Tonight Phish tour moved on to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD for the first of two shows at the venue. The quartet first performed at Merriweather on July 17, 1992 and have since played a total of seven shows at the shed leading up to tonight.
Scott Marks (@bizarchive) will be reporting live from the show for @YEMblog. READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…
Sometimes you know what to expect from a Phish show. Others, you don’t. Last night in Camden, NJ, at the Susquehanna Bank Center was definitely the latter, and a show that displayed some flashes of brilliance, but overall had an odd vibe and flow throughout. Kicking off with the usual encore tune, Rocky Top, and immediately followed by Mike’s Song > I am Hydrogen >Weekapaug Groove, Friday night was surely off to a start that caught many off-guard.The first highlight of the night was definitely this Weekapaug. With Mike Gordon on bass leading the way, this version had the extra spark that many of the previous years have been missing.
In many ways, the first set felt like it was backwards, eventually closing with The Curtain (With). After some ebbs and flows of the set, The Curtain With punctuated a 90-plus minute opening stanza with one of the most impressive, soaring and soulful solos that Trey Anastasio has laid upon us in some time. As this tune was transpiring, I knew it was something magical and definitely my favorite version of the song in recent memory – and maybe ever. (There’s no mistake that the band released the official vibe of this song from last night.
Watch it here:
While the long first set was an interesting affair, set two is one I’m still not sure what to make of – although I enjoyed huge portions of it as it was occurring. Down With Disease > Free was a welcome, but predictable springboard for the final frame – but that’s about the last predictable thing that went down. When everyone hoped that the improvisational doors had been opened for the remainder of the evening, Trey led the band into yet another Possum, a song played all-too-much this tour. Now, this version was very strong, with above average work by Anastasio, but it was the song’s placement that did it wrong. Like PNC the previous week, an early set Possum is just the wrong spot for this tune to be played. Period. Always fun, but oddly placed. In fact, Odd was a common word that kept popping into my head last night. Just like the Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars that followed and saw Gordon sitting on the ground while singing. I told you last night was a bit weird, right?
2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the Sasquatch! Music Festival, one of the most beloved and well-attended of its kind in America. Held at the breathtaking Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, Sasquatch mixed indie rock, folk, punk, hip-hop and experimental music over the course of four full days. Selling out all 25,000 daily tickets in a mere couple of days, the popularity of the festival is only eclipsed by the consistent strength of its annual lineups. This year, headliners the Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and Wilco in no way embody the flashy, the opulent or the minimal; however, their solid rock-based performances were heartfelt, powerful and undeniably compelling.
As Bonnaroo built to a head on Friday, the day turned out to be a hectic and overwhelming one. More than a few attendees were roundly confused by an evening stunt that featured parachuters dropping several thousand fluttering LED lights, and that can be attributed to the monumental amount of activity at the festival. They could hardly be expected to comprehend the stunt or the cryptic messages borne by the cargo’s QR code after such a day. Plus, many of them had seen Ron Jeremy in the flesh, or perhaps been berated by Lewis Black.
We’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Rush’s Time Machine tour, where the band performed all of Moving Pictures as well as an ample number of both hits and rarities.
Ah, the Summer of ’86 – the Strawberry/Gooden-led Mets were issuing shit kickings and disturbing the peace in each city they visited, American Greg LeMond made cycling cool again by
One of the things about New York City being one of the great food cities of the world is that if you get OUT of Manhattan and head to different neighborhoods to try the local ethnic foods, you get the real deal! Recently I had the pleasure to meet an old friend from high school who took me to a Korean restaurant in Flushing where the food and service were both outstanding. The place we went to was Hahm Ji Bach. For the record there are two Hahm Ji Bach’s. My friend informed me that there is the original on Northern Boulevard and the one she took me to which is the second one opened by the original owner’s brother. The menus are similar but the one we went to is the much more popular of the two.
On my first visit it was just me and my friend who speaks fluent Korean. As this trip was just her and I, we opted for just some pork and some different types of lettuce leaves for a bo ssam. I was then told there would be a ton of food coming (no matter what we ordered, more on that shortly). I found out from my friend that the goal of the level of service given is to make everyone happy and “at home” within five minutes of arriving. The waitress and my friend had a nice conversation with some great back and forth banter, a few questions and a lot of smiles and laughs. Once they finished talking, all I was told was “we’re all set, hope you brought your appetite.”
One of the things that Hahm Ji Bach does to make you feel “at home” is to send out a lot of small appetizer plates as a courtesy. This was our table:
READ ONfor more of this week’s Fridays For the Foodies…
This week’s videos feature bands you should check out at Bonnaroo… While it may be a bit too late to make a recommendation to those headed to Bonnaroo or to
Singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne told the stories behind nine songs from his vast catalog before a crowd of just 150 fans at Metropolis Studios in NYC on May 12. The rest
