This is from an email I sent out after the Camden 2009 show. It was my first time seeing them in the 3.0 era. Bethel will be next week
Five years is a long time. I read that half of all marriages that end do it before five years is up. Some people manage to graduate from college. The past five years have been a little insane for me but they all came together this week.
Five years ago, I was in a much different place. I was partying way too hard for a guy in his 30's ( or his 20's for that matter). I was polluting myself something fierce and getting worse. In the summer of 2004, my Dad was diagnosed with Alzhiemer's. My grandmother had it as well so we had somewhat of idea what was to come but I was at Penn State for most of her illness so I wasn't as involved with her as I would be with my Dad. Phish also announced that they would be breaking up, not just going on an extended hiatus. So, two pillars of my life were yanked out right about the same time. I of course made it to Coventry (please make an effort to hunt down my Peabody award winning e-mail, Fear and Loathing in Coventry) and continued to get more out of control.
My dad slowly started to get worse but they have alot of drugs for the treatment of Alzhiemer's. Around the spring of 2006, he was staring to get worse and I was tired of the path I was on. So I stopped hanging out with certain groups of people and changed many of my habits. Hell I even quit smoking cigs a year and a half ago (But I had 6 at the show and the first one was better than 4 lesbian hippie chicks). Trey of course had his own course correction forced upon him by the State of New York. But he got himself healthy and got the Phish back together.
By Christmas this year, my dad was really bad. Out of this reality 95% of the time, not aggressive but difficult at all times. I was over at my folks house everyday to help my Mom take care of him. This was around the time I got my summer tour tixs and was really geeked to be going to shows again; this time without having to worry about how much of what I was going to score in the lot and the journey of driving home after having my brain shredded by the band (can deal with) and substances (not so good).
We had gotten on 4 nursing home waiting lists back in Feb. I figured that it would be no problem to get my dad in a home by the time June rolled around. WRONG. Unless you have 300000 dollars to commit, you go on a waiting list and wait, and wait, and wait. Then, on the Tues after Memorial Day, my dad went to the hospital with double pnuemonia. He was on oxygen but then the weekend before Camden he took a turn for the worst. The social worker said we should look at hospices instead of nursing home. I couldn't believe it. One of the most important events in anyone's life (death of a parent) is happening at the same time as one of the most important events in my life (the return of Phish).
Now obviously, if he died I would not have gone to the show. But by Mon and Tues of this week he steadily improved, enough where we are looking at nursing homes again. I so needed a good show after the stress of the last two weeks and preceding five years.
Myself and Christine got to the lot at 2. It was still pretty empty but began to fill up rapidly. Ran into alot of people from and formerly of the region (Bubba and Mel, Tom and Jamie, Austin and Jamie, Brent, Flick, Blunt, Abar, Josh, Bobbi, Wendy) As usual, we ruled the lot and the lawn. There was a noticble lack of tour rats and general shadyness (although the Nitrous Mafia was out in full effect) Below is the setlist
06/07/09 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
Set I: Chalkdust Torture, Fee, Wolfman's Brother, Guyute, My Sweet One, 46 Days, The Lizards, The Wedge, Strange Design, Tube, First Tube
Set II: Sand, Suzy Greenberg, Limb By Limb, The Horse> Silent in the Morning, Sugar Shack1, Character Zero, Tweezer
Encore: Joy1, Bouncing Around the Room, Run Like An Antelope, Tweezer Reprise
The Fee, Wolfman's was very sick and the Tube, First Tube ender were really high energy and ripping. Sand had a unique ending and then a 4 song third set. Three songs keeps it an encore. Four make it a third set. Note: I established this principle of set designation in 2005 at the WSP show in May in Asheville. That's the rule because I have a PhD in rock and roll and you do not.
Sorry the show is short on details and more about the big picture but it was more just about release and reconnecting with Phish. Got back to Marrieta at 3:30, couldn't sleep because I had a Coke (the soda, which I had to drink because they had no coffee and since I also quit soda they really crank me up now) and drove home at 6 AM. Feel really good for being up nearly 24 hours straight, but since it wasn't chemically enhanced, no hangover. Who knew!?
So, my dad is still sick and will not be getting any better but it still all worked out, and it feels really good to be back on the Bus.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies, PhD in rock and roll
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Bob Dylan '65- '66 An Angry Young Man
Greetings everyone. Hope you all survived the End of the world. And I’m not talking about the much too soon passing of Randy “Macho Man” Savage. I was never sweating it because there is no way the world was going to end on May 21st with such an important milestone coming up on May 24th. And what milestone is that? Nothing too big, just Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday.
I’m not going to try to encapsulate his entire career in this blog post. For that, just check out a pretty complete entry in my sister site, wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_dylan
No, today I’m gonna focus on one aspect of his adventure. I’m shining a spotlight on the era I like to call “Pissed Off Bob Dylan”. This is the period from the summer of 1965 until May of 1966. This is a period of intense growth for the Bard that lead to a rejection from his most fanatical of followers but fomented the creation of some of the most creative and exciting rock and roll ever produced.
Dylan started out as a protest singer, specializing in what he termed “finger pointing” songs. These were songs that pointed out the injustices in society in lyrical terms that had never been in popular music before. By 1964, he turned his unblinking eye towards relationships. While some of his most ardent apostles were unhappy with this change in direction, they were happy that it was still acoustic based music and hoped that their own little Woody Guthrie would continue his march for a better world. But Mr. Zimmerman had other ideas.
According to legend, four loveable lads from Liverpool rekindled his interest in loud electric rock and roll. According to “The Love You Make” by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines (an incredibly detailed and evenhanded book about the Beatle’s history), Dylan heard the line in “I Wanna Hold your Hand”, I can’t hide and thought they were singing I get high. He met them, introduced them to marijuana and saved rock and roll from 3-minute pop songs. But this tiny spark made him think wistfully of his teenage years when his ambition in life was to join Little Richard’s band and play loud in your face rock and roll.
So in the spring of ’65, he released Bringing It All Back Home. The first single was the mind-blowing “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. In one stroke, Dylan unleashed an ass kicking rock song that also laid the groundwork for rap. Don’t believe me? Check this out
Need less to say, people who were waiting for the next “Blowin’ In the Wind” were a little bit confused. They viewed rock music as simplistic music for kids. Dylan then destroyed the notions that rock could only be childish music by releasing the single “Like a Rolling Stone”. Suddenly, rock music could be about everything and anything. Never had anyone wrote a song that captures the exhilaration and spine tingling intensity that rock and roll is. Rolling Stone magazine has consistently rated this song as the greatest and most important song of the modern era.
That summer he played the Newport Folk Festival. He had played there the previous 2 years and for the faithful it was like seeing Mohammed in Mecca. Dylan got the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to back him and unleashed four loud and electric rock and roll songs on the unsuspecting crowd. A mixture of booing and cheers can be heard on the soundboard recordings from that night. Many myths have sprung up from this performance. My favorite is that Pete Seeger was looking for an ax to cut the electric cables. He followed this electric explosion with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. Get the point people? So after giving this big middle finger to his faithful fans, what’s a troubadour to do? Go out on a worldwide tour.
For whatever reason, this tour is incredibly well documented. I have a few shows from the beginning of the tour in the fall of 1965. There is also a 26-cd box set floating around on the Internet. This has every note he played plus many of his press conferences from the 1966 leg of the tour. You can hear the evolution of his playing as well as his comments, ranging from bemusement toward his audiences’ reaction, to anger and almost condensation towards the people.
People who were well aware of his transformation from protest folk singer to electric rock and roll heathen; yet were still angry when they would show up and he wasn’t playing protest songs.
In another simple twist of fate, Dylan recruited rockabilly singer Ron Hawkins’ backing band known as the Hawks to join him on his world tour. The Hawks would go on to become the Band. They continued their long journey around the world while facing more and more hostility from the audiences.
By the time Dylan gets to England for the end of his tour, he is emotionally and physically exhausted. He was abusing speed pretty heavily so this didn’t help matters. Here is a great clip of the inspiration that he had from his chemical cocktails
Which brings us to my favorite live album of all time; The Bootleg series Vol. 4, The Royal Albert Hall show from May 17, 1966. It was a famous bootleg that was actually recorded in Manchester, England. Since I became enlightened, I had read about this show but had no way of getting a hold of a copy. I went to a few record conventions but had no luck in securing a copy. It was finally released officially in 1998 and it was everything I hoped for and more. The first disc is his acoustic set. It was mostly his surreal songs with a few love songs sprinkled in. The second disc is nothing but electric kick ass rock and roll. I was immediately transplanted back to when I was a teenager and discovered the raw power of this music. The Band is on fire behind him as he redefines what rock and roll can be. At the end of it you can hear an audience member yell “Judas!” Dylan was rather angry for being compared to the man who betrayed Jesus. You can hear exactly how Dylan felt about this as they launch into “Like A Rolling Stone”
Here is a complete version of the song
Following this tour, Dylan had a “motorcycle accident” that allowed him to retreat from the public eye and sit out the rest of the 60’s. But he did kick start a revolution with the simple act of plugging in and raising hell. Happy birthday Mr. Dylan and may you stay forever young.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD in Rock and Roll
I’m not going to try to encapsulate his entire career in this blog post. For that, just check out a pretty complete entry in my sister site, wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_dylan
No, today I’m gonna focus on one aspect of his adventure. I’m shining a spotlight on the era I like to call “Pissed Off Bob Dylan”. This is the period from the summer of 1965 until May of 1966. This is a period of intense growth for the Bard that lead to a rejection from his most fanatical of followers but fomented the creation of some of the most creative and exciting rock and roll ever produced.
Dylan started out as a protest singer, specializing in what he termed “finger pointing” songs. These were songs that pointed out the injustices in society in lyrical terms that had never been in popular music before. By 1964, he turned his unblinking eye towards relationships. While some of his most ardent apostles were unhappy with this change in direction, they were happy that it was still acoustic based music and hoped that their own little Woody Guthrie would continue his march for a better world. But Mr. Zimmerman had other ideas.
According to legend, four loveable lads from Liverpool rekindled his interest in loud electric rock and roll. According to “The Love You Make” by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines (an incredibly detailed and evenhanded book about the Beatle’s history), Dylan heard the line in “I Wanna Hold your Hand”, I can’t hide and thought they were singing I get high. He met them, introduced them to marijuana and saved rock and roll from 3-minute pop songs. But this tiny spark made him think wistfully of his teenage years when his ambition in life was to join Little Richard’s band and play loud in your face rock and roll.
So in the spring of ’65, he released Bringing It All Back Home. The first single was the mind-blowing “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. In one stroke, Dylan unleashed an ass kicking rock song that also laid the groundwork for rap. Don’t believe me? Check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J4O2-nsFBA
Need less to say, people who were waiting for the next “Blowin’ In the Wind” were a little bit confused. They viewed rock music as simplistic music for kids. Dylan then destroyed the notions that rock could only be childish music by releasing the single “Like a Rolling Stone”. Suddenly, rock music could be about everything and anything. Never had anyone wrote a song that captures the exhilaration and spine tingling intensity that rock and roll is. Rolling Stone magazine has consistently rated this song as the greatest and most important song of the modern era.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3mAX5xdxo
That summer he played the Newport Folk Festival. He had played there the previous 2 years and for the faithful it was like seeing Mohammed in Mecca. Dylan got the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to back him and unleashed four loud and electric rock and roll songs on the unsuspecting crowd. A mixture of booing and cheers can be heard on the soundboard recordings from that night. Many myths have sprung up from this performance. My favorite is that Pete Seeger was looking for an ax to cut the electric cables. He followed this electric explosion with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. Get the point people? So after giving this big middle finger to his faithful fans, what’s a troubadour to do? Go out on a worldwide tour.
For whatever reason, this tour is incredibly well documented. I have a few shows from the beginning of the tour in the fall of 1965. There is also a 26-cd box set floating around on the Internet. This has every note he played plus many of his press conferences from the 1966 leg of the tour. You can hear the evolution of his playing as well as his comments, ranging from bemusement toward his audiences’ reaction, to anger and almost condensation towards the people.
People who were well aware of his transformation from protest folk singer to electric rock and roll heathen; yet were still angry when they would show up and he wasn’t playing protest songs.
In another simple twist of fate, Dylan recruited rockabilly singer Ron Hawkins’ backing band known as the Hawks to join him on his world tour. The Hawks would go on to become the Band. They continued their long journey around the world while facing more and more hostility from the audiences.
By the time Dylan gets to England for the end of his tour, he is emotionally and physically exhausted. He was abusing speed pretty heavily so this didn’t help matters. Here is a great clip of the inspiration that he had from his chemical cocktails
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj2CPqX-tLc&feature=related
Which brings us to my favorite live album of all time; The Bootleg series Vol. 4, The Royal Albert Hall show from May 17, 1966. It was a famous bootleg that was actually recorded in Manchester, England. Since I became enlightened, I had read about this show but had no way of getting a hold of a copy. I went to a few record conventions but had no luck in securing a copy. It was finally released officially in 1998 and it was everything I hoped for and more. The first disc is his acoustic set. It was mostly his surreal songs with a few love songs sprinkled in. The second disc is nothing but electric kick ass rock and roll. I was immediately transplanted back to when I was a teenager and discovered the raw power of this music. The Band is on fire behind him as he redefines what rock and roll can be. At the end of it you can hear an audience member yell “Judas!” Dylan was rather angry for being compared to the man who betrayed Jesus. You can hear exactly how Dylan felt about this as they launch into “Like A Rolling Stone”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm1pLiyrGyw
Here is a complete version of the song
Following this tour, Dylan had a “motorcycle accident” that allowed him to retreat from the public eye and sit out the rest of the 60’s. But he did kick start a revolution with the simple act of plugging in and raising hell. Happy birthday Mr. Dylan and may you stay forever young.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD in Rock and Roll
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Dark Star Orchestra 8/7/08 Dewey Beach DE
Hey everybody, hope things are good in your hood. Today's post is another entry from the series Classic Shemp. This is the series when I repost some emails I sent out from years past. The response was so good to these emails it led me to start the blog. So without further ado, I present to you a post from a DSO show in Aug of 2008
What's up people? Just finishing out my Jerry Week Celebrations. Jerry Week runs annually from Aug. 1 (his birthday) until Aug 9 (the day he was sprung from his mortal coil). Uh Dave, that's 8 days. I know, but the Fat Man knew that hippies could use an extra day to celebrate, so why not? Anyway, it was supposed to get off to a rousing start with the SkyView Jam '08 but Mother Nature did her best to scuttle that. I must say I really had a serious case of blue balls after that weekend Not the kind of blue balls brought on by a Cindy Crawford flashback. Something more akin to a quasi musical/psychological/metaphysical type of blue balls. One of expecting to get off through musical mysticism. Alas, it was not meant to be. Where can one find bliss, total conscience, and a sweaty good time?? Look no further that the Dark Star Orchestra.
I saw them down in Dewey Beach DE and man, what a mind blowing time. They're famous for doing Dead shows in their entirety. Most of the time, it's post hiatus ie., 1976 to 1995. But on a rare occasion, they do something from before that. This was one of those nights. They opened with US Blues, which I immediately tagged it as from summer of 73 to 74. As the first set progressed, they played Roses and To Lay Me Down, which I knew didn't debut until 74 so I was right on target. The second to last song of the first set was China>Rider. As my faithful readers know, this is my fav combo the boys do. The transition was nothing short of spectacular and they really took their time getting to Rider. They played it EXACTLY as the Dead would have performed it in 1974. By the end of the 12 song first set (I only mention this because some shows in the 90's only had 12 songs in the whole show. Yes, I'm looking at you, spring tour of 92! ), I had achieved a sweaty good time and bliss, yet still waiting on total conscience.
The second set started and they did a great Scarlet, but no Fire 'cause this was 1974 baby! Still wasn't sure of exactly which show it was, so I wasn't sure of what the meat of the second set would consist of. Then it came like a Sasquatch on 'shrooms charging out of the woods. Truckin'>Eyes. The Truckin was steller with a peak, but not the huge drop like a '77 version. And with Eyes, total consciencness was achieved. All the jams invoked sunlight flowing over amber waves of grain in a river of bliss. Towards the end of it, they did the jam that would become King Solomon's Marbles and the jam that would become Slipknot. With that, I knew it was a summer of 74 show, cause Jerry only broke out that solo in the summer of 74 before shelving it in the fall. At the end of the show, they came out and said "Tonight’s show was 6/20/74" Booyah!! While technically still the spring, it was Summer tour and that's all that counts. People around me were scrapping their jaws off the floor and giving me high fives as I called the show rather early. When people ask me, "Do you really need 80% of all the shows from 1970 to 1974?" I tell them yes, if I want to write emails like this.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies,
PhD in rock and roll
What's up people? Just finishing out my Jerry Week Celebrations. Jerry Week runs annually from Aug. 1 (his birthday) until Aug 9 (the day he was sprung from his mortal coil). Uh Dave, that's 8 days. I know, but the Fat Man knew that hippies could use an extra day to celebrate, so why not? Anyway, it was supposed to get off to a rousing start with the SkyView Jam '08 but Mother Nature did her best to scuttle that. I must say I really had a serious case of blue balls after that weekend Not the kind of blue balls brought on by a Cindy Crawford flashback. Something more akin to a quasi musical/psychological/metaphysical type of blue balls. One of expecting to get off through musical mysticism. Alas, it was not meant to be. Where can one find bliss, total conscience, and a sweaty good time?? Look no further that the Dark Star Orchestra.
I saw them down in Dewey Beach DE and man, what a mind blowing time. They're famous for doing Dead shows in their entirety. Most of the time, it's post hiatus ie., 1976 to 1995. But on a rare occasion, they do something from before that. This was one of those nights. They opened with US Blues, which I immediately tagged it as from summer of 73 to 74. As the first set progressed, they played Roses and To Lay Me Down, which I knew didn't debut until 74 so I was right on target. The second to last song of the first set was China>Rider. As my faithful readers know, this is my fav combo the boys do. The transition was nothing short of spectacular and they really took their time getting to Rider. They played it EXACTLY as the Dead would have performed it in 1974. By the end of the 12 song first set (I only mention this because some shows in the 90's only had 12 songs in the whole show. Yes, I'm looking at you, spring tour of 92! ), I had achieved a sweaty good time and bliss, yet still waiting on total conscience.
The second set started and they did a great Scarlet, but no Fire 'cause this was 1974 baby! Still wasn't sure of exactly which show it was, so I wasn't sure of what the meat of the second set would consist of. Then it came like a Sasquatch on 'shrooms charging out of the woods. Truckin'>Eyes. The Truckin was steller with a peak, but not the huge drop like a '77 version. And with Eyes, total consciencness was achieved. All the jams invoked sunlight flowing over amber waves of grain in a river of bliss. Towards the end of it, they did the jam that would become King Solomon's Marbles and the jam that would become Slipknot. With that, I knew it was a summer of 74 show, cause Jerry only broke out that solo in the summer of 74 before shelving it in the fall. At the end of the show, they came out and said "Tonight’s show was 6/20/74" Booyah!! While technically still the spring, it was Summer tour and that's all that counts. People around me were scrapping their jaws off the floor and giving me high fives as I called the show rather early. When people ask me, "Do you really need 80% of all the shows from 1970 to 1974?" I tell them yes, if I want to write emails like this.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies,
PhD in rock and roll
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The FIrst 20 Tapes GD 5/26/73 Kezar Stadium, SF, CA
Public Service announcement:
My neighbor is putting on the Really Really Free Market Sat. May 14th from 7AM until 6PM at the Damaged Frieight Outlet 227 High ST., Hanover, PA This is what is on her flyer. So check it out and involve yourself in local action
What is the Really Really Free Market? We all know that the free market is the capitalist idea that we’d all be better off worrying about ourselves and our own interests. The Really, Really Free Market ia not only an action in direct response to this ridiculous notion, but a means to disprove the capitalist myth of scarcity altogether. We don’t need the corporations, the governments, or the politicians to tell us what we need and where to get it.. All we need are the clothes and food they throw away.. All we need are talented minds and spirited hearts.. All we need is Each Other.
The Day’s events
The free exchange of goods (bring or take clothes, furniture, books, music, food, etc.) and comradery will be going on all day, but we do have a few special events planned for the day
Noon –3 PM Skill share with workshops TBA
3PM- 6PM An acoustic jam session
And now we return you to you regularly schedualed Kempepedia entry
Greeting folks. Only a few more weeks until we show Bethel the meaning of three days of kick ass music. Yes, I am proclaiming that Phish will be better than Woodstock. So without a show to review, I present yet another installment of my highly controversial series, the First 20. Today I show a whole lotta love to 5/26/73, Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
This is another show that had widespread penetration among the collections of tape traders back in the days before the Internet.
05-26-73 Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, Ca. (Sat)
1: Promised, Deal, Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, Race Is On, Sugaree, Mexicali, Row Jimmy, L. L. Rain, TLEO, Playin
2: H. C. Sunshine, El Paso, Loser, BIODTL, You Ain't Woman Enough, Box Of Rain, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Big River, Bertha, Around
3: Half Step, Me & My Uncle, He's Gone> Truckin> Other One> Eyes> China Doll, Sugar Magnolia E: Casey Jones
You can stream it here while you read
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1973-05-26.sbd.cantor.diebert.83438.sbeok.flac16
Kezar Stadium was where the 49ers played before they moved to Candlestick Park. Sorry I refuse to acknowledge whatever it’s new corporate name is; just like Deer Creek will always be Deer Creek. Kezar Stadium was located on the edge of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood and within the confines of Golden Gate Park. It was almost like a local concert for Heads.
They also played 3 normal length sets instead of the monster sets that were typical of the era. Highlights of the first set include Deal, Jack Straw, and a rather spacey Playin. The second set was more like a first set as far the song selection goes. Harmonies abound on H C Sunshine and Donna takes a rare lead vocal on the Loretta Lynn classic You Ain’t Woman Enough. The third set was all about power. The classic run of He’s Gone>Truckin’ was like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick. The Other One has some fine Phil bombs to collapse what was left of people’s skulls. The Eyes>China Doll is like the warm embrace letting you know that things will be alright, no matter how much of Owsley’s product you ingested.
Furthur
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
Ph.D. Rock and Roll
My neighbor is putting on the Really Really Free Market Sat. May 14th from 7AM until 6PM at the Damaged Frieight Outlet 227 High ST., Hanover, PA This is what is on her flyer. So check it out and involve yourself in local action
What is the Really Really Free Market? We all know that the free market is the capitalist idea that we’d all be better off worrying about ourselves and our own interests. The Really, Really Free Market ia not only an action in direct response to this ridiculous notion, but a means to disprove the capitalist myth of scarcity altogether. We don’t need the corporations, the governments, or the politicians to tell us what we need and where to get it.. All we need are the clothes and food they throw away.. All we need are talented minds and spirited hearts.. All we need is Each Other.
The Day’s events
The free exchange of goods (bring or take clothes, furniture, books, music, food, etc.) and comradery will be going on all day, but we do have a few special events planned for the day
Noon –3 PM Skill share with workshops TBA
3PM- 6PM An acoustic jam session
And now we return you to you regularly schedualed Kempepedia entry
Greeting folks. Only a few more weeks until we show Bethel the meaning of three days of kick ass music. Yes, I am proclaiming that Phish will be better than Woodstock. So without a show to review, I present yet another installment of my highly controversial series, the First 20. Today I show a whole lotta love to 5/26/73, Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
This is another show that had widespread penetration among the collections of tape traders back in the days before the Internet.
05-26-73 Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, Ca. (Sat)
1: Promised, Deal, Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, Race Is On, Sugaree, Mexicali, Row Jimmy, L. L. Rain, TLEO, Playin
2: H. C. Sunshine, El Paso, Loser, BIODTL, You Ain't Woman Enough, Box Of Rain, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Big River, Bertha, Around
3: Half Step, Me & My Uncle, He's Gone> Truckin> Other One> Eyes> China Doll, Sugar Magnolia E: Casey Jones
You can stream it here while you read
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1973-05-26.sbd.cantor.diebert.83438.sbeok.flac16
Kezar Stadium was where the 49ers played before they moved to Candlestick Park. Sorry I refuse to acknowledge whatever it’s new corporate name is; just like Deer Creek will always be Deer Creek. Kezar Stadium was located on the edge of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood and within the confines of Golden Gate Park. It was almost like a local concert for Heads.
They also played 3 normal length sets instead of the monster sets that were typical of the era. Highlights of the first set include Deal, Jack Straw, and a rather spacey Playin. The second set was more like a first set as far the song selection goes. Harmonies abound on H C Sunshine and Donna takes a rare lead vocal on the Loretta Lynn classic You Ain’t Woman Enough. The third set was all about power. The classic run of He’s Gone>Truckin’ was like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick. The Other One has some fine Phil bombs to collapse what was left of people’s skulls. The Eyes>China Doll is like the warm embrace letting you know that things will be alright, no matter how much of Owsley’s product you ingested.
Furthur
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
Ph.D. Rock and Roll
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Boxcar Social 4/30/11 Kclinger's, Hanover, PA
When a band gets to play several days in a row, they find themselves running like a well-oiled machine. A certain telepathy forms among the members and they know what the other member is going to do before they do it. The night after coming to the rescue, they ended up playing a full show after they were only scheduled to open; Boxcar Social brought their unique blend of rock, funk, and bluegrass back home to Hanover and KClinger’s Tavern, they destroyed the place.
They were on fire and showed they were carrying the momentum they had from the night before at the Appalachian Brewery Company in Harrisburg. They were supposed to open for the Greens but the drummer’s wife’s water broke (acceptable excuse for missing a gig). The boys stepped up to the plate and played a Boxcar first set and then a hybrid Green Social second set mashup. No more specific review than that because I wasn’t there. I go into work at 5 AM so late night activities on those nights are few and far between.
They opened up with Funk #12, a relative new number to their repertoire. Another original simply titled D, brought out the funk featuring Brian Davis’ unique bass playing technique. The New Riders classic Glendale Train got us all in an Appalachian state of mind.
Wagon Wheel is another tune they have made their own and kill every time they play. Original composition 43 has the right amount of psychedelic tinge to it. They ended the first set with Get On Down followed by Frannie Mae. Once again the Col. Josh Sander’s playing was restrained enough to fill the beat without drowning out any conversation in KClinger’s bizarrely designed performance area.
The second set was a whole ‘nother animal. The second song was their debut performance of the Allman’s In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. Everyone was en fuego and Frank ( a.k.a. the F-Bomb, courtesy of Vuja Dave) was tearing it up. I’ve known Frank almost 10 years but it was only in the last 2 that I ever heard him play electric guitar. I’ve heard plenty of mandolin, banjo, and acoustic picking but he is truly a force to be reckoned with on the electric guitar. Dave’s percussion also shined through on this immediate highlight of the show. The rest of the second set raged with the highlights being Unrest, Taper’s Section and Something to Say, all strong originals.
The encore was the classic Boxcar sandwich of Pockets>Steam Powered Aeroplane>Gin and Juice>SPAP>Pockets. Once again, creating a great blend of their own, funky soulgrass with a dash of 90’s West Coast G Funk. Paul’s vocals and storytelling always bring a smile to one’s face. The cover of Ween’s Bananas and Blow and Phish’s First Tube ended out a great 2 night run that bodes well for an upcoming summer filled with bar shows and festival appearances.
Full set List:
4/30/11 Kclinger’s Tavern, Hanover, PA
Set 1:
Funk #12>D>Glendale Train, One More Time>Pound of Gold>Wagon Wheel, 43, Get On Down, Frannie Mae
Set 2:
Caught Up in the Sound> In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Everybody’s, Mountain Blues, Coming into Los Angeles, Unrest, Taper’s Section, Something to Say, Thinking it Over
Encore:
Pockets>Steam Powered Aeroplane>Gin and Juice>SPAP>Pockets, River Song>Man Smart Women Smarter, Bananas and Blow, First Tube
Dave Kemp
BA in American Studies
Ph.D. in Rock and Roll
They were on fire and showed they were carrying the momentum they had from the night before at the Appalachian Brewery Company in Harrisburg. They were supposed to open for the Greens but the drummer’s wife’s water broke (acceptable excuse for missing a gig). The boys stepped up to the plate and played a Boxcar first set and then a hybrid Green Social second set mashup. No more specific review than that because I wasn’t there. I go into work at 5 AM so late night activities on those nights are few and far between.
They opened up with Funk #12, a relative new number to their repertoire. Another original simply titled D, brought out the funk featuring Brian Davis’ unique bass playing technique. The New Riders classic Glendale Train got us all in an Appalachian state of mind.
Wagon Wheel is another tune they have made their own and kill every time they play. Original composition 43 has the right amount of psychedelic tinge to it. They ended the first set with Get On Down followed by Frannie Mae. Once again the Col. Josh Sander’s playing was restrained enough to fill the beat without drowning out any conversation in KClinger’s bizarrely designed performance area.
The second set was a whole ‘nother animal. The second song was their debut performance of the Allman’s In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. Everyone was en fuego and Frank ( a.k.a. the F-Bomb, courtesy of Vuja Dave) was tearing it up. I’ve known Frank almost 10 years but it was only in the last 2 that I ever heard him play electric guitar. I’ve heard plenty of mandolin, banjo, and acoustic picking but he is truly a force to be reckoned with on the electric guitar. Dave’s percussion also shined through on this immediate highlight of the show. The rest of the second set raged with the highlights being Unrest, Taper’s Section and Something to Say, all strong originals.
The encore was the classic Boxcar sandwich of Pockets>Steam Powered Aeroplane>Gin and Juice>SPAP>Pockets. Once again, creating a great blend of their own, funky soulgrass with a dash of 90’s West Coast G Funk. Paul’s vocals and storytelling always bring a smile to one’s face. The cover of Ween’s Bananas and Blow and Phish’s First Tube ended out a great 2 night run that bodes well for an upcoming summer filled with bar shows and festival appearances.
Full set List:
4/30/11 Kclinger’s Tavern, Hanover, PA
Set 1:
Funk #12>D>Glendale Train, One More Time>Pound of Gold>Wagon Wheel, 43, Get On Down, Frannie Mae
Set 2:
Caught Up in the Sound> In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Everybody’s, Mountain Blues, Coming into Los Angeles, Unrest, Taper’s Section, Something to Say, Thinking it Over
Encore:
Pockets>Steam Powered Aeroplane>Gin and Juice>SPAP>Pockets, River Song>Man Smart Women Smarter, Bananas and Blow, First Tube
Dave Kemp
BA in American Studies
Ph.D. in Rock and Roll
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