[spilly]

I found a strange state of afairs at this years Moe.Down. The classic deadheads are few and far between. with this fall out comes the neo-hippies. now usually at the Moe.Down you'll find two different groups Moe.rons, who love what it is that Moe. does, and the drugies, who roam from festival to festival blowing their minds with all sorts of things without rythme or reason.

This year was different, with Page, Fishman, and Mike being there, there were phishheads. This group has become rather forlorn, bring molly and K into the mix more than usual. (I have always loved phish, and hated phishheads) they seemed to miss the point and would complain between sets that did not include members of Phish.

After these came the UmpFreak (A.K.A- Umphres McGee fans) this lot was rather opressive. After every set by any other band someone would be heard to say they were shit compaired to Umphres. which in my opinion was not true at all. After Ziggy Marleys fantastic set I remarked to a random soul that the show was very uplifting and eased my worried mind. To which this gentelman replied "they were okay, but no one in the world could outplay umphes" when I confesed that I though Umph was good but left early to beat the crowed and make a steak the young man replied in an agressive manor "What are you stupid, or just a fucking Asshole" all I could say was I guess I'm just a moron. he either didn't catch the pun or didn't care for me enough cuase he gave the finger and walked away

The Moe.rons as always were goofy, generous to the best of their capabilities, and very confused by the demenor of the phishheads and Umpfeaks. it was discussed amongs many of the year Moe.Down attendies.

The drugies as always were just the drugies, the faces change but the attitude is the same.

All in all I got the impression that alot of people especially the younger crowd was trying to hard. As if there trying to live up to this great thing that they really know nothing about.

Not to say I have a bad time, indeed just the oposite. It rained all weekend and it was muddy as hell, which made everything an adventure, and the people in the know, who have been doing it for years all found each other and stuck together.

I think the selection of band brought a wierd cross-section of neo-hippies togther, and maybe those groups shouldn't be toghether so much, people don't have much respects for other peoples opinions any more, we've seen it alot on this site. It's almost like the slow steady decline of the movement has left everybody cynical and disallusioned, and they vent their frustrations on everybody who doesn't think exactly the same as they do.

I love the Moe.Down and I'm sure it'll be back to normal next year, but it was just a little wierd this time around. The new comers and the dedicated "heads"(witchever band they may be dedicated to) need to relize that it's 3 days of music, your not going to like every single band, and other are going to love the bands you didn't, Were celebrating all music not just one type or one band. and in all due respect to the phishheads and Umpfeaks, don't talk shit about Moe. at the Moe.Down. they went out of their ways to show us a good time. So what if Umphres only played on night and Moe. played three, it's Moe.'s festival.

So I guess that's what I had to say about that, I don't mean to offend anybody, but these statment only refer to a percentage of "Heads" at one festival, I've never realy witnessed behavior like that before and don't expect to again. Maybe all the mud cracked some people, I don't know, but it was wierd

[jck_strw]

Nice review, thanks for sharing.

Did you get a chance to see the Avett Brothers?

[Trystine]

Somewhere along the way people started thinking only about themselves and how they can have a good time instead of everybody having a good time. It seems to me it's really only been the last several years that I've noticed this.


All I've got to say, though, is welcome back home to rukind where it's always safe and warm.

[wisedyes]

That does seem to be true. One thing I have noticed over the years is that the sense of "community" really just isn't there anymore, or at least, it's damn hard to find sometimes. At the festivals I go to, or even the Dead related shows, the younger kids just aren't interested in anyone but their own particular groups of friends, seems like. Maybe I'm just getting old and cynical, who knows?

[jackaroe1276]

What you describe actually began years ago when Phish was at their peak. You'd see all these incredibly rich teenagers pull into the parking lot in their high end Beamers and Mercedes and walk around on their cell phones talking to each other. They weren't REALLY there for the music first, but used it rather as an excuse to do alot of drugs on their parent's dime. That's really the bottom line of it. Deadheads and true music fans go to a show to actually HEAR the music. While they do often use "enhancers" to accentuate the show, they would just as readily go to see the band completely sober because they love the music.

These punks just want a place to do drugs where it is acceptable to do so. They go back home and quickly throw their Incubus and green Day CD's in to purge the diversity and creativity they just heard out of their brains.

[eyeprod]

very interesting topic. i believe it's true even though i haven't been to any jamband type show in some time. the phish shows definitely had a taste of that element back in the early 90's when i saw them play. it's hard to relate to for me, but i can imagine the younger people in these scenes have a whole different perspective than my friends and i who went to alot of dead and jerry band shows when they were happening. the music today is not the same for one thing. emotionally, these OTHER bands are not comparable to the dead. not phish, not anyone. they may do some similar musical blends, but the feel of the dead is something i believe other bands try to emulate on some level. i also think about the big niche that was left after jerry died and how many people might try and capitalize on that. the point being that the emotional impact of the grateful deads' music is alot different from these other bands in the jamband scene. that's probably a factor in the audiences energy and attraction. i find alot of the jambands to be either way laid back or else kinda hyper, which is a weird combo anyway.

closer to home, i notice the wandering hippies and such that come through my town these days are of a more disrespectful and distasteful variety in general, and we get alot of them through here.

[spilly]

there is one thing I left out. On saturday night they opened up a lodge for the drums and guitars and such (it was raining and aparantly Moe. cares)
in that room we had real magic for one night, we played and sang probably around 150 dead tunes over the course of an entire evening. there was about 50 of us, the energy was so high, and the love was real. It was true old-school magic. of course by sunday it was ruined cause everyone had found out about it, but for 8 hour the true believers shared something special.

I'm really quit suprised that nobody jumped down my throat about what I had to say, but then again, it's good to be home. I really hope the new kids can find their way. They're not bad kids, they're just lost in the woods

[phreaker]

Knowing how much peyote and boomers they eat, they practically are the woods.

I guess most of the people I hang out with at shows are like that. I can't help it, theres pretty much no choice. Some of the kindest people I've met in the past few years have been the new generation of "hippies".

So I can't agree with you, because with most of the kids like that, that I've met, have been awesome.

But remember, I wasnt alive in the good ol' days. I know nothing else.

Then again, some of the younger generation makes up a lot of the "wharf rats". Ever heard of them?

"True deadheads get high on music".

[spilly]

not all the kids are lost, some are right on.

I wasn't around for the golden age myself, I cuaght the tail end of something great, the beauty of it is not lost, it's just fading slowly, but it can be brougth back, and some day it may

[abspatz]

i'm with spilly and phreaker on this. i wasn't around to see my favorite band play--i just remember finding out who jerry was on mtv the day he died. but the people i've met through the years at shows-- panic, phish, moe, sci, los, all the others....have changed my life forever. the atmosphere lives on. yeah, there are people who abuse the scene, but from what i've heard that was happening with the dead thru the 90s also.

that being said, when i go to see dark star i get a whole different feeling...the true deadheads are a class apart from everyone else! seeing those guys makes me feel like i'm in '72 with the whole scene what it should be. only a few short weeks till they come to portland...i'm counting the minutes!