My Dead Summer

Dreams are funny, aren't they?

Some are good, some are bad, some replay the past,

but some give us what you need to move forward in life.

It was the last type of dream I had on the anniversary

of my mother passing,

the dream of my next Kenny Royce on the Scene story.

This dream was full of happy people,

dancing like no one was watching,

like my mom.

At her wake, they showed footage of her dancing,

and the image of her living free kept playing on a loop

over the words my stepdad Zeke said.

My mom always said that living her days

as a Deadhead were the best days of her life.

I remember ever since I was a kid,

she told me stories of how the Deadheads lived.

Deadheads were a mobile tribe of people

who lived on the land guided by their own rules

and followed the Grateful Dead incessantly.

Year after year, selling their wares to survive

just to see another show.

They were folk in search of something beyond themselves

that they found in music and in lyrics,

so they created their own world to be part of it.

I dreamt of being there amongst the people,

living that life of music and travel.

This was it!

This was the story I needed to tell the world.

This was my next Kenny Royce on the Scene,

but bigger.

A big-scene journal showing life as a Deadhead,

walking in my mother's footsteps across the USA.

So when Dead & Company announced

this was the last time they were going on tour,

I felt this was my last chance to be on the scene.

Hi, this is Kenny Royce on the Scene.

What is going on with these fucking birds?

That's what I do.

I film stories on location as I see them.

I've done a ton of stories, filmed on my phone,

put up on the internet, but this dream was different.

It wasn't about bad housing conditions

or how to never judge a taco by its price.

It was about living my mom's dream

and living the human experience in the world of the Dead,

to find the real story behind these fans

and their way of life.

My first day on tour with Dead & Company

is in my hometown of Los Angeles.

After the last four LA shows in December of 1994,

my mother hung up her dancing Dead shoes

and decided to settle down to raise me

in the City of Angels.

She said it was perfect timing since she was about to pop

and the tour was on its last leg.

She named me Kenny Rodgers Royce.

Kenny Rodgers, thinking its gambling spirit

might give me a little luck in life.

My last name Royce is after my father,

whom my mom met on the Dead tour.

She said that they always did it in a Rolls-Royce,

but couldn't be certain.

We're on the scene, and we are going to see LA Dead.

I decided to leave our production dog, Lily Pad,

at home for the first two shows

so I can really immerse myself in the Dead culture.

So I ventured out with my small film crew.

Now, they didn't wanna use their real names,

I don't know why,

but I got around to calling them Defer 1 and Defer 2.

They're called Defer

because they'll work for deferred pay.

It's basically a fancy way of saying

that they'll get paid later on a release date.

It's a complicated movie business thing,

but they're very still much professional, though.

Can you open the fucking door for me, please?

On the Scene with Kenny Royce.

This is Kenny Royce.

Kenny Royce, this is On the Scene.

This is, uh... This is LA.

This is-- this is-- this is Dead & Company.

Most amazing thing I think that I've ever put myself into.

Let's walk around.

What is up with the... What is up with these balloons?

How you guys doin'?

Huh?

I-- I said I-- I was asking how you guys are doing.

From there, it was time to head to a place

they call Shakedown Street, the main Deadhead hangout.

This is essentially what Shakedown Street

is all about.

Everybody sells merchandise,

a lot of balloons that are happening.

Just when you see somebody with this,

it means, um, they need a ticket.

As I walked through the sea of people,

I felt like Odysseus on his journey in The Odyssey.

- Yeah? -Like--

yeah, yeah, it's like a-- like an oat bar

kind of a thing, and then it's got weed in it.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah. It's a good ball.

It's oat cheese on it.

So, o-- it's o-- it's o--

These guys are making

Where-- where-- where-- where are these guys--

-Where are these guys set up? - Right here.

He's making grilled cheese and then shit.

Oh, oh, this-- that-- that guy right there?

Yeah, yeah.

Thank-- thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

Uh, my name is Kenny.

Kenny, Mitch. Nice to meet you.

Mi-- Mitch. Mitch.

- Yeah. -Thank you.

Have a great concert.

I do-- I-- what do you think--

What do you think they're gonna open with?

-Probably-- is that-- is that... -

-No, yeah. -Same, same.

I think they're gonna open up--

That's what I'd like to see.

Hey, have a good show. Check the band out.

And just as he was drawn to the singing of the sirens,

I, too, was mesmerized

by the lost cacophony of music, chatter,

popping balloons, and nitrous hiss.

Whip it, whip it, whip it.

I stopped to think about what it would be like

for my mom, as she lived her life as a Deadhead.

What do you do?

Well, I was here, and 'cause I wasn't selling nitrous--

- -They made me go in my car.

Okay.

So that's like-- uh-oh.

Uh, they are-- they're gonna be here.

We are filming.

Uh, so but, Melanie, tell me about--

Melanie?

Tell me about...

My name's not Melanie.

Oh, it's not Melanie?

Ellen.

Ellen. It's, uh, uh, Ellen.

-So, Ellen-- - Wait.

Ellen is selling Morning Dew candles.

And with a-- and with a--

Dot com.

-With, um, dot com. It's a-- -My favorite song.

Is it?

So I just photocopied all my tickets,

'cause over the years, I just had, like, a box

I'd, like, throw all my tickets in.

But you can open this up and put your own ticket

in there.

-So-- so you are a big fan? -Oh, yeah.

What is your favorite song?

All right. Oh, Morning Dew, man!

-Okay. I-- I-- I-- -Look at that!

I-- I-- I-- I-- I-- I-- I-- I--

Hearing Melanie's love of the Dead

and seeing her make crafts of her long experiences

on the tour was an inspiration.

Oh, is that

Wait, an engine.

Priorities. We don't need an engine.

We need a cooler.

It's my first, uh, Dead show, but this thing is a--

- Oh, what? - Are you serious?

It's is, yeah.

Wait, where'd you get the cool shirt?

- Awesome. -It's-- I...

Well, I-- I put it out 'cause almost-- 'cause, like,

I wanna be almost like a-- like--

Yeah, you want to fit in, like--

-Yeah, I know the feeling. - Right.

Do you want a snack?

-Well, what-- what are you-- - I mean.

As I enjoyed the-- the satur-- shatir

or sh-- shattery,

the grace and such with these kind people,

I realized Deadheads now and then

have the same giving spirit.