Vince Welnick R.I. P.

I also never really ''warmed'' up to Vince in the band. He just didn't seem to fit. The Grateful Dead after Brent Mydland passed really weren't the same band anymore.....it was like the fun had gone out of their shows. I really enjoyed them when Keith and Donna where there and Brent took the Band to a whole new level. Also, from my interest and reading about the Band....Ron McKernan aka ''Pig Pen'' never really got into the drugs as the other members did....he just really loved cheap wine !!! And a lot of it !!!!! It is too bad though.....about all of them in the position in that Band. There's only one original key boardist left from the Grateful Dead that is still with us.....Are you out there Tom C . ?????

I just read another report that Vince was only 51. If so it's even more tragic. I am a deadhead but can't get into anything after '76. To me that's when Jerry started to lose his voice. There are some exceptional 77 shows but I never liked Donna or any keyboardists after Keith. They lost the soul of the band when Pigpen died IMHO. Death Don't Have No Mercy on GD keyboardists.

Keith was a good fit as he could weave his piano in and out and all around Jerry's playing. However - to get Keith, you got Donna too. Every time she stepped up to the mic, I would get a cold shiver down my spine. To hear her at her worst, give a listen to "Steal Your Face". She does redeem herself some on "Blues For Allah". There were some magic moments for the band - especially the shows from May 1977. I would also say that the March 1990 run was very, very good, and Brent was probably at his best.

Slipknot: The first show I went to was Capitol Theater 1978. Even then I knew I got on board too late. Everything is subjective, but for me 4-26-71 and most of the Europe '72 tour were the boys finest moments. Nobody ever replaced what Pigpen brought to the equation and I don't mean musically. caught a few of the Radio City shows in '80 and I dug the acoustic sets but I can't listen to Donna or anything after the Cornell 77 show. Donna, Hornsby,Brent were for a later generation than me. Just my opinion. Talk about shivers down your spine though how bout Donna's solo "From the heart of Me'? What crap!

Jsonic, Ooooh, forgot about that one. Good catch. My first show was from that 1971 run - April, with the New Riders opening at Alfred Univ. gym. I was a 9th grader. I really caught the bus July 27, 1973 at Watkins Glen. Both of those shows were close to home, as I grew up in that area. Re: the Europe '72 shows: I think that Phil was at the top of his game then. Go back and listen to the bass lines he puts down in the China>Rider pairing. Just an absolutely perfect counterpoint to Jerry.
As an aside, I only hope that the rest of the boys will now let it rest. That unfortunate outing as "The Dead" scared the bejesus out of me. I envisioned them becoming some Jefferson Starshipish Atlantic City casino act...