Grateful Dead

i only saw the dead once in inglewood 2009... but never the grateful dead. i will, though see further! can't wait!

On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers (J.V. Collier, John “JT” Thomas, Bobby Read, Doug Derryberry, & Sonny Emory) take the stage at Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club (located at 89 South Street, New York, NY 10038) to deliver a show inspired by all genres, pop, jazz, bluegrass, country and modern classical music. Hornsby is a songwriter at heart who is committed to portraying his songs in new ways that allow them to evolve and expand. Joining them will be the Marco Benevento Trio, who is best known for his articulation on the piano. Marco continues to define himself as one of the most prolific new voices of his era, blurring genres from song to song, and more often from measure to measure, with his own take on simple pop pleasures, dance party rave-ups and art jazz experimentation. In their outdoor venue with a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge, Beekman Beer Garden wows guests with two bars, a lounge area, a stage for live music, and table games such as Foosball, Ping-Pong and billiards. It has been called an “adult sandbox” by The Gotham Palate and was given thumbs up on their food options, which range from Burgers to Seafood to German Sausages to a variety of sides and snacks (full menu can be viewed here http://tinyurl.com/63a28hj). Wednesday, August 31, 2011 18+ $39adv $45dos Doors 5pm/Show 7pm http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103537363076176

please play Smokestack Lightening bobby used to do that really bluesy growl when he sang it thank you

i am glad this band still tours. sure it's not the same as being in Hebron OH with Jerry singing "...by the waterside I will rest my bones ...." but if I was expecting that from a band without Jerry Garcia, to me, it would be akin to asking why doesn't my square fit into your circle? Like, how could it? anyway, I also remember Arlo with Furthur years back.....hearing Alice's Restaurant was un-real. bobby doing hound dog, black crows. i will say that those early furthur fest's were incredible, all day, rock your socks off events. gates opened at like 2pm, and it was ON....until you simply fell out from sheer delightful exhaustion! it would be cool to see something that size again go about the country. i might be inclined to do that tour. at 38, Id better do it before I get too old, eh ;) see you all in Eugene! "...fields of fragile thunder..."

Ha, ha! Don't we humans just love complicating matters?!!But seriously though, folks, i hope my comments don't come across as too critical or mean-spirited or a "downer". Real hard to see what they read like in another person's mind. I am writing it with nothing but a big smile, a twinkle in the eye and a rippling excitement in the fingers. I'm certainly not "bashing" Furthur, by any means. Far from it. I have enjoyed listening to some of their shows. There is some wonderful playing and it is has been my great pleasure to lose myself in their flickering jams; like bobbing in warm water, the brain gently rocked in it's cradle. I definitely don't sit there "anal(anal?)ysing" the music furiously. No way. Not what music means to me. Let it wash over you and warm your heart. I truly believe if one let's that beautiful human ability of intuition, of spontaneity, of open improvisation to manifest itself, to flower and bloom in the most natural way (what makes life so INCREDIBLE! we truly live in a universe of sheer WONDER) that we cannot "control" what the music means to us. When it's happening, when it's "on", and the joy and warmth in your heart begins to rise, then complete surrender is the only logical state to exist in. I'm sure Furthur will do that for me at some point. Just cannot explain why my mind can start to wander, to drift off and not fully "connect". It's by not thinking at all; by being so completely open that i've seemed to arrive at these feelings, so i have to honour that emotion. Would be disrespectful of me not to. And i certainly don't mind the "slowing down", ha ha!! I heartily encourage it!! As i get older too, (nearly 39 and counting), a more languid pace is the more appealing. I really enjoyed the Scaring The Children sets at Jam Cruise, and Ratdog's laid back approach to the Dead cannon. I love hearing songs completely reduced to a crawl. I think it can open up a whole world of possibilities in their meaning. I find that by "versioning" songs in my own head, hearing what they would sound like if the framework was almost on the very verge of collapse, makes you hear the words in an astonishing way; they can sound positively incantatory. (Helps of course when the words are the quality of Hunter's/Weir's/Barlow's - Lesh's too!). A little example...... A slight fork in the road here folks, just a little tangent, so forgive me - I was listening to the Grateful Dead, i do believe it was 9/16/90 - Madison Square Garden (but could've been 12/29/77 - Winterland) while doing overtime at work, the year of 2004, July 24 ; my father was terminally ill with cancer; visited him at home in his bed that morning. Told him a joke and made him laugh, my lasting memory (for the record? "What do the donkeys on Blackpool beach get for lunch? Half an hour..." Guess you had to be there....!). Mid-morning and suddenly, THAT phone call comes; "Has he?..." "Yes..."; dying, thankfully, in my mother's arms. While locking up and making my way straight to the family home, i realise that the time at which he died, coincided with Bob singing "Looks Like Rain". It certainly does... That was when the song began drifting through my mind, entering my consciousness with the most natural of ease, like it was just meant to be there (just absolutely PERFECT), on my way to catch the train, in the slowest version ever (not) heard. That ending vocal refrain, in that wonderful song, almost spoken so slow instead of sung, the melody almost buckling under the funereal pace, became revelatory. Try it with other songs, in your own head. They shine in a completely different way. (Thurston Moore does a great slow take on The Beach Boy's "Here Today", that is well worth listening to). I don't know. Maybe putting these thoughts to paper (screen), only makes you travel in more and more circles. Is it really necessary? Is any "criticism" or point view worth a ... Can sometimes have the ability to generate chinese whispers, and the original emotion can twist and turn and you end up going off at a tangent. Er, what was i saying again?! Case in point? Please see above... Knowing me, i will probably fall head over heels after one glorious "meeting" with Furthur and then not even recognise the person who wrote what he wrote! (will probably happen tonight too, just to reinforce a position of "the butt of some great Cosmic joke"!!). I guess the Dead in it's many hydra-headed forms and configurations compel this kind of "deep thinking" (or waffling)!! How many other bands can stir such emotion? Thanks everyone, especially lamagonzo, for the replies. Feels good.

six opinions...

I didn't know listening to Furthur could be so complicated... "It's got no signs or dividing line and very few rules to guide"

Think you missed some of my point. Which is that you can't help getting old. Getting old makes you slow down. It's not a conscious thing. These guys are late 60s, over 70. Unless they're mainlining human growth hormone they are going to slow down. These days I feel Furthur shows are like (pardon my drug metaphor) a heroin nod with an occasional ride on Casey Jones train. I'm perfectly happy to go but I think you'll find me dreaming dead dreams and surprisingly few of us who saw Jerry play getting up and dance unless we really feel like it and/or it's out favorite song or suite of music. This is my view. To each his own. I'm just a crusty ole' Deadhead. You want to hear tails of days gone past keep passin' the kind. I get the feeling you're a COD yuhself jonapi, just speaking about those wide-eyed Furthurtheads looking at me with those wide-eyes, hoping against all odds to climb out of a time machine. ~ Just one thing for me ~

I agree about Jerry and the respect issue; you can almost hear that throaty, bubbling laugh of his and see the raising of an eyebrow.As for The Dead '09, well i thought some of it was interesting; being a lover of drums and percussion, there would be no danger of myself taking a toilet break during that section! The "sounds of the universe" injections were most welcome. Wished they could've prolonged/interacted with those sounds a bit deeper (hard to tell from the speakers, but another "visionary" human at the sound desk would've been good; pan those sonic booms across the stereo spectrum in a righteous radical fashion.....damn, why does every Head always think that they could do better??!!!!). Not sure what you meant by "maybe the drummers are tired of playing Dead music" though; both are still playing the music. I thought Tim Bluhm was a great addition to the Rhythm Devils, Andy Hess too (i'll gracefully skip over Davy Knowles' american-accented vocalisations...!). And Bill still seems to be the only one adding a fresher slant to the Dead repertoire, in 7 Walkers. Witness the recent shows with the mighty Kirk Joseph parading that sousaphone; inspired. The performance of "Death Don't Have No Mercy" in the Relix basement, while not mind expanding, had WAY more feel and swampy soul than anything Furthur are going to muster. As for "a taste of what it used to be like"? With all due respect, i'm going to pass on that. I don't want a taste of something that has already evaporated into the ether. The Grateful Dead finished in 1995. Any similar ambience is, at best, illusionary. I too appreciate the evolution of the musicians, any musicians, but especially those shining "core four"; the times have certainly changed. I'm just hoping that some of those involved may recognise it a little more and truly blow our minds. (I don't buy the "mellowing with age" application; i don't think anyone's asking for coruscating noise and avant garde auditory strafing, but resting on that comfy cushion of predictability sure does leave one witha feeling of gentle lethargy). I know, i know... too much of this criticism helped drive a stake through the heart of the Dead's later years; all that expectation makes for a heavy weight on a human being who just wants to play their instrument. But i shudder to think that any "recreations" and "playing it safe" is a conscious decision on Furthur's part; the cold, kiss of death i feel. I'll take it for what it is. I'll continue to go with it. How long is another matter. I get the feeling Furthur might not go with it for much longer either. But as long as they're still playing music i'll be there. Every step of the way. Just to see what happens. I do believe it. I certainly need it. I'll leave it if necessary. And i DARE them to get WEIRDER!!!!!!! Thanks so much for replying to my initial post. It's really appreciated. Kynd indeed.

Glad you enjoyed your shows; too bad about the parking lot scene. I recently checked out the website for Red Rocks and WOW! That looks like about as nice a venue as I could imagine!I went to my first Phish show earlier this week. It was fun and they played my two favorite Phish tunes (Bug & Antelope). But I'll definitely never have the passion for Phish that I have for the Grateful Dead family of bands. Still had a good time though. It was interesting timing after reading Blair's blog post and all the comments about other jam bands. I guess I see the Phish vs. Dead thing as a false dichotomy - two totally different animals and no reason not to enjoy both if one is so inclined.