February 4, 2008
Grateful Dead Grateful for Obama
Those goddamn, dirty, lovable hippies known as the Grateful Dead -- i.e., Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Phil Lesh -- reunite tonight in honor of (our future president) Barack Obama. Looking to snare to what Joe Garofoli refers to as, "California's gray-haired ponytail vote," the Dead is backing Obama. Minus, Jerry Garcia, of course, since he is now most literally a dead head.
Billed as a one-time-only event, although they got back together briefly in 2004, the iconic group agreed to get reform for Senator Obama just before tomorrow's critical "Super Tuesday"” primaries. But if you're too baked, too old, or both to head over to Market and Sixth Street to catch the show, which is happening at the debatably charming Warfield, you can catch it online at Iclips at approximately 7:30pm PST.
What: Deadheads for Obama (featuring Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Phil Lesh)
Where: The Warfield
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Tickets are $35; two-ticket limit per person, through Ticketmaster only. (Pft.)
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It's in honor of, not in honor for. And I just hope the hippies don't cost him any votes. Worst band ever and all that.
Will they have a special box for finger-donations?
Ugh, can the "Dead" please just fade away and leave us all alone?
@ fizzandpop
while I agree having Barack attend a dead show on the eve of super Tuesday might be a liability for his campaign, dismissively calling the Dead the worst band ever is pretty egregious considering their 30 years of contributing to popular American music and the culture of this city.
I could continue, but it's not worth addressing the ungrateful living (clever, eh?)...and finally, realize a lot of us deadheads are worldly, educated and bathe regularly. Hence the involvement in politics. Think about it.
Don't tell me this town aint got no heart
@ Big Poopy
I can call them the worst band in history because, in my opinion, they are. I can't for the life of me remember the melody to any of their 90,000 "songs". I can't recall a single line of their lyrics. Some would call this lucky, but for a band you claim to be so significant, that's a little worrying. Hardly anyone outside of the US has ever heard of them, yet their fans put them up with the Beatles, the Stones, and Dylan. They are at best, a bunch of hobbyists, at worst a symbol of everything that's wrong with this city. I have never met a fan of theirs who could hold my attention for more than 15 seconds (except you). The music, the image, the philosophy, it's all just so wrong.
Worse than...
New Kids on the Block?
Ratt?
Ace of Base?
Two Live Crew?
The Spice Girls?
Hey Big Poopy.....
What instruments do YOU play? How's your singing? Song writing? History?
......thought so......
So, uhhhh, what qualifies you as an "expert" to comment on The Dead?
Yes, annoyingly I can remember music and lyrics from all those bands. Really wracking my brains, but no, 'still can't hum a Dead song. The hippies are still a shit stain on the (rather thin) cultural history this city, I'm afraid.
hardly anyone outside of the US has heard of the Dead?
i guess it's one thing for you to flatly say that you don't like 'em, but to say something quite so assinine, well, seems to prove that you really don't know that much about the band or it's fans.
and remember "we are everywhere"
good luck out there!
I don't like the Deadhead culture but they had a few decent tunes. At any rate, I don't give a toss what celebrity is endorsing who. If anything, I thought that goofy Black Eyed Peas video that was all over the internet this weekend was much more embarassing to the campaign than a bunch of aged jam-band members raising money at a concert.
@fizzandpop
Everyone's artistic and musical sensibilities are unique, so this "your favorite band sucks" discussion is inherently stupid. Yes, you're entitled to your opinion, but frankly, your self professed ignorance about the Dead's music makes that opinion completely unqualified...Especially since you can't remember any melodies or lyrics from a band for which you claim to harbor such strong feelings of distaste. At least talk about music you do know..support your shit, homie.
And for the record, the Dead are quite well known outside of the states, Hunter's lyrics are stylistically and thematically similar to Dylan's, and if you judge others because of their musical tastes, then you seriously need to reevaluate your own philosophies. There's nothing wrong with the music, the image or the philosophy, you're just being close minded. I'm personally proud that the Dead are a product of our fine city, and if you knew anything of the band other than what your personal aesthetic preferences tell you, you would too.
(Apologies for the length of this post to other SFists.)
Big "Poopy" =\
murphstahoe,
omg, the spice girls reunion concert was-- i mean, seemed like so much fun!
@ Garmen
How is it assinine? I'd never heard of them before coming to this country. Just did a quick poll of my non-US Facebookers and no one has heard of them either. But hey, you're an American, you know what the rest of the world thinks better than they do.
and remember, "you are nowhere"
Piano and Mandolin.
Singing's kinda hard cause my register is on the real low end, but I understand good vocal technique
And dude, really? You have no reason to believe I don't know what I'm talking about...why try to discredit my contribution by suggesting I don't know about music itself? Back it up with an argument, not some shot in the dark...
@ Mr Poopy or whatever
So, by your logic, you have to be an expert on the Dead in order to not like the Dead, is that what you're saying? And even if you do go to 28 of their concerts, read every article, buy all their albums, even if you do this and still hate them, then you must be closed minded? This post really does solidify the stereotype of the Dead Head, are you sure you're not all in a cult?
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...
Mr Poopy just admitted to playing the Mandolin. That's priceless! Were there no lutes in the music shop? I can't get the image of an old hippy prancing around his rent controlled apartment singing hey nonny nonny and bopping his guests on the head with an inflated pig's bladder. Too frickin' much! Stop already!
@ fizzandpop
by your posts you're obviously here just to antagonize without providing anything back.
'hey, youre an american' nice ASSumption...
no time for you...
and remember "we are everywhere, and i'm in santa cruz"
good luck out there!
No, once again you miss the point...this discussion is only about the dead indirectly- it's more about your close minded approach to criticism. Although it's true I'm a deadhead and I was motivated to post because I don't like to see uninformed folks badmouthing the band on a great site like this which represents their hometown, had you read my last post carefully you would have realized I disagreed with your attitude, not your opinion. You can have an opinion, but if it's an unqualified one, I'm gonna argue with you...back it up with some substance, not stories about your friends on facebook.
By the way, it makes you seem like an idiot when you get my name wrong. It's right next to my comments, right? I don't dig on disrespect. It discredits your arguments too, so you might want to avoid it in the future. Clearly you're both inconsiderate and uninformed, so I don't feel it's necessary to respond to any more of your inane babble. And for the record, I'm from the city.
Dark Star!
PS - I'm 23, salaried and can rip on some serious bluegrass.
Dick.
now now, ladies and gentlemen. what would jerry say? he'd be all, like, let's be peaceful and stuff. or, you know, whatever.
Play nice, fizzandpop.
I'll leave aside the argument about their musicianship and all that. Although I think dismissing them as stoopid dirty hippies is a pretty tired stereotype. I agree that people outside of America don't know the Dead. They know Jim Morrison because of that silly movie. Whether or not people know about it, their cultural impact was pretty huge.
You can draw a pretty straight line through the U.S. counterculture from the Beats through Neal Cassady to Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead and on to the birth of silicon valley and Burning Man and raves and what not.
I think it's fair to say that the Acid Tests were ground zero for a pretty massive cultural shift. The Dead were the soundtrack for the acid revolution. And they were also pretty much the originators of the modern rock n roll show. Bands didn't use monitors before the Dead.
Owsley Stanley poured his money from cooking acid into equipment for the Dead, which led to the development of the modern sound system and light shows.
From 1965-76ish, I don't think there was a more influential live band. They didn't really break much new ground after that, and they sometimes fell into self-parody. It's fun to make hippie jokes, but come on, show the boys a respect.
The chief aspect of The Dead's "contributing to popular American music and culture" is to introduce people to music they didn't write. Everything else has been lost to the niche of jambands. So yes, you could call them the musical equivalent of Wikipedia, but that's not saying much. After all, look at what the remaining members have "contributed" since Jerry's death.
Garman: You're in Santa Cruz? No shit! Keep the denial going hippies, you're all fun to laugh at. Keep rippin the serious bluegrass, dudes, the rest of the world will just carry on without you.
murphstahoe,
Please, leave the New Kids out of this. Some things are sacred.