[phreaker]

My favorite band at the moment is Disco Biscuits. Some people I know hate them because they're riffs are redundant, and they repeat everything for about 20 minutes untill they reach the next part of the song. that stuff can be kind of annoying, but when the repeating/trance/loop stuff is over, they start to jam. and they do some amazing jams. favorites inculde the Spy jam, Pat and Dex, Jigsaw Earth, and Story of the world. so much energy in those jams.

Moe. as well. they came through my town on January 28 to liberty hall. look that up, it's amazing. i heard a lot of tour heads say it was one of the best shows on the tour so far.

[dawgboy]

Long live the tea bag green. Songs with lyrical substance and jams with face melting riffs.

[colotic]

widespread panic

[tigerstrat]

There is no torch to carry. All of these bands are their OWN torch. There is (and has been) NO band that Deadheads will all agree on, except the Dead.(and sometimes even then!)

Most of these bands can't hold my attention for more than a minute (YMSB is one exception), but I pretty much only have one band that really gets my butt shakin' my mind blowin' and keeps me coming back for more: Garaj Mahal

[JONZILLA]

It's much too hard to say. No one knows which of these bands' music will stand the test of time. Just keep your ears wide...

[groovemongrel]

Long live the tea bag green. Songs with lyrical substance and jams with face melting riffs.

I love TLG!

[JONZILLA]

Man, just heard TLG for the first time. Thank you Jesus (and rukind).

[jackaroe1276]

I say this in the most non-confrontational way so as not to offend anyone. It is only my opinion. I really think the torch of the Dead has died out a long time ago on the "mainstream" jam scene. It just seems to me that there is a severe lack of soul in the jam scene nowadays. To me Phish was alot more fun that soul-healing if that makes any sense. I loved going to a Phish show, but I went there for a fun time. With the Dead there was a real sense of just feeling so much better afterwards. The people were nice, and the music meant so much more than just "jamming".

Bands like UM/Moe/Bisco/and even more recent Cheese have seemed to lose sight of that aspect. Sure, the jams are phenominal, but the music is not all about speed and technique. There's a distinct lack of "feel" that is really becoming more and more prevalent. I think it started with people misinterpreting Trey's greatness on guitar. People would walk away saying what an awesome solo he played in Maze or something like that and idolize the speed. That aspect is all I hear today. It seems like a band's coolness is predicated on how fast the guitarist can rip out a solo.

Sad to say, I think the jam scene today has alot more in common with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai than it does the Grateful Dead.

[Shaggy]

None one has ever really sounded like the Grateful Dead and you could sit here and name every so called jam band going and they wouldn't touch the dead for jamming. And yet, the Dead also had greater formal/proper story songs then any of them as well.

In my opinion Jerry Garcia was and still is the only guitarist ever to get away with stretching a song out and soloing longer than a tv show without coming across as an ego maniac, tech driven freak showing off!

So in relations to the dead I don't really know what a jam band is because they can only be compared to themselves. I'd rather listen to proper jazz and see where that takes me rather than some of the newer bands.

[Chief5959]

We always have the Allamns to rely on. IMHO the way they are playing now is as good as the early Fillmore days and they are a band with a lot of potential for the future as Warren says they are making changes to their set lists, jams etc getting ready for the upcoming beacon run. I agree with the other poster about Gov't Mule as well. I think for older deadheads like myself the road forward is haeding more towards jazz where the dynamic interplay between musicians during improvisations happens more often.

[lovingweir]

I vote for Yonder Mountain!!!!!!!!!!! These guys know how to play great music with the ordinary instruments.
I feel the jam scene is getting old and way to electronica. I think it is great SCI is over. For me they were over years ago when they quit bluegrass and tried to be all drugged out electronica. I am sorry but synthized beats get sooooooooooo old if that is all you hear. I don't mind bands mixing it in occassionally but it just seems every band these days sounds so similar. it is the same cheesy beats. I am sick of the whole glowstick rave scene. I want to hear real talent with real instruments. Or for the talented electronic players something new!
Yonder is where it is at!! and you do not need to be tripping to enjoy the music unlike all those bands that play the strung-out electronic beats
The dead played some tripped out shit with electronics but they had so much more that you could still go to a show sober and dance all night.
I love live music but lately nothing besides yonder is grabbing my soul and of course ratdog and Dark Star.
Peace Always!!!!!!!!!

[Jimkkc]

I knew that if I stayed here long enough, people would turn up that agreed with me on the jam band phenom!

What I have heard from the current jam bands doesn't interest me in the least - that said, I think my lack of interest says more about my changing musical tastes than it does about the relative talent or soul of any jam band. I find myself pulled in the jazz direction one day and then the acoustic stylings of Kottke or Drake the next. I had sirius sattelite for a year and would faithfully listen to the jam station, but I found myself continually looking for Rhonda Hamilton's Jazz Afternoon shows more than the evening Phish set. I don't consider myself a jazz snob or even a jazz aficianado, but I do know that Coltrane Live in Japan or Love Supreme do more for my head than sci or widespread panic have ever done.

Just my .02 cents worth - ain't it great that we have all this music to listen to?