PHISH - MY BOYS ARE BACK....
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Artist:
what a great piece up in the times today. not the one before the show but the one from the show...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/arts/music/10phish.html?8dpc
i went to college with these cats. was in the crowd at those first shows at slade hall. they were my bar band, my backyard band, and my dorm band. we knew we had something special from day one. but we NEVER thought so many people would buy into the irony of singing a song with just the words, "david bowie, ub40" repeated over and over again.
i went to europe in 1990 and came back in 1994 to see them totally blow up. my group of early participants were such proud papas. nonetheless, it was truly bizarre when one moment, i'm in burlington and jon phisman is breaking out the vacuum (playing a vacuum cleaner that is, as a musical instrument), and we knew that was the time to go to the bar and refill the drink, only to come back 4 years later and see them sell out madison square garden, and phisman busts out the vacuum and everyone is like, "sssssssshhhh" as if beethoven came back from the dead and played the fifth. weird.
the night of the first hampton show stirred some stuff up for me big time. i like a gazillion other people that flooded twitter were desperate for timely info coming out the show. just a glimpse of wanting to feel like we were connected to the live event made me for the first time go, "maybe twitter has something for me!" the reality is what i got was a bunch of gobbley gook crap from kids on acid inside the show trying to figure out how to sms. worthless.
when i finally got to hear the show the next day, thanks to the band putting up the free mp3s, i seriously cried. something inside just broke down and longed for simpler times. the times when the world didn't feel like it was coming apart at the seems and you could just be present and in the "now" and spin and shake and freak out to some otherworldly deep musical shit.
this is a band that can't sing for shit, and can't write melodies for shit. but that's SO not what its' about. if you really want to know what it's about, get yourself a ticket and get up close. it's as beautiful as a music experience can ever ever get. can't explain it more than that.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (22)
David - I can't thank you enough for posting this. Not sure I realized how important this band was to me until they stopped touring a few years ago. I too grew up in New England and watched as they went from small clubs to MSG...Then a few years ago I hiked in to see the last run of shows at Coventry and bid farewell. It was then that I realized what would be missing with their no longer being on the road. Truly something to be experienced live....I downloaded both Fri and Saturday's shows...next best thing to being there. Looking forward to making the trek east before this run is over....
-Thanks
What a great story. I gotta admit I didn't "get" Phish until my son dragged me to a show. I found the whole scene to be very Dead-like but the audience was much more grounded in reality. That is, fans proudly called themelves Phishheads, but they didn't elevate the band to deity staus. Phish can pull off the remarkable feat of bein' up on stage even as they are "part of the crowd". They're not the band I'll put on each time I play music...but they get a good share of spins.
i never ever play phish. for me, i gotta be there.....
David,
Same here buddy, after getting soradic and often hours-late Twitter messages from the likes of Andy Gadiel, and Ellis Goddard, then hearing the actual music mere HOURS after the shows, I'm wondering why I didn't sell the naming rights to my first-born son for a ticket.
While Trey's fingers sounded slightly slower than they used to be, I'll be damned if it wasn't the sweetest music to my ears, and the best Phish has sounded in well over ten years.
jameson, trey is just getting warmed up man. i think this band has another 20 years in them.
i went straight to the lovin cup. then fluffhead to hear the crowd. then suzy greenberg for the funkdown.
i literally cried when i got the text messages of those setlists( freaking natural expo did me in), the comments were, "unfreaking believable, "ridiculous", "sick" "your a fool for not being here"......andf the like.
i feel in love with them 5-2-92 at the cabaret metro in chicago, when fishman did cracklin' rosie, i was hooked. i was still haunted by those final coventry shows, just horrible....and now that canbe wiped away
Loved it, although I have to take issue with them not being able to write melodies for shit. I think Trey and co. have come up with a few really pretty ones. I've always enjoyed "Sleep" and "Brian and Robert".
Their harmony singing has always sucked in a totally loveable way. Can't argue that :)
yeah. if you don't buy into it, the harmony is brutal. EXACTLLY LIKE THE DEAD. if you do by in, you hear humanity.
It IS a beautiful thing. I thought they were dead to me, but scoring tickets to Alpine Valley this summer revived my long lost Phishead spirit. I thought the days of rocking the bootlegs was gone, but over the last several months I have been slowly stoking the fire and this weekend burned the house down...
music lives!!!!!!!!!!
Jameson....I just came back from Hampton and am settling back to reality. My brain is still drowning in audio bliss. More to follow but for now, put the headphones on, close the eyes and check out the following moments .....some of Trey's most beautiful guitar playing to date:
-second half of the ghost jam
-bathtub gin jam
-down with disease jam
-guitar gently weeps jam
Enjoy!
justin know wonder your avatar is of a beautiful waterfall. that is the inside of your mind.
Justin! I am hearing the DWD jam right this minute for the very first time. WOW! Holy LORD JEBUS!
Yes, yes, and yes. Live was always where it's at. Being there were some of the most musically transcendant ecperiences of my life. Oh I have my share of bootlegs, but the more available they got, the better quality they sounded, something was always missing. You were lucky to be there from the begining. I heard them in about 91 or 92 through copies of their then hard to find albums, and I was in love with their bizarre musicality. Somehow their sense of humor meshed with college rock groups like King Missle, whom I discovered at the same time. Somehow, they were a patch in this musical quilt that was unfolding before me at 15 and 16. They were mine, because I had discovered them by stealing a tape from my brother.
The setlists feel like a return to the old days, while not quite the intensity of the mid-90's, there is a lot of heart there, finding their footing again. I've said it before they are the world's greatest cover band, and one of the greatest party bands. It was about fun. It was 4 guys who looked like they should be managing 7-11 being rock stars. It was (and is) what is magic about Rock n' Roll. Bring on the jam.
Justin-
-second half of the ghost jam
HELL, whole Ghost Jam. When I heard this gem from the second night, I knew, in my heart, that this was an entirely different entity than the band that took the stage in 2004. Ghost>Piper>Birds is phenomenal!
-down with disease jam
12 minutes in, at the gym today, this jam got me so riled up, I felt I could have run 40 miles.
-guitar gently weeps jam
Funny you should mention the 1st song that I ever had an 'It' moment with. End of the first set 12/4/95 Mullins Center UMass. My first show. One of my fav covers.
David - Trey is ready for the next 20. He played 85 songs this weekend that he hasn't touched in 4-1/2 years. I don't fault him in the least. I think he shook the cobwebs off of ALL of us!
hyman - i certainly took a bath this weekend in that fantasy pond that we all strive to go to with a waterfall streaming down...spiritual cleansing. felt great.
marigold - the DWD jam blew me away at the coliseum...a lot of smiles, head shaking, slapping hands, hugging old and new friends when that concluded...one of those moments of collective jubilation that we all live for.
jameson - "HELL, whole Ghost Jam. When I heard this gem from the second night, I knew, in my heart, that this was an entirely different entity than the band that took the stage in 2004" 100% agree...i will try to gather my thoughts and write a review this week.
well put wanbli. the world needed them back!
i was thinking yesterday aout how they are coming back at a time so many people are unemplyed and have ntohing better to do that go on phish tour. it was almost like they planned it out. well written as i almost cried reading this post. i obv see eye to eye with you on these guys -- THERE IS NOTHING LIKE BEING UP CLOSE AT A PHISH SHOW. the overall live experience compares to nothing out there. hands down. amen.
i was unsure going in what it was going to be like..this weekend..i was full of doubts and fears across the board for me, personally, professionally and especially for the band.. I was blown into tiny molecular shreds of an absolute pure state of bliss!!!!!!!!!!! it was something you can not re-create as far as experiences. i am so thankful!
Phish is exactly what this country needs now. Think about the shit storm the last five years without Phish. Really... I like what Charley said -- with all these umemployed people. It's true. And many will go on tour and have the time of their lives.
Maybe it's good for kids who get out of college not to get a job right away as many do. Some people who weren't happy in their jobs can spend a month or so not worrying about things and enjoy themselves.
And the people at Hampton called this the "Phish Stimulous Package" I think all the towns that host Phish this summer should take full advantage. Rent out land for campgrounds. Grocery stores stock up on beer and ice.
Phish can be a good thing for everyone. And for MY thoughts on the Phish shows... check out my posts: www.mog.com/sonical
I think y'all must be on drugs...Down With Disease!