The band that is trying to fill the shoes of the
Grateful Dead, which broke up when
Jerry Garcia died in
1995.
The band was named after the song "
The Other One" and was made up of original Dead members
Phil Lesh,
Mickey Hart and
Bob Weir (cheeseball] joined by
Bruce Hornsby,
Steve Kimock and Hornsby's drummer
John Molo and a few others.
They went out on the road during the
1998 Furthur Festival much to the enjoyment of
Deadheasd across the
USA. They play Grateful Dead songs, but on this tour only were a pale shadow of the once mighty Dead. This was mostly due to personal infighting between Lesh and Weir and a chemistry that didn´t quite quicken. Phil Lesh left the group citing personal differences with the rest of the band in
1999, and was replaced by
Alphonso Johnson on bass for the summer
2000 tour.
Now in the summer of 2002 they have patched up their problems and hit the road once again with a slightly different line up including Lesh, Weir, Hart,
Billy kreutzman (the
other original Dead drummer],
Jimmy Herring on lead guitar and keaboardist
Rob Baracco (both recently of
Phil Lesh and Friends). There is also a second keybard player from Weir´s main band
Ratdog. Also
Susan Tadeschi has been sitting in on most of theie fall 2002 shows.
This third incarnation of the band comes the closest to the original lineup of the Dead and their spirit. The Other Ones have even gone and dusted off some rare old Dead tunes including The Rub, and Hog for You.
At the begining of 2003 the Other Ones announced that they would change their name to the Dead in a reaffirmation of their renewed friendships and the spirit of the original Grateful Dead (and likely to sell more concert tickets). They played some 30 shows in the summer of 2003 to mostly positive reviews. The band hired singer joan Osborn to sing and hit the road with great enthusiasm.