Grateful Dead - 50th Anniversary Speculation

Saw the GD 188 times. Saw Garcia Band, Ratdog, The Other Ones, The Dead, Phil and Friends about 150 more.

Never saw Further and am sure glad they are done with playing with a Garcia imitator at this point.

 

"Believe it if you need it. If you don't, just pass it on."

I'll save my bread, avoid the insanity of a football stadium and chill in my sierra home. Said my farewells at Golden Gate Park a few days after Jerry passed.

Only thing I'll miss is the people, but "you never see those people anyway".

Can always hop over to Terrapin Crossroads for a taste.

Love -Zafu

 

I am going to try the ticketbastard route. If it happens I'll try to make it work getting to Chicago

 

I am slowly losing all hope just reading this thread!

 

This show may see a lot of different folks than the scene was used to seeing just to say they were there. If it was Red Rocks I would fly over and go but not a stadium and not with all this hype! Enjoy it, looking forward to hearing others adventures who do go.

 

Losing all hope that you'll get tickets?

Losing all hope that the shows will be good?

Losing all hope in humanity?

 

https://twitter.com/PhishatTheMann/status/557662079432544261/photo/1

 

Speculation aside, this is going to be a grate celebration. I recommend anyone on the fence to pull the trigger. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

If you have been to zero shows or 200 shows and only dig "intimate" venues like "The Greek", it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you come out to celebrate your love for the Worlds Greatest Music with other Heads, geeks, jocks, suits, wookies, babes, stoners, straights, etc.

Bringing folks together is "Jerry Approved".

E Pluribus Unum

 

Yes
No
Maybe?

Just don't know how the ticket situation is gonna work. I mailed off about $500 in money orders and won't know if I'm good for a month. Seems crazy.

 

GDTS never failed me, not once. It's an exciting day when those tickets actually arrive - have faith!

 

My plans are changing and this is starting to look more fluid. I missed the mail order but am going to try the TicketBastard route...

 

Thanks for the positive vibes. I guess after reading much of this thread I have visions of long lines at the post office and a run on the nation's money order supply!

 

In all the excitement I booked my flight to Chicago on Southwest before I decided not to do the mail order, and not go. I'm not going to cancel the flight because I can only get all the money back in a credit up until 10 minutes before the flight.

I'm not giving up hope. Maybe I'll settle for the cheap seats and take my binoculars. I don't know... I think Trey is going to rock the house.

Eh, thinking out loud here, still kinda on the fence. The best thing that could happen for me is that the whole stadium sells out for three nights and the cheapest seats are on StubHub for 200 dollars. Then I can let it go.

 

I wonder how this band will be introduced? Betcha a dollar it's as "The Grateful Dead."

 

I never understand this position of "imitator". Its just music, most musicians play music written by others including garcia, My biggest criticism of all post GD configurations ( with the exception of further) is that no one was attempting to cover the best part of the material. Kimock came close but he cant sing or get along with Phil. They tried to fill that spot with various horns and it always came off as awkward if not boring. Phil with Jackie was about the best singing/guitar combo.

I loved jerry and someone making the effort to keep his style and tone in the front of the mix is not a negative for me.

Trey has done nothing to keep the songbook of the grateful dead alive, his connection with the material is absolute zero. If we are lucky perhaps he can talk about lizards for 20 minutes in the middle of terrapin station. He was chosen and accepted as a business decision.

John started as a fan and has dedicated his career to the music, he is masterful on the instrument and delivers emotional content in the Lyrics. he has arguably done more to keep the music alive and reach new fans that all other surviving members since 95. I mean that seems like a pretty alright guy but so many heads get angry and call him a fake.

so be it, now we are going to be stuck with Trey signings jerry songs. or...talking through jerry lyrics and hitting a 30 second sustain on a guitar note every 90 seconds.

I get it, I loved Jerry as well. John is not Jerry and on some level it is hard to let go of the memories and accept his performance as its own thing. Once you do, you will find yourself listening to great musician and having a good time. I will say that I rarely listen to John on a recording. If I do it is because I was at the concert. Jerry was better and I have quite a bit of that to listen to. But as we all know Jerry is not available for live performances.

 

Trey was a business decision not a musical decision.

 

My guess is no introduction. They will wander out on to the stage, tune up and noodle around for 10 minutes and just start playing.

 

'The Survivors and Friends' as I am referring to this amalgamation as, well, no single choice of guitarist is going to satisfy anyone.

Sure it would have been grand, if not glorious, if a retinue of many guitar players, including those who have played in the various sundry incarnations of the Dead and other member related bands could be a part of the show. It is somewhat unfortunate that only one player has to fill the sizeable shoes of the late Mr. G.

And yet the hate for Trey... well... inexplicable. Sure his invite is in part a 'business' decision, but more importantly, he began his career heavily influenced by the Dead, and is quite comfortable with their music and style I'd venture to say. Not to mention, he is a fine guitarist who can add new texture and color to the Dead catalog.

And when it is time to travel beyond the boundaries of any given song, he can provide the 'meaningful' interaction the other band members require to achieve liftoff... and without having to ape Garcias playing, and do it easily as well as any of the other guitar slingers who have had to play 'in the style of'.

Indeed, the best case scenario would have been multiple players taking turns on different songs... of course financially, having to carry many players made that less than possible. I'd love to hear what some of my guitar heros would do with certain numbers, so I would not like to see 'other' guitarist limited to just those who have played lead with members of the 'Core 4' previously, and are expected to sound like you-know-who and not much more... that to me... is BORING!

Indeed, I'd hope Trey, or whoever else may show up to play a note or three, go beyond just filling the Garcia parts. To me the tendency of so many to play it so similar to his style is detrimental. I always am thinking, 'C'mon, go beyond, bring a different style to the music, play in Garcia's style where needed, but then go somewhere else'... that would really keep the music fresh! Play a chorus in the forest faced guys style and then do something different... surprise us!... musical surprises should be a part of the mix considering the Dead's long held penchant for doing such... as for those who just want to envision the late Mr. G on stage, stay home and play some live shows okay?

I'd love to hear someone with a more basic rock or pop style, or a blues, Jazz or Country player do their take on the Dead catalog in such a concert. The crowd always went wild when Jerry would start fanning his guitar or unleashing his inner Chuck Berry... what I would not give to see how a guitarist skilled at such playing could push the band to do... and by that I do in part mean, get them away from their somnolent pace and get them to rock like I know they're capable of... kinda like when the band would go into 'double time' on 'Around & Around'... energy is kinda important. When I think back to the nappy time songs the GD would often open set to when the crowd is on their feet ready to rock, well... not this time guys, go our rockin AND exploring new space.

And yes, Tom C. and Donna G. should be a part of the show... Tom could come out for a space seg or such, and Donna should be there to unleash her caterwauling for a tune or two... it would be fitting and appropriate... and it would be rather disrespectful if they were not give that opportunity.

And BTW, no, I'll not be attending these shows. I have not seen any of the post GD bands live, and as a relatively old dead fan, I did see them enough 'in the day' to have fond musical memories unlikely to be usurped by the latter day bands, as good as they have generally been. I've never stopped listening to the music these guys make, both new and old. But lazy 'ol me, I'll sit back and await the 26 Blu-Ray box of these shows or whatever they make of it, and get my fix as required. I just hope they 'go out' leaving behind music that is worthy of the legacy they have continued to build upon.

Your comments, expected and appreciated.

 

Considering the demographic of their audience, they may open with "Take a Step Back ... Slowly and Cautiously".

 

Given that the last time the "core four" played a stadium they barley sold 20,000 tickets, the demographics will be 60% phish fans that never saw the band.

 

Or just "Please roll back carefully. And mind your IV carts don't get tangled." "And you over there! You're not fooling anyone. We know what you snuck in inside your colostomy bag. Please share with your neighbors."

 

After a couple hundred shows what kept me coming back were the surprises. JK devoted his career to playing the sort of things one expected JG to play. That holds no interest for me. You seem to understand this POV for recordings but not for the live experience. I had enough live experiences with JG and with other lead players that were trying to do their own thing with the music that I don't crave a live experience that attempts to replicate my past ones.

Very glad we are getting someone that has his own directions to lead the others in.

 

Judging strictly by the postings in this thread, the big difference between then and now in terms of ticket sales, is the inclusion of the word "last". "Last time together" seems to have motivated a lot of people go through the effort and expense of getting to these shows. And I'm not knocking that - the word "last" certainly got me out to see the Monty Python "event".

 

I just don't get all the anger. Its a rock concert.
I avoided seeing the various post-Jerry bands until the last Dead tour. They were good, not great but it reminded me of how much I loved going to the show. I'm expecting the same here. I'm hopeful that the music will be fresh and exciting. Whether the lead guitarist is playing in Jerry's style or not is secondary. I rarely find myself pulling out 94-95 shows to listen to and I certainly don't want to hear a faithful replication of that era.

 

The whole event was a business decision not a musical decision.