Phish vs The Grateful dead

So what is it BRAH?

  • Total voters
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you're boycotting a band because of hype? really?
(does Phish even get any hype?)

anyway, they're MUCH different bands. all they have in common is that they Jam and that the scene is kinda the same.

totally different styles- Dead more americana, folk and Phish more rock, jazz. Dead lyrics more meaningful, Phish lyrics more abstract. oh, and Jerry can actually emote when sang and Trey speak/sings is only now really conveying emotion in his singing.

I'm more into Phish because I wasn't born early enough to really get into the GD scene, whereas I go to Phish shows and are more connected to the band and the fans. I dig rock more, but who knows how it would have been it I had seen the Dead live.
 
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tela said:
anyway, they're MUCH different bands. all they have in common is that they Jam and that the scene is kinda the same.

totally different styles- Dead more americana, folk and Phish more rock, jazz. Dead lyrics more meaningful, Phish lyrics more abstract. oh, and Jerry can actually emote when sang and Trey speak/sings is only now really conveying emotion in his singing.
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Well said!
GD can also rock...I actually enjoy them most for the way they can rock 'n roll(Jack Straw, The Music Never Stopped, Althea, Cold Rain and Snow, Morning Dew to name a few)... and get VERY jazzy(Playing In The Band, Dark Star, Bird Song)
 
I trust the enthusiasm of dead fans enough to believe that seeing tGD in their heyday with jerry was a very special experience, that could never be matched. I never experienced that, and these new projects haven't done much for me (furthur seems pretty interesting though). This is why I chose the pheesh.
 
amor fati said:
I trust the enthusiasm of dead fans enough to believe that seeing tGD in their heyday with jerry was a very special experience, that could never be matched.
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There have been times I have been at a DSO or Ratdog show and they seem to really enter into X-factor terrorotry and it hits the spot.... I few days later i'll listen to a recording of the show and the magic just isn't same....damn it makes me wonder what it would have been like to be attendance of my favorite GD x-factor moments!
 
ya, I think we're on the same page China ride, I love both bands 'cause they really explore music outside of the genres they're supposed to be defined in (god I sound like wikipedia) and they're willing to experiment.

That's what makes them different from other bands to begin with, and that plus the fact that they're incredible musicians and never play the same song the same way ever... damn. You can see why people follow the Dead and Phish for 20, 30+ years.

I love Phish's bluegrassy material, their barbershop quartet singing, trampoline act, etc and just the way their interact with the audience in general, and I haven't been to a GD show but the community aspect is there too. They just take really good care of the audience.

anyway, i'm just in a fanboyish mood today haha
 
Icculus said:
I totally disagree. Phish played nearly every style of music known to man throughout their live shows and albums, sometimes in the same song.

The Dead stayed more rooted in their familiar sound, sometimes veering more towards country or bluegrass or jazz here and there. During their live improvisational sections, the underlying chord progressions and rhythm stay within their original motif most of the time. This is not to discount the Dead by any means, thats just their style and its amazing.
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??? The Dead's familiar sound can't be accurately classified, because it's a blend of Americana that is truly all their own. Their sound is a variety of music styles. Where as every song phish plays live *feels* exactly the same. Don't get me wrong, I've been to 100+ phish shows and I've always always had a blast. But it's just different orders of the same damn songs played the same way, compare a dead show in 1968 (extreme psychedelia to the point where you don't remember what city you are in or what day in the three show run it is) to 1972 (pigpen's Lovelight raps were wicked off the wall insanity) to the wall of sound mid 70s to the exploratory dark star/other one period 77-79 to the disco dead to the grand ole grateful dead in the early nineties. All of them were completely different experiences, but it was the same band playing their same almost thousand song catalog. And no matter how many phish shows I see (tho I will admit that they're really back this time after almost ten years of trying) none of them will compare to the experience of any of the 21 grateful dead shows I saw. Jerry is sorely missed. A grateful dead concert is a universal shared experience, the band, the crowd, the vendors on shakedown (main shakedown and back alley shakedown), even the cops, are all sharing in the creation of that little slice of space and time. At a phish show, it's just a bunch of individuals trying to get themselves as fucked up as possible so they can wiggle around and not listen to the nonsense Trey is spitting out: "the tires are the things on the car that make contact with the road" or "wash uffizi drive me to Firenze". The dead's ethic was more community based, like get high and make sure everyone around you is high too. Trey is a selfish pill junkie, not even a real junkie like Jerry "golden vein" Garcia.

The Dead live. Go listen to all their shows streamable and downloadable on archive.org. I know the back catalogue of live shows is massive and can ne daunting when you are standing on the edge about to dive in, and know that it only gets deeper the deeper you plunge, but within 5-10 shows you'll have a general feel for what era most suits your taste; I know that there is a grateful dead era for every person's personal taste, the fun is finding it. There's also the grateful dead listening guide blog which you can find with google that is also a big help toward explaining some of the everpresent Why? and How? questions that every deadhead has been asked nolessthan 20milliob times: how is this psychedelic? How were all these shows saved? Etc.
 
Aw man I wish I saw this thread when it came out. Don't hate for reviving this... I find that Phish shows are like Dave Matthews.. tons and tons of people show up to party but not for the music.. Now I realize the dead had that same thing going on especially towards the end but not compared to phish..


China Rider said:
easily grateful dead

what other band can stay together and tour for 30 years and have a new sound every show?

and its nice knowing that you can listen to just about every concert performed by GD post 1968 for free, many of which have perfect sound quality

and jerry's voice and playing are pretty much godly, its like hes screaming and whispering at the same time
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Couldn't agree more... can't wait for all the festies this summer
 
I love the GD. It's been real hard for me to get into Phish though.

Sad I've only been able to attend one Dead and Co. concert.
 
You need a <none> and <both> option bro!

I voted GD, but would have said both if I could have.
 
It was fun to read this whole thread. It started during phish’s hiatus.

I can’t even comment on the topic. It’s been beaten to death over the years. I’m listening to Ryan Adams with the infamous string dusters right now. It’s really good. Hope that helps.
 
ChickenScratch, in my humble opinion.. is a geniuses and for the time being im just going with what ever is said by this fine person.
 
Ha! Thank you, kind sir. I’ll take it. It’s actually a fine discussion, I suppose. It would just be impossible for me to type all my thoughts on the topic on my phone. Just glad to be a be a fan of both bands.
 
Yikes! Why was I such a dickhead? Fun thread though. GD50 was a good time with ol' Troy Pistachio on git fiddle.
 
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