ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes Grateful Dead concerts as secular rituals and it describes the mythic nature of Dead Head unity in terms of the shared meanings the members of this group use to interpret reality and define their identity by using ethnographic data based on interviews and observations. Youth subcultures are component parts of a complex cultural milieu. Rituals are a very important part of contemporary social life. Music, especially rock music after World War, has been an important outlet for the expression of youth solidarity. Rock performers become musical prophets or cultural heroes, and concerts become the ritual occasions for celebrating group solidarity. In a state of liminality, experience contrasts structure such that the interaction among equals, or liminars, may foster a special type of social relationship, which Turner defined as "communitas". Dead Heads are often described in the popular press as some contemporary derivation of the stereotypical hippie from the sixties.
