This knucklehead being a libertarian sure makes it easier, since there are a lot of not-that-clued-in liberals who call themselves “libertarians” but think that many of the ideas espoused by people like Dondero are repulsive.

Edit: sorry, meant to put “libertarian” in scare quotes both times, since ascribing an ideology, however hodgepodge, to someone this crazy is iffy

phish is so diverse, talented, and with so many amazing performances freely available for you to download that for you to say you hate them is just kind of stupid. Like saying “I hate the Beatles” or something.

I’d preface this by saying I’m 29, never saw the dead, had no particular influence to push them onto me, don’t find the culture following jam bands around personally appealing, don’t (usually) get high before listening, and simply stumbled across them when a friend’s brother put on a live show when I was maybe 16. I kind of liked it, got my hands on some more, and grew to love the sh*t out of their live performances and have ever since.

This is a hard thing to explain, but live dead is not something many people like the first time or two they listen to it. It just doesn’t come naturally and if you are impatient and an instant gratification good/bad dichotomous type of person then it is something you may never understand or enjoy.

I’d kind of compare it to wine (or for me good craft beer) – most don’t like the taste of alcohol first few times they try it. But with time and persistence and an open mind it grows on you, you find new things within it you couldn’t have seen at first, you begin to look past the initial ethanol flavor that turned you off and see how much more there is beyond, how complex the flavors/smells/colors can be, how much they can vary from one bottle to the next, then you may begin to appreciate more subtle things as you gain experience and after you have refined your palate you may come across that first amazing beer/wine that absolutely knocks you off your feet – it flows perfectly, it isn’t harsh but is bold enough to get your attention, it provides innovation/improvisation on what came before it, and pretty soon you have gone from not liking it to taking pleasure in experiencing new versions of it. You went from saying this is boring or I don’t get this or I don’t like it because it isn’t like others I’ve had to saying this is beautiful.

I found a personality in their music – a deep honesty, a lack of bullsh*t, eagerness to push their limits, and just so down for having a good time and enjoying life and yet with a sarcastic and realistic side, and this all came across in their music. Once I began to experience this I began to listen differently. I began to hear the notes that Jerry was choosing not to play. I also found it helpful to let my analytical side and ideally my ego go (sort of a meditation thing?) and just let the music take me over. Once you can do that you realize some grateful dead shows can take you amazing and crazy freakin places unlike any other music I have come across.

But first you have to get to know them, you have to want to get to know them, and not just casually like listening to a well known show one time. You have to put them on, go about your day, and just not pay too much attention – sort of like the above poster said about the paintings that are great out of the corner of your eye – do it again and before you know it they are growing on you. It just takes some time.
The good shows/sets are not about individual songs, they are about taking you somewhere. You don’t listen to the grateful dead and say well that version could have been closer to the studio version or they forgot the words here or that jam didn’t really go anywhere – you are missing the point entirely if you do that. GD shows/sets often have an overall path and it is the experience of going down this path you need to be “looking” for. Shows may steadily build in intensity/emotion, meander, bottom out, and then build up again, and if your lucky climax (like your 5/8/77 show does with the morning dew). It is cliche but they are truly an experience, it wasn’t that often and certainly less so into the 80s and 90s but from my experience they really were capable of transcending traditional music. You feel like you just went on a long run, or had a long crazy dream, or watched an awesome movie, or whatever you might liken the hour plus experience to.

If you ever experience this, then it is all over. There are hundreds of shows you will now have to listen to because every time you do you find out something new, you can read about the scene and other’s takes on the show, compare and contrast different versions of songs as there are so many (and so many different songs overall), and with the music there is just so much going on and it is so deep that you can enjoy it on multiple different levels. You can get your detailed-orientated-multiple-personality-manic-follow-every-note-side on and simultaneously preserve that trained ear which knows how to look from a distance to pick up those subtle but amazing experiences that are realized over listening to entire sets or shows and not individual tidbits.

I have listened to hundreds of GD shows many of them many times but have only listened to one GD studio album one time. That is just not what it is about. The band didn’t even want to make studio albums. Hearing somebody say they really like Working Man’s Dead and American Beauty but can’t stand live dead is like hearing somebody say they really like McDonald’s hamburgers but don’t like an entire freshly butchered steer. You know that they just don’t have the comfort level, perspective, ingenuity, or desire to realize how that big hunk of meat – with a little patience and open-mindedness – can be turned into 1000 times what that little hamburger ever was. The hamburger is convenient, nicely packaged, easily reproducible, requires very little investment, tastes pretty good the first time you try it, and its easy to wrap you little hands around. Sure you like it. The hundred pounds of raw meat – well you haven’t a clue. You give it a taste without knowing what you are doing and find it tastes terrible. You don’t know what to do with it, where to start, how to carve it up, how to cook it, where the best parts are, any idea just how good those parts can be if treated properly, and find the whole thing intimidating and frightening. Thus you throw your hands in the air and give up. You conclude that the hamburger is better. But I’m telling you right now, if you have the time and patience and can participate in the process of turning that steer into a perfectly cooked filet from start to finish you will experience something infinitely more valuable than you do by going through the drive through for you 99 cent hamburger.