Tag Archives: Jeff Chimenti

Mayer

In breaking news that continues to make everybody want to sell their spouses and their children on eBay and make a run for the border, 3/4s of the remaining members of The Dead will be hitting the road this fall and will put an exclamation point on the festivities by freakin everybody the fuck out on Halloween at Madison Square Garden. If you’re one of those that’s considering a run for the border, you better do so while NYC’s Donald Trump is still just a candidate. Should he get elected, a wall that makes China’s look like security gates for a toddler will be built. The announcement, that was busted out like St Stephen in 83, was made by Jambands.com this morning. Those bitches were on the scene like Jackie Greene and created a euphoric vibe that has blasted through Grateful Dead Land alleviating the depression that has crippled its inhabitants since July 6th. Early reports called the quintet Los Muertos(The Dead in Spanish) but later the article was edited to Dead and Company. While we’re talking in spanish, can anybody tell me why Spanish speaking folks can’t say “New York”??? They always say, “New Jork”… It’s not that they have a problem with the sound because they all say, “New Yersey” instead of “New Jersey”… That one always baffled me…

It seems as though the lineup changed a little bit from previous rumors and Oteil “Bad Ass” Burbridge will be laying down the bass like a Boss! I don’t think anybody can talk smack about that brother, he’s got more chops than a Karate Tournament! Early pictures and reports were that Mike Gordon would be playing bass but apparently that idea was scrapped. I tried to get in touch with Mike but he was having his nails polished(WTF???)… First the scarves, then the hair, now the manicures… That brother will be another Caitlyn in no time… And we thought it would be Fishman all this time… “Goes to show, ya don’t ever know!”

Moving on… Deadheads are absolutely thrilled that they will all have a chance to finally see and hear John Mayer. For those that thought Trey was an awful choice, I have a question… How ya like these fuckin apples??? While the hateful among the grateful have already begun identifying themselves, John has started experimenting with LSD along with his current girlfriend Katy Perry to prepare himself for this new challenge. I tried to get an interview with them but they both refused to get out of the tree… Expect to be impressed by a guitarist that Eric Clapton has called, “A Master Guitar Player”. That’s pretty lofty praise coming from one of the best to play the instrument but I’m sure Grateful Dead fans know better than he does… Please don’t say that Jerry is “Rolling in his grave” because he was cremated… It’s predicted that by winter, John M will be the new John K and John K will return to his former job managing a Radio Shack location close to where his parents live and wishing he never left Dark Star Orchestra… Those who can’t stand jokes regarding John K will be extremely disappointed by that one and send me hateful comments and messages. I Love you regardless!

It is EXTREMELY important for everybody to know that Peter Shapiro has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this tour. While many fans have begun writing letters in advance to complain about all of the shit that hasn’t happened yet including the cost of tickets, availability and every other damn thing, you’ll have to send that shit to someone else. Peter will be hosting Phil at The Cap as well as Trey Band at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas. This time around, when you’re looking to say “FUCK (Insert Promoter’s name)!!!” please leave him out of it… He has only good wishes for the Tour but is grateful that assholes like me will be leaving him alone for the next few months… If I were you, I’d make it to Lockn!!! That’s gonna be a Hoedown and a Half!!!

Does anyone else find it slightly odd that the 3 members are playing about a half hour away from Phil on the same night? Let there be songs to fill the air, I guess…

If we have the same crew mix Los Muertos as we did Fare Thee Well, you can look forward to seeing Jeff Chimenti. You can’t look forward to hearing him but you’ll definitely see him there. Ya gotta give Jeff a shout out as quite possibly one of the nicest musicians we have in the community. Not only have I seen a million people post pics taken with Jeff but he’s smiling in every one of them. That’s not always easy to do when a million assholes want their picture taken with you… You Da Man Jeff and Terrapin Nation Loves you!!!

New York! Hope ya got the ways and means!!! This is gonna be fun!!! More to come…

My friend, Eric Schwartz of Lone Star Dead Radio, won’t leave me alone about plugging his damn Facebook Page Days Between Anyone that knows Eric is well aware that you’ll find valuable content there. In hopes of him not sending me anymore messages about it, I ask you to check it out. Mama Mia…

Dead To The Core,

Dean

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Just when you think you have a new pal, things can change in a hurry. After a few months of interesting and pleasant interactions with the people that make up my community, I returned to regular life once again with a reminder that not everyone was in Chicago and everyone is not necessarily very nice. Apparently, the rest of the world didn’t hear Mickey’s marching orders to go out and spread the kindness. While I was out and about this past weekend, Joe Shapiro, while sitting on his stoop eating sausage and peppers in Nutley, NJ, screamed, “Your mama eats bat shit off cave walls!!!” Welcome back to the real world… Totally not kind…
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Joe Shapiro – Nutley, NJ

I hope you didn’t think I meant Peter, That brother is great! Love him!

As credit card statements from the GD 50 experience are arriving in the mail, thousands of people around the world are discovering how much their Priceless experience actually cost them. When your statement requires over 2 dollars of additional postage and is an inch and a half thick you got some bills to pay. This begins the third phase of PSD (Post Show Depression). After about a month, people start wondering why the hell they purchased one of absolutely everything at the merchandise stands. In over 350 Grateful Dead Shows and over 100 JGB Shows, between 85 to 95, I can tell you exactly how many official Dead items I purchased at the merch stands. ONE… I bought the official shirt from JGB at Squaw Valley. The grey one… I’m not even sure I ever checked out a booth between 85 & 95. I think it’s safe to say, sales of official merchandise at the Fare Thee Well Shows probably exceeded all combined sales from 77 to 95. Not only did people act like fiends at the shows, we also waited at the GD 50 Merchandise website, clicking refresh, waiting for it to open so we could continue to buy into the obsession.

While people post pictures of themselves at U2 and Who concerts now, It’s hard for me to look at those pics without saying, quietly and to myself, “Who gives a shit???” After having 20 years clean from Dead experiences, the addictive nature of my behavior has become fully activated. The monkey, that I thought was off my back, is back on it and has turned into a guerrilla with what seems like an endless supply of bananas. 20 years of being dormant and my drug of choice, Live Grateful Dead Music, unleashed the beast all over again.

Even with 22 years clean from sticking needles in my arm and all other drugs, I still like watching movies about drugs. They are still exciting to me but have no real impact on my psyche nor do they make me want to do drugs again. I’m Grateful to be clean every day and could never do what I do getting high like I did. In the same way, I’ve consumed the Grateful Dead pretty much daily, in some form, my entire adult life. Mostly, It’s been through the usual forms of media. Tapes, videos, hard drive, etc. While all those forms of media still provide incredible stimulation and satisfaction, they haven’t had the impact on my psyche any more than watching movies about drugs.

After getting dipped in the complete 4 Dimensional Experience of actually being there again, The guerrilla is stronger than ever. The Live Dead detox that happened when we were forced to kick it 20 years ago is happening all over again. I personally think kicking dope was much easier other than maybe the first few days. While I DEFINITELY don’t miss dope, I’ll ALWAYS miss Live Dead… Counterfeits and configurations don’t cut it anymore than wine comforts a junkie…

In the early days of attempting to kick heroin, I thought I could do it with substitutes. You know, smoking more buds, taking pills, drinking, etc. In the same way, I’ve tried over the years to kick my Live Dead addiction with other shows and musicians. There’s a problem with that however… Once you’ve had the horse, there’s really no replacement. There’s a lot of effort that might go into trying to find a substitute but rarely is that very effective. The Blessing of being free from the curse will always have to endure facing the challenges of maintaining that freedom over and over again. The one that consistently gets the most attention will always win. I’ll continue to keep focusing on The Blessing…

The sobering realities of daily life have kicked in full throttle, I got to spend last weekend with an awful toothache. It started Friday and I figured I could meditate my way to a complete and total healing. By Monday morning, I realized I wasn’t spiritual enough… I clearly didn’t have enough Faith to manifest it… On Monday afternoon I spent an hour in Hell getting ONE tooth fixed at a cost similar to one of the best tickets for ALL 5 FTW Shows. I thought about people that complained about the prices of attending the Fare Thee Well Shows. In the case of my tooth, there was ZERO fun, I don’t take nitrous, the experience was terrible and the music absolutely sucked. Kenny G or some shit like that… That dentist treated me like I screwed his wife… Absolutely beat the shit outta me… I realized how grateful I was for a few things. Number one, I was grateful this didn’t happen in Chicago. That could’ve messed up one of the best weekends of my life. Number two, The value of what I experienced in Chicago was indeed a very small price to pay in comparison. For those of you upset by $200 ticket prices, I hope you don’t get a bad tooth any time down the road…

Phil played a couple of shows at his joint, TXR, paying homage to the late 70s. So far I’ve read one less review about that as Official Merchandise Items I purchased between 85 to 95. I’m sure it was outstanding, it’s just that nobody seems to care very much… Same songs… Same bassist… Small Venue… Interesting… Make music and sing songs or participate in experiences that alter humanity right down to the molecular level… The choices couldn’t be any more apparent to our favorite musicians than they are right now… Should we move forward singing songs or acknowledge and accept we’re still capable of much more? Only time will tell…

Conversely, 3-4 weeks later I’m still seeing people attempting to become relevant by reviewing Chicago. People that only went to Santa Clara are increasingly more upset that Chicago gets nearly all of the attention. They act kinda like an ugly kid with a gorgeous sister. For those people, I’m gonna throw you a hug. After listening to the shows thoroughly, The first night in Santa Clara might have been the best of them all. While watching it that night, it didn’t appear as though the band was nearly as comfortable as it has sounded without seeing what was going on. When focusing exclusively on the music, it was stellar! Even better if you were there, I’m sure. The first night may very well have been the best of the bunch.

I hope by now we’re all willing, ready and able to be a positive force in our environments. It’s funny, to me, to watch people get sucked into the bullshit of others so easily. Why do we function like the burden lifters and joy dispensers and a total solution to the world’s hostilities while we’re in stadiums and arenas and get sucked into all the other crap when we’re not? While I know this doesn’t apply to The whole, some parts that make up our whole also seem to make up the hole of the whole. Those are really the folks we should throw more love at than anybody. Imagine if every troll post was followed by 1000 comments that all said, “Love You!!!!” The solution is really that simple. Why don’t folks see it or practice it??? I personally enjoy intelligent trolling. It leads to great opportunities for comedy as well as personal growth. It’s a great barometer to see where people stand on the ladder of unconditional love and acceptance…

In closing, The event schedule at Madison Square Garden is pretty open from November 10th to about December 9th… That’s all I’m gonna say about that… I send you comfort as we detox together… Love you long time!!!

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)