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

Dead>LeBron>Dead in the World's Most Famous Arena. Maybe the world hasn't completely gone to Hell after all.

The first night is up on YouTube, at least for the moment.

 

Nice to hear something different, but that trip on down the line sure goes a heck of a lot slower when you're a senior citizen!

 

How do you even mess up "Me and My Uncle"? First time since 1966?

Relisten

 

On Colbert tonight.

 

Are the tempos still sloooow? Haven't heard a second of the new tour

 

From The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Dead & Company perform "Jack Straw"...

 

What's up with Bob's guitar? Sounded not so good

 

But his voice sounded good once it warmed up. John's guitar playing is spot on but his voice is just not ragged enough for the material.

 

Yes, for the most part. I've given up thinking Bob wants to/is capable of speeding them up so it what it is.

 

I watched the first show of the tour from my couch and thought they sounded terrific. I'm really looking forward to the Texas shows. It'll never be like the Dead, but it's what we're left with, so I'm choosing to enjoy it. I think they keep getting better. I saw all four Boulder shows and so far they sound noticeably better.

 

That sucks. I really don't like when Bob does this. He was doing this to a lot of his songs towards the end of Furthur. Play the the songs at the proper tempo. This is why many times I'd rather see Phil and whomever he's playing with. But I didn't notice too much slowness at the Hollywood Bowl, second show, last summer.

 

I saw them in Clarkston in summer 2016 and when you're at the show I don't think you really notice the tempos one way or the other, or at least I didn't! And I had a great time.

 

That was a really good tour though. I've seen live Bobby slowness in Ratdog and Furthur, and I don't really care for it.

In 2016 Dead & Co. was performing "Even So" and that was a slog, but I don't like that song anyway. It's only a problem when they slow down a tune that shouldn't be treated that way (in my opinion anyway).

 

The performance on Colbert was perhaps the most boring I’ve ever seen a band put in in my life. I’m not a fan, but I have an open mind when it comes to music. I liked Bob’s stache though

 

See it's funny how we can watch the same thing and come to two totally different conclusions, because I really enjoyed it! Whereas I did not really enjoy their previous late night talk show performances.

 

I was at the show in Philadelphia last night, about 6 or 7 rows from the rail in the GA pit.

I thought it was a good night for them overall. The first set was pretty mellow but the song selection in the second set was fun: Dark Star > Truckin' > Smokestack Lightning > Deal > Eyes of the World > Drums > Space > Dear Prudence > Uncle John's Band > Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad. E: Black Muddy River

JM's style fits better with some songs than others. He had the house rocking on Deal. Dark Star is still a work in progress (though isn't it always?) but it had some moments. At certain times/songs it feels like he's still learning how to weave in and out of what the other musicians are doing. But it's good that he makes things his own vs. trying to imitate.

This was my fifth D&C show; I go in with realistic expectations and have always had a good time.

As a side note, I agree that tempo is sometimes an issue.

 

I saw them on the Colbert show last night, and thought it was all right. But I was struck by the t-shirt that Bob Weir was wearing. Was that Lowell George on Bob's tee?

 

it wasnt olde jer?

 

I cannot take that too slow tempo. They get a chance to kill it with an all-time Jack Straw Jam on national TV and they play THAT?!?!

 

I thought the tempo was OK, but Meyer blew it on the guitar solo.

Garcia's signature on that tune was a solo that burned the house down, not some dinky half-hearted twanging around and a handoff to Weir.

I'm more on the side of 'these guys are OK' than 'No, thanks,' but that was not their best performance.

 

I thought it was Garcia, too.

 

I thought tempo and Meyer's playing and singing were all problematic.

 

Definitely Garcia, I was looking at that shirt the other day somewhere online

I just watched it again to check out the shirt, I like what meyer played for the most part; I can respect not playing Garcia note for note, and that was fine behind the singing and in fills, IMO. I can't speak for his thought process, but the solo came across as trying to channel Garcia, without getting a lot of the elements right.

To me, that sounds like 'a' Garcia tone and style, but not the right one for that passage.

The Grateful Dead, in spite of all the guitar focus, didn't have a ton of 'guitar hero' moments, but that was an opportunity for one, and that's certainly an idiom Meyer knows well enough.

 

I thought Mayer played Jack Straw very "tastefully" on Colbert.

 

the fellow nutmegger guitar hero
carlos santana guitar hero
no garcia guitar hero?