Music DVD Review: Tea Leaf Green - Rock N Roll Band
Published October 16, 2006
From the ashes of the Grateful Dead rose a veritable scene of improvisational players of rock – or jam bands – all vying for the top spot now vacated by the defunct Dead. Yet no one band could be crowned king. Phish came closest, but for all the fans they gained there was a collective chorus of You’re not the Dead - instead an army of the jam coalesced and proceeded to noodle and space into improvisational bliss.
For archival purposes one could divide the remaining jam bands into two categories – those involved in serious musicology, and those ready to party. The split actually often occurred during the height of popularity for the Dead. Heads often speak of the scene changing after the Dead fanbase grew proportionally when they scored a top ten hit in the late 80s. Suddenly legions of folks were showing up to concerts not for inspiration at the muse of music, but to get high, get laid, and get down.
With no more Dead, these fans ran to other concerts, and bands who were more than poised to be the soundtrack to the next party.
Tea Leaf Green fall flat into this category. There’s a party going on and these boys are the mix-tape.
By saying this, don’t for a minute think that I a implying they lack musicianship. For all four members seem accomplished at their chosen instruments. This is not a frat party band playing for kegs. These are serious musicians who create songs that aren’t meant to be taken seriously.
With Rock ’N’ Roll Band, Tea Leaf Green have created a memorable rock film in the vein of The Last Waltz and the Grateful Dead Movie.
Director Justin Kreutzmann (son of legendary Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann) has created more than just a recording of a live performance, but a snap shot of a band on the move.
Mat Brewster is an American stumbling as an ex-pat through the streets of Shanghai. He is helped by his lovely wife and an enormous piles of bootleg DVDs. He is chronicling his adventures in the Shanghai Diaries and musing on pop culture at The Midnight Cafe.
- Music DVD Review: Tea Leaf Green - Rock N Roll Band
- Published: October 16, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Writer: Mat Brewster
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Comments on this articleComments
I haven't seen the DVD but Faced with Love, All of Your Cigarettes, One Reason, Devil's Pay, etc. are brilliant songs. It is certainly fun to see Tea Leaf Green but the lyrics take you on a journey that is both light and dark, fun and serious.
I won't disagree. Honestly, I'm not much of a lyrics man. This is the first I've heard of the band and I really didn't "get" most of the lyrics. What I did hear and understand sounded like a band out to have fun. If their lyrics get deeper, I'll take your word for it, and I'll pay more attention next time.
Thanks for the comments.
Mat,
Please take a chance to listen to songs like, "Devil's Pay" about a whore house that is presumably set on fire by the Devil because sins committed by the women inside. One woman escapes, but not without sustaining burns, only to open another brothel up from her trailer. This stuff in great! I could go on, but that would ruin the fun and adventure you will have if you choose to search and find out some of the deep and provacotive lyrics that Trevor Garrod lays down day after day. He will be remembered as one the top rock 'n roll lyricist's of our time.
I will do just that. Like I said in the review on initial listen I wasn't even digging the music, but after letting it settle in I really dug it. I'll start digging into the lyrics now.
This article has been placed at the Advance.net websites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.
Great review though! These guys definitely have a lot of fun out there, some of their lyrics are indeed for fun/not as serious, but they definitely have some lyrics that have much more punch than your average jamband. Check them out further, I'm sure you will not be disappointed. Again thanks, and rock on!
Great responses Matt. To help in your journey...your article starts out, "From the ashes of the Grateful Dead"...One Reason starts out...
"At least we'll get a story from it,
Let's go find a nice place to sit
Where we can spit in the wind;
Confess all our sins,
Before we turn ourselves in.
We must be out of our wits
Like a temptress in love,
We're going to pull down the bridge
Just to watch it come tumbling down."
I think you may be talking the same language.
Thanks folks. I was a little worried about the fan response I'd get out of this, but you guys have been great.
As it sounds I come from a nonfan place, or rather someone who just wasn't familiar with their music. So my review came completely from the handfull of spins I gave this DVD/CD set.
I think my lyric thoughts come the line I quoated in the review about a rock and roll band and a few others. I remember something else about rock and roll, and part of the lyric quoted by sarah and
Where we can spit in the wind;
Confess all our sins,
isn't exactly the deepest of lyrics to grasp upon first listen. So again, thanks for the comments and I'll keep listening.
BTW I'll be seeing the band in Bloomington, IN this thursday and writing up a review, so check back on blogcritics for it.
These guys are one of a kind in the Jam_band scene... seing them for the first time at the 10klf music festival all i can say is they truely Blew my mind and rocked my socks
TLG is doing something new and fresh, they're a fun band to see live. Both the new live DVD and CD are awesome and give great insight into the individuals in the band. Check out some clips and more info.
spme lyrics are for fun eg. sex in the 70s, the invasion, and such but many border on the simon, dylan, hunter tip.
how about kali yuga? even the title is deep (if you know your krishna culture)
devils have danced on my doorstep
angels have sung in my yard
there are wise men hiding in the mountains while most of us are working too hard.
or my favorite line:
baby let's let our hair grow long
we can work on a farm maybe live on a mountain
got an old hound dog likes to run, needs a lot of room and he hates to be chained up. just like me just like we are supposed to be.
how about rapture, or bastard brother, or 7th story? i could go on and on.
check out the cafe du nord show on www.archive.org
for more of these excellently written songs.
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"These are serious musicians who create songs that aren't meant to be taken seriously."
I have to respectfully disagree. Some songs are not, but, lyrically, this band is on another level than their musical counterparts.