Dead heads, how happy are you with John Mayer's playing in Dead & Co?

Cafe Society
1

When I first heard that Mayer was going to be playing with Dead & Co, I was pretty skeptical. I did not think he was up to the task. I personally would have preferred either Pat Metheny or John Scofield - guys who not only had decades of serious improvisational chops, but also their own distinctive voice. (I don’t know if either of them were ever considered to play in that group, I’m just saying that’s who I would have picked if I were somehow in charge of selecting the members.)

I never disliked Mayer as a songwriter and pop musician. I thought most of his songs that made it onto the radio were pretty good. (Although I think Your Body is a Wonderland fucking blows.) As an improvisational guitarist, though, I find his playing to be, for lack of a better description, soulless. He has the chops. I’m not questioning that. But the feeling doesn’t seem to be there.

I’m not trying to put him down too much because I think he’s talented as hell when it comes to technical facility and that’s a skill that I admire and I can appreciate. But his playing with Dead & Co. simply doesn’t have that special something that makes me really go, “damn, that was awesome”, when I hear it. What can I say?

As an aside, one guy who hasn’t been a disappointment is Oteil Burbridge. He’s the man.

2

Well, he’s in good company. They all could use bathing.

3

I haven’t heard or seen it. I have less than zero desire to experience John Mayer playing Jerry’s parts or taking Jerry’s place. Not interested.

4

Well, this is one topic I have thought a lot about, and since you asked…

Back story, I first listened to the Grateful Dead when I was 12, 1974, friend of mine introduced me along with other aspects associated with the band…and, no, my name refers to the fact I’m a chemist, not my former activities…honestly…

1976, I’m 14, my 16 year old brother convinces our parents that it would be fine for us to attend a Grateful Dead concert, we still laugh and marvel to this day how they thought that would be just a peachy idea, you boys run along and have a gosh-darn, wholesome wonderful time…

So, we’ll not recount my memories between 1976 and 1995…fast forward to 1998 when The Other Ones (the main members being Weir, Lesh and Hart, Bruce Hornsby as well as he was in the last iteration of the GD), they had two guitarists that were OK, but it was too soon, too raw, I remember just being disillusioned…

When ‘The Dead’ toured, including Kreutzmann, the version I saw several times featured Jimmy Herring (now a member of String Cheese) and Warren Haynes, and suddenly, OK, it’s not Jerry, but holy shit, it’s damn good, I have to say those shows really embodied or at least, celebrated a Grateful Dead concert experience…

When Phil Lesh launched the various “Phil and Friends” tours, he absolutely recreated the feel of a GD concert, bringing multiple musicians, featured artists, and playing the entire catalog of the GD, bringing back oldies and goodies…one of my favorite shows was when I took my then-16 year old son to see P&F at Bethel Woods where the Trey Anastasio Band was one of the opening acts…Trey played the second set and it was unbelievable…the second set was the show they played at Woodstock (Bethel Woods is built on the Woodstock site, not directly, it overlooks the bowl), the encore was the last three songs the GD played at Soldier Field, Jerry’s last show…

Since then, I’ve seen Further multiple times, saw one of the Fare Thee Well shows, and Dead & Company twice featuring John Mayer…which brings us back to the OP’s question…

The guy can play, no doubt. To me, the only one that could possible capture and really give a glimpse into a GD show is Trey Anastasio, he gets it, Trey is not Jerry and he never tried to be, but he can capture a moment with the Dead…the first time I saw Dead & Company with Mayer, my thoughts were, he’s got all the chops, he’s got all the moves, but…the second time, I looked around at the crowd, I saw all the old hippies, and all of the young’ens screaming and dancing like it was 5/8/77, and it just totally turned me off…I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt like I just paid $120 to watch a really good Dead cover band with some former members…Hart and Kreutzmann still have it, Bobby’s fading and God bless Phil, given all his ailments, is still giving it his best, but…

The very first Grateful Dead show I saw…the lights went down…the crowd went wild…the band wandered on to the stage and noodled on their instruments…and I had one thought…and it was the same thought I had over 120+ shows over 19 years, that when the lights went down, when the crowd went wild, there was no where else in the world I would rather be than right there, right then…

Does Mayer capture that? No. Is he good - yes, the man can play. Will I ever see them again, no, I am done…

5

Trey would be the perfect fit, but Phish is going as strong as they ever have, so there’s no incentive for him to tour with the Dead over Phish…

6

That’s kinda why I like the idea of Pat Metheny filling the lead guitar slot, because he’s capable of playing in that style too. I mean, Metheny was a big influence on Trey. In performances like this one, from Joni Mitchell’s Shadows and Light tour where Metheny was part of a sort of supergroup that also featured Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker, Lyle Mays and Don Alias, you can directly hear in his solo at 1:53 some of the sound that would later be adopted by Trey. He draws as much from jazz as from Jerry.

7

No, I love Metheny, “American Garage” is one of my favorite albums, but he has no connection to the Grateful Dead, nothing, gee, why not Jeff Beck, hey, what’s Clapton doing…Trey is the only one with the experience and the understanding…it doesn’t matter. Mayer is the D&C guitarist, no, I’m not impressed…

8

I have envisioned Jorma Kaukonen filling that role, if he wanted it. Jorma has played with Bobby through the years and seems like a natural fit. In fact, there was some real good stuff with Jorma playing with, I believe, Phil and Friends- I remember a sublime Dupree’s Diamond Blues.

9

I saw Dead & Co w/Mayer on a talk show performance.

Mayer just didn’t fit. His vocals were bad, etc. I can’t see him keeping up in a 20 minute jam.

10

I saw the Grateful Dead 66 times starting in 1987. I also saw JGB several times. It was devistating when Jerry died and I took some time off after that. I saw tons of Ratdog and P&F shows eventually. I was so happy with Furthur. I started touring again a bit and saw around 40 Furthur shows. It was great. They’d play runs and it was nearly like the old days but now I could afford better accommodations. I saw all five of the Fare Thee Well shows and a great time despite the stadium venues.

As for Mayer, I tried. I think I’ve seen ten DeadCo shows. First of all, Mayer is a fucking frat boy. He’ll never get it. He’s talented as hell but the vibe is off. Although I can easily afford it, the ticket prices are offensive. They are playing huge stadiums and no more runs for the most part. Every show is a fucking media event now and it’s more about the scene than the music. It’s 1994 all over again. I just can’t. I’m skipping this tour. I’m done. Oteil is awesome though.

I still go to tons of music. I saw 80 concerts last year only four of which were DeadCo. Many of them I flew to see in other states. If I want to capture the feel of an old time jam band run I can (and do) see Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Chris Robinson Brotherhood or, to a lesser extent, Phish. I see loads of lesser known bands as well. I don’t begrudge the Boys cashing out but it’s not for me.

11

Wrong, Widespread Panic, brain fart, sorry…