Sunday, December 28, 2014

Twenty Years Ago Today: Phish, 12/28/1994 Live at the Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA

      Hello everyone. I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. I've been having a blast and am ready to watch all four nights of the NYE webcast. I don't always get to do that due to my work schedule. But my mind isn't on the future, it's in the past. Specifically, 20 years ago to the day, when I attended my first NYE run show by any band. I am of course talking about Phish, live at the Civic Center, in Philadelphia, PA Dec. 28th, 1994.
      I had 3 Phish shows under my belt with the last being the unbelievable, ground breaking, Earth shaking Halloween performance. Check it out here http://kempepedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/phish-halloween-1994.html
     We got tickets through Ticketbastard and somehow found this old dilapidated basketball arena in the heart of old Philly, about 12 blocks from Independence Hall. It was ancient then and home to 5 local colleges basketball games. Just checked it out on Wikipedia and evidently it was demolished in 1996 and a newer convention hall was built. However, it also stated that the Beatles played there in 1964 so now the number of venues I have seen play where the Beatles also performed has grown to 3 (Hollywood Bowl, Boardwalk Hall, and Philly Civic Center) Super dope!
      My normal crew headed out with no GPS but pretty good directions because we made it there. It was A's first show so naturally he took a hit of LSD, well before we got to the venue. So we were sitting in the I-76's world famous stop and no go traffic with him tripping. Sigh. But it wasn't too bad.
Got to the venue with enough time to enjoy the Lot. Scored some balloons and Nad preceded to pass out face first into the concrete. He managed to do this at many shows in the mid 90's. He got nothing more than a black eye and we headed into the venue.




Wednesday, 12/28/1994
Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA

Set 1: Mound > Simple, Julius, Bathtub Gin, Bouncing Around the Room, Axilla (Part II), Reba[1], Dog Faced Boy, It's Ice > Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Suzy Greenberg > NICU > Mike's Song -> The Mango Song > Weekapaug Groove[2], Contact, Llama, Hold Your Head Up > Love You > Hold Your Head Up, The Squirming Coil
Encore: Bold As Love
[1] No whistling.
[2] Vocal jam.
Teases:
· Auld Lang Syne, The Little Drummer Boy, and Cars Trucks Buses teases in Weekapaug Groove
· Buried Alive tease in Julius
Notes: Julius included a Buried Alive tease by Trey. Reba did not have the whistling ending. Weekapaug Groove contained Cars Trucks Buses, Auld Lang Syne, and Little Drummer Boy teases as well as a vocal jam.



You can stream it here



       Mound was definitely the highlight of the first set for me. Mike was doing the off beat clapping thing over his head. Best description I could come up with. Second set was just one amazing song after another. The Suzy and Mike's were insane. Weekapaug had this cool section where Trey and Fish were riffing off of each other right around the 8 minute mark. The Little Drummer Boy Jam in it at the 14:14 mark of Weekapaug is truly stunning. Trey then takes it down a key and makes it rather demented to say the least. I had no idea what to make out of the Love You song. Phish was still very weird to me.
      But there you have it, my first venture to a NYE run show. I've been blessed to hit quite a few over the years but as they say, you never forget your first.



Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll


Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Phish, Live in Las Vegas, Oct 31st, Nov 1st and Nov 2nd, 2014 at the MGM Grand Arena

     Of all the cities in the US, few offer the allure and temptation as Las Vegas does. From its early days as a destination for squares to see the Rat Pack, through its transformation to an adult playground, Vegas has always been the twinkling jewel in the desert. But I'm not coming to Vegas to gamble or hang out with Moe Green, I'm here for some unfinished business; that business being Phish on Halloween. So allow myself to weave a tale 16 years in the making, Phish live at the MGM Grand Arena on Oct 31, Nov. 1 and Nov 2nd 2014.
      Our tale starts way back in 1998. I had tickets in hand for both nights of the Halloween run in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I had a close encounter of the worst kind on my way up to the Lemonwheel Festival in August of 1998. I was cited by the Maine State police and released. I still made it to the whole festival and can clearly remember telling myself, “This is and was definitely worth the hassle of the arrest” . But because of my legal expenses, there was no way I could swing going out West. I sold my tickets to the only Italian alcoholic hillbilly from Ohio I will ever meet, and left my Sin City dreams to the dustbin of history.
      Flash forward to the present day. Much of my seeing Phish shows involves a lot more travel than in the past, at least via airplanes. So when rumors started floating around that Halloween was going to be in Vegas, that got my synapses firing. It worked out really well that I would do the 3 nights in San Fran and then fly to Vegas for the Halloween run. This would be a first for me; multiple cities and all the traveling done by plane.
      Also around the time of the Fall Tour announcement, I met this super cool chick Casey Connelly. We had met online but didn't meet in the real world until MMP2, you know the show that had everything!




      I got extremely lucky with tickets through mail order. I was able to hook some friends up and trade for what I needed. I hadn't even gone on a proper date with Casey yet but as I told her, “I'm not trying to rush things, but we have to make decisions about these shows. Life can wait, Tour can't.“ So she decided to go to Vegas with this guy who gets really excited about music and has an incredible beard.
      So second night of San Fran, while the city burned over the victory of the Giants in the World Series, Switzer suggested that I ride with them instead of flying to Vegas, as they were doing the whole Fall Tour via car. I said sure, why not? The taxi cab ride to the airport in SF was 75 bucks. So right after the show we hit the road. I got to witness a sunrise over the desert, which was quite spectacular. We arrived in Vegas sometime before noon. I checked into my hotel and took the World's Greatest Power Nap.
      Casey was flying in later that evening so I went to play some 1-2 dollar No Limit Texas Hold'em. While I love playing tournaments, cash games aren't really my strength. But I told myself that when she texted me, I would leave the table no matter where I was bankroll wise. Her flight was delayed because they had 52 WW2 vets on it who were coming into DC to see the memorials. Everyone at the gate applauded them as they disembarked the plane. I'm sure it was super cool and moving. But her delay allowed myself even more time at the table. When she texted me, I was up by 150 bucks and got the hell out of there. We rested up for the next day was one of the biggest of the Phish calender year, HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      We pre gamed at some friends suite in the MGM Grand. It was spectacular, with a view overlooking the Strip and the airport. The bathroom had a programmable shower, with multiple settings and temperature control. Alas, this is the only photo of the place I have


     After helping one friend out with his ticket, we found our seats and got ready for whatever Phish had up their sleeves.

Friday, 10/31/2014
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1: Buried Alive > Ghost, Scent of a Mule, Sample in a Jar, Reba, 46 Days, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Lawn Boy[1], Saw It Again > Tube, Wolfman's Brother
Set 2: The Haunted House[2], The Very Long Fuse[2], The Dogs[2], Timber[2], Your Pet Cat[2], Shipwreck[2], The Unsafe Bridge[2], The Chinese Water Torture[2], The Birds[2], Martian Monster[2]
Set 3: Punch You In the Eye > Golden Age > Tweezer -> Heavy Things, Guyute, Sand -> Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Is This What You Wanted[3], Frankenstein[4]
[1] Fish drum solo.
[2] Debut.
[3] Phish debut.
[4] Page on keytar.
You can stream it here

First set was solid. We got a lot of the monster/spooky related material right away. The Ghost was good for as short as it was. And I've always felt the ending of I Saw It Again was always rather dark.
I thought the second set was brilliant. We got 10 new jams of intense super Phishiness. Great way to continue the tradition of covering an album but coming up with new songs. The third set had the amazing transition from Sand into Tweeprise, which I missed because I was pissing. The encore was really great. The first song was definitely directed to the fans. And Frankenstein was really well placed. In 1994, they opened Halloween with Frankenstein. 20 years later, they closed the Halloween show with it. Nice symmetry.
Second day in Vegas we fell into a nice pattern. Gorge at a buffet and then play some poker. Neither Casey nor myself had any real luck but over all I only lost about 150 playing cards, so that is pretty good. I got to walk around Vegas a lot as I had to get a ticket and then deliver it to the Most Interesting Man on Tour.


Saturday, 11/01/2014
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Set 1: Fuego, My Soul, Back on the Train, 555, Dog Faced Boy, Fuck Your Face, Horn > Frankie Says > My Friend, My Friend, Roses Are Free, Roggae, Birds of a Feather, Wingsuit
Set 2: Possum, Crosseyed and Painless > Light -> The Dogs -> Lengthwise > Twist > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Harry Hood > Golgi Apparatus > Backwards Down the Number Line
Encore: Waiting All Night, Sing Monica, The Star Spangled Banner
Teases:
· The Birds tease & quote in Birds of a Feather
· Your Pet Cat, Lengthwise, Manteca, and Smoke on the Water teases in Twist
Notes: Dog Faced Boy was played for the first time since June 8, 2011 (144 shows). Birds of a Feather contained teases and quotes from The Birds. Twist contained Lengthwise quotes, Manteca teases and quotes, a Smoke on the Water tease and Your Pet Cat teases.



You can stream it here
      Another solid show but its been so long since I listened to it I can't recall too much about it. I thought the triple encore was cool even if a lot of people didn't. And I totally heard the Manteca tease in Twist.
      The last night I got to see my buddy Adam Kreuter who I knew from Penn State. He saw more shows before I turned 21 than I can count, including the Dead in Europe in 1990 and the Formerly the Worlocks shows in Hampton in 1989. He's also one of the guys who got me into WSP. I hadn't seen him since 1999 so it was great to catchup with him.


Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Mexican Cousin, Ocelot, Sugar Shack, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Halfway to the Moon, Bathtub Gin > Free, Walls of the Cave
Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture[1] > Piper > Theme From the Bottom > Wombat, David Bowie, The Line, You Enjoy Myself[2]
Encore: The Moma Dance > Slave to the Traffic Light
[1] Unfinished.
[2] Trey used his megaphone siren; all four band members were on percussion.
Teases:
· Rhapsody in Blue tease in Halfway to the Moon
· The Load-Out tease
· Martian Monster quote in Free
· Martian Monster quote in Walls of the Cave
· Martian Monster quote in David Bowie
· Martian Monster quote in You Enjoy Myself
· The Wedge tease in Chalk Dust Torture
Notes: Mexican Cousin was played for the first time since June 19, 2012 (110 shows). Page teased Rhapsody In Blue at the end of Halfway to the Moon. Free, Walls of the Cave, Bowie, and the YEM vocal jam contained Martian Monster quotes. Chalk Dust was unfinished and ended with Fish teasing The Wedge. Toward the end of the YEM jam, Trey picked up his megaphone and began using the siren on it as he ran around the stage. Mike joined him, and Trey held the megaphone up to Mike's bass. Mike then began playing his fight bell with drum sticks while Trey went to the drums and played along with Fish.  Finally, Mike and Page joined in, so that all four were playing on Fish's kit. After Page thanked the audience and crew, Mike teased The Load-Out.
You can stream it here

      I love ASIHTOS so that was super. And any set with Free, Gin, and Walls of the Cave in it is a great set in my book. The second set raged to end the Tour. The Chalk Dust had some great moments that really reminded me of the Tahoe Tweezer. I don't know enough about music to write about them, but Trey and Page hit these chords that were rather percussionesque. The Wombat Crew had their Wombat hats on so that was really cool and the YEM was one for the ages. Over 26 minutes long, with Trey and Mike running around the stage?! The encore was a great sendoff for us as we had to face the reality of heading home after Tour ends.
      So there you have it. The number of people who hit the 1994 Halloween show and the 2014 one is rather small but I'm so proud to be in that select group. And things are going great with Casey and myself. Besides 2 Dave Kemp’s on tour, we are also the second Dave and Casey couple in our immediate Touring family. Up next, my reminiscence about my first NYE run show, 12/28/94 in the City of Brotherly Love.


Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Trey Anastasio Band, Dec. 13, 2014, Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA

     Real quick one today. Got the opportunity to see Trey outside the friendly confines of the Phish Universe, so here is the Trey Anastasio Band Live at the Tower Theatre, Upper Darby PA on Dec 13, 2014.       Super bonus about this show, I hadn't seen Trey Band since 2002 at Bonnaroo. No setlist but I did know most of the songs. We got a Gotta Jibbo, Sand, Heavy Things, and Mr Completely. It was sweet to get “Phish” songs in a much different musical environment. The crowd was much older and not quite as rowdy as normal.
      We had seats in the balcony and Trey ladled a lot of love on the venue. If you have never been to the Tower, you definitely owe it to yourself. Not too many old school venues left anymore. We also ate pizza at the same place I did in 2005 for Phil, a block away from the venue.
      The show isn't up on Etree yet and there is no where to stream shows, so you will have to use your imagination and picture how well this guy melts faces.

Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll