Looks like they added some shows
Philly DC Worchester
LA on NYE

From what everyone's saying there's gonna be around another 10 shows
added.

Draws into sharp focus that "Fare Thee Well" meant "Open your wallets and say fare thee well to tens of millions of dollars while we go on playing pretty much as we have since 1995. Thanks, suckers." Hopefully, though, it'll be a nice paycheck for Oteil. I seem to recall Jimmy Herring say that he was able to buy a house after touring with The Dead, yet another of the resurrected incarnations.

[Edited on 8/26/2015 by rmack]

Hee hee.... I can see Bobby, Phil, Bill and Mickey drawing straws backstage after the last "Fare Thee Well" show in Chicago. Phil must have got the short one and has to sit this round out.

Good for Oteil though....

BTW the Chicago shows are up on "Traders Den" in perfect FM quality for those interested. I'm burning them for my brother who spent a small fortune to attend all three shows. It's the very least I can do

Without Phil and Trey and Hornsby, this isn't the same thing as Fare Thee Well at all, at least to me. It doesn't bother me.

And I don't think Phil drew any short straw. By all accounts they had to drag him kicking and screaming to do Fare Thee Well.

Phil is 76, I think, and I believe he is really and truly retired from touring and big arean/stadium shows like this.

Hey Rob, hope you know my post was tongue in cheek but I do have a rebuttal....

"this isn't the same thing as Fare Thee Well at all"

Yes, yes it is. Just a different guitar/bass combo. And no Phil vocals which depending on your point of view.....

My Mother is 76 and I share the same B-Day w/ Phil, always feel old when someone mentions his age.

Are they really "The Dead & Co." ???

What happened to Los Muertos?

With all due respect to Oteil, this is the B Team compared to the Chicago shows

Yes, yes it is.

No, no it isn't.

Change the wrapper and a couple of ingredients ... it tastes about the same. 😉

Go find another bass player anywhere that plays like Phil Lesh. I'll wait.

Phil signed a contract with Shappy for The Cap.
But he could have made more for doing the Garden than for a whole year's worth of Cap shows.
I think the Fare Thee Wallet shows suprised everyone including the band.

Lots of people are getting great entertainment out of bagging on the Fare Thee Well shows, but as a person who went to the Santa Clara shows, I cannot say enough about the experience. Just to be in that communal vibe again was absolutely incredible, and for the people I was with it meant a LOT more than just a couple of concerts.

Beyond the analysis of who is playing with who, maybe some credit should go to the songs. These songs will always be played, long after all the original members of Grateful Dead are gone. The music endures.

The constant devotion to negativity these days just sucks.

Negative?
Just because I think I deserve a free lifetime pass based on past money spent doesn't mean I'm negative.
Glad you enjoyed those shows.
I'm sure The Garden will be crazy fun.
* If Weir tours to support the new album of "Cowboy Songs" he's working on, I will pay to see that.
But only if I dont have to wash off too much of that "dusty dirt".

[Edited on 8/26/2015 by griff]

For some it's a big difference. For others it isn't. Talented musicians keeping good music alive in any case...and if you can afford to go..good for you

Maybe this is already widespread knowledge, but it looks good for the Dead and Co. to be in Buffalo in November.

Also, isn't "dust n' dirt"?

For some it's a big difference. For others it isn't. Talented musicians keeping good music alive in any case...and if you can afford to go..good for you

Maybe this is already widespread knowledge, but it looks good for the Dead and Co. to be in Buffalo in November.

Also, isn't "dust n' dirt"?

I have to pay AND remember the lyrics?
It's too much.
Anyway here's to Dead and Co. "Truckin' Up To Buffalo".

The constant devotion to negativity these days just sucks.

Agreed.

Hope they end up in the southeast. When I first started hitting festivals about 20-25 years ago, I would silently lament all the Dead-related acts on the bill. I was wrong and now lament the lack of them.

MuleMe, have a great time and please write up your thoughts afterward.

Peace.

Blooby

Something about John Mayer and his music has always bugged me. Certainly based on his personal lifestyle he has been pegged as something of a narcissistic ass. I realize he is a good musician and I'm sure he'll be able to copy all the guitar parts but he just doesn't seem worthy to be representing the Dead. This is a new low. Perhaps Katy Perry will come out and sing with them too.

I'm also greatly disappointed that after all the mega-hype of the Fare the Well shows that 3 of the 4 guys are back so soon as yuck, Dead and Company. That name sounds as fabricated as John Mayer's career.

But yes, hooray for Oteil, nice to see him continue to enhance his resume.

[Edited on 8/27/2015 by Brewster]

Negative?
Just because I think I deserve a free lifetime pass based on past money spent doesn't mean I'm negative.
Glad you enjoyed those shows.
I'm sure The Garden will be crazy fun.
* If Weir tours to support the new album of "Cowboy Songs" he's working on, I will pay to see that.
But only if I dont have to wash off too much of that "dusty dirt".

It really wasn't a shot at you, just the overall tone of the subject in Deadhead circles over the past year (always a surly lot anyway). 😛

What gets me is the remarks that somehow I'm a "sucker" for going to those shows. I never looked at it like that at all. A buddy won the chance to buy the tickets in a secondary lottery, behind the stage tix at $65 face. We split the rental cars, piled a bunch of guys in hotel rooms to split costs like the old days. Flights were are reasonable as they could be for flying into San Jose. It wasn't a budget-breaker and so much fun.

Chicago, though, that was nutty expensive, even up to day of. Had friends at those and you weren't getting in for less than $450 for what they could find. That's insane, indeed.

Go find another bass player anywhere that plays like Phil Lesh. I'll wait.

Phil is unique to the grateful dead sound, but Otiel may be the most amazing, inventive player out there. I'm sure Billy Kreutzman would tell you the same.

It wasn't a knock on Oteil.

Hawk, I meant no offense to anyone who attended these shows, paid for them, enjoyed them and had a meaningful experience, and I apologize for the offense. It was directed totally toward the band, and I still feel, especially in light of the fact the the Dead resuscitations show every indication that they will roll along exactly as they have for the last 20 years, that "Fare Thee Well" displayed a strong cynical and opportunistic attitude from them. I loved the Grateful Dead, saw them dozens of times, but after the wrangling over the disposition of Garcia's guitars against his own wishes in his will, my view of the remaining members soured. I do think that a lot of their tunes, especially the Garcia/Hunter catalog, are among the best ever created by an American rock band and deserved to be played and enjoyed. To anyone who attends these Dead and Co. shows, have a blast - should be a mighty rhythm section, Chimenti can play, and Mayer is a good guitar player, but to place him in the Garcia chair is like your high-school physics teacher succeeding Stephen Hawking in Isaac Newton's chair. IMHO, of course.

A problem that I have is that The Who suffered mightily, right here on this website, took major grief, by a lot of members - after they continued to do tours after their " farewell tour. "

[Edited on 8/27/2015 by heineken515]

I feel the FTW was the "end" because Lesh is a core founding member, he is not into touring, enjoys being a bandleader. has the most jamming, and his bands are my favorite post Garcia.

I am not attending any shows but if I couch tour it will be Reddy Kilowatt, keeper of the jams.

A problem that I have is that The Who suffered mightily, right here on this website, took major grief, by a lot of members - after they continued to do tours after their " farewell tour. "

I think there are some glaring distinctions here. The Who suffered grief because they undertook 33 years of "farewell" tours (to date), and all as The Who. KISS is on its second decade of farewell tours as well, and suffers similar grief (for that and many other things). If Motley Crue takes their current farewell tour much past 3 years, they will start getting same grief.

The FTW shows were billed as the last shows of the core 4 would be playing together, without ever suggesting that they wouldn't continue touring in some form or another. Just not all 4 of them again. Nothing with Dead & Co. is inconsistent with that. They're not all 4 playing/touring together.

Mayer is an interesting choice. Could be interesting ... or a disaster.

That name sounds as fabricated as John Mayer's career.

😛

I hope the Dead, The Who, heck even The Allman Brothers have as many farewell tours as possible because that means they are still playing the music I love. I don't want to go to the last show of any band, I want to go to the next show.

Sunrise doesn't last all morning
A cloudburst doesn't last all day
Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
It's not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

Sunset doesn't last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this, my love is up and must be leaving
It's not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
None of life's strings can last
So, I must be on my way
And face another day

Now the darkness only stays the night-time
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good at arriving at the right time
It's not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away

Tickets for the Verizon Center in DC (seats about 20,000) went on sale at noon today. At noon, the only tics I could pull for 2 seats were in the upper tier or behind the stage. I tried for better seats for almost three hours and finally got 2nd row of the upper tier in the center of the arena. As usual, plenty of good seats available on the secondary market.

"Just a different guitar/bass combo."

As if that is a small thing? Those are arguably the two more important positions in the band.

The two best musicians at Fare Thee Well won't be part of these shows with Mayer. That's a pretty huge difference to me.

I know not everyone here likes Phish as much as I do, but as somebody who doesn't like Mayer and is a big Trey fan, that is a huge step down.

Oteil is certainly some consolation, but as great as he is, Phil Lesh is a distinct and irreplaceable part of the Dead sound.

"As if that is a small thing? Those are arguably the two more important positions in the band."

Ditto and harrumph!

I didn't get a harrumph out of that guy!

😛