Dead Article in The NewYorker

[TI4-1009]

"A nice big one" as Pooh said. Get a cup of coffee and sit down for a nice long read, written by one of us:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/11/26/121126fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all

[Rusty the Scoob]

Otherwise, I thought of the Dead at that time, if I thought of them at all, as some kind of malevolent cult, or, at least, a heavy-metal outfit, like Black Sabbath. A kid saw the iconography around—the skulls and skeletons—and imagined dark, angry noise. When I was thirteen, I bought an album of greatest hits, “Skeletons from the Closet,” and discovered that I’d been wrong

Change 13 to 16 and add in that I bought the CD at a yard sale, and this is exactly my story of how I got on the bus as well. Not a very exciting start to my life as a Deadhead, that's for sure.

[Rusty the Scoob]

Interesting. He calls DSO Exhilarating but says it's embarrassing and pathetic to like in the same paragraph. Freakin' hipsters.

I saw D.S.O. for the first time eight years ago, around the time I discovered the Archive. That night, they played something from 1973. It was astonishing how well they replicated the era’s sound, which I knew only from those old cassettes. They didn’t seem to have the imagination or the gall to stretch out the way the Dead did, but they played the songs and the solos with a proficiency and a verve that was startling, and a tone that sounded true. It was exhilarating to hear live a kind of music I’d previously heard only on tape and assumed, with the death of Garcia, I’d never hear again. In many respects it was better than any of the Dead I’d seen in the few years before Garcia’s death, when I spent most concerts standing stone-still, with my arms crossed. It was embarrassing and pathetic, perhaps, to be going to see a tribute band unironically—my wife calls them the Dork Star Orchestra—yet it was a thrill to hear the music played well in a small room.

I love being in a GD tribute band. I know I'm not making some Grand Art or anything, but it sure is fun! For us and the crowd, it's a blast, just getting together and celebrating what Jerry and the boys gave us.

[tcsned]

Otherwise, I thought of the Dead at that time, if I thought of them at all, as some kind of malevolent cult, or, at least, a heavy-metal outfit, like Black Sabbath. A kid saw the iconography around—the skulls and skeletons—and imagined dark, angry noise. When I was thirteen, I bought an album of greatest hits, “Skeletons from the Closet,” and discovered that I’d been wrong

Change 13 to 16 and add in that I bought the CD at a yard sale, and this is exactly my story of how I got on the bus as well. Not a very exciting start to my life as a Deadhead, that's for sure.

Kinda similar, I knew they were, at the time, categorized as "acid rock" but I was thinking like Iron Butterfly and found American Beauty in the cut-out bin at the record store. Not was I was thinking they'd sound like but it drew me in nonetheless. Went to see them the next year in Baltimore (82) and I was hooked. I was at this guy's first show too (Merriweather 84).

[Smolder]

the "embarrassing and pathetic" part was in reference to his seeing a tribute band, not to DSO specifically.

[mgbills]

Thanks T. Great read.

I love this kind of thing. History....carrying all its trappings of former glory...and the faint smell moldering paper, amyl acetate and decay. It was a grand time that we all collided with.

I still wonder how I went from a guy who saw The Boys as boring disorganzed country music....to a 30+ year acolyte at the grand alter in a church that never claimed me as a member. Egad.

Huh...what...reverie. What did I say...Oh yea...Great read!
Peace
M

[TI4-1009]

Man, it's been so long I can't even remember how I got on the bus. ("If you can remember the 60's.... ). I'm pretty sure I had Anthem of the Sun when I went to college in the fall of '68- or shortly thereafter, so it had to have been in late high school. Not sure there were many if any tapes circulating at that time. Went to Woodstock (9/69) mainly to see the Dead for the first time. I remember getting Live Dead at the record store on Marshall Street in Syracuse when it came out (I think I went through 3 vinyl copies before CDs came out). But "I don't know how it all got started..".

I already told the saga of one of my first shows (11/20/70) here"

http://www.rukind.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=311&t=11924

Maybe hypnosis?

[tcsned]

the "embarrassing and pathetic" part was in reference to his seeing a tribute band, not to DSO specifically.

lol - I was thinking that he was the guy from DSO. Though to The New Yorker readers most wouldn't know DSO from any of the rest. Heck, I couldn't tell you the names of anyone else in that band other than John K and Jeff M

[Rusty the Scoob]

Is it bad that I can easily rattle off their first and last names off the top of my head?

[mgbills]

I know there's 3 Robs....Eaton, Boracco (sp), and that drummer guy. Dino, Kevin, Lisa, Matt the Manager...Used to be Sco the BOH soundboard buy (don't know who now), Healy was FOH some years ago.

And I can't remember what I did an hour ago at work. I like that Grateful Dead music...and I'm pretty forgiving of whom-so-ever is playing it. I've been known to veg and watch those SneakyPower guys on YouTube.

I should get help.

[Charlie]

Great article.

Otherwise, I thought of the Dead at that time, if I thought of them at all, as some kind of malevolent cult, or, at least, a heavy-metal outfit, like Black Sabbath.

The Dead never toured Australia and don't have much of a profile here. The quote above is a pretty typical preconception for most Australians (or at least those who have actually heard of the Dead. The only Aussies who know the band's music tend to be older like myself (57) who were listening in the early 70's and had a bit of a hippie sensibility.