June 3, 2009

Tonight, when I got home from work my friend Wilson was at my apartment to pick up his tickets for tomorrow night’s Phish show. Wilson couldn’t stick around for very

Even though the ticket scene was at near give-away proportions, the lot was full at Jones Beach for Phish’s return to the New York area, even spilling over into auxiliary lots. And even though the fuzz were out in force, lurking around the outskirts and pouncing on the less subtle, there was also a fair sized Shakedown Street with all its ancillary sights and sounds.

[All Photos by Dave Vann for Glide/HT]

Inside, the venue had filled up by the time Phish hit the stage a bit after 8 and hopped into a nice Runaway Jim followed by Foam, and then a new tune, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan – it’s a rocker, kind of 46 Days in mood and groove, with the instantly classic line “I got a blank space where my mind should be.” The boys on stage seem to be enjoying themselves, but then they’ve always enjoyed playing their new material, and thereafter they seemed to relax a bit, settle in.

Great, rolling drums and that slow, staccato rhythm guitar marked the opening of Timber, and Fishman carried his beat through the song, adding cymbal crashes and egging Trey on. A short series of distinct lead licks ensued, and the whole band pounded back into the final verse. It was a good song made better by the following Cities. The first mid-song jam was cooking down the tune, sparse with piano accents, and everyone was all locked up and rocking – I’m pretty sure that the unavoidable shaking of limbs here was my body returning to its natural movements, to the way it’s supposed to move.

READ ON for more of Dan’s words and Dave’s photos…

While the idea of a Phish documentary is not necessarily a new one, Maybe So, Maybe Not (“MSMN”) certainly incorporates a unique approach; raising the bulk of the funding from fellow fans, enlisting crew support from fans, and basing a large part of the material on anecdotal and visual contributions from fans – a true grassroots-and-boots effort if you will.

Having heard a bit about the project but curious to know more, we hooked up with Washington D.C. native, Noah Wilderman, the film’s director and producer to do just that. A movie about the Phish scene could go in any of a thousand directions – opting to paint the picture like a flock of fanatical music-lovers, a communal junta of like-minded friends, an insane posse of hyper-critical internet nerds, or a tribe of morons and drug-addled children. Which way will it go? Given the fan-friendly nature, we safely assumed this one is not that latter two, but the following interview should give a deeper sense of what to expect in terms of plot, budget, motivation, scheduling, and of course, vision.

Hidden Track: Could you describe the moment you had the epiphany whereby you realized that you were going to make a movie about Phish?

Noah Wilderman: My decision to make a movie about the Phish experience was quite a surprise, even to myself. Like many others I’ve encountered since this journey began, the swell of emotion of emotions hit me like a ton of bricks when I discovered that Phish was coming back to the stage. After graduating college, finishing grad school and “growing up (a.k.a.,getting a job),” I wholeheartedly embraced my career as a broadcast television professional for several years and had long ago taken my own exit as Phish followed their evolving sound into the late 90’s. I thought I was over Phish, that it was a phase I associated with the freedom of my youth. I was wrong.

READ ON for more of Ryan’s interview with Noah…

Nearly 44 years after The Beatles played the first concert at Shea Stadium, Yankee fan and bass player – Sir Paul McCartney – will break in Citi Field, the new

Longtime HT contributor Hal Hansen attended Saturday’s memorial service for original GSW taper and superfan Paul Ducharme and filed this report…

The opening song of Stranger was an appropriate one for God Street Wine’s triumphant return on Saturday, the first time all five original members performed together since a 2001 reunion for the closing of The Wetlands. I had never met Paul Ducharme, a fixture in the New York area music scene whose tragic passing in April was the inspiration for the New York City band’s 75 minute set on the lawn outside the Westside Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ. However, it did not take long to see that this community of friends and family lost a caring, funny & intriguing soul. After a mix of various musical artists and emotional speeches by those closest to Paul, it was time for GSW to play.

The set list featured an even mix of classics from several different albums, unrecorded live staples and even a one-two Beatles punch of Blackbird & Dear Prudence. Each song was a joy to hear again and other than a few moments of understandable rustiness, including a restart on Waiting for the Tide, the band was very impressive for not playing together in nearly eight years. Driving West & 6:15 reached their familiar & powerful climaxes while Imogene featured some blistering guitar work by Aaron. The creative ending segue of Borderline > Swing Low, Sweet Chariot > Borderline showed that GSW can also still have some fun on the fly.

READ ON for more on GSW’s performance in Ridgewood…

The first Phish show at Jones Beach in nearly 14 years was worth the wait. From the monster Timber, Cities segment to the beautiful improv in Harry Hood and Reba