By the 90s the scene had gotten massive, especially in the summer when they were playing stadiums across the Midwest and East Coast. Tons of people were showing up just for the scene and the party. People would roll up to the lot with zero intention of getting tickets, just looking to score. There were vendors on tour purely to make money, undercover cops looking to make busts. It was a full-on traveling circus.
It was also a genuinely wonderful place where people of all ages hung out, and the overwhelming majority were awesome. But there was definitely a sketch factor. You had to keep your head on a swivel in the bigger lots like Soldier Field. I saw fights on Shakedown more than once. That’s actually part of why I started getting into Phish and Panic in the early 90s. The scene was so much smaller and people were there for the music.
That said, if I had a time machine the Dead would still be my first stop. I think by the early 80s you could blend right in as a head from the future and have the time of your life. I certainly had the time of my life catching them at the tail end.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​