I never dug the sound quality of that show and then, believe it or not, I still haven't gotten around to listening to it now that it's a release. That seems like a long time but Dave's Picks come out so fast it hasn't actually been that long....
They gave me a headache. I had A Picture Of Nectar and I was never able to get excited about it. The live stuff wasn't interesting at all. Widespread Panic was/is more my speed when it comes to jam bands.
Honestly I don't think I like any of the bands that got the "jam band" label in the early 90s when it became a thing. Of course there are probably scads of bands that can probably fairly be called "jam band"--for instance, the Grateful Dead-- that I like, but the "official" ones were never my cup of tea.
I think @bzfgt has most of the reason from my perspective. There's a seriousness and the sense of tapping into a deep root with the sources of the GDs music, while that's not really there for Phish, whose sources are a bit more 'arty' or cheesy to my taste (Zappa, prog, 70s hard rock, possibly even 80s Grateful Dead...) And also it doesn't help that the two biggest Phish fans I knew in school were total dbags. I know that shouldn't tar the band or any of their fans, but there was definitely an element of 'if this guy's that into it, it can't be that cool.' There were some cool people I knew who were into them too, so maybe it was the 'Pancho Pillow' aspect of those two I'm thinking of that turned me off on it. I should also point out that 'Fire...Fire up the Ganja' which I understood was from a Phish boot, became the standard 'Fire on the Mountain' lyric among cover bands in my town in those days. But that was as far as a lot of people got with them, myself included. All that said, I listened to Rift, the one album I own from them, within the last year or so, and I appreciated it a lot more than I did way back when. As far as the jam band label, I'm seriously torn as to how well it fits the Grateful Dead. I understand they kind of founded the genre, but as heterodox as they were themselves, I have a hard time drawing a strong line between how their music comes out and how most jam bands sound. Most jam bands remind me more of the Garcia Band than the GD.
Or these wonderful Oregon IPAs which I have been enjoying a little too much lately. Man, I love living here. They played Estimated Prophet 50 times in 1977. I'm willing to bet that none of them sucked. Still on 5/25/77-this one certainly doesn't, although it's a little short. EDIT: I didn't think any of the jam bands could write a decent song. That is probably the most overlooked aspect of the genius of Jerry Garcia. Plus, rightly or wrongly, the fratboy invasion of the Grateful Dead scene starting in 1988 was attributed to Phish fans, and led to me getting off the bus for 20 years in 1991.
execrable Yeah, I was thinking of it as a wider label when I said bands I like, and GD, could be called that. You're on the money with the label as far as it strove to be somewhat specific and applied to those bands, who often were jammy more in an Allmans/Cream/JGB sense than a GD proper sense. But one could always use the label in a broader way, in any case...
I guess in a nutshell, we have the GoGD. I don't need another semi-clone. I've got lots of other stuff to get to. I never got the Phish thing and probably never will. And look; I don't mean to say anything denigrating a band you like, so rock it. Enjoy it. But it's just so very inconsequentional to me.
And the wonderful clean and fresh Oregon water in those wonderful Oregon I(I)PAs! Me def more a Spreadhead. Saw WP at the Wow Hall multiple times on white blotter in Eugene back in the magickal mystikal 90's ! Had almost as many WP tapes as JGB too.
Kinda like how Clutch fratboy fanboys ruined the Heavy Stoner Rock scene here in Portland in the early naughts! Lols.
Sorry, I have been afk for the most part this week. I had a kid stuck in Italy on Tuesday. I am still checking my pulse. Anyway, I must admit I love the vocal flubs. Especially, when Donna is calling out someone like she's the babysitter. And the trainwrecks, well, if you are not at a point where you appreciate what they represent, then you might need to put that notion back in the oven for a bit.
I think I agree. But the jam out of Weather Report Suite on August 4 is a pretty good picture of my ideal performance from this band.
Yeah man. I'm not sure how many sarcastic statements of yours I've agreed with in all seriousness tonight, but probably more than half.
Jerry & Karl...ahhhh, they do look alike. Sorta'. Prickly City by Scott Stantis for May 25, 2018 | GoComics.com
December of 1979 would be well served by a properly curated box set. The 1st must be released on it's own merit, from the reel-to-reel source.
I saw Phish once, really hoping to find a new musical interest. I came to the conclusion that there was no there there. Saw WSP with the same result, and I was 4th row at Red Rocks. Nada.
I was there for a couple of these nights in '92. It was my first road trip to see the boys, and I think my 3rd and 4th shows. This was the best vibe of all the (10) shows I saw. I still remember a sign on the restroom door that read: "Just Say Know." In hindsight, it was a pretty good weekend of music. '92 was a bit of a comatose year, for sure, but there were some nice moments. I actually wrote a short story about the trip but that's long gone. One copy went to a museum exhibit about the band in Huntington Beach. I gave a copy to Pete Lavezolli, but he said he couldn't find it. Oh well. If this story is out there, someone knows.
Phish were as much a victim of a "frat boy" invasion as the Dead. I was eighteen in the fall of 1989 and coming off of a sick Fall 89 Dead/JGB run when I stumbled into Phish. They were like a secret club back then. No fratboys to be found. If anything, the audience was younger and cooler than the Dead audience. I'd describe those audiences as college geeks and artists. They got down too. Intense dancing... just stupid fun with a band that could meet their energy level and collectively get off together. Then I looked up one day in the Summer of 1991 and saw a sea of baseball cap wearing guys bobbing their head to the music. It changed the music and the scene. A little secret... Phish sucks at jamming. They were at their best when they played composed pieces with vigor, and only improvised along the edges. Kind of like Spring 77 GD.
One more thing. I coined a term there at Shoreline: goo. Everything was gooey. I didn't know about it being a dump site at the time, but now it's starting to make sense.
Go listen to Phil on 11/24/79 Golden Hall. Particularly, Sailor Saint. Fall of '79 is one of my favorite periods, period.
I think "Fire Up The Ganja" is from a reggae band who sat in with Phish in their bar band days (not sure). Rift has some of their best songwriting.
