I've been exposed to the music of the Dead for the majority
of my life. My brother in law and my sister are Deadheads. My first
serious college boyfriend was big into the Dead. My fiancé is big into
the Dead. I can rattle off an impressive list of songs to keep up
appearances. American Beauty is one of my favorite albums of all
time. But when it comes down to the proverbial brass tacks, I've
just never got into the GD jams. Honestly, I enjoy and appreciate most of
the music but I am not a huge Grateful Dead fan. Phish, on the other,
speaks to me. So when the Dead announced that Trey Anastasio would be
playing with them in Chicago on 4th of July weekend, my fiancé and I
cancelled our summer festival plans and shifted our focus on getting tickets
for those shows.
I always worry that when I make statements like “I’m not a huge
Grateful Dead fan” that people are going to get it twisted. I want to
make this perfectly clear. I have a huge respect for what the members of
the Grateful Dead have done. Without their vision and spirit, the Phish
scene and modern music festival scene probably wouldn't exist as we know it
today. I will never argue the fact that the Dead are one of the most
talented and influential groups of touring American musicians. They have created a path for future artists
that is celebrated by not only jam bands but bluegrass, EDM, country and rock
(among others). Without the pioneering spirit and dedication of the
Grateful Dead, I believe that today’s musical landscape would be shaped very
differently.
I was presented with the opportunity to see the Dead several
times in my first two years of college. I never took them. Jerry died
during the summer before my junior year of college. And maybe that’s
where I went wrong. I didn't really love Phish until I saw them
live. Looking back at those missed opportunities to see The Dead, I
realize now that I missed out on experiencing something amazing. Perhaps just one show would have converted me
years earlier. I am resigned to the fact
that I will never know. But these
Chicago shows will be the last time I will ever get the chance to see the
Dead. I feel like an amazing moment in musical history is going to happen
and I must be there to witness it.
But my desire to be there is bigger than just using these
shows as a vehicle to finally connect to the music or to be a part of the
experience. I want to be there because I know what these shows mean to
Trey. No, I haven’t had a personal conversation with the man about the
significance. But I also think that as a Phish Phan I have to acknowledge the
Dead’s importance to Trey – as a performer, musician, and businessman.
The parallels between the two bands didn’t happen by chance. I feel like
Trey witnessed something at Dead shows of which he wanted to expand The
Dead proved that you could make a conscientious product and promote a culture
of community through music. And I don’t think there is any shame in the
fact that Phish, with Trey at the helm, was able to create a similar scene.
For as much success as Trey has had as a working musician,
there is a level of gratitude and respect that I feel he has for both The Dead
and Jerry. I can only imagine that stepping into this roll is an amazing
honor. And that is why I want to be there. I want to see the man I
respect and admire pay tribute to the musicians that mean so much to him.
I want to be there to thank them. For as much as I may not click with the
Dead, I respect it. I also understand that without the Dead, the paved road
that mapped out the course of Phish’s career may have ended in different
results.
There seems to be a lot of us VS them (Phans vs. Deadheads),
at least on the internet where trolling is a full time hobby for some
people. But I think that those folks
that generally think Trey isn't the right fit for the occasion aren't seeing
the forest through the trees. Trey has
acknowledged the major influence that Jerry had on everything from his
technique to the bands business model.
Phish is the ultimate bi-product of The Grateful Dead. Even if you don’t like what Phish does, you simply
can’t deny the influence. This isn't a
passing of the torch. These three shows aren't about Phish. And I can’t imagine that Trey is going to
walk on the stage and do anything other than pay a humble tribute to
Jerry. This is his way of saying “Thank
You”.
No one can replace Jerry Garcia - not Trey Anastasio, not Steve
Kimock, not John Kadlecik. Trey is different but would you want to see someone that sounds just
like Jerry? That’s already been done. To
me, this is the ultimate celebration of what the Grateful Dead has accomplished
in the band’s 50 year history. I am also
aware that you can’t please all the people all of the time. But I think that if people just open their minds
and their hearts to the spirit of the line-up, we will be blown away by what
happens. The ultimate hippie in me really wants this to be a "Kum Bah Yah" experience.
So now we wait. Wait and hope that we get the tickets we
wanted. But even without tickets, my fiancé
and I have already booked our train tickets to Chicago. Even without tickets, my heart simply knows that
my body, spirit and mind must be there in the hopes of having this experience. Even
without tickets, we will arrive in the Windy City with faith that we are
supposed to be there and that the musical universe will ensure that we are part
of the moment. And I will be honored to
be a part of it.
