Jahfin Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 The Dead Rise Again At North Carolina Tour Kickoff I had to do a double take when reading the setlist from last night's show in D.C. (and hearing it announced on the Grateful Dead channel on Sirius/XM this afternoon) that Tipper Gore sat in on drums during Sugar Magnolia: The Dead in D.C., a Stirring, Smoky Bipartisan Show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Not too shabby a set list there! Still doesn't inspire me to see them without Jerry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Saw them twice back in the day. To me Garcia was the only one worth seeing. No Jerry, no Dead. Too many bands are coming back and using the name and I wonder why? Its called money. Period. I've seen them a few times prior to Jerry's passing. He was a huge part of their sound and I don't think without him, it would have anywhere near the same vibe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Truth be told they're not actually using the name. Despite that I've noticed some news reports still referring to them as "the Grateful Dead". I've seen The Other Ones and have even seen the Jerry Garcia Band without Jerry but that was quite the moving experience since it wasn't so long after he died and it was more of a tribute to his memory than anything else. I saw "The Dead" on their last tour back in 2004 and I wouldn't even put it on a par with The Other Ones even though Branford Marsalis sat in on every song. Not saying I'd never go see them again but I do agree it's just not the same without Jerry. I feel the same about Led Zeppelin without John Bonham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Article from Boston.com about the current tour. I do have to take issue with this passage though, "Forty-four years after the Grateful Dead formed, original members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Lesh, who have performed as the Dead since Jerry Garcia died in 1995, are still - wait for it - truckin'." Like so many so called "reporters" this one seems to have totally forgotten about The Other Ones, the initial group formed after Jerry Garcia died. On the upside, at least they didn't refer to this tour as a "Grateful Dead reunion" (which it's obviously not). Phil Lesh also gives props to Ryan Adams in this piece. Though Ryan seems to have lost his way as of late, it is good to see him getting some praise from Phil (with whom he's worked with in the past). Dead, fans revel in community Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirchzep27 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I heard, -the grateful dead without -garcia, from my tent at the bonarroo fest several yrs ago. It was after a huge thunder storm and they started playing -st. stephen, the bass lines sounded like a ufo landing in the distance.... it down poured again. they came back on, like two hrs later and played like four or five songs and then it rained again and they stopped. It was as if they were not meant to play that night or something. I don't know if they ever played for that festival, left the next day, just a disaster area of mud. but i did get to see -primus and -robert randolph at 4 or 5 in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead are my two all time favourite bands. I was lucky enought to see Zeppelin at MSG in '77 and saw well over 100 GD shows. Seeing The Dead is kind of like seeing Zeppelin w/o Page. Jerry was the man, w/o him they seem to sound like any other GD cover band...maybe not as good. I think Jerry and Jimmy left alone in a room for a few days would have created some wild stuff. I'm surprised Bill Graham never got those two bands on the same bill. Jerry and Jimmy seem to approach live music the same...they improvise a lot, both seem to dig the quieter side of music with acoustic sets...and Dazed and Confused, No Quarter are similar to Cryptical or The Other One. Two terrific bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EzyEric Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Im going to the Rothbury music festival so I will see The Dead there. I been trying to check out and get into thier music but Ive found its just not up tempo enough for me. Im used to jamming to Zeppelin and other music. But most of the dead stuff is pretty slow. And even when jerry has a good solo Im just wishing for him to take off with it and he never does. I think I realize that they are not that type of band, its not that type of music. Its more chill music? Still I want to get into it like so many people are, but I just dont see whats so great. I think I took the wrong approach expecting it to be the best "jams" ever when to me jamming is rocking out uncontrollably because the music is so good, fast, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 (edited) The Grateful Dead aren't "hard rock" if that's what you're looking for. Did Garcia ever solo "uncontrollably" as you put it? Most definitely but not in the same manner as someone like Jimmy Page. As far as "The Dead", they're a far cry from "The Grateful Dead" (even though they have all of the surviving members in the band) so I hope no one makes the mistake of confusing the two. Everyone I've talked that's seen the current tour has said there's been moments of near brilliance but for the most part the reviews have been extremely lukewarm. Edited May 8, 2009 by Jahfin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I'm pretty sure the lineup is: Weir, Kreutzmann, Lesh and Hart with Warren Haynes on guitar and Jeff Chimenti from Ratdog on keys. I saw The Jerry Garcia Band twice after Garcia died. Both times it took two guitarists to fill in for him. The first show was particularly moving since it was not long after Garcia had passed away and the two original backup singers were deluged with flowers. It was also a pleasure to see Melvin Seals in action. I saw them in LA that year. I agree that it was a moving show with Melvin being the main highlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 The Grateful Dead aren't "hard rock" if that's what you're looking for. Did Garcia ever solo "uncontrollably" as you put it? Most definitely but not in the same manner as someone like Jimmy Page. As far as "The Dead", they're a far cry from "The Grateful Dead" (even though they have all of the surviving members in the band) so I hope no one makes the mistake of confusing the two. Everyone I've talked that's seen the current tour has said there's been moments of near brilliance but for the most part the reviews have been extremely lukewarm. I don't know anyone who saw them. Most people feel as I do - without Jerry, there's no Dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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