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re: "A RIVER OF BOOZE... Inside one college town’s uneasy embrace of drinking"...
Posted on 12/12/14 at 6:26 pm to Peter Buck
Posted on 12/12/14 at 6:26 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
By then it was the Ga Theatre and the scene was Fratastic... By then however, things were already changing.
Remember that 1980's documentary "Athens, GA Inside Out" about the "downtown scene"?..,., Didn't the Flat Duo Jets get featured playing two songs on the front porch of the SAE house in that thing?
Peter, when did it go from being hip to being "fratastic" to play fraternity houses in Athens? Was there a specific date this shift in coolness occured?
Posted on 12/12/14 at 6:36 pm to Jefferson Dawg
Damn. They actually have an entire Widespread show from '89 at the Uptown Lounge on youtube.... LINK......
Posted on 12/12/14 at 6:44 pm to Peter Buck
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I met David's first wife there...
We cool...
Posted on 12/12/14 at 7:16 pm to Jefferson Dawg
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Damn. They actually have an entire Widespread show from '89 at the Uptown Lounge on youtube.... LINK......
damn thats awesome. I'm good friends with Micheal's son...he's a cool dude...looks just like his dad.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 7:31 pm to K9
Does he play guitar?
Whether everybody appreciates his style or not, his dad was one of a kind on the guitar. True talent.
Whether everybody appreciates his style or not, his dad was one of a kind on the guitar. True talent.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 7:41 pm to Jefferson Dawg
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Whether everybody appreciates his style or not, his dad was one of a kind on the guitar. True talent.
Houser's playing style was so awesome. The way he used the volume pedal to weave in and out gave it a really haunting sound... The dude could play
Posted on 12/12/14 at 7:43 pm to Jefferson Dawg
Nah, he doesn't play music at all actually
Helluva bowler though
And yeah the sitting in the chair thing was pretty awesome....along with his guitar skills
Helluva bowler though
And yeah the sitting in the chair thing was pretty awesome....along with his guitar skills
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:27 pm to Jefferson Dawg
Ok, I am going to let you hold on to the belief that playing Greatful Dead covers at Frat Parties was considered on the same level as original music... And that building your popularity at the frat houses with cover music from a horrible band was held in the highest creative regards in Athens.... And that in the 80s, down town bars and college radio couldn't get enough of Greatful Dead wannabes.
If anything, the death of the Athens Music scene was the whole hippy jam movement along with bands moving to Athens from God knows where to say they were from Athens and REM becoming super famous.
If anything, the death of the Athens Music scene was the whole hippy jam movement along with bands moving to Athens from God knows where to say they were from Athens and REM becoming super famous.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:33 pm to Peter Buck
This post was edited on 12/12/14 at 8:38 pm
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:40 pm to TMDawg
Dude, they were a Dead cover band. That's the point I am making. They melded into a slightly different but same thing...
The Hipsters were the wave of wannabes that were also responsible for bad music and unwarranted pretentiousness.
I think it would be interesting to find the point in time when Townies shifted to hipsters.
The Hipsters were the wave of wannabes that were also responsible for bad music and unwarranted pretentiousness.
I think it would be interesting to find the point in time when Townies shifted to hipsters.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:43 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
Ok, I am going to let you hold on to the belief that playing Greatful Dead covers at Frat Parties was considered on the same level as original music..
That's not my belief though. Just giving credit where credit is due....
How many bands have made a lucrative multi-decade career like WSP did without the benefit of radio or MTV or whatever? And without having to work on the side at Best Buy?
Success is against the hipster code though, isn't it?
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:47 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
Dude, they were a Dead cover band. That's the point I am making. They melded into a slightly different but same thing...
I don't know that many bands start out playing 100% original stuff from the get go. Almost everyone starts with a lot of covers to get their foot in the door. But they evolved pretty fast and developed their own sound pretty quickly. I guess I just don't hear much Dead when I listen to them. I definitely see where the improvisation (even though Panic doesn't improvise near as much as I like) lead people to keep comparing them to the Dead long after they'd ditched that sound.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 8:53 pm to Jefferson Dawg
They took full advantage of a scene that already existed and were given a massive opportunity when the dead dude died. If the Greatful Dead stayed alive and in tact another 10 years, they would not have had near the success. I think even they would admit that...
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:02 pm to Peter Buck
Panic was already around 10 years by time Jerry died. As full time musicians touring and making a living doing so. I don't think Jerry sticking around was going to put Panic out of business.
Sure, more people ended up on Panic and Phish tour after Jerry died, but there's a ton of other bands they could've flocked to as well. Those bands were just playing music and putting on shows people wanted to see. Even before Jerry died they were already playing large venues (Phish more so than Panic). And it's just a simple fact that the 3 sound nothing like each other, it's not like they were copying the Dead.
Sure, more people ended up on Panic and Phish tour after Jerry died, but there's a ton of other bands they could've flocked to as well. Those bands were just playing music and putting on shows people wanted to see. Even before Jerry died they were already playing large venues (Phish more so than Panic). And it's just a simple fact that the 3 sound nothing like each other, it's not like they were copying the Dead.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:03 pm to TMDawg
quote:
quote:
Dude, they were a Dead cover band. That's the point I am making. They melded into a slightly different but same thing...
I don't know that many bands start out playing 100% original stuff from the get go. Almost everyone starts with a lot of covers to get their foot in the door. But they evolved pretty fast and developed their own sound pretty quickly. I guess I just don't hear much Dead when I listen to them. I definitely see where the improvisation (even though Panic doesn't improvise near as much as I like) lead people to keep comparing them to the Dead long after they'd ditched that sound.
I think it is because my first memories of them were them covering Dead tunes and yours are of them when they were more established. I have no issue with people playing cover stuff. I too like improv music, but I have to say the jam thing isnt my bag. Even if the whole poser scene that comes with it went away, I still would not like it. I am sure I am prejudiced in my recollection because of this, but I still can not agree with anyone who feels like the jam Greatful Dead genre scene was a vibrsant part of the 80s Athens music scene that gave it it lore...
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:06 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
They took full advantage of a scene that already existed and were given a massive opportunity when the dead dude died. If the Greatful Dead stayed alive and in tact another 10 years, they would not have had near the success. I think even they would admit that...
WSP was a thousand times more regional than the Grateful Dead. Totally different animal.
Yes, Panic eventually toured all over the country, but when they played outside of the southeast it was in much more humble venues...........as opposed to selling out Philips arena in Atlanta or Oak Mountain in Birmingham or etc etc three nights in a row down here.
It's true that WSP adopted the two set format with a 30 minute pointless drum solo that the Grateful Dead used, but of all the trendy jambands competing for the Grateful Dead followers after their lead singer croaked, I'd say that Widespread Panic resembled them the least.
They covered a handful of Dead songs, but they also covered Talking Heads, Van Morrison, Traffic, Neil Young, and on and on much more.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:06 pm to Peter Buck
Yea that definitely makes sense. There's bands I saw earlier on that I didn't like at the time that gradually evolved and sounded much different and a lot better even just a few years later.
And as far as improv music, it's definitely something that people either love or hate. I love it but I definitely see where it just isn't what others are in to.
Yea there's a good bit of that. I think that turned me off from Panic growing up because everyone loved them because their older brother did and it was way too fratty for me.
And as far as improv music, it's definitely something that people either love or hate. I love it but I definitely see where it just isn't what others are in to.
quote:
Even if the whole poser scene that comes with it went away
Yea there's a good bit of that. I think that turned me off from Panic growing up because everyone loved them because their older brother did and it was way too fratty for me.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:07 pm to TMDawg
quote:
Panic was already around 10 years by time Jerry died. As full time musicians touring and making a living doing so. I don't think Jerry sticking around was going to put Panic out of business. Sure, more people ended up on Panic and Phish tour after Jerry died, but there's a ton of other bands they could've flocked to as well. Those bands were just playing music and putting on shows people wanted to see. Even before Jerry died they were already playing large venues (Phish more so than Panic). And it's just a simple fact that the 3 sound nothing like each other, it's not like they were copying the Dead.
I agree with that for the most part, but they inhereted the scene and the scene has been very lucrative. I agree that there are plenty of bands that could have filled that void and I have no idea how they were able to fill it... especially while having the frat and hippy and general degenerate scene all on the same bandwagon.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:10 pm to Jefferson Dawg
quote:
Talking Heads
Side note but they're such an underrated band. They influenced jam bands a lot more than people think too. Panic and Phish cover a good bit of their stuff.
David Byrne
Think he could use any more speed?
Posted on 12/12/14 at 9:13 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
frat and hippy and general degenerate scene all on the same bandwagon.
Weirdest mix of people ever. It makes it amusing when the frat star doesn't listen when the guy that looks homeless tells him not to eat more than a few hits though.
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