Who has taken the helm now?

With phish and the dead and string cheese all playing sparse show's which band has take the lead is keeping people going. I went to see widespread panic thinking there would be more family then there was, but it was flagstaff so that might have been off. I am looking for the hippies not the dave matthews band crossover scene. sorry because i fear this message sounds pompus.

 

dude, the scene is so stagnant. its boring. it peaked in 02 and has been on decline since. look outside of the scene to other genres....you will be very surprised.

 

Look towards more homespun type festivals , i have meet some really great kynd folks at these shows and the vibe is great ... i know what ya mean about the college crossover scene ... dunegrass was an excellent example of this type of great vibe still going strong

 

The un-hyped, rural festivals are where it's at right now, but they have their shadier parts too, and an ever increasing presence of "DMB crossovers". Hippie is a fad nowadays; mainstream - a fucking sad fact, but it's true. I regret that the true hippies are being misrepresented, but I must admit I've never been bothered by any fad-ster - I'm more annoyed with the drunk assholes who come out and hassle everyone (not to mention the piggies who come out and violate human and civil rights).

BUT
At every fest I go to along the east coast at the right time of night, when the music's nice, it seems like EVERYONE in front of the stage is totally in tune. The true heart of this whole situation is still there - the same one that's always been around.

I'm optimistic about the future of this whole scene, musically if nothing else. Just this summer we've got the Dead on tour, the Allmans, Phish reunited (I won't get into ticket costs).

I'd hardly call the "scene" stagnant. There's no other scene like it except, some would argue, the rave scene.

PS: The best festivals are not the ones that are $250 a ticket! I don't care how anyone justifies it, the ticket costs (which I just said I didn't want to get in to but I'm stoned) are totally the opposite of what this whole thing is about. I choose Backwoods Pondfest or the Maine Vocals fests over Bonnaroo any day. I am going to Mountain Jam though .