Rock of Aged

By SARA SCRIBNER

July 31, 1997 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Unlike the summer rock festivals that take pride in redefining the boundaries of contemporary rock, the Furthur Festival asks nothing more of its audience than to celebrate some of rock’s most colorful and tuneful past.

And, at least during the festival’s inaugural tour last year, that seems fine for an audience that embraces the tie-dye fashion and the loose-limbed aura of Haight-Ashbury.

Former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and guitarist Bob Weir, the festival’s organizers, emphasize that the tour--which arrives Sunday at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre--offers a chance to celebrate the legacy of singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

“There’s a certain amount of closure to all this, with the Jerry thing,” said Hart, who brings his rhythmic ensemble Planet Drum to the festival. “If you put it away in the back of the cubby and don’t deal with it, don’t talk about it or don’t grieve or celebrate the dead, you don’t go on. . . . It’s a good way to celebrate Jerry.”

The event includes a variety of styles: from the neo-Deadheadism of Moe to the blistering blues of Sherri Jackson; from the folk tradition of Arlo Guthrie (also the event’s emcee) to the eclecticism of pianist Bruce Hornsby; from the ‘60s-based guitarist Jorma Kaukonen to the ‘60s-inspired Black Crowes, who headline the festival. Sunday’s concert also features Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Hart said that playing with the Dead made touring a habit that was hard to break, even after Garcia’s death. In contrast to the Dead, with its San Francisco epicenter, the Grammy-winning group of percussionists in Hart’s Planet Drum hail from such locales as Nigeria and Puerto Rico. The drummer calls the shows his “rhythm summer camp.”

“It’s not just good friends hanging out together,” Hart said. “It’s great friends. These are virtuoso players; it’s not like a pickup band or anything.”

Furthur organizer John Scher, CEO of the Metropolitan Entertainment Group, said that the idea to launch a festival of their own arose during a discussion with Hart and Weir about other tours.

“They had a strong desire to play, and we were talking about their options like H.O.R.D.E. or Smokin’ Grooves,” Scher said. “I thought that perhaps the Grateful Dead nation was ready to support its own festival, a gathering of friends that was true to the spirit of comradeship of Grateful Dead shows . . . where friends who only see each other at these events get a chance to interact.”

Despite the good intentions, Weir, who appears at the festival with his band Ratdog, said that the marathon eight-hour (or longer) shows might offer more than some older fans can handle.

“The people who have the endurance for a long festival day are the young kids, and they don’t have the money to afford it,” he said. “Even for me, it’s a real long day, playing this jam or other. Next year, we might reconsider it and put together something smaller.”

But Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, a magazine that tracks the concert industry, thinks that the lack of “amphitheater acts” on the tour explains the sluggish sales in some markets.

“If it drew all of the Grateful Dead fans, yes, there would be enough of a draw,” Bongiovanni said. “But whether it’s fulfilling the needs of the Deadheads, I don’t know. The numbers aren’t coming out as Grateful Dead-like numbers. . . . Its attendance has been up and down.”

Weir and Hart tend to avoid number-tallying, focusing instead on the positive rush of being on the road again and playing for live audiences, much as they did when the Dead was together. “We’re having a lot of fun,” Weir said, “and I hope that’s coming through.”

Remembering times when the Grateful Dead had more people onstage than in the audience, Hart said that he simply enjoys the artistic interaction encouraged by the festival’s frequent jams. “It makes for good music,” he said. “The road never ends, really. I’m a road warrior; I love it.”

BE THERE

Furthur Festival, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, Sunday, 3:30 p.m., $28. (213) 480-3232.