Dead & Co. Summer Tour 2017

[Rude]

On 7/2/2017 at 1:39 PM, John A said:

I watched/listened to my first Dead & Co last night, having been roped into a scene where the stream had been purchased.  (My pulled pork sliders were out of this world, but that's another story altogether. Ultimately one's sliders can only be as good as the slider roll, despite the long preparation that is pulled pork...)

 

For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised.  There was an interesting acoustic take on Dark Star (fortunately for Mickey since he's already using brushes no need to change equipment), Oteil did excellent justice to Comes A Time, and for the most part the tempos were nice and upbeat. This show did not have a case of the "Bobby drag".  He even facilitated a super speed Casey Jones.

 

Mayer and Oteil seemed to have a great time, and that energy was palpable.  They just seemed to be having fun, which can't be overrated. There's gotta be joy to this music or it won't work.

 

One thing that struck me is the inability to close a jam.  Many players of this music don't have the good sense to know when a jam has played its course and more will not equate to better.  I'm thinking specifically of the Althea jam.  It was smoking hot until it finally collapsed under it's own weight. If there's one thing that can be said about Jerry, that shit never happened on his watch. Get in, rage, and get out.  Even a jam that goes off the rails has to have a tidiness factor to it.

 

Another take, seemingly bizarre on the face of it: this is so much better than it would be if Phil were in Oteil's spot.  Sure, he'd contribute bombs that were missing (Oteil's playing, while quite good, seems overly sanitized), and one would groove more on his phrasing probably. But all that would be more than countered by the war of egos and the beyond comprehension atrocities of his lead vocals.  Such is the sad status in the world of 2017 Grateful Dead.

 

Now, who wants to pay $110 to see Bobby sit in with the Terrapin Family Band at the Mt Tam Sound Summit later this summer? 

Me

[Rude]

On 7/6/2017 at 6:14 AM, Michael Doc Watson said:

After hearing D&C at Saratoga Springs I totally agree about Mayer.  I was impressed by the freshness of his jams.  His guitar playing shined a new light on some of the music.

 

I still don't like the fact he's playing a hollow body PRS. The sound is wrong to my ears.