Grateful Dead

Looking forward to that E>E as I rewatch the show to figure out what the hell happened in that monstrous second set Jam. So Buttery...

Simonrob, you have not failed as such, your daughter is listening to music, even though some of us may not be appreciative of the genre. A lot of people I know do not have any interest in investing their time in listening to music. On another note the UK VISA payment system has crashed, thank goodness there is no Box Set announcement.

Sounds bad Simon, Rap? Hip Hop?? Would you like me to second assist with the Seppuku? (kidding) It's a battle most of us lose.. it is encouraging to hear apples not falling too far from the tree from time to time. I believe mhammond's kids are seeing shows for example.. but these seem to be the exceptions, not the rules.

When I hear the types of music that my daughter (23) listens to, then I can only conclude that I have failed as a father.

1) If you REALLY want him to stop listening to rap, start listening to it yourself and quoting it. If you tell him what's "wrong" with it, or even politely tell him you don't think it has any merit, he will sprint toward it like a moth to a flame. 2) Music is in the eye of the beholder, and anyone who judges or talks down to ANY music just looks like an a-hole - Kinda like telling someone "You're hair looks stupid!".... ("Ya, f you too..."). We all have negatively judged music that we later enjoyed. Example 1: My dad (ex-Marine) HATED the whole Dead/Pink Floyd/hippie music thing so bad that it became a VERY hot topic at the dinner table and in our family in general. He used to spit at the ground and rage against the "g-damn hippie music" like a haughty, judgmental bore. Fast forward 15 years and I bring over some Garcia/Grisman CD's. "Hey, now THAT's music!" Reckoning: "Who is this? This is great stuff". Jorma's Quah album - "can you leave this CD here?" Today he actually enjoys hearing the Dead! Example 2: I recently spoke about how when I was 14 I fell in love with the GD songs but HATED the jams - I faded out Truckin' on my Europe' '72 Maxell cassette after the final lyrics because I thought the jam afterward was an embarrassing, self-indulgent example of the perils of drug use. Fast forward 25 years and suddenly I was creating CD's that ONLY contained the best JAMS from each year, editing out the vocals! 3) I like rap. Certainly not all of it. But its expressive. There have been some rap songs that have had me grooving' with my fist in the air in a way I never have with the Dead, or jazz, or pop or anything. Eminem, Tribe, NWA, Snoop, Dre, Lamar... There's something there for everyone - you just have to have an open mind and find what you like.

And kudos to Jim's dad for sneaking out the window to see those acts. From one who still regrets that there was no chance in hell my parents would let me go see Ike and Tina Turner and didn't even try.

Appreciate the couple of shout outs here from the D&C Tour Opener. Thin, it sounds like you were right down in front of Gus and me; we were in the middle/left two rows under the roof. Bummah we missed you... As Gus alluded, the cosmos definitely aligned and at several points opened up for us given the magic that Gus hand-delivered. I always enjoy a strong Shakedown opener; a couple of out-of-the-gate bust outs with Alabama Getaway and It's All Over Now; it was a cool Bird Song> Loose Lucy> Bird Song in there too to end 1st set. But that start of the second set through drums was the true delivery mechanism. The transition following Scarlet Begonias was pure burre....so drippy and melty. One of the best I've witnessed live. Love Oteil singing on Fire on the Mtn btw; then the flip to Althea was awesome and was that telling. They jam hard on that one. The true highlight for me though was the Estimated > TOO Tease > Eyes. For whatever reason in all of my dozen+ GD shows, I NEVER saw an Estimated > Eyes, nor an Eyes outright for that matter; yet at D&C shows I've seen them play Eyes of the World so many times that it has made up for it and then some. Makes me so so happy as Jimmy alluded to on Wed. night. The drums had me jumping around and literally pulling drips of beats from the band with my hands and delivering them back out to the masses. I also had this amazing recurring vision/feeling like I could sled down the tops of all of the heads of the people in front of me and end up on the stage. I shoulda done that for reals. It was a little bummer they had an 11 PM hard stop so it did leave things feeling a little hanging. But, that's what the rest of summer tour is for. Big Giant shout out to Gus West for the inspiration and camaraderie. And Happy Friday in Deadland to All. Sixtus

..so true. My parents had a particular dislike for Jimi Hendrix. I had a particular dislike for some of their music.. Glen Campbell comes to mind. Now that we're all old.. those red lines have faded a lot.. I took my father to two Jazz and Heritage Festivals in New Orleans.. some of his legends were on stage (Fats Domino was on the main stage and others) and some of mine (Santana comes to mind). Like I said.. those red lines of dislike faded and the generation gap closed a bit. My dad is pretty straight laced.. but he told a story of how he used to sneak out of his bedroom window a lot in the 50's and head to downtown Baltimore to see R&B acts like Ray Charles, Fats Domino and others).. he had to sneak out because most of the bands he was seeing were black and racism was mainstream back then. I had no idea and my pop became less of a nerd that day. After a while the generation gap begins to close at least in that direction. Great posts.. rings true on many levels.. but don't expect me to warm up to Rap anytime soon. You set a good example, 80sfan.. we can all learn something from that approach. Gotta go, the hipsters are beginning to congregate out front. Get off my lawn hippies.. get a haircut. Over and out.

I like your attitude to your son liking rap music. Surely-hopefully-each generation has a music that speaks to them specifically. If they are lucky enough to have this the chances are that older generations won't "get it". My parents hated most of the music I liked as a teenager-which was to be expected. They grew up in the big band era- the likes of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd (Interstellar Overdrive) et al sounded like a godawful racket to them. That was alright by me-they weren't supposed to like it. The music reflected a lifestyle and experience that they had no idea about. How could they see hear the same things in "Anthem of the Sun " that I did? I went off a lot of rock music in the 80s-by the late 80s, with the development of rave/acid house etc I was left at home. I never took ecstasy or went to a rave-I turned 30 in 1987-dance music was aimed at teens and early 20s. I had become, even though it seems quite young now, a member of the older generation. Which doesn't mean that that music is/was invalid-just that my views on it were.

We all pitched in and miracled you an XL Capitals jersey. The woman at the store recommended #8, Alex Ovechkin. You should have it tomorrow so you can wear it for the next game.