marantz@null.DEC (Josh HL01-1/S09 DTN 225-4394) (04/08/85)
After all the incredible descriptions of Dead concerts, when I had the spontaneous opportunity to attend the show in Providence, RI last wednsday, I had to take it. This letter is not meant as an objective review of the show, but is simply a summary of my experience. Please keep this in mind if you have the urge to flame. First, it is relevant to summarize my musical background. My taste in music covers a fairly broad spectrum of styles, though it is heavily concentrated in what is commonly known as "progressive" or "art" rock, though more recently I have been exploring "modern jazz" (e.g. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, etc.). Some years back, I bought Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" because it had Casey Jones and U.S. Blues (which I heard somewhere and liked). I have to say that the rest of the album really turned me off at the time. I haven't listened to it recently, but at the time I found it to be sloppy and un-energetic. Based on that limited sample, I decided not to further explore the Dead; I didn't have very much money (I could maybe afford an album or two a month), and there was a lot of music that interested me much more. Well, I have to say that since reading this newsgroup, I have learned at least one thing for certain about the Dead, and that is that their fans are more devoted to the Dead and the Dead's music than any other fans I've ever encountered. So I decided to cast my negative experiences from that live album aside and go into the Providence civic center with an open mind. I walked into the Civic Center, greeted by the usual rock concert frisk. What a joke. They wouldn't have detected anything smaller than a bazooka. That's good, I thought, it's all part of the mellow and loving atmosphere described previously in this newsgroup. The tie-dies, faded jeans, and all the rest of the image came as no surprise. Well, after the rock-concert-standard 1/2-hour delay, the lights dimmed, the crowd cheered, lit up their matches, and flicked bics, and the band came on and started to play. First thing I noticed was that everything was much quieter than I expected. The band was playing at about the volume that I might play my stereo. The crowd is pretty quiet as well, at least compared with the last two rock concerts I've been to (Yes and Rush). Well, that's good, I thought, I could hear the band clearly, I could even talk to my friends during songs, and it was just a very laid-back atmosphere. The only problem I foresaw was that I wouldn't really be able to feel the bottom end of the bass, which was definitely part of the musical high I got at Yes (particularly during the slides in Long Distance Runaround). "Well, no fair making comparisons this early in the game," I said to myself, "let's hear these guys out." I must confess I didn't know most of the songs they played. This probably hampered my enjoyment a bit. Everyone was standing, and most were dancing, but my impression was that I didn't feel the energy the Deadheads felt during the first few songs, and so I didn't feel comfortable joining in. Overall the Dead were good, however, and I liked the sound. I realize now that I didn't have a good sense of the style (or range of styles) of music the Dead played. Well, the first set went on, and it had its ups and downs, but overall I felt very positive as they left the stage for their break. Still, I was hoping they'd play more stuff I'd recognize during the second set. During the break, I thought a bit about what people had said in this newsgroup, and so I'll address those points here. First of all, while I saw no BMW's on the way to the concert, I didn't see too many beat up VW Bugs either (isn't that the stereotype?). More typically, people drove VW Rabbits or Hondas or Toyotas or sometimes even (gasp) American Cars. But I saw a pretty small sample, because I wasn't really paying that much attention (I mean who really gives a ^&*@# :-). I was paying more attention to two points that I thought were a little more relevant. First, I only saw maybe one or two people who were actually tripping. I don't consider being high on pot tripping. I observed somewhere around 25% of the people in my immediately vicinity smoking pot. Again, that may or may not be a good sample. The other point was the strong spirit of kinship between Deadheads that someone mentioned. I have to say I was not overwhelmed by it. The atmosphere was certainly mellower than other rock concerts I'd been to, but that may be partially due to the sedated state many people were in (if not from smoking pot, then from breathing the stuff from the guy in front of you). Another thing I thought about was the taping section. There was a forest of microphones toward the rear of the floor. I would hate to have been in the rear of the second level, looking at the band through that forest. If the Dead are going to have special taping sections, how much trouble would it be to provide them with access to the mixer output? Technically, I think it would be a very simple thing to do, and the cost would probably willingly be paid by the tapers. That would hopefully eliminate the artificially obstructed view seating behind the taping section. The Grateful Dead returned to the stage with quite a bit more energy than the first set, and I was immediately drawn in more closely than I had been before. They glided through a couple of songs, spicing things up with solos and extended jams. I was getting into it more. Then they did Terrapin Station. I didn't know it was Terrapin Station until I asked someone behind me who obviously knew, but I will never again fail to recognize Terrapin Station. I had no idea they were so thematic. They laid down a good hook and played with it and soloed around it and jammed through it and they were good and they were TIGHT. By the time they did "Ashes Ashes All Fall Down" and "Truckin'", I was really feeling the band's energy. I couldn't sing along with everyone else, except on the choruses, but when the whole place erupted in unison with "Lately it occured to me what a long, strange trip it's been!", I made up my mind that Dead concerts were an experience unlike any other. Well, they didn't do Casey Jones and they didn't do U.S. Blues, but I enjoyed the concert immensely. Apparently, from other people's comments I heard, this was not a top-notch Dead show, but I would definitely like to see them beat what they did during the best parts of their second set. Still, I need to say that I am not now a born-again Deadhead. I still like the music I've always liked more, and I suspect that I would not enjoy their recordings nearly as much as I enjoyed their performance. I also suspect, however, that I would enjoy them outdoors in a setting such as Berkeley even more than I liked it indoors in Providence. In any case, there will be at least one addition to my record collection in the very near future, namely Terrapin Station. Now, I feel that I should place this concert in the context of other rock concerts I've seen or heard about. It was certainly the longest arena rock-concert I'd been to; they played for almost three hours, not including the break. I think bands at local (Cambridge/Somerville) jazz clubs play a bit longer, but I haven't timed them. Evaluated as a show, rather than just a concert, it was definitely unique. No videos, no lasers, no dry ice (though there was plenty of fog), no sets, no costumes, and for that matter, no stage presence (except occasionally when Bob Weir went into his Springsteen imitation). The show was the music and the fans, and a relatively modest display of lighting. Well, I'm willing to trade flashy stage-shows for increased concert-length. Musically, I thought it was very good, and I wonder if I might have used an even stronger description if I had known the music better. I hesitate to evaluate it relative to other shows I've seen, just because there's no way to for me to give an objective opinion given my tastes and background. A friend of mine commented that the structure of the jams and solos recalled those of jazz. I'd agree, except that there were no real solos (even the drum solo was a duet). I really liked Jerry Garcia's guitar work. I found his "solos" interesting and well-performed. Of course I also value a little movement on the stage from a lead guitarist. He seemed content to stay back near the drum kits, out of the spotlight, and stare at his instrument. But while the energy in his playing did not suffer, I've seen drummers and keyboardists that move around and play to the audience more than Jerry Garcia. And the Boston Globe said that Rush was aloof! I was also disappointed that Jerry didn't sing very much. I was under the impression that he was supposed to sing Truckin', but Bob Weir did. To summarize, I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience a Grateful Dead Show. It was not a typical rock concert by any means. On the other hand, it was not as far removed from the rest of rock as some might have us believe. The show had its high points and its low points. I enjoyed it immensely at its best, and at its worst I thought to myself, "if I were listening on the radio I'd turn it off, just out of boredom". But the positive points far outweighed the negative, and I was left feeling good. What's more, I was left without a ringing in my ears. Technically, they were more than competant, but less than "awesome". Overall, fans were no more enthusiastic about the music than they were at other concerts, though they were dancing more. At the Yes (ugh not Yes again!) show last spring, for example, the band was much louder than the Dead, and I still could barely hear them over the crowd for much of the first three songs. While that's certainly not a quality to strive for, it may be a good measure of crowd enthusiasm. At the Dead show, however, there was evidence of enthusiasm the likes of which I have never before seen outside of a house of worship. During the spacey noodle-session/jam right after the drum duet, one of the more heavily sedated fans began twisting his body in slow, non-rhythmic movements that vaguely reminded me of some far-eastern religous worship ritual. When I witnessed this, I could only recall a suggestion to create net.religion.dead. I cannot imagine that this person was bowing to the quality of the music. He was reacting to the Dead culture, and probably some mind-altering substance. Well, I'm glad I went, and I might not have gone had I not witnessed the traffic concerning the Grateful Dead on this newsgroup. Therefore, in order that other non-dead-heads can be exposed to this culture, I hereby change my net.music.dead vote from yes to maybe. The condition is that all taping info and concert playlists and Dead trivia be directed at a specific newsgroup, while all music-related postings be directed here. Net.music is the correct place to review a concert or album, or describe how you are affected by some piece of music, etc. Even if the volume of Dead-related net.music postings is large, I believe that so long as it is music-related, it is appropriate for this newsgroup. If net.music.dead is created, and people begin to post concert reviews and hold music discussions there exclusively, some net.music readers will miss out. One of the reasons I read net.music is to expand my horizons, and I feel that the Dead-related postings have helped me achieve that goal. If the Dead-heads had gone away a year ago, I fear I would not have attended this concert and I would be worse off for it. Maybe there should be a net.music.trivia and a net.music.trivia.dead? I'm not kidding. Info about Jerry's law trouble and concert playlists (as opposed to reviews) and tape trading info could go there. Music discussion could go there to, so long as we could see it in net.music as well. How about some discussion? I know that I would subscribe to a net.music.trivia.artrock if it existed so that I could find out (for example) what Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Boz Burrel, Ian McDonald, Keith Tippet, the Giles brothers, and Gentle Giant are doing now. Maybe there would be a demand for this kind of group. Well, I'd like to close this letter with a request to Deadheads to recommend the best live Grateful Dead album. Please mail them to me, and I'll post the results. I'll buy the one that gets the most votes, so only list albums that I can find easily (i.e. no bootlegs). Remember, if you disagree with anything I've said in this article, please try to determine whether I was trying to state a fact or voice an opinion before you flame back. That doesn't mean I don't want people to disagree with me, just don't get [visibly] upset if my opinion (or taste) differs from yours. Thanks for reading this far! -Joshua D. Marantz Mail addresses: ARPA marantz@dec-hudson USENET decvax!decwrl!rhea!null!marantz DEC ENET NULL::MARANTZ Sun 7-Apr-1985 21:44 EST