February 8: Today in RMP History

From: C.Willia...@dartmouth.EDU
Subject: Mike Int. Part III
Date: 8 Feb 92 23:44:25 EST

I repeated the last paragraph from the last post so nobody will get too
confused. More to come.

M- Right... although... It's just because people that haven't heard us think
that we are a Dead cover band or that we sound exactly like them. If they
already have opinions about the Grateful Dead- like if they don't like the
Dead, then they won't come to see us, whereas maybe they would like us
anyway. That's one problem. Also, it just kind of gets old with clubs
booking us as a Dead cover band. It's sort of a slap in the face when we are
trying to do something unique.
I'm not really allowed to talk about the Dead though. I think
when we are at our best, we definitely do things that the Dead or no other
band could do. We explore things and take things to the extreme. For
example, jams sometimes turn into a really different sounding thing. Like
the drum beat will change, or the chord progression will change- that sort of
thing. Sometimes it will develop into something really specific that we've
never played before. That's something that even jazz bands don't do too
much. I mean they improvise all the time, but ... we try to change the
structure sometimes.

[Break for soundcheck]

Q- What was that blues jam?
M- Just something for fun... just for the soundcheck.
Q- So you guys get to go home, now?
M- Yeah, it's been a long time
Q- So what are you going to do?
M- Rest. Write some songs, and that's about it.
Q- Where is home for you guys now?
M- Burlington, Vermont. For me it's actually Jericho, in a log cabin. A
couple of the guys live together in Winooski, which is next to Burlington. A
couple guys are homeless actually, because they moved out of their apartments
before the tour so they wouldn't have to pay rent.
Q- I was wondering, when you guys write songs- Trey writes the majority I
guess- does he or whoever has written the song pretty much plan it all out in
terms of what the other instruments will do, or does he come up with some
chords and lyrics and says, "lets work it out together."
M- Both ways. Sometimes he will give me a written bass line, and sometimes
he will just have some structure and I'll write my own bass line. There are
a couple of songs we wrote together actually, just by jamming.
Q- Like what?
M- "Tweezer". I don't know if I can think of another one.
Q- Are you going to continue playing the "Tweezer Reprise"? You don't seem
to be playing it as much as you did with the horns.
M- Yeah, we still do it sometimes
Q- How did you like playing with the horn section?
M- It was great. They were really good.
Q- It's just a one shot deal though?
M- Yeah. They live in different parts of the country. It's not so easy to
get them together. Yeah. It was fun for the summer. I think it might be a
bit much to do all the time. Having seven people gets a little crazy.
Q- Do you have any new originals or covers that you're working on that are
not on the album.
M- Well, there's four new ones we've been doing this fall that...
Q- I mean other than "Sparkle", "It's Ice", and the other two?
M- Yeah, I think that's about it. Those were the last four. We're going to
take January and I think February to work on stuff.
Q- What about covers?
M- I don't think so. Well, I guess there are some that Fish is going to come
out and sing. Oh yeah, we are all going to do "Rocket Man".
Q- Who's going to sing lead?
M- Page
Q- But that's not ready yet?
M- Well we just played it at a sound check and we had it pretty much right,
but we have to go back and check some of the chords and stuff. It's not often
that we learn cover songs.
Q- What happened to that tune "Goin' Down Slow". Actually, I have two
questions about that. I heard the Howlin' Wolf version...
M- There are a few different versions of it.
Q- Where did the ending part come from [The "Leavin' on the last train"
part]?
M-It was the same as the Bobby Bland version.
Q- Did that song fall through the cracks or something?
M- Trey said he felt stupid trying to sing like an old black guy, so he
bagged it.

Lee, I haven't forgotten aout putting the whole thing in the Stories File.
-Bill

------------------------------

From: Shelly Culbertson <sh...@gandalf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: rocket man
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 92 22:48:25 PST

In the third section of the Mike interview from 11/24/91, the following
appears:

Q- What about covers?
M- I don't think so. Well, I guess there are some that Fish is going to come
out and sing. Oh yeah, we are all going to do "Rocket Man".
Q- Who's going to sing lead?
M- Page
Q- But that's not ready yet?
M- Well we just played it at a sound check and we had it pretty much right,
but we have to go back and check some of the chords and stuff. It's not often
that we learn cover songs.

Ah, the cat's out of the bag ;-). Trey also mentioned Rocket Man at
the Somerville interview, but we were sworn to secrecy...he felt that if
people began to look for it they'd probably never end up playing it (not
for any rational reason, just because). The sound check Mike mentions
was before the Portland Maine show, 11/22/91 (Henry & I were there; they also
did a *hot* Mountain Jam). Rocket Man sounded pretty good, but perhaps
not ready for public performance yet. Later, in a phone conversation, Trey
mentioned that Maine was the second time they had sound checked the song;
the first time he had liked it pretty well, but it didn't seem to work as
well the second time...so I wouldn't necessarily expect to hear it at a
show. But, you never know!

Shelly

------------------------------

From: "NEAL P." <NP1...@albnyvms.bitnet>
Subject: I am not happy with RIFT
Reply-To: NP1...@albnyvms.bitnet
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1993 21:54:19 GMT

Since everyone thinks that RIFT is the greatest album to ever be pressed,
I am forced to disagree:

1) First of All, Everyone is saying how different the songs sound on CD
than they do live, This is hogwash! The songs, Rift, It's Ice, Sparkle,
and the other songs that debuted on the Portsmouth tape almost a year ago are
identical. Of course they have more of a studio sound, but there is no
improvements. It seems they just jumped into the studio and recorded the
songs
without thinking of ways they could REALLY use the studio to enhance them.

2) In the recent interview Trey was saying how Nectar was so disjointed and
unfocused. I think Nectar is a PHENOMONAL album for just that reason. When
Nectar came out, I was on cloud nine. I found myself listening to it over and
over again, The way they blended all those styles was simply awesome. I would
walk to class and suddenly blurt out "Crab in my Shoemouth" for no apparent
reason. The 'inconsistency' of Nectar is what makes it incredible and the
'consistency' of Rift is what makes it sound very similar. It is all dark,
moody, and reflective with the exception of the country feel of two songs.
Remember Nectar? Guelah = Reggae, Poor Heart = Country, Manteca, etc. = jazz
Rift = ???

3) Where are the jams? With the exception of Maze, there are NO intense jams.

4) Listen to Junta, then cue up Rift, I am sad to admit that on album, Phish
may not be taking a direction I like, especially with the Cheesy ballad. I am
sorry, But it sounds to me like Kermit the Frog does Phish. That song would
fit nicely right in the Muppet Movie in place of 'Rainbow Connection'.

5) Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Phish. In fact, the show at Roseland I saw
on Saturday was incredible. But the highlights were certainly not the Rift
tunes they did. I must also admit Mound sounded really good.

6) The next album should finally commit some Phish classics to vinyl :
Suzy Greenberg, Harry Hood, Mike's -> Groove, etc...

Flame Away ! I don't think constructive criticism ever hurt anyone...

- Neal

------------------------------

From: ja...@access.digex.com (James Treworgy)
Subject: Comments from the weekend, Rift
Date: 8 Feb 1993 16:17:09 -0500

This is coming out of the blue so forgive me if I am repeating stuff that
has already been posted. Our news is a few days behind.

I am now recovering from an insane weekend at Roseland and Lisner Aud
(hometown!! There;s nothing like being able to walk home from a show).
Let's cut to the dirt here. I'm sure that word has travelled quickly that
Punch You in the Eye broke out friday, and it really rocked!!! Iyt was
_so_ _wierd_ to hear Landlady back in its original incarnation... I had
never heard PYITH before in concert so it was pretty unique. Trey was
explaining the "Landlady Dance" but I couldn't see the stage because of
some oh-so-priveleged people who felt it was necessary to stand full height
at the back of the soundboard platform. (Don't know if they were crew or
not but it was pretty rude to everyone who was behind the soundboard I
thought). But the show, the show!!! Their sound system has DEFINITELY
improved since last year. The sound was very good from all the different
places I was inside. The crowd was obnoxious (surprise)... they made
barely an attempt to perform the acapella stuff without microphones.

There were new songs (at least new to me)... something about "God Never
Listenss to a word I say" which sounded an awful lot like Fast Enough,
'cept it has no killer guitar solo :-( so I can't really give it a thumbs
up. My opinion of course. There was another song that I didn't recognize
which had a chorus like "I want to drink from your loving cup, what a
beautiful
buzz, what a beautiful buzz...". It sounded like an old Little Feat song
but I didn't recognize it, but it was very rocking and lots of fun!! (That
one gets my thumbs up :-)

Saturday, Popper came out for Buried Alive, Possum (!!!!!!) and the Fire
encore, featuring none other than Noel Redding on bass!! (They were joking
around, faked a couple false starts and trey said something like, "get this
Mike guy off the bass. Lets have someone who knows how to play step
in ...")

And the premiere of The Wedge on Saturday!!!! I gotta say I was expecting
it to be more different from the album version after reading the interview..
in fact I kinda like the album version better. Page didn't really throw
in any of those cool funky keyboard licks, and Trey didn't ever really
rock out (he doesn't on the album to any great extent but I had visions
of huge jamming guitar solos between verses and at the end... but then
again I live for that shit). It was still great, I really like that song.
I'm sure they are still working it out, after all, it was the premiere.

Sunday was incredible, one of the best shows I can remember. Tweezer
was stunning, as was YEM, LLAMA!! JEEZ! I thought my head was going to
fly off and hit the wall!

Other fun stuff, If I Only Had A Brain, great Page on Squirming Coil.
That grand piano has gotta stay!!! And I was practically in tears when
they sang Amazing Grace (for Trey's sister's birthday :-) ten feet
in front of me. That was the encore, followed by Contact -> BBFCFM (with
plenty of people yelling "Stash!!" and other foolery during the
breaks... that reminds me on the tape I have from one night at Roseland
you can hear some guy yelling LLAMA during a quiet part. Except they had
played it in the first set. He yells it over and over again... ahh,
New York.

I think I must be getting old... I remember at Lisner Aud last year, I
thought, jeez, I wish they would play the Bayou again, cuz I like that
intimate bar scene much more than reserved seating. Well, Roseland
was SO PACKED that I was wishing I had a seat and a little space so I
could dance woithout being barged into by drunk shitheads all the
time!! People were walking right through the taper section, kicking
people's equipment and bumping into mic stands a couple times...
crazy... It was really nice being at Lisner after Roseland where
people had some respect for the band and each other. But like I said,
maybe I'm just getting old. The shows were great though... well worth the
hassles.

-- Jamie

James A. Treworgy
ja...@access.digex.com

------------------------------

From: ake...@euclid.ucsd.edu (Allan Keeton)
Subject: Phishtory.XI (Fall from Rapture)
Date: 9 Feb 93 00:45:28 GMT

let us reflect for a micro-moment on the macro-cosmic happenings
on the mount. The circle of time; the Ouroboros, the serpent eating its
own tail had oped its clenched jaw. This due to an erotic interlude - a
mysterium coniunctionis - the climax of which rotated the closed form of our

s O

o u

r r

o o

b

into a parabola.

At the focal point of this parabola were Icculus' oft maligned
feet. The parabola, of course, is the locus of points equidistant from
Icculus' feet & a straight line - but here in Gamehenge nothing is as
straight as it should be. Even that most linear of concepts, the arrow
of time, has first gone orbital & then collapsed in delerium to a single
point.
And then there is the mountain itself, the planetary point
closest to the celestial vault. Here on this mountain Icculus was
pierced against the firmament like a cosmic butterfly, by some type of
terrestial-pleromatic Kundalini rushing through the gallactic chakras.
And then it was all done - vanished. Without so much as a "thanks for
the
evening - here's my phone #, call me" the divine forces, Eris included,
up & left. The only residue of this cosmic version of a one night stand is
that it left the
planet's axis not to mention Icculus shifted 23 degrees (or close enough for
government work) diagonally. That &
something bizarre happening to la god's foot. It was now . . .

5 pounds, 6 pounds, 7 pounds, . . .

But the foot can wait. It is Icculus' present mood which worries
me. When compared to the ambrosial moments of dewy rapture on
the mount, his present Eris-less existence seems drab, dull & lifeless.
In her poignant absence his heart feels like romantic roadkill.
He sullenly makes his way off the mountain & down into the
foothills. There he lives the life of a cantakerous gypsy & a drunken one at
that. He sleeps the entire day while the local possum work. At night when
they
come out & get downright shitfaced (whilst hanging upside down of
course) Icculus' face is the shittiest of all. The possum drink mead
stored in the bladders of two-toned multibeasts. Nightly, Icculus quaffs
a full bladder at one sitting & empties two more while lying diagonally in
a semi-comatose state.
In the morning he commonly awakes to find that he has emptied
his own bladder on himself in the night.
How long can this go on? He has a destiny to fulfill. He has a
FUCKING book to write! The answer, most assuredly, is not for too many
more months.

_________________________________________________________________________

...Allan
ake...@euclid.ucsd.edu

------------------------------

From: Samuel Jackson <jac...@sun.cis.smu.edu>
Subject: Phish returns to the Garden
Reply-To: jac...@sun.cis.smu.edu
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 05:55:52 GMT

Hey all-

Did anyone happen to see the Celtics game at the Garden the other
night.
Well, before the game they were watching the Bruins practice and noticed
the hot young quartet the B's had in uniform. The Celtics needed these
superstras in waiting to come help their fledgling club. So they signed up
Misters Anastasio, McConnell, Fishman and Gordon and started the first
ever all-rookie team in Celtic history (Eric Montross was at center).
Well, the new team proved they were the real thing. Page started
at shooting guard and from the very start of the game started draining three
pointers from all over the court. Every one made a quiet swish- soft as
church music.
And then there was Cactus. Always in high fashion, Mike slapped on
a pair of Chuch Taylors and pulled his athethic socks up past his knees to
emulate the stars from the 70's. With great steadiness he hit basket
after basket and never even broke a sweat.
At the power forward position was Trey. Receiving countless
exceptional passes from the rest of the team, he powered his way past the
NBA's elite. With dazzling jams he silenced all critics. "he must be on
drugs," someonespeculated. Nah, he's just the best jammer since Michael.
And finally, the backbone of the team, Fish. Playing point guard,
he made many spectacular passes to Trey and his sole-mate Mike. But Trey
graciously turned the show over to Fish on defense as he sucked the
opposing players in like a vacuum and made steal after steal.
When it was over, the Celtics had won 156-23. Amazing. Oh, what
happened to Montross? He just ran up and down the court-too amazed to try
and help his spectacular teammates. But it was alright, Phish didn't need
the help.
Peace- Sam

------------------------------

From: James J Trimpe <trim...@student.msu.edu>
Subject: Simple becoming Simple
Reply-To: trim...@student.msu.edu
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 06:18:06 GMT

OK Joel, we got our own little private thread going here... ;)

The first time I had ever head the half step drop in going from Mike's to
Simple (or a jam that would eventually evolve through the months to become
Simple) was the 12/30/93 Portland, ME II show. To this day, might I add, this
is still one of my all time favortie sets. If you don't have this show, you
owe
it to yourself to listen to this powerful set!!!

Back to the point.

The first time I heard this I did feel a little awkward about it. It really
seemed like I was getting screwed out of the cool chromatic descent that leads
into the 9/4 section that we don't get to hear that much any more. For that
reason as well as the fact that it seemed like a very odd direction to take
musically, it did feel very... well, I guess awkward.

With time, however, this because something I became very used to, and now,
something I greatly look forward to. The transition seems the smoothest when
Trey manages to have a jamming in the last section of Mike's (the D, E, F#min
phrase that comes before the jump) as opposed to holding one note. To further
aid to the shape of the phrase, if Trey can jump right into the riff of Simple
or something with similar motion, this transition becomes a major high
point as
well as a ponit to start a new idea- Simple.

As for the jump on the other side of Simple (PRIME example in the second
set of
the 10/8/94 Fairfax, VA show! Another fantastic tape you owe to yourself to
get!) where they have to go back up from F to f#min, that transition seems
smoother just in the fact that as well as ascending up the half step, they
always are increasing the intensity from the vocal section. In combination,
sure it may not be the most musically sound thing to do, but if we always
stuck
to the rules of Common Practice counterpoint, music would really got boring!
The cool thing about this transition is that it really should be a bit
awkward,
but it is pulled off in a way that really works! I love it! I show it off to
other people who have never heard Phish!

If you made it this far, feel free to jump in, not just on Simple, but other
tunes as well! Sometimes, just the crazy meters are enough to spark my
interest!

As for the double live album, I'm actually sitting down and timing some of my
favortie stuff so I can present an accuratly timed package. Is anybody else
doing this? I'm sure it will make Shelly's job a bit easier if this is done as
well...

J.R. -trim...@student.msu.edu

Damn I rattled on for quite a while, didn't I...

------------------------------

Smells Like Phish (article)
Author: Dan Hantman <d...@archive.phish.net>
Date: 1998/02/08
Forum: rec.music.phish

I hadn't seen this article posted anywhere, so I thought I'd share it
with everybody.

There are some weak points: some of the crowd notes, like "the original
Phisheads are nowhere to be seen" are kinda unsuppported, and somewhat
not true.

But mostly I think it's a fantastic article. The author makes honest
statements about the band, atmosphere, etc. I don't wanna offend
anybody here, but the world at a Phish show is not at all like my world
- so when I go, I get sort of amused (like at a carnival) as this guy
did. But I do love the atmosphere, no doubt. Anyway, he does recognize
the wonder that is Phish musically speaking ("virtuoso musicians"), and
even picks out the true show highlight (Bowie->Cities->Bowie). He only
make one song title error ("Cars, Trucks, and Buses" - which frankly,
way too many fans say too), which isn't too bad after seeing stuff like
"Mike's Story" or "Weekapaug Song" in major publications.

He makes some particularly profound observations too, about the "kiddie"
atmosphere - which is a good thing, IMNSHO. Also, if you're going to
compare Phish and the Dead, his comments are EASILY the best I've seen
("crisp" vs "rough" and "whimsy" vs "emotion"). I also agree that shows
ooze an erotic atmosphere...dunno why, but I agree.

Of course, the Kenny G and Yanni comments are rather ridiculous. But
again, that's just me.

Enjoy.

Adios

P.S. (This review is from Student.Com, which I just discovered. It's
just a "big amorphous blob" of a site for college-types, run sorta by a
shoestring from Cambridge, MA. Kinda neat, actually, if you ask me.
But then I'm more of a frat-boy/prep type than most of you. :)

--
Dan Hantman - d...@archive.phish.net
*Mr. Colorado*

The Helping Friendly Book - http://www.phish.net/hfb/
The Mockingbird Foundation - http://www.phish.net/mockingbird/
People for a Louder Mike - http://www.netspace.org/users/dan/plm/

Re-printed here with absolutely no permission from
http://www.student.com/97/09/02/phishatventura/index.phtml

-------------
Smells Like Phish

Sure, the Great Went was one of the summer's greatest concert-going
events. But before Phish went on to create a town with Maine's largest
population for two days, they brought their Woodstock sensibility to
Ventura, Calif. for a surprisingly young audience.

BY GADI DECHTER
STUDENT.COM CORRESPONDENT

But at a recent gig at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, as Phish worked
its way to the Great Went in Maine — an erstwhile horse racing track
just off the beach —near Los Angeles, about 10,000 dusty Phisheads
turned out to dance in the dirt and trip out under the big starry sky.

The Phish concert experience begins in the parking lot before the show
where fans bake in the sun and mill about hawking everything from veggie
burritos to nitrous oxide. If you listen carefully you can hear the low
hum of mumbled sales pitches from the kids ambling about: "Kind
buds...fatty grilled cheeses...mushrooms...kind fatty ice water..."

Everything's for sale and everything is apparently kind and fatty. Mmm.

The whole event has an eerie camp-like feeling. When thegates open the
audience is led like cattle through a maze of fenced-in walkways. A
light cheer rises through the air when the security guards request that
the fans raise their tickets above their heads as they walk through.
Those lucky enough to have tickets happily comply and the security staff
chuckles amongst themselves as they let the teeny-bopper/hippies pass.

Phish is very freshman year. The average Phishead looks between 16 and
20 years old. It's a very young crowd, creating a surreal atmosphere of
children
playinglets-dress-up-like-we-imagine-our-parents-did-in-the-Sixties. The
smattering of older fans (read: 20-25 years old) tend to sit on the
bleachers and watch bemused like parent chaperones at a dance as the
high-schoolers tread a slow mellow path to the field and fill up the
enormous brown grounds in front of the stage.

You see a dirty 14 year-old clearly tripping his head off, his
dreadlocks flying in his face as he shakes his head around and coughs
into the ground. A pretty girl of similar age comes up to him and gently
takes his arm, offering him a knowing smile and kind words of support.
They clutch each other as other kids find their friends, sit on the dirt
floor and smoke pot, play cards, chit-chat.

The girls are so pretty here. You've never seen a richer assortment of
angelic teenage girls. They wear loose-fitting dresses and flowers in
their hair and brush up against you unselfconsciously as they dance.
These are fresh-faced young girls who already have that hollow
I've-seen-so-much-in-my-fourteen-years look in their eyes that charges
the air with a scandalously erotic quality. The Phisheads talk quietly,
greet buddies with warm hugs and kisses and wait for the show to begin.

When the band takes the stage there is no great surge forward, no
pushing or clawing to get a better view, everyone simply stands and
begins to dance. Most of the audience noodles around, twisting their
hands and bodies into the air around them and singing the familiar words
along with the band. The music, like the Grateful Dead, is free-form
improvisational rock 'n roll borrowing heavily from diverse musical
genres such as folk, country, jazz, Latin and funk. But the similarity
to the Dead ends there. Unlike their predecessors, Phish's music feels
cold and crisp. Where the Dead were soulful and rough around the edges,
Phish is clean and precise, favoring whimsy for emotion.

This is guitar-driven rock that's more electronic than electric. Trey
Anastasio's guitar sounds like a countrified Yngwie Malmsteen on
Ketamine, and Mike Gordon's bass playing would be perfectly at home on a
jumpy Jimmy Buffet tune. The Phish sound is so neat and clear it's
surprising the band's albums don't sell (only Picture of Nectar has
achieved Gold status) given that live they sound like a long-winded
studio recording.

The first set is mellow and includes some new songs, "Cars, Trucks &
Buses" and "Water in the Sky," and is highlighted by a rousing rendition
of "Chalkdust Torture" that breathes life into the young bleary eyes of
the audience. But mostly the vibe is sedate and listener-friendly.
Listening to Phish as a kid will inevitably ease the midlife transition
to adult contemporary music and Kenny G concerts.

At times the show feels like a campfire gathering at a YMCA weekend
trip. Anastasio and Gordon — both in their 30s — grin happily into the
crowd and, to the delight of their audience, sing tunes that often sound
more like children's songs than rock 'n' roll. The enthusiastic call and
response on "Stash" and "Prince Caspian" only serves to complete the
Nickolodeon vibe. You get the feeling if Phish sometimes segued into a
funky version of Kumbaya the audience wouldn't bat an eyelash, just
continue noodling away forever, psyched out of their skulls.

They're psyched for good reason — the music is extraordinary. The band,
rounded out by Page McConnell on keyboard and drummer Jon Fishman, are
virtuoso musicians who meander effortlessly through musical styles,
carrying their audience on a freestyle groove journey that makes you
smile, close your eyes and noodle around in your best imitation of a
spaghetti strand. And at times Phish shreds. The second set features an
amazing version of "David Bowie" into "Cities" and back into "David
Bowie" which brilliantly flows from syncopated jazziness to heavy
rockabilly and Steely Dan-like time signature variations.

And suddenly it all makes sense. The kind fatty ice water ("Great for
cottonmouth!"), the juvenile innocence, the heady feeling of
experimentation. Even though Phish has been touring since the late '80s,
and though they generate intense fan loyalty, the original Phisheads are
nowhere to be seen. Maybe they just got sick of the band's trendiness
and heady success and would rather stay at home and listen to bootlegs.
Or maybe they've grown up. Maybe they're just down the street, at the
Yanni gig.

Gadi Dechter is the Los Angeles Correspondent for Student.Com.
-------------------

-Phillip