I’ll admit I have seen him and he wasn’t bad, still not one of the best I’ve ever seen though. IIRC it was him and maroon 5 when I saw them. I imagine that seeing him as a part of dead and company would be an entirely different (and much better) experience.
My son turned me on to Sturgill when we were driving out to Green Bay last fall. Turtles all the way down is one of my favorite songs of all time.
And it kind of says something that john meyer became good by joining up with the remaining members of a great band from the previous generation and covering songs from the 70’s. And yes, he can really play the hell out of a guitar. Maybe the issue with modern music is not the lack of talented musicians but rather a lack of great song writers. Doesn’t matter how good a musician is if the only songs available for him/her to play are crappy.
I realize that the title of his bluegrass album, “cuttin grass” is a reference to the bluegrass style of playing, but I discovered last summer that it is also an excellent playlist to listen to while your actually riding around cuttin’ grass on the lawn mower. It’s great because you can sing along as loud as you want (and if your singing sturgill then it’s gotta be loud) and the noise from the mower prevents the neighbors from hearing your terrible singing. Except for “I don’t mind”, that’s one song that you gotta sing so loud that they’ll definitely hear you over the mower…
it was hard to beat " The Midnight Special" on the TV looooong prior to MTV ... (1977) <iframe width="560" height="315" src="" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Mayer has sold more than 17 million albums and has 7 Grammys. I'd say he's a pretty accomplished musician in his own right - before he joined up with Dead & Co. That includes a #1 solo album in 2021. What we're experiencing now in all forms of art and media is more exposure to more things than at any time in history. Look back into the '60s, '70s and early '80s - all you had was radio, maybe a few select TV appearances, and word of mouth from your friends. The pool of artists was much smaller and always controlled by those in the media and record companies. The 80's brought MTV and a new wave of exposure which opened us up to more artists but under the same basic system. They were all under the control of the big media companies and record labels. But that's how bands and artists got as big as they did. There were a select group of artists that were promoted by those companies and the ones that did well were supported to a level that doesn't happen today. TV appearances, paying for radio time, huge arena tours, billboards, promotion in magazines, at record stores, Best Buy, etc. Bands became cultural icons partially based on their talent, but in large part by the big business behind them. In today's world, we have almost limitless access to artists from all genres and the amount of content out there is overwhelming. No person can possibly listen to or watch even a small portion of it. MTV is gone. Traditional radio is dying. Now it's all streaming services that let you control exactly what you want to hear. No more radio shoving the same song down your throat 50 times a day until you knew every word and fell in love with Hootie and the Blowfish. IMO, there are more talented artists and musicians today than we've ever seen. The problem is finding them and then getting them exposed to a big enough group of people to allow them to become cultural icons like bands from 50 years ago. And musical tastes have changed as well. "Pop" music is more popular than ever. Just like TikTok I hate it, but I'm also a crotchety old man like most of you guys. We hate everything.
Didn't go to Woodstock because it was a girlfriend's Birthday so stayed home but did make it to Watkins Glen. Not as many bands but way more people than Woodstock. So many great concerts but one of the top would have to be the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia, opening for the Grateful Dead in Salt Lake City, I think it was '74. Concert lasted for about 6 hours and Garcia never left the stage!
Ahhh just remembered who the Doobie Bros. Covered for...it was a Chicago concert..another good concert/ play, JC superstar, .that was really good .
Off the top of my head Stone Temple Pilots was a great show. Say what you will about Scott Weiland even high on heroin he was an incredible front man. He absolutely commanded the stage and it was hard to take yours eyes off him. I've seen Jason Isbell a few times. Absolute incredible songwriter. Even songs I had heard 100 times I was able to pick up something new I had missed before
First concert I went to was at the Met Center where the North Stars played. AC/DC for those about to rock tour. Best concert Billy Squire and Queen. Queen was awesome live because of the quality they sounded very good unlike some other live shows.
When I was in college, maybe 99 I went to an outdoor show with all 3 of them and Cypress Hill. It was a great show. 'Mudshovel' live was something to behold. I bought their CD the next day, and that was saying something b/c that was back when Napster and burning CDs was a thing, so for me to actually make sure they got paid was a big deal. Actually I remember Cypress was just OK, they played last and I think they were stoned AF and just mailing it in. Plus live rap is usually trash. I think we left after like 3 of their songs but we had been slamming beers out in the Southern Indiana summer sun all day, so we were pretty toasty ourselves. I have seen LB I think 4 times in my life and they were all great shows. Like positive rage vibes, if that makes sense. Just goofing and having a good time, loudly.
seen STP 3 times, also never disappointed. I think on the 96 tour they played a 60-minute set of kick ass stuff, took a short break, then an acoustic instrument set dropped down from the ceiling, they played a 4 song acoustic set, then went back to kicking ass for about another hour. This is a pretty cool mashup of live CrackerMan performances...one of their best songs. Honestly, for music, I think I was born at EXACTLY the right point in time; I just didn't take advantage of it. Born in 77, I did or at least easily could have seen all-time greats in their peaks or nearly so from Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Genesis, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, RATM, Alice in Chains, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Sound Garden...and everyone since. 1980-current has been a pretty good run for rock music.
