RTP-area local music and culture

[naught AT nil.com]

grady AT ibiblio.org wrote:
> Well, I haven't read the Esquire article (and the list seems to be 
> pretty fucked-up in a lot of ways, so I don't really plan to), but if I 
> were going to bother making a list of cities that "rock," I'd hope to be 
> doing so in the present tense, which is generally the timeframe that 
> rock music occurs in.
> 

I think that's where I might disagree.  Cultural icons and events can 
leave a stamp on a city for a a very long time, centuries, even.  Rock has 
been around long enough now to have a timeline that contains plenty of 
thngs past that are still very relevant to the genre.

> So citing the Dead would seem to be kinda pointless in that context, 
> since Jerry's dead & all; you're not gonna be able to fly into SFO and 
> actually see the Dead playing live. And no, any current thing involving 
> Bob Weir doesn't count.


I suppose, although I agree that Garcia was the main creative force, the
Dead are still playing in various forms.  More importantly, the Dead's
influence on the Bay Area is still very evident in the form of other
marvelous psychedelic acts that are still very active and making great
music.  So maybe it's not the Dead per se, but what they represent and
have wrought. (Shameless plug for fabulous new DVD by friend in
psychedelic band: http://www.kimock.com/frames/frame_goods_order_DVD.html)

> And if they're talking rock history as opposed to contemporary rock, 
> then I think they might need to reconsider their list.
> 
> Anyway. I think Duncan was getting at the same thing I'm getting at.
> 
> Ross
> 
> p.s. I saw the Dead twice. Had more fun the 2nd time than the first 
> time. I don't own anything by them anymore (although I'll admit to 
> having been tempted by the DVD-A's of Workingmans Dead & American 
> Beauty) but could still karaoke any number of their songs if I were 
> prone to do that sort of thing. But then the same is true of the 
> Carpenters, and David Allan Coe, so I don't know what any of this says 
> about me.

I actually only saw the Dead once, in 90, and was really impressed.  
Garcia really was some sort of genius, though I'm not sure what it was 
about him that makes me think that.

Mike Babyak