Saw Dead and Co for the first time last night…it was very “meh”.

[ledzep618]

Mountain View last night. I love The Dead, I loved Phil & Friends, I loved Furthur, and I think John Mayer is a kick ass guitarist but man, what a disappointment. There was absolutely zero energy on that stage, the songs are played at 1/2 speed (or slower) and Mayers tone and playing are just fully uninspired. He basically just shoegazed and noodled in the background on some generic Jerry scales. It wasn’t musical at all, it was just space filling. His Silver Sky tone is thin and weak, it was better when he swapped for his Sig model but still pretty bland. Oteil look viscerally bored, and Bill/Micky looked like they just flat out didn’t know where they were.

I havent kept up with this iteration and maybe it just is what it is, but these Reddit comments I saw sum it up best “twice the cost for half the speed” and “it takes them 4 hours to play a 3 hour show”.

 

[LithiumZero]

Clearly more drugs were required

 

[GEORGE A BENNETT]

THE ORIGINALS ARE A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

 

[ledzep618]

Clearly more drugs were required

I was honestly confused by the lack of energy so I sparked a doob and 20 minutes later was like “nope that didn’t help”

 

[taez555]

Kinda surprised by that. I've been listening to many of the shows over the years, and agree with the half speed stuff for sure, but find them very relaxing and enjoyable. Often inspiring. Mayer's playing is usually crazy good. The streaming shows I've watched from a few years ago are killer.

Maybe they've just run their course over the past few years. It's been what, 4-5 years now?

The guys aren't spring chickens anymore. At some point you have to take a step back and realize you just paid to go to a rock show featuring mostly senior citizens.

 

[Figaro]

Clearly more drugs were required

Go from “meh” to exceptional

 

[Bob Maximus]

never know what's going on behind the scenes. The stage sound could'a sucked all night; maybe a spat happened; too f'in hot.

Don't know, but it's hard to imagine that group as uninspired.

 

[sfarnell]

Without Garcia and Lesh, Dead & Company is a very good cover band. The shows are enjoyable. But for me, there's no magic like in the old days, or even a hint of it. So, one show is all that I can attend if there's no magic.

 

[sleewell2]

Sadly agree.

But really nothing is ever going to be same or even close.

I think it's cool when you find a random dead song played slower but not when its every song. They desperately need more energy, more pep. They never get into those magical moments that made the dead so special.

 

[ledzep618]

Kinda surprised by that. I've been listening to many of the shows over the years, and agree with the half speed stuff for sure, but find them very relaxing and enjoyable. Often inspiring. Mayer's playing is usually crazy good. The streaming shows I've watched from a few years ago are killer.

Maybe they've just run their course over the past few years. It's been what, 4-5 years now?

The guys aren't spring chickens anymore. At some point you have to take a step back and realize you just paid to go to a rock show featuring mostly senior citizens.

Yeah I’ve heard streams where they were on for sure. Guess I just expected a pro like Mayer to show up to the gig but I guess everyone has off days.

Honestly I didn’t even expect it to “rock”. I did expect it to be good, or even listenable.

 

[_fox_]

Wow, that's a shame.

The tour opener at Dodger stadium was great.

Mayer's solos were amazing and the whole band seemed pretty "on." The sound and tone were all superb too.

 

[folsommd]

Oh man thought about going and making the 3 hour drive to the bay. Whew!

 

[riker4208]

Driving to Missoula to see Phil and Friends at an outdoor Venue this Friday. Phil has surrounded himself with young hungry players who go for it live. I much prefer his shows. They also tend to be smaller venues which really helps.

 

[Wms76]

THE ORIGINALS ARE A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

I haven’t been moved enough to shell out big $$ for the current offering myself, having heard the originals.

 

[strumminsix]

I'm with you: think JM is an amazing musician, Otiel is a master, Rob is a maestro. Bobby is my hero, and the rhythm devils are where it's at for beats. And I watch them make magic in many videos. And they move people. My problem is the tempo.

I've been a hardcore deadhead for over 30 years and every song has a tempo plus or minus a few BPM. Them slowing down SOME songs SIGNIFICANTLY ruins it for me. Reasons are 3 fold:
1) I've been covering these tunes for 25 years, and the tempos are ingrained into my soul. played 30% slower is not enjoyable. it's uncomfortable actually. like watching something being done wrong.
2) There's no difference between the rocks and chills tunes. loved they'd whip me into a frenzy then chill me out, then rock me. Dead shows, and related, were energy roller coasters.
3) all songs start to feel like they're at the same tempo.

I really hope they write an album, do some new music and find ways to pick it up a bit. Glad they're still making people happy!

 

[roadfilm]

Driving to Missoula to see Phil and Friends at an outdoor Venue this Friday. Phil has surrounded himself with young hungry players who go for it live. I much prefer his shows. They also tend to be smaller venues which really helps.

Who is with Phil these days?

 

[Benz2112]

It was better before.

 

[Urobouros]

Every Dead show was different. When they were on, it was magic, when they weren't, it could be difficult to enjoy. I've had the same experience with Dark Star Orchestra and found the Other Ones shows I have to be the same. I'd expect nothing less from Dead & Co but it sucks when you can only get to one show.

 

[boldaslove1977]

...Mayers tone and playing are just fully uninspired. He basically just shoegazed and noodled in the background on some generic Jerry scales. It wasn’t musical at all, it was just space filling. His Silver Sky tone is thin and weak, it was better when he swapped for his Sig model but still pretty bland.

The Silver Sky IS his sig model. Was the tone better when he switched to the Super Eagle? Is that what you mean?

That's been his primary guitar for the Dead gigs pretty much since the start in 2015. It was a very intentional decision, as he was going for a very different tone/vibe than his solo material. Trying to separate church & state.

I've seen a lot of pics of him using a Silver Sky over these first few shows of this tour and was surprised by that.

Anyway.... I've seen Dead and Co. twice. Once at the beginning... very first run in 2015... and then once not long before Covid shut down the world... maybe summer 2019? Never thought his tone was thin. He actually sounded huge... especially the second time... when he was clearly more comfortable in this role.

 

[ledzep618]

Yeah that’s right the Super Eagle, I’m not super up with John Mayers rig. But yeah that guitar sounded much better than the Silver Sky, unfortunately he didn’t switch until 3/4 of the way through the show.