Grateful Dead Music Forum

Chocol8 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 09, 2022 2:16 pm They are going to take a short break and then come back with tempos that are even slower.

carlo zakers wrote: ↑Sun Nov 14, 2021 7:40 pm

strumminsix wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:18 am

carlo zakers wrote: ↑Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:36 pm
Bobby is awesome, but he was always following Jerry... the Ying to his Yang ... now, no one is in charge ... there is no leader ... Bobby used to be able to just stand there, and allow things to happen all around him ... and with Jerry and Phil on stage, things would always happen ... now, he stands there waiting for something to happen, but it never does ...

To my ears there are plenty of times when Bobby has driven the train. Listen to early 70s China-Rider transition. Bobby puts the boys on his back and carries them where he's going.

Respectfully, I also disagree strongly with many of the other statements you make here. For one, Bob has said he feels Jerry on stage with him at every show. They drop photos of him into the setlists they post on social media. They're doing anything but ignoring him or trampling on his legacy. They're honoring it.

After Jerry died I was among the crowd that would never entertain the notion of any of the surviving members playing as a reincarnation (pun intended) of the Dead without Jerry. Never went in for Further, The Other Ones, The Dead, etc. Also, I was quite turned off at first by Bobby singing Jerry's songs.

However, the one and only time I saw D&C, at MSG in 2017, Bob singing Stella Blue brought me to tears. And I realized something: that's his song, too. Garcia and Hunter wrote it, but how many times over the past half-century has Bob played it for the world with his brother Jerry and the rest of the Dead? When Bobby sang it that night, I could feel Jerry in the building. And I was significantly less, ahem, chemically enhanced that night than in my younger GD-going days. He was singing it for his lost brother. And all of them — including Mayer, who floored me that night and has approached this task with humility and respect — are ensuring that this music lives forever.

As for their musicianship, I can say with confidence that the quality of playing at the show I saw, and what I listen to online, surpasses much of the last few years of the Grateful Dead. Anyone who went to shows at that time knows what I'm talking about. It was painful to see Jerry struggling through some of those performances, and it negatively affected the rest of the band and their ability to listen to one another, communicate, improvise and explore as a unit. And I think Chimenti, in particular, is light years ahead of where Vince was in terms of chops and, especially, ears.

D&C are not the Grateful Dead, to be sure. But the Grateful Dead will never play another show. Their music, however, belongs to the world. And in Dead & Company, three of the surviving members have teamed with three other outstanding musicians who recognize this and do their best at every show to keep the flame alive. God bless them for that.

natebernstein wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:06 am

carlo zakers wrote: ↑Sun Nov 14, 2021 7:40 pm

strumminsix wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:18 am

To my ears there are plenty of times when Bobby has driven the train. Listen to early 70s China-Rider transition. Bobby puts the boys on his back and carries them where he's going.

Respectfully, I also disagree strongly with many of the other statements you make here. For one, Bob has said he feels Jerry on stage with him at every show. They drop photos of him into the setlists they post on social media. They're doing anything but ignoring him or trampling on his legacy. They're honoring it.

After Jerry died I was among the crowd that would never entertain the notion of any of the surviving members playing as a reincarnation (pun intended) of the Dead without Jerry. Never went in for Further, The Other Ones, The Dead, etc. Also, I was quite turned off at first by Bobby singing Jerry's songs.

However, the one and only time I saw D&C, at MSG in 2017, Bob singing Stella Blue brought me to tears. And I realized something: that's his song, too. Garcia and Hunter wrote it, but how many times over the past half-century has Bob played it for the world with his brother Jerry and the rest of the Dead? When Bobby sang it that night, I could feel Jerry in the building. And I was significantly less, ahem, chemically enhanced that night than in my younger GD-going days. He was singing it for his lost brother. And all of them — including Mayer, who floored me that night and has approached this task with humility and respect — are ensuring that this music lives forever.

As for their musicianship, I can say with confidence that the quality of playing at the show I saw, and what I listen to online, surpasses much of the last few years of the Grateful Dead. Anyone who went to shows at that time knows what I'm talking about. It was painful to see Jerry struggling through some of those performances, and it negatively affected the rest of the band and their ability to listen to one another, communicate, improvise and explore as a unit. And I think Chimenti, in particular, is light years ahead of where Vince was in terms of chops and, especially, ears.

D&C are not the Grateful Dead, to be sure. But the Grateful Dead will never play another show. Their music, however, belongs to the world. And in Dead & Company, three of the surviving members have teamed with three other outstanding musicians who recognize this and do their best at every show to keep the flame alive. God bless them for that.

sorry, looks like I messed up the code in the message that indicates where the quote of a previous post ends. To clarify above, everything beginning with "To my ears" above is me.