[UA] Re: The dim and distant past of... 1998

[Foster Ranney]

Johnathon, dude ... Jerry died in 1995. No robots involved. The faithful panicked. The Dead stopped touring (for a while). That's the only reason anyone would listen to Dave Matthews: the good artists were already deceased.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but he's been stone-cold for a long time, and that's no secret. I guess he might've died during one of those comas in the eighties, though, and they just switched off the robot when they got tired of touring and figured that Phish could handle the crowds.

 - F.A.R. out

I was never a fan, but I remember ca. 1996-1998 as about the time that I became aware of that the bands Phish and Dave Matthews Band had to some extent replaced the Grateful Dead in terms of followers on tour, etc.

To that extent, a friend of mine once theorized while under the influence that Jerry Garcia had died and been replaced with an animatronic Jerry in order to prevent a panic amongst the faithful.  I'm sure you could do something with the True King, etc., if you want to mess with that idea.  

You should also look into what music was popular then.  At what point did Limp Bizkit and that kind of thing come out?  

Jonathan