• 323 replies
    marye
    Joined:
    So twice in the last week I've gotten into conversations with folks who were pretty intense Deadheads back in the day, and their general drift was look, the band no longer exists, they haven't played for 12 years. It is so Over. Get on with your life. Which, of course, is a perfectly reasonable point of view. And yet, here we are. And "we" includes people who never saw the band in the first place but definitely consider themselves on the bus now. So what's up with this? Why are we here? Discuss...

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • johnnyg
    Joined:
    Interesting topic
    I will be the first to tell you that I took Jerry's death and the loss of a life pretty hard. And not in a very mature nature.But still went to work. Still paid my bills and taxes. Still cleaned the bathrooms at home. A bad painful divorce accompanied the loss of Jerry (some correlation but not much) I love to see Bob, Phil, and others carry the torch. I love to walk and listen down memory lane, and have made new friends doing so. And certainly relived some KILLER memories of POW, WHAMO, SOCKO from the Largeman & the Fellas. The friends and fellowships of 83-95 will never be forgotten. I like to look at the younger kids and wonder what they are thinking.... I am only speaking for myself...but there was a candle that used to burn thats no longer, and even though its been 12 years depending on who you ask....there is still a sense of loss and sadness. Truth is.....deep down I knew it couldn't last forever.....but I wished it would. I mean I am so grateful for life...I have a new kidney that keeps me rollin and tumblin, and working. I think its best to be grateful for the gifts we received and shared, and pass on what we can, and live and love the best way we know how. "We will get by!" "Goin where the water tastes like wine..." “The Omnipotent Grateful Dead!”
  • scamperoni
    Joined:
    Over?
    I'm still having fun, I'm still seeing my friends at shows albiet, not Grateful Dead shows, but Bobby's there & Phil & Vince was (RIP) and a cast of many, many more...just enjoying everything as much as I can, and teaching my children how to survive in on this crazy spinning blue marble we call home. Took the family up to the Haight Street Fair a coupla weeks ago and had a total blast. Loved that last band...what's their name? Madame Butterfly...something like that...all day, everywhere people laughing and dancing and enjoying everthing. Over, over, over...maybe they're talking about the marble spinning over? People wearing blinders shouldn't tell others what to do! Life does go on and we must celebrate what we had, what we have and what good things will come!!!! Life's too short to be blue...
  • neddles
    Joined:
    After Jerry.
    After Jerry passed it was too painful for me to really listen all that much. I went to one of the Other Ones shows, but after that I just stopped. All I could do was look back in sadness at what had been.Then in 2004, a friend turned me on to all of the digitalization of the dead shows and where to download them. I was blown away... and it rekindled my love of all dead things. I went to the Comes A Time memorial the next year and really enjoyed reliving the memories. The thing is that the scene will never be the same and the people will never be the same, but the memories always linger. And thanks to Bear (amongst many others), copious shows are out there waiting to entertain and fascinate. I don't go to any of the post-dead shows any more, and frankly, I'm not very interested in most other so-called 'jam bands''. So for me, this site represents wonderful nostalgia and info on various shows that will continue to entertain me until I die!
  • grateful daddy
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Its not over till we say its
    Its not over till we say its over! All non-believers get off the bus. Maybe you were never on in the first place. Plenty of pseudo-heads in the later days. Luckily they were usually easy to spot sleeping in their chairs on the floor with the latest concert T on.
  • Deadicated
    Joined:
    Good sense.
    The Dead just make good sense to me. For that reason, I am "on the bus". Am I a "Deadhead"? I guess. But, most important, the Dead complement who I am and that's good enough for me. "From day to day, just lettin' it ride, You get so far away from how it feels inside, You can't let go, 'cause you're afraid to fall, But the day may come when you can't feel at all."
  • hackster
    Joined:
    post-dead
    i hafta agree- the band does not exist now. i only saw 'em 12 times. the post-dead lineups, to me, are like spinoffs from a sitcom, that never, ever, match the quality of the original. gotta admit- haven't seen any of 'em, really don't care to... NOT to say that they aren't any good... it's just that- when you've seen the best, why settle for less? i'd rather listen to my ORIGINAL grateful dead shows, thank you. the band is over... it WAS fun... the recordings STILL ARE fun... and i have "got on" with my life... but i still listen to my 1000+ live shows.
  • Barbara
    Joined:
    it's a mystery
    I must admit -- I don't know if I'd be on the bus had I "started" now. My experiences actually seeing the Dead (and arranging my lifestyle around being a Deadhead) are inextricable from my Coming of Age. Before I ever saw them, I had decided that the Dead would be my path from childhood to whatever adulthood was. Strange as it sounds, this came to me in a dream! I saw my first show at 15 in NY, chose Stanford so I could see them more, and kept up faithfully until '95, which was just about the time of my Saturn return. There is something that is "over" for me, but I'm afraid that something is my youth, not my dance with the Dead! "Study as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." -- Maria Mitchell
  • Duggles
    Joined:
    "The band no longer exists, they haven't played for........."
    For these people you talked to - the band no longer does exist. They have decided to "move on" with their lives. I am living the same wonderful life full of colors, sounds, tastes, smells, and warmth that made me feel at home the first time I experienced it back in 1979. I enjoy not only reminecing the past experiences but also checking out those new incarnations which were influenced by this thing. This being the 40th anniversary of the summer of love, I would submit that the whole genre is still influencing and is very much alive. These very people, that you spoke with, may catch a second wind and just really feel it in the future. Maybe it is lost to them forever. For me I hope that it never dies. I have an acute feeling that am extremely fortunate to have existed in the time capsule that I did to have been lucky enough to be there. In very much the same way that a classical lover would have felt who lived during Mozarts time. Those that loved and experienced Mozart's live performances, I am sure, savored and cherished their experiences all the days of their lives and for years beyond his death. We're still in awe. Wake up and smell the roses. You experienced "grateness", don't be afraid to savor it. Dougles
  • c_c
    Joined:
    same same but different
    I would submit that the experience for the band members was different from that of a deadhead who was not part of the inner 'working' circle. by 'working' circle, I mean those who made a living by somehow being employed by the Grateful Dead. I would also point out that most of the members had their own musical side projects going long before Jerry passed away. If not musical side projects, then they certainly had 'lives' or hobbies / interests separate from the band and separate from the music. don't we all? this is why I am still perplexed as to exactly what I am supposed to move on to? I am not trying to be obtuse here, but I still fail to see their (those that said move on with your life) point. Bob Weir said something, when asked if he (and maybe Phil?) was going to keep on playing music, something like 'I'm not going to change who I am...' (a paraphrase) Jerry also said a long time ago, something to the effect of 'if we (the grateful dead) are all you have, then you have nothing' What we are doing with what the band left us is: enjoying the music sharing the music sharing the experiences that once were appreciating all things grateful and, did I say? enjoying the music. ( -: peace.
  • Golden Road
    Joined:
    "Yeah but....."
    "....you're not wrong Walter, you're just an asshole!" "What the fuck are you talking about?"
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Forums
So twice in the last week I've gotten into conversations with folks who were pretty intense Deadheads back in the day, and their general drift was look, the band no longer exists, they haven't played for 12 years. It is so Over. Get on with your life. Which, of course, is a perfectly reasonable point of view. And yet, here we are. And "we" includes people who never saw the band in the first place but definitely consider themselves on the bus now. So what's up with this? Why are we here? Discuss...
user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

There's nothing wrong with being proud of, or preferring the music of your younger days. In fact, most of the music of the '60s-'70s-early '80's was better than most of the music of the last 20 years. But when I do hear something I like, like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, or some other good stuff on Austin City Limits, it makes me especially enthusiastic and hopeful for the future. I wouldn't call being hooked-in to a lot of the popular music of the moment a critical asset!
user picture

Member for

14 years 10 months
Permalink

It's All Over Now? I beg to differ. If you have been to see Furthur then you know the boys in the band are still out there. In fact, they are again starting up a whole new interest from younger folks in their 20s and 30s who missed out on all the fun back "in the day." Mickey & Billy are out there somewhere on the road, with their various pick-up bands and projects also. But they seem a bit more transient as they forever shift between various line-ups. Of course, it is all over now as far as Letting The Good Times Roll and mass experiments in consciousness-raising. That is over now. Jerry passed and maybe it was time for the experiment to end. Which isn't to say that you can't do some exploring of inner space on your own. i find it fantastic to see the wide and diverse array that the deadheads have become. It is so over now and yet it is not. Clear, some have not gone Furthur enough and are still pushing their trips to the edge. Bravo Brothers & Sisters! We will survive. In fact we have survived and are thriving. So get over it, you who are "it's so over!"!
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

as the lyricists said back in the day, new ones coming as the old ones go. Or, the future's here, we are it, we are on our own. I mean, just the other day my godson the college student was pointing his parents' Deadhead pals to his latest digitally remixed rendition of Speedway. The music has worked its way into all kinds of corners of life, and the four surviving guys seem to keep finding interesting stuff to do, and people keep finding it interesting enough to follow. Meanwhile, new people keep discovering the old stuff, too. It's good to be along for the ride, or portions thereof.
user picture

Member for

15 years 3 months
Permalink

...cause I consider myself a bigger DH now than what I was from 89-95. It's sad but back then I thought being a deadhead mean't wearing tie-dyes and patchoulie and being stoned out of my fucking skull all the time. Of course I was between 17 and 25 at the time so perhaps I can be forgiven. Now being a deadhead means just listening to good music and to keep trying to be a good/kind person. I don't have the time to go on tour with Furthur or whoever else. I don't wear tie-dyes or get stoned anymore. And life is grand.
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

until something more formal comes along:http://www.jambands.com/news/2012/02/13/bob-weir-warren-haynes-chris-robinson-jackie-greene-and-more-will-help-phil-lesh-open-terrapin-crossroads/ Published: 2012/02/13 Bob Weir, Warren Haynes, Chris Robinson, Jackie Greene and More Will Help Phil Lesh Open Terrapin Crossroads Phil Lesh has confirmed the opening run of shows at his new venue and restaurant Terrapin Crossroads. Lesh will perform in a number of different configurations throughout March and April, including gigs with Bob Weir, Jackie Greene, Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Jaz Sawyer, Jeff Chimenti, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams and Warren Haynes......
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

I missed the P& F webcast last night, but here's the setlist: Althea Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain Saint Stephen > Layla Cryptical Envelopment -> Magic Bus -> The Other One > I Know You Rider E: Unbroken Chain GDTRFB
user picture

Member for

12 years 9 months
Permalink

the music is what keeps it from being over. example jim morrison died in 1971, but the bands popularity with younger fans(im 20 so im in that boat as well) never went away. i love the dead, and so do most of my friends. so it aint over and it will not be over. flower children are still everywhere. plus lets not forget we have bands like phish too.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

Interesting. Life after Dead. Never posted here. The Grateful Dead is Still Rocking and Jamming. It just has different letters in Its' name now. Oh and a number too. Nothings changed. Life after Dead well I will let you know when we get there, if I am here then. Tomorrow Never Knows. I love you, all. It's still true.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

14 years 7 months
Permalink

its quaint that sometimes i hear whispered in the background you know she used to be a dh just because i dont run around in tie dyes and the hipster hippy attire or pack my bags at a drop of the hat to play vagabond for a couple months. its assumedthat the dead is part of my past only something i used to do,but that is further from the truth, seeing shows and going on tour was only part of the picture the music was and is the mainstay, and although ill not see jerry again it doesnt stop the music nor creativity that is and will be immortal bliss what ended was just the bizarre sideshow tours became near the end when shakedown street became more like a dirty boulevard., after 92 it actually started to be a scary world out there and touring lost its appeal. my only regret was that i didnt go to more shows in the last years but made up for it,since then by seeing alot more of bob phil and mickey and many other great preformers and smile everytime something new comes on the radio that i can put my finger on and say wow you can hear the dead influence in that song. btw my favorite is a jerry tune only heard preformed live once in all my tours that u robert hunter for making it possible.and jerry for belting it out that night, and know what i found the keys to the rain afterall.the dead wasnt a lifestyle for me it was a journey and lordy be it was a long strange trip.with many roads still left to go.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

11 years 8 months
Permalink

Hermann Hesse wrote a book titled Journey to the East, the theme of which is that while we are active participants in something we feel it is vibrant and happening but once we drop out of the thing we feel it has stopped for everyone, no matter if it remains as active and progressive for all other participants. Seems to be universal, in my experience.
user picture

Member for

14 years 10 months
Permalink

The time go? I remember being in the parking lot of a show reading a letter from the band with the usual stuff about people without tickets. The warning at the end was "When this stops ain't nothing going to bring it back." But then Jerry went to the limit and that seemed to effect the boys in the band quite a bit. I can imagine that they fely like they were in their prime as musicians and it would be a shame to break it up. Of course the name Grateful Dead was retired, as it should have been but the rest of the members of the band continued unabated. There was a period of a couple years of mourning but by 97' the Furthur Festival was back on tour as well as Ratdog and Phil & Friends shows and various side projects by the drummers. They drifted somewhat apart and to me,the closest they ever got to being back together was the 2002 Other Ones lineup that had Phil & Bruce returning with Baracco on lead. Mickey really stepped up to organize the playing and it was awesome. In 2002 the parking lot scene was still very reminiscent of a Dead show with very quality tie-dyes and other official and unofficial merch. out there. There wasn't the burnt edge of hard drugs being readily available among heads following the tour that became very evident in 2003-2004 as The Dead reunited. Then a few more years of going their separate ways and then one more tour as The Dead in 2009. Now we have Furthur for over three years thanks to Phil's transplant (Happy belated birthday Phil). The point is the scene had quality musicians and momentum and the musicians remaining seem to be willing to carry this body of music to their own deaths. And we can all remain around for the ride for as long or little as we like. Let the naysayers neg. on this one if they want. Jerry is gone along with the Grateful Dead but the music goes on and on and on and from this vantage point I see one or another of the boys carrying on for at least 5 more years. Dedication to The Heart Of Gold Band. You have to be Grateful
user picture

Member for

15 years 6 months
Permalink

They are out, both on MOFI, who are hot right, I am listening to MOFI's SACD of The ABB's "Brothers and Sisters", sounds so exquisite. They have now released "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty". Why isn't there a HDCD of "Mars Hotel" anywhere? Well,groovin' to "Jelly,Jelly"
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

10 years
Permalink

I've been reading in several news articles about a fan club pre sale on feb 9-11 but there's no information confirming that on the dead50 site or the gdtstoo site. I'm a member of several GD fan clubs but am not receiving any emails or info on a presale from them. Does anyone have more info? Thanks brothers and sisters, see you in chi town. Di
user picture

Member for

16 years 11 months
Permalink

◾Dead pre sale begins Feb 12th @ 10 a.m. CST via Dead Online Ticketing. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. Before checking out, all users must create an account after tickets are added and before completing the transaction.
user picture

Member for

9 years 7 months
Permalink

It not JUST about the shows,it's a way of life.It's about Peace,Love,Harmony,Music,Family,and telling those youngsters how it was and can be again.I'm 61,seen everybody from Areosmith to Z Z Top.I have played( drums) for fun & professionally.Most of the people I hang out with are 30-40 years younger than I am.I'm the "Old Hippie" that tells stories of huge gatherings of people from all walks of life to come and hear music and dance in the isles.That there was no black,brown,yellow or white there was only US a peaceful group of like minded individuals. I tell them we don't need no stinkin' guns.Spread the love,share the music,get involved,stand up against social injustice,Make A Difference.Pass those stories of awesome gathering and great shows on to the younger generation and have them pass it along.Is Hendrix,Janis, The Dead & Led Zeppelin still relevant? .........HELL YES Peace The Dude
user picture

Member for

17 years 4 months
Permalink

well, based on the phenomenal interest in Fare Thee Well before,during AND after both runs, I'd say this question is a bit premature. But if you're over it, that works for you. (the generalized "you" of course)
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

It's safe to say FTW put a different aspect on things...
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

13 years 9 months
Permalink

....don't hear her singing yet..... that's just Donna ;-)
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

Howdy folks, Been a .com member for a long time, but never had much to say...until Fare The Well. Put out for ppv for the first time for the last concert. Best 50 bucks I ever spent. It was profound for me. The Dead have been the sound track of my life since '65 and my wife and me from '72-'12. She would have liked this concert. Wait until November for the cd/dvd release? I'll never make it! Have some good video and instrument, but yet to find a good vocal video. The second set YouTube share of the complete second set from Zoe Alyse is the only video set I've found and the crowd sounds damp the vocals...like if you were there; the vibe is like live. Got the whole soundboard audio, no vid. YouTube is new to an old codger like me. Only Dead vids drew me in and then, not until I got a Roku Streaming Stick to access YouTube on my TV. High recommendation for a really inexpensive entertainment add-on. Just know you don't stream from your device to the TV, you get to access stuff you have "in the Cloud", which is pretty cool getting my Pandora and YouTube playlists played over good speakers and get that body feel and not just audio in my head. You can get me at rickpucko@yahoo.com also.
user picture

Member for

17 years 5 months
Permalink

I think not..for some maybe, but not me.September will be my third straight Lockn Music Festival in VA! Great fun Great vibes Great shows! Phil, Billy with their current bands this year...Bobby the last two as well. Also had the opportunity to meet and converse with Sam Cuttler (former band mgr) last year. Who knows what lies ahead unless you go furthur... Check out the 4 day schedule..so many great reasons to stay on the bus! iGrateful
user picture

Member for

9 years 11 months
Permalink

I never saw Jerry. I have a fear of buses and basically anything that resembles an "us". A friend tells me last December "Listen to an Althea" I was moved. Then I came here and found a beautiful family. I was blessed to be able to attend all 5 FTW shows. I was changed forever. Am I on the bus? Am I a Dead Head? I don't know but I am honored to share this earth with such a beautiful group of human beings.
user picture

Member for

15 years 6 months
Permalink

I have come to embrace the fact that the 'Grateful Dead' is an entity that lives on in all those incredible songs. They have an enduring quality that continues to have meaning for people. They really were Built To Last! Listening to Stu Allen rip it up at the last Jerry Day it occurred to me that Jerry's unique form of mind expanding guitar work could be thought of as a sort of spiritual or wisdom tradition wherein in a lineage of great guitar players could keep the music alive far into the future. I think any so called Head who has decided 'it's over' probably never really went to shows for the music anyway. Not that there weren't a thousand other good reasons to go, I guess. I can understand people not wanting to look back and there's a hell of a lot of great music out there to sustain them. Hey, each to their own.