The last few days of 2010 (first day of 2011 inclusive) were like a music festival of my own design in NYC. I took a somewhat selfish family-less trip down and crammed as much music and other fun into 4 days as I could muster. The first night I was treated to some Zorn related avant-garde improvisation, covered here. On the second night, I intersected with Phish's own New Year's run. They were coming off two nights in Worcester and were hunkering down for 3 nights at the world's most famous arena. My need to see Phish at every opportunity has waned significantly in the last decade, but still, it hurt to have missed them on their fall tour, especially their stop at nearby Utica, considered by many to be the show of the year. So I was definitely excited to be catching at least this one show.
The first set seemed to have it all: great covers (Cities, Quinn the Eskimo, and Fat Man in the Bathtub), rarities, arena rock, jam vehicles, funk. And yet, it lacked cohesiveness and flow (the benchmarks of any truly great Phish show) and while not horrible, was somewhat disappointing. One of the bigger cheers of the set came when the PA cut out during Camel Walk...
Things would luckily pick up in the 2nd set. And right off the bat with a show-highlight-level Tweezer. Deep into the jam the band found a spacey groove that you could easily lose yourself in. Just as I was thinking I could listen to them play like that for the rest of the night, they moved on into Light, which would be the low point of what would end up being a very solid and rocking set, including this great My Friend My Friend/Axilla combo.
And really they left you with little to complain about when they topped off the set with an Antelope/Tweezer Reprise encore. In the past it would seem strange to jump on a Phish New Year's run for just one show, but it made more sense than ever to me this year. Variety is the spice of life I guess.
Showing posts with label phish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phish. Show all posts
07 January 2011
23 December 2010
Mike Gordon @ Westcott Theatre
After seeing a lackluster show from Mike Gordon's current lineup a couple of summers back, I have avoided seeing them again. Though with them playing mere minutes from my parent's house during the Thanksgiving holiday, it was tough not to give them another chance. Glad I did. There were certainly points in the show where it teetered on the edge of standard pointless jamband dreck, but for most of it, they rose above. Murawski has disappointed me in the past, but on this night he was locking in with Gordon and the rest of the band for what were tight, interesting, and driving grooves. I was blissfully out of touch with what was going on song-wise which only made it seem all the more tight knit. The set was dominated by originals, though sprinkled in were some tasty covers, like Sailin Shoes and Skin It Back, both by the recently Phish-oweened band Little Feat, and what I thought was the highlight of the night, an unexpected but appropriately spacey cover of David Essex's Rock On.
The Westcott was officially sold out, though it was very comfortable inside... can't say this venue has disappointed me yet.
30 June 2010
Upstate NY Jamwich
Last Sunday through this Tuesday I served myself up two slices of Phish and stuffed it with a piece of Furthur... and also worked in a dollop of Tortoise of course. This sandwich contained more than the weekly recommended allowance of spun-out people, both of the mellow and entertaining kind (moreso at Furthur) or seriously whacked out schmucks (moreso at Phish).
Let's start with the bread. I made a last-minute trip out to SPAC for the Sunday night show, ditching my family on Father's Day. This show can be summed up quickly: Gordo PWNS FTW. The man was simply possessed for most of the evening. Roggae and Drowned were the standouts of the show, though in the 5 shows I have seen in the past 2 years, I have now seen Drowned 3 times. It takes a little of the excitement away, but nothing could drag this version down. Simply amazing. Roggae is a song I have always loved, and it just keeps getting better. Overall the setlist looks better on paper, still, this was a fantastic show, well worth the trip.
A week later I was back for more closer to home at CMAC. Other than finally getting to hear Reba again after all these years (and a fine version it was), the clear highlight of the show was Mikes>Simple>I Am the Walrus>Weekapaug. Mike's was the straight ahead, head-banging rocker it was born to be. Only thing missing was a stage full of smoke and crazed strobe lights. When it fizzled into Simple, my first thought was, old-school, which was directed at the Simple and not the Mike's. Simple, back where it was born. The end jam was gorgeous, approaching the Roggae from a week previous. They really did an amazing job with I Am the Walrus, and the jam was Tweeprise-esque, except better? I could live with this being a one-time occurrence, but could also see it living the life of a staple. After a solid Weekapaug, the set kind of went downhill, not precipitous, but it definitely peaked in the noise of Walrus. One of the best songs through the mid-90s, I would be happy to never hear another Harry Hood again, it just doesn't do much for me anymore, which is unfortunate. Another solid show, ranking pretty closely with SPAC, maybe a notch below.
2 years ago Phil Lesh played Highland Bowl. Last year Bob Weir did. This year they both played it. What next year? The show started with a lot of promise. The playing was good, the song selection was good. Then, what is essentially the best Dead cover band ever, became just a damn good cover band. I don't mind them playing non-Dead covers in and of itself, I in fact would count their Ryan Adams cover from Ithaca one of that show's highlights, though when you start throwing covers into the mix that just don't fit it throws the whole thing off, and did. Songs like Strawberry Fields Forever and especially Time were square pegs in a round hole. They handled Time quite well, it sounded good, the playing was some of the best of the show, particularly Joe Russo on drums, but it was totally out of place. On top of that, they decided to string the entire 2nd set together with meandering jams that jumped abruptly into the next song, there were a lot of awkward musical moments. Getting the kinks out on the first show of the tour I guess. As negative as I sound, it was still great fun, great venue, perfect weather, and overall good music. But when I leave a show with my highlight being the Death Don't Have No Mercy (which was stellar), I leave knowing the show could have been much better.
Let's start with the bread. I made a last-minute trip out to SPAC for the Sunday night show, ditching my family on Father's Day. This show can be summed up quickly: Gordo PWNS FTW. The man was simply possessed for most of the evening. Roggae and Drowned were the standouts of the show, though in the 5 shows I have seen in the past 2 years, I have now seen Drowned 3 times. It takes a little of the excitement away, but nothing could drag this version down. Simply amazing. Roggae is a song I have always loved, and it just keeps getting better. Overall the setlist looks better on paper, still, this was a fantastic show, well worth the trip.
A week later I was back for more closer to home at CMAC. Other than finally getting to hear Reba again after all these years (and a fine version it was), the clear highlight of the show was Mikes>Simple>I Am the Walrus>Weekapaug. Mike's was the straight ahead, head-banging rocker it was born to be. Only thing missing was a stage full of smoke and crazed strobe lights. When it fizzled into Simple, my first thought was, old-school, which was directed at the Simple and not the Mike's. Simple, back where it was born. The end jam was gorgeous, approaching the Roggae from a week previous. They really did an amazing job with I Am the Walrus, and the jam was Tweeprise-esque, except better? I could live with this being a one-time occurrence, but could also see it living the life of a staple. After a solid Weekapaug, the set kind of went downhill, not precipitous, but it definitely peaked in the noise of Walrus. One of the best songs through the mid-90s, I would be happy to never hear another Harry Hood again, it just doesn't do much for me anymore, which is unfortunate. Another solid show, ranking pretty closely with SPAC, maybe a notch below.
2 years ago Phil Lesh played Highland Bowl. Last year Bob Weir did. This year they both played it. What next year? The show started with a lot of promise. The playing was good, the song selection was good. Then, what is essentially the best Dead cover band ever, became just a damn good cover band. I don't mind them playing non-Dead covers in and of itself, I in fact would count their Ryan Adams cover from Ithaca one of that show's highlights, though when you start throwing covers into the mix that just don't fit it throws the whole thing off, and did. Songs like Strawberry Fields Forever and especially Time were square pegs in a round hole. They handled Time quite well, it sounded good, the playing was some of the best of the show, particularly Joe Russo on drums, but it was totally out of place. On top of that, they decided to string the entire 2nd set together with meandering jams that jumped abruptly into the next song, there were a lot of awkward musical moments. Getting the kinks out on the first show of the tour I guess. As negative as I sound, it was still great fun, great venue, perfect weather, and overall good music. But when I leave a show with my highlight being the Death Don't Have No Mercy (which was stellar), I leave knowing the show could have been much better.
21 January 2010
09 Year in Review
Top 9 shows I saw in 2009:
9. Derek Trucks Band @ Water Street Music Hall
Derek Trucks. Chuck Campbell. Nothing more needs to be said.
8. Ponytail, Phantogram @ Bug Jar
Two of the best new finds of the year played about 20m apart from each other. Even if Yeasayer was a disappointment, this show still stood apart from the rest for the openers alone.
7. Rochester International Jazz Fest Day 8
A night that included guitar master Pat Martino, the most inventive musician I saw all year, Arve Henriksen, and pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph throwing down with the Campbell Brothers, Susan Tedeschi and Ryan Shaw. Yeah, that's making this list.
6. David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch @ Newport Folk Fest
The whole folk fest was a fantastic treat, but the standout sets were both David Rawlings and Gillian Welch under different monikers. Also would love to throw in here the Avett Brothers who I finally got to see this year, twice!
5. Akron/Family @ Mohawk Place
There was no show this year that saw me dancing harder.
4. El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar
Third time was the charm, they brought it to the next level.
3. Wilco @ Artpark
Best Wilco show in by far the best venue I have seen them.
2. Bill Frisell @ Kilbourn Hall (early and late)
There was a 10m or so segment in the late set that was easily the best music I heard all year.
1. Phish @ Syracuse War Memorial
God I hate to waste space here espousing love for Phish when that's the last thing the blogosphere needs, but after seeing average-at-best shows at Fenway and Darien Lake, there was no denying that this was the real deal. Phish is back baby!
9. Derek Trucks Band @ Water Street Music Hall
Derek Trucks. Chuck Campbell. Nothing more needs to be said.
8. Ponytail, Phantogram @ Bug Jar
Two of the best new finds of the year played about 20m apart from each other. Even if Yeasayer was a disappointment, this show still stood apart from the rest for the openers alone.
7. Rochester International Jazz Fest Day 8
A night that included guitar master Pat Martino, the most inventive musician I saw all year, Arve Henriksen, and pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph throwing down with the Campbell Brothers, Susan Tedeschi and Ryan Shaw. Yeah, that's making this list.
6. David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch @ Newport Folk Fest
The whole folk fest was a fantastic treat, but the standout sets were both David Rawlings and Gillian Welch under different monikers. Also would love to throw in here the Avett Brothers who I finally got to see this year, twice!
5. Akron/Family @ Mohawk Place
There was no show this year that saw me dancing harder.
4. El Ten Eleven @ Bug Jar
Third time was the charm, they brought it to the next level.
3. Wilco @ Artpark
Best Wilco show in by far the best venue I have seen them.
2. Bill Frisell @ Kilbourn Hall (early and late)
There was a 10m or so segment in the late set that was easily the best music I heard all year.
1. Phish @ Syracuse War Memorial
God I hate to waste space here espousing love for Phish when that's the last thing the blogosphere needs, but after seeing average-at-best shows at Fenway and Darien Lake, there was no denying that this was the real deal. Phish is back baby!
25 November 2009
Phish @ Syracuse War Memorial
I'm not cool enough to twitter, but if I was, this is how my review of Sunday's show would have come out in real time.
Classic rocking Bowie opener. Solid.
Killing this straight ahead stuff
No security in here, anything goes
Not my faves but trucking along
For all the kudos kuroda gets, c'mon man, can't you get a spotlight on Page for Lawn Boy?
Staaaaaaash
This jam is killing
Nice solid first set, keepin it simple and leaving on a serious high note
Drowned opener, same as Darien
Here we go. This will definitely be labeled Syracuse Jam on the board release
A nice funky theme emerges, loving this
Got a bit spacey, but back to the funky
Twist! Yes!
High energy...
into Piper. Always associate these two together for some reason
Amazing how the douches in the crowd melt away when the band is on fire like this
Getting heavy
Quickly into BBFCFM!
Phish theater, gotta love it
Trey mic down low, on knees, Mike's mic up high, reaching and screaming
J-D shoutout!
James-DeWitt corrected to Jamesville-DeWitt, you tell em Johnny!
Len Fishman Orthodontist shoutout, ok, this is a bit much
About time to pull out that Fishman Nottingham Hill song I heard him do once
Small group around me valiantly calling for Tube
Tube it is! Nice!
Theme, love it
Wow that maze was on
Never has a SITM been so welcome. Ah sweet relief...
Zero to close
This song has always irked me, but it does seem to close some smoking sets
Hold on, First Tube!
Taking a page from WSP, volume turned to 11
WOW WOW WOW
That show was amazing, and I am as jaded as they come...
18 October 2009
Catching up: August and September
A quick rundown of some stuff from late summer, boiled down to one (mostly run-on)sentence recaps.
Newport Folk Fest
It was one of the most stacked lineups in recent memory for the fest, celebrating its 50th year, with a great mix of old and new (take a listen over at npr.)
The zoom on my camera broke that week so video offerings are limited.
Ben Kweller: They were missing their bassist, but it didn't bother me one bit, quite enjoyable set.
Avett Brothers: They continued to impress in advance of their fantastic new album from the big stage, and then gave a select few (not I unfortunately) a treat from atop the Fort Adams. (They perform about 3:30 into the coverage)
Del McCoury Band: Surprisingly and a tad disappointingly, the only bluegrass heard all weekend, here mixing it up with a some sousaphone from Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch: Gillian Welch, as expected, was phenomenal on Saturday with her husband David Rawlings, and then he, with Gillian at his side, equaled and then surpassed her set on Sunday. Together, they were the hands-down highlight of the weekend.
Iron & Wine: Never met a Sam Beam song I didn't instantly fall in love with, remarkable.
So much more to get excited about from the weekend, but let's leave it at that for now. Hope to make it again next year.
Phish @ Darien Lake
I've been to all four of Phish's Darien visits, and this was probably the worst, which isn't saying much since the first three were some of the best shows I have ever seen. (Saved by a late but GREAT GREAT Antelope, and this Drowned wasn't too shabby either)
Felice Brothers @ German House
The German House seems to suck the energy out of a show, maybe it would be different if it were packed, still they are a ton of fun to see live, with a tad too much tossing water into the crowd. (insert Gallagher joke here)
Akron/Family, Slaraffenland @ Mohawk Place
(It's official, I drank the kool-aid and it tastes like Akron/Family... LOVE LOVE LOVE) As much as I enjoyed Slaraffenland's rhythmic pop tapestries in their opening set, they didn't do too much (or not nearly as much as Megafaun previously I should say) to add the Akron's set and were somewhat underutilized (considering their multi-instrumental prowess I wondered why they were only used as a horn section.)
David Grisman Quintet @ Water Street Music Hall
Man, I haven't seen Grisman in ages, I think I figured it's been about 8 years, and the man's still got it.
Newport Folk Fest
It was one of the most stacked lineups in recent memory for the fest, celebrating its 50th year, with a great mix of old and new (take a listen over at npr.)
The zoom on my camera broke that week so video offerings are limited.
Ben Kweller: They were missing their bassist, but it didn't bother me one bit, quite enjoyable set.
Avett Brothers: They continued to impress in advance of their fantastic new album from the big stage, and then gave a select few (not I unfortunately) a treat from atop the Fort Adams. (They perform about 3:30 into the coverage)
Del McCoury Band: Surprisingly and a tad disappointingly, the only bluegrass heard all weekend, here mixing it up with a some sousaphone from Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
David Rawlings Machine/Gillian Welch: Gillian Welch, as expected, was phenomenal on Saturday with her husband David Rawlings, and then he, with Gillian at his side, equaled and then surpassed her set on Sunday. Together, they were the hands-down highlight of the weekend.
Iron & Wine: Never met a Sam Beam song I didn't instantly fall in love with, remarkable.
So much more to get excited about from the weekend, but let's leave it at that for now. Hope to make it again next year.
Phish @ Darien Lake
I've been to all four of Phish's Darien visits, and this was probably the worst, which isn't saying much since the first three were some of the best shows I have ever seen. (Saved by a late but GREAT GREAT Antelope, and this Drowned wasn't too shabby either)
Felice Brothers @ German House
The German House seems to suck the energy out of a show, maybe it would be different if it were packed, still they are a ton of fun to see live, with a tad too much tossing water into the crowd. (insert Gallagher joke here)
Akron/Family, Slaraffenland @ Mohawk Place
(It's official, I drank the kool-aid and it tastes like Akron/Family... LOVE LOVE LOVE) As much as I enjoyed Slaraffenland's rhythmic pop tapestries in their opening set, they didn't do too much (or not nearly as much as Megafaun previously I should say) to add the Akron's set and were somewhat underutilized (considering their multi-instrumental prowess I wondered why they were only used as a horn section.)
David Grisman Quintet @ Water Street Music Hall
Man, I haven't seen Grisman in ages, I think I figured it's been about 8 years, and the man's still got it.
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