From: rand@smartstar.com (Rand McKinney)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
Subject: Re: Music, not Religion...
Date: 31 Aug 92 23:36:21 GMT
Organization: SmartStar Corp. / Signal Technolgy Inc.

In article <1992Aug27.135820.13586@uvaarpa.Virginia.EDU> 
jeff@max.physics.sunysb.edu writes:
>Steve -- The Other One <sjeck@isi.com> sez
>| 
>| Am I the only one who thinks they are a rock 'n' roll band and 
>| NOT a religion of some kind? 
> 
>   IMHO the whole thing is about music, and in particular the
>   live performance of music, and the possibilities inherent in a
>   not-completely-worked-out-beforehand performance. 
>
If by "the whole thing" you mean The Grateful Dead.  I have to disagree.
True: Jerry, Bob, Phil, Mickey, and Bill produce "only music", but there
is much more to The Grateful Dead than that, or we'd all sit at home and
just listen to tapes and CDs.  At its best, a Dead show is a kind of group
rapture that may include:
 - Seeing old friends again,
 - People watching (some of the best around :-),
 - Dancing in wild abandon,
 - Epiphany (the songs that we hear are just songs of our own...)
 - Getting seriously weirded out during Drumz,
 - Playing the "what is Jerry noodling into" Guessing Game,
 - More dancing,
 - Crying when Jerry plays Morning Dew 
 - And so on...

Bill Graham once said, The Dead are an ENVIRONMENT.  That's the way *I*
always felt about it...and I hope it can continue to be that way.
Maybe the world has changed so much that its no longer possible...
That would be sad.

The Dead created/were-created-by The Acid Tests, and the feeling of an 
attempt to reach "a separate reality" persists after all these years.
Unfortunately, the harsh realities of the modern world often intrude 
upon this quest and we get the unfortunate BS that we all know about 
(basically thoughtlessness, laziness, and selfishness).

The music is a central part of The Grateful Dead, but not the whole thing,
in the same way that Paris is "only buildings and streets"--its an
*environment* in which people can do their own thing, again, with 
consideration for others.

[stuff deleted]
>
>   It's only music. And I mean "only" in the sense of exclusiveness, not
>   in a demeaning sense. I love it, but all this other baggage is not 
>   part of the deal. I may or may not feel the same way about all these
>   "what is a deadhead" requirements -- as far as I can tell, the ONLY
>   thing we all have in common is a love of (at least some part) of the 
>   music.
RIGHT.  There's really no "deal" (except the one that closes the first set :-)
The deal is all in each person's head--except that everyone in human society
needs to consider how their actions affect everyone else.  That's the deal.\
And yes, what we have in common is only the music...Nothing else.  
Everyone is free to experience it as they wish, as long as they don't ruin
it for someone else. 

>
>   Remember the message from the band when the camping/vending scene was 
>   getting out of hand? One of the main thrusts was "this is about music,
>   all this other stuff has got to go..."... 
>
Yes, definitely.  Camping/vending is a whole 'nother sack of potatoes.
>
>   Grouchy,
>   Jeff A.

Smiley,
Rand
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead