Big Leather Couch

When at school in Rochester, at R.I.T., THE COUCH was fortunate to see some incredible concerts at the Auditorium Theater, an old classic theatre with incredible acoustics.

We worked for the local concert promoter and were on the air at the school and local radio stations. Because of that, we had some great access to shows, even when we had to pay for tickets.

One concert at the AUD, was the Jerry Garcia Band. We leaned on the stage in front of Jerry the whole concert.

Merle Sunders was there, as were John Kahn and Bill Vitt. A special guest joined them playing piano that evening...Billy Preston. Mr. Preston was so drunk he never came out after the intermission.

The show lasted about 4 1/2 hours with some jams that soared and swooped. Having seen Jerry with the Grateful Dead prior to this show, it was special to experience his versatility with a different group of musicians.

Over the years we saw different versions of the JGB and also saw Jerry performing with the New Riders Of The Purple Sage, when he would play Pedal-Steel guitar.

Not counting Dead shows (we will feature some of these in the near future), this was probably the best Jerry show we had the privilege of attending.

This photo is one THE COUCH took that evening...