Grateful Dead Music Forum

im sorry i thought you were putting an actual event together lol. on a brighter note, 400!

wow im a jerk, semiembarressed to misinterpret so greatly. but i am quite glad and relieved that you are not actually dropping so much dough for health class. i was seriously cringing when i thought you were actually putting an expensive event together. that grand would be better spent on a car, music equipment, savings/investment, charity, drugs, whores, anything but a high school project! (though this does sound like a pretty good thing to teach, relationship/marriage lessons sound like a better use of classtime than drug propaganda or abstinence bs)

PS - if you dont mind me asking, what kind of "south jersey" are you in? i went to college for a few years fairly close to you, and met a bunch of great people from south jersey. mostly haddonfield, mt laurel, cherry hill, and a pleasantly surprising amount are into the jam scene and have been great company for concerts and festivals.

check out these fellas: http://www.61northband.com/ good players and great guys. clips on the website are a little safe but they can certainly let loose.

same area that you just named haha

China Cat wrote:well in our project our teacher said that the band should cost about $1,500. Can i put theCAUSE down for a $1,500 wedding reception "gig"?

we'd be there in tuxes for that.

China Cat wrote:same area that you just named haha

good shit, anyone ive met there is genuine and a lot fun. and beautiful girls. do you go booze/chill in the pine barrens and "hunt the jersey devil" or is that just my weirdo buddys? check out that bands website, they are doing cherry hill on 8th. let me know if you plan on going.

$1500 for a typical wedding band is about right IMHO - they are playing for the paycheck.

I think you'd find Dead bands willing to play for less, even fairly well established and professional ones... we play for the love of the music and believe in spreading good vibes... blessing the nuptuals of fellow Deadheads with our imitation/interpretation of the music that we all know and love would be an honor in my opinion.

As far as the music being a retread - well, what are you here for then? IMHO if you hire a typical wedding band you just get tired old versions of the same 30 lame dance/pop tunes that have been played at weddings since the 70's. Playing the Dead properly means keeping the songs alive, with elements of rediscovery and surprise in every jam. Each time Phil plays the bassline to these songs it goes somewhere new and unexpected, and I struggle to do the same. This is why I quit playing the top 40 & classic rock dance tunes that were nicely supplementing my income and started playing the music that I personally love and find far more challenging.

So for your school project I think you should make the project about you and your pretend bride - skip the tuxes, skip the $500 wedding cake that tastes like newspaper, skip the $3000 dress and rented tuxes and the whole corporate overpriced wedding machinery that people have come to expect in this country and scale the whole thing back. Buy a cake that both looks nice and tastes good, from a local, cool baker, find a local costume shop to make a dress that shows off her personality, and hire a Dead tribute band that you really want. I'd say a band at my level would probably play a wedding for about $500.

haha yeah we try to hit the pines about once a week rev

and as far as the band thing goes i intend to use theCAUSE @ $1,500 for my project. if thats not cool with you guys just let me know and ill change it. thanks for all the feedback everybody and you all sure are in some damn good dead bands