever happened to have seen that movie tripping, you know what I'm talking about. Don Knotts is a wonderment when you're tripping, and there's no two ways about it. I've never found another substance with the ability to completely let you become a "part" of a movie quite like a. muscaria.
A good meteor shower stands alone; not to mention a good meteor shower in Colorado. Dire Straits stands alone too. Bonus points for seeing Don Knotts while tripping. The Perseids were the icing on the cake. Or was it the other way around?
