I moseyed down to Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., on May 10, 2009 to see my one show of The Dead tour. A sunny, warm day followed by a crisp, cool night made for a real nice outdoor vibe at which to reacquiant myself with a band that I had seen more than 200 times since 1976. Each band member played superbly and red-letter moments for me came during "Uncle John's Band," "Unbroken Chain," and a triple encore of "St. Stephen"->"The Eleven"->"Touch of Grey." Still, for me, some of the band's soul was missing as Jerry Garcia obviously wasn't there. After getting some nice shots in the lots outside of the venue, I wasn't able to take my good camera into the show, though I did click off a few pictures from my seat with a point-and-shoot camera. To view a fine gallery of images shot up-close by old friend Bob Minkin, go to www.minkindesign.com/photo/dead5-10-09/index.html --- Photos here by Alan Sheckter / NorCalEdit@sbcglobal.net. Permission must be granted for re-publication.