I was the typical jam band fan for quite some time. You know me. The kid who started listening to Dave Matthews Band in the 9th grade and had progressed onto Phish by the time I graduated. I spent most of my college career obsessed with the scene, reading relix, going to www.phantasytour.com, and hitting up as many shows as possible. Hell I even did half a Phish tour. In the last 2 1/2 years I have moved on to new music, and have basically stopped listening to jam musio. But I have attended some shows. This weekend I went to see moe. at The Tabernacle and at The Fox Theatre. I have to say I was bored out of my mind. The meandering nonsensical music which spilled forth had no power over me. During the second set on Friday I actually fell asleep (and I was sober). I still believe I woudl enjoy seeing Phish and/or Trey, but as for the rest of the scene (SCI, moe., YMSB) I am not willing to waste my money seeing these shows anymore.

on the one hand i'm kind of glad for you, but on the other i can appreciate how hard it is when you realize that either the scene or you (or both) has/have changed to the point that it doesn't mean as much to you as it once did, and that sucks.

Step One-Admit You Have A Problem

Welcome to the club. I had one foot in that boat ever since just prior to Phish's first hiatus. I stuck around half-heartedly until the bitter end of that band (because of curiousity, friends, and the party ), but had paid little mind to any other corners of the scene. It seems impossible that any of the existing jam bands will be able to rise and fill the void that Phish left. The genre may have run its course, the family is dying. I blame Trey.

Amen to that sentiment!

<----This guy's next jam band show (Phish reunion 2013)

Nah, I think it just runs it's course for people. People probably said the same thing about the Dead and then Widespread and Phish began their rise in the late 80's.

There will never be a shortage of college aged kids experimenting with drugs and getting in touch with their inner hippie for the genre to ever die. It'll just take on different forms.

damn J, how many times have we crapped on this guy? As big a Phish fan as I was/sorta am, I never was much into other jam bands outside of Panic (more southern rock) and the Dead (not even on the same planet)

That being said, I went to 873 jam-rock shows in the mid 90's.

I blame you Pagoda for thinking that 2 nights with moe would be entertaining.

cuz, y'all sorry.

I mean, why the fuck would you go see moe sober? just thinking about moe makes me want to not be sober...........

I blame trey as well. Fuck you Trey. Though you did help me find Pavement. Fuck you Trey. Fuck you.

honestly Derris, that scene at the DBT show we went to at the Tabernacle was not that far removed from a jam band scene.

I agree. There are those who try to expand their minds and have beautiful experiences.............. and then there are those who just like ta get fucked up.

The latter of these are the Phish fan that then became the DBT fan.

Dude I was drunk when I went in but the terrible jamming sobered me up pretty quick.

LOL. I can honestly see how that could happen.

I had big plans for moe. Those two fucking guitar players are so good, and they seem to have a penchant for heaviness-----I really hoped that they might evolve/devolve into some sort of Smashing Pumpkins thing. Alas, those guys couldn't write a song to save their lives and the bass player/singer dude is soooo bad, it makes me want to die....

I think the jam band "scene" is just over saturated with bands that jam, but none that do it particularly well.

I think jam band kids should get into free jazz like Brotzman or Vandermark. I'd bet that all parties would benefit.

p.s. Thanks for the Signature Mr. Bloor! I tip my hat to you.

Phish just got less and less interesting as time went by. Compare the Providence '94 David Bowie with any post '97 jam. Boring.

geek alert.

Good point. After all, intoxication has always helped increase my appreciation of Shemp.

Yeah, I never was huge into Phish or Panic. Liked DMB and moe. enough back in the day. Maybe because I didn't gorge myself initially I'm not as put off by it now. Under The Table and Dreaming, A Live One, and no doy are still favorites o' mine.

do you want to see Because of Winn Dixie?

At first exposer, I would say no.

some kid told me i sing like the guy in Moe, should i be sad?

also, i went to highschool with the keyboard player in the Disco Biscuits.

i went to one of their shows and the place was huge and packed. Do people like them? I don't know much about them beyond that a kid i rode the bus with is in the band and that their songs are way too long.

I blame U2

Pagoda may know better than I but I'm pretty sure they can pack out a mid-sized club with jam fans. I've never seen them though.

I've seen them. Fuck. I've wasted some good money.

This thread needs to devolve into a listing of every BAD jam band that you have seen in the past 15+ years. I'll start:

Merl Saunders and the Rainforest Band (like every other show in Athens post 1995, advertised as a show featuring someone who "used to play with Jerry Garcia")

Geek, yes, but he knows what he talks about. There are exceptions to his rule, though. Post '97 Phish wasn't uniformly uninteresting.

I blame Trey for killing Phish. I blame Phish for not actually doing only what they wanted to do, like they professed to do, and actually could've done. They were slave to a pattern that they developed and forced on their audience. They so could've taken a step back and broken the mold, and continued to have made some of the most amazing music at least within that scene, if not in all of rock music. They should have made more recordings that were informed by the genuis of The Siket Disc and retired half of their catalogue in performance, played alternative venues, alternative show formats, anything to keep it as fresh as it was for the first 16 years, give or take.

<=== ain't never seen no jam band, unless you want to count Wooden Soldiers (first band on Absolute a-Go-Go, the label that produced the first Phish record), whom I used to see all the time in college.