Posted on 08/08/2003 10:54:17 AM PDT by presidio9
Prepare for two nights of the living Dead. Surviving members of the original psychedelic jam band, The Grateful Dead, will play two shows at Jones Beach this weekend under their new name, The Dead.
Though the Grateful Dead's cultishly revered four-and-half-fingered lead guitarist and front man Jerry Garcia died on Aug. 9, 1995, don't expect long-winded tributes to him at tomorrow's anniversary show.
"They are not a band known for talking much to the audience," says Joan Osborne, the singer famous for her 1995 hit "One Of Us." She joins former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann on their "Summer Getaway" tour. Guitarist Jimmy Herring and keyboardists Rob Barraco and Jeff Chimenti complete the roster.
However, The Dead will treat fans to a special acoustic set — a first in New York City since their famed 1980 Radio City Music Hall show.
Larry Teitel, 43, a legal investigator who has seen members of the band play roughly 200 times — including the 1980 Radio City show — has tickets to both tomorrow and Sunday's concerts. For him, the band's not highlighting Garcia's passing isn't an issue: "I think the music alone will create the vibe [to honor him]," he says.
After Garcia's death, the group vowed never to call themselves "The Grateful Dead" again. Until this summer, Weir, Lesh and Hart have toured as The Other Ones, as well as in offshoot groups such as Phil Lesh & Friends.
Some Deadheads find the survivors' new name and decision to tour a betrayal.
"From what I can see, the current touring ensemble is profoundly unsentimental," says David Gans, who has written several books about The Grateful Dead and has been the host of the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour radio program for more than 15 years.
"They made a really cynical marketing choice to take back half of the name. A lot of Deadheads are not interested in paying [a ton of money] to see a bunch of guys who've had nothing nice to say to each other in the eight years after Jerry's death get back together just to make money."
(After Garcia's death, surviving members notoriously squabbled over business-related issues.)
Marc Kahn, a fan in his mid-30s who's also going to the shows, has a different views.
"There are old Deadheads who say the Grateful Dead died with Jerry, but there's a younger generation who is happier with the new band because they have a different, upbeat sound," he says.
"It's pretty natural that [some] fans might not want things to change," says Osborne. "But I think these guys are just trying to work on new material for themselves and the audience. If they didn't, then it's just an exercise in nostalgia."
Twenty minute? A long, long time ago, I had a misfortune to attend a stadium concert where the main attraction, I don't remember, the Who, or the Stones, let the Dreadful Grape close, knowing they'd be playing into the wee hours of the morning. I went home during or after second or third one of those dreadful, pretentious, self indulgent, unmusical 1+ hour guitar solos, where all the other "musicians" leave the stage to the stoned "genius". I have never seen a worse show at a motel lounge. Haven't listened to this ridiculous band since!
Nowadays I pack a .357 snubby!
(Like the Jefferson Airplane said....'Life Is Change')
BTW, my favorite line, "Jerry Garcia no longer grateful."
'The other one' I imagine is a GD song that was the basis for this particular name (album- Grateful Dead (Skull And Roses) , and The Warlocks - the Grateful Dead's original name was used by the GD in venues that they otherwise would not pe alowed in as the GD, or to keep the stampede for tickets to a low roar.
The Grateful Dead originally got their name by a radom choice from a unabridged dictionary, and names like original music have not been something the boys - or extended Dead family - has been hung up about.
From the Other One, by Bobby Weir:
"...Escaping through the lily fields, I came across an empty space
It trembled and exploded, left a bus stop in its place
The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began
There was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to never ever land..."
Nope, me too.
For those of us familiar with the Grateful Dead, this makes perfect sense. The Dead were always audacious, innovative. Rebels, but never un-American.
"American Beauty" is a wonderful example of americana.
I've heard a few people bash Herring, but I thought he played his ass off.
And, they in fact allowed and encouraged Tapers at their shows! Gee, and that was before the flap over music piracy of today, and yet they were, and still are, a very financially sucessful group.
Whudda thunk it? Grateful Dead history on FR. Thanks.
Love the music
Yep, Ann Coulter is a deadhead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
