re: "A RIVER OF BOOZE... Inside one college town’s uneasy embrace of drinking"...

The uptown didnt seem to be supporting the Dead scene at that point, but if they say they played there, I guess that is all that matters. They were known as a Dead cover band which was rather frowned on in the Athens Music scene at the time. Also, being a frat party band was not considered to be "part" of the Athens Music scene. Their Frat/Sorority BMW with a Dead Head sticker fan base is what really made them. Frankly, they were kind of a joke, but then the Greatful Dead guy died and they stepped in and filled the role. Good for them, but they were not some underground cornerstone of the Athens Music scene back then... far from it actually. When they got famous, the revisionists opened their arms to them...

...and it is nothing personal, they were all actually nice dudes other than Schools