i am extremely happy for bob and the band being able to continue playing and also am grateful that the music is reaching a bit of a new crowd of people also. it brings me real joy to know that music is being carried on to another generation.
the thing is the grateful dead were/are something deeply spiritual for me. the music changed my life profoundly on many levels and over the years i have formed ideas and opinions about why that it (that many of you may not share or even disagree with). i think the dead were up to something deeply spiritual and a big part of that was egolessness. im not being naive here and i know none of the members were/are perfect-- far from it actually. but they were able to enter a place onstage where something bigger than them came through and it touched lives in very deep ways. my life has been profoundly altered by participating in their music both on cd and seeing them live. finding their music allowed me to see beyond the culture, class and education i had received up to that point. it pointed and introduced me to something "other" and an entirely new paradigm unfolded.
i think a big part of this was jerry's style and approach. i have never even one time got distracted while listening to jerry play and there is always a deep sense of something "other" coming through him, an energy and a feeling that is hard to define. over the years i have come to see that as "god" coming through but obviously many people would use a different term than that to describe the same phenomenon.
and i was able to find this special power, the spirituality of it listening to cd's and tapes. its there and you dont have to see them live to participate in it. and since the dead were so generous allowing people to record shows we have so many powerful shows to choose from. there is no need to see them live to have the experience. it is captured on cd amazingly.
i dont get that experience with dead and co. sure there are hints of it but it seems to be there because of what once was and not because of what is happening now at leaste not even close to the same degree.
mayer is a big problem for me. he plays too long, too verbose and it (in my estimation) comes way more from a place of ego and self that just wasn't present with jerry. it is polluting even though he is an amazing talent. i think both players have an effect on the rest of the band for better and worse. i cannot surrender body mind and soul to a dead and co show.
it is the spirituality of the dead's approach, of the music, the lyrics and of the power that came through them and mayer certainly diminishes this greatly for me. it would have been better to keep the dso jerry imo but i can see why they did not.
edit-- the thing is i dont place the grateful dead or the jerry garcia band in the same category as any other band. there are lots and lots of bands that i love. fela kuti, talking heads, alice coltrane, cowboy junkies etc. there are so many good bands and great musicians. but the dead are not in that category for me. they are the only ones who did what they did-- they entered the "other" and brought people with them in a uniquely powerful way. dead and co is a great band, a hell of a great band, but they are no longer in that category that the dead occupy and for that reason its not possible for me to listen without being let down.
the thing is the grateful dead were/are something deeply spiritual for me. the music changed my life profoundly on many levels and over the years i have formed ideas and opinions about why that it (that many of you may not share or even disagree with). i think the dead were up to something deeply spiritual and a big part of that was egolessness. im not being naive here and i know none of the members were/are perfect-- far from it actually. but they were able to enter a place onstage where something bigger than them came through and it touched lives in very deep ways. my life has been profoundly altered by participating in their music both on cd and seeing them live. finding their music allowed me to see beyond the culture, class and education i had received up to that point. it pointed and introduced me to something "other" and an entirely new paradigm unfolded.
i think a big part of this was jerry's style and approach. i have never even one time got distracted while listening to jerry play and there is always a deep sense of something "other" coming through him, an energy and a feeling that is hard to define. over the years i have come to see that as "god" coming through but obviously many people would use a different term than that to describe the same phenomenon.
and i was able to find this special power, the spirituality of it listening to cd's and tapes. its there and you dont have to see them live to participate in it. and since the dead were so generous allowing people to record shows we have so many powerful shows to choose from. there is no need to see them live to have the experience. it is captured on cd amazingly.
i dont get that experience with dead and co. sure there are hints of it but it seems to be there because of what once was and not because of what is happening now at leaste not even close to the same degree.
mayer is a big problem for me. he plays too long, too verbose and it (in my estimation) comes way more from a place of ego and self that just wasn't present with jerry. it is polluting even though he is an amazing talent. i think both players have an effect on the rest of the band for better and worse. i cannot surrender body mind and soul to a dead and co show.
it is the spirituality of the dead's approach, of the music, the lyrics and of the power that came through them and mayer certainly diminishes this greatly for me. it would have been better to keep the dso jerry imo but i can see why they did not.
edit-- the thing is i dont place the grateful dead or the jerry garcia band in the same category as any other band. there are lots and lots of bands that i love. fela kuti, talking heads, alice coltrane, cowboy junkies etc. there are so many good bands and great musicians. but the dead are not in that category for me. they are the only ones who did what they did-- they entered the "other" and brought people with them in a uniquely powerful way. dead and co is a great band, a hell of a great band, but they are no longer in that category that the dead occupy and for that reason its not possible for me to listen without being let down.
Last edited by FranklinsTower on Sat Nov 06, 2021 6:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.