After one long month of waiting since the shows, HBO will finally debut their their four-hour Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert film at 8PM on Sunday.
History will not look kindly on the show Phish played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia last night. The band threw down one of the best, if not the best, show since they reunited on Tuesday night featuring a dream setlist filled with blockbusters. We all knew what would happen the next night – a standard Phish show. And that’s indeed what happened, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a standard Phish show.
[All photos by Jake Krolick from Philly Night 1 Photo Gallery on Glide]
Phish gigs come in many different shapes and sizes with last night’s show fitting in the Rock Show category. Every member of the band seemed to be feeding off of the energy of the crowd. Some showgoers sing along with the lyrics of each song, not in Philly. This was a crowd that just wanted to move and thrash the night away. Phish complied by delivering a number of potent tunes like 46 Days, Tweezer Reprise, Kill Devil Falls and Wilson. The audience roared their approval during the high-energy parts of the night and swayed en mass throughout the softer moments.
Nothing exemplifies the rock feel of this show more than the marvelous Tweezer for the second set. Phish took plenty of time finding the proper groove as soon as the jam started. To use a football analogy – once the groundwork had been laid, guitarist Trey Anastasio found the hole up the middle and scored a big touchdown. Anastasio kept hooking up with bassist Mike Gordon on a number of creative repeating patterns while drummer Jon Fishman kept the beat intense and keyboardist Page McConnell asserted a few counter-melodies for good measure. While Tweezer may not have veered too far off script, it was powerful and a show of force.
READ ON for more from Scotty on Phish in Philly – Night Two…
My DJ Partner Lax Class just sent me this stone groove of a mix from AliOOft. It’s a Nu Disco and Re Edit saunter through some great old dance classics
We couldn’t let Thanksgiving pass around these parts without our annual fluffage of the greatest rock movie of all time The Last Waltz. Some 33 years ago 5,000 lucky fans
In the interest of providing a soundtrack for the holiday weekend, and in case you missed one, we’re re-running the whole Stormy Mondays Acoustic Mix series, from Volume I up through last week’s installment. Hours and hours of gravely vocals and smoldering solos, Americana at its best. It’s just the right music for digesting some pumpkin pie, so as always enjoy!
SM Acoustic Vol. I
Dance, Dance, Dance – Neil Young
One More Day – The Wood Brothers
Blue Jeans Pizza – moe.
One > Take 5 – RyG
Stealin’ – Garcia Grisman
Living in the Country – Leo Kotke & Mike Gordon
Let the Morning In – The Slip
SM Acoustic Vol. II
Cassidy – GD
Predicting the Rain – The Slip
Intro > Almost Cut My Hair – David Crosby
Heart of Saturday Night – Tom Waits
Low Spark – JB and Friends
SM Acoustic Vol. II Bonus Mix
Blackbird – Bob Weir
Kind of Bird – Gov’t Mule
Motion Pictures – Neil Young
Castles in the Sand – Keller Williams
READ ON for three more Stormy Mondays – Acoustic Mixes…
For The Avett Brothers, 2009 could easily be considered their “break out” year – releasing their highly acclaimed major label debut I And Love And You and playing to larger
Where do these guys get off? It’s not enough that they sold out five of their last eight shows of the tour, but now they start charging $100/head to fucking watch them rehearse? What a bullshit money-grab. But this sentence, that I promised to open with, couldn’t be farther from the truth. What Chicago-based sextet Umphrey’s McGee is accomplishing by throwing these events effectively demonstrates what separates the men from the boys in the world of improvisational music.
A little background. S2 is an hour-long session – this one was closer to 75 minutes – with 50 fans who buy tickets and the members of UM and their crew. There is a giant projection screen visible to both the band and those in the audience and the attendees are encouraged to use their cell phones to text in themed suggestions. The texts arrive on UM sound caresser Kevin Browning’s laptop and he decides what gets put up on the screen for the next section of music. There were four sections of improv – containing between 9-12 themes – with short Q&As between featuring questions from the audience hosted by Lighting Crew Chief Wade Wilby.
More background: we need to look at 2009 as a whole and look at how these events are the perfect culmination of what I equate to the poker term of “showing your hand.” UM has always taken a methodical and precise approach to their music and to a degree their improvisation. The concept of “Jimmy Stewart” was explained in its best detail to date right here on Hidden Track in August of 2008 with help from the band and the band’s street team coordinator Jon McLennand. And in case it was not apparent from the written form, S2 is a variation on “Stew” short for Stewart. They also call these events Stew Art. READ ON for more on S2…
While the first seven episodes of Saturday Night Live’s 35th season have been hit or miss, this past Saturday brought us one of the funnier moments from the iconic comedy
After nine shows at the soon to be demolished Spectrum, Phish stepped up to the newer Wachovia Center tonight for the first of two shows. The band started off strong with a batch of classics and never took their collective feet off the gas. Even Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, one of the few new songs the band played, absolutely smoked. It was one “big gun” Phish song after another for most of the show peaking with a Harry Hood > The Mango Song > Mike’s Song > Simple > Slave to the Traffic Light > Weekapaug Groove segment that just wouldn’t quit.
Phish
November 24, 2009
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, PA
Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Cities > Camel Walk, The Curtain With, The Wedge, The Moma Dance, Reba, Golgi Apparatus, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan
Set 2: Possum > Down With Disease > 20 Years Later > Harry Hood, The Mango Song > Mike’s Song > Simple > Slave to the Traffic Light > Weekapaug Groove
Encore: A Day In The Life
Phish returns to the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night.
READ ON for a look at past Phish Philadelphia gigs…
Words and Images: Tim Hara
Last weekend, Phish made their triumphant return to Cincinnati for the first time in six years. They played the U.S. Arena, a 17,000 person venue located downtown right next to the stadiums where the Reds and the Bengals play. Although the place was packed both nights, fans could find cheap tickets – some even free – in the lot with ease. You could feel the excitement in the air as the crowd funneled through the doors and into the venue to begin what would turn out to be an incredible two-night stand in the Midwest.
Phish kicked off the first night with good, but standard versions of Chalk Dust and Moma Dance. The entire building shook as the audience roared during “the pause” in The Divided Sky. After a solid rendition of Alaska, things were slowed down for Fast Enough for You, which was played for only the second time this year. The high point in the set came for Gotta Jibboo > Fluffhead, two crowd-pleasers that closed out the first half. Overall a solid, fun set, but it was obvious that the band was just getting warmed up.
The real magic came in the second set with the Tweezer > Light > Back on the Train > Possum sequence. The quartet jammed patiently and absolutely nailed the transitions in this segment; especially the segue into Possum. After a blissful, standalone Slave to the Traffic Light, the funk dance party started up with a monster You Enjoy Myself that clocked in at over 20 minutes to close what was a perfectly executed set. Phish then treated the crowd to a three-song encore that started with Joy and Golgi Apparatus and concluded with a Tweezer Reprise that ensured the show ended on a high note.
READ ON for more of Tim’s thoughts and photos on Phish…
