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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...
subtle
in my dead related wear clothes, I am / was always a subtle kind of head. never wore no tie-dyes... this is in direct contrast to my old lady whose trademark enourmous steal your face tees are really... uhhh, in your face.
try the newer iron on photo paper, they work pretty welll. after a few dozon or so washes (inside out) they are still going strong. on a 10 $ soft cotton workshirt, it looks pretty good. black on black with jerry's hand in white like the pic above.
peace.
What is Over; What is Not Over
What is Over: The Grateful Dead with Jerry at the helm. His presence, his licks, that certain something in the air that made us all move with a pinch of grace. He was the spoon that stirred the pot 100% of the time after Pig died at 27 years old. Maybe you can arbitraily dispute that for the sake of argument but I think it pretty much speaks for itself.
What Is Not Over: Different variations on the basic theme. It's really spun out in many different directions and my particular favorite post-Jerry act is The Other Ones. Everybody will have a different opinion based on their preferences, but this genre didn't die with Jerry. If you were to try and define it, it would be an amalgam of Rock, blues, folk, jazz, bluegrass, improv. jam. All the same stuff it used to be without Jerry. Is it ALL worth seeing? Probably not, But to say: Get Over It. It's Done. Get On With Your Life... is more appropro to post 1974 Grateful Dead. The experimentation with the group mind meld and taking music as far as it could go was over.
The point is, given the really, really lousy crap (with very few exceptions) out there posing as an excuse for jam band music, the stuff coming from the former band members is 95% worth seeing (and paying for). That is why I'll be going on this tour.
But, these guys are getting old and this music is for the young. I'm glad they stuck around to pass the flame to another generation or two of musicians. If not their particulare styles, at least an influence from which to evolve from.
It's a jam man....
You know when you're listening to a jam and sometimes it's cooking and you're connecting right there with it, building it along with others into an epiphany and then it gets bigger and spreads til it can't be held any longer and it falls like a shower of stars burning to the ground and it noddles around looking for itself for awhile and then someone reconnects and the whole thing builds up again like a Hindu Yuga?
Well that's a little wheel. The bigger wheel is turning too and maybe the Dead will come back to life. Heck! Maybe they have and I just don't know it cuz I'm not paying $100 to see ANYBODY. Now this is my take and maybe not yours and that's 100% fine with me - but see, My encounter with the Grateful Dead wasn't about a party, or witnessing history etc etc. It was hearing the new, real news. It wasn't selling pertuity. It was creating synchronicity on the spot. Money had very little to do with it. Now it seems to be a key ingredient with the Grateful Dead as it is most places. No blame, no shame. We all gotta pay the rent.
I'll pay my landlord til hurts,
but my connection to you all,
I'll pay what it's worth.
And what it's worth to me,
is something that can not be seen.
Worth more than silvered gold
it can not be bought or sold
There is just no way to tell
China Cat Magnolia Dark Stary Stary Moon
forever, I wish you well.
Respect and praise for those who gave their "all" to build this thing and fly it round the world by our "connections" through the Grateful Dead, Beatles, Jimi, Janis, CSNY, Allman Brothers, Dylan, Joni, Miles, Pete, Jack, Alan, Timithy, Buddha, and many others.
Sorry, didn't mean to have a cow
but what I really want to know is;
Where's that connection now?
Tired of These Thieves
Last week it was an asshole selling his ShoreLine tickets for $1,000.00 on EBAY. And now this is even worse...
From stubhub:
The Dead Tickets
Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EST) at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
Section:
Floor 2
Row: E
Price: $13,000.00 each
Quantity: (2 available - I might see if I can get the pair for $25,000)
Seller comments: Hard Tickets, Ships Immediately!
Delivery Options: FedEx 2 Day
Can you believe this bullshit? 25K for general admission floor seats.
No Jerry,
No Pigpen,
No Keith,
No Brent and
No Vince either.
It's time to cancel this rip-off tour instead of being dragged into this filthy ticket scalping racket. You can't sell yours at face value in the parking lot; but these corporate bastards can rob us blind. There is no difference between EBAY, StubHub and any other 3rd party who jacks up ticket prices and give none of his windfall profits to the artists. Wanna bet these assholes aren't gonna report this income on their tax returns by April 15th either?
It's time for these stupid politicians and the IRS to wake up. Ban all of these ticket scalpers...
Is'nt there a song saying
Is'nt there a song saying "The Music never stop"?Keep the faith and let every body stand up sit down and shake bones! The Grateful are HERE!
THE TRUE REALITY IS.......
You really can not put a price on a dead show!!! If you can't get tickets for the show thats coming near you, just go anyway!! Chances are you'll find 1 in the lot. Probably face value or around the same price. We got to remember man, theres gonna be alot of people touring on this tour, so i'm sure that they'll be needin money for travel expenses and probably would'nt mind missin a show or two for gas,cig., etc...Peace-
Phatmoye
well,drop some "L"-25 ABOUT 30 HITS AN GO BACK 2 BED
Yea, ur over the hill ,or n a boat with-out a paddle, sounds like someone missed the Bus alritego bk to Starbucks an take a nap, I hit the Haight n 66' an things sure have changed, try eatin at Foghorns fish@chips ,an go bk 2 bed,,,,,,,,,,mahiko
get off the bus if you need to
if your trip is over, get off the bus. I'm staying on.
question is, do the Dead / Ratdog / Phil & Friends provide an "authentic" experience for you? I gotta say, I have had more positive Grateful experiences at some recent Dead / Ratdog / Phil shows than what i saw from '92-'95. Let's be honest, Jerry was asleep at the wheel for the last three or four years, and the vibe was lacking. Still, were those shows authentic Grateful Dead experiences? yes.
Was the Terrapin Station reunion at Alpine Valley a few years ago authentic? yes. Was it superior to the last few shows i saw with Jerry? yes.
Weir wrote tons of the Dead's material, but folks accuse him of nostalgia-mongering with Ratdog. Well, remember the Dead themselves have been accused of being out of step and out of touch since the end of the sixties.
Jerry Garcia was a member of this thing called Grateful Dead. so am I. so are you, if you want to be. if you don't, just pass it on
Hey Cuz, Chill!
Whewww! Why all the fuss about tix? Perception and reality can be QUITE different. I agree with Phatmoye, there will be plenty of tix available at every venue, especially if you have the patience to wait until the last minute at the most "sold-out" venues. Really, it's gonna be Ok. Really it will, I promise!
GENERAL GRANT>>>>
Dude, your rite about the experience bit.... Towards the end there, i'd say Jerry was kinda out of it from the china-way. and yes, I think the spirit was alot more alive on the further tour in 98 then in 94 at buckeye lake i caught in Ohio. As for tickets, don't sweat it anybody, you'll get em in the parking lot!GET IN THE GROOVE AND LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL<
WE GONNA STAY HERE TILL WE SOOTH OUR SOUL
IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!!!!!!
let me just say
if for some reason you decided to jump off the bus fine that is your life to live...... i don't think anybody has the right to judge someone for staying on...if someone gets off, it leaves a seat for some one to get on.
let your life proceede by its own design
Uncle Johns Band, In Tampa, Fl. at Skippers Smokehouse.
These guys really put some good music out, check out there Web Page. Every Thursday for Like 20 years! They have some fun parties too...also Dark Star Orcistra...Their always crowded with kind people! Music Never Dies when theres a good story teller!
grateful till im dead
The music known as the Grateful Dead started 40 years ago. It has never stopped. It will live on as long as the Legend remains alive through all of us deadheads. Let the songs be sung and the rhythms played in combo with perfectly improvised melody.
We all know by now that it is going to get stranger so lets get on with the show!!
Cant wait to be dancing around the venue formally known as the Rosemont Herizon.
just a little light
...the dancers come and go, but the dance continues...
keep on growin
Living In The Past ??? Hmmmmmmm
Very sorry for the profanity.But---FUCK THAT !!! Living in the past my ass !! Ya know,I've heard that shit from my own fucking brother [and,he's the one that got me into The Dead ! ] How can people say such stupid shit ??? [Oh,I forgot for a second,we're talking about human beings here].How the HELL are we "living in the past" if we're just living by "our own philosophy of life" [such as peace & love] [assholes].Heh,heh.
Living In The Past ??? Hmmmmmmm
Very sorry for the profanity.But---FUCK THAT !!! Living in the past my ass !! Ya know,I've heard that shit from my own fucking brother [and,he's the one that got me into The Dead ! ] How can people say such stupid shit ??? [Oh,I forgot for a second,we're talking about human beings here].How the HELL are we "living in the past" if we're just living by "our own philosophy of life" [such as peace & love] [assholes].Heh,heh.
Just like that last post
Just like that last post too.Damned computer.Oh,well.What can you expect from a 10 year old computer ? Not bad for a 10 year old computer though,huh ? Heh,heh.Thank God for operating systems other than [that freakin'] microshit windows ! Ubuntu forever !! Heh,heh.
Oops,[again]
Just like that last post too [damned computer].Didn't realize the "Oops" posted either.Sorry folks.Oh,well,what can you expect from a 10 year old computer,huh ? Not bad for a 10 year old computer though,huh ? Heh,heh.Thank God for operating systems other than [that freakin'] microshit windows !! Ubuntu forever !! Heh,heh.
What the...
hell ?? Hmmmmmm.Maybe it's not my comp.after all.I DID NOT click "post" on that 4th post !! NOT my fault,folks.Damn,[bet they're all thinkin' I'm wasted off my [you know what] now.Heh,heh.
At home
After the show last night at shoreline 5/14/09 I got a real pain in my heart, I mean I had almost forgotten how much many of you have meant to my life and still do. Phil made a great point while speaking last night saying that we were not only there to see the band but to see each other. The family that has grown in the wake of the dead is real and we are alive. This to me is the most important thing and I hope this feeling and connection will roll on forever. This family does not and absolutely should not die with the band. I will always be on the bus.
youngster on board
I myself was born in 1992 making me 3 when Jerry passed, I was introduced to the Grateful Dead by my dad who listened to them when he was younger, I absolutely love the music and consider myself a deadhead and on the bus. After hearing the phrase "theres nothing like a Grateful Dead show" over and over again I wanted nothing more then to see the band, obviously out of the question. So when they announced the 09 tour my dad and I flew up to Albany, and what an experience some of the nicest people Ive ever met, and even though it wasn't the Grateful Dead I now have an idea of what its like. I am glad there are younger people like me interested in the Grateful Dead to keep the spirit around once the band is no more, i plan on introducing my kids to the Dead just as my did to me
GD lives forever !
Went away 14 years ,and suddenly I find out deadheads are all still kicking, dancing, going places;and ever had a few jokers up their pranksters sleeves ,playing new games to keep in touch together via computers ! So, these people are definitly awake and alive As for Grateful Dead music the sounds are cruising live in the winds of Times/Spaces and who knows,some entities ,immortels,aliens,might groove hearing such sounds why not,indeed !!!
A place for being free
When I hear the boys play I am transported back to a time when I first felt free. A time when I became me. I wasn't my mothers daughter or my mans girl. I was me. When I'm felling lost, when I'm feeling blue, I can find a tune or two that will help me regain my footing and help me pull myself up out of that place. Today I found Lost Sailor and just closed my eyes and traveled back.
I can go back and think about what is really important in my life. What do I really want?
All through tunes.
This summer I went to Albany, I went to Buffalo and I tried to relive the trip (travel) but it isn't the same, it's new. I'm only as good as I am today. I'll never be what I was yesterday. If I can enjoy today, I can enjoy tomorrow even more.
Peace & Love
Jacie's comments
Your words hit home to me like few others have. The Music-All Through Tunes. Unfortunately I only caught one show this last summer, I still have the heart to do full or partial tours but I realize how much I've aged since '95. The scene of people has changed, I don't see as many folks from the '60's or '70's. I sorta still feel young but if I let my hair and beard grow the greys sprout all over. The young ones eye me suspiciously now and I don't care to freak any out but,what can you do. One thing that appears nicer now is the apparent lack/lower numbers of jonny law as compared to the last few years with Jerry. Also, return to smaller venues that hadn't been played since the '80's. Boys please play together again--soon. Thanks, jeffr
Life after Dead?
Of course!.......is the simple answer. Life is a continuum, always evolving, ever changing....all things are connected (wise man once said).
Grateful Dead have been entwined in my life as far back as I can remember (thanks to the influence of some older brothers). The bus kept coming by until I got on. By then Pigpen & Keith were gone. Never got to as many shows as I wanted to but grateful for the ones I did. Have been to some Furthur shows, Other Ones, Ratdog, and most recently The Dead in Chicago. Not a day goes by I don't miss the space Jerry & the Dead created for us to frolic in and the wondrous discoveries of youth made there. I'm older now but the learning and changing never stops.
My point being.....
There is no going back. Life moves ever onward (until it doesn't). The Dead with Jerry was a very special moment in time that can't be duplicated. All we really have is this moment in the here & now. So.....we make the most of this here & now. This (older) Head has been pleasantly surprised at times by moments of magic at post-Jerry shows and by other bands in other places. Is it the same as when Jerry was around? Of course not. No more than yesterday can be the same as today.
We all have the capacity to create magic. See the beauty that surrounds us.
~Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
(good words to live by)
"When in doubt, open up and give your love"
~Spanish Bert
Thanks
Peace
My wife is not on the bus with me, never was/never will be
What I get from her is: "why do you have so many copies of the same music....it all sounds the same!".
What she doesn't understand is that so many of the live recordings I have from them, (some are boots; some are ligit.), are from shows that I actually attended.
I have told her many times that they never did the same song exactly the same, so each song/jam is unique within themselves.
There is nothing as boring as seeing a band who performs E-X-A-C-T-L-Y the same upon each performance. The Grateful Dead have been on a wonderful trip for several decades, when they perform for us, they invite us on for the ride.
It's beautiful, they're beautiful. Always were & always will be.
AAAHHHHHH............
It's better to have loved and lost-------than never to have loved at all!
living in the past
Look to 1965-66 for the real center of gravity that keeps tugging at us 40 years later.Legal, high quality LSD hit the streets of Palo Alto and surrounding CA in quantities that are unimaginable by today's standards.
What happened?
People put down their weapons, looked into each other's eyes, picked up instruments and paint and fabric and clay and said "No!," to the politicians, armies, and "straight society."
Jerry was among those who took it upon themselves to preach this new gospel, and rode that wave of love until his death.
It helped that he was an unbelievable musician, but the music, the band, the tours and parking lots were about more than that. That stuff was just the means by which we could still reach out and touch that magical time, break off a piece and infuse ourselves with it.
I often temporarily forget that message, in this age of manipulation and exploitation, but it always returns, and no matter where life takes me, no matter what happens, I always find that sly grin, those happy memories, and a magical inner life untouched by profit, war, hatred, neglect, disease, and poverty.
For anyone who can turn their back on that, I feel for you and hope you get there one day. There's more than enough room for all of us.
______________________________________________________________
I think I'll go up on a mountain, I'll fling myself off into space
I'm not doing it because I'm desperate, I'm just trying to save some space...
I find myself wondering the same thing...
...after posting on this site for 2+ years. The Grateful Dead have indeed gone away but there is ever so much music and fun and news and whatever else is going on -- like 9k kazoo players at a Giants game, Furthur in the Park and Rhythm Devils on tour with Keller. I mean, there is A LOT to keep up with. That is not even mentioning keeping up with Rhino farts on the Kalahari, making sure you order in time to get your bonus disc.
Having said that, I do wonder sometimes if I'm too much involved in a scene that went way sideways in about 1993 and ended, tragically, in 1995. I always feel it is better to look forward than backward but I do enjoy reliving really fun times in the past. In some ways hanging around this site is like looking into an old photo album.
It is also fascinating to catch up with old tour buddies and see where they are at now and make some new friends when you can. So that is what it's all about for me. Still, I'm wondering how much longer I can hang on as a regular. Definitely feel my days are numbered here as there are so many new people and places to be discovered.
Iits not over till we say
It aint over for me till i pop my cloggs jerrys death hit me hard but he left us with so much music there must be nearly 3000 shows in the archives some grate some not so.I got on the bus about 30 years ago via deadset and when jerry hits that solo in candyman etc my insides still explode and a big smile appears on my face.Ok further, the music is not the same no where near but the bus is still running please dont get off!!!!!!!!!!!
GIMME A LITTLE LIGHT.
Gonzo
I dropped out of the scene in the late '80s because there was so much other stuff that I was into, and the Dead started seeming irrelevant to me. Jerry's death kind of jolted me back to reality in a way, and by the time the first Other Ones tour came around in '98 I was ready to climb back onto the bus -- it was actually a lot more complicated situation than that, things happening in my life that I won't get into here, so it wasn't exactly like the light switch just turned back on...but it was something like that.
There still IS so much other stuff that I'm into (which is one reason why I delight in posting non-Dead tidbits on the "Listening to Now" thread), and it's hard to tell how much being back has to do with aging and boomer nostalgia, and how much is just reinvigorated love of the music of my younger days--with the associated feeling that I'm playing catch-up on something I regret having missed and can never truly recapture.
At this point, I don't care why, I'm just back enjoying the ride. It could all end tomorrow, but I hope that it doesn't.
So I know where you are coming from, I think. But hang in, it's a plus-plus experience having you around these parts.
Lamagonzo
I am one who will truly miss your words here at dead.net. My life has gotten so busy that I rarely login here but I do look thru the posts 2 or 3 times a week and your voice informs and reminds me to be focused toward our collective wellbeing. You and Tiger Lily in the "trouble ahead, trouble behind" forum -- I wish to thank you and her for the postings. I kind of grew up at the Fillmore, Winterland, and the Avalon. Many bands reflected the times but a hush would come over the hall with the first notes of Morning Dew and we all would ponder with them the seriousness of our time. And our purposes in it. Come hear Uncle John's Band, indeed. Your voice on this site is an Uncle John voice. I am also planning to see the movie you mentioned just recently. If you must go, don't go far or at least open that good old picture album now and again. Peace & Music
Uncle John Gonzo!
Agree with you on that Docks. And thanks also! Try to post there now and then because...yeah well nevermind. As Lamagonzo also said, I struggle with myself over the site and the scene; but keep coming back on a mission of sorts.
**********************************
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean.
Mark Twain
I haven't read all of the
I haven't read all of the replies, but I am here because of the feeling the music gives me. Plain and simple, frineds who aren't heads ask me how and why I collect so many shows (of the same songs! lol) and my answer is that they can't know without being a part of it. It's love man, pure love
Beauty incarnate.
I think it's truly fantastic when people try to recapture the spirit of the music of bands like The Dead. I never understood why some people are just so adamant about people not even touching dead band's music. It simply means that people are trying to pay homage to their favorite bands or reopen the flow of spirituality, creativity, and beauty that the 1960s had opened. I can understand someone being angry at a modern musician for trying to make a quick buck off of someone else's music. However, it's different if someone says,"hey, let's try to make someone feel the spirit that I felt when I first listened to 'Dark Star' or 'Love March' or 'Wooden Ships'." I apologize if this doesn't fit in with the current trend in the conversation, I just HAD to give my 2 cents on the main subject of the thread.
i got to admit
i am not a fan of dead tribute/cover bands and being honest im not really a fan of further however if i lived in the states i would be attending the shows to meet other deadheads and enjoy that family feeling.And sugaree is right other people dont understand it and it is pure love.
living in the past.
everyone lives in the past in one way or another.
Living in Texas
Having moved to Texas in '93, I have been Tom Hanks alone on island with my tapes (who we shall call Wilson) as far as my vicinity to fellow Deadheads goes. But every so often, when I run into a fellow Head at a concert, and spark up a conversation with a true lover of the band, there is a level and a depth to the conversation that most other bands, if any, create. Especially if they actually caught the Dead live in Jerry's time, or even saw some of the same shows I saw, it feels like catching up with family. There is something special about the Dead experience. It's more than just being stuck in the past- its a richer, more fulfilling emotion.
J.T. Gossard
http://thehallucinogenicbible.blogspot.com/
Furthur, and then some
Well, I made it to the last Monterrey show with a couple hours to spare and really enjoyed my time at the show. Got the hell out of Dodge ater the show and headed to Pinnacles National Monument, then to Seqoia,Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and Lassen National Parks. i saw my first Black Bear of the year 33 hours after the show(cool story). Twas one of the best roadtrips my 18 year old Sheba and I have had. Well, i hope somebody sees this. luv2all
those hills and mountains
Trailbird, yes somebody is seeing your pictures. Thanks for sharing, esp the Pinnacles and Lassen. Looks like our California, donnit?
living in past...and present
Your post was eloquently stated and one of the best I have read on Dead.net...almost sounds like a band member wrote it....was there- not in 65 but yeah the core is just as you speak of...however the music really was the glue for me--the scene etc. was okay but Dead Heads are just humans in all shapes and forms and for brief moments many were beautiful as obviously you seem to be but for me it was always about the music and the spirituality it infused me with and yeah a little extra infusion of spiritual material may have aided the experience along but fundamentally, this band is a bunch of Shamans with Jerry being the clear visionary and the boys all doing their part with a particular shout out to Bobby's shouts, Phil Bombs and Mickeys Animal skin strange things that split the sky while Billy cranked along those cave men time traveling solos...nothing like it before or after---a band of brothers and sisters and fans that unified if only during shows but collective consciousness experiments that surpassed anything that any mainstream scientist could dare dream could happen--i mean is it amazing that we still have no clue about subtle energy in Western Medicine with groups like the Dead showing so many of us the light of Eastern Yogic ways...? Alas...not a preacher but this is more than just a social experience..they are as Belushi says "On a mission from God" and I for one cannot look at it as anything less, its even more than what you say--its about the fundamental meaning of our lives...beyond this plane...their name was chosen for them for sure...Aum Namaste......Hey Now, Year late but better late than not appreciated..
Living with The Dead
Why? You ask. For a novel answer, read Jonathon Pitt's prize winning article in the Baltimore Sun of Sunday October 21. 2007. Just Google my name (Ed Branthaver) and scroll down to "Alive With the Dead". It's a story of why a Father became a Dead Head. Understand that the author used a bit of poetic license, but for the most part, you will understand why I am here -- and lovin' it - "Knock,knock, knockin' on Heaven's door"
Cool, Trailbird
Heaven is right there if you just take the right road.
Living in the present....
Yeah, I went to more concerts than I can remember in the 70's and 80's. They were grate, this is better! With Furthur, Ratdog & DSO - there is always something happening and with site like this we can keep in touch with it. I loved my Dead memories of 40 yrs. ago, but I'm hoping for 25 more yrs. of them. BTW- we have a whole generation of Deadheads, who don't even know they are - and I welcome them! repoman