GranolaBox

I was a latecomer to the Grateful Dead scene, and was by no means a serious Deadhead. I was into them in their final years, from 1987ish to 1995. During that time, when they were hot, they were smokin’, but there were a few shows I saw that never seemed to get off the ground. Even at those slow shows though, I was usually inebriated enough to pass the time and enjoy myself.

After Jerry Garcia’s passing I gravitated toward Phish, Ratdog (Bob Weir’s band) The Dead (everyone but Jerry) and Merle Saunders and the JGB. Last year I saw Ratdog in the pouring rain in nearby Canandaigua NY, and they rocked the house from start to finish. Not so this year. It was all slow, obscure Dead tunes or covers and didn’t engage me at all. The Allman Brothers were a lot better, but I don’t know a lot of their stuff and the disappointing Ratdog show put me in a bad mood.

Thus, without inebriation (I went with some of my old AA buddies) I found myself completely unamused. Of course there are always a few entertaining souls at any derivation of a Dead show, but that wore thin a few songs in. I found myself getting annoyed at all the superstoned kids tripping over our blanket and my friend Cheryl, wondering if I looked that stupid back in the day. There were a lot of people just swilling beer, and they were even more stupid and unamusing than the profoundly stoned people.

I haven’t given up faith in Ratdog or the Dead derivatives, but hopefully in the future I’ll pay a lot less to see them, and perhaps bring something to read.

Filed under: Music, Yesterdaze on August 24th, 2008