For Stu: Dead&Co, Phil&Friends, JRad : remnants or torchbearers?

[bigsky]

About the time Dead & Co was spinnin their wheels in Boulder Friday night
JRAD was burning up the slopes on the other side of the Rockies at Grand Targhee. (And both Phil&Friends and JRAD played at the beautiful KettleHouse Ampitheater this month, 2022.)

This isn’t a complaint about Dead&Co. Bobby Weir is still the Ancient Mariner, the Wayfaring Stranger, carrying the flag for a time long gone, for all of us who will him along from the audience. And his sidekick and true believer John Mayer makes us pilgrims so happy to have him with us on our wistful road to unlimited devotion. (Update, 2022 tour seemed like John was the bandleader of a band in transition).

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead eschews the whole Jerry Garcia Grateful Dead for a 21st century slam bang thank you ma’am jam band playing Dead songs, and playing them very well. They also honor the no setlist, no rules, no net playing of the garage era Grateful Dead. From the opening Women are Smarter>>Feel Like a Stranger to a NFA encore, JRad improvised and screamed and yelled and pounded out the Dead canon in an frenzied way that left me exhausted and sometimes satisfied. There was a killer Viola Lee Blues. I Know You Rider kicked butt. The 30 year old crowd was half the average age of Phil and Friends.

(All these bands played music. They had almost no stage presence. Unlike the stadium show of Kenny Chesney, there is no pandering to the locals, no strutting the stage, no open hands moving up and down in a rapper parody, no grabbing cell phones for selfies for those hugging the rail. Phil Lesh rips his bass and drives his band to rock and improvise, but looks like an old man bending over, not a bass, but over a table meticulously solving a jigsaw puzzle. Only Dead&Co has giant screens and plays stadiums, mostly due to Mayer’s excellence and star power.)

If it’s ballads you’re looking for, I dunno, Bobby’s reading of Days Between still trumps all post Garcia Garcia ballads spots. JRAD bravely tackled (to me) a holy grail of ballads, Crazy Fingers, and failed utterly to convey soul or emotion or find that gold ring down inside. Perhaps it is impossible; neither Warren Haynes nor Bobby nor JM nor Phil&Friends have grabbed Crazy Fingers’ plaintive determined futility either. Perhaps it’s the white whale. JRAD isn’t built for ballads, nor do they do well with the light touch psychedelia of China Cat or Birdsong. Nobody sings the futility of that last Crazy Fingers verse or carries the emotion except, as I said, Bobby singing Days Between. Crazy Fingers’ last verse sums up the carousel ride for many of us, and perhaps the singers trying that song as well.

Dead&Co have had some wonderful concerts. (They make a lot of money too.) I’m mostly a fan and wont get too far into opining that Joe Russo’s awesome drumming is laying down a fierce rhythmic gauntlet to the two sloggers behind John and Bobby. I see why East Coasters who are used to JRAD complain about tempo, but they must’ve missed the 72-74 space expositions (one drummer!! kickin ass!!) out of Dark Star and Other One jams or slloowww Black Peters. A woman told me “with jrad you wont fall asleep during “Morning Dew”” and I’m sure that is true, but I won’t feel that "it doesnt matter, anyway", either. Jerry, on top of his game, sang “Morning Dew” or “Standing on the Moon” bleeding emotion—93’s Standing at Autzen where he screams “Be with You!” is loaded with emo power, but it’s long after he could deliver a whole guitar wizard show like Mayer does consistently. (Bobby’s singing is generally too quirky to convey emotion but when he gets on the bus with the rest of the band it makes for a good show.)

I’m glad to hear these songs live, from P&F or Jackie Green or Warren Haynes or JM’s Dead&Co or jrad or dso or most anyone. If I get melancholy in the middle of one of those shows for the real ‘71-74 band at their peak, please remember those later shows with Jerry on heroin pissed me off more than made me happy. I’m glad the music is out and living for new fans, really, please excuse a tear or two up front from an old man who can’t shake the ghost of days gone by. (Phil Lesh at ‘82 playing the music with skill and daring and reminding us to donate our organs is righteous and moving.) The music is true, and the musicians are on the road with us, truly. I’m not cynical and today’s new experience is every bit as authentic as mine was then. We are all on the midnight carousel ride together and all these bands try…but it will surprise no one if, like before, “it just slips away”.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

I love it! Worlds colliding! I can talk Dead all day and night. Excellent write-up too.

Here are my thoughts on what is happening in the Dead world. First, I love all what most people recognize as the Big 3, JRAD, P&F, and Dead&Co. I envision them each as a point on a triangle, where you'll get some overlap stylistically, even collaboratively. Oops, I should also add one more point, Billy and the Kids. They're fantastic too, especially adding Billy Strings and James Casey to the mix. Oh, and how can I forget the Wolf Bros w/the Wolf Pack. So, that's a big 5 now.

Before I dive in, I thought I should at least mention that my entire point of view comes from that I am a big music nerd. I've played in bands. I'm getting close to forming a new band. All my close friends in Virginia (and the DMV) are all musicians, mostly Dead cover bands, so I look at everything through that lens, kind of a more musically technical one and much less of a energetic one from a crowd's perspective.

The first thing that I want to get out of the way is the whole D&C tempo debate. I think the emergence of JRAD and to a lesser extent, DSO, have spoiled younger fans (and some older ones) that live in a fantasy world where the Grateful Dead was this uber up-tempo band throughout its career. At least realizing that is was the cocaine mainly driving that. When the band was at its peak throughout 30 years, they always experimented with tempos, styles, etc., which is what made them so great.

With that out of the way, of those bands, the one that really does it for me is Dead&Co. I absolutely love how they have evolved. I love the different vibe when Jay Lane is on drums (love Billy too, though). I love when Oteil sings. I love the relationship between Jeff and John. I love how Bobby has continued to evolve as a rhythm player, channeling his inner McCoy Tyner while continuing to play what would essentially be parts written for horns. I love how John can comfortably slide into a rhythm role and let the other musicians shine.

JRAD is always a blast. The one knock I have on them is that they have evolved into more of a Phish style, which I am definitely not a fan of. However, they take chances. Some work, some do not. However, they make their fans really happy and it all makes me happy too. I used to never miss a JRAD stream, but now, they're mostly a live band for me. I really love it when they do the big shows, with Stuart Bogie, Scott Metzger's fiancee Katie Jacoby on violin (who has also made a nice career for herself as the Who's string conductor and lead violinist), and the other horns. I also really like it that they step out of the Dead songbook, especially starting to incorporate more Pink Floyd into their setlists. What else can you say about Russo? He's just an animal. My favorite thing about him is his storytelling and music interests/recommendations. He turned me on to the Fruit Bats, who he calls his favorite band, and they have become one of mine too.

Phil & Friends is always an interesting show. I just saw their 4th of July show at Asbury Park. It was my first time seeing them with Dawes and it was a blast. I think the Dawes guys are hooked and are definitely vessels for carrying the music beyond for years to come. It doesn't hurt that Mayer is a big Dawes fan too. I can definitely see future collaborations. I haven't been to the Capitol Theater in years, so I'd like to make it up there for one of P&F weekends.

I'm with you, though, whether it's any of these bands, or guys like Jackie Greene (big fan), Warren, or any talented musician, I just love to hear the music and be surrounded by the energy it brings. It keeps me happy. It helps me through the bad times (btw, there is a positive correlation between the slip in our cats and my increase in the music, it has really helped keep me steady). It is a reminder that we are more united in the things that bond us than divide us. When I am at a show, big or small, we are all one and it's awesome!

Looking forward to carrying on this conversation!

The Music NEVER Stops!!

[StuBleedsBlue2]

Bigsky, are you more of a live show guy, or do you do streams too?

Expanding on what I said in the other post, I've seen about 75 Dead&Co shows (started at the 1st one in Albany in '15), but have streamed everyone since 2016. I enjoy the streams too, as I feel like I can really get locked in on the musicians and how they communicate that I can't quite do in a live setting where I am soaking in the entire ambiance.

The closing D&C CitiField shows were so well played, a part of me regretted not making the trip, but I got so much out of experiencing it via the stream, that I absolutely loved it. It's funny, there was an informal facebook poll of what was the best show on the tour. My big 3 were Boulder Night 2, Bethel, and Citi Night 1, none that I went to. I only was able to make it to 2 shows (3, if you count the canceled SPAC show, which I was on grounds when we got the news), but the overwhelming choice of the voters was Philly. I was there, and it was great, but not quite like those other 3. Philly would have been middle of the pack of what was an outstanding tour.

[bigsky]

Live vs Couchtour: I am finally setting up my killer 5.1 system after 5 years of post divorce moving, so I will be buying more shows. Last year’s last show and the free show this year are the two I saw this year, also the free tunes. It is costly to tour and I am retired.

Saw Phil at the Kettlehouse ampitheater with a pickup band of friends (his son is a bringdown but Holly Bowling led the whole treble crew!!) They played blues-rock versions, new takes, and Cold Rain and Snow had my son and I standing and cheering —sort of Derek and the Dominoes style.

Also saw JRAD at the same incredible venue. Billy Strings coming in August and I have free tix. Also in town is a Tedeschi-Trucks benefit show with a smaller band and an audience of a couple hundred, and a Little Feat/Hot Tuna show at “the Elm” another local venue.

Saw the original band many times and iterations like Old and In the Way, Jerry and Merle, Jerry Garcia Band, etc. 1973-1993. Post Jerry I saw most of the iterations. An exception to my “nobody sings Jerry ballads well” would be the Kentuckian Joan Osborne.

My chief dead show tour partner is my son Ryan who is a musician and a bass player, hah hah, maybe not always redundant. He liked Phil, every time we’ve seen Phil stands amazed at him. Altho Phil is not always hittin the note anymore. At 12 he went to Red rocks to see the Joan Osborne with all the dead players and Jimmy Herring too. First time I ever heard, live, Hard to handle was Joan singing it.

I have a hard time with the original drummers. Mickey and his world music band is good. Apocalypse now soundtrack is good. Billy and the kids seems good. They spoiled much of the 80s sound for me and DeadCo too. There is a difference when Jay Lane plays. Truthfully, the one drummer dead is my favorite era.

As you no doubt know, Ugly Rumors that DeadCo is dead. Bobby moving on to Wolf Bros. Who i saw in Missoula and we can talk about Bobby’s scratchy thin minimalist contribution sometime. When I saw him years ago with Ratdog his lead playing was strong but I can see why he needed some additional lead instruments with Wolf Bros. Of course I suffered through many a horrible slide guitar experiment back in the day.

In my early days deadheads were the delinquents of the high school and college. Seriously, it was the music of the bad boys and girls and yep I saw Hells Angels at west coast shows. Wookies and crazies and misfits, and never particularly a safe space. That bit of carnival danger is missing anymore.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

You're right in it being costly to tour. I've spent a small fortune in the last 8 years, including the Mexico shows. We don't have kids, so it's a bit easier for us. Every year, we keep saying let's scale back a bit and then we get a couple of shows under our belt and away we go again. This year was an exception, but part of that was because we started at the end of the tour and then had the one show cancelled.

We are heading back to Chicago for Sacred Roses, doing a weekend run of JRAD in Philly and here in DC, Billy Strings, just saw Tedeschi Trucks last Tuesday. Of course, the big one is 4 nights with Bobby at the NSO. I'm definitely trying to find a nice balance between the bands and the streams. I've never done a West coast show, except Fare The Well, so looking to check that off the list.

My wife is my travel partner, but we also travel with a tribe of about 6-8 couples. Our best couple friends is my buddy from Alaska and his fiancee from Jersey. We're quite the foursome.

I'm a little skeptical that it's over for Dead&Co. We're somewhat friendly with the internet/pit "sensation" Rockstar Richard (his online persona is much more obnoxious than hanging with him in person). He was basically the source, or had the same source as Rolling Stone, and he still stands by that this is it. I take it more as it being this current group.

I'm not as hard on the drummers as you. I like both formats. I still just really love the OG's. I also really love to see how the music evolves too. I only got to see 7-8 shows back in the day. By the time the 90's rolled around, the scene overtook everything and I bailed. Frankly, the music just wasn't as good either. After Jerry died, I got back on the bus for about 4 years, before getting back off until about a year before Fare Thee Well. I started getting into the Terrapin Crossroads streams and the FTW hit. Once the rumors started that Mayer would be joining, that was a no-brainer for us to get back on the bus.

I'll say something a bit controversial, but I think a few do a good job with the Jerry ballads. No doubt Joan was excellent (wish I saw that iteration), but I think Bobby does a good job on a couple. Mostly, I think Oteil crushes it on a few and wish he got more of an opportunity to do some more. I've seen some Oteil and Friend's shows and he just does an excellent job on the Jerry tunes. Particularly, I love his China Doll, Comes a Time, High Time, If I Had the World to Give. Another controversial statement, I like Bobby singing Ramble on Rose and Tennessee Jed better.

That's cool your son is a bass player. So am I, or at least am trying to be. It's been about 25 years since I played regularly, but the music scene here is just so rich and opportunity to play at any level is very abundant. We have a little beach shack down the street from us that every Wednesday has their "Shakedown at the Shack" where all our local bands do one-off collaborations. We also have about 7-8 bands that I would prefer to see over more reputable cover bands, like DSO.

It's all a blast, though, and I can't imagine not having the scene in my life.

[bigsky]

Not sure I have any great connections but I know David Gans. He stayed at my house when he had a gig in Bozeman, I took him to dinner, we talked about Long Strange Trip, dead lore, why “He’s Gone” has moved up in the pantheon. I have not spoken to him since and certainly not about a breakup.

John’s post tour message sounded like good bye. My take is based on more than that but not on anything from Rolling Stone and not anything I can make public.

I will give ya a full report on the benefit duo. The show could be odd. And of course, the first time Bob Weir came to Montana in 1974, we hit him in the head with a beer pitcher.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

Not sure I have any great connections but I know David Gans. He stayed at my house when he had a gig in Bozeman, I took him to dinner, we talked about Long Strange Trip, dead lore, why “He’s Gone” has moved up in the pantheon. I have not spoken to him since and certainly not about a breakup.

John’s post tour message sounded like good bye. My take is based on more than that but not on anything from Rolling Stone and not anything I can make public.

I will give ya a full report on the benefit duo. The show could be odd. And of course, the first time Bob Weir came to Montana in 1974, we hit him in the head with a beer pitcher.

HaHa! I bet you have some good stories.

I've met Gans a couple of times, have called into the show, and frequently interact with him on Twitter. Nothing as personal as having him stay in my home, though. The only original band member I've met is Billy. We shared a flight from Philly to Cincy a few years back when the Camden show got cut short from rain. He couldn't have been more nice to us. We spent about 30-40 minutes chatting.

Did you see Mayer and Chimenti's Dead Air set break interviews? I went into that last weekend assuming this was the end and they certainly performed like they were going to be last shows, but after seeing each interview, I became less committed to that belief. Gans and Lambert certainly have not had a tone that this is the end. It doesn't really matter if D&C ends, it will continue in some sort of new variation. Rockstar Richard still thinks Mayer will take over the reigns with his own players, which would be really fascinating, and I would be shocked if it didn't include Jeff and Oteil. In that dead air interview, Mayer said that Jeff was the best piano player he's played with.

I didn't really take John's message as goodbye, but I'm not discounting it either. He usually gives some sort of message like that at each tour, whether through social media or a tour debrief on TFTGR. The whole part about ending the night back in Montana and feeling the void has definitely been a recurring theme. My wife and I always joke about a post-tour depression that takes a week or so to decompress. I totally feel that Mayer feels the same way.

Definitely would like to hear your full report. If it's just a duo show, I hope it's acoustic.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

HaHa. I'm not sure why I quoted you. This is definitely a conversation of 2.

[bigsky]

Regarding Jerry Ballads. Twenty one years of seeing the Grateful Dead I only saw one internet consensus “best version”. My next to last show, Autzen 93 “Standing on the Moon”. Jerry bellowing “be with you be with you” a second coda, after the ending solo.

By ‘93 we were reduced to finding the nuggets of gold in the dross at live shows. Those two days had an air of finality I could not shake as I drove back to Montana. Was it Bob singing, “the Last Time” or a 54 year old — but 100 year old lookin — rock star Garcia— and nobody in the crowd seeming to care about his debility?

But still some emotion he was feeling that afternoon led him to plead his case to someone. And he grabbed gold ring, down inside. The next day, in line, all the old heads talked only, and constantly, about that moment. For hours.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

By '93, I had gotten off the bus. I was in college then and deep into basketball living and going a bit of a different direction in music, focusing on seeing as many bands as I could within a half a day's drive from Lexington. Also in '93, I was starting to focus on getting good grades after have completing all the bs pre-major stuff. Not to mention, it really started feeling different to me and I was getting much deeper into other bands.

Much less Dylan and the Dead (and hair metal) and much more into Allman Brothers, Traffic, The Band, Steely Dan and the Stones. There was a 3-year run from about '93-'96 where I saw those bands (except Traffic) about 30-35 times, stuck with them throughout the '90's, then in the early 2000's, my live music focus was on anything having to do with Pink Floyd & Frank Zappa. Probably saw about 60 shows just between the surviving members of those 2 bands in a 12-year period.

While I was definitely sad when Jerry died, there was almost a feeling of relief. I just felt it was never going to get better for him and that he was finally going to be able to rest in peace. After some mourning, I was excited to get back on for the '96 Furthur Festival and in coming years, the formation of The Other Ones. Stayed with that until Phil split and started to dominate the scene more than the rest of the guys, effectively ending the ride for me until around 2014.

Your story about that feeling in '93, I've heard from so many people. It really hits home watching the Amazon documentary too. Nobody did care that Jerry was dying right in front of our eyes.

Started off the Days Between a little early yesterday. There was a really nice music festival with 6 bands and nonstop music at a brewery in DC. A lot of my friends playing, so it was a really nice day. The Hamilton in DC has shows every night, but will probably only make it to Joan Osborne's Jerry tribute on Saturday. A couple of great local bands on Wed/Thurs. Fingers crossed the Mayer/Weir show gets streamed, but will look forward to your report.

One thing on the bellowing of "be with you", I have believed for some time (I heard it or read it somewhere), but not convinced now if it is accurate or not, that the 1st instance of Jerry bellowing that was the show in Louisville, 7/6/90. I remember having the chills as that was roaring through the stadium. I really love it when Bobby does it now. My favorite was our first year in Mexico and I believe it was the earlier Sunday show as the sun had just set and there was a strong breeze blowing. Bobby's voice was ripping over the speakers and the noise of the beach. There was just an unbelievable feeling of all of us together in heaven on earth. We were standing right by the massive sand sculpture of Jerry. Extremely powerful emotional moment.

Happy 80th Jerry!! Enjoy the Days Between!

[StuBleedsBlue2]

The two shows will be streamed! My seat for the show won't be anywhere as good as yours, but very happy to be able to participate. I definitely still want to hear your recap.

[bigsky]

Two guys as earnest about the music as they could be, puttin it all out there for us tonight.

[StuBleedsBlue2]

Yeah, agreed. That was a fantastic performance. I was really impressed by the song selection. You just don't see Terrapin, Eyes, and several of the other songs played in such a format. As they switched off between acoustics and electrics, neither missed a beat. I'm happy for you that you were able to experience it in person. I was thrilled to be able to stream it, and thanks to the opening act, I was able to catch most of Better Call Saul before it started, then to catch the last 20 minutes after the show ended.

A great night!!

Next stop, Sacred Roses Festival in Chicago with a kickoff/pre-party of an "all-star" band made up of Krasno, Terrapin Family Band, and others (plus surprise guests, which no doubt will be Phil) performing Europe '72.

I saw a really great band on Sunday night wrapping up one of DC's local venue Days Between celebration, the Englishtown Project. If you're not familiar with them, their catalog is from the 3 bands setlist that played at Englishtown in Sept. '77. The musicianship was top notch, and it was fun hearing NRPS and Marshall Tucker Bands sprinkled into GD songs in that '77 vibe.

Has Phil and the Terrapin Family Band played up your way before? I'm a huge fan of that ensemble. They streamed a show on Friday night, no Phil, but added Krasno and Melvin Seals. Even without Phil, they're the real deal too. I love that they all swap instruments and really do a good job at it too.

[dan_bgblue]