Somthiung about Dead tribute bands....

[sarraqum]

...that I can't get with. Dark Star Orchestra for example. Good musicians but whenever I listen to it I just want to turn them off. It's not the Dead, no matter how good the imitation is.

[guilhermeful dead]

Before finished reading your post, I already had the answer in mind. Then you answered it yourself: They're not the Dead!

[waldo041]

True, they are not the dead. and neither is anyone who covers a dead tune. NO ONE will every replace Jerry or the magic the Grateful Dead brought to this world. BUT what they left us was the music, and it my friends has NEVER STOPPED!

DSO, does not set out to play note for note shows, what they try and do accomplish the majority of the time is invoke the spirit and magic of what the real boys brought to us. they should NOT be looked at as THE Grateful Dead, because we all know they are not. BUT they do Cover the Dead, imho, better then anyone out there, and you can't fault them for that.

my 2 cents.

peace,
waldo

[Pigpen]

I guess it depends on the overall Dead experience the listener has had. Me for example, Is too young to have seen them live and I love DSO. My Dad, a deadhead since about 1970 and seen the Dead many times... loves DSO. Just depends

[razmablues]

i don't go see darkstar to pretend it's the dead, i know it's not, but it's still great, they are keeping the SONGS alive, in it's live tradition, and doing all they can to make the magic happen, and i appreciate that simplicity of it.

i never got to see the dead, i was 6 when jerry died, but i'm grateful of this legacy and culture that was left behind, and being able to still have some fun and dance to it!

p.s. Cubensis blows darkstar out of the water except for the vocals. the vocals aren't bad, but the darkstar vocals are very creepily close to jerry and bob's. check em out!

[tigerstrat]

whenever I listen to it I just want to turn them off

does this mean you want to go to the soundboard and switch it off? switch off their amps?

...or does it mean you are listening to a recording of a tribute? imho, no matter how good a tribute is, it isn't meant for playback. The function of a Dead tribute band is to have a LIVE experience with the music, in a celebratory gathering with a group of like-minded, Dead-loving folks -having fun! Imho, sharing the experience is the vital part of the Grateful Dead experience that is missing from listening recordings of the Dead, not to mention dancing with cute hippie girls! If you are at your home or in your car just popping in CD's or mp3's, I can't imagine why you wouldn't be listening to the actual Dead??

[IamDocWatson]

i am starting to hate john k of darkstars voice, he is emphasizing this accent that isnt his, nor jerry's really, sometimes i hear that accent creep out of jerrys voice for a split second, but john emphasizes more than jerry ever did and he does it all the time, its annoying, id rather him just sing in his own voice, also his solos are completely predictable and similar from song to song, rob eaton plays bobs role pretty well but not vocally which is good though i dont like people trying to sound like some one else...and the bass player is sick...so overall i will see dso if theyre at a festival im already at but after seeing them a bunch its all kinda old to me, i like their original setlist, i would go to a terrapin nation show but not dso

[guilhermeful dead]

One of the best concerts I attended to was "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by the Genesis cover band "The Musical Box". Even though they manage to recreate it in all its details, including instruments, costumes, etc..., it's not Genesis. To listen to a cover band, no matter how good they are, expecting to experience the exact same thing you would feel if you were listening to the original group is always a source of frustration. They all have their qualities.

[sarraqum]

Whoever mentioned the word "creepy" is hitting the bullseye here. Its very unsettling to think that a group of talented musicians would go to such painstaking extents to recreate an experience that quite frankly they are incapable of doing.
I can appreciate the fact the DSO is a collective of very good artists/musicians but their talents are put to imitating another band, a band that far better than them.
I've listened to few of their shows (never all the way through) and yes, I always want to change the music to lets say, the Dead themselves. Not to take anything away from them but its just not for me.

[LazyLightnin]

whenever i see DSO i try not to over alalyze the music. no cover band is ever an exact copy, you all know that! But when those guys are up there jamming their hearts out to the music we love ,i just start to boogie and forget about all those little stipulations. who cares about what they do or dont do, if the emotions there than what more can u ask for?

[sarraqum]

But that's the thing Lazy, I can't "start to boogie" with them or any other cover bands, not just GD cover bands, hence the name of the the thread (minus the obvious spelling error), there is something about them that puts me off.

[AugustWest]

I think of DSO as a killer bar band. When I am going out to have a good time and want to dance and get up with some old tour friends dso is my favorite group to go see. I like knowing every song. I love to yell and sing a long. Everyone at dso shows are haveing a great time!! I do not listen to dso shows on cd or the archive. Why would I, unless they played a really killer original setlist. DSO is meant to be seen. It just feels good to hear the deads songs. It's not the dead and I don't try to go to their shows to hear something close to the dead. I go to hear grateful dead SONGS and dance and drink and shout and have a great time. When you go to another jam band show and your having a good time how many people have heard a crowd just erupt with exitetment when they tease a riff to a grateful dead song. (I got a shakedown tease at a gov't mule show recently and the energy just got sucked out of the place when they decided not to go into it but back into the song they where playing) I remember going to a big wu show and no one danced for three original songs into the show until they played a help on the way then they boogey fest began. With DSO you get an entire show of boogeying down to some grateful dead tunes. You got to see it to believe it.

[sarraqum]

I guess you're right, its one of those things that you have to see live to appreciate.
So once again it boils to live shows, which incidentally Europe is deprived of. Oh well, we'd just have to rely on good old bootlegs and live releases as we always have.....

[jackr]

Whoever mentioned the word "creepy" is hitting the bullseye here. Its very unsettling to think that a group of talented musicians would go to such painstaking extents to recreate an experience that quite frankly they are incapable of doing.
I can appreciate the fact the DSO is a collective of very good artists/musicians but their talents are put to imitating another band, a band that far better than them.

It may be creepy but

1- it is a paying gig. They may be very good musisians but individually it is very very difficult to make a living playing music. THere is a lot of competiton out there. They found a way to make a living, play great music and have fun doing so.

2 - We all still love the music and enjoyable to hear. But I do realize it is different being a tribute band then just doing a cover of thier tunes.

3 - If there were to ask me to be a member of DSO (assuming I could actually play well - LOL), I would do it, wouldn't you?

[strumminsix]

TS - You nailed it.

LazyL & AugW I agree with you two as well.

Am I the only one who is scratching their head why in a forum dedicated to playing Grateful Dead music that somebody is slighting Dead cover bands?

Ironic? Now even more ironic is the cat who posted it complains about no jambands in EU and DSO was just there!

I can say for a few of us here we do well in our own area playing Dead tunes. But it's all about entertainment. Except for the rare few out there, this is hobby and something fun. Tribute bands fill a void this has been created by a band's retirement.

I for one am so happy for cover bands. If not for them I'd only dance to Dead tunes in my living room by myself.