OT: Dead & Company 6/13 roll call....

[alexd]

Anyone headed to the Meadows (or whatever they are calling it these days) Wednesday?? Have been a fan since '81...but only saw the original band once, back in '84. But went to Fenway and XL shows last year. Good times.

If you get confused just listen to the music play...

 

[outlaw]

Sure am. will be my 12th D&C show and second of this tour (Camden night 1) - really fun to see Bobby and the rhythm devils having so much fun with a (relatively) young supporting cast. Mayer can really rock when he's on. looking forward to another home show!

see ya on Shakedown

 

[uconnphil2016]

I’ll be there on Friday at Shea Stadium

 

[Huskybass]

I will be there. Saw them last fall and the summer of 2016. Both were great, mainly because of the massive talent of Mayer, Oteil and Chimenti.

 

[8893]

I can’t do it. Except for a few Phil & Friends shows, every post-Jerry iteration has only made his absence more glaring for me. I’m sure it’s a great time to see all the felllow heads again but the music does not do it for me. Wayyyy too slow. Listened to a bit on the SiriusXM broadcast the other night and it didn’t hold my interest.

I’d far prefer to see JRAD.

 

[8893]

I’ll be there on Friday at Shea Stadium

The Mikkeller brewery there is selling special tie-dyed shirts for the event. The place is worth checking out in any event. Tremendous beers and selection.

 

[uconnphil2016]

I can’t do it. Except for a few Phil & Friends shows, every post-Jerry iteration has only made his absence more glaring for me. I’m sure it’s a great time to see all the felllow heads again but the music does not do it for me. Wayyyy too slow. Listened to a bit on the SiriusXM broadcast the other night and it didn’t hold my interest.

I’d far prefer to see JRAD.

I’m too young to ever have seen Jerry. Wish I could have. I really enjoy bluegrass and he’s a darn good banjo picker in his stuff with Old and in the Way. He was a versatile talent. With that being said, Mayer is a hugely talented guitarist when he’s not making music just to get rich...John Mayer trio was great. Excited to see some semblance of the Dead!

 

[outlaw]

I’d far prefer to see JRAD.

JRAD totally underrated. DSO as well. Both acts, at times, sound closer to the dead than D&C. D&C is also getting away with murder on ticket and merch prices. It's a shame.

That said, the vibe is real and this band has been a lot of fun thus far. As mentioned, Mayer can really groove.

Speaking of underrated - they need to turn Jeff's keys UP.

 

[Zionn]

I also prefer JRad these days, but have seen tons of Dead shows. What will make this one cool? Taking my 70y.o. mom. Should be fun and look forward to seeing Yarders there.

 

[8893]

I’m too young to ever have seen Jerry. Wish I could have. I really enjoy bluegrass and he’s a darn good banjo picker in his stuff with Old and in the Way. He was a versatile talent. With that being said, Mayer is a hugely talented guitarist when he’s not making music just to get rich...John Mayer trio was great. Excited to see some semblance of the Dead!

I hear you, and I'm glad a younger generation is getting a chance to experience some semblance of the music and scene, however far removed.

I agree about Mayer's talent and I liked the trio too (although I think he's got the worst guitar face in history). Bobby was always my least favorite, especially musically, and there is simply too much of him in this band for me.

I'm currently about two hours away from finishing Dennis McNally's unabridged, 30-hour audiobook, Long Strange Trip, which has been pretty amazing. I started seeing them in the early 80s and saw over 100 shows between the Dead and JGB, but the book has driven home just how much I missed out on all the goodness that came before I started going to shows.

 

[Yardigan]

Every time the Dead comes up..I have to go to youtube and start a concert...(one of the true benefits of work-at-home)...not even my favorite band, but....
Was fortunate to see them (a paltry) 5x in the late 70's, early 80's...New Haven, Portland and Lewiston. Grabbed a poster for the Lewiston show in 1980 just to show my friend they were coming...later tossed it...just saw on a website where that poster is selling for $200.

Had a roommate that had hundreds of bootleg cassettes....his dad opened up his house (in Madison) to anyone in our frat that wanted to come down and see them in New Haven (two shows in two nights)....must've been about 30 of us that took the deal...great guy, great times....

 

[8893]

Every time the Dead comes up..I have to go to youtube and start a concert...(one of the true benefits of work-at-home)...not even my favorite band, but....
Was fortunate to see them (a paltry) 5x in the late 70's, early 80's...New Haven, Portland and Lewiston. Grabbed a poster for the Lewiston show in 1980 just to show my friend they were coming...later tossed it...just saw on a website where that poster is selling for $200.

Had a roommate that had hundreds of bootleg cassettes....his dad opened up his house (in Madison) to anyone in our frat that wanted to come down and see them in New Haven (two shows in two nights)....must've been about 30 of us that took the deal...great guy, great times....

I still have my bootleg tapes...hundreds...

Guessing I was also at those New Haven shows.

 

[Bezzz]

I can’t do it. Except for a few Phil & Friends shows, every post-Jerry iteration has only made his absence more glaring for me. I’m sure it’s a great time to see all the felllow heads again but the music does not do it for me. Wayyyy too slow. Listened to a bit on the SiriusXM broadcast the other night and it didn’t hold my interest.

I gotta agree with you. I loved the Dead. My first show was summer '76, Boston Music Hall, front row center. I could almost reach out and touch Jerry. He pretty much taught me to play guitar. Saw JGB many times also.

But in the youtube vids I 've seen of D&Co the music is, well, kinda dead. Slow, a little plodding. Mayer is good, but Jerry could take a solo up and up and up until the crowd was cheering while he was still playing and my bud sitting next to meet shouts out "Yeehaw!!".

 

[outlaw]

My father has thousands of tapes in his basement and I recently convinced him to keep his collection and start converting to mp3 as he was considering to sell/offload during his move. I used to love listening to his collection as a kid and hearing his tour stories. As I've gotten older, the stories continue to get better LOL

As stated above - it's awesome for this (my) younger generation to have shows to attend and be able to experience, to a degree, what made the dead so special in its prime.

 

[8893]

For anyone who loves the Dead, I can't emphasize enough how great the McNally audiobook is.

 

[sledog]

who are the '& company' this trip?

 

[outlaw]

who are the '& company' this trip?

& Co = John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti

 

[PlayItLeo]

Won't be in Hartford this Wednesday, but the two Citi Field shows this weekend will be my 12th and 13th Dead & Company shows. As a younger Deadhead, this is pretty much all we have to experience so we have to enjoy it while we can. While I do agree that D&C is a bit slow sometimes, I've found that they do some of the Dead's less "popular" (I hate to use that word but you know what I mean) songs way better than most people realize. Sure, the Shakedown Streets and Estimated Prophets are pretty slow more often than not, but the Viola Lees, Mississippi Half-Steps, and others are face-meltingly good. Maybe the common denominator there is Mayer taking the lead, but they are well worth seeing live and you'll walk away way more impressed than disappointed.

 

[superjohn]

I remember when they said they were playing their last show over 4th of July weekend at Soldier Field, it seems like they play every week now.

 

[alexd]

& Co = John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti

Burbridge certainly knows the bass after 17 years with the Allman Brothers and a few with Tedeschi Trucks Band.
His brother Kofi kills it as keyboardist with Tedeschi Trucks. Talented family.

As far as Mayer goes....I saw a great tshirt at Fenway last summer:

 

[outlaw]

Saw a great tshirt at the Fenway show....

As far as Mayer goes....I saw a great tshirt at Fenway last summer:

I need to get this for my GF. She's been awesome coming w me to these shows, albeit to see John.

 

[alexd]

I remember when they said they were playing their last show over 4th of July weekend at Soldier Field, it seems like they play every week now.

And I remember the Who's farewell tour in 1982.

 

[alexd]

I need to get this for my GF. She's been awesome coming w me to these shows, albeit to see John.

It's all over this internet place.

 

[Bezzz]

A couple brothers and I painted this on our fraternity rest room ceiling in '74. It is still there and has been lovingly cared for. 44 years!

 

[August_West]

Mayer is a hugely talented guitarist when he’s not making music just to get rich...John Mayer trio was great. Excited to see some semblance of the Dead!

hot take warning: this is just an opinion.

the problem with Dead and Co for me isnt Mayer. Hes doing fine. Really well actually.

Its Bobby and the Drummers. But mostly Bobby. They have dragged tempos down to dirge level. Everything they are touching is so damn slow. It almost seems like a parody. I LOVE ballads. But ballads are ballads for a reason and a great change of pace in a rock and roll show. the juxtaposition from working up a sweat into a cool down ballad was a wonderful, unrivaled part of the GD experience for me. But there is no juxtaposition anymore when you are taking bangers like Shakedown Street or China Cat Sunflower and playing them pretty much at ballad tempo. For you oldsters its like playing a 45 record on the 33 1/3 rpm setting. It really sounds like that to me.

and I listen more than most. Even now. I have seen parts of every show this tour on live stream. I never ever make it through a full show before throwing the TV back on.

It leaves me flat. It's always been about the music for me (at every one of the 350 plus GD shows I saw with Jerry) . Never the scene which can be wonderful too, but not my reason for being there. There is nothing compelling enough to make me inclined to attend. I go once in a while but the stars have to align to get me off my chair.

Now that being said. That is just me and my personal journey with this music and being (kinda not) compelled by it. I do not even one iota begrudge these guys for wanting to be out there and doing it in any manner that moves them. Oteil, Mayer and Chimenti are all monsters, but they are chained up by Bobby. He's certainly earned that right to call the shots. And I wish them always nothing but success and great times. And that goes for the scores of people still attending and having a great time. Nothing makes me happier than to have the spirit of this thing still living and breathing with such vigor even 25 years after I wrote off the band with Jerry still (barely) around. It's simply incredible. And I want it that way. In some ways Im very jealous of the people who can really get off on it now. I think that is great. Just not really for me anymore.