Well, if you just generally hate the Dead - and many do - then yes, you would have to say that they should just gracefully acknowledge the fact of their demise, hang up their guitars, and turn to organic gardening.

Of course it can never be the Dead without Jerry Garcia -- which is why the survivors are not calling it Grateful Dead, but The Other Ones. The thread is inaccurately titled.

But if you look at it from the band's perspective -- these guys are more than married to each other, having been part of an ongoing musical experience since their formative years. They've boldly gone where no other band has gone, before or since.

So if Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir decide they want to keep playing music together, and hire one of the hottest jazz/rock guitarists on wheels these days (Jimmy Herring) to continue a 37-year musical experiment, I say --

You go, boys!

It won't be the Grateful Dead, but it's guaranteed to be some hot improvisational folk, jazz and blues-influenced amplified music.

Cheers,
Michael