Originally Posted by
lotusland
I always meant to see a Dead show purely for the spectacle but honestly never understood the attraction to their music. Listening to them fart around playing a 5 minute tune for 20 minutes doesn't apeal to me at all. Same goes for Wide Spread Panic and Phish. Just not my thing. Ian McLagan said it best:
"MCLAGAN: Well, I didn't actually decline the chance - it was a chance, I wasn't given the gig. A friend of mine, who was a friend of Jerry Garcia's said they're looking for a - their current keyboard player has died and they're looking for someone else. He said you could - you want to - they want you to play to a tape and submit it, you know? And he said you'd make a quarter of a million a year, you know? You could live anywhere you want, blah, blah, blah. And I was actually on vacation at the time in San Diego with my wife and our dogs. And I went out and bought a Grateful Dead CD. And my wife went out to do some shopping and came back to the hotel room and I was sitting in a blue funk in a brown study in a green swarm of hell and she said what's the matter? I said I can't play this music, it sucks. I mean, just my personal taste, I couldn't - didn't understand it, didn't get it, you know, still don't really. I mean, I know they make a lot of money; they got a lots of fans. Sorry if I've upset anyone but, you know?
DAVIES: Wasn't your cup of tea?
MCLAGAN: Wasn't my cup of tea. No more than Phish or that jam band. That's so tediously boring. But, you know, I like a tune. I like a tune and a singer and a solo and now more of the tune. You know, I just couldn't even do it, you know?"