Monthly Archives: April 2015

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In news that shocked pop music fans of the world like finding out there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, rumors leaked this week that Bob Weir would hit the road again this fall with John Mayer and bass player from the Phish, Mike Gordon. The Rhythm Devils were on board as well even though Billy thinks a lot of people, in general, are assholes. Since I will never use the term “Core + #” to explain anything that happens with the remaining players of my favorite band, from this point on I will refer to them as The members of the band not named Garcia. This will help with any confusion in the future. The “Core 4” belongs to the Yankess, Like it or Not!

Perhaps most surprising of all are the reports that Taylor Swift will be covering Donna parts and vocals. When Bob Weir was asked about these rumors he said, “I believe Taylor can intelligently interpret the vibe we’re laying down and give to it a little something fresh and new. She’s got this piece of something that really gives some perspective to the music that’s never been experienced before which I guess goes without saying being that she never experienced any of the music before.” John Mayer, hated by most Dead Fans because his records sell, had this to say, “It’s gonna be great experience for all of us and I know it won’t take more than a week or two before I get dat ass again!”

Reports of the Fall tour went over like Brown Acid at Woodstock among the Grateful Dead Faithful. The announcement was met with the same kind of enthusiasm you might find with your invitation to Jury Duty. Many fans are outraged and insulted that the members of the band, that are not named Garcia, would have the audacity to play music with anyone other than the same guys that have been trying to pull off Garcia for decades. We all know by now the unbridled joy that circulates when anyone from Phish is included. This time, Dead Heads get to be treated to the band’s bass player, nicknamed Cactus because his personality appears to be that of a prick. As a veteran of hundreds of Phish shows dating back to 1991, I can assure you, he’s a creative genius that is quite prickish on the surface. I don’t know him, so he very well could be a veritable geyser of sunshine and happiness but you’d never guess that by looking at his face. Dead Heads have long felt it necessary to hate Phish for some reason and have often complained about Phish fans attempting to shove Phish down their throats. It appears like the guys left of the Dead, not named Garcia, are helping with that all they can.

It’s rumored that the first appearance of this group will take place at The Prankster’s Acoustic Acid Test, 4th of July weekend. Rumors that The Pranksters have rented out all of Northerly Island for nearly a week are widespread. The Band of Jokers were in Chicago securing legal permission to host their festivities which shows that these people are smarter than your average bears. I never knew those Clowns had that kinda money to be honest with you. Seems like they possess way more power and resources than anyone may have imagined. Apparently, Prankstering is Big Business. I’ve been doing all this shit for free… What the hell am I thinking???

I look forward to a young guy like John Mayer taking on a project with our favorite musicians almost as much as I look forward to hearing what a well studied Trey will be bringing to the experience. I know my opinion may not fall in the majority of those that make up our scene but give a musician like John Mayer or Trey some time to study the master and I think the end result will be great music. The problem is, what we experienced was the Soul of Garcia. No amount of study or natural talent can give a guy that.

Brings me back to one of those moments… Black Peter, Vegas ’91… In the midst of this solemnly tempoed tune, Bill and Mickey’s cymbals sound almost as though they’re being dragged along the ground while walking across the dry and somber landscape the tune paints a picture of… Garcia seems to stroll through a low lying garden of sound searching for the note that best represents the collective soul of the entire experience like someone might search for a 4 leafed clover… As he riffs through a multitude of choices he finds the one that speaks most clearly to him and, as a result, all of us as well… He picks the note from the garden as he sees fit and pulls the string with all he’s got unleashing this enormous wave of emotion infused in a Psychedelic Blues that seems to wrap around the entire venue, instantly pulling from every direction all attention, emotion and everything significant at that moment in time back into himself… As Garcia’s notes get higher, Phil’s get increasingly lower seemingly acting as cushions that carry Garcia’s notes into the stratosphere by way of our hearts. All attention, regardless of how scattered, instantly returns to the stage where Garcia is firmly planted like a Mighty Oak. As his glasses slide lower down his nose his eyebrows rise higher up his face as the sound of all of us getting hit with something so heavy, all at the same time, creates this spiraling tornado of applause and acknowledgement that pops the lid off of our collective consciousness as our eyes lock with strangers off in the distance having the exact same experience and uniting us instantly, Soul to Soul, with people 20 or more yards away… It was like finding a lost family member in a sea of people as we became indelibly marked to that moment and experience together in time forever, in a way only someone that was there could possibly understand… As we swelter in the desert heat having our minds stretched like hot gum pulled from the pavement, Garcia stands there cooler than a Snowman screwing an Ice Princess… Because he and he alone had that kind of Soul… Nobody else… Nobody… It’s hard to describe the way those moments removed the thorns from our own thoughts and lives but they absolutely did…

Yup, That shit isn’t happening again regardless of who’s playing guitar. Those are the moments that the most skilled of mimickers can’t recreate on their best days. It’s the reason why the music will never really go Further because Further would typically imply deeper, better, more meaningful. The music can continue and move on and be respected and honored but I’m not sure it can ever really go “Further” if indeed that’s what Further would imply.

In hilarious news, it was reported that Pay Per View options would be available for the Fare Thee Well Shows, more or less insuring theaters would be as empty as the Bottle Garcia sings about in Ship Of Fools. Even funnier was a Pre Sale for Pay Per View Broadcasts. That’s about as necessary as more Grateful Dead cover bands in Chicago 4th of July Weekend. Either way, everybody is going to get all The Dead they can possibly handle. That’s probably a good thing…

Check out the World’s biggest Fan Appreciation movement currently underway at #NFA on Facebook!

Gratefully Deadicated,

Dean So Tilly

GratefulDead-SantaClara-ADMAT800

In a refreshing change of pace, The Internet Mail Order went off without a hitch. The only people bitching were those that are excellent artists and figured their talents usually took them to the front of the line. According to the Blogger guy that wrote the “Not Your Grateful Dead” article somewhere, a guy basically competing for the prize of World’s Biggest Whiner and Pain In The Ass, Peter Shapiro called him to see how they could work together to make Santa Clara better. It seems more like Peter asked Trey for some help as the same people that have been doing Internet Lotteries for Phish took care of the Ticketing. The process was so easy that many people were completely confused once finished. It couldn’t be that easy could it??? No Index Cards, No 17 Postal money orders, hopefully all in the correct amount to fill out, No trying to be Stanley Mouse on the envelope, No trying to fit an envelope inside of an envelope after doing all that? Within a day after the deadline, everybody knew whether they got tickets and if so exactly where their seats were located. Not to mention, using a Credit Card, some people will be able to pay this off by some time in 2025. I hate to say it, but y’all can probably thank Phish for that. If this was done for Chicago, it probably would’ve led to Elvis at GDTSTOO living a few extra years. This process has probably aged the kind soul ike the cheese that rich folks eat. From what I could imagine, Elvis probably needs about a month of sleep… Some of you will get your money back in time for Christmas shopping, for others, there’s always All Saints Day.

Here’s a blogger that can help you out a little bit if you want some advice. My 6 tickets for Santa Clara came along with a $200 “Service Charge”. In the future, can you do me a favor? Just include that shit in the ticket instead of giving everybody another item to complain about. In the past Service Charges were something you incurred at a Bachelor Party or curbside in Manhattan. At least you were well aware of the service that was being provided. Except, in those scenarios, I was doing the screwing, not receiving it. Doing the math on Levi’s, there’s about $5.5 Million Dollars in Service Charges. I’m all about abundance so I’m not gonna hate on anybody too much but, that’s a lot of fuckin. I guess with the bounteous good will and appreciation behind the event and all, we’ll just call it Making Love…

In a questionable move announced this week by the folks at jambands.com and every other .com that wants a piece of the traffic that talking about World’s Greatest Band of all time provides, The Fare Thee Well Shows, in Association with Peter Shapiro and a few other companies that basically mean Peter Shapiro as well, the broadcast for the shows will take place in Theaters. I personally think this idea stinks worse than an LSD fart in a humid tent. Heady Dreadies and others that enjoy roasting new hybrids of Marijuana as often as kids roast marshmallows by campfires were outraged by the decision. Instead of streaming the shows from the comfort and safety of their own homes, Dead Heads will now be forced to play cops and robbers with security guards in cinemas like back in the old days. Instead of kicking back on a Summer Night and drinking a few Sammy Smith’s Oatmeal Stouts while tuned in from your living room, Have a Coke and a Smile bitches!

How about people with kids or folks that don’t live in the USA? A decision like this one obviously didn’t involve a discussion with the blogger guy that has all the answers. I’m baffled by this one… This was a no brainer or so I thought. Bands have been streaming couch tour for years. It’s one of the few things that kept me from selling my children when they were really little. When I first had kids and wasn’t able to attend shows like I used to, I invested in a Supreme Audio Visual Environment for my living room. Why? Because EVERYBODY that is somebody has an online stream. What the hell were y’all thinking? Now a bunch of Dead Heads have to sneak all kinds of contraband into a theater where they’ll be for 5 hours, 3 nights in a row. They’ll get lit up like a Grow Room then have to drive home. Why did this really simple item get so messed up? Thank goodness for those new fangled vaporizer devices. Nowadays, Chewbacca look alikes can huff up like George Jetson and go practically unnoticed. Back in my day we had a thing called a bullet and a gym shirt with a bunch of brown spots on it from where we exhaled cannabis flower exhaust to contain the aroma.

It might be a good time to apologize to mom and dad about why the water in all of their sinks came out all messed up. That was me, I took all of the screens out, Sorry about all those calls you made to the plumber. As somebody that doesn’t drink or do drugs, it’s no big deal to me, I’m just sticking up for my stoner friends on this one. Epic Fail forcing people to leave their homes to participate. The sound and video will be incredible, there’s your consolation prize, Enjoy the Milk Duds! I would imagine more options may become available, I’ll be in Soldier Field…

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NO LONGER VALID Due TO THE PRANKSTERS PULLING OUT OF THE EVENT AND QUESTIONABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES BEING INVESTIGATED BY ALL PARTIES INVOLVED. YOU CAN READ IT FOR LAUGHS BUT THAT’S ABOUT ALL… I will DEFINITELY not be there or participate in any way.

Rapidly becoming the biggest event in Chicago’s history, The infamous Bus of Never ending Adventure, Furthur, is preparing to roll into Chicago and will be leading the way to providing an entire weekend of endless entertainment. Yes indeed, if you’re not already aware, 4 Humble Heroes are leading the way from Oregon and are bringing The Merry Prankster Flavorlution to Chi town in what’s shaping up to be the biggest event of the weekend by far. The Merry Prankster roots go way deep into the Grateful Dead Culture so the names that are being mentioned around their weekend event are absolutely mind boggling. Being a close friend with Zane Kesey and all of the Official Pranksters(Blatant Lie) and talking to them all as much as I do(2nd time in one sentence now) this whole weekend deal will be like what might happen if Disney World ate a bunch of Sugar Cubes. The list of people that will be passing through and performing will make this event a veritable Who’s Who in the world of That’s Who. The organizers of the event have been adamant about letting people know that it’s not 1965 and most of us are too damn old to be filling our bodies with a bunch of narcotics. There will be absolutely no LSD at this event(I’m talking to you, Officers). There will be acres upon acres of absolute mayhem and adventure with the most fun group of folks that can be rounded up and they’re putting on a party that is absolutely second to none. You can catch more info as it develops on their Facebook Group that’s here. The folks over there are working overtime to make this the best and most reasonably priced event of the entire weekend. I’m not sure whether or not they’ll have “Service Fees”. Hopefully they read this and just include that shit in the price of the ticket

Bob, the community mourns with you on the graduation day of your father. His contributions to this world made a difference much bigger than he probably ever imagined. It’s with my sincerest and heartfelt sympathy, I extend my love and condolences to you and yours…

Grateful Dean on Facebook

Facebook Group is The Official Home of Unofficial Grateful Dead and Music News

Preparation for Soldier Field in full swing

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