Grateful Dean

In news that was refreshing to everyone, Bob Weir proved he left home with at least 2 pairs of pants when he took the stage at The Target Center in Minneapolis Saturday. Rumor has it, Buckwheat called and said, “Imma donna need ta git muh britches back!” Weir realizing it was the right thing to do returned the pants that he had been wearing since October 27th. Dead & Company’s wardrobe assistant on the tour, a mannequin that goes by the name of Saint Stiffen had no comment. Weir claimed to win the britches in an auction on Participation Row the last time Buckwheat Toured. He covered all bases by saying it may have just been a dream he had. None of my rumors are ever able to be confirmed so you’ll have to just take my word for it.

For those that are under the impression that I am in some way an insider now, I have to make it clear that I’m still as much of a Nobody as just about anybody. I may have become a higher level Nobody but I still haven’t elevated any higher than “Absolute Nobody” Status. As a matter of fact, after my review of this years “Night At The Movies” from Alpine ’89, my comments about Kreutzmann during Drums looking like an epileptic that discovered bread sticks at a salad bar got me blocked from posting any more of my material on his page. That’s OK, he’s still my third favorite drummer in Dead & Company, right behind Oteil. I wonder if people know when I’m kidding and when I’m not? Like right now for example…

As for Minnesota, The show was hot and the hippies were cold. The music was great at The Target Center except for Dear Prudence which I think sounds like a bad rendition played by some old dudes at a local Battle of the Bands competition. They would likely finish in 3rd place. Most of you get a real kick out of that tune so I probably should’ve kept that to myself. I know I’m probably supposed to love everything and think it all sounds great but to me Dear Prudence sounds like shit. I’m sure a lot of you disagree. I Love everybody either way! It was great to hear Cryptical but it was missing The Other One. Those 2 will get reunited soon and be much better than either of them alone. It was great to hear Mexicali but odd for it to stand by itself as well. Throw Mama Tried in front of that and we’re much better than before. I like the pic from Minnesota here because it shows a lot about what is going on at times. Weir is clearly saying, “Stop fuckin soloing and get back to the song!” John is most likely not listening at all because he’s lost in the moment. Perfect picture by whoever took it! Maybe Weir is really jamming along with him but has an expression that looks like he’s thinking, “Stop fuckin soloing and get back to the song!” I don’t know…

Dead & Company are a great a band but people that associate anybody as a “Spiritual Heir” to Garcia are more crazy than an Armpit Sandwich. I’m not sure why folks feel the need to compare anybody’s contributions to Garcia but it’s an unfair and irrelevant comparison. Nobody ever has or ever will come close to Garcia within this community. It’s an unrealistic expectation. If you haven’t heard it already, check out the interview Gary Lambert did with John Mayer. It’s a great interview and Gary is wonderful at saying the right things and asking the right questions without ever looking to be controversial. He’s much nicer than I am and is definitely better at handling the wing nuts that call into the show than David Gans. I like David because he’s got a really soft way of saying, “Lets hang up on this motherfucker!” without saying anything like that at all. Anyway, John made this interview incredibly easy on Gary because he began to answer questions that Gary never even asked. John had extremely interesting things to say and addressed all kinds of things that have been said about him. Check it out if you haven’t already by clicking this. Great job by Gary as always!

With the holidaze starting to take shape, I’ve put together a gift guide for the Deadheads in your life. It’s for those that will still have anything left to spend once they’re done seeing Dead & Company Shows. For most family and friends of those that have spent the year following our favorite musicians from Santa Clara to Chicago and now throughout the rest of the country, prepare to get a T Shirt they wore twice before wrapping. For anyone else, here are some great gift ideas for the overly obsessed people in your life.

My favorite book of the year comes from David Gans and Blair Jackson and is a great gift idea. You can have it signed by both of them and get it in time for the holidays if you stop dragging your feet and order this week. If you’re waiting to buy presents once you get back from Las Vegas, with all of your winnings, I hope your family appreciates the home made card. This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead is a wonderful read whether you have 5 minutes or an hour to spare. There’s enough substance in this book to keep you busy for over a year as a toilet reader (Results may vary based on your diet and the condition of your GI tract). Since you Love The Dead, You’ll Love The Book!

David Gans also has a new CD out and you can buy “It’s a Hand-Me-Down” right here. David’s take on some of our favorites is a pleasant change of pace for those of us that listen to Grateful Dead Music 24 hours a day. Whether fishing by a stream or having Love with your significant other, these versions are sure to bring a peaceful vibe to the experience. Great Job David!

For those willing to listen to something other than Grateful Dead Music, My bro, Brian Swislow has a great band together called Object Heavy. Brian has played with a bunch of dudes that toured with Zappa so it should be obvious that he’s a top shelf maker of music. Object Heavy is available for download or CD Purchase on Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. This CD is as funky as a pair of tour socks after 15 shows. I personally appreciate listening to something other than The Dead every now and then and this CD has found a spot in my regular rotation. Brian also makes some killer clothes and you can check them out at www.fatbol.com That brother is like the Daymond John of The Grateful Dead World. His shit is truly unique and is For US and By US! I have a few of his shirts and they’re high quality threads for sure!

For those that haven’t illegally downloaded the Fare Thee Well Product Line from Torrents and would prefer the entire package with all the accompanying and Official Swag, there’s the FARE THEE WELL COMPLETE BOX JULY 3, 4 & 5 2015 at the Official Site. That shit is gonna be on my list for sure! You can also grab the last night only if you don’t care about the best night which happened to be the first night. Look for the same box to be put out for Santa Clara before long because that shit is like money in the bank for our favorite enterprise and collector of all of our extra loot.

That’s it for today, catch y’all down the road…

Dead To The Core,

Dean Sottile (pronounced Total Nobody)
@gd50th on Twitter
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