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Mojo Hand

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Posts posted by Mojo Hand

  1. thanks for the Bump Bill.

     

    And thanks for the advice Rude.  I've never used Cash or Trade.  Earlier this morning, I had recalled you mentioning a good website for short notice tix.  I went through all your old posts this morning to find "cash or trade".

     

    Oh well....Not feeling optimistic.  

    Probably will just end up throwing batting practice to my 13 year old tonight. 

  2. As is the case with others in the band......Hunter had lost his fastball or clearly mailed it in when he came up with Samba in the Rain lyrics.  These lyrics are cliche, elementary, and an appeal to the least common denominator.  Velnick was clearly not a good choice to replace Brent.  His songs were horrible and his vice was awful. 

     

    Luckily, history has not judged the Grateful Dead on their efforts such as Samba In the Rain, Long Way to Go Home, Eternity, Easy Answers, and Wave to the Wind.  New songs in the mid 90's were tough to endure. 

     

    Interestingly......as the story goes, Jerry was the member who was most disinterested in the mid 90's.  Yet, in my opinion, he seemed to be the only one introducing music with some level of integrity and awareness of the standards that had been established over previous decades.   So Many Roads is a classic.  I think Days Between holds up as a solid Jerry ballad.  Given more time, I think Lazy River Road would have developed into a great first set song.  While I never preferred Liberty, it certainly sounds and feels like Grateful Dead music, which is a lot more than can be said of Eternity and Easy Answers!

     

    Ten and ten is thirty, if you tell me it is so
    Let's get down and dirty, baby. Let's get sweet and low
    Any way you call the shot, That's how it's gonna be
    You can serve it cold or hot, It's all okay by me
    Tie me with a ribbon bow, Wrap me in cellophane
    Send me out to steal the show or Samba in the Rain
    Samba in the rain oh baby, Samba in the rain
    Let's get down and dirty, Don't bother to explain
    Don't care if they call a cop and say we are insane
    We'll keep goin' til we drop. Samba in the rain

     

     

    • Like (+1) 2
  3. beautiful night indeed.  perfect weather.  even a little chilly at night.

     

    Touch of Gray

    Stranger

    Franklin's

    Walkin Blues

    When push comes to shove

    Cassidy

     

    China/Rider

    Samson

    Terrapin

    D/s

    MIracle

    Stella 

    Throwin Stones

    lovelight

     

    Mighty quinn

     

    Really well played.  Stranger/Franlkin's was a highlight.  Pre-Drum 2nd set as good as it gets.  stella was EXCELLENT.  

    • Like (+1) 2
  4. I generally enjoy biopics because I don't know the person's story that well.

     

    Examples include; Johnny Cash (Walk the Line), Jim Morrison (The Doors), Ray Charles (Ray), Stephen Hawkins (Brief History of Time), John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), Petey Greene (Talk to Me); Muhammed Ali (Ali), Vince Papale (Invincible); Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street)

     

    I've never seen a biopic where I know the person's story inside and out like this Garcia movie.  Interesting.

     

    I really like Jonah Hill in just about everything I've seen him do......especially SuperbadMoneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street.  

    • Like (+1) 2
  5. Perhaps an analogy.  I am a huge fan of the Philadelphia 76ers.  Maurice Cheeks is my all-time favorite player.  He is a point guard and a hall-of-famer.  My guess is that he is in his 70's.  I would be pissed if the Sixers allowed him to run the point guard in a playoff game this year........out of respect, nostalgia, or otherwise.  

     

    I am a Bobby freak. Always have been.  His music is what gets me going the most of all.  I am a musician and songwriter.  He is my musical hero.  But he's clearly lost his fastball.

     

    Sure......I'd love to see Bobby sit-in, but not at the expense of great music.  I would rather Eaton stay on stage and play, and have Bobby there as an extra guitar player.  When he chooses to take the reigns and sing a bunch of jerry songs and dictate the pace, that's not great music.  I have chosen to forego Dead and Company for many of the same reasons many of you have chosen to skip it.  And those reasons were on stage with DSO at the Warfield.  

     

     

     

     

    • Like (+1) 2
  6. 1 hour ago, Tea said:

    Mojo's got some hot lava going and I don't think its hyperbole.  Seems a bit over the top but to me but let it fly, I guess.  I wasn't there so I can't comment on the energy his presence created but I'll bet the band was pretty stoked.

     

    As I recall - Mojo has more than mild distaste for Elective setlists, which again - to each their own.  Another discussion for another day - BUT - every time I see the word Mojo (mojo workin, mojo hand, mojo risin) I can't get this outta my borderline autistic mind

     

    pray-for-mojo-simpsons.gif

     

    I'm not trying to insult you, Mojo.  I'm just a strange person.

     

    No insult taken Tea.  I fully recognize that I am very finicky and closed minded as it pertains to DSO.  Generally, if they play anything outside of a recreation from 1973 thru 1991.....then I complain and call the band bad names.  If they play a recreation from 73 thru 91.....then I praise them with the highest accolades I can find.  Seems reasonable.  LOL.

  7. Oh man.......I love Bobby as much as anything in this world.  However, I actively have chosen to skip his performances for the past 10 years.  From Day one of all post Jerry iterations, it has astounded me that Bobby sang Jerry tunes.  Bobby butchers them by trying to adapt his lyrical style to Jerry tunes and it doesn't work.  Combine that with the slow pacing of recent years.....no good.

     

    I don't go to DSO shows to see novelty acts.  I attend so I can experience a transcendent musical and physical experience.  I would not have been a happy camper if I was at this concert.  Most especially if I traveled any distance or made any special personal arrangements to attend.  

     

    I think it's a great gesture to bring Bobby on stage.  But I think DSO made a HUGE mistake by having Eaton leave the stage and Bobby take over.  Bobby should have been a special guest on stage playing alongside Eaton, and he should have played within the framework of what DSO does.  Instead, they chose to compromise the quality of the music they presented to fans on that night.  We pay to see DSO perform Grateful Dead music.  What I saw on these videos is not on par with DSO at their best.

     

    To be honest, I thought the same thing when DSO had Lisa leave the stage at Red Rocks for Donna Jean.  I have no idea what Donna Jean sounds like now.  I have never listened to her or seen her post Grateful Dead.  However, I do know that she was inconsistent as a singer and her stage presence was a straight out downer.  Look at her body language from 70's shows.  There's no comparison to what Lisa brings to the table. 

     

    Why would the band choose to take off half a set in deference to someone else?  I don't think they are entirely considering the fans perspective in that decision.  

  8. 2 hours ago, Dead duck said:

    I may do the blue Ox fest this year. It’s mostly or all bluegrass in Wisconsin. Bela Fleck with a kickass bluegrass lineup, Del, Sam Bush, Rumpke. If nothing better pops up on those dates it’s a solid maybe

    I saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones about two years ago in NJ State Theater.  

    It had been 15-20 years since I have seen them live.

    Absolutely fantastic.......as good as ever.  Virtuosity is not over-rated.  

  9. 13 hours ago, Greg from Chestertown said:

     I took a look around during the show, thinking about all the energy there in that sacred ground. The Broad street bullies, Dr. J and the sizers, all those army/Navy games. 

     

    ....don't forget Buddy Ryan's Philadelphia Eagles of the late 80's!   Best coach ever!  Those teams had energy.  I had season tickets back then.

    E-A-G-L-E-S.......Eagles!!!!!!!

    3 hours ago, Zuck said:

    Knickerbocker Arena still stands but has been renamed.

    Albany was such a great scene.  Loved Albany shows.  

    • Like (+1) 1
  10. 57 minutes ago, Greg from Chestertown said:

    A couple of times in RFK, I thought we were going to demolish it. Everybody’s dancing, the upper deck is flexing to the beat. Pretty cool. 

    Was so cool when when you could feel RFK moving underneath you. 

    • Like (+1) 1
  11. On 1/8/2022 at 5:50 PM, John A said:

    I'm going to posit what will perhaps be an unpopular concept; that Jerry shelved Viola Lee because he thought it was at least to some degree a vehicle to play fast for fastness' sake.

     

    I have a similar thought to what John A says above;

     

    In the early to mid-sixties....the idea of improvised and extended musical improvisation was something brand new in the world of rock and roll.  As it pertains to performing in front of a live studio audience, this sort of thing was really only being done by jazz artists.  The Grateful Dead were the first to bring it to the rock and roll world.  Add in LSD.....and the perfect storm was brewing.  

     

    The Grateful Dead played out the experiment for all it was worth and I will posit another idea that will be unpopular.  I don't think the phenomena of the Grateful Dead would have continued into the the mid-70's and beyond if they did not mature beyond the extended jams of Viola Lee Blues, 30 minute Dark Stars, 25 minute Lovelights, Pigpen Blues, and some of the early "psychedelic sound" songwriting efforts.

     

    As the 60's turned into the 70's is when they matured as songwriters and wrote more music that had legs.  More accessible song structures combined with extended, interesting, and diverse musical improvisations is where the magic happened IMHO.  I think that most of the music from the 65-69 was retired with good reason.  Viola Lee Blues is fairly one-dimensional.  The Grateful Dead's future efforts were far more diverse.  That sort of song was interesting in that time period because no one had played like that before.  But if that sort of song continued to be the calling of the Grateful Dead, I don't think they would have lasted. 

     

    Something like Viola Lee Blues epitomizes why I think the jam band craze of the late 90's and early 2000's was so over-rated.  Jamming for the sake of jamming may have been interesting when it was new.  However, the Grateful Dead graduated beyond that and into a new realm.  Most of jam bands of the 2000's practiced a form or "musical masturbation" that the Grateful Dead left behind when they played it beyond its' useful life.

     

    One man's opinion....

     

     

    On 1/8/2022 at 11:08 PM, John A said:

    Back to the "greatest song ever written"... As a card carrying over the top Dead freak, that song has to be one with lyrics by Robert Hunter, music by Jerry Garcia, right?  Once that's been established, pick your poison

     

    As far as limiting the discussion to Hunter/Garcia tunes.... I don't know about that?????  

    For many years, I would have answered that question with "Music Never Stopped".  While it may not be at the top of your list.....that can't be wrong....right?

     

     

    • Like (+1) 1
  12. That's a tough one..  My first show was a something special.  I thought the experience was gone forever.....and then this happened.  

     

    12/29/11 Electric Factory, Philly

     

    The other great shows I've seen (some of which were as great as this one) are starting to blend together as the years go by.  But I always will remember how euphoric I felt to see one of the 1980 acoustic sets performed live....and then a totally transcendent experience the rest of the way.  I saw Further play a few months earlier in Atlantic City.  That was the last time I ever attended a show by any of the remaining members of the Grateful Dead.  DSO delivers the goods!

     

    Set One:

    Dire Wolf
    The Race Is On
    Jack-A-Roe
    Monkey And The Engineer
    It Must Have Been The Roses
    Dark Hollow
    Bird Song
    To Lay Me Down
    On The Road Again
    Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie-> Ripple

     

    Set Two:

    Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo-> Franklin's Tower
    Mama Tried-> Mexicali Blues
    Row Jimmy
    Little Red Rooster
    Althea
    Let It Grow
    Deal

     

    Set Three:

    Cold Rain And Snow
    C C Rider
    Ramble On Rose
    He's Gone-> The Other On-> Space-> Drums->Space-> Stella Blue
    I Need A Miracle-> Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad-> Johnny B. Goode

    Encore One More Saturday Night

    Filler:
    The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)

     

    • Like (+1) 3
  13. I've been thinking about this thread for the last few weeks.  

     

    Half-Step is one of my absolute favorite Jerry tunes.  When I put together my dream setlists, there is always a half-step.  But.....I have a hard time with it in the opening slot.  I like the more random placements that you get with a '73 setlist.  I feel like I need to be in the zone for half step.  The melodies are very intricate and complex.  The section of the song with "upon the Rio-Grande-io" is so delicate and yet so powerful.  I feel like I can't fully appreciate the song in the opening slot because my mind and body aren't quite ready for that experience yet, and half the of the house is still getting settled in around you because it's the opening song.  

     

    I have similar thoughts about Jack Straw.  I remember being at an outdoor ampitheater for one of the early post-Jerry iterations.  Maybe it was "The Other Ones" and it was definitely the Mann Music Center.  Jack Straw is as great a song as was ever-written and I love it!  But I remember thinking it was almost a throw-away because everyone was settling in and it made it hard to stay locked-in.  Just the fact that it was daylight made it hard in this case.  So.......I love Jack Straw as an indoor opener, but not outside in the daylight.  How's that for specifics.  Lol.

     

    I think the reason I love Hell In a Bucket so much as an opener is because all I need is my legs and and some energy.  It's not complex.  It's straightforward and hard-rocking.  It does not take focus.  If I'm in the mood to dance, nothing can take me away from it no matter what's happening around me.  Approximately 5 or 6 years ago I was really close to the front for a DSO show at the Electric Factory.  Obviously, the front was already packed when they opened with Hell in a Bucket, so there was no hub-bub around me.  Just a bunch of people who were already settled and ready to go.  It was my favorite opener of all time at any Dead or DSO show.  DSO rocked it so hard.... it was unbelievable.  

     

    In the end.....maybe Let the Good Times Roll is the best opener.  It's nobody's favorite song.  So you don't feel like you got ripped off by them playing one of your favorites before you are ready for it.  It's fun and and you can dance a little bit to get warmed-up, while still taking time to light a joint without feeling like you're missing something.  So there you go.....every show should start with LTGTR!

    • Like (+1) 3
  14. 2 minutes ago, Greg from Chestertown said:

    Bobby flat out nailed Desolation Row that night. He was as good as he ever was with that song that night, I think. 

     

    Oh man Greg!  I'm so happy you said that.  That song on that night!  Just something about it for me too.  As good as he ever was..

    • Thanks (+1) 1
  15. 3/31/87 - Philadelphia Spectrum - WMMR Live Broadcast

     

    I was 15 years old.  My older brother recorded the WMMR broadcast.  I got my hands on that cassette and it was all over from there.  I listened to that show on my Sony Walkman every time I cut the lawn that year.  I was hooked.

     

    Any of you other Philly/South Jersey folks know what I am talking about?  Pierre Robert from WMMR did the live broadcast.  He was a popular DJ at the time and a HUGE Deadhead.  You'd see him at all the Spectrum shows in the general audience.  

     

    I think that show turned on a lot of Philly area Deadheads of my age.  

    • Like (+1) 2
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