Dead & Company: The Grateful Dead Is Resurrected (Again), This Time With John Mayer *

Agreed. They were both unpredictable in terms of where they were going.

 

I was at the festival for all 4 days. Closing the festival with a set that included Branford was the perfect ending. Eyes, Dew, and Brokedown Palace were absolutely gorgeous. The addition of Branford gave those songs a nice texture. Breaking up scarletfire and help-slip-franklins didn't really work for me though because they didn't do interesting transitions into the next tunes. That was a minor complaint though.

The Saturday Dead show had a nice second set as well. The Saturday late show was more enjoyable for me than the Dead show. It was Lettuce (jam band) playing a tribute to Jerry Garcia on the smaller stage. The addition of horns and female backup singers gave it a sweet gospel feeling. At about 1:00 a.m., John and Bobby came on stage to sit in. They played until past 2:00 in the morning. We couldn't believe they sat in for that long. There were transcendent versions of After Midnight and Cats Under the Stars. It was some of the most fun I have ever had listening to music.

 

I watched the stream both nights and really enjoyed both shows. I thought the band played really well, and for whatever it's worth I liked mixing around the standard pairings/groupings even if it was just for the sake of it.

I missed the stream of the Lettuce jam, but here's a piece.

 

Here's the full thing:

 

Saw a post on Instagram earlier that D&C dates for July 5 and 6 in Boulder were leaked. Summer 2019 tour announcement coming soon?

 

Yep. Micky did a local interview in New York and said they would be playing there is the summer as well.

 

Keep the gravy train rolling, Bobby needs a new pair of sandals.

 

I went to Folsom field last year and was about twenty feet away from the rail. It was fantastic but I don’t think so it a second year. Too expensive of a weekend. A can of gross beer was $16.

 

Always loved the Dead. Huge fan. I’ve got roughly 300 soundboard recordings. I still listen multiple times per week. I’ve got a chrome Steal Your Face badge on my Indian Motorcycle. But anything after Jerry, I just can’t get into, no matter how interesting the lineup might be. I sometimes force myself to listen to Fare Thee Well, just because that was the official end, but it just ain’t the same.

 

Dead & Company can never replace The Grateful Dead, just like sitting home listening to 40-year-old tapes won't replace seeing a live band in the flesh. I get to have both.

 

Apply a different standard for evaluation and dead and co. becomes one of the best touring bands out there today.

 

I’m sure I’ll go to the New York shows, but to be honest, the most enjoyment I’ve had seeing current Grateful Dead related concerts has been Bob Weir’s low scale tours with the Campfire band a couple years ago and the Wolf Brothers a few weeks ago. I’d rather see more of that.

 

The "Blue Mountain slot" was my favorite part of the Wolf Brothers shows.

 

My (probably unpopular) opinion: The best part of Dead and Co. is Chimenti and Oteil. Also, what JRAD is doing is about 100x more interesting and creative than what Dead & Co are doing.

 

Oteil singing is a highlight every time. And not in a "We Want Phil!" novelty 90s kind of way.

 

Get out from under that chair. Oteil is absolutely the star of this band. His vocal slot is a true highlight, but his bass should not be overlooked.
Chimenti doesn’t always get much room. He should be allowed to solo more often.

And JRAD kicks all kinds of ass. I’m annoyed that they are playing Northerly Isle in Chicago this summer. PITA for me to get to and if you are on the lawn you may as well be watching at home.

 

The second sentence is redundant after the first.

 

Last summer I learned not to see Dead & Co. in sports stadiums. The show was good at Dodger Stadium, but that type of venue sucks for music. I saw AC/DC in a baseball stadium and they were good but it was in a baseball stadium. Same for Billy Joel. Stadium shows are not good, in my opinion.

 

Agree with a lot of the comments above. JRAD is a must see for me and Chimenti and Oteil kick ass. I don't see any love for John Mayer but I really like him with this band. My serious Dead listening is typically 70 to 78 in my living room but that isn't nearly as fun as being out and getting down to live music.

 

I honesty thought I’d never see any of the Dead related bands when I started getting back into the Dead in a huge way back in mid to late 2015. I see great live music often and have been doing so for many years but it is jazz/free jazz in smaller rooms so I thought seeing some Dead cover band or even a Phil Lesh led band would be boring and a complete slog. I certainly had no interest in Dead & Company (and I still don’t as I’ll never see any band in a Stadium or any large outdoor venue) plus I think they play the music to an absolute crawl in most cases. Some of the worst slow versions of formerly great songs - although I do think Mayer is a fine guitarist. He’s better guesting with JRAD.

BUT I heard here about this band called Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and then I asked a few friends I know locally so I booked tickets last Summer 2017 for a show at The Capital Theatre in Port Chester. I’ve seen them twice since then and we are going on 1/18 & 1/20/19 @ Capital Theatre and on 3/15/19 @ Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ.

I also even more importantly saw Phil & various augmented versions of the Family band on 3/16/16, 9/6/18 and on 11/2/18. All 3 shows were terrific but the second sets from 9/6 & 11/2 were quite a bit more than that. Some of the most exciting emotional and soul filling live music I’ve ever heard. And although most of the other live music I see is unknown to many of you, that statement is a big one as I’ve seen Evan Parker & Peter Brotzmann (among many others) from way up close numerous times - and those guys in many ways are like Jerry to me.

But from a visceral standpoint there is really nothing like JRAD!! Great energy, kick *** drummer and a howl of a great time every time.

 

I've never seen JRAD or Dark Star Orchestra. I've seeing the latter for the 1st time at the Wellmont Montclair, NJ on 12/30 and New Years Eve. I live 10-15 minutes away, so I figured it's time and convenient.

 

I think this new thing with Mayer is the best post Jerry thing. I saw Ratdog and Phil several times-and made some tasty recordings by the way, which i have put out and continue to transfer- but looking back i cant recall why. i could not listen to that today. neither can swing, phil had better musicians but his playing bogs everything down.
the family band, imo, was the worst until wolf bros which sounds like w and w from back in the day. you can find some of my stuff around. one of each no more. i did one russo that didnt do much for me.
but this mayer guy, who i was only vaguely familiar with, gives it life. it would be best if they had better bass player not of the jam band variety but whos to complain. i think thats one of the reasons its good, hes not a jam guy.

but i did enjoy that book that had the wives beating on each other onstage lol.
phil saying the drummers couldnt play was an incredible thing to read.

dead was garcia
garcia pre 1980. the eighties and nineties were for the most part, very rough.

 

Jeff Chimenti is a true Godsend. Weir should give thanks on a daily basis that Chimenti was placed in his path.

For my money, Jeff is the most integral component of the post-Garcia Grateful Dead-related music scene.

 

didnt Chimenti play with the zen tricksters? I may be mistaken.

I forgot to give a shout out to MHs Mystery Box.

 

I’ll be at the 12/30 Wellmont Show. My third time seeing DSO. I liked both shows - the first which was last 12/28/17 @ Wellmont a bit more as it was a random show with a great end of the second set: Death Don’t Have No Mercy>Caution then a strong Casey Jones I think. Very good lead guitar & wonderful Weir like rhythm guitar from Rob Eaton