GD Sound Engineer Talks DSO

I still can't figure out why this band gets so much attention. Go ahead and give me the thumbs down but, they are a cover band. It's cool that they carry on a very rich tradition, but what is the big deal about them? Call me a hater or negative, but it's my opinion. At 10klf, they have Phil, Mickey, and DSO. Isn't that Dead spinoff overkill? I love Phil and Bobby, (Phil more) and love the Dead for that matter, but come on, I don't think cover bands like this deserve the amount of attention that they receive. I'm too young to have ever seen Jerry, so Phil is the next best thing, which is great, and I've seen DSO, and even I know it's not the same. Can't wait for Phil at Rothbury!

They RECREATE grateful dead experiences. They take an actual dead show, play it to the exact note, exact vocal, exact tuning, exact mess ups. exactly everything. so muffin man, they get the attention, because they have an unbelievable amount of talent, and they deserve recognition. To learn 18 entire shows for a tour. nutz. so yes, they are technically a cover band, but it's a different kind of cover.

I'm sorry, but these guys are a tribute band. They are not something to give props to, or even seriously give reviews of their "art." Saw them in Atlanta a month or so ago and had to make myself stay to see if the "magical" part of some reviews I've read would come out. They did not. After playing 3-4 Bob Dylan songs, and even another cover or two, I felt like I was at a fraternity party and not at a Grateful Dead re-enactment. I do not think that there is any "talent" in taking something and trying to copy it to the "exact" note. I bet it is not as "exact" as you think schoolz, and I wonder why these guys are held in such high regard. I've seen better Dead cover bands.

Maybe I caught them on a bad night, but, even so, they are "making" it because old Deadheads want to relive those days/years...it is a social thing, not a creative thing. And hey, maybe there's nothing wrong with that.

they are a COVER band, not THE GRATEFUL DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!! its absolutely f'd up that they get this much credit and $30 bucks a ticket!!!!!!!!!!!

DSO dosnt do show dead shows note-for-note, they use shows for their setlists, and theyre year(for sound). The jams and stuff are improv obviously....But yes DSO is damn good...

If cover bands are so bad please consider this. when was the last time you saw a "setlist" from the new york philharmonic that included a piece from anyone playing in the "Band"? if it weren't for covers I couldn't hear live songs from anyone who died or bands that broke-up.I've seen DSO from the start and they deserve all the success they get.GO WINGNUT!

DSO gets so much attention because they're that damn good. Yeah, technically they are a cover band but they still make phil and friends look more like the cover band IMO

They get attention because the Grateful Dead are the alpha and omega of this entire scene. Don't get me wrong, I only saw the Dead once, but if you don't get that the music of the Dead is timeless American music, and the whole reason why this website and message boards even exists is because of them, then you got alot to learn. 100 years from now bands will still be playing their songs, I don't think you can say that about too many other bands.

I think the main reason folks don't like DSO is because they can't stand the fact that they create GREAT MUSIC. What they hell is wrong with that. Music is music it does not matter at all who is playing it. Some of you are hung up on the persona and don't know how to listen anymore. Also they are very popular, you ask why? Well it's because they ROCK each and every night. You don't like um don't go why do people care so much what they do? I'll tell you why it because they ARE successful and it drives people crazy! DSO is GREAT in my book!

What is with this hate for DSO, it seems every time there is any news about them there is some hate. What is your definition of a cover band, is it a band that plays material written by another band? what is it? because i think that while you may subtract some credit for originality in songwriting you must appreciate the musical skill involved in doing what they do (recreating an experience down to the instrument that were played). If anybody is a cover band it's phil who's only good contributions to writing the material is box of rain and potato caboose; at least bobby wrote playing in the band and a couple of other classics. Just saying that it's pretty damn shabby to be hating on DSO because the way that i look at it, it might be better then seeing the dead right now (even if jerry was alive), i think the dead towards the end had some great shows but it's not like they were writing great bulk new material, and they keep it in the same spirit they never claim to be the dead, but they know that they do a damn good job of recreating moments in history that many of us couldn't be alive to see

Playing somebody else's music in its entirety makes them a cover band. That is an undeniable fact, whether they are good or not. DSO are great

musicians and have a great appreciation for the GD. People love the GD so they come out and see them. They are not artists creating art, but are rather musicians performing an act like a broadway musician performing a play. Good for them they make a living doing what they want and they are good at it. I won't pay that much to see them, but that is just me.

But to for some of you, like Selo34, to disrespect Phil Lesh and Jerry to by equating this band to the real thing is frankly an insult to all Deadheads and music lovers really. Jerry at his worst was leagues above DSO and most musicians really. The only people claiming otherwise are the young punk ass chumps on jambase that never got the see the real thing and are trying to make up that fact. DSO does not recreate anything close to the real thing and can't play or sing like Jerry, nor play bass to Dead tunes like Phil. Saying so only proves you never saw the Grateful Dead and have no clue.

Phil was there the whole time, he was a Merry Prankster, did the acid tests, Woodstock, Kesey's farm. He played bass on all of the GD music and you call him a cover band. Ever heard, Pride of Cuca.. ,Dark Star, Unbroken Chain,etc... Phils new lineup kills it and the main reason is because they are doing there own thing not trying to recreate what once was. Jerry is dead so move along.

Yes I appreciate the talent of DSO, but Phil and Jerry were and are true musical geniuses.

i've seen a few GD cover bands and these guys are by far the best. they let some of us younger folks, see what it was like to experience a 72' show or whatever. that is amazing. i've only seen GD 7 times & JGB 1, so i like to go back in time warps every once in awhile and see what it was like to see an old GD show. that's what these guys do. anybody says that they are not talented are deaf or don't listen to GD. these guys do sound alot like the GD, more then bobby, phil, or any other recreation today. don't get me wrong, i've seen about 25+ post GD family shows and it's always a blast, but DSO brings out the oldschool. bobby even said it himself that he doesn't want to be a GD cover band and there are people out there doing it better. i've seen the DSO a few times and if you close your eyes, you can imagine, you just have to let yourself be open to it. they do recreate setlist, but they don't play them note for note like schoolzside says, that would be nearly impossible for anyone to do. i do think their lead guitarist does a hell of a young Jerry and their rhythm guitarist tries real hard to play bobby. i think they are somewhat of a novelty act, but i'd go see them any day of the week. You people all need to remember that the Grateful Dead was the biggest cover band of its' time. i say good for them. DSO please come to western NY or Erie, PA, please.

Ok, it's all about me. When I go to a DSO show I enjoy myself and the people around me are also enjoying themselves. That's really all that matters. I don't think anyone's disrespecting Jerry or Phil when they point that the music transcends the musicians. I want to hear the music played live and DSO does a very good job at doing it.

This whole "cover band" thing is just a bit silly. How many originals did Janis Joplin sing? Or, for the more classically minded, is the New York Philharmonic Orchestra just a cover band because they play Beethoven and Mozart?

dso should get off their high horses, stop travelling around in that $200,000 tour bus,and stop cashing in on "recreating". And seriously people, STOP comparing dso to THE GRATEFUL DEAD cuz they arent, never were, and will never be!!! LONG LIVE PHIL, BOBBY, MICKEY, BILLY,DONNA JEAN, AND PHIL!!!

MISS U JERRY!!!!!!!!! MISS U PIG PEN!!!!!!!! MISS U KEITH!!!!!!! MISS U BRENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stop wasting your time on this cover-band nonsense, and spend your money on bands trying to make new music.... they are a cover band and thats all they will ever be.

Guys, please stop making the older heads laugh at us by saying the DSO are great or they compare with GD. Stop being fools and open your eyes. Don't be complete idiots, it's a cover band. There is nothing you can say that would persuade me otherwise.

you bashers should get up there and try it yourself if its not such a big deal. Like to see you rip some jerry solos!!! huh??? what?? you cannot??

thought so!!!

I think someone hit the nail on the head in the above. The Grateful Dead played COUNTLESS covers. COUNTLESS! DSO so loved the music of the Dead that they dedicated themselves to it. If anything, it was probably the fans that led to their prominence in the domain of Dead cover bands, not something that they claimed about themselves. If you disciplined yourself to learn something that you loved and received recognition for it, I'd think you deserved it. If you want to rip someone down, do it to yourself. The best thing that anyone of us can do to be productive is understand what is ugly within us, remove it and try to convey maybe just a shred more light to an absolute overabundance of negative thinking. It's all too easy to cling to jealousy when you are void of talent. If you can't be talented, at least try to support those who are.

Anybody actually check out what Dan Healy, a man directly involved with the Grateful Dead in an intimate way, has to say about DSO in the essay?

I did, Snappy. Here's an excerpt. "This “Orchestra” also deals with music I know a lot about. The time, hard work, devotion and love invested in these songs exceeds any others and is truly “homage” to the original. One of the natural laws of society is the law of eminent domain. When I was a youngster my sister had a bicycle she never rode. I rode it every day and by eminent domain it was my bike which is simply how life works. The tradition of playing these songs could not be in better hands which now belong to Dark Star Orchestra."

I have a friend who LOVES DSO. He's always telling me, "you need to check out the Dead, guy." I say, 'Sammy, they're not the Dead, they are a COVER band." He shakes his head in dismay and says, "guy, I think you'd change your mind if you saw the dead."

DSO does NOT play shows note for note, the play setlists. DSO is a fun night out, that is now overpriced.

Theyre certainly not the Grateful Dead, but they are very talented musicians with a great passion and respect for the music they play. I know plenty of old deadheads that love DSO...

Until one of these clowns steps out from the comfort of just copying someone else's work, and begin to actually write and perform original music, than they are just a glorified cover band that for some reason is defended and praised like no other cover band I've ever witnessed. MILESGONE, a knowledgeable contributor IMO to this site, even goes as far as calling people out that can't play Jerry notes the way the DSO guy does. Big deal. He has practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced and......whew....practiced and practiced and practiced someone else's licks not to further his own abilties and help shape his own sound and ideas, but instead to just well..copy Jerry. Impressive. I guess there isn't anything original up there in that look alike Jerry noggin of his to try and cultivate. I will give them credit, though. They have found their niche, their way of paying the bills, their way of taking care of their families, so I can't knock them for that accomplishment, but until somebody on here tells me this band has broken up because one of these guys wants to do some original material, than don't wake me up. And just one other thing, the argument that the Dead or Janis did alot of covers so therefore they were a cover band and it makes DSO legitimate is about the most unthoughtout reasoning I've ever heard. Here is how it works usually...a band starts out playing a ton of covers to let the crowd recognize familiar songs but become famliliar with the band. Then they sprinkle in originals and hope those become as well loved as the covers. Then eventually people get sick of hearing nothing but covers and want to hear the originals and down the road the "cover" becomes something special, but the orginal music is the meat of the show and why people are there. The Dead did it that way, WSP did it that way, Phish, etc.....

Having seen the real thing 50+ times, I will probably never pay money to see these guys. I think ultimately, they just prove a theorem: If you can replicate something that millions of people enjoyed well enough, perhaps you can get thousands of them to appreciate it.

I clicked on this to see if it was about Healy or Bear (or someone else). Those guys did amazing things.

As for DSO, they are great. I caught them once. It was fun and they are really good. But still a cover band. And not worth $30.

That is the problem these days. So much art is a replica. Some a good replica, some crap, but a replica all the same. It is a shame when the lack of originality is celebrated to this extent. I'd rather see so-so original music than the world’s best cover band.

What all you na sayers don't get is The music the grateful dead created is based around free flowing jams. You can't copy that. DSO is great because they can Jam and Jam hard. You don't like um don't go. You don't like the ticket prices don't go. Phil asking 65 bucks is the outrage here. Rock on DSO. Oh and I started seeing the Dead in 76'.... DSO makes me feel good and there is nothing wrong with that.

well......this is ridiculous......I can't believe how much fuckin hate is on this board.......it's stupid....If you guys have actually seen this band live, you would know how talented they are.....It's not like they are trying to steal the deads music by any means.....every show they credit the dead, saying how it wouldnt be possible without jerry, bobby, phil, etc......they are all first class musicians, who put on a first class show......

what happened to the tapes dan? your job? Micheal shur does sweat & shift & act shady when he talks about the break in...shady!!! DSO ~ how many shows a year? how many $30 tickets? what did the old keyboardist do with his cut?

DSO shows are just fun. For those of us that did not get to see the real Dead it is really nice to see the re-creations by DSO. I think it is really cool what they do. It brings out a lot of old dead heads, and several people I know that did follow the dead for years are always very excited to see DSO. I've seen way more old school dead heads at DSO than any Ratdog, Mickey Hart, or Phil show.

I went to the recent Atlanta show at the Variety. It was a sold out show. Afterwards me, and the 10 or so friends that I have been to COUNTLESS shows with, and who's opinion on music and concerts I respect, all agreed that we felt RIPPED OFF. I thought I was going to see something incomparable in the "Grateful Dead Cover Band" genre....and I received a flat, uninspired, performance by a band. Met a lot of cool people, for sure, but the actual performance (though played by great musicians) was WEAK.

yes DSO is a cover band but who cares, they put on a great show and everyone seems to be having a blast. it's not like they're making a killing off of the deads music b/c a good chunk of those $30 tickets probably goes to jerry garcia's estate and the rest of the members of the dead.

dude, unless its a REX BENEFIT SHOW(WHERE ONE DOLLAR 4 EACH TICKET ACTUALLY GOES TO THE BENEFIT) dso pockets all that money. You guys go have fun and pay $30 bucks for fake dead!

DSO isn't the dead, you're all right. But Neither is Phil & Friends, Ratdog,or Mickey Hart band! I don't hear anybody bitching when Gov't Mule does a cover or any other band for that matter.

You don't want to pay money to see a DSO show then DON'T. Why do you care so much what they do if you don't like them. There are PLENTY of folks who LOVE them. Why not focus your negative energy on something more positive. Some of you sound like spoiled brats with your hate. I'm a huge dead head and I LOVE DSO for all they do for our scene and community. They give back more then any other band on the road. I read that last years west coast tour they donated over 25,000 dollars to the REX Foundation. What other touring bands are giving back like DSO. The answer is NONE! DSO Rules............ Thanks Dan Healy for your insight!

just like me -- ....and I received a flat, uninspired, performance by a band.

Hey, they do "faithful reproductions". Maybe that was a show that where the Dead was off too... :)

I have found that if you close your eyes, you can almost imagine being at a Dead concert. It is when you open them again that the truth kicks in. Definitely a good band, just not worth my $30.00. Sorry.

ao1 - This is no hate. Just a bunch of people wondering the hum-bub over a cover band. And I have seen them live. And they are talented. Just like some artist are good at copying sculptures or paintings. But DSO are obviously not capable of originality (at least in terms of song writing). I value originality over andy copy - even a good one. That's me.

"What other touring bands are giving back like DSO. The answer is NONE!"

Actually - lots.

Neil Young (Bridge School),

Wilco (one show at Millennium Park in raised over $75,000 for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Tweedy regularly does solo shows for charity and all their poster sales have raised thousands for charities all over the country).