cover band-ception

TBH i like furthur and JK quite a bit more than most zoners seem to, but this is pretty absurd.

i listened to a bit from a few tracks and i dont really hear what to me were the defining features of furthur's sound - bass + rhythm guitar high in the mix to create an ensemble sound, lots of playing around with feedback and the tail ends of notes/chords, bobby at his clangyest and most angular, busy/complex drums and bass and jeff's frantic runs on the grand piano.

stumbling upon this absurdity has led me to resliten to some of the furthur shows i attended, and while there are alot of slow moments, the 5/28/10 furthurfest soundcheck, 8/14/10 outside lands set, and set 2 from the '11-'12 NYE show still stand out to me as among some of the best post-Q material. not *the best*, and there is certainly some post-Q PLF material that is considerably better, but imo its up there.

https://archive.org/details/furthur2010-05-28.sbd.official.112991.flac16

https://archive.org/details/furthur2010-08-14.sbd.official.113057.flac16

https://archive.org/details/furthur2011-12-31.sbd.official.118679.flac16

IMO that '11-'12 NYE show was the last really good furthur show that was played in CA. i caught pretty much every single one, and after that point it felt like there was something missing...like they just totally blew their entire improvisational load on 2010 and 2011 and just couldnt figure out how to get their strength back up for those remaining 2 years. after that NYE show i still had some fun at shows, but didnt really get the type of peak experience i was after until JRAD started playing and i discovered the DNB. that NYE show was, and still is, the last time i was able to have a truly peak experience at a major GD related show featuring original members. there were a handful of great shows in the early TXR days, but imo its really not the same in such a tiny room, without the circus tagging along.

something else these shows have made me remember - what happened to that old bearded guy who blew the giant conch shell at almost every show? is he ok? is he still alive? is he blowing his conch shell at deadco shows now?