Willy the Bill Graham Presents security guard was a constant fixture, always friendly.
-oo0oo-
We always got lost going to that place. Fell Street exit off of 101 I think, then we'd just drive around.
-oo0oo-
I remember a gang of young boys (5 or 6 age around 12-13) that tried to attack me, in the middle of the day, when I was waiting in line and went to my car to get something. It all ended well when I ripped the bat out of the leader’s hands and threatened them! I was pretty strong back then in my swimming days. But it wasn't too smart to be cutting through alleys alone there. It was a pretty rough neighborhood.
-oo0oo-
One of my memories of a Grateful Dead show is of being in the ticket purchase line that went the other way around the block, sitting on the church steps that are still there and being told by a Dead Head scalper that the show would definitely sell out & we wouldn't get in, while a little hippie chick kept floating by singing "eeeeeeverybody gets iiiiiiin", and of course she was right.
-oo0oo-
Quite a number of times I would buy an extra ticket to a show “I thought” was going to sell out. This was not to make money or scalp it, but to go to the end of the line for people who didn’t have a ticket and were waiting to buy one. I’d go to the very last person in line and offer them my extra ticket for what I paid for it. I liked doing that.
-oo0oo-
There were many times I paid $3.50 for a ticket for weekend shows, shows during the week were usually $2.00 and sometimes $1.00.
-oo0oo-
My general Winterland memories include how derelict the scene always was in line on the sidewalk before shows; everyone partying BIG-TIME, selling & buying drugs of all kinds and generally just taking over the entire area surrounding the building, while the locals (and police) just looked on.
-oo0oo-
We would stock up on what we called Super Sandwiches. On the way to the show we would hit the store, each of us would buy a loaf of french bread, cut it down the middle and stuff in cold cuts and cheese. We would get in line early, and eat those things during our wait in line and drink beer. Lots of folks wanted a piece of our sandwiches.
-oo0oo-
I remember all the freaks in line and walking around. Some were selling spare doobies as we used to call them. And others were passing them on to perfect strangers. It was a party. Eating sandwiches and drinking whatever alcohol we could scrounge. I believe I got sick in line once, had to move up the sidewalk to avoid our spot. But puke was a common site on that sidewalk. Then when they let us in, you always had to walk around several violated spots as you moved to the door and in.
I remember once when someone in line was wasted. His name was Eddie. For some reason, the entire crowd in line knew what was happening with this guy. Everybody got into it. I remember updates on Eddie’s condition going up and down the line with people shouting updates every 10 people or so in series, down the line and around the corner.
“Eddie spewed!” “Eddie’s down!” Later, “Eddie’s up!, No… Hold on... Eddie’s back down!”
The sounds echoing off that white wall as the updates were passed down the line.
-oo0oo-
While waiting in line before the show one night, Lynyrd Skynyrd came out of their limo in front of us and we got to say hi.