Misconception #1:
Eeeeeeewwwww!  What a horroble name!  Why would anyone call themselves "dead" anything?

Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary:

GRATEFUL DEAD  The motif of a cycle of folk tales which begin with the hero's coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the corpse of a man who had died without paying his debts. He gives his last penny, either to pay the man's debts or to give him decent burial.  Within a few hours he meets with a travelling companion who aids him in some impossible task, gets him a fortune, saves his life, etc.  The story ends with the companion's disclosing himself as the man whose corpse the other had befriended.

So, now the name takes on a new understanding. It is a name that conveys benevolence, and kindness to other human beings. It is a name that conveys great thanks to those who have helped us in our lives, and that is what the Grateful Dead have always stood for; Love the Earth; Feed your Brothers and Sisters; Help Each Other; Support the Disparaged.

Misconception #2:
Isn't everyone at a Dead show just doing drugs?

The Grateful Dead did early music work with Ken Kesey and his "acid tests", which allowed people to speak their piece by passing a microphone around at the "acid test" session.  When no one had anything to say the Dead would fill in the "space" with ambient, abstract, sounds, effects, and pieces of music. This trading "stage" between  band and audience became the foundation of the Dead show format.  Yes there are some who partake of various drug (usually LSD, and other psychedelics) because the music format flows in the same way a "trip" does.  But the band/audience interaction brought many more who were interested in this new group experience.  Most people who go to shows are lawyers, doctors, managers, and other mainstream occupations.  It is the media which has focused our sight more on the occasional drug use and associated actions rather than the brilliance of the music interaction concept...

While the Grateful Dead have sustained a reputation for being involved with drugs in their past, that does not mean that drugs is the mainstay of their existance today. There are many, many deadheads who do not do drugs and enjoy the band for the musical exerience. It is typical for the media to focus on negative aspects for news rather than report those things that are good and positive.

Misconception #3:
But their music must not have been very good; they only had 1 top ten hit in over 30 years as a band!

The Dead were not chart makers, nor did they care about what the charts said.  They were into the music and exploring the scope of this new interaction.  It wasn't what they played at a concert, but WHY DID they play it?  What was it that was going on with the audience that sparked the playing of various songs at various times, sometimes even fading away, mid-song, only to perchance come up again later in the show to finish the last verse; or not. No two shows were ever the same since no two audiences are ever the same. Each was different into its ownself.

If you have ever been to a Grateful Dead concert then you will understand how the audience actions are reflected in the happenings on the stage. Sometimes the audience becomes the stage. Everything you do or say at a Grateful Dead concert ripples through the crowd and manifests itself in the music that is happening at that time.

More to be added...

More to be added...

More to be added...