I've gotta think that it only means 1 thing. That "Furthur" will go furthur!...But what does that say about the "Dead"? Billy? Mickey? Are those guys not happy? Are Phil and Bob not happy with them? Or will they continue to do both bands?

I don't know man, but I just want Phil to tour with "Friends" again. I need me another Denver Fillmore show!!!

It means the end of the world as we know it.

Obviously, John signed a comparitively lucrative contract with Phil & Bob for a Furthur tour, so he quit his old minor league DSO gig for a cup of coffee in the majors.

"The Dead" was weak. Good riddance to that. I would be ok if the Bore 4 never play together again. Been there, done that.

Billy has his BK3 and a chill life in Hawaii. Mickey always finds interesting drum projects, and likes to hob nob with the rich & famous. Don't worry about those guys.

...and as for the future of DSO: Who, besides Jeff Mattson and the other band members, actually gives a shit, a rat's ass, or a flying fuck?

Say what you will about The Dead--I enjoyed those shows a lot more than anything I've heard from Furthur so far.

Id have to agree with Mr. Tofu. The "Dead" did not play well as far as I am concerned. Everything they did was in slow motion, perhaps the drummers, who's job it is to set the pace, have lost alot, I dont know, maybe they purposely played alot slower. There wasnt a show on that Dead tour in which multiple songs were not literally, and painfully, falling apart. Ive gone thru my collection of the 2009 Dead tour, and listened to some of the same songs that Furtur also performed. Without a doubt, the Dead played SLOWER! In comparison, the jams that Furthur did, were faster and sounded MUCH MUCH MORE, like the Grateful Dead. Id really like to know why there is such a difference. Maybe they should replace Warren with John in the Dead and then see how that sounds,

Mickey & Billy were slowing down in the '90's when they went to the deep-dish snare sound- best Dead era drum-wise was Billy alone in the '70's IMO

I don't get all the Dead bashing.
Granted, I only saw one show, which was the spectacular LA show and I haven't listened to a whole lot of other shows. I will agree that Furthur sounds more like the GD. I do understand sacking Mickey (and I am an old Mickey fan). Kreutzmann however, has been a monster this decade - in the pocket. I am not a Jay Lane booster. Yet ,his perc work does show hope.

Im not tryin to bash the Dead at all! But we gotta be honest. I think they had WAY too many songs in their repertoire this past tour. Too many songs just fell apart, and the pace was just WAY too slow. I love the Dead and would like to see them play again, but this time, give J.K. a shot and lets see if its any better. P.S. why do you understand sacking Mickey? You think hes too slow? Also...PERSONALLY, Id like Rob Barraco to take over for Jeff and J.K. for Warren. Now that would be a SMOKIN line-up! Of course Bob wont have any part of that tho

Furthur is better than 'The Dead' because i think there is some fresh energy there with Russo and John K. However, IMHO any band featuring Bob Weir is going to have a painfully slow tempo, and horrible vocals if Phil & Bob insist on singing most of the Jerry songs.

It would appear that Phil or Bob recruited Russo in this band to give the overall sound a kick in the ass. Yes, to speed up the tempo. That said, I did enjoy the Dead shows (Chicago and Denver) that I caught.

Hmmm...I totally agree Mr. Tofu! And I did enjoy the Dead shows...but it did need a bit of a kick in the ass.

I think a lot of folks tend to confuse great music with a great time or a great community and party scene. Sure, I also enjoyed The Dead when I saw them last year, despite all the major flaws and limitations. I have also enjoyed occasional shitty bar bands or movies just because of my mood and/or great company. Having a good time at the show does not necessarily mean that the band played well or the music was great. Very subjective.

....Again..you said it perfectly!!

IMHO, Mickey was the reason the Spring Dead tour suffered from tempo problems. There was nothing slow or draggy about Bill Kreutzmann's drumming. However, our old friend the Mick has fallen head over heels in love with the trance-inducing sounds he gets by playing ethnic hand drums and rack toms with mallets. That effect is cool for certain songs, but it KILLS others. E.g., it works fine on "Fire on the Mountain", which has a quasi-reggae beat anyway, but it kills the momentum Scarlet Begonias, which has a calypso lilt that requires sticks or even brushes, not mallets. And the list goes on. Doing the entire show with nothing but mallets deprives the music of the textural variety it needs, even demands. We'll see how the new drum duo works out, but here's hoping. I always thought Jay Lane was capable of much more than he got to show in RatDog, and being an East Coaster I've heard Joe Russo numerous times over the past few years. The guy can flat out play.

As for how Furthur came into being, I suspect we'll hear the story, sooner or later, probably half a dozen different versions. I did hear rumors last Spring that the Dead tour was a one-off, and that Bob and Phil had a "project in progress", which is why Phil wasn't putting together another version of Phil and Friends. That now appears to be correct.

I know the difference between a good time and good music. The Dead show I saw was a damn good one. If I wanted a band that didn;t fall apart occasionally, I'd listen to matchbox 20 or Motley Crue play the same setlist every night for fifteen years. As for Furthur, nothing I've heard makes me want to go out of my way to see them. And the closest they're coming to me is three hours away, so I guess no one has any worries on htat point.

Based on what I saw last night his departure will probably be a positive...change is in order, that band sucked.

They need to get their act together before they come back to NYC again, either that or stick to the back roads and play places like Driggs, ID 100% of the time.

In the 90's Billy & Mickey would speed up the Weir tunes just to piss him off.

And IMO there's nothing wrong with a slower tempo if you're in the groove and have the right personel to make it work; see the Closing of Winterland for proof of that.

Warren is a rocker, he needs to rock. Slower tempo's take him out of his sweet spot. JK's style fits the "float" much better.

Cant compare "The Dead" 2009.....to "The Grateful Dead" in 1978....Especially in The Closing of Winterland....It didnt matter how, or what they played back then, they were just too good! IMO

I completely agree with John. It'll never be the same!! The mold has already been broken, and everyone else is just trying to put it back together. The further shows that I listened to sounded great and I'm looking forward to seeing John with Bobby and Phil. I think he's a much better fit then Warren. No disrespect to Warren! He's perfect for mule because he's in his own element. BTW any of the other DSO members wouldv'e packed up and hopped on board too if they were asked! What does this mean though that John will never tour again with DSO?? I don't see that happening.

John has "OFFICIALLY RESIGNED" from DSO. Jill Lesh made him do it. He might someday play with DSO again, but he's definitely out for now!

I would never compare anything to the Grateful Dead, I was just saying that slower tempos can work if the band has the groove down and has personel that know how to play slower with feel.

I used Closing Of Winterland as an example because there are critics of that show who bash the slower tempos and say the whole show drags.

I don't agree. At all.

In 2009 I attended 2 Dead shows, the 2nd Shoreline show and the Gorge show. I felt that the Gorge show was much slower than the Shoreline show . . . and I enjoyed it much more. I felt like the GD spirit was present at the Gorge show and it was wonderful.

Then again, I've heard reports that some folks thought the Gorge show was boring and the Shoreline show was stellar. So who knows?

Also saw 2 of the Oakland Furthur shows and they were great! Looking forward to Portland (and more NW shows?).

>>>>What exactly does Johns departure from D.S.O. mean?

Winter...

Summer...

Fall....

TOUR!!!

Here's a thought: maybe the DSO will evolve into a version of The Other Ones with Eaton (Weir) and Barraco(keys) taking over the jk (Jerry) songs! They may need a sax player, though.

dead family bands are like cousins in the south

It means JK signed on for 2 years with Furthur...

It means I'm going to go see them a lot more...Jeff Matson is It

What exactly does Johns departure from D.S.O. mean?

That the other guys in DSO will be taking pizza delivery jobs? Who cares? DSo will continue to play covers for those who want covers, Furthur will continue whatever it is they've been doing and no one will write any new songs.

I'll be curious to see what John does once his contract w/ Further is over.

Will he go back to DSO? Will they take him back?


In addition, if Further does indeed last for 2 years - what will Phil do after that? Retire perhaps?

>>>What exactly does Johns departure from D.S.O. mean?

Ah, a question that has haunted philosophers and great minds through the ages...

Then again, I've bothered to respond to this extremely useless thread, so what's that say about me??

I thought that it meant that Bobby finally accepted the fact that he has been crushing the audience with his vocals on the Jerry songs and that he was bringing in a close to perfect pinch hitter.

But, standing in the audience at Asbury Park watching in disbelief as Bobby sang Friend of the Devil and New Speedway Boogie, I realized I was wrong.

I wonder what the "you can't do all the Jerry stuff" clause in John's contract actually looks like.

Make no mistake, I love the Furthur stuff that I've heard. But, i believe that if JK sang ALL the "Jerry" tunes, that the band would come a bit too close to being a tribute band.
Phil and Bob have the final word on who gets to sing what. That's the way it should be.
Occasional vocal trainwreck aside, I think that having Weir and Lesh sing some of those tunes extends the GD's family legacy.

To each is own...But I TOTALLY disagree

Let John sing. On NYE (or one of those shows) Bobby sang Sugaree. Now THAT is a roll-your-eyes moment.