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GREENSBORO — With the voice of Jerry Garcia calling out from an iPod atop a BMW a few feet away, a man dressed as a penguin danced with his wife and son Sunday in the parking lot of the Greensboro Coliseum.

Hippie icon and legendary jam-band the Dead came to Greensboro on Sunday and their devout and eclectic following joined them.

The band kicked off its first tour in five years at the Greensboro Coliseum, the second tour since Garcia’s 1995 death.

Some might wonder: Why start the tour in Greensboro? But for the Grateful Dead community, it makes perfect sense.

They know that Greensboro was the site of the legendary April 1, 1991, show when the band played an especially trippy rendition of “Dark Star.”

Serendipity and luck brought the band back to Greensboro to begin its 2009 tour, said Scott Johnson, an assistant director at the coliseum. The tour’s booking agent — who attended the “Dark Star” show — remembered the coliseum’s strong relationship to the Dead and suggested starting the new tour here.

More than 17,000 people attended Sunday’s show, Johnson said.

“There’ve been a lot of really good shows here, ’89 was a good show,” said James Herndon of Virginia.

This is Herndon’s third Dead concert in Greensboro. He came in 1989 and 1991, and he said one thing that’s nice about Greensboro is how laid-back officials have been.

Vendors, not welcome at many venues, sold grilled cheese, bongs, T-shirts, beer, buttons and dozens of other items in the parking lot Sunday.

“It felt like the old culture out there in the parking lot, except last time there were 16,000 people selling stuff,” Johnson said. “This time there was just a core of people selling things, but the feeling was still there.”

The Dead community started filling the coliseum parking lot about 10 a.m Sunday and by 5 p.m. the lot had turned into a sea of people. While there was no shortage of tie-dye and long hair, the fans will tell you neither is a requirement to be a part of this massive family.

For the most part, the parking lot revelry was uncensured Sunday. Although police did give tickets to people who skipped long lines to the mobile restrooms in favor of public urination, and officers were seen searching and cuffing at least one man.

Herndon, who sells tie-dye clothing for a living but wasn’t selling at the show, said that for the most part “the community” isn’t here to party, they’re here to visit with one another.

The party is the result, Herndon said, not the reason.

Steve Smith and Doug Calnek are Charlotte financial industry professionals and devoted Dead fans. Smith’s first show was in 1979 and Calnek’s was in 1991. Calnek sports a green and black tattoo of Garcia on his calf. Both were looking forward to the Greensboro show after hearing through the grapevine about past shows here.

“When you’re in the Dead community, you hear the waves,” Calnek said.

For veteran fans, the shows can be minivacations from reality. Frank Brock, a landscaper from Jacksonville, Fla. has been a fan since 1979. He doesn’t even try to explain his long trips for one-night concerts to friends, he simply tells them: “I’m going on sabbatical. I’m going on a religious retreat.”

Wondering around the parking lot and strumming his guitar, Brock runs into people he hasn’t seen in years and they pick up like they never left off.

“It’s like going back in time 20 years, except you can send a text message,” Brock said laughing.

The band’s next stop is Washington on Tuesday and then another 20 shows before wrapping up the tour in July.

Staff writer Jeri Rowe contributed to this report.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com