OT, the Dead are back

[hingyfan]

The surviving members of the Grateful Dead, plus some new faces, had been touring as "The Other Ones." They just announced they are changing the name to ..... the Dead .... and will be touring again.
Any thoughts?

[kelly]

I thought that was them. Just caught the tail end of them on some show.  

Don't care much either way. I suppose they have to do something.

Though if they got their share, they're all multi-millionaires.

[hingyfan]

Your last line, that's a big "if."
Unless you are the songwriter, there's not as much money in music as most people think. That's why they tour constantly. It's harder for the record industry to weasel them out of that money.
Courtney Love and Roger McGuinn testified before congress to that effect. McGuinn said he didnt care about bootleging or the Internet, that he never made a dime from record companies anyway. He said the only thing  good record sales meant to him was that the Byrds could charge more as a live act.

[RogerF]

Just something wrong about 60 somethings doing rock concerts. move aside and let the kids in. every venue booked for the stones, dead, dylan etc is a venue not available to someone who has something new to offer.

Just my opinion.

[kelly]

Yeah. There's not as much money as people think. But.  

The Dead were big money makers at the end though.

Just a quick search showed $52 million in Tour revenue in 94 alone.

http://www.rockandrollusa.com/rock_concert...uring_bands.htm

If the members got any reasonable per centage of that, and I think they did,

they're not hurting.

[Mayo]

Rock and roll is only for kids?  Get Real Roger!

And all this focus on the money...It's about the music.  I saw my first Grateful Dead concert back in '73 and my last circa '88.  By that time the concerts were just too big for my taste and watching Garcia disintegrate was painful, to say the least...

Garcia and Hunter wrote a bunch of tunes that are going to be played for generations.  If you want to hear an excellent example of this, try "Wake The Dead" by Danny Carnahan and company, a CD of Dead covers with a Celtic flair.  It's a beautiful CD.

Either you got the Dead or you didn't.  I feel sorry for anyone who didn't "get it" and missed some mighty fine music and vibes.

[kelly]

I saw them in 82 or so. They were ok.  

But to me they were just another Good Band.

I thought there presentation was kind of "Stodgy".

No "Show" whatsoever. You may as well been listening to a CD.

I like real "Productions", like The Stones.

I used to know Deadheads who spent months out of the year going to their concerts.

The Dead didn't need to provide a show because most of the folks had their own "Shows" going on.  

I suppose it's like being a mac fan.

To some folks it's just another computer.

To others. There's no comparison.

[Mayo]

The Stones have been posturing on stage for over twenty years now...it's really sad to see Mick prancing around and removed from the audience, both physically and mentally.  At least they are trying to reconnect with their audience (really?) by doing some shows in smaller venues.

Having attended a CSNY show last year that was TERRIBLE but people raved about, I wonder if folks can tell the difference anymore between a great show and a "performance."

The Dead were not about a show, you are right about that!   And I went to a Dead show or two that didn't make it for me either, just like any band.  Like jazz, coffee and single malt scotch, the Dead are an acquired taste, and one show probably isn't going to do it.

And some people just have this thing about the Dead, probably in reaction to the rabid fans Kelly mentions.  I know that I felt that way at first...Boy, did I resist in the beginning (my first girlfriend in college was really into the Dead...) but one day the music just pushed away all the b.s. and I Got It.

My only regret is that I didn't attend more shows!

Like I said before, it was about the music.  In later years the scene was over-run by fans who weren't introduced to the music like in the beginning but who were there primarily for the circus surrounding Dead concerts.

IMHO, monetary and popular success did in the Dead and Garcia, a most unlikely rock star but one heck of a guitar player.

Check out a Dead concert CD to hear the music without the distractions and you will know what I mean...  
 
 [ 02-11-2003, 04:11 PM: Message edited by: Mayo ]

[gunug]

Without Garcia I'm not sure I'd like them all that well.  I have been listening a lot to CSN&Y and Fleetwood MAC this past week and the nostalgia is just about killing me!

[RobW]

Hey Mayo,

I've got to agree with you about the Stones. As much as I've always loved them, it's hard for me to watch a guy as old as Mick, with his fame and fortune singing that he "Can't Get No Satisfaction".    

However, I'd still pay to see Aerosmith.    (Sorry, you can go back to the Dead stuff now.     )

[Mayo]

I've wondered about that myself...I have been to two Mickey Hart concerts since the Dead Died and they were a lot of fun.  I think that Mickey is a great drummer as well as a dedicated musicologist and he has put together some good bands over the years.

If The Other Ones/Dead show up in my neck of the woods I'll check them out, but of course, there is no Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia, as his bandmates confirmed when they retired the band name after his death.

I realize that there must be a serious cognitive disconnect happening when a musician goes from starving to wealthy, but some musicians keep the music and connection with their audience alive.  THAT is what is missing from the Stones.

Then there are the rare ones like Willie Nelson, who has been around longer than Mick and The Boys but who still visits with his fans until the last autograph is signed and last photo taken.  Not to mention still making great music...

BTW, on Thursday my wife and I are going to see The Wailers, another band sans its musical guiding light.  A friend of mine saw them last year and he thought it was a great show, so I'm game!
 
 [ 02-11-2003, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Mayo ]

[Bill]

As far as I know Willie Nelson is the only one who lives his life the way he wants to in the music industry. Other than when he had (or needed) to spoon feed the IRS for a while,he does his thing.
He just doesn't seem to get over powered with the fame and the money hungry leeches that goes along with all that.

[hingyfan]

Jerry was Mac guy from way back.
I used to like them, then i thought they got too wimpy but now im back (i guess i got wimpy). I also look just like him (just a touch of gray) and hear about it whenever i go to any kind of concert.

[Mayo]

Bill, I think there are others doing their own thing inside/outside the music biz.  Ani DiFranco comes to mind immediately. I have her double CD of live music, but it isn't quite my bag.  Maybe it's because we are a generation apart, or maybe I haven't given it enough of a chance yet.

But I admire her spunk and the fact that she started her own record company http://www.righteousbabe.com/ rather than bow to the Music Powers That Be.

I get a similar hit from the Indigo Girls.  My wife and I happened to be on the Hopi reservation in '95 when we passed the Hopi community center.  The little sign said "Indigo Girls 2pm" so we did a u-turn and caught the end of an awesome free concert, one of many they gave on reservations while touring that summer.

Part of the show was a presentation about how corporate interests were causing environmental damage on Indian lands.

At the end of that tour the Indigo Girls donated $250,000 to a Native American environmental organization.  That's putting their money where their mouths are!

Bruce Springsteen kept the top ticket prices at his shows last year to $76 vs. $155 (and higher...) that CSNY were charging.  David Crosby blamed the high ticket prices on the promoter but if Springsteen can do it, why couldn't CSNY?  I'll give you one guess, and the word begins with the letter "g."

There are undoubtedly others, and Springsteen may not be the best example, but other folks may be able to offer other musicians who Talk The Talk and Walk The Walk.
 
 [ 02-11-2003, 10:52 PM: Message edited by: Mayo ]

[Bill]

Never knew about any of that Mayo.!.
Then I don't really follow the goings on with musicians much.