I think today is the day the Jammy Awards will be handed out. Yippie!!!
As a recovering jam band fan I feel the need to rant a bit. The first problem I find with that crowd is the total lack of knowlegde of what good music really is. Debating the point with any of them is about as pointless as hoping your trip will kick in after taking bunk acid. None of them even listen. If they did, they would know how much the music sucks.
Next. I am really tired of those stupid patchy corduroy pants for the guys, and some flowing skirt and tank top for girls being the standard hippie uniform. Dirty feet and sandals, throw on your dreadlock wig if you have one. These people are such posers. How many people dress like that daily? Not only that, but there is nothing artful or expressive about it.
I\'d also like to note horrible dancing. Some of the people look like they should be institutionalized.
And now to the bands. Can somebody say 25 minute wank? Or how about 18 minutes of painful repetition? Everyone is so high, it sounds good. Which brings me back to the fact that jam band fans have awful taste in music and are all trapped in the illusion they they know what sounds good.
(exhale)
Don\'t know much about the Jammy Awards, but your post was entertaining to read.
Examples? I know Phish is a jam band and thats all I know.
c2b3 was pretty much a jam band. In fact, pretty much every les claypool show i\'ve been to they jam on a riff for awhile. some jam bands go a little overboard but some aren\'t to bad.
I like Primus, but they aren\'t normal in any sense of the word.
Phish was a big one. Members of that band formed other bands. The Disco Biscuits are popular. Of course there are the members of the Grateful Dead. There are a few Allman Brothers Band guys floating around. Santana has been known to jam. There are a lot of others out there.
You\'re right. It\'s not all bad. I get what it\'s about. The spontaneity of the moment and being there. I can appreciate improvisation and dissonant sounds as long as the music is saying something, and something worth listening to at that.
I realize that no one can be 100% all the time either, but a lot of the shows I was at before my epiphany...well, breakfast cereal had more interesting things to say.
For some reason jam bands seem to collect lazy fans, the kind of people who want something for nothing. It isn\'t all cases everywhere. But from what I saw, those were the people who thought the music was saying something, and the convo got to dumb for me.
I know a good way to avoid seeing any jam bands and to dodge the associated annoyances listed above:
don\'t go to any shows where jam bands are playing.
It\'s worked for me for...ever, actually. I\'ve never had to sit through a jam band or deal with hippie jam band listeners at all, using this method.
Big reason why I\'m staying the heck away from Wakarusa, even though my 2 favorite artists are playing there (Ozric Tentacles being the 2nd). I mean besides the stifling June heat, the fact that its in the KS woods, the insanely high ticket prices, the drive out there (ok, only about 60 mins away, but still), and the possibility that the only 2 artists I\'d care about seeing might not end up playing at all, that is.
Umphrey\'s McGee is friggin awesome, how can you hate on them?
on archive.org there is an awesome jam with umphreys and buckethead, you should all check it out.
First off I was wondering why this rant got posted in this forum, I don\'t think TDRS is a big home for jam band junkies. Although I loved the stuff about the patchy corduroy pants, dread lock wigs, and dirty feet and sandals (also, who wants to smell like shit and that weird hippie oil... pachulie i think??). I don\'t think hippies realize that you can live a clean sustainable lifestyle without smoking weed and looking like a turd rolled in carpet fuzz all the time.
However, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the strong prejudice dis on ALL jam bands and immediately connecting them to hippies. Les Claypool\'s Frog Brigade is one of the nastiest jam bands I\'ve ever heard (by the way I am NOT a damn hippie). I\'ve seen them live several times, and they were some of the best shows I\'ve ever seen. I\'m not a fan of many other jam bands (unless you consider Government Mule a jam band, their guitarist is ill by the way) but damn man, take a deep breath, it\'s going to be okay. Maybe you need to check out bands with some decent musicians.
* SIDE NOTE*
Don\'t know what I would do without the Frog Brigades album cover of Animals by Pink Floyd.
Quotec2b3 was a jam band.
i\'ve seen/heard "jam bands" do some brilliant things, and it takes a very dedicated and educated ear to recognize it.
Here\'s an improvisional stroke of genius - The Disco Biscuits jamming out a palindrome of songs:
Voices Insane>Basis For A Day>l-man>Above The Waves>l-man>Basis For A Day>Voices Insane
basis was inverted, l-man was deslexic, and Above The Waves completed an unfinished version from the previous nights set. (10-01-02)
Buckethead has jammed along side of these bands you\'re hating on, and claimed to understand.
Have you ever heard the "18 minute wank fest" that is Buckethead and Umphrey\'s McGee?
Go bang your head against a wall and then go download theNewDeal\'s set from Langerado 2008
::)
Jam Band Junkie and proud of it!
;D
Chris DiCicco
QuoteI know a good way to avoid seeing any jam bands and to dodge the associated annoyances listed above:
don\'t go to any shows where jam bands are playing.
It\'s worked for me for...ever, actually. I\'ve never had to sit through a jam band or deal with hippie jam band listeners at all, using this method.
Big reason why I\'m staying the heck away from Wakarusa, even though my 2 favorite artists are playing there (Ozric Tentacles being the 2nd). I mean besides the stifling June heat, the fact that its in the KS woods, the insanely high ticket prices, the drive out there (ok, only about 60 mins away, but still), and the possibility that the only 2 artists I\'d care about seeing might not end up playing at all, that is.
Ozric is a jam band. If you hate hippies, dont ever see them live.
Quotebasis was inverted, l-man was deslexic, and Above The Waves completed an unfinished version from the previous nights set. (10-01-02)
I was at Disco Biscuit shows while you were still in grade school.
I did say that it isn\'t all bad, and it\'s not all cases. Of course, you chose to ignore that. Who is the hater? You are the exact kind of hippie I\'m talking about.
Cream, the Allman Brothers live at the Fillmore, Miles Davis. I guess I\'m a Jam Band fan. Have I dated myself yet?
Oh, Thanatopsis is a jam band.
Love the jam bands!!! Garaj Mahal, Galactic, Soulive - so many good ones - plus I fee like afrobeat is like jam bands - Fela Kuti, antibalas ... etc. SO MUCH FUN LIVE!!!!
QuoteCream, the Allman Brothers live at the Fillmore, Miles Davis. I guess I\'m a Jam Band fan. Have I dated myself yet?
Oh, Thanatopsis is a jam band.
I\'d KILL TO SEE Thanatopsis jam out live! Wholly shiz bot that would be so cool!!!
Serious question for Travis - What can I do to help enable a live performance by you and BH together with a drummer playing tunes by Thanatopsis, Population Override, and both Chicken Noodles albums?
are we going to have to write a petition to see thanatopsis live?
QuoteOh, Thanatopsis is a jam band.
Fuckin\' A!
Quote
I\'d KILL TO SEE Thanatopsis jam out live! Wholly shiz bot that would be so cool!!!
Serious question for Travis - What can I do to help enable a live performance by you and BH together with a drummer playing tunes by Thanatopsis, Population Override, and both Chicken Noodles albums?
I\'m booking a flight to Cali as soon I get word.
Seriously Travis, I know you guys are SUPER busy, but what if you scheduled it 2-3 years in advance?
I love live music. Live music has actually helped me shape my life. The jam band scene was a part of that.
My original post was actually the last part of my epiphany. The realization came slowly over several years.
It all started when I dressed like a hippie to go to a show, saw pictures of myself and asked, who is that. From then on I made sure I was dressed in a way that was true to myself.
Next, I stopped participating in lot activities, saw a band I had seen several times before and loved, and found myself asking myself why I ever thought they were good. But, everybody around seemed to be having a good time...so I thought it was me and I lost my feel for the vibe.
Next, I went to a Yes concert and within minutes heard and saw a much cleaner and clearer sound than anything I had heard from a jam band in the past. Plus, the musicianship blew any jam bad I had seen out of the water.
All this time I\'m seeing jam bands too.
At a Meshuggah show (opening for Tool), everyone around me seemed to be wondering what the hell was going on. But I was thinking, I kind of like this.
Back to the jam bands. Everyone around me is really into it and I\'m waiting for something to happen. Four or five shows like that and I realized...it\'s not me. My vibe radar is fine. There is just nothing going on.
To me, the time the bands spend trying to find the groove is not jamming. It is a waste of my time. I didn\'t come to a show to see 5 minutes of brilliance every 1/2 hour.
One of the last jam shows I was at was a Phil Lesh show and it was fun. I love live music and I will continue to see live shows. I\'ve had enough of jam bands.
I know what you\'re saying;some jam bands just do solos to go thru the motions and you can tell that their lyrics are more selling points to the masses than true expression.when I go to jam band fests I think most of the bands are pretty mediocre so I just walk around half-listening.Thought about getting some bohemian-styled stuff like you mentioned but then decided to stay with the style I\'ve worn for over a decade--that scene isn\'t me.with that said,yes,the hippy crowd might not be as in-tune with the technicality of the music because they\'re into the raw emotional aesthetic of how it makes them feel(I dig a combo of that and well-executed technicality);buuut I\'ll take a hippy crowd over a metal fest any day for the comfort factor alone.90% of hippies are waaay easier to get along with than 90% of metalheads(and I guess I consider myself half metalhead or something).also,the term jam band is pretty vast;I mean tool could be considered a jam band with the extended parts of songs that they do.
Thanatopsis.... my god that would be great live.
But on to my real topic, Ella Mental, we should get together and own the Jammy\'s. NO corduroys, NO tanktops, but a hellalot of pwn.