Jump to content

Any Phish/dead Heads?

deadfan

By deadfan
in Random Thoughts

Phish vs GD  

27 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you like Phish as well as GD?

    • Yes, I was originally a deadhead but now Im a Phishead.
      1
    • I am still a die-hard dead fan but I also like Phish.
      12
    • I only listen to the GD music
      8
    • I like all types of music-GD is just 1 of the many bands I listen to
      6

Recommended Posts

deadfan Newbie

deadfan

Posted
Posted

I am on a quest to broaden my horizons beyond that of listening to and seeing soley grateful dead bands. My friends are urging me to be more diverse and I do have to admit to a one-track mind when it comes to my music preferences. I have been to some Phish shows (as many deadheads seem to go that way) as well as Umpree's, Radiators etc... but at all these shows, there really seems to be the absence of love and the connecting with strangers that I always experience at dead shows. There seems to a be a lack of that, I AM SO GODDAMN PSYCHED TO BE HERE feeling that puts permasmile on my face as soon as the first few notes are played. When Im at dead shows, I look at people in my peripheral and they are psyched to dance and connect...I didn't experience that at Phish or other bands' shows. It's like people at a dead show are saying' "Jesus man, did you hear that!" or "Dude, we're at a fucking dead show''yahoooo!" I love dancing and I love dancing with other people as always happens at dead music shows. At other shows, people are turned off by me and usually are saying, "Get away from me, I am not your friend!" At deadshows, I feel like everyone is freinds of everyone else despite the lack of knowing those people and we are always loving to dance together!

Anyone else find this or am I alone on this one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Forum MVP
anddave Newbie

anddave

Posted
  • Forum MVP
Posted

Go get yourself some David Nelson Band. They don't tour enough but I'm hoping to be ready when they do. Nelson is a contemporary of Garcia and they performed together plenty. Nelson also anchors the NRPS.

Further to that point you can't go wrong with Grisman in any of his many arrangements. I especially like Tone Poets and Tone Poems.

Also load up on Hot Tuna, preferably acoustic sez me but ymmv.

Also Zen Tricksters had lots of great shows and 3 lovely albums before we stole Mattson.

For more of a curve ball, I always think deadheads should like Indigo Girls. Perhaps I am the only one. Maybe you will be the second. Emily Saliers is a quality picker.

As for vibes at shows every show is different as is every showgoer. I saw Phish once this year and was thoroughly impressed with the niceness of the crowd at that show. Friendly and fun. Musically there are plenty of opinions on Phish so I will leaev mine unsaid this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SeanAY Newbie

SeanAY

Posted
Posted

I think the crowds for these are totally different, but unlike some, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I've always assessed it on this belief; scratch whatever itch you feel like scratching at any given time. I'm not real big on Wooks or the perpetual ridiculous hard drug abuse, which you certainly see more of in that other scene. We'll put it this way: there are amateurs and there are pros. I saw my first Dead show on Dead '09 tour, and two months later saw my first Phish show (sorry, wasn't around pre-hiatus). Phans were amateurs, Deadheads were pros. The ability to party harder than anyone on the planet without becoming obnoxious in their high and/or drunken state is what makes Deadheads special!

That said, I consider the Dead and Dead-related bands (like DSO/Furthur) just part of my musical tastes. A significant part, to be sure, but still just a part. I feel like the "big" jamband whose atmosphere is still fairly mellow and lighthearted is moe.; others can feel free to disagree with me, but I've never had a bad run-in at a moe. show. In fact, I've had more bad run-ins at DSO shows (1) than at moe. shows (0). The music is still mostly rock/blues in its sensibilities, and the musicianship is top notch. Also, Phish. If you put 30,000 people together, you're bound to find a few assholes. While the peace love soul people are fewer and farther between, they're still there. It just strikes me as a fanbase that never had to be a community, unlike the GD community, which has also been around for going on 50 years now.

I have a lot of friends that are diehard Umphrey's fans, but they're a little too metal to dance to for me. Lots more hard drugs 'round that scene as well.

Does my rant have a point? Sure does. If you're looking for the best "fun" atmosphere outside of Dead-related tunes, it's time for you to go.....

Bluegrass!!!

A bunch of mighty fine folks that wanna drink their asses off while happily dancing to some hard driving Appalachian music. The crowds always seem friendly and fun. Some bands to check out would be Cornmeal, Greensky Bluegrass, Great American Taxi, The Mosier Brothers, The Punch Brothers, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Forum MVP
Tea Mentor

Tea

Posted
  • Forum MVP
Posted

Many of the other bands presented here are very good options for the purveyor of good live music. Some of the ones I 'watch' for are:

David Nelson

Cornmeal

Hot Tuna - (Jorma on a 12-string is HIGHLY coveted)

Moe

Yonder Mountain

Hot Buttered Rum

There are some others...There are some

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kira Newbie

Kira

Posted
Posted

For more of a curve ball, I always think deadheads should like Indigo Girls. Perhaps I am the only one. Maybe you will be the second. Emily Saliers is a quality picker.

Ahhh the Indigo Girls....just saw them Wednesday night anddave and went with a bunch of deadheads!! Thought of you in fact and a conversation we had long ago about their merits! If you like great guitar playing (seriously, off the hook) with lyrics that have meaning and depth, you really should get to know these girls. They write their own music and lyrics, but happily, they also do some cover tunes....UJB and Tangled for example...with their own twists and takes that make them uniquely their own.

My entire musical roots began with bluegrass. Nothing like it. You want friendly crowds, relaxed atmosphere, and amazing instrumental creativity, go to a bluegrass festival!

First 6 or 7 times I saw Phish, like maybe 13 years ago, I was really loving them. Last time (last year?) I swore I'd never see them again. It wasn't the music. It was crazy and funky and good. The crowd just made me want to poke my eyes out. Might try them again at some point, but not this summer.

One of the biggest reasons I limit my concert attendance to DSO (and their festival counterparts) and occassional other groups (like the girls), is the CROWDS. Everyone SITTING. Really? Eating 5 course meals and CHATTING. Really? I mean, I think if that's your agenda, you should probably pop in a CD and sit in the comfort of your own living room. I want to DANCE DANCE DANCE and hear the music of the folks I love LIVE.

My 2 cents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
redeyedbert Newbie

redeyedbert

Posted
Posted

Everyone always told me I would like Phish because I like the Grateful Dead. I can't remember when I started listening to them, pre 95 or after? My first album was A Live One and I liked it. I then listened to some of their studio work and again I was impressed. Lyrically meh, but I was into the jams.

I then went to 2 shows at the Palace of Auburn Hills (96-99???) I was bored. Just not the same vibe. I was bummed. I wanted a replacement after Jerry died but I just wasn't feeling it from them.

I would go again. It wasn't like I had a bad time, it just didn't move me like I wanted. I almost went to the the show in Detroit last weekend spur of the moment but in the end it didn't work out.

I didn't like my first Grateful Dead show and look where that got me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SeanAY Newbie

SeanAY

Posted
Posted

I considered doing Phish in Detroit > Cleveland this year, but Greensky was opening up the Bell's Beer Garden in Kalamazoo (aka current home) and I couldn't pass it up.

In all honesty, the jams haven't hooked me since they got back together in '09. They're good, not great. Not to say I didn't have a fantastic time at Phish, but they're still not quite there.

On a slightly related note, I was listening to the 6/3 Furthur show, and the Slipknot! jam sounded like something Trey and Mike would play. It was funky, slinky, and didn't sound a thing like Jerry & Phil. And I loved it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Forum MVP
GratefulFred Newbie

GratefulFred

Posted
  • Forum MVP
Posted

I've seen Phish a few times, and had fun. While I did enjoy the music, and recognized some of them, it's their jams that lost me. It seemed like once they would start into an extended jam, they would forget that they were on the stage with other people. Like they would all just go off in their own directions, much of which could have been great, if there had been some sort of syncronicity between the band members. They just seemed to lack the magic that glues music together. I'll give 'em another shot when they come back to The Gorge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Forum MVP
acududeman Contributor

acududeman

Posted
  • Forum MVP
Posted

I am lucky in that out of the 8 or so Phish shows that I've caught, 2 were outstanding.

The first was in '95 and they were way into their "modulation" phase, where they would routinely let the music crumble around them mid-jam and fall out of rhythm and then somehow at the last possible moment come back in as a band "BANG" and resume the groove on a dime. They were at the top of their game in the mid-90's imo.

It was melting and psychedelic and I loved it.

The other was in Hampton sometime around 2000 and it was later released as "Hampton Comes Alive". The Tubthumping encore was a highlight, complete with piccolo trumpet......classic.

Overall, a previous poster nailed it. I find the heart and soul of Phish music lacking. The lyrics are too-often inane, Trey's vocal style always sounds tongue-and-cheek to me........as if the music were meant to be an inside joke or to accompany a carnival experience or something.

That being said, they are all pretty much master musicians. Fishman is a mumu-wearing monster behind his drum kit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Blindman Rookie

Blindman

Posted
Posted

Nice thing about music, art is that they are totally subjective... and as Deadheads, we are a strongly opinionated bunch.

As for Phish, they should be a first ballot, R & R Hall of Fame entry. I would challenge the boards to come up with any band that has held more historic shows over the last 15 years. They are all musical geniuses and Trey is one of the greatest guitarists ever. While they have definitely been up and down since their first hiatus, there is no question that they put on a big, big show.

Now regarding the Phish audience and lot scene, well that's a different story...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Silver Fox

Guest Silver Fox

Posted
Posted

Didn't realize it until just now, but I guess I'm in the minority on this one. I know there are other Phish phans on this board, maybe they're currently on tour with this great band...But I think Phish ROCKS!!!!!!!! The band is made up of four INCREDIBLY talented musicians.

Yes their lyrics are off the wall (on their older songs, a lot of the new songs actually have pretty good lyrics IMO), yes their jams can get a bit "off task" though they always come back on point, and yes their fan base can be a little different than what we are all accustomed to at times (really just depends where you're seeing them IMO), yes they have some gimmicky things throughout the course of a show (all of which are ways to keep the live experience fun and spontaneous, which can't be easy to do when playing so many nights).....BUT every single time I listen to them play, live or recording, I'm extremely impressed with their level of talent and musicianship. It's my opinion that Trey is one of the best guitar players alive, period. I know that is a strong statement on this board, but the only other living guitarist I would rather see is JK (another bold statement in this neck of the woods, but it's my opinion). But regardless, Trey can rip a guitar like no one else IMO.

I think Phish gets a bad rap from most deadheads. Not sure if it stems from the transition of music after Jerry's passing or from the media's constant comparison of the two bands or something else completely unrelated. But the music Phish puts out ROCKS!!!!!!!!!! In my opnion......

Silver Fox

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SeanAY Newbie

SeanAY

Posted
Posted

Didn't realize it until just now, but I guess I'm in the minority on this one. I know there are other Phish phans on this board, maybe they're currently on tour with this great band...But I think Phish ROCKS!!!!!!!! The band is made up of four INCREDIBLY talented musicians.

Yes their lyrics are off the wall (on their older songs, a lot of the new songs actually have pretty good lyrics IMO), yes their jams can get a bit "off task" though they always come back on point, and yes their fan base can be a little different than what we are all accustomed to at times (really just depends where you're seeing them IMO), yes they have some gimmicky things throughout the course of a show (all of which are ways to keep the live experience fun and spontaneous, which can't be easy to do when playing so many nights).....BUT every single time I listen to them play, live or recording, I'm extremely impressed with their level of talent and musicianship. It's my opinion that Trey is one of the best guitar players alive, period. I know that is a strong statement on this board, but the only other living guitarist I would rather see is JK (another bold statement in this neck of the woods, but it's my opinion). But regardless, Trey can rip a guitar like no one else IMO.

I think Phish gets a bad rap from most deadheads. Not sure if it stems from the transition of music after Jerry's passing or from the media's constant comparison of the two bands or something else completely unrelated. But the music Phish puts out ROCKS!!!!!!!!!! In my opnion......

Silver Fox

Silver Fox--

You'd honestly have to count me in that minority as well. The word I most often come to when thinking of Phish's music is the same one I use for Bruce Hornsby; it's so damn joyful. Like, these guys are up there ripping and you can tell they're having the times of their lives!

Again, saw the TAB in February in Pittsburgh and was blown away by the emotional acoustic portion of the set. "Let Me Lie" was so beautifully done, "Backwards Down the Number Line" was well done as well, etc. "Push On Til The Day" and "Sand" were wild!

I said I didn't see them on the last tour, and it bums me out, because they're apparently pulling out of this "no-jam" spiral that's plagued them since they got back together. They're back, man, they're back haha.

Anyway, to each his own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Silver Fox

Guest Silver Fox

Posted
Posted

Silver Fox--

You'd honestly have to count me in that minority as well. The word I most often come to when thinking of Phish's music is the same one I use for Bruce Hornsby; it's so damn joyful. Like, these guys are up there ripping and you can tell they're having the times of their lives!

Again, saw the TAB in February in Pittsburgh and was blown away by the emotional acoustic portion of the set. "Let Me Lie" was so beautifully done, "Backwards Down the Number Line" was well done as well, etc. "Push On Til The Day" and "Sand" were wild!

I said I didn't see them on the last tour, and it bums me out, because they're apparently pulling out of this "no-jam" spiral that's plagued them since they got back together. They're back, man, they're back haha.

Anyway, to each his own.

Agreed, i think we share a few common opinons.... and again, agreed, to each his/her own....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Forum MVP
acududeman Contributor

acududeman

Posted
  • Forum MVP
Posted

Great musicians, lyrics are atrocious, they need a hunter...

they are bit gimmicky, trampolines, vacuum's, etc.

jam's lose me.

I like panic much better...

You know when you get some random (sometimes strange) association in your head that sticks forever?

Well......I saw Widespread Panic one time several years back. I was sitting pretty far back, and I couldn't shake my perception that the lead singer reminds me of Charles Manson.

Now I can't ever listen to Widespread without thinking that Manson is not actually in prison but is living out his unrealized rock star dreams. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sakada Newbie

sakada

Posted
Posted

Phish is playing like 2 miles from my house on Aug.9 & 10...am going to play in the lot...probably NOT going in the show, lest tix happen to fall into my lap {don't really care}...will probably put the boat in the lake and listen from there OR go gamble {as it's at Harvey's Casino} OR both LOL...what IS important is that Melvin & Stu are playing the afterparty BOTH nights !!!! i WILL definitely be going to that, especially as the 1st night is the anniversary of losing our dearest friend, Jerry Garcia...

well, my $.02 on how i feel about Phish...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...