Besides, DaVinci was a lefty. Anyhow, I've waited for awhile to chime in on this because "fuck the Dead" kind of makes it sound like we're supporting necrophilia, but never mind.
I see it as these four guys have tons of history with each other, are closer than many real brothers will ever be, and still sound good together. So why deny them? If they want to do it, and there is still an audience out there for them ( which there does appear to be ), then who are we to say "fuck them"? WE do not have to go if we don't want to.
Honestly, in this day and age spending $125.00 or so for two tickets to a top drawer act is not bad at all. You will pay almost that much just for P&F or Ratdog. And, with Warren, while obviously he is not Jerry, he will still play very professionally and with a lot of soul. They will most likely sound better than the real deal Dead did the last few years before Jerry checked out, and they will be playing tunes that most of us wish that there had been a chance of hearing while Jerry was still alive.
As far as the internecine squabbling of recent years, let's be honest: that has totally to do with the change in the Grateful dead business model, and very little if anything to do with personalities or personal vendettas. There was no more steady tour income, but still payroll to meet and expenses to pay. The model changed and there was disagreement over how best to handle it. Digital downloading of soundboards did take away a potential source of revenue for them - and a band needs to have some business acumen in order to survive five years, let alone 40. So cut them some slack - it was uncharted water with a lot of rocks to hit, there was bound to be some head-butting.
Myself, I'm pumped - I think everything I've heard sounds pretty good. True, the State College show had some rough spots in the transitions, etc, but I'm sure that much of that will get ironed out. Besides, aren't the warts part of what we love about them anyway?
I see it as these four guys have tons of history with each other, are closer than many real brothers will ever be, and still sound good together. So why deny them? If they want to do it, and there is still an audience out there for them ( which there does appear to be ), then who are we to say "fuck them"? WE do not have to go if we don't want to.
Honestly, in this day and age spending $125.00 or so for two tickets to a top drawer act is not bad at all. You will pay almost that much just for P&F or Ratdog. And, with Warren, while obviously he is not Jerry, he will still play very professionally and with a lot of soul. They will most likely sound better than the real deal Dead did the last few years before Jerry checked out, and they will be playing tunes that most of us wish that there had been a chance of hearing while Jerry was still alive.
As far as the internecine squabbling of recent years, let's be honest: that has totally to do with the change in the Grateful dead business model, and very little if anything to do with personalities or personal vendettas. There was no more steady tour income, but still payroll to meet and expenses to pay. The model changed and there was disagreement over how best to handle it. Digital downloading of soundboards did take away a potential source of revenue for them - and a band needs to have some business acumen in order to survive five years, let alone 40. So cut them some slack - it was uncharted water with a lot of rocks to hit, there was bound to be some head-butting.
Myself, I'm pumped - I think everything I've heard sounds pretty good. True, the State College show had some rough spots in the transitions, etc, but I'm sure that much of that will get ironed out. Besides, aren't the warts part of what we love about them anyway?
Out of the loop? I didn't know there was a loop!