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The Mockingbird Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Phish fans in 1996 to generate charitable proceeds from the Phish community.
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"@AudibleNectar said:
"@DiamondE said:
"@Tweezprise12 said:
"@sumodie said:
"@Puffhead420 said:
"Yup, superior songbook and superior party. I would think Phish run will be far superior from a musical perspective but could be ruined by shitty songs and lame playing. Would be so livid to jump through the hoops to see 12/30/23. Been burned by Phish too many times to drop coin. Always leave DeadCo with that smile plastered on my face. "
We've had very different experiences at DeadCo."
I agree with the original poster. Have never left dead and company without being happier than I’ve ever been. While man phish mega fan I still once and a while like the playing was off tonight from phish."
Perhaps you hold Phish to a higher standard and with Dead you’re just feeling lucky to see a few of them play once more? That certainly wouldn’t invalidate your feelings. I’m just curious.
"
Oh, I'll step in and answer this, and it's easy:
The Grateful Dead write better songs.
This is why any competent "copy" or cover act that picks up that catalogue and runs with it starts to sell tickets like crack dealers selling rocks in Baltimore. The quality of the SONGS are so good, the appeal spans generations......it don't matter if it's DSO, JRAD, DeadCo, all within the realm of what they do KILL IT when it comes to spreading and making available the GD catalog in live form, and in turn make a good business of it, because people want to hear that, most any way they can get it.
GD is bigger, more universal, dare I say the most American band that ever existed. Phish is a much different can-O-worms, much more of a "niche" product with a very "specific" taste.....even more so than GD ever was in that regard.
They're different bands that push different buttons too, but GD has a broader appeal because the songs are THAT GOOD. Garcia/Hunter and Weir/Barlow in ONE band is just bonkers from a writing perspective, the biggest acts being lucky to have ONE such combo. GD has TWO.
And all this still being one who won;'t pay for the current DeadCo product, just not interested in the "big name classic rock price schemes" and walked away from the "big league version" in terms of attendance long ago, although I do still enjoy the music. It's not difficult to understand why it's still such a draw.
"were seriously lacking in energy.
Have to slightly disagree, while I do consider most of the Hunter catalog to be superior to most of the Phish catalog, Barlow was never in Hunter's league and Weir's best material was all written by Hunter. The difference between Hunter and Barlow is more stark than the one between Hamilton and Trey.
But IMO the reason for the great popularity of Dead$Co is pure nostalgia, not the quality of the songs. That's certainly the takeaway I got from the show I attended last summer. They are riding on the legacy of the Grateful Dead (and were aggressively marketed as such) and people want to be associated with that so they go to the shows. The GD will always have a leg up on Phish simply because they basically invented the entire jam band genre and have a historical place that all the bands that followed can never occupy.
And I simply can't agree that Dead$Co (or for that matter the GD for their last 20 years) were better or more consistent performers than Phish. I only walked out of one Dead show because it was so bad (3/16/92) but there were plenty over the years that were only saved by a good hit of acid. Phish does a better job of mixing up the set lists and IMO making a real effort to energize the music. They also spend a lot more time attempting true improvisation. The Dead waited for peaks to happen naturally, and there's a lot to be said for that. But Phish works at making it happen and as a result usually have a lot more peak moments in a set (especially the first set). And the more I learn about the inner circle of the Dead (e.g. the recent Kimock interview) the more I'm convinced that Phish has a much better attitude towards their fan base and will go out of their way for them in ways the GD never did for theirs.
"
Link to Kimock interview?