It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Phsih live at the Centrum, Worcester, MA Nov. 27th and 28th, 1998

     Hello everyone. I hope you are enjoying this first blast of winter. I know many of my friends in PA got crushed by a few inches of snow. We are expecting 5 to 9 inches today, with more in the mountains. Which is fantastic, as I just bought my helmet and goggles and am all ready to start skiing. But I’m not here to talk about this November but November 1998, long before I ever imagined moving to Vermont. But I still attended what were considered hometown shows.  So without further ado, Kempepedia is proud to present It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Phish Live at the Centrum, Worcester, MA November 27^th and 28^th, 1998.

    After hitting the Thanksgiving run in 1997, there was no way I was missing this one. While Phish’s sound had evolved over the course of 1998, they were still on fire this Fall tour even if it didn’t reach the almost unreachable heights of Fall 1997. This time I went with Jared and his wife. Jared was my landlord at the time and the only Italian hillbilly I have ever met.

Nov. 27^th, 1998

SET 1: Funky Bitch, Ya Mar, Carini, Runaway Jim, Meat > Reba, The Old Home Place, Dogs Stole Things, Vultures, When the Circus Comes, Birds of a Feather

SET 2: Buried Alive > Wipe Out > Chalk Dust Torture -> Mirror in the Bathroom-> Chalk Dust Torture -> Dog Log ->Chalk Dust Torture > Sanity > Buffalo Bill > Mike's Song -> I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove -> Wipe Out -> Weekapaug Groove > Weekapaug Groove Reprise > Run Like an Antelope

ENCORE: Wading in the Velvet Sea, Golgi Apparatus > Wipe Out

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1998-11-27

     Highlight of the first set is Carini. Although it’s not the beast it would become, it still is really heavy. It also references an incident a few weeks prior when a naked guy was on stage. And it wasn’t Fishman.

    The second set is one big long song. Don’t believe me? Every song goes into one another and a whole lotta Wipe Out. The band was one fire and having a hell of a good time. Jams and wackiness, definitely Phish at its best. The Mike’s is very evil and Weekapaugh has so many peaks one cannot keep track. A triple encore to send us off into the night is the icing on the cake.

Nov. 28^th, 1998

SET 1: Gumbo, Tube > Down with Disease, Guy Ute, Albuquerque, Foam, The Moma Dance, Split Open and Melt

SET 2: Julius, Wolfman's Brother > Timber (Jerry The Mule) > Loving Cup > Scent of a Mule^[1], Prince Caspian > Crossroads,Tweezer, Cavern

ENCORE: Sample in a Jar > Tweezer Reprise

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/1998-11-28

     Typical 1998 goodness here. The Disease is a nice first set treat. Moma had some nice funky licks and Melt made everyone’s brain split open and melt. Julius was stretched out and paired perfectly with Wolfman’s. Mule had a cool but rather long duel with Mike and Trey. While a Tweezer this late in the second set is unusual, it has more than a few amazing moments. Just like 1997, I skipped the final night. Really wish I hadn’t.  All the Pain and Layla featuring Vermont guitar genius Seth Yacavone were outstanding. The man’s voice and guitar playing are from another universe. I had to wait 19 years to see him playing in person, but it was definitely worth the wait. The Dead Set I saw him lead on July 3^rd was among the best things I have seen up here. He sings and plays like he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in the Northeast Kingdom.

     So there it is. My second and last (so far) birthday Phish shows. Feel so lucky to have seen what I saw in 1.0 which just ads to my street cred living in the amazing city of Burlington Vermont. Up next, a Dead Set birthday show with the incredible Zach Nugent leading the proceedings.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

Dark Star Orchestra, Live at the Higher Ground, and Dead Set, Live at Club Metronome, Nov. 13th, 2018

     Hello everyone. Hope things are good in your hood. Winter temps have arrived right on schedule with it getting down to 11 degrees tonight. Last was cold and smoking hot, all at the same time. Why? Because Dark Star Orchestra was paying a visit to Burlington on a Tuesday night, the same night of the week as Dead Set at Nectar’s. 2 different dead acts in town. The next day off from both jobs and its Switzer’s birthday. I am all over that like brown on rice. So with no further delay, Kempepedia is proud to present Dark Star Orchestra Live at the Higher Ground and Dead Set at Nectar’s, Nov. 13^th, 2018.

    My crew was going to go to DSO to celebrate Switzer’s birthday but then plans changed and they couldn’t go. Ghost Light on Sat. worked better for them and she could get a free ticket for hanging posters. So she hung posters downtown in temps in the teens and ran into Mike Gordon. So I had to rage even harder in their absence. Management is on it.

   The DSO show was sold out and very crowded. They opened the showcase lounge and played the audio so people would have space to dance. 

Set I

Big Railroad Blues

Me and Bobby McGee

They Love Each Other

The Race Is On

Loose Lucy

Next Time You See Me

Big Iron

To Lay Me Down

Good Lovin'

China Cat Sunflower>

I Know You Rider

Set II

Sittin' On Top of the World

Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)

Pride of Cucamonga

Eyes of the World>

Dark Star>

Drums>

Other One>

Uncle John's Band>

Other One>

Morning Dew

encore: Rockin' Pnuemonia 

You can stream it here

https://archive.org/details/DSO2018-11-13.aud.MKH804.nico11104.flac24

     Whole show had 1974 vide. The Dark Star and the incorporated jams were AMAZING. Words can’t do it justice. I saw 2 mike stands so hopefully a recording will surface. The Eyes had the ’74 eyes jam and the China Cat transition was very reminiscent of how they did it in 1974. I knew it wasn’t an actual show as the Dead never performed Pride live.Loved Two Souls , a rarely performed Pigpen ballad. The crowd definitely skewed older. As a wise man said, it can be intimidating to go to Nectar’s while they can go to an HG show, which starts earlier, and still make it to work the next day. I left towards the end of the show because I didn’t want to wait for an Uber. On to Nectar’s.

      I got there and headed up stairs. The vast majority of shows I have seen there have been downstairs. The upstairs is called Club Metronome and that is where the first Phish gig was. It is much bigger than the downstairs so lots more room to dance. And they have a coat rack! It’s all about the simple things.

      I walked after the first verse of Franklin’s Tower and it was raging. The energy was so much higher for whatever reason and I worked out a lot of aggression in the most positive way possible. They shredded it up and down until a peak like a mini volcanic eruption. We all needed a break after that.

    For the second set, Rob Eaton of DSO came out. He is originally from Vermont and the band then laid waste to all our minds, bodies, and souls.

Set 2: Scarlet>Fire, Shakedown St.

 Over an hour.

During Scarlet there was a cool little breakdown where the 2 drummers, the incredibly talented Russ Lawton and Ryan Clausen of Haley Jane and the Primates, or as they are known on the street as Clawton, did a fantastic calypso thing. Just high powered pure energy emanating from some secret place only masters can unlock.

     Feel so grateful and blessed how things are going up here. I know enough people now as they say hi to me at shows, which is great as I dance alot with my eyes closed. It has been a great November. A visit from PA friends the first weekend, a harvest party with a genetics swap the next weekend. Don’t forget, cannabis is legal up here. Thanksgiving next week at the Talberts and my annual thanksgiving yoga class. Been here a little over a year and already have a tradition. And then the November 27^th Dead Set is my birthday show as I turn 46 at midnight. Yipyaw!

Dave Kemp
BA American Studies, PhD Rock and Roll