November 13, 2008

One of the the things I miss most about Phish is summer tour. In addition to the music, summer tour always provided an opportunity to see parts of the country I never would have if not for the concerts. Just take a few days off from work, hop in the car and the hit the road. Next thing you know you are in the middle of nowhere with 15,000 other fans at 4 pm on a Wednesday drinking a Sierra Nevada.

For this week’s B List, I put together a quick list of four cities that I never would have stepped foot in if not for Phish Summer Tour. Let’s take a look…

George, WA
July 16, 17, 1998
July 12, 13, 2003

One of the most beautiful sights I ever witnessed on Phish tour was this incredible venue situated just above the Columbia River in Central Washington. Chances are if you’re in George, you’re there for a concert cause there ain’t a whole lot going on otherwise. The venue offers breathtaking views of the Columbia River, as well as the surrounding areas. Both sets of shows I saw at the Gorge were great, including being front row in front of Page for the 7-16-98 show, but the venue itself was the true star. On-site camping, soft grass, and plenty of fan vendors (who aren’t harrassed by security) made this one of the most desirable venues in the country. If you were willing to make the trek to the Gorge, you were not disappointed.

READ ON for more of Luke’s list of out the way locales…

The aughts have been quite the decade for New Jersey’s native son Bruce Springsteen. The Rumson resident is having one of the most creative and prolific periods of his career.

Having waited about 14 years since last seeing the Smashing Pumpkins live, my anticipation soared last Thursday night at the United Palace. See, Billy Corgan and crew played an integral role in my formative years. The Lollapalooza show a million years ago was my first concert and I effectively took guitar lessons from Billy Corgan, learning power chords from Today, neck chords from Disarm, and octaves from Cherub Rock. While most of my friends were deep into Pearl Jam or dipping their toes into the Dead and Phish, I roamed around record stores and sketchy bootleg swap meets at the local Howard Johnson digging up recordings of the Smashing Pumpkins.

Not long after, I realized that while the Pumpkins were a truly fantastic band with a sound all their own, they were not a very reliable live act for a deep dive. While they always maintained a deep repertoire, shifted the sets around and cranked out quality fuzz, the sound often sucked and Billy Corgan’s voice was roughly as reliable as Sex Panther Cologne.

Some things haven’t changed. The show Thursday night left me with horribly polarized feelings. As per the yoosh, Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlain and the other “Smashing Pumpkins” sans original bassist D’arcy and guitarist James Iha cranked up the sound and put on a freaking rock show. Yet, the basis for the unsettling and unsatisfying sentiments was that Corgan was hell bent on raging on his guitar with a result that sounded more like a bad Guns N’ Roses set.

READ ON for the rest of Rupert’s Smashing Pumpkins review…

One of the most revolutionary drummers in the game, Mitch Mitchell, passed away yesterday at a hotel room in Portland, Oregon. The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s last surviving member blended jazz

I’ll spare you full reviews seeing how often I’ve sung the praises of this lineup, but with now two Phil & Friends Nokia shows under the ol’ belt for the run and a third on deck tonight, here are five off-the-cuff observations:

[Photo by Rob Chapman via Phillesh.net]

1. There’s a nice little debate kicking around the Phil faithful at the moment asking whether this year’s Nokia residency is better than last year’s. Most folks are hedging, but some glass-half-empty comments I’ve heard favor last year’s, saying that now that this incarnation of Phil & Friends is comfortable, it’s lost the surprise factor and settled into predictability.

Based on this year’s setlists, that seems a little absurd to begin with, but to me, that’s an apples-to-toothpaste comparison anyway. Last year’s Nokia run was essentially a test kitchen for this lineup to see just how chemistry it had and how much excitement it could muster, and on its last weekend, most observers agree, they clicked and became a band. This year’s model is the same personnel, give or take a guest, but a band utterly sure of itself after a long summer of touring and now confident in its ability to “get there”—aware of all its strengths, working on its weaknesses—with everyone willing to add a bit more of his (or her!) personality to the mix.

Most noticeably, Steve Molitz isn’t as reticent about slipping in the nutty keyboard effects this year—he’s been blasting off all over the place, and doing it tastefully, as in Tuesday night’s fierce Feel Like a Stranger second set opener. Teresa Williams, too, now qualifies as a full-fledged band member, and it’s been great to see her in places both logical (boy, did she nail that beautiful, beautiful Peggy-O on Sunday) and surprising (she and Jackie brought marvelous harmonies to Music Never Stopped on Sunday and Cassidy on Tuesday—both set two enders, both Bobby songs the Phil lineup doesn’t often play, and both terrific.)

READ ON for four more observations from Chad…

Let’s check in with the irreverent mind behind Uncensored Interview’s blog, The Shark, for another installment of Uncensored Thursdays…

Hey there downtrodden victim of the current financial crisis, don’t look so dour! Lots of people all across America have suddenly lost their jobs just like you and have found themselves wondering “What the fuck am I gonna do to support myself and/or my vicious $400 a day coke habit?”

The first thought that crosses your mind is to apply at the local Starbucks (the one on your corner, not the one across the street from the one on your corner) and become a part-time barista. Hey, they have health care and decent pay. READ ON for more from The Shark…