|
|
Post by Don Swifty on Sept 24, 2015 7:34:39 GMT -7
Sometimes I fucking hate tGD. There, I said it.
Got up and put on GDradio earlier in the morning. There was some '80's version of UJB that can be best described as lumbering. Jerry was just there, probably looking forward the end of the show so he could re-up. The drummers laid down the most pedestrian of beats. Phil wasn't all that inspired. Brent was high in the mix with his tinkly-tinkly-tinkly keyboard sound that annoys me. I couldn't even hear Bobby in the mix at all. They sounded like a tier-3 Dead cover band. I like the song - when the band's on, but if they were a new band at the time and not a 60's legend they wouldn't have any future based on the level of playing and the overall sound from what I heard. Just terrible. In that moment this morning, I hated one of my favorite bands as much as any "I fucking hate tGD" punk rocker ever has. What's even sadder is I've heard worse. This was just incredibly uninspired, but at least it wasn't some mid 80's pre-coma or '92-'95 Vince'd out version. There's other jambands I like who've played shows that were sometimes 'meh,' but rarely truly bad. In a 30 year career I wouldn't be surprised if tGD batted under .500 as far as good shows/bad shows ratio.
Is this something that can get me banned here? Am I the only one here who likes tGD and feels this way? Is it wrong for me to only want to listen to the band up through '77, maybe parts of '78 and pretend they broke up, if not on the highest note, at least before they slid into a C-/D+ version of their former selves? Do I need to see a priest about an exorcism?
|
|
|
|
Post by waldowally on Sept 24, 2015 7:36:00 GMT -7
I have never been overly impressed by their musicianship.
|
|
|
|
Post by hokiejoe on Sept 24, 2015 7:36:48 GMT -7
The world wouldn't be any fun if everyone liked the same thing. Good luck landing those Taylor Swift tickets!
|
|
|
|
Post by waldowally on Sept 24, 2015 7:37:48 GMT -7
A lot of their jams just plod along.
Give me that tight tension and release, those insane peaks... you don't get that much with GD. It's sloppy
|
|
|
|
Post by frododoknobo on Sept 24, 2015 7:38:27 GMT -7
80's/90's Dead has some moments, but for the most part I can't listen to it either.
|
|
|
|
Post by lordkundalini on Sept 24, 2015 7:39:29 GMT -7
id just move on and not care.. its the Dead. some real good ones and some others may not like
|
|
|
|
Post by betterweather1239 on Sept 24, 2015 7:39:35 GMT -7
The 80's had good stuff. You just gotta poke around.
|
|
|
|
Post by thecosmicbandito on Sept 24, 2015 7:40:00 GMT -7
They're no Disco Biscuits...
|
|
|
|
Post by SolarGarlic 🧀 on Sept 24, 2015 7:44:39 GMT -7
80's/90's Dead has some moments, but for the most part I can't listen to it either. This. |
|
|
|
Post by saulgoodman on Sept 24, 2015 7:52:08 GMT -7
Bigswifty, i think most GD fans feel some variation of what you feel. I have felt that way about many of their sets, and I felt this way about the FTW50 shows this summer (that skinny fellow pretending to be Jerry was pretty good, but the rest just seemed like they were waiting for something to happen that never did). the great thing was that you never knew, but when it came together, it was both fresh and magical. I think what I just said is somewhat obvious, but it's just so true. I read a recent Phil interview in which he was questioning the connection between present day jambands and GD because he felt that jambands today do more solo trading and that the drummers don't really improv the way Mickey and Billy did. I think he is probably right, but he is also, unwittingly, identifying a lack of focus natural to GD that really did impair their music sometimes.
IMO: GD music was worth all the pointless points, but there definitely were some pointless points.
|
|
|
|
Post by PooDolla on Sept 24, 2015 7:52:46 GMT -7
there is a good 50% of their song catalog that is garbage.
|
|
|
|
Post by betterweather1239 on Sept 24, 2015 7:52:47 GMT -7
I've never had a problem with pre-coma stuff or really post-coma stuff. Till Vince came along. And the occasional cringe-worthy Brent song.
|
|
|
|
Post by betterweather1239 on Sept 24, 2015 7:54:16 GMT -7
They're a patient man's band. No instant gratification after 1972.
|
|
|
|
Post by lovejahlive on Sept 24, 2015 7:55:44 GMT -7
Everyone go kys.
|
|
|
|
Post by waldowally on Sept 24, 2015 7:58:21 GMT -7
I like tight bands. GD was as loose as it gets.
|
|
|
|
Post by waldowally on Sept 24, 2015 7:58:40 GMT -7
Plus if they didn't have hunter...
Meh.
|
|
|
|
Post by dewme on Sept 24, 2015 8:05:36 GMT -7
That's just how it was. Back in the 70s and 80s I'd go to a couple of shows in a row in Philly or some other place back east, and the first night would be meh and I'd think "why did I buy tickets to both these shows?". Then the second night would blow my mind. Totally different mood, tempo and of course set list, and I would be in love again. They'd tour again in the fall and I'd end up seeing Religous Experience type shit...next time might be two meh shows. It was the nature of the beast. But I always went.
Those "on" shows were (and still are) what it's all about. I still listen to mostly 70s shows with the odd 80s mixed in because they were the decades I was able to get away to follow them. I saw it and can relate to it. But there are other highpoint shows out there from earlier and later that capture their shining moments in time, and I appreciate them all. But there's also a lot that I refuse to waste my time on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Swifty on Sept 24, 2015 8:18:32 GMT -7
Yeah, I've always understood the dynamic of not knowing what you're going to get on any certain night. Sometimes entire tours were filled with mostly inspired playing but I was too young to have seen them. They're one of those bands where once you've found what era you favor, and then have gone and found the diamonds, you're kind of set. At least how that's how it is with me. Fortunately there are plenty of diamonds in the years I'm most interested in
|
|
|
|
Post by badgerboy on Sept 24, 2015 9:34:17 GMT -7
yeah i mean....they played a lot of shows that were duds. Can't deny that. Still when they nailed it shit was awesome.
I still enjoy listening to shitty 90s shows lol
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Swifty on Sept 24, 2015 9:41:18 GMT -7
Listening to shitty shows, like watching shitty movies, can be interesting. First, you have the trainwreck factor. I wonder what where they thinking. What's going through everyones mind on stage/production during the show? Is there a self awareness? Are they just thinking about getting back into that book they're reading that's in the hotel room? After-show party and groupies? Fuck it, half the people here wouldn't know a bad show from a good one and the other half don't care - we're getting paid.
|
|
