"the Grateful Dead were corkscrewing, and ultimately dying."

I saw my only Dead shows during the early 1990's and for someone who didn't know, it was as magical to me as it was for someone back in '64-'67... though it may not have been on the same musical level, it didn't matter to a kid from Utah. Standing in the middle of the floor of the 'old' Sam Boyd's Stadium, I was still gettin' it

The longer people are fans, the more the perspective changes. No doubt there. I will submit, however, that music is very much about perspective. And perspective is drawn from the depths of what makes you a person, all the things that make you tick, which includes your history, your genetic make-up, the albums your parents had in their collection, etc. Growing up listening to my mom's Who, Beatles and Jethro Tull albums, well, you could say I developed a specific perspective about music. One that jived with the later additions of The Grateful Dead, Phish, and dare-I-say... Widespread Panic. I've pondered this topic repeatedly over the years, and I think one of the things that draws it all together, at least for me, is the sheer dependence on the Real. It is a willingness to put the music above the musician... a concept that appears to be sorely lacking in some of the more mainstream veins of music today... in my opinion .

A final example of perspective... I hadn't seen Phish in a few years, when I got down to Broomfield last fall... Fishman's efforts in Moma made this version an instant classic for me... and some of my companions, who have been diligent phans for years didn't think too highly of the shows... so it could be said they've seen more so they know more, or perhaps, they are lookin' too hard, too close, with too much expectation... again, just a matter of perspective.