Scott Bernstein, Author at Glide Magazine

Phish Mansfield: Great Woods Setlist & Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 7, 2011 5 Comments

Phish @ Great Woods (Comcast Center), June 7

Phish returned to the venue formerly known as Great Woods – now the Comcast Center – for the 15th time this evening as the quartet’s summer tour continued in Mansfield, MA. Starting on July 21, 1992, a show where Phish opened for Santana, the venue has been a regular stop for the band outside of 1996 – 1998 and 2003.

The band opened up this evening’s show with only the fifth Llama since they reunited in Hampton. Possum reared its head for the fourth time in the tour’s nine performances thus far and didn’t reach the heights of the much buzzed about Blossom version according to Phish.net’s Scott Marks. Later in the set, Instant Karma! saw its first action since the quartet debuted the John Lennon cover on June 12, 2010 in Cuyahoga Falls, OH.

Great Woods shows are known for their one-timer covers such as Rita Clarke’s Lit O Bit in 2010, Tuesday’s Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the only electric take on Boston’s Foreplay/Long Time in 1999 as well as a fun take on The Modern Lovers’ Roadrunner in 2000. This time around Al Green’s Rhymes, a song the Mike Gordon Band has performed 15 times between 2008 and 2011, got the call with Gordon handling vocals. Phish closed out the opening stanza with Divided Sky and the Joy staple Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan.

For the second set, Phish came out with Back On The Train and once again used the second slot for a song that provides an improvisational springboard with Rock and Roll filling the role this time around. Wyman noticed “distinct segmentation like [the Down With Disease] from Friday” while adding “[I] can’t compare, but very impressed.” The first Mango Song of the year followed and started a string of three 2011 debuts that also included Bug and Pebbles and Marbles. Fans hoping for another extended Halley’s Comet were disappointed as Phish quickly transitioned into Meatstick. The Run Like An Antelope closer featured Meatstick, Bug and Divided Sky teases before the group encored with a curfew-busting Suzy Greenberg.

HT’s Eric Wyman will provide a full review tomorrow, but in the meantime, READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…

Video: LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change

Scott Bernstein June 7, 2011 No Comments

Bonnaroo Week continues on HT with a look at a song from LCD Soundsystem’s much buzzed ‘roo ’10 late-night set. Thanks to the official Bonnaroo channel on YouTube, we get

Panic En La Playa: Widespread Panic Resort Vacation From Cloud 9

Scott Bernstein June 7, 2011 No Comments

Widespread Panic fans may be worried about the status of the band past 2011 after numerous members of the group mentioned an “indefinite hiatus” following their 25th anniversary celebrations this

Paul Simon Welcomes David Byrne to Stage @ Joyous Webster Hall Performance

Scott Bernstein June 7, 2011 3 Comments

Paul Simon @ Webster Hall, June 6

Queens native Paul Simon played his first hometown “club gig” in quite some time last night at Manhattan’s Webster Hall and by the time his two hour-plus set was through, he had given the intimate crowd a taste of each period of his illustrious career as well as a guest spot from David Byrne that will be remembered as a highlight of 2011 for many in attendance.

Simon has never been one to just play the hits, but the soon-to-be 70-year-old performer also knows his crowd and doesn’t shy away from mixing in plenty of material from Graceland, his debut album and a few choice Simon & Garfunkel nuggets. Paul’s eight-piece band showed off their talent from the get go with an energetic take on Boy In The Bubble that would’ve got the crowd on the jammed-packed floor moving if it wasn’t “butts to nuts” down there. Webster Hall was packed to the gills for this Brooklyn Vegan-sponsored show.

Last month Simon released So Beautiful or So What, his first studio album since 2006 and in my mind his best effort since 1990’s Rhythm of the Saints. Paul offered just a handful of tunes from So Beautiful or So What scattered amongst the rest of the set in a way that never allowed a lull to develop. The playful Rewrite allowed Simon’s band of utility players to work their multi-instrumentalist magic on the many details found within the song. Nearly every member of the group filled multiple roles giving Simon so much flexibility in his live arrangements.

READ ON for more from last night’s Paul Simon show…

B List: Five Great Tidbits From Trey Anastasio / Lars Fisk Interview on SuperBallIX.com

Scott Bernstein June 6, 2011 2 Comments

You had to figure Phish would start pushing tickets for their upcoming Super Ball IX festival at Watkins Glen International race track over The Fourth of July Weekend and that push has started today with the publication of an interview between guitarist Trey Anastasio and artist Lars Fisk.

Fisk started working with the group way back in 1996 for the first-ever Phish festival, the Clifford Ball, and has been in charge of visual design for each of the quartet’s festivals including Super Ball IX. Trey and Lars go way back; you can feel the comfort of each during their long conversation. We clued in on five great tidbits that came out of the article, which you can read in its entirety at SuperBallIX.com.

1. Anastasio Was Home Three Hours After Leaving The Stage at Big Cypress

Trey: So, Big Cypress was great. Nothing is ever going to match it, I mean, until the next amazing thing happens, I could describe looking out at these people, this audience that I’ve been staring at for 26 years or something in darkness, right, every night. And people are dancing and they’re delirious and they’ve been up all night. And the sun is starting to come up, oh my god – that was just the most bizarre thing because the sky was all pink.. But it was really just the looks on people’s faces, like when suddenly God started to turn on the lights at the end of the party. Oh man.

Lars: Wow, that’s a bittersweet thing.

Trey: It was moving to say the least. And then what was really bizarre about it was that we flew home right after the concert and I was standing in my house about three hours after we got off stage. It felt really funny. So more about this year. My understanding is that the site is especially unique.

While Anastasio has mentioned the band flew home immediately after Big Cypress, we never fail to be blown away by thinking of the contrast between performing for 80,000 fans and returning to the solitude of family life in the course of three hours.

READ ON for more about Lars and Trey’s conversation…

Hors d’Oeuvres: Launch of DuaneAllman.com

Scott Bernstein June 6, 2011 No Comments

Galadrielle Allman, the daughter of late Allman Brothers Band guitarist Duane Allman, has created a website with the help of Hittin’ the Note dedicated to preserving her father’s legacy. DuaneAllman.com

Briefly: Primus to Release New Album

Scott Bernstein June 6, 2011 No Comments

Les Claypool seems to be re-inspired since bringing drummer Jay Lane back into the Primus fold last year as the band has unveiled new songs and “The Colonel” has been playing with

Phish Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati – Setlist and The Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 5, 2011 3 Comments

Phish’s only show at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati took place on September 20, 2000 The band finally returned to the shed tonight after two strong performances on Friday and Saturday.

[Photo via TravelPod]

The first set featured a number of tour debuts including Taste, Lawn Boy, Reba and Fee as well as fan favorite Mound which was performed for only the fourth time since 1996. Bathtub Gin reappeared for the first time since a stellar version at Bethel and was of the “Type I” variety according to YEMblogger/Oh Kee Pah Blog author Justin Wendt.

Set two started with Carini followed by a Tweezer that provided the improvisational meat of the concert with its “dark funk” and elements of the staccato, “plinko” jamming style that have emerged of late. Who would’ve thought that nine shows into 2011 Crosseyed and Painless would be the most played cover of the year, but that’s indeed the case as a third 2011 rendition of the Talking Heads classic was dropped this evening. Heavy rotation stalwarts Light, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Julius and You Enjoy Myself closed out the second set, while Loving Cup and Tweezer Reprise served as the encore.

We’ll have a full review of Phish’s return to Riverbend and a full set of photos soon. READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…

Umphrey’s Welcomes Oates, Warren, Kurtz and Zach Deputy @ Mountain Jam

Scott Bernstein June 5, 2011 No Comments

Having appeared at the festival a number of times since its start, Umphrey’s McGee earned themselves the post-Mule, late night Saturday slot at Mountain Jam 2011. The Chicago-based sextet welcomed

Phish Blossom Cuyahoga Falls: Setlist

Scott Bernstein June 4, 2011 7 Comments

Phish @ Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls OH

Phish returned to Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH this evening for their fifth-ever performance at the Cleveland-area shed. The band continued on the improv-heavy path they went down last night once again tonight, especially during the second set.

[Photo by Joe Ringus]

The first set saw the band dust off their cover of Little Feat’s Rocket In My Pocket from Waiting for Columbus for its initial post-Halloween performance. Mike Gordon sang that one as well as Fuck Your Face, which popped up for the first time since Augusta. Foam, Guelah Papyrus and Guyute also made their 2011 debuts during an opening stanza that ended with a Run Like An Antelope which Justin Wendt of Oh Kee Pah Blog feels was “slaughtered.” The Antelope closer featured a Streets of Cairo tease and featured Trey making shout outs to his band mates and LD Chris “Toph” Kuroda.

Birds of a Feather opened the second set and was followed by Possum – the song Phish has played most since Hampton. Yet, this wasn’t a typical Possum as the group screwed around with the tempo towards the end leading towards a “meltdown” similar to the version of Boogie On from Bethel. Out of what Wendt described as “dark ambience” came the first original debut of 2011 entitled Steam. The Anastasio/Tom Marshall-penned tune had, “some elements of 46 days to it but played much slower and [more] deliberately” according to YEMblogger Josh Korin. Unlike the terribly short six-minute Piper from three nights earlier in Holmdel, the version that emerged out of sound effects used for Steam was extended nicely with improv HT’s Wade Wilby described as a “really pretty ambient jam.” Piper transitioned into Lizards before the quartet laid into a take on Allen Toussaint’s Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley that had “heavy psychedelic overtones” according to Wilby and was “the business” in Wendt’s mind.

Out of Sally came Harry Hood and smack dab in the middle of the usual Hood jam, Phish switched up the tempo and had keyboardist Page McConnell lead them into the rare Have Mercy before finishing the Harry Hood sandwich. Character Zero, another staple of the rotation that doesn’t vary very much from version to version, wasn’t a standard take as guitarist Trey Anastasio worked in numerous Smoke On The Water teases in both his solo and the ending. Not content to end the evening with a throwaway encore, Phish delivered Slave to the Traffic Light in the bonus frame.

READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…

Scott Bernstein

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