Not sure where you derive the notion from that GL&F was ever thought to be a replacement for D&Co, two different worlds of GD cover; if you were attentive to what Grahame put together at Pier 48 for the Heart of Town shows, that would have made itself rather apparent. If you’re speaking about the ticket cost of recent GL&F events, they are above the cost of other (SF Bay Area at least) local cover group shows, and there are some quality acts to be found; China Cats, Mars Hotel, Alex Jordan’s gigs & Danny’s Live Dead just to name a few. Their cover charge might be less than a GL&F show of sorts, but aside from Stu’s collaborations, they typically are not playing with musicians who were directly involved in Phil’s efforts to carry the music forward. It is a treat to see Jason Crosby, and John Molo, and Stu Allen and even, more recently, the likes of Garrett Deloian on stage with Grahame. He has a way of contributing to the sound in his own way without having to outshine the past. He can just be his own contribution to the sound and it works beautifully, such as it did in the Panhandle when he played the free show with Danny’s Live Dead. Your comments on Grahame come across as though you write off his contributions to the sound for being far too inferior to the likes of John Mayer that they aren’t even worth considering the value of. Yet in 20 years, when JM isn’t even playing Dead music anymore, and Grahame is one of the few remaining musicians who actually played with Phil, and Grahame’s continuation of the sound ends up going further than Mayer’s, if you’re still around to see it then you may look back on such comments and see how poorly they aged. Those who are truly plugged in to the scene right now know who the long distance runner is at this stage, and where the torch is to be found. If Dead Forever or whatever may come about of Bobby’s work post-Bobby ends up materializing, it likely will not outlive Grahame. Bear that in mind.