The dead, BACK ON TOUR

[cozmik_cowboy]

Yes, Alan, there is a world of great 3-minute pop songs out there, & I love many of them.  But what the Dead did needs time - you can put a nice guitar solo over a groove in radio-friendly format, but you can't do transcendental group improvisation between commercials (the true cause of the short song).  That said, as I commented in an earlier Dead thread in re your mention of Dave Matthews, the Dead stand alone - & Phish ain't the Dead!  3 minutes of them is too much for me.  I'm not suggesting that the Dead are for everyone, but I would argue that one shouldn't declare a dislike of apples after taking a bite of an onion.
 
Peter
 
PS - OK, not quite alone - Quicksilver, the original ABB line-up & Rare Earth, to name a few, can/could bend your mind in an extended jam as well.

[adriaan]

quote:commercials (the true cause of the short song)Never heard one of those old 78 RPM records? Their size limitation is the purely practical reason for the 3 minute format.

[crgaston]

Why I'm a DeadHead...
 
I like to think of The Grateful Dead as an American Band.  They mix country, folk, rock'n'roll, jazz, blues, bluegrass and psychedelic, all distinctly American styles.  Of course the do pull in some of the African/Carribean and European influences of these American genres, as well as the Indian polyrhythmic stuff, too.  They're a melting pot, like the good ole USA.
 
They're also like a baseball team (baseball being the quintessential American sport), and going or listening to a Dead show is like going or listing to a baseball game.  Every game is different, even though they've all got the same basic framework (3 strikes, 3 outs, 9 innings, etc.)  
 
With the Grateful Dead, every show was different, and every time they played a song it was a little different, too.  Just like the big sluggers don't hit a home run every time, or your team doesn't win every game, not every song or show was the best it could be.  The reason we keep watching baseball and listening to the Dead, though, is for those special moments...the bits of excitement that make you get up and yell.  A typical Dead show would have a lot more of those than a typical baseball game, I assure you.  
 
BUT...
You can't just listen to them casually and expect to get it. Just like watching a baseball game without knowing anything about the rules would be mind-numbingly boring (just ask most foreigners), listening to a few Dead shows on tape won't give you enough of the picture to be able to appreciate what it is that they do.
 
You've got to make a conscious decision to explore the Dead; or at least, I did.  Back in college, a couple of nights a week some friends and I would get together, grill some burgers, drink some beers, and check out a new Dead tape, just like some guys would do the same thing while watching sports.  We didn't have a tv, but we did have a decent stereo, so it was the best thing going.  We'd talk about what we were hearing...who was hot that show or who was stinking it up, how this version compared to the other version, how they evolved over time, etc.
 
  Also, there was the tape-trading culture that existed in the pre-internet days... you'd actually have to meet new people who shared your interest, get together and go through each others' collections to see what they had that you didn't, and vice-versa. And then record them IN REAL TIME!!! (can you imagine?? no instant transfers!) Very social and community-oriented stuff. Not to mention mostly free...a buck ot two for a blank tape beat the heck out of 10 bucks for a commercial tape!
 
And then, of course, there are the songs...
So many of the more recent jam bands are great musicians, but the songs themselves are a bit lacking.  Strip away everything else from many Dead tunes, and you've at least got amazing lyrics written by two (IMHO) great American poets, Robert Hunter and John Barlow.
 
I probably wouldn't have the time to get into them today, but I sure am glad I did back then.  All that listening and critiquing was a great musical education and actually opened me up to appreciating more types of music.
 
Not trying to convert anyone...just explaining a bit why I'm a fan in a way that, hopefully, a non-fan can understand.  
 
And also why I will be making every effort to attend at least a couple of shows on the upcoming tour.  It will be good music, even if it isn't the same.

[spose]

I'm a huge warren haynes fan.
I'm glad he is the choice, cause imo he's the only choice.
doesn't  he even look great in garcia's spot!
 
 
as a long time deadhead
phish isn't anything close, and i don't appreciate them being in the same sentence as the dead.
 
go ahead and bash away, i don't care
phish leaves me dry

[kmh364]

Phil never was a great singer, and time hasn't changed that one bit (well, maybe he's even worse now, LOL!). That's why he has  someone that can sing do the voclas on most of his FLAF stuff.  
 
They can all still play and while it's not Jerry's Grateful Dead, it's still the bunch of guys without whom Jerry couldn't have done his magic.  
 
Warren can sing and I'm sure there will be some guest stars along the way that can, as well.  
 
Bad, old, grey, grizzled, out-of-tune Dead is still better than most of what's out there today, IMHO. I'll support them for as long as they wanna entertain me. One day (maybe soon) they'll all be gone for good.
 
As Maj. D. (Ret.) put it, to each his own.
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin
 
P.S., I saw the '03 and '04 tours. I liked Joan, Steve Winwood, Warren, Jimmy, et al. It was a treat to hear others sing Jerry's tunes and pay homage at the same time. Not quite the Grateful Dead...different, but still good. I was kinda hopin' that Barry Sless (FLAF, THe Other Ones, etc.) and Larry Campbell (Dylan, FLAF, etc.) might be along for the ride....Barry plays a lot like Jerry, both on guitar and Pedal Steel(!) and Larry can play anything with strings on it, LOL!

[cozmik_cowboy]

Never heard one of those old 78 RPM records? Their size limitation is the purely practical reason for the 3 minute format.  
 
My first record player was given to me as a child by an elderly neighbor.  It only played 78s, which she also gave me a bunch of - books of disks (thus album) of symphonies - all of which were waaaay over 3 minutes.   You had to change them alot, but the length of the piece wasn't limited by the format.  Also, you can fit a little over three minutes on CD IINM, so why doesn't radio play long cuts now?  Commercials, that's why.
 
Peter

[benson_murrensun]

I really can't grok why people are of the opinion that because Jerry's dead the band should hang it up. There were other members of the band that died along the way and I never heard anybody say that the Dead should quit at those times. Jerry may have been a bigger part of the band than the others that passed (maybe with the exception of Pig Pen), but he was just one guy in the band, after all. The Dead were bigger than Jerry Garcia. He's Gone, and now they are pressing on. Good for them.

[benson_murrensun]

I always thought that David Nelson would be an obvious choice for the lead guitar slot in the Dead after Jerry's demise.
But lately the New Riders are having great success in their latest reincarnation...

[glocke]

I agree with flax's comments on this one..I'll more than likely sit this one out also...
 
I thought the last tour (2004 ??) they did was pretty lame, the recent Bobby shows Ive seen were pretty lame and pretty sloooooow, and even the last batch of phil shows Ive seen with the latest lineup left alot to be desired, and thats coming from someone who is a big phil fan.
 
Maybe if the had Barry Sless on lead Id be of a different mind....

[hieronymous]

I was hoping that Scott Murawski might be the guitarist for this run - he was the guitarist in a northeast band called Max Creek for like thirty years, plus recently he's been playing with Mike Gordon and also the Trio which is Scott, Oteil Burbridge, and Bill Kreutzmann.  
 
I'm thinking I might try and go to the local show if my schedule allows.

[adriaan]

Peter, my mind must have skipped a groove between 78s and 45s. But most people lose interest after 3 minutes. That's why not everyone will listen to classical music in general, or to 'difficult' pop.
 
As to commercials - when I grew up (in the Netherlands) I listened to public radio a lot. There used to be a news bulletin on the hour, then three minutes of commercials, followed by lots of music. Then three minutes before the next news bulletin there would be another short series of commercials. Unless you tune into one of the commercial stations, that's still the format. It doesn't keep most people from preferring the commercial stations ...

[flaxattack]

benson
when we saw phil at bimbo's , david nelson was special guest. he fit in real nice
 
a highly recommended download!
 
ive played dead tunes and those 3 minute tunes some are speaking on.
there is room enough for all of them on my plate. sometimes a 3 minute tune is all thats needed.
but i must confess i like trying to stretch em
thats what gets me in trouble sometimes

[flaxattack]

while i am on the subject and an admitted thread hijack...
i am back practicing and playing with a new group of fellas. Very talented bunch and we are hoping to gig next month.  
stones, stevie ray, black crowes,clapton, little feat and dead,beatles and ccr so far

[lbpesq]

There is still nothing like a Dead concert.  'nuff said.
 
Bill, tgo

[jacko]

I'm also going to sit this one out..............
 
But only because they're not coming to the UK ;-(  I'd give my right arm (and maybe part of a leg) to see even half of the original GD lineup.
 
Graeme