‘A Cosmic Potpourri of Energy’

Ask any diehard Deadhead the best live show they’ve seen, and they’ll respond without hesitation, offering up intricate details like the exact date, set list -- even right down to what the weather was like that night.

Such is the case with Michael Morrow, a musician with Steal Your Face, a Grateful Dead cover band. “Sept. 12, 1987,” Morrow says, without pause when asked about his most memorable show. “It was the second night out of three."

Morrow, who plays the keyboard and sings with Steal Your Face, saw the Grateful Dead in concert 120 times. To him, the appeal of the band is much more than music. “It’s a lifestyle,”  Morrow says. A lifestyle that is best summed up in one word: “formless.”

“Deadheads by design are all types of people. That’s part of the magic of the music because it has spread its dust around to so many people,” he says.

Twice a month, Steal Your Face keeps that magic alive for area Deadheads, drawing a diverse crowd to . Everyone from 20-somethings to businessmen come to be transported by the sounds of Scarlet Begonias, China Cat Sunflower, and other Grateful Dead tunes.

And while the Grateful Dead is responsible for creating an all-out way of life, (think tie dye shirts, peace and love, and long hair) the culture fostered by the band certainly orbits around the music.

“It’s a community. There’s all kinds of weird people who are not connected except for the music,” Morrow says.

Paul Baroli, who sings and plays bass with Steal Your Face, says the band enjoys keeping the spirit of the music and culture alive. “We like to bring back that atmosphere of a Grateful Dead concert and the community of it; all the camaraderie.”

The band does its best to put their fans in a Grateful Dead state of mind, and it takes more than just good tunes. “We try to enhance the experience. We use lights, tie dye tapestries. We try to bring it back to the 60s,” says Garry Engel, who plays rhythm guitar.

In addition to the décor, the band tries to keep with the spirit of the Grateful Dead in other ways. While they prepare a set list for each performance, it could morph depending on “what we’re feeling at the time,” Engel says.

And, just like the Grateful Dead, the evening's music reflects history, personal emotion, and current events. “Depending on the significance of the date, the weather, where we are geographically, what we’re going through personally; all that goes into the show,” Baroli says.

Back in the day, after one show ended, you couldn’t wait to get to the next one, recalls Baroli. “We want people to leave with that same feeling.”

And it seems like they’re accomplishing that goal. On a cold, snowy Friday night in late January, the band had the pub at the Temperance House packed with all walks of life.

“It’s electricity,” said Sue Sinoradzki, a Newtown resident. “These guys feed off each other. It brings you back.” Dressed in a sharp black outfit, with blonde hair and an overall put-together look, Sinoradzki does not fit the typical description of a Deadhead.

Morrow says it’s the nature of the music that draws such an eclectic crowd. “It attracts a person with a heightened sense of adventure. Not only are they listening, they’re allowing themselves to be taken to a magical place,” he says.

Baroli agreed. “It’s just a cosmic potpourri of energy.”

Steal Your Face plays next at The Temperance House on Friday, Feb. 18. Music starts around 9 p.m. The cover is $5. The band will also be headlining The Overgrown Music Festival in upstate New York on Aug. 6th.