Does Dead and Company do Victim or the Crime? Weir should probably drop a couple of the Jerry songs and stick with his last GD masterpiece. I think Mayer could do it some justice.
Fall Tour starts tonight!!! (OK, there was the Band Together benefit a few nights ago) Time to bump this thread. I'll be at MSG tonight and Tuesday. --------- I'd also love to see them play "Victim or the Crime."
From JM on Instagram: Instagram post by @johnmayer • Nov 12, 2017 at 6:56am UTC We’re about to begin what I believe in my heart will be the best tour so far for @deadandcompany. Something is definitely spinning up in the air around us. But as I sit at the end of my bed with my guitar in my hands I feel like I need to post this. I’m only here as an interpreter of a master. This band has developed a soul all its own but I play in constant emotional, psychological and musical deference to Jerry Garcia. I suppose I thought it would become easier each tour to stand on that stage and go reaching for that sound and those colors, but it in some ways it gets harder - the deeper I go into the music, the more I realize what it deserves. Just know that with every show we play, I’ll never forget why it is I’m standing there. This is the great ongoing privilege of my life. See ya round campus. ⚡️
I will be at the show tonight. Can't wait. I saw Dark Star Orchestra on Friday night. It was an absolute blast. Musically they are not in the class of Dead and Company but they were plenty good and everyone in the venue seemed to be having a great time. Going to see some form of Dead music makes the experience of listening to all the old soundboards more impactful for some reason. While not the same, the spirit lives on at these live shows.
I didn't realize they did "Days Between" too. So they already have Bob singing Garcia's best post coma song, so all they need to do is add Weir's. (I know I kind of ripped on Weir doing Garcia above, but I do like his rendition of Days Between.) I might have to sign up for twitter just to tweet at mayer to play Victim already. I posted the following verbatim in the Grateful Thread, and I think it bears repeating here, for as much as I never liked John Meyer, and I'm still not completely sold on whether he works as 'Jerry,' his attitude reminds me of these quotes, and every new thing he says just drives it home a little more: I know people have mixed feelings about Dead and Company, DSO, etc. but I was at a little GD cover band festival the ski mountain in my moms town puts on every year this past summer, and in relation to that experience I couldn't stop thinking about these quotes from the recent film Bob: "Jerry wasn't interested in building something that will stand the test of time, but I don't think that what we see as time can put an end to what we had. " Jerry: "What I'm hoping is to be able to see some way of extending this idea beyond ourselves, you know? I mean I want to be feeling that this idea can continue without us. It doesn't have to be the Grateful Dead, but something. Kerouac's books opened up doors for me that put me in this life. I would like to do that for somebody else, you know what I mean? And then it will be there for anybody who's got the spirit to go for it."
I enjoyed tonight, but it did have a 1st night of tour feel at times.............even Bob mentioned in the 1st set about shaking off dust and rust. My highlights were "Cumberland Blues," " I Know You Rider," "Ship of Fools," and "The Other One." Tonight were the live Dead & Company debuts of "Greatest Story Ever Told" and "Beat It On Down The Line."
I'm enthused they are breaking out the Weir chestnuts. Did anyone on this thread who saw any of the Oteil and Company shows this fall (or whatever it is, his solo band with all the Garcia tunes) care to comment on those setlists? @DrLunchbox I believe attended one of those...
Duane Betts & Devon Allman along with other Allman Bros. related musicians are headed out on more live dates as The Devon Allman Project. Keep an eye out. If you haven't heard Duane play guitar you have to check him out! Same killer tone as his dad. “It’s such an amazing thrill to have Duane joining us for these upcoming dates,” Allman says. “In many ways, it brings us both full circle.” He continues, “We share an incredible legacy, and it’s truly an honor to renew that bond our dads created to a new generation of their admirers and those that have loved the music we’ve made on our own. Having an Allman and a Betts playing together once again will surely make my father smile down at me from above.”
The Oteil show I saw was great. Set lists for the tour seemed a bit JGB heavy (due to Merl?), but stills plenty of Dead. They even did Next Time You See Me at the show I saw. That was an unexpected delight. Sugaree > I’ll Take You there (Staples singers) > Sugaree was great. They did a number of covers in the Muscle Shoals/Stax R&B style - The Weight, Proud Mary. Similar to JGB/JRAD in jamming approach. Personally, if I had to choose between Dead & Co or JRAD/Oteil & friends, I’d choose one of the latter. YMMV.
What did you think of "Cassidy"? It seemed like they were attempting to go to some very interesting places in the jams and when they succeeded it was incredibly interesting, New and had a unique sound.
Duane Betts is a great guitarist. I remember seeing him 18 years ago with his band Backbone opening for the Allman Brothers — he had a killer tone even then. Nice to see an Allman and Betts playing together, celebrating the legendary music made by their fathers.
I don't imagine they have had much rehearsal time given that up until very recently Mayer was finishing up his world tour and Oteil actually cancelled the last date of his tour so that they could play the benefit gig last Thursday. I'm sure there will be more "shaking off" than usual! I still enjoyed it - Greatest Story Ever Told was a nice surprise!
Last night at the Garden was a fun show. I am not crazy about MSG as a venue but the music was great. The highlights for me were Cumberland, China-Rider, and the Other One. This band takes the Americana/country songs like Cumberland and China-Rider to great places. Mayer's picking and Chimenti's keyboard runs just light up the venue. At times, Chimenti seems to summon up Billy Powell of Skynyrd fame when jamming out these tunes.
Streamed the "Shakedown" opener with my son last night, he enjoyed dancing around the kitchen to it. Had to head out for dinner though, so I only kept up with the rest of the show via Twitter setlist updates. Wishing I was catching them this Fall but, oh well.
They need to be at Warren Haynes' Xmas Jam here next month!! There's a "Les Bros." set in this year's show featuring Jaimoe, Marc Quinones, Jack Pearson, Lamar Williams Jr., Bruce Katz and others - Devon and Duane would be a hugely welcome addition to the lineup.
To celebrate Gregg Allman's 70th birthday December 8 at The Fillmore Devon Allman Project with Duane Betts and Special Guests The Devon Allman Project with special guests Duane Betts, Berry Oakley Jr, Alex Orbison, G Love, Brooklyn Allman, Robert Randolph, Bobby Whitlock, Coco Carmel, Samantha Fish, Luther & Cody Dickinson, Jimmy Hall, & Peter Levi, and many more to perform on what would have been Gregg Allman's 70th birthday....more .
I just got back from tonight. Hate to say, in my opinion, the 1st set was mostly a turd........bad sound, sloppiness, and aimless disjointed jamming. The low point was a bad "Me & My Uncle" where Bob forgot half the words and there were tempo changes in the middle of the soloing where it felt like the band didn't know what they were doing. Even "Bird Song" was kind of unfocused. "Man Smart Woman Smarter" at the end of the set was a nice surprise. Then the 2nd set..........totally different band.........on fire and firing on all cylinders. "China Doll" was beautiful. I think Otiel is the best singer in this group......he should get more songs per show. "Help>Slip>Franklin's Tower" was really good. "Estimated Prophet" had a nice jam into drums that sometimes sounded like "The Other One" riff played in "Estimated Prophet's" key. A nice small "A Love Supreme" jam out of space into a nice "Stella Blue"......then the above mentioned rest of the show which was hot. Tonight's 2nd set or CitiField's 2nd set were the best Dead & Co. I saw this year. I also sort of finally got to see "St. Stephen" at Madison Square Garden. My first GD show was 1984, so I didn't see 10/11/83.
That was my opinion watching it from home. That first set had some real ugly spots and just didn’t click. Big recovery in the second set.
John's playing in Help>Slip>Franklin was the highlight for me - felt like he was really imparting his own voice into the playing and trying to take the songs to some new places (for him).