https://archive.org/details/gd85-06-24.sbd.miller.25315.sbeok.shnf/gd85-06-24d1t01.shn
Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead Live at River Bend Music Center on 1985-06-24 (live recording)
For years I passed by a local head shop that borrowed the Grateful Dead skull logo which kinda turned me away from the band.
Pretty cool of them to allow this kind of streaming though, and I guess even though I don't really understand jam bands I kinda like this recording.
Listening now. Forgot that there are tons of live recordings on archive.org, I always resort to other means of attainment. ) I never did get too into Grateful Dead, and I couldn't really say why. I do quite like them, just never made the dive.
I was starting to type up a question asking why you don't like jam bands, then decided to google it to make sure I knew what I was talking about. Apparently this is a hotly debated topic! Always assumed a band that jams was a jam band - like Yes, and so many other progressive artists. Apparently that's not the case? It's more of a cultural/audience-based thing? Seems very strange to me. But that also might explain your statement about not understanding them.
I guess it's pretty obvious that I've never played an instrument. I feel that like knowing how to play something is a heavy component to truly enjoy jam bands like Phish or Grateful Dead.
Most people I knew/know that enjoy that kind of music have some kind of musical background or at least a few years of guitar lessons in their fanny pack.
I was wondering about that actually! I bet it helps a lot.
I only know my life experience, with a handful of years of drumming and being in a rock band - and I really love progressive/"jammy" bands. Which in turn colors my appreciation for live music, since bands that fiddle around on stage always bring something new and interesting to the show (as opposed to how some people think shows are silly since "I could just hear the same thing performed better on the album").
Anyway, if you want to try out another great live show (IMO), check out Yes - Yessongs. It, like my other favorite live album, Supertramp - Paris, is a sort of live best-of album, since both were recorded and released immediately following a string of top tier albums from each band. Yessongs in particular features a lot of improvised sections and scratches a very specific itch for me.
(It's all a bit of a diversion from the immediate topic at hand, as I also never got too big into Phish either! Another band I think I'd love if I really dove in head first)