Skull & Roses Festival: $436.55 ?????

and camp in a parking lot

Camp in a parking lot for at least an additional $274.32.

And how much for the motorboat?

...yes, but keep in mind that this is not just any regular old venue parking lot - it is hallowed pavement that fetches nostalgia-custie bucks!

Just like the good ole day's where $15 would get you a ticket with free camping on the beach.

Lesh is lucre.

To be fair, it costs a whole lot of money to put on an event like this, especially with so many bands. 

I believe I heard that they're doing one revolving stage for all the acts, which means almost continual music for 8 - 10 hours each day. Considering that most if not all of the four headliners would charge $50 or more for a show of their own, and then factoring in how many other bands are going to play each day, many of them $25+ headliners themselves, $100 a day is a relative bargain. 

The promoters aren't going to make a dime on ticket sales; even if the shows sell out they'll almost certainly they'll lose money on that end. It's the camping & vending where they make their money, which is why they hold off on single-day tix, trying to encourage as many as possible to camp.

At some point they'll probably release single day tickets, and those will likely be in the $125 - $150 range, but all of that will go to the bands and the cost of doing business.

Folks may not like that, but in that case I'll paraphrase Scoop Nisker - If you don't like the show, go out and put on one of your own.

I think there will be some interesting interpretations (or 'unique' as the ad states) of GD tunes over the weekend, but by the time Phil gets on stage Sunday, many folks will likely be suffering from overkill.

If I went all 4 days, I'd probably skip most of the second tier bands -  as good as some of them may be. If they don't all consolidate their setlists, folks will be subject to repeated versions ad nauseum. Between the GD, JGB and cover tunes, there's probably enough to go around - hopefully.

$109 for Phil might be acceptable, as well as for Oteil/JGB twofer, but not for DSO and certainly not Stu. To get your money's worth out of a 4 day pass, you pretty much have to check out the other bands.

^

You can take fest breaks and relax on the beach. Lots of places around to get cold fresh beer and fish tacos.

I don't mind paying festival prices as long as the line up is fairly diverse. When a festival focuses on a specific genre like this one, I know I would get bored quickly. While I know that many people only want to go to a festival with a narrow focus on musical style, this festival is not my cup of tea. 

Well, how about 16 bands, 3 days and nights usually with bluegrass, rock, and reggae? General Admission is $150, includes camping, and you can bring coolers into the venue and your own beer and food.

It's not too late: Dark Star Jubilee 2022

https://www.darkstarjubilee.com/

Billy Strings played 2019-great show it was!

Well, how about 16 bands, 3 days and nights usually with bluegrass, rock, and reggae? General Admission is $150, includes camping, and you can bring coolers into the venue and your own beer and food.

Price sounds good but tough to commit to a festival when there is no announced line up besides DSO,

All the fake Jerry's and stupid fake Jerry festivals have pretty much ruined the Grateful Dead for me. Enough is enough. 

^^Even if it's the shortest day, Stu Allen as a headliner screams jumped the shark for GD related festies^^

Aw come on jr

it all rolls into one...

At this point it isn't even corpse humping, it's a gang bang date rape of poor Jerry. 

NOLA Jazzfest is $80 a day and a hell of a lot more impressive than this mess.....

That is sadly getting closer to the truth. WTF? This BS is currently being marketed too.

you know they keep making new deadheads. i know quite a few and there has been for quite some time now, a resurgence of interest amongst the van life set...

Atta boy JR.

Folks that pay for this horse manure need to have their doped out heads examined.

​>>you know they keep making new deadheads

<<you know they keep making new deadheads

one of the biggest money grabs in music today. locally, i know 2 or 3 professional musicians who stopped performing their own original music, and now only do the the grateful dead cover thing.  haven't heard them do any original songs in years; just one Scarlet Begonia and Franklin Tower after another.  They also think they're good enough to do Jerry ballads, and have no shame singing Wharf Rat, China Doll and even a Black Peter.  This goes for the fat greasy guy in the black shirt from DSO all the way down to a local musician in a bar setting. They all need to stop and show the music some respect, because fucking Jerry in the poop shoot every night isn't very nice.

hopefully i get banned for that post.

JR, it's "poop chute".

I can't really fathom it either...

...yea, I am not at all a fan of the "DSO guy in the back shirt" either and, in fact, I sort of now dislike/avoid seeing the band after getting really turned off by his weird seemingly overt attempt at a Jerry-esque channeling act.

Sorry - sad but true (for me anyway).

GGG seems like a distant memory...yet a premonition.

This event is a no-go for me as well, but everyone's perspective is different, especially with an ever-changing, in-the-moment improv style of music like Grateful Dead music.

I've often told the story of the older dead head who told me in 1979 that the magic was gone and it was all crap now, that everything since the hiatus has been just re-hash and a flat, overly formulaic money train.

I'm sure most on here would disagree with that.

And then there are those who said everything after American Beauty & Workingman's Dead sucked, those albums and new live direction just a lame and boring attempt to become popular and cash in on the radio-friendly soft country rock craze of the time, no longer the relentless, raging psychedelic storm troupers of yesteryear.

I'm sure most of us would disagree with that.

And there are those who say that everything after (or even a little before) the coma had devolved into a clanky, noisy, over-lit arena rock act, all designed to play well in stadiums, no longer the far more dynamic, conversational ensemble they had been.

Many if not most disagree with that too.

And then for many it was after Brent died, and then for others it was after the gate crashers & riots, and then it was after the Q, and then.....

Everybody's got their own perspective, their own personal version (creation) of the Grateful Dead, understandable especially considering that from the band's very beginning the music was always changing, that it still is and will almost certainly continue to for a looooooong time to come.

I have my own perspective, my own opinions, but I don't think there's anything wrong with what's going on now, and it's really easy to understand why it's all thriving and why, completely unlike ANY other cover or original classic rock band, so many young people continue to jump on board, and will continue to.

For the very same reasons that we all did whenever we were young, even though there was always an older head there who would tell us we were fooling ourselves.

And clearly THAT is going to continue on as well.

Far out.

LLTGD!!!

I wonder how many latter day heads at least have a steady diet of listening to live GD shows (or even know about the archive).  I know of 4 people who actually did see Jerry who A: have never been to a PLF show, and B: don't have a 'tape' collection, know about the archive, or are even all that interested in listening to live GD recordings (I've offered to hook them up).  What they ARE into is any and every local GD cover band as well as whatever well marketed band Weir is part of, though they had never heard of Ratdog (and I would rather see Mark Karan any day than Mayer). 

For me I listen to Grateful Dead recordings a lot. Always have and always will for as long as I can.

I like listening to Robert Hunter, and some of the Phil and Friends recordings bear repeat listening.

Not trading Dead & Co or DSO hard drives.

Agree with JR that it's the ballads where the cover groups fall short. 

It's an impossible task and probably shouldn't even be attempted.

Jerry/GD had the unmatched recipe of emotional sauce and the ups & downs of their music and shows routinely had that playing out in the most mysterious and beautiful ways possible....and impossible.

DITTO on this too! 

>(and I would rather see Mark Karan any day than Mayer).< 

I'll admit I do enjoy some Ratdog tapes- and I do like Karan.

dj, drummer for the republic does stella justice.

<<Ratdog tapes- and I do like Karan

Same. I'd even argue the summer tour in I think, 2010, with Kimock, was some of the best Ratdog of all time. 

$395 for 4 days. lots of solid names

https://katewolfmusicfestival.com/2022-lineup/

>>>  I'd even argue the summer tour in I think, 2010, with Kimock, was some of the best Ratdog of all time. 

you may be thinking of 2007. Saw the atlanta show w/Kimock and it was really good. Only played GD, Dylan & Chuck Berry songs.

i don't like ratdog , and only have seen them a couple or 3 times

>>> $395 for 4 days. lots of solid names

those sure are some solid names.

^^ Agree with JR that it's the ballads where the cover groups fall short. 

It's an impossible task and probably shouldn't even be attempted.

Someone please tell Bobby?!

I'll be looking at single day passes for Kate Wolf.

<you may be thinking of 2007

Yep. Thanks for the correction. 

$395 for 4 days. lots of solid names

I agree and also pity whoever goes on stage after Darlene Love. I'm sure every female performer there will be side stage getting a master class on singing. 

Cool that they Greg Brown and Iris Dement pictured adjacent to each other.  I wanna hear 'em duet.

Extremes-of-Pitch Tour!

This festival could really use a headlining comedian to come out and tear the scrappy crowd to shreds. Bill Burr would be ideal. 

I actually take the view that festivals are often like eating those variety packs of cereal; where you only get a tease of one, two, or three of the cereals you're really after vs. opening up a sole big box of Cap'n Crunch and being able to eat it until the roof of your mouth is torn apart.   "Festival sets" can certainly deliver, but on the whole on balance I prefer the two set full show format.

Most bands/performers do not do a two set format. Most do one set clocking in somewhere between 100 - 270 mins. I like the analogy of the variety pack of cereals. For me at least, the performers that usually get me are not the ones I'm really after. I try to spread myself around and check out as many bands that are NOT on my radar and am usually blown away by at least one of them. While the #1 and #2 headliners on any given day are the "names" that most are drawn to, it's all the other bands that make festivals interesting places to check out music that I might not be familiar with. That is where a diverse line up is key. Everyone has their own criteria for attending a festival and there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to spending your own money. Let the music play...

Has anyone been to the festival previously?  I'm interested in the logistics of the thing more than opinions on lineup.  How is it being run?  Are services adequate etc? I'd love to just pop down for a single day with Phil but I'm in NC and that shit probably won't happen.  Phil shows are few and far between these days, not looking to get any better I imagine, and there's no more TRX.  So  catching one more round, for me anyway, looks like it's gonna involve saddling on more than I might want to  in order to get my groove on.  

Wait, what?

What bands normally play 270 minute single sets?

That's four and a half hours nonstop.

i have not been but have freinds that have. they said its well organized/ran/fun.

i saw phil play the hollywood bowl on the willie outlaw tour. thought that was for sure his last so. cal appearance. the band was cobbled together and it was an odd/disappointing set....

i suspect an influx of 1 day passes being sold. thinking about it.

Wait, what?

What bands normally play 270 minute single sets?

That's four and a half hours nonstop.

And this is why one should always proof read before posting. I meant to type 170 not 270. 

That being said, I have attended 2 one set shows that have clocked in over 4 hours. The second longest, over 4 hours long was by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in Phily a few years back, the longest was 4 hours 38 mins by P-Funk at Starland Ballroom back when the band was very expanded  and members, including George Clinton, would leave the stage for 30 mins or more only to come back later. 

I live 30 minutes away and actually played there the first year. The stages were basically in parking lots, or a lawn where the main stage was.  It was not well run the first year but sounds like it has improved, not sure if the organizer changed. I'd say if you have $$, an RV and reservation or other nearby lodging, want an overdose of GD music and fancy an long weekend in Ventura, great.

I almost feel compelled to check it out given interest by those so far away, and me being so close. 

I went last time and it was fantastic we drove an RV down from the bay area we all had a blast

Going again for all four days

And turtle that Hollywood bowl show was the worst phil show I've seen in my life

Price sounds good but tough to commit to a festival when there is no announced line up besides DSO>>>

Lineup out. General Admissions is still a bargain at $150.00 which includes parking, camping, 3 days & nights of music, and, you can bring your own beverages into concert area:

https://www.darkstarjubilee.com/

Looks like fun, I like the mix of artists --- but Ohio? 

Looks like fun, I like the mix of artists --- but Ohio? >>

Yeah, that's fair. But it's not the worst spot, its at the legendary Buckeye Lake, so its a nice spot, in the countryside a few miles away from the airport. Least there's no drought?

We used to call it bugeye lake :-)

Probably no drought conditions at Buckeye but thunderstorms and rain would be more likely than not for that time of year and that weekend in particular around the Midwest.

The only Jubilee ever impacted by thunderstorms and rain was the first one, held September 2012, Labor day weekend. Storm washed out stage and messed up Day 2 of the music.

They moved it to Memorial Day weekend in 2013.

^Cool .

I was only recounting my many  memories of rainey/cooler Midwestern Memorial Day Weekends. Labor Day Weekends, on the other hand, were more typically quite nice. Enjoy! You must be planning to attend?

Rik Turner, formerly of Alembic, just posted that Phil's refurbished 1974 Osrisis/Omega quad bass will be on display at the festival, among other instruments (I asked if Alembic #001 was going to be there, and he said probably not). Bands may have the opportunity to play some of these onstage. Skip from DSO is a likely contender. I wouldn't count on Phil, but who knows.

So, that adds a little value to the proceedings.

^Cool .

I was only recounting my many  memories of rainey/cooler Midwestern Memorial Day Weekends. Labor Day Weekends, on the other hand, were more typically quite nice. Enjoy! You must be planning to attend?>>>>>>

The only year I missed was 2020, cause it was canceled. I like dancing to Grateful Dead music played well with people who love Grateful Dead music. It's a great weekend! Garyfish came a few years ago

I'll be at Billy Strings that weekend about 30 minutes up the road at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Closer to a real Grateful Dead live experience as you can get. He's lighting up the Cap Theatre as I type this. Absolutely incredible band.

^THIS^

That Set I Freeview was smokin'.  Great audio mix, too. 

I'll probably spring for at least one stream.

I have a feeling the audio will drop on LMA day-after for each show.

I suspect a Billy Strings surprise appearance will happen in Ventura,

Closer to a real Grateful Dead live experience as you can get.>>>

Yeah, Billy Strings is good. The show is a scorcher. But closer to a real Grateful Dead experience? I don't think DSO nor Billy Strings nor Phish nor any group are "closer" to a grateful dead live experience. At the same time, all those groups are closer to a Grateful Dead experience in the sense that they are a hot band playing to a hot crowd.

When a hot band plays music together and the band & audience catch fire together, it creates amazing moments that we sometimes struggle to put words to & define because its mind blowing and out of this world. I've seen this happen in churches, in gospel choirs, Phil Lesh Quintet, bluegrass bands, and out of this world rock bands in small and large clubs.

That's probably why I try to see live music, to catch those unplanned but ecstatic experiences that happen when people least expect them to.
 

Hopefully we can see lots of shows this upcoming year and put contagion behind us

Closer to a real Grateful Dead live experience as you can get.>>>

There is NOTHING like a Grateful Dead concert.

Never has been. Never will be.

What Roarshock said, but that said, I'll be at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Saturday night with Billy Strings. I might try to catch Phil on Sunday if the tickets aren't too pricey.

I'm not sure how the phrase closer to a real Grateful Dead live experience translated so quickly to the same experience. I need to see Billy Strings well over 200 more times to give my honest opinion on how it stacks up to my live experience with the Grateful Dead or the many hundreds of other concerts Ive seen. That is not possible though! Plenty of great shows and bands to enjoy always. To my ears and eyes, Strings and his band already stand alone at the top. Will they one day add a drummer and go electric? That's something to think about. I'll be seeing him for only my second and third time this April and I can't wait. The venue is awesome! Chances are also pretty good for that Ventura pop in with Phil. It would be fitting.

Billy Strings is playing 2 shows in Santa Barbara (Apr 9 & 10 on his calendar) which may likely put him at his own soundcheck by the time Phil takes the stage in Ventura on the 10th. I am not sure but I think the 2nd Santa Barbara show on the 10th was more recently added to Billy's tour?

Hopefully Phil plays here in the Bay Area.

Phil always plays in the Bay area!

I don't think BS would show up on Saturday or Sunday in Ventura but maybe the 2 days before. He seems to have a week gap in his schedule in Cali.But who knows. It's a short trip from SB to Ventura.

It would br funny if he played with the Warlocks of Tokyo.

I'll take a tour of Rowan snd RRE

Early bird tickets are $328.40 and no heavy-hitters in the line-up. Pass.

No Big Steve and the Assbites? I'm out.

Who is Sages & Spirits? 

Melvin Seals, Rob Eaton, John Kadlecik, Rob Barraco, Jay Lane, Skip Vangelas, & Jake Wolf

https://www.instagram.com/sagesandspirits/

that actually sounds like an ok band for a smaller, less expensive 2 set show. absolutely zero interest in listening to nothing but GD cover bands with no original members and no JRAD for even one day, let alone three. if JRAD or a real good phil lineup was headlining with 2 sets per night, it could be fun to stroll around casually listening to various cover bands each day till the real show starts, but if the ultimate payoff here is DSO, it makes the whole thing feel a bit to cheeseball for me. DSO isnt even bad, i dont dislike them, just way to much cover band here with no significant payoff at the end. guessing this type of fest is more for the "gathering of the tribes" kinda folks.

To be fair to Skull, though, it started out in 2017 and 2018 with Melvin as the main headliner, and not until 2019 did they land Oteil. 2022 and 2023 were Skull on steroids when Phil was also there. 2020 was slated to be with Billy and the Kids, and Oteil, but obviously canceled. It’s hard to sustain what they did last year, over and over again, because it depends on Phil or Billy, or Oteil. Weir was probably too much to ask. This upcoming lineup is more like 2018. And it will certainly draw a smaller crowd. Hopefully they charge less.

And in saying the above: Any festival that depends on Phil or Billy is doomed to a limited shelf life.

> Hopefully they charge less.

The 3 day early bird for this year is slightly higher per day ($109.47) than last year's full price per day ($109.14).

Now THAT is inexplicable, without a Phil or other Dead player in the lineup. 

This is officially the most redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant 

it's death by licorice

Black licorice, I hope.

Wow...

The storytellers make no choice

soon you will not hear their voice

their job is to shed light

and not to master

^LOL

There's a "Busking" Stage?...

I can't wrap my brain around this festival, but to each their own. The list of bands reads like the punch line to a joke about cover bands.....