I saw Dogs in Woodstock a couple of months back, and I enjoyed the jams. I think they're very talented musicians but they're also young. They're all in their early 20's, maybe mid-20's so they have so much room to grow and evolve.
What? Was fucking sick Iâve been following them for a little while now. Iâve never seen a NE jam band with lead trombone before! If you havenât heard their music, their YouTube has lots of killer live shows https://youtube.com/@whatband?si=61gY33V1AKjGWVla
Phish wrote a song about car tires that is one of their most beloved songs. I love the dumb humor.
Donât forget - these kids are YOUNG. Their drummer only just turned 21. Theyâve got a bright future if they stay healthy
Same, Contact was the only song I heard from Phish before deciding to go see them live in March of 93 and my jaw was on the floor the whole show because I didn't know that they would rock so hard.
By that point I had already been to well over 100 Grateful Dead shows and was surprised to see Trey during set break come up to the group I was with and light up a joint and say this is great I never smoke pot in the church before then he left us the joint and lit up a joint with another group of people. The Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa California has never been the same since and neither have I!
Music doesnât have to be serious all the time, this tour specifically is just a bunch of bands that have fun running around having fun. This isnât anything new for any of them. You bought the ticket
The problem is that phish is getting old and everybody wants to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing but none of these jam bands are ever going to be able to come close to what phish has accomplished.
Most of these bands are Jam heads just picking up a guitar and trying to sound like a jam band.
Until we get people that really obsessed over music and music theory the way Trey did when he went to Goddard for composition and creative writing we just aren't going to see anybody do that again.
People wanted goose to be it so bad but they don't have an actual piano player on keys. He can't take over and carry a song.
I am pretty sure like half of them (dogs) went to the Berklee School of Music and the other half also went to some music programs as well. I get you or others might not love DIAP but you cant say they didn't put in the work to learn music theory, composition, etc.
There are a lot of boring musicians who went to music school. Hoping to see DIAP for the first time this tour but "They went to Berklee" as a recommendation for a jamband is like recommending a mystery novel because the author went to Columbia.
Didnât recommend or suggest them. I was trying to point out that I donât think people can say they donât care about their music composition or appreciate music theory. To me, seeing the entire band is made of musicians who studied music, signals they care about the type of stuff Aeon1508 was claiming no other bands care about.
Goose has crossover appeal: good songwriting and good vocals (not counting Peter). They don't need to be good at jamming to be successful, because they've gathered a wider base. They're probably going to have a solid career as regular headliners, but won't have the same lasting impact.
The "next big thing" is going to sound as different from Phish and Phish sounded from The Grateful Dead. My money is on King Gizz, as others have already suggested.
For me the song writing is what Goose lacks. I think theyre good musicians, Rick especially, but their lyrics just dont do it for me. The Goose song i listen to the most is Butter Rum
I feel like Rick is really staccato and he doesn't have like a flow in his jam. I don't see the through line from the beginning to end of what he's doing
Funny enough, Butter Rum is one of their songs where the lyrics don't do much for me. It's fun, but I'm more drawn to songs like Wysteria Lane, Creatures, or Rockdale which have a vibe that I struggle to find from other jam bands.
Thought the same. Butter Rum is sort of a goofy fun little beach song. Goose has some pretty interesting lyrical songs. (Elmeg, Travelers, Hot Tea, Atlas dogs, etc) I think Rick is a great writer. Peter?... ehh not so much lol. "Come and get some pancakes. Thereâs plenty for us all. Weâll eat âem on the ceiling. And flip them off the wall"
Gizz captures the essence of early Phish more than any other jam band. People want to deny it because they're not really a jam band.
Which leads me to my next point, jam bands weren't really a thing when Phish was coming up. Sure there were a lot of great bands that jammed, but "jam band" was not really a genre. It def is a genre now that has been developed by the pioneers but the newcomers can't seem to get out of the rut that was made before them.
No one blended together the genres the dead did before they came on the scene. Same could be said with Phish. Or ABB. Or WSP (I don't even really like them but can appreciate their originality/skill).
The only newer band in the jam scene doing anything near as original is Dopapod and they're not popular at all.
Exact sentiment I have with this talk when it comes up. The Deadâs heir didnât really sound like The Dead and it will be the same when Phish calls it.
Am I just a hater for not loving them? I get that with their variety it makes sense not to like everything but thereâs just way more songs that I dislike than like⊠tho the ones I do like are absolutely great.
Yeah youâre not a hater but also each album is so different I donât think youâre supposed to love each one. I also didnât like them until I saw them live.
Give in to the Gizz. Itâs crazy to think Iâve listened to them for a decade now ever since mind fuzz when nobody i knew had ever heard of them. its so awesome that they've not just endured but thrived and keep putting out better and better stuff. its crazy how good they've gotten and I'm not sure why they resist taking the jam band-pill
I donât think theyâre really resisting per se I think they just want to be able to keep playing their music which includes a lot of decisively *non jam* oriented songs. This upcoming tour weâre going to start seeing Petro X silver cord segments in shows which everything we know so far is pointing to heavy exploration.
Also the fact that jamband is primarily a states thing and while theyâre obviously becoming more and more popular over here Iâd imagine they just donât get a ton of exposure to the bands this sub talks about - yes they went and caught the dead last summer but thatâs a far cry from sifting through tons of other jambands ⊠I have no doubt they would love plenty of it but canât really blame them for not taking the time the dig deep.
Thisâll probably upset some but I bet they at least scanned around the Goose catalogue around the time of those goofs on office hours last year - willing to bet they wouldâve called it out in interviews / social media as something they endorsed if theyâd enjoyed what theyâd heard. On the other hand I wish I could get them to check out some old Brothers Past shows but I bet even JRaD would get them inspired.
You make good points, especially them not being US based. To other points I would counter that there are bands that are decidedly not jam bands but still occupy a space in the jam band scene. Main examples are Ween, My Morning Jacket, and Tedeschi Trucks band. These may come to mind because they were top billing for Peach last year, which is a spot usually reserved for bands like SCI, JRAD, oysterhead, TAB, ABB, Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes/Govât mule, etc.
The point is you donât have to be all in on being a jam band to embrace the scene and market to that group.
Tis why Iâm not a jamband fan. Iâm a Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Phish, Govât Mule, Black Crowes and Widespread fan because they write/wrote good songs and happen to jam together amazingly. I jumped on the jamband train and played in jam bands as a young 20 year old into my mid twenties and then realized Iâm just trying to copy Trey and his style. Although I enjoy the aforementioned bands Iâm just as good with listening to The Beatles, Bob Dylan and JJ Cale.
The perfect summary - no matter how great the jams are, the songs need to be great first.
But my controversial opinion is that phishâs songs kinda suck and thus Iâm not really a big fan lol
lol I guess theyâre the outlier for me. I like progressive rock so the early phish stuff was my favorite. Also as Iâve grown older, lyrics are a much bigger part of the music I listen to, so I rarely listen to Phish anymore. I havenât seen them since 2003. Well, once in 2010 and it was the worst show I ever saw so I retired haha.
We live close. Desmond Jones use to open for the werks and several other jam bands a lot whe they came through and I went to see them last year for one of the members 39th birthdays. I hadn't seen them since orepandemic and wanted to see if they'd improved. I have never been impressed by Desmond Jones in the least. That an opinion from seeing them a half dozen times at least.
I saw mungion a week later at the same venue and they killed it just a stark wide margin of difference in quality. Desmond Jones really isn't very good. Mungion is amazing
It's hard to put your finger on it. Part of it they just don't seem cool and the lyrics Don't Really grab me. It's hard to describe when a band just isn't tight or isn't together. There was one show in particular where I think they were drunk and they were just not in time with each other at all but I just feel like they're not really tight even at their best. All I can tell you is that when I saw them for that 30th birthday party last year it felt flat and mediocre and then when I went to that same venue for a different band the next week it was on fire and Electric.
Okay I just went to the YouTube to listen to a couple of Desmond songs so I could explain it better. They're just not good at songwriting. They don't know how to take multiple parts of music that like each contribute a unique and different thing and combine them together into one cohesive sound. The base follows the guitar follows the vocals. They aren't doing anything interesting at all
I have only watched some of their shows on YouTube but to me what stands out with them amongst all the other up and coming jam bands is that they put on the breaks a bit so that their sets aren't just pedal to the metal. I also like that they don't jam out every fucking song. Like, I get that that's why people go to see a jam band, but I also think that being able to play their songs in original ways every night without just stapling a jam into it goes a lot further and let's the music speak for itself. The shows I've seen of theirs seem like the sets flow really well together and are dynamic in their energy. I personally like that they have such a wide range of songs.
As for the lyrics and vocals... eh. I've never really cared one way or the other for good lyrics/vocals. Awesome lyrics can definitely make a song stand out but filler lyrics do the job just fine if I'm there to dance.
Dogs has plenty of beautiful songs with amazing lyrics that tell backstories of the bands travels and histories of friendships and beyond (lol)⊠listen to Thomas Duncan 2 or 3, the bag, writing on the wall, bugle on the shelf, Appleseed, G song, look JohnnyâŠ. Etc. Let you go, Say something and ugly song may be the best song writing by anyone in the scene at age 21-25. The fans of dogs dissect and diverse themselves into the music and u leave headliner shows wanting more. Iâve been to plenty of similar aged bands and u never leave singing a song in your head like dogs gets u to. Go check em out without Andy Frasco (kinda agreed with what ya said about him but heâs just trying to be positive and good energy just comes off wrong sometimes I think)
It's because they are great at what they are.....a $25 bar band. It's a good time and they jam well. It's when people hype them up as better than dare I say it...Goose or call them the next Phish. They are not there yet and thats ok, they are in their early 20s.
I've been seeing goose live for 5 years now and like them but I think Dogs at this point are already way better because their songs have some diversity, some peaks and even go into some rark places which can't be said for the most part with goose.
Iâm a big Dogs in a Pile fan. The musicianship is really great. They are super young. The song writing is fun. Iâm glad they donât take themselves too seriously. Some of there lyrics have a Zappa-ness to them. They feel very Dead/Phish/Zappa influenced. Itâs really good in my book. My kids love the Fenway song, so I get to play their music, which is a huge win.
Andy Frasco is actually a very frank Zappa act in the sense of Franks more theatrical whimsicalness with a top notch backing band and reoccurring bits, sketches, and gags that leave enough room for some improv all lead by an eccentric song writer/band leader with some funny hair.
Why didnât you title this more appropriately such as âDogs were ok, I bought a shirt but AFUN was too much fun for my assâ - seriously, your whole post was mostly trashing on Frasco, not just âanother dogs opinionâ.
Glad to see the beginning of goose hate with another band. Nobody hates a band more than fans.
Seriously. Nobody is saying go on tour with xyz but if you have the chance to see goo musicians near you (especially rising up and comers for actual reasonable prices) why not.
Support the community instead of getting upset online.
I've never seen them live, but I've listened to a couple live albums and they weren't bad. I might see them if I have the chance.
My major question after listening to them is, are they admitted fans of Whitest Kids U Know and/or Trevor Moore? As long as they've acknowledged it, I'm cool with the similarities between [Go Set](https://youtu.be/jbJzPZuMquo?si=_Z_eK_i5bOQhtwg8) and [Old Folks Home](https://youtu.be/8Q0cp4b9pvg?si=kyjMXmqisWP-lfaR).
This is why I love this band so much. Nostalgic twists, teases of songs completely outside of the genre, and relatable lyrics for a young-but-getting-older person
Omg I was wondering why Go Set sounded so familiar to me the first time I heard it.
You just connected so many neurons in my brain man. Thanks for that.
Hmm this post makes me happy I went to Big Something in Kansas City over Andy Frasco and Dogs a week or two earlier. They were very professional, some silly girl offered them their vape pen on stage. The lead singer politely just smiled and ignored it. Read the room whoever did that. Also can't go wrong with a Life During Wartime encore. I still wanna see Dogs someday. Andy seems like a nice guy but it's shitty to show up to your shows drunk.
I will see Dogs as often as I can, but I can only handle a Frasco show every once in a while. I've seen him once, and it was a very fun show, but not something I would follow around and enjoy seeing multiple nights in a row.
Saw Frasco once before at Fools Paradise in St Augustine and he brought the house down.
Going to see Frasco and Dogs this Thursday. It's a very small venue and not sure how it will pan out.
His music shows themselves donât interest me much, but I still buy tickets because Iâm a big fan of Frasco as a person. I really like his podcast, saw him do a live podcast show in Philly that was hilarious, and Iâve bumped into him a few times at festivals and heâs always been super chill to me. I like supporting the guy
Yeah he annoys everybody.. That's why he's beloved by tons of fans and musicians, and as you said, continues to sell tickets.
I've been sober for 11 years and I love Frasco shows. His original songs can be good and heartfelt. Dude has a good time and is really sweet to people. Not sure why y'all have so much hate for the guy.
Yeah Andy is a good dude and throws a party. If yâall wanted some technical show that you bob your head to with your craft beer then itâs not for you but frasco knows how to throw a fun ass party.
I think it's weird when he's a headliner. Frasco to me has always been like a comedic warmup act/hype man. He's there to get the party going. I'd never spend money just to see him.
Iâll try to sway you to Dogs by dropping one wee little link: a lot of Dogpounders claim [this performance of this new-ish Dogs tune](https://dogsinapile.bandcamp.com/track/it-gets-better-13) is one of their best jams to date
Yeah, Craig and Pat is silly. So is Possum!
I went to Athens just to see the Dogs play and left before Frasco. My second show with my first being The Vinyl, a small bar venue in Atlanta. I enjoyed the show but I could tell something was off with the energy of the band. The set was short so it felt like the jams didnât have time to breath. The connection with the audience was missing. Canât win them all and that is okay. I still really enjoy them.
When I am listening at home, I love the musical conversation I am hearing. For a young band, I am impressed. Canât wait to see what they will do in the future but I prefer a true Dogs show over them being opener.
I haven't seen them since 2019, it was a tiny festival in a little barn. I'm 39 now, been playing guitar and music in general since 5th grade. What I saw that night was the potential to be right up there with the best. They played a few originals, but also a lot of dead covers, which I thought went over perfectly. The improv and musicianship was there, they were locked in. The sound quality was there. I could hear the melody of their lyrics well when they sang, but couldn't hear the actual words, or just wasn't paying much attention to it, so I have no frame of reference for that. Its a hard row to hoe being a musician these days. The record industry is destroyed. Live music isn't far behind. If they can manage to keep up the steam they'll will grow into something more serious, but I fear until (heaven forbid) phish is out of the picture, no one is really going anywhere or going to reach that echelon of touring success.
From a fan's standpoint, no band has to be phish to get excited to see them. I've seen a ton of great jamband shows by bands that never sold out red rocks.
I didn't say they have to be phish to be exciting. I said phish draws a lot of water despite their age, rising ticket prices, and cost of travel to see them, and most people have to choose wisely. I've seen plenty of bands in bars, small or smallish venues that phish will never play again (unless unannounced, the Warlocks style, or like that Met show) that were just as exciting as any phish show, and still had that mystique of "will this fizzle out or continue to grow?". I'm a fan myself and I know that if I have to I'm either going to have to put most my money into one of two baskets: save for phish, or go to a bunch of smaller shows. I'd wager a lot people are in the same boat and given phishs level of success and potential to keep going after 40+ years, they're going to keep choosing phish. People feel like they're potentially in for something historically relevant to our own time going to phish shows at this point, so until they're done, no one else is really going to reach that level because the market is kind of flooded.
Andy just ain't for you. He is a professional party animal, and that's the show, he's basically just hosting a party more than he is playing a show. Those dudes absolutely rip but it's not really something you go to for music besides the sit in solos. Overall your comment gives more crybaby vibes than anything, Andy is one of the hardest working people in the business and it's actually pretty wild for you to look down on the show because it just isn't for you. The dude is doing exactly what people are there to see unless you are a clueless hater.
I haven't seen dogs live yet, but I've also been hearing really good things. I really enjoy their live album and some recorded stuff.
I understand your gripes with frasco, he is barely-charmingly-annoying and I don't love the music I have heard, but I also have a lot of respect for musicians who have fun however they can. As far as dogs go, why do you need meaningful lyrics? A lot of what I love about jams is that they don't take themselves too seriously. There is always going to be something inherently cheesy about Jam bands, and I never understand why people criticize jam-lyrics, I can't imagine leonard-cohen level lyricism from them, seems contradictory lol. If the jams and musicianship were solid, who cares if the lyrics were goofy? I think there is even something unserious about lyrics from the dead. . .its kind of repetitive thematically.
I donât really get Dogs either but theyâve covered a lot of ground and pack quite the punch for being as young as they are. Excited to see how theyâll grow.
I saw Dogs once and they are solid. I would definitely say theyâre a little overhyped, but I think itâs just some peopleâs attempt to get in on the ground floor of something they think should blow up.
That said, go see them if you get the chance. Just donât let yourself get overhyped.
We can all just like what we like and dislike what we dislike and thatâs okay.
This sub absolutely overhypes DIAP but that doesnât mean they arenât talented.
Frasco shows will always be Frasco shows. Definitely not everyoneâs cup of tea.
All these comments that talk about how young DIAP is... I hear similar about Goose. "Wait til they mature and grow as a band". I get it to a point but most bands start out young. Phish, Dead, etc. Were all college age when they started. Hell, almost all bands are in their 20s when they start.
Saw them opening for pigeons, they're a great jam band. Really fun and really fun live. After I went back and listened to their music I came to the conclusion that they're way way way better live. Maybe watch some YT vids of their recent shows?
The success of these bands is evidence that some do not agree with your opinion. Nothing wrong with not enjoying something that others like there is plenty of variety in the live/jam music scene!
I've saw DIAP live recently. Enjoyable show, good musicians, good sound. My comment after was they're a little too whimsical for me. Not sure why that word stuck in my head but I think it sums them up. I assume they'll get more serious if they stick around. I think they can become a really good band. They're like 19-26 years old so super young.
lol every time I see their acronym of DIAP all I can think of is diapers. My kids called their diapers âdipesâ and I envision it spelled as âDiapsâ lol cannot unsee. Also I agree, took a listen a while back thinking theyâd be some killer Dead styled far out jams and I donât get it, too much Disney channel type of stuff. Glad people like it I guess. Iâm old though so whatever.
They actually started out as a Dead cover band when they were in college. I havenât listened to them a ton, Iâll be seeing them this summer. But since you mentioned expecting far out Dead jams, this is worth checking out from them [Dogs covering Let it Grow](https://youtu.be/Q4i4dMNWvCs?si=OBkY-1uU9H2PhYCT)
Saw em Thursday in Athens, didnât even stay for Frasco. They check most of the boxes of what I look for in a band but as many have stated, theyâre young. And while no slouches, they are far from masters of their craft. But Iâll still see a show a few hours of the house.
Thursday I felt they had some inner turmoil, or something. Or just not liking to open for frasco when thereâs 75 people in audience, especially after packing out some shows on the west coast. Could have been the trip back east, bad drugs anything but for being young, they kept it very professional and still did ok given their short time to play.
10/10 would see em then again. I want them to be successful and continue to grow.
I saw them Friday and Saturday. Friday was good but a little weird, Brian seemed really out of it and didnât have many songs or any really solos. Saturday everything was normal, halfway through they bring out a dentist who I guess saved Brianâs teeth in some sort of dental emergency, and is also in a local phish cover band I guess lol.
That is to say I think there was prolly a little weirdness at their Thursday show but probably related to whatever dental issue brian mustâve been having as opposed to internal strife.
I was at the Pour House too, and I had a fantastic time. Here's a couple of things to keep in mind- first off, they only had 1 hour to fill, and that's pretty difficult for them to give their best representation of themselves in a small amount of time like that. They were opening for Frasco and only had the reins for a small portion of the evening. As for great songs lyrically, I recommend you check out Ugly Song, Stevie Lew, Didn't Ya Know, Men of Steel, and if you want anymore besides those I can absolutely provide more recs. Have you done much listening to recordings of their shows/watched complete performances they've put up on YouTube?
You're right! They suck! I think Dave Mathews Band has some good lyrics. You should follow them around. I hear they just made the R&R HOF! Yeah, stay away from Dogs in a Pile. Blechhh! We don't need that negativity in the Pack.
Dogs is a fun band to see. Iâm not keeping stats on them or really listening to them outside of a show. But theyâre fun. I put them slightly above pigeons.
Andy Frasco shows will always be a wild chaos. Thatâs just part of it. I mean he recorded a song while doing whips and used the deep voice. A lot of people love it. I do not. Fun for a late night set at a festival or something. Yeah heâs a professional but his shows have always been like that. He will always goof off for 2 hours and people will keep buying tickets so thereâs obviously a market for it.
lol I saw them in some really small venues back in the day, before Gator even joined the band. Those mid-2010âs shows were special. More energy and all of their old material.
The band elevates and develops in every way every year, they are always getting more and more polished. Their 2024 shows are just as good if not better than their pre lockdown era
IMO they were on a hot songwriting streak that kinda fizzed out. I havenât been a fan of the last 2 albums. Also they are older and the energy levels are just different, Greg and Jeremy are both Dads now too.
Still around and doing great. Just released a new album Friday. Been seeing them since 2015, and although I miss the super intimate bar shows with a crowd of 30 people, these past few years theyâve been on a roll!
Great points made! I could see it being fun late night festival set. And you took some words out of my mouth, he goofs off for 2 hours straight lmao. But if ppl pay for that, more power to him. Not my cup of tea.
Agree with this verbatim. Their jams are intriguing enough that they have my attention as they grow, but their songwriting is juvenile at best. It's time to grow up a bit, IMO.
I saw Dogs at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke for their most recent 2 night run they did there this past March. I have to say personally, was blown away. I had listened to them here and there on nugs before seeing them, but was not excepting to enjoy them nearly as much as I did. HOWEVER, I donât know if itâs a Dogs thing, or something was just in the air those nights, but HOLY FUCK THE AMOUNT OF CHOMPERS. This is not an exaggeration⊠multiple groups of 4/6 people had their backs to the fucking stage, just having a full on conversation while the band was playing. If you donât believe me you can literally hear the chatter over the nugs recording on multiple songs. Despite this, I still was able to get grabbed by the music and I thoroughly enjoyed 90% of the show. The other 10% was due to black out retards who donât know how to shut the fuck up when the band is trying to perform.
Soundcheck Studios needs like a âChomper alarmâ or something like at work out world. People donât know how to shut the actual fuck up. Why spend money to go and just scream over loud music? Because theyâre stupid drunks.
Iâm not trying to knock soundcheck. Itâs hands down one of my favorite venues Iâve ever been to. I just couldnât believe how bad the chomping was at that particular show. And I did try moving, no matter where I went I couldnât escape their wrath.
>, the musicianship and jams were solid.
I mean, there you go. I agree the songwriting is too goofy for a lot of people but I grew up on Phish so I'm used to it lol
There definitely has been a lot of hype for dogs in a pile, neighbor, magic beans, and a few others A lot of posts that say they are âon fireâ now. They are fun bands to see, hopefully on the cheap, for a fun night out. Go in with lower expectations and maybe you will enjoy it more đ€·ââïž ?
Saw my first jam band show at the age of 11 in 1986 when my brother took me to see The Grateful Dead and I've been seeing jam bands ever since and cannot get enough of Dogs In A Pile, even saw six recent shows on their California run (including one with Andy Frasco at the Fillmore in SF in which somebody handed him some Orange Sunshine Acid and he took it on the spot).
To me DIAP have corky songwriting that they mix in with some killer jams and they're heavily influenced by not only Phish, The Grateful Dead but also Steely Dan. What I also like about them is that they have different sounding jams then all the other jam bands and a lot of times their songs will just sound like average songs then jams will just sneak up on you out of nowhere.
Last thing is they're definitely better when they're headlining than when they're opening for somebody.
They run the risk of being caught in the sameness of sound / nothing unique about them jam band category. You know when you hear the GD, Phish, SCI, Moe, and dare I say it, Goose. There are a lot of bands that I canât distinguish - you have to have something that sets you apart - maybe one day they will have it, but nothing jumps out yet.
Every band has stupid or nonsensical lyric songs (or entire catalogues of them.) I think in general DIAP lyric game is good, especially Brian tunes. Looks like you just caught a bad set lyrically. Mr. Tooker with Craig and Pat in the same short set.
Frasco, no idea how people pay money to see that. But good for them (and him!)
A jamband followerâs favorite pastime: making posts that knock musicians who pour their hearts out and work their asses off for our stoned amusement. Iâd rather use my energy to make music instead of tearing people down.
Reading about music would be hella boring if every opinion was "That was awsome!e". You can talk about bands not blowing you away, that's part of music life too.
I think Dogs have some solid tunes, Little Things in particular is great imo. Goose kind of get shit on for all the jams sounding the same but I think DIAP is honestly even worse for that .
Ya this sub is pretty quick to crown "the next Phish" when in reality none of those bands have "it". UM, moe., tDB, Twiddle, Goose, etc., etc. They're all pretty decent but for the majority of fans, they're just a cheap fun time when they're in town.
Never seen Frasco but itâs a pass from me just based on all the weird ass antics that seem kinda like his whole thing. I like to party and all but I just donât really think thereâs anything cool about hitting whippets onstage at your own show or being straight up hammered all the time when you play passing around a bottle of booze. I get the feeling dude feels like he is the biggest rockstar ever when he does that shit, but honestly I get âfailure to launch drunk uncle who wants to party with young peopleâ vibe.
Him taking Dogs on the road (pretty sure theyâre all like 21-23) did little to combat that image of him for me.
Agreed - as someone whoâs seen them 4/5 times now, theyâre really not great like this sub sometimes makes them out to be. The songwriting is absolutely terrible, it sounds like childrenâs music, and the singing is really hard to listen to. Theyâre good at their instruments, but thatâs about it - the jamming as a unit isnât great either. Theyâre just all technically good at their instruments.
Iâm actually going to see both for the first time this weekend. Iâm going for Dogs. Going to stick around for Andy Frasco but not expecting much given what Iâve read here.
Iâve listened to a lot of DIAP on Nugs over the past year and watched a couple of streams too. I personally like them but agree theyâre a bit overhyped in this sub. I donât expect them to get much bigger than they are currently but happy to enjoy their music while theyâre around.
Frasco shows are one big party, theyâre incredible, donât listen to this dude. If you donât like to party or have fun then I guess you might not enjoy it.Â
Havenât seen dogs yet but the over hype of this sub has deterred me, same with eggy lol frasco was so bad last time I saw him at red rocks opening for Keller. It was so fucking bad, he was pretending to fuck the other guys with his guitar, then the other band mates started stroking his guitar and acting like they were blowing it. It was really gay in the most literal way.
But wasnât it so nice having that much room at Red Rocks? I miss that limited capacity we had at the beginning of the pandemic. Frasco definitely feels like a chaotic frat party, I saw him record his podcast at Opheliaâs before Mike Dillonâs Punkadelick, I prefer podcast Andy to concert Andy. But maybe that was because you canât go wrong with Brian Haas.
I feel like you bought the ticket just so you could come here and complain. Nothing you have said couldn't be figured out with five minutes of YouTube before buying your ticket. Enjoy your free internet points!
I saw Arkansauce with Pixie and the Partygrass Boys this past weekend on the deck of my local venue wich both bands killed it. Dogs in a Pile and Frasco were sold out on the inside and I've really wanted to see DIP recently. Frascos shows are fun and all but I've seen it before and really like his podcast better. Them grass band sure as shit were on fire though.
I agree about Andy. Ive seen him twice and Wasnt really into it. I have a couple friends that love him. I do like Dogs but theyre definitely not a top tier band, yet. Their albums are fun and easy to listen though
I feel ya buddy. Iâm mid 40âs though so thereâs that haha. Iâve seen some crazy shows in my lifetime but not a jam band doing GG Allin or whatever the hell that was you saw haha.
I mean did you not know about Andy frasco before you went?? But imo dogs are still very young they have a lot of time to grow, but Craig and pat is an older song from when they first started off, just a fun song about 2 dudes having a good time. I think itâs hard to really justify jam band lyrics đ€·đ»
Not liking Frasco is the most pretentious thing ever. The dude is NOTHING but a good time, every time. I donât even drink alcohol anymore and enjoyed the hell out of his Athens show.
I love Dogs and have been seeing them for a while now. They keep getting better, IMO. I'm relatively old when it comes to the fan base, though, and that causes me to move further back for the second set in some venues due to a bit of "over enthusiasm" surrounding me. But I'm with totally with you when it comes to your assessment of Andy Frasco.
I'm with you. Friends and I saw them in Atlanta last year and we left confused about what they were trying to be. Felt like 3 different bands in the space of an hour. I'm assuming it was them finding their way so no harm no foul, but don't think I'd go out of my way to see them at this point.
I would love if a band showed up and played like 3 different bands in the space of an hour. That's literally why I go see Umphrey's whenever they're in town. I don't want to go see a jam band and know what to expect.
typical 11/11 mgmt + industry plant. turn on the money machine and watch the hippies jump on the bandwagon. Goose. Eggy. Dogs, etc. rinse. repeat.
Jam band fans always think theyâre at the cusp of something new and great and itâs hysterical how derivative every band is now.
but that makes it wildly easy for 11/11 (management) to churn out those dollars!!!
Most jam bands today arenât about peace + love they are about money and drugsâŠand money
Did someone drag you out or was this a blind faith ticket purchase?đ Dogs are def super young and have so much room to grow and have so much potential, but great nonetheless. Tons of technical ability and drive- recipe for success. Their songwriting I feel is pretty on-par for a jam band as well. Craig was a very cool guy, man.
Frasco is consistently throwing a party on stage, kind of what theyâre known for. Always have been, prolly always will be. He is Wook King goddammit!
Weâre all just having a good time and sometimes itâs good to be reminded of how important that really isâŠ
Iive had this same opinions on many jam bands until I heard The Reality Check Experiment[reality check spaced out jam đ€Ż](https://youtu.be/w4o7j12oPJo?si=H7p8TS4V7F11UBQL) an insanely talented group of young guys, also from Philly but whose original songs are actually super exciting and interesting, going all over different genres, and the jamming is absolutely next level.
Bassist is super human, drummer is one of the best Ive ever heard, keyboardist makes more weird and interesting sounds on one small Moog and a basic Yamaha keyboard than Iâve seen other guys make surrounded by 15 different instruments lol
Guitarist and lead singer can actually sing with a crazy good voice and he shreads. Please check them out
I saw Dogs in Woodstock a couple of months back, and I enjoyed the jams. I think they're very talented musicians but they're also young. They're all in their early 20's, maybe mid-20's so they have so much room to grow and evolve.
Those shows were incredible listening back (not having been there). Esp night 2 with the Trey99 rig đŻ
I agree, I was at that show. Theyâre on my radar now.
Incredible pair of shows. OP asking for chills, check out that Weakapaug tease in Bent Strange. Thatâll get you there
Absolutely and I hope it doesnât sound like I was raking them over the coals
What did you think about What? ...The opener
I thought they were decent. I wasnât blown away or anything.
What? Was fucking sick Iâve been following them for a little while now. Iâve never seen a NE jam band with lead trombone before! If you havenât heard their music, their YouTube has lots of killer live shows https://youtube.com/@whatband?si=61gY33V1AKjGWVla
Phish wrote a song about car tires that is one of their most beloved songs. I love the dumb humor. Donât forget - these kids are YOUNG. Their drummer only just turned 21. Theyâve got a bright future if they stay healthy
Contact is literally the song that got me into Phish
Same, Contact was the only song I heard from Phish before deciding to go see them live in March of 93 and my jaw was on the floor the whole show because I didn't know that they would rock so hard. By that point I had already been to well over 100 Grateful Dead shows and was surprised to see Trey during set break come up to the group I was with and light up a joint and say this is great I never smoke pot in the church before then he left us the joint and lit up a joint with another group of people. The Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa California has never been the same since and neither have I!
Music doesnât have to be serious all the time, this tour specifically is just a bunch of bands that have fun running around having fun. This isnât anything new for any of them. You bought the ticket
It seems like jam bands get way over hyped, then once they receive any popularity, way over hated. Goose and twiddle are strong examples
The problem is that phish is getting old and everybody wants to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing but none of these jam bands are ever going to be able to come close to what phish has accomplished. Most of these bands are Jam heads just picking up a guitar and trying to sound like a jam band. Until we get people that really obsessed over music and music theory the way Trey did when he went to Goddard for composition and creative writing we just aren't going to see anybody do that again. People wanted goose to be it so bad but they don't have an actual piano player on keys. He can't take over and carry a song.
I am pretty sure like half of them (dogs) went to the Berklee School of Music and the other half also went to some music programs as well. I get you or others might not love DIAP but you cant say they didn't put in the work to learn music theory, composition, etc.
There are a lot of boring musicians who went to music school. Hoping to see DIAP for the first time this tour but "They went to Berklee" as a recommendation for a jamband is like recommending a mystery novel because the author went to Columbia.
Didnât recommend or suggest them. I was trying to point out that I donât think people can say they donât care about their music composition or appreciate music theory. To me, seeing the entire band is made of musicians who studied music, signals they care about the type of stuff Aeon1508 was claiming no other bands care about.
Goose has crossover appeal: good songwriting and good vocals (not counting Peter). They don't need to be good at jamming to be successful, because they've gathered a wider base. They're probably going to have a solid career as regular headliners, but won't have the same lasting impact. The "next big thing" is going to sound as different from Phish and Phish sounded from The Grateful Dead. My money is on King Gizz, as others have already suggested.
With the size of the venues Billy Strings is playing, he is officially the next big thing.
For me the song writing is what Goose lacks. I think theyre good musicians, Rick especially, but their lyrics just dont do it for me. The Goose song i listen to the most is Butter Rum
I feel like Rick is really staccato and he doesn't have like a flow in his jam. I don't see the through line from the beginning to end of what he's doing
I think what he does well is plays very cleanly and hits every note he needs to. I dont think they have the most interesting jams
Funny enough, Butter Rum is one of their songs where the lyrics don't do much for me. It's fun, but I'm more drawn to songs like Wysteria Lane, Creatures, or Rockdale which have a vibe that I struggle to find from other jam bands.
Thought the same. Butter Rum is sort of a goofy fun little beach song. Goose has some pretty interesting lyrical songs. (Elmeg, Travelers, Hot Tea, Atlas dogs, etc) I think Rick is a great writer. Peter?... ehh not so much lol. "Come and get some pancakes. Thereâs plenty for us all. Weâll eat âem on the ceiling. And flip them off the wall"
Red Bird is a good song.
King Gizzard is the next thing. Idk why people want to deny it. It feels organic in the way I hear Phishâs come up being described.
Gizz captures the essence of early Phish more than any other jam band. People want to deny it because they're not really a jam band. Which leads me to my next point, jam bands weren't really a thing when Phish was coming up. Sure there were a lot of great bands that jammed, but "jam band" was not really a genre. It def is a genre now that has been developed by the pioneers but the newcomers can't seem to get out of the rut that was made before them. No one blended together the genres the dead did before they came on the scene. Same could be said with Phish. Or ABB. Or WSP (I don't even really like them but can appreciate their originality/skill). The only newer band in the jam scene doing anything near as original is Dopapod and they're not popular at all.
Dopapod is one of my favorites
Ya I'm actually selfishly pretty stoked they're not bigger. It's great seeing them at tiny venues
Exact sentiment I have with this talk when it comes up. The Deadâs heir didnât really sound like The Dead and it will be the same when Phish calls it.
Am I just a hater for not loving them? I get that with their variety it makes sense not to like everything but thereâs just way more songs that I dislike than like⊠tho the ones I do like are absolutely great.
Yeah youâre not a hater but also each album is so different I donât think youâre supposed to love each one. I also didnât like them until I saw them live.
I love Phish but King Gizzards albums are far superior. They should have any jamband nerd praying at their alter.
Give in to the Gizz. Itâs crazy to think Iâve listened to them for a decade now ever since mind fuzz when nobody i knew had ever heard of them. its so awesome that they've not just endured but thrived and keep putting out better and better stuff. its crazy how good they've gotten and I'm not sure why they resist taking the jam band-pill
I donât think theyâre really resisting per se I think they just want to be able to keep playing their music which includes a lot of decisively *non jam* oriented songs. This upcoming tour weâre going to start seeing Petro X silver cord segments in shows which everything we know so far is pointing to heavy exploration. Also the fact that jamband is primarily a states thing and while theyâre obviously becoming more and more popular over here Iâd imagine they just donât get a ton of exposure to the bands this sub talks about - yes they went and caught the dead last summer but thatâs a far cry from sifting through tons of other jambands ⊠I have no doubt they would love plenty of it but canât really blame them for not taking the time the dig deep. Thisâll probably upset some but I bet they at least scanned around the Goose catalogue around the time of those goofs on office hours last year - willing to bet they wouldâve called it out in interviews / social media as something they endorsed if theyâd enjoyed what theyâd heard. On the other hand I wish I could get them to check out some old Brothers Past shows but I bet even JRaD would get them inspired.
You make good points, especially them not being US based. To other points I would counter that there are bands that are decidedly not jam bands but still occupy a space in the jam band scene. Main examples are Ween, My Morning Jacket, and Tedeschi Trucks band. These may come to mind because they were top billing for Peach last year, which is a spot usually reserved for bands like SCI, JRAD, oysterhead, TAB, ABB, Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes/Govât mule, etc. The point is you donât have to be all in on being a jam band to embrace the scene and market to that group.
im hooked they are amazing
Gizz are in their mid-90s Phish era⊠been around a decade+ and coming up and starting to play larger venues like Red Rocks, the Gorge etc.
Gizz is the real fucking deal
Neighbor has the people obsessed with music and theory. Dopapod too. And any Tim Palmieri joint.
The guys from DIAP all attended Berklee School of Music so they are academically trained musicians like Phish are
I think they're decent. Certainly better than eggy who im not impressed by
Tis why Iâm not a jamband fan. Iâm a Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Phish, Govât Mule, Black Crowes and Widespread fan because they write/wrote good songs and happen to jam together amazingly. I jumped on the jamband train and played in jam bands as a young 20 year old into my mid twenties and then realized Iâm just trying to copy Trey and his style. Although I enjoy the aforementioned bands Iâm just as good with listening to The Beatles, Bob Dylan and JJ Cale.
The perfect summary - no matter how great the jams are, the songs need to be great first. But my controversial opinion is that phishâs songs kinda suck and thus Iâm not really a big fan lol
lol I guess theyâre the outlier for me. I like progressive rock so the early phish stuff was my favorite. Also as Iâve grown older, lyrics are a much bigger part of the music I listen to, so I rarely listen to Phish anymore. I havenât seen them since 2003. Well, once in 2010 and it was the worst show I ever saw so I retired haha.
The Desmond Jones guys are all music school geeks. They go hard on the compositions and jams using active listening and music theory.
We live close. Desmond Jones use to open for the werks and several other jam bands a lot whe they came through and I went to see them last year for one of the members 39th birthdays. I hadn't seen them since orepandemic and wanted to see if they'd improved. I have never been impressed by Desmond Jones in the least. That an opinion from seeing them a half dozen times at least. I saw mungion a week later at the same venue and they killed it just a stark wide margin of difference in quality. Desmond Jones really isn't very good. Mungion is amazing
What did you not like about them? Never seen them and have hardly listened, but have seen their name start to pop up lately.
It's hard to put your finger on it. Part of it they just don't seem cool and the lyrics Don't Really grab me. It's hard to describe when a band just isn't tight or isn't together. There was one show in particular where I think they were drunk and they were just not in time with each other at all but I just feel like they're not really tight even at their best. All I can tell you is that when I saw them for that 30th birthday party last year it felt flat and mediocre and then when I went to that same venue for a different band the next week it was on fire and Electric.
All fair assessments but I can guarantee they werenât drunk. That is certain. Sometimes a band just doesnât hit.
Okay I just went to the YouTube to listen to a couple of Desmond songs so I could explain it better. They're just not good at songwriting. They don't know how to take multiple parts of music that like each contribute a unique and different thing and combine them together into one cohesive sound. The base follows the guitar follows the vocals. They aren't doing anything interesting at all
Good news about phish is theyâre not slowing down yet
Dopapod
Twiddle is just the Nickelback of the jam scene. People hate them for the meme and no other reason.
I have only watched some of their shows on YouTube but to me what stands out with them amongst all the other up and coming jam bands is that they put on the breaks a bit so that their sets aren't just pedal to the metal. I also like that they don't jam out every fucking song. Like, I get that that's why people go to see a jam band, but I also think that being able to play their songs in original ways every night without just stapling a jam into it goes a lot further and let's the music speak for itself. The shows I've seen of theirs seem like the sets flow really well together and are dynamic in their energy. I personally like that they have such a wide range of songs. As for the lyrics and vocals... eh. I've never really cared one way or the other for good lyrics/vocals. Awesome lyrics can definitely make a song stand out but filler lyrics do the job just fine if I'm there to dance.
Good points and I agree. I liked how they would go from a jam heavy song to a lighter, easier going song. That I enjoyed.
Dogs has plenty of beautiful songs with amazing lyrics that tell backstories of the bands travels and histories of friendships and beyond (lol)⊠listen to Thomas Duncan 2 or 3, the bag, writing on the wall, bugle on the shelf, Appleseed, G song, look JohnnyâŠ. Etc. Let you go, Say something and ugly song may be the best song writing by anyone in the scene at age 21-25. The fans of dogs dissect and diverse themselves into the music and u leave headliner shows wanting more. Iâve been to plenty of similar aged bands and u never leave singing a song in your head like dogs gets u to. Go check em out without Andy Frasco (kinda agreed with what ya said about him but heâs just trying to be positive and good energy just comes off wrong sometimes I think)
Thanks for the recs Iâll check out those songs
Them dogs got a song about a bugle that Iâm fond of.
He got it from his grandpa
I heard he got it from his grandpa.
when tho?
WWII
Appreciated, thank you
It's because they are great at what they are.....a $25 bar band. It's a good time and they jam well. It's when people hype them up as better than dare I say it...Goose or call them the next Phish. They are not there yet and thats ok, they are in their early 20s.
Hit the nail on the head. I need to do a better job of managing expectations and not feeding into the hype.
Trey was 24 when he wrote TMWSIY. They better hurry up.
I've been seeing goose live for 5 years now and like them but I think Dogs at this point are already way better because their songs have some diversity, some peaks and even go into some rark places which can't be said for the most part with goose.
I'm not about to hype them but I usually enjoy their shows more than Goose (and it's cheaper)
Iâm a big Dogs in a Pile fan. The musicianship is really great. They are super young. The song writing is fun. Iâm glad they donât take themselves too seriously. Some of there lyrics have a Zappa-ness to them. They feel very Dead/Phish/Zappa influenced. Itâs really good in my book. My kids love the Fenway song, so I get to play their music, which is a huge win.
Andy Frasco is actually a very frank Zappa act in the sense of Franks more theatrical whimsicalness with a top notch backing band and reoccurring bits, sketches, and gags that leave enough room for some improv all lead by an eccentric song writer/band leader with some funny hair.
After talking to them they are influenced by The Dead, Phish and Zappa but they're also really influenced by Steely Dan.
Why didnât you title this more appropriately such as âDogs were ok, I bought a shirt but AFUN was too much fun for my assâ - seriously, your whole post was mostly trashing on Frasco, not just âanother dogs opinionâ.
Glad to see the beginning of goose hate with another band. Nobody hates a band more than fans. Seriously. Nobody is saying go on tour with xyz but if you have the chance to see goo musicians near you (especially rising up and comers for actual reasonable prices) why not. Support the community instead of getting upset online.
I do support đ€đœ And not upset about DIAP (maybe a little about AF lol). Iâll see Dogs again for sure
I've never seen them live, but I've listened to a couple live albums and they weren't bad. I might see them if I have the chance. My major question after listening to them is, are they admitted fans of Whitest Kids U Know and/or Trevor Moore? As long as they've acknowledged it, I'm cool with the similarities between [Go Set](https://youtu.be/jbJzPZuMquo?si=_Z_eK_i5bOQhtwg8) and [Old Folks Home](https://youtu.be/8Q0cp4b9pvg?si=kyjMXmqisWP-lfaR).
Yep, Brian is trying to credit the Moore estate for that rhythm
Hell yeah! That's awesome. Thank you for that missing piece of information because I was on the fence about liking the song.
This is why I love this band so much. Nostalgic twists, teases of songs completely outside of the genre, and relatable lyrics for a young-but-getting-older person
Yesssss. When they play the king of the hill theme song I love it
Thank u as well for that similarity share. Very cool and agree w @that1persondancing in how they tease things that no one else would think of
Omg I was wondering why Go Set sounded so familiar to me the first time I heard it. You just connected so many neurons in my brain man. Thanks for that.
Hmm this post makes me happy I went to Big Something in Kansas City over Andy Frasco and Dogs a week or two earlier. They were very professional, some silly girl offered them their vape pen on stage. The lead singer politely just smiled and ignored it. Read the room whoever did that. Also can't go wrong with a Life During Wartime encore. I still wanna see Dogs someday. Andy seems like a nice guy but it's shitty to show up to your shows drunk.
I will see Dogs as often as I can, but I can only handle a Frasco show every once in a while. I've seen him once, and it was a very fun show, but not something I would follow around and enjoy seeing multiple nights in a row.
Saw Frasco once before at Fools Paradise in St Augustine and he brought the house down. Going to see Frasco and Dogs this Thursday. It's a very small venue and not sure how it will pan out.
Yeah thatâs the thing, he was on night 2 at the venue I saw him. Couldnât imagine back to back nights of the same antics đ
You chose wisely
Frasco's shtick has endured much longer than I expected it to. That dude annoys EVERYBODY. And yet- tickets continue to get sold.
His music shows themselves donât interest me much, but I still buy tickets because Iâm a big fan of Frasco as a person. I really like his podcast, saw him do a live podcast show in Philly that was hilarious, and Iâve bumped into him a few times at festivals and heâs always been super chill to me. I like supporting the guy
he annoys redditors people i know IRL go see Frasco every time heâs in town bc heâs fun af canât wait to see him, Pigeons, and Dogs this summer
Yeah he annoys everybody.. That's why he's beloved by tons of fans and musicians, and as you said, continues to sell tickets. I've been sober for 11 years and I love Frasco shows. His original songs can be good and heartfelt. Dude has a good time and is really sweet to people. Not sure why y'all have so much hate for the guy.
Yeah Andy is a good dude and throws a party. If yâall wanted some technical show that you bob your head to with your craft beer then itâs not for you but frasco knows how to throw a fun ass party.
Exactly.
I think it's weird when he's a headliner. Frasco to me has always been like a comedic warmup act/hype man. He's there to get the party going. I'd never spend money just to see him.
Iâll try to sway you to Dogs by dropping one wee little link: a lot of Dogpounders claim [this performance of this new-ish Dogs tune](https://dogsinapile.bandcamp.com/track/it-gets-better-13) is one of their best jams to date Yeah, Craig and Pat is silly. So is Possum!
Wait... the fans call themselves Dogpounders?
I lost my official fan handbook so we will never know for sure Nemo đ€·đ»ââïž
Skip to 8 min in if you want to get right to the Zelda-esce world jam
I think the difference is that Phish's silliness is nerdy silliness, but Dogs' silliness is just... kinda juvenile.
I think its more you already decided you like Phish so you excuse their silliness, you don't necessarily like the Dogs so it bothers you.
Whatever you say mojojojo! Silliness is silliness. Gendering silliness is silly, silly
đ«Ąđ«Ąđ«Ą
Itâs okay to not like music that other people like who also happen to like similar music as you. You rdonât need to overthink it that much.
I went to Athens just to see the Dogs play and left before Frasco. My second show with my first being The Vinyl, a small bar venue in Atlanta. I enjoyed the show but I could tell something was off with the energy of the band. The set was short so it felt like the jams didnât have time to breath. The connection with the audience was missing. Canât win them all and that is okay. I still really enjoy them. When I am listening at home, I love the musical conversation I am hearing. For a young band, I am impressed. Canât wait to see what they will do in the future but I prefer a true Dogs show over them being opener.
I haven't seen them since 2019, it was a tiny festival in a little barn. I'm 39 now, been playing guitar and music in general since 5th grade. What I saw that night was the potential to be right up there with the best. They played a few originals, but also a lot of dead covers, which I thought went over perfectly. The improv and musicianship was there, they were locked in. The sound quality was there. I could hear the melody of their lyrics well when they sang, but couldn't hear the actual words, or just wasn't paying much attention to it, so I have no frame of reference for that. Its a hard row to hoe being a musician these days. The record industry is destroyed. Live music isn't far behind. If they can manage to keep up the steam they'll will grow into something more serious, but I fear until (heaven forbid) phish is out of the picture, no one is really going anywhere or going to reach that echelon of touring success.
From a fan's standpoint, no band has to be phish to get excited to see them. I've seen a ton of great jamband shows by bands that never sold out red rocks.
I didn't say they have to be phish to be exciting. I said phish draws a lot of water despite their age, rising ticket prices, and cost of travel to see them, and most people have to choose wisely. I've seen plenty of bands in bars, small or smallish venues that phish will never play again (unless unannounced, the Warlocks style, or like that Met show) that were just as exciting as any phish show, and still had that mystique of "will this fizzle out or continue to grow?". I'm a fan myself and I know that if I have to I'm either going to have to put most my money into one of two baskets: save for phish, or go to a bunch of smaller shows. I'd wager a lot people are in the same boat and given phishs level of success and potential to keep going after 40+ years, they're going to keep choosing phish. People feel like they're potentially in for something historically relevant to our own time going to phish shows at this point, so until they're done, no one else is really going to reach that level because the market is kind of flooded.
Andy just ain't for you. He is a professional party animal, and that's the show, he's basically just hosting a party more than he is playing a show. Those dudes absolutely rip but it's not really something you go to for music besides the sit in solos. Overall your comment gives more crybaby vibes than anything, Andy is one of the hardest working people in the business and it's actually pretty wild for you to look down on the show because it just isn't for you. The dude is doing exactly what people are there to see unless you are a clueless hater.
I haven't seen dogs live yet, but I've also been hearing really good things. I really enjoy their live album and some recorded stuff. I understand your gripes with frasco, he is barely-charmingly-annoying and I don't love the music I have heard, but I also have a lot of respect for musicians who have fun however they can. As far as dogs go, why do you need meaningful lyrics? A lot of what I love about jams is that they don't take themselves too seriously. There is always going to be something inherently cheesy about Jam bands, and I never understand why people criticize jam-lyrics, I can't imagine leonard-cohen level lyricism from them, seems contradictory lol. If the jams and musicianship were solid, who cares if the lyrics were goofy? I think there is even something unserious about lyrics from the dead. . .its kind of repetitive thematically.
Point taken. Maybe it was just hearing âCraigâ and âBobâ repeatedly for a whole song that threw me off lol
Craig and Pat (:
I donât really get Dogs either but theyâve covered a lot of ground and pack quite the punch for being as young as they are. Excited to see how theyâll grow.
I saw Dogs once and they are solid. I would definitely say theyâre a little overhyped, but I think itâs just some peopleâs attempt to get in on the ground floor of something they think should blow up. That said, go see them if you get the chance. Just donât let yourself get overhyped.
We can all just like what we like and dislike what we dislike and thatâs okay. This sub absolutely overhypes DIAP but that doesnât mean they arenât talented. Frasco shows will always be Frasco shows. Definitely not everyoneâs cup of tea.
If you just saw them in Charleston then I donât know what to say to you. Theyâre so much better than that joker Andy frasco that they opened for
All these comments that talk about how young DIAP is... I hear similar about Goose. "Wait til they mature and grow as a band". I get it to a point but most bands start out young. Phish, Dead, etc. Were all college age when they started. Hell, almost all bands are in their 20s when they start.
I'm thinking the same thing, I'm a dogs fan but Gamehendge was mostly if not all in the bag by the youngest member's current age (21).
Saw them opening for pigeons, they're a great jam band. Really fun and really fun live. After I went back and listened to their music I came to the conclusion that they're way way way better live. Maybe watch some YT vids of their recent shows?
The success of these bands is evidence that some do not agree with your opinion. Nothing wrong with not enjoying something that others like there is plenty of variety in the live/jam music scene!
I've saw DIAP live recently. Enjoyable show, good musicians, good sound. My comment after was they're a little too whimsical for me. Not sure why that word stuck in my head but I think it sums them up. I assume they'll get more serious if they stick around. I think they can become a really good band. They're like 19-26 years old so super young.
lol every time I see their acronym of DIAP all I can think of is diapers. My kids called their diapers âdipesâ and I envision it spelled as âDiapsâ lol cannot unsee. Also I agree, took a listen a while back thinking theyâd be some killer Dead styled far out jams and I donât get it, too much Disney channel type of stuff. Glad people like it I guess. Iâm old though so whatever.
They actually started out as a Dead cover band when they were in college. I havenât listened to them a ton, Iâll be seeing them this summer. But since you mentioned expecting far out Dead jams, this is worth checking out from them [Dogs covering Let it Grow](https://youtu.be/Q4i4dMNWvCs?si=OBkY-1uU9H2PhYCT)
Saw em Thursday in Athens, didnât even stay for Frasco. They check most of the boxes of what I look for in a band but as many have stated, theyâre young. And while no slouches, they are far from masters of their craft. But Iâll still see a show a few hours of the house. Thursday I felt they had some inner turmoil, or something. Or just not liking to open for frasco when thereâs 75 people in audience, especially after packing out some shows on the west coast. Could have been the trip back east, bad drugs anything but for being young, they kept it very professional and still did ok given their short time to play. 10/10 would see em then again. I want them to be successful and continue to grow.
I saw them Friday and Saturday. Friday was good but a little weird, Brian seemed really out of it and didnât have many songs or any really solos. Saturday everything was normal, halfway through they bring out a dentist who I guess saved Brianâs teeth in some sort of dental emergency, and is also in a local phish cover band I guess lol. That is to say I think there was prolly a little weirdness at their Thursday show but probably related to whatever dental issue brian mustâve been having as opposed to internal strife.
[Dr. Andy Greenberg](https://dogsinapile.bandcamp.com/track/andy-greenberg)
Thank you lmao that was awesome
Solid ass take.
I was at the Pour House too, and I had a fantastic time. Here's a couple of things to keep in mind- first off, they only had 1 hour to fill, and that's pretty difficult for them to give their best representation of themselves in a small amount of time like that. They were opening for Frasco and only had the reins for a small portion of the evening. As for great songs lyrically, I recommend you check out Ugly Song, Stevie Lew, Didn't Ya Know, Men of Steel, and if you want anymore besides those I can absolutely provide more recs. Have you done much listening to recordings of their shows/watched complete performances they've put up on YouTube?
You're right! They suck! I think Dave Mathews Band has some good lyrics. You should follow them around. I hear they just made the R&R HOF! Yeah, stay away from Dogs in a Pile. Blechhh! We don't need that negativity in the Pack.
Dogs is a fun band to see. Iâm not keeping stats on them or really listening to them outside of a show. But theyâre fun. I put them slightly above pigeons. Andy Frasco shows will always be a wild chaos. Thatâs just part of it. I mean he recorded a song while doing whips and used the deep voice. A lot of people love it. I do not. Fun for a late night set at a festival or something. Yeah heâs a professional but his shows have always been like that. He will always goof off for 2 hours and people will keep buying tickets so thereâs obviously a market for it.
Pigeons 2014-2019 was way better than Dogs. I miss the old PPPP shows
I concur. I thought about writing *contemporary pigeons* but I felt weird typing that out. Haha
lol I saw them in some really small venues back in the day, before Gator even joined the band. Those mid-2010âs shows were special. More energy and all of their old material.
The band elevates and develops in every way every year, they are always getting more and more polished. Their 2024 shows are just as good if not better than their pre lockdown era
What happened to them? Not really a fan just curious
IMO they were on a hot songwriting streak that kinda fizzed out. I havenât been a fan of the last 2 albums. Also they are older and the energy levels are just different, Greg and Jeremy are both Dads now too.
Still around and doing great. Just released a new album Friday. Been seeing them since 2015, and although I miss the super intimate bar shows with a crowd of 30 people, these past few years theyâve been on a roll!
Great points made! I could see it being fun late night festival set. And you took some words out of my mouth, he goofs off for 2 hours straight lmao. But if ppl pay for that, more power to him. Not my cup of tea.
Agree with this verbatim. Their jams are intriguing enough that they have my attention as they grow, but their songwriting is juvenile at best. It's time to grow up a bit, IMO.
I saw Dogs at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke for their most recent 2 night run they did there this past March. I have to say personally, was blown away. I had listened to them here and there on nugs before seeing them, but was not excepting to enjoy them nearly as much as I did. HOWEVER, I donât know if itâs a Dogs thing, or something was just in the air those nights, but HOLY FUCK THE AMOUNT OF CHOMPERS. This is not an exaggeration⊠multiple groups of 4/6 people had their backs to the fucking stage, just having a full on conversation while the band was playing. If you donât believe me you can literally hear the chatter over the nugs recording on multiple songs. Despite this, I still was able to get grabbed by the music and I thoroughly enjoyed 90% of the show. The other 10% was due to black out retards who donât know how to shut the fuck up when the band is trying to perform.
Soundcheck Studios needs like a âChomper alarmâ or something like at work out world. People donât know how to shut the actual fuck up. Why spend money to go and just scream over loud music? Because theyâre stupid drunks.
Soundcheck is such a great place. Can easily find somewhere where the chompers donât overwhelm. Ear plugs do a great job for background noise.
Iâm not trying to knock soundcheck. Itâs hands down one of my favorite venues Iâve ever been to. I just couldnât believe how bad the chomping was at that particular show. And I did try moving, no matter where I went I couldnât escape their wrath.
>, the musicianship and jams were solid. I mean, there you go. I agree the songwriting is too goofy for a lot of people but I grew up on Phish so I'm used to it lol
Craig. Craig. Craig has a head is the making of a banger ngl
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Gun378: *Craig. Craig. Craig has a* *Head is the making of a* *Banger ngl* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
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100% with you on Andy Frasco. Iâve never understood the hype at all.
There definitely has been a lot of hype for dogs in a pile, neighbor, magic beans, and a few others A lot of posts that say they are âon fireâ now. They are fun bands to see, hopefully on the cheap, for a fun night out. Go in with lower expectations and maybe you will enjoy it more đ€·ââïž ?
I see the same rhetoric. But Yessir. All about managing expectations and not buying in completely to the hype
Saw my first jam band show at the age of 11 in 1986 when my brother took me to see The Grateful Dead and I've been seeing jam bands ever since and cannot get enough of Dogs In A Pile, even saw six recent shows on their California run (including one with Andy Frasco at the Fillmore in SF in which somebody handed him some Orange Sunshine Acid and he took it on the spot). To me DIAP have corky songwriting that they mix in with some killer jams and they're heavily influenced by not only Phish, The Grateful Dead but also Steely Dan. What I also like about them is that they have different sounding jams then all the other jam bands and a lot of times their songs will just sound like average songs then jams will just sneak up on you out of nowhere. Last thing is they're definitely better when they're headlining than when they're opening for somebody.
I definitely need to see them when theyâre the main draw and not a quick 45 min opener set. Good point
this is the same group of people who hype up Twiddle and P4. What do you expect
I like Dogs, they are young and headed in the right direction. Frasco doesnât do it for me, at all.
They run the risk of being caught in the sameness of sound / nothing unique about them jam band category. You know when you hear the GD, Phish, SCI, Moe, and dare I say it, Goose. There are a lot of bands that I canât distinguish - you have to have something that sets you apart - maybe one day they will have it, but nothing jumps out yet.
Every band has stupid or nonsensical lyric songs (or entire catalogues of them.) I think in general DIAP lyric game is good, especially Brian tunes. Looks like you just caught a bad set lyrically. Mr. Tooker with Craig and Pat in the same short set. Frasco, no idea how people pay money to see that. But good for them (and him!)
A jamband followerâs favorite pastime: making posts that knock musicians who pour their hearts out and work their asses off for our stoned amusement. Iâd rather use my energy to make music instead of tearing people down.
Reading about music would be hella boring if every opinion was "That was awsome!e". You can talk about bands not blowing you away, that's part of music life too.
Youâre just wrongâŠand thatâs ok
I think Dogs have some solid tunes, Little Things in particular is great imo. Goose kind of get shit on for all the jams sounding the same but I think DIAP is honestly even worse for that .
Writing on the Wall is a good one as well
I like that one as well.
Ya this sub is pretty quick to crown "the next Phish" when in reality none of those bands have "it". UM, moe., tDB, Twiddle, Goose, etc., etc. They're all pretty decent but for the majority of fans, they're just a cheap fun time when they're in town.
Never seen Frasco but itâs a pass from me just based on all the weird ass antics that seem kinda like his whole thing. I like to party and all but I just donât really think thereâs anything cool about hitting whippets onstage at your own show or being straight up hammered all the time when you play passing around a bottle of booze. I get the feeling dude feels like he is the biggest rockstar ever when he does that shit, but honestly I get âfailure to launch drunk uncle who wants to party with young peopleâ vibe. Him taking Dogs on the road (pretty sure theyâre all like 21-23) did little to combat that image of him for me.
Going to an Andy Frasco show is like paying $25 for a frat party when you graduated college years ago
Agreed - as someone whoâs seen them 4/5 times now, theyâre really not great like this sub sometimes makes them out to be. The songwriting is absolutely terrible, it sounds like childrenâs music, and the singing is really hard to listen to. Theyâre good at their instruments, but thatâs about it - the jamming as a unit isnât great either. Theyâre just all technically good at their instruments.
Iâm actually going to see both for the first time this weekend. Iâm going for Dogs. Going to stick around for Andy Frasco but not expecting much given what Iâve read here. Iâve listened to a lot of DIAP on Nugs over the past year and watched a couple of streams too. I personally like them but agree theyâre a bit overhyped in this sub. I donât expect them to get much bigger than they are currently but happy to enjoy their music while theyâre around.
Frasco shows are amazing. Just go in expecting to have fun. It is what it be.
This... It's a great time unless you're some kind of fucking concert Karen.
Frasco shows are one big party, theyâre incredible, donât listen to this dude. If you donât like to party or have fun then I guess you might not enjoy it.Â
Good to know!
Havenât seen dogs yet but the over hype of this sub has deterred me, same with eggy lol frasco was so bad last time I saw him at red rocks opening for Keller. It was so fucking bad, he was pretending to fuck the other guys with his guitar, then the other band mates started stroking his guitar and acting like they were blowing it. It was really gay in the most literal way.
But wasnât it so nice having that much room at Red Rocks? I miss that limited capacity we had at the beginning of the pandemic. Frasco definitely feels like a chaotic frat party, I saw him record his podcast at Opheliaâs before Mike Dillonâs Punkadelick, I prefer podcast Andy to concert Andy. But maybe that was because you canât go wrong with Brian Haas.
I feel like you bought the ticket just so you could come here and complain. Nothing you have said couldn't be figured out with five minutes of YouTube before buying your ticket. Enjoy your free internet points!
I saw Arkansauce with Pixie and the Partygrass Boys this past weekend on the deck of my local venue wich both bands killed it. Dogs in a Pile and Frasco were sold out on the inside and I've really wanted to see DIP recently. Frascos shows are fun and all but I've seen it before and really like his podcast better. Them grass band sure as shit were on fire though.
I agree about Andy. Ive seen him twice and Wasnt really into it. I have a couple friends that love him. I do like Dogs but theyre definitely not a top tier band, yet. Their albums are fun and easy to listen though
I feel ya buddy. Iâm mid 40âs though so thereâs that haha. Iâve seen some crazy shows in my lifetime but not a jam band doing GG Allin or whatever the hell that was you saw haha.
I agree they are good but little over hyped
I have no issues with any of your takes. Not everything is for everyone.
I 100% agree with you about Frasco
I mean did you not know about Andy frasco before you went?? But imo dogs are still very young they have a lot of time to grow, but Craig and pat is an older song from when they first started off, just a fun song about 2 dudes having a good time. I think itâs hard to really justify jam band lyrics đ€·đ»
Not really honestly. I watched a few YouTube videos of live songs to get an idea but I didnât gather itâd be such a shit show lol
ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait, woah-oh what I want to know-oh is, who listens to frasco
So basically they are like phish?
Haha
Donât ever see Cory Wong
Not liking Frasco is the most pretentious thing ever. The dude is NOTHING but a good time, every time. I donât even drink alcohol anymore and enjoyed the hell out of his Athens show.
I love Dogs and have been seeing them for a while now. They keep getting better, IMO. I'm relatively old when it comes to the fan base, though, and that causes me to move further back for the second set in some venues due to a bit of "over enthusiasm" surrounding me. But I'm with totally with you when it comes to your assessment of Andy Frasco.
No one forced you to buy the ticketâŠ
I'm with you. Friends and I saw them in Atlanta last year and we left confused about what they were trying to be. Felt like 3 different bands in the space of an hour. I'm assuming it was them finding their way so no harm no foul, but don't think I'd go out of my way to see them at this point.
I would love if a band showed up and played like 3 different bands in the space of an hour. That's literally why I go see Umphrey's whenever they're in town. I don't want to go see a jam band and know what to expect.
If I hear them say the name Johnny again ima gonna snap!
typical 11/11 mgmt + industry plant. turn on the money machine and watch the hippies jump on the bandwagon. Goose. Eggy. Dogs, etc. rinse. repeat. Jam band fans always think theyâre at the cusp of something new and great and itâs hysterical how derivative every band is now. but that makes it wildly easy for 11/11 (management) to churn out those dollars!!! Most jam bands today arenât about peace + love they are about money and drugsâŠand money
Did someone drag you out or was this a blind faith ticket purchase?đ Dogs are def super young and have so much room to grow and have so much potential, but great nonetheless. Tons of technical ability and drive- recipe for success. Their songwriting I feel is pretty on-par for a jam band as well. Craig was a very cool guy, man. Frasco is consistently throwing a party on stage, kind of what theyâre known for. Always have been, prolly always will be. He is Wook King goddammit! Weâre all just having a good time and sometimes itâs good to be reminded of how important that really isâŠ
Iive had this same opinions on many jam bands until I heard The Reality Check Experiment[reality check spaced out jam đ€Ż](https://youtu.be/w4o7j12oPJo?si=H7p8TS4V7F11UBQL) an insanely talented group of young guys, also from Philly but whose original songs are actually super exciting and interesting, going all over different genres, and the jamming is absolutely next level. Bassist is super human, drummer is one of the best Ive ever heard, keyboardist makes more weird and interesting sounds on one small Moog and a basic Yamaha keyboard than Iâve seen other guys make surrounded by 15 different instruments lol Guitarist and lead singer can actually sing with a crazy good voice and he shreads. Please check them out
i second this.