Good day folks. A real short one
today. The Winter House played a show last night at Miscreation
Brewing Company last night and crushed it. They only play a few shows
a year so you can't sleep on these events.
Set 1
Bertha, Harder They Come, BIODTL,
Ramble On, Loose Lucy, Brown Eyed Women, Jack Straw, Greatest Story
Ever Told, Row Jimmy>Franklin's Tower
Set 2
Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the
Mountain, Half Step, Eyes of the World, The Wheel, Deal, Sugaree, Tom
Thumb Blues
The whole show was great. All high
energy. I've said it before, but I love their arrangement for Jack
Straw. The Eyes had everything an Eyes should have. The '73 '74 era
jams after the lyrics and the King Solomon's Marbles ending, which
they nailed. And a Dylan tune for an encore? Hell yes. WHB reminds
myself of Joe Russo's Almost Dead. They treat the Dead's tunes as a
jazz band treats jazz standards. A common language which all can
understand. I got that idea from the blog The Barn.
And a final thought. If the band
is tearing it up, you only have to tell me once. Telling me five or
more times how good they are playing is unnecessary. Thanks.
Greetings everyone. Hope you are
doing fine on this last weekend of winter. This installment might be
a little early but I just can't wait to get it down on paper. It is
without a doubt my all time favorite Widespread Panic show. Tunes,
people, setting, this one had it all. So without further ado, It Was
20 Years Ago Today : Widespread Panic, Live at Tussey Mountain,
Boalsburg, PA, April 21st, 1996.
I had graduated from Penn State
the previous spring but was still in touch with my friends up there.
These were the same friends that turned me on to Panic in the first
place. I had also seen Panic enough and had enough tapes that I knew
their repitoire pretty well. My buddy Adam was really tight with the
band. According to my hazy memory, I think he even lobbied them to
play Penn State while he was there. Boalsburg was right outside State
College so that was close enough.
04/21/96
Tussey Mountain Amphitheater, Boalsburg, PA
1: Disco
> C. Brown, Heroes > Impossible > Rock, Wondering >
Sleeping Man, Goin' Out West, Space Wrangler > Red Beans
2: Rebirtha
> Porch Song > The Take Out > Tall Boy > Driving Song
> Hope In A Hopeless World > Driving Song > Breathing
Slow > Mercy > Nobody's Fault But Mine > Walk On >
Chilly Water
The “venue” was on the side of
the mountain, right at the base. All of Happy Valley was spread out
before us. Without a doubt, second best view for a show I have ever
attended after the great and mighty Red Rocks itself. The weather was
spectacular as well. Sunny, comfortable temps. All welcome because it
snowed a few times in April when I attended school there. It was
rather sparsely attended but the boys still put on a hell of a show.
Disco is my favorite Panic tune
and to open with it was brilliant. Everything in the first set was
high energy. Space Wrangler exploded into Red Beans and we were all
chomping at the bit for the second set. Porch Song> The Take Out>
Tall Boy> Driving Song might be my all time 4 Panic songs in a
row. The only Tall Boy to eclipse that was at Bonnaroo 2002 with
Dootie Peoples and the People's Choir. The Nobody's fault was really
sweet because the Dead covered it back in the day and that was a nice
nod to them. I didn't know either of the encore tunes but it was
enough for my short ride back to Hanover after one last hurrah at
Penn State.
I had another Panic show the
following week at Gettysburg College but that is for another blog
post. I hope your bracket is doing better than mine.
Hello everyone. Hope you are
celebrating the anniversary of the return of Phish back in 2009. But
I'm going back a little further today. Back to 1995, to a show I
forgot about until I was going through my old ticket stubs.
Kempepedia is proud to present It Was Almost 20 Years Ago Today,
Blues Traveler Live at Stone Ridge Pavilion, October 9th,
1995.
This was the second and last time
I got tickets for free through a fan club, the first time being here
We almost missed the the
unannounced opener Mathew Sweet but Adi heard his jam and was really
geeked. Bradford Marsalis' Buckshot LeFunk came on next and they were
good. But the highlight was of course Blues Traveler. They were
riding high on their new found MTV fame but still managed to squeeze
in some of the older tunes that I liked better than most of the stuff
on their album Four. It was cool to get an Imagine encore for
Lennon's birthday.
Sorry, but not a lot to
say. I have a bunch of shows like this where I really don't have too
much recollection. But that's OK, I have many more details for the
important stuff i.e., Phish and Widespread Panic
Good day everyone. Hope you are enjoying this El Nino
inspired warm spell we are experiencing. But I come to you today not
as a meteorologist but as a chronicler of music events, and few were
bigger than Phish's Fall of '95 Tour. And now Kempepedia proudly
presents the final installment in my documentation of this Tour, It
Was 20 Years Ago Today Phish, Live at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Dec 15th, 1995.
This show came 2 weeks after my adventures in Hershey so my
expectations were pretty high. First time Phish had played the
Spectrum and I figured Trey saw a few shows here growing up across
the river from Philly.
First set was solid if typical for the era. I really enjoyed
my first Ha Ha Ha. Also like the fact there was no let up in the
first set. Nearly everything goes right into something else. I also
had my final encounter with the Devil and Uncle Leo. These were two
guys who knew each other and we were seated really close to each
other for 3 of the 4 shows I went to on this Tour. I can't remember
their names but Uncle Leo kind of looked like Jerry Seinfeld’s
Uncle Leo from the show, plus he took his shirt off at every show and
danced topless for most of the show. Yes, he could have used a
manziere. His friend I nicknamed the Devil because he had all
these piercings in his ears and crazy tribal tattoos on his arms.
Remember, this was 1995, before everyone and their uncle had ink. But
they were cool and I never saw them again.
This show was all about the second set. First, they start the
second set with a Tweezer Reprise. They had done it before on this
Tour but I wasn't aware but still WOW! The Jim>It's Ice> Gin
were top notch. All have some tasty nuggets within them. The Rotation
Jam and Mallory were weird to say the least. The 2001> Bowie were
out of this world, except I had some clown keep asking me during the
long build up to the Bowie Intro if this was Bowie. Yes, I have been
putting up with people trying to talk to me during the show for over
20 years.
They made a Mike Tyson joke before GTBT (He was fighting the
next night at the Spectrum) and some how squeezed even more juice out
of Tweezer Reprise. And then it was over. The journey that had
started when Jerry died and getting the notice in the mail about an
expansive Fall Tour had been completed. I had seen my musical future
without Jerry G and it looked rather bright. Have a safe holiday
season and I’ll be back with my reports on Cabinet and the Infamous
Stringdusters for NYE and Phish at MSG in NYC night 4.
Of the four shows I saw on the '95 Fall Tour, 12/01/95
Hershey is my favorite. And it just so happens I got off work early
today, on the 20th anniversary of said show. So look out,
straight from my brain to the page It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Phish
Live at Hershey Arena, Hershey, PA December 1st, 1995.
This was one of the shows that jumped out at me when Phish
announced their Fall Tour. I had lots of friends come down State
College. I had just moved back to Hanover from Penn State in May so I
was still in touch with my crew. Plus, practically everyone I knew
and was about to meet was there from York Adams counties. Many of the Hanover High people I know
now I met at that show.
I rode up to the show in someone's Volkswagen bus. It wasn't
a classic looking van but it got me there. Got inside and low and
behold my seat was dead center, almost directly in front of Trey, 5
rows back. Up until then, it was far and away the best seat I ever
had for a show.
Soundcheck: Buried Alive > Down with Disease, Dog Log,
Funky Bitch (half-speed) Set 1: Buried
Alive > Down
with Disease > Theme
From the Bottom, Poor
Heart, Wolfman's
Brother[1] > Chalk
Dust Torture, Colonel
Forbin's Ascent > Fly
Famous Mockingbird[2], Stash,
Cavern Set 2: Halley's
Comet > Mike's Song
-> Weekapaug
Groove, The Mango
Song > Wilson >
Suspicious Minds
> Hold Your Head
Up, David Bowie
-> Catapult[3]
-> David Bowie[4] Encore: Suzy
Greenberg
[1] Trey flubbed lyrics and remarked that, since he likes them so
much, he would sing them again. [2] Narration referenced chocolate
and the rhombus. [3] Started over David Bowie hi-hat intro. [4]
Homer Simpson quotes ("mmmm... chocolate") and Simpsons
signal. Notes: Trey flubbed the lyrics to Wolfman’s
Brother and remarked that, since he likes them so much, he would sing
them again. The narration during Mockingbird referenced chocolate and
the rhombus. Weekapaug was played in a different key. Catapult
started over the Bowie hi-hat intro, which also featured quotes of
Homer Simpson (“mmmm... chocolate”) and a Simpsons signal.
This was the first time ever that Mike’s and Weekapaug were played
without anything in between them. This show is available as an
archival release on LivePhish.com.
Buried Alive opener gets things flying. All high energy
rockers. Trey does a narration that is so long and so detailed. He
talked about giving us a big hint, the biggest clue we would ever
get... CLUE TO WHAT???? It's on the recording, clear as a bell. Still don't have any idea what he is talking about.
On Feb 10th, we were going to see the David
Grisham Quintet in Miller Chapel at Lebanon Valley College. Nad and myself went to King of
Prussia and found a Wilson road. But who knows if it was the right
one. Looked around but found nothing but open fields and it was really cold that day.
As they came out for the second set, someone told me they saw
Mike give someone in the audience one of those giant chocolate chip
cookies they used to sell. They were instant diabetes size.
Halley's>Mike's> Weekapaugh. Are you fucking kidding me?
There is so much energy in the jams that there isn't room for
ANYTHING between Mike's and Weekapaugh. This is burned in my head, up
there with the Hood from 11/22/97 and Split and the Mike's from
Clifford Ball. This Mike's is criminally overshadowed by the Niagara
Falls and NYE MSG versions but it is the third longest of all time.
Mango and Wilson allow us to catch our breath before the
spectacularly caped John Fishman singing Elvis's Suspicious Minds. He
did the karate moves and everything. The cape lit up, it was truly
amazing.
Best photo I could find.
Video
Bowie sandwich with a Catapult protein? Hell yes. And then during
Suzy rave up to end the song, Trey points his guitar at someone
diagonally from me, in the row in front of me and yells “You!” It
definitely was NOT at myself.
And then it was over. Three shows down with one to go. In
Philly. At the Spectrum. Where I saw the Grateful Dead and Trey saw
Jethro Tull. He was playing in one of the most famous arenas (music
wise) in the world. It was were I saw some incredible dead shows and
historic Dead Lots. Look the fuck out!
Hello everyone. Just kicking back this rather chilly weekend
before the holiday season gets under way with Thanksgiving. One thing
about Thanksgiving, I have seen a lot of shows. Phish, Panic, and
Devolver always threw down over the holiday weekend. But my first
Thanksgiving run was back in 1995 when I was blessed enough to see
the Wednesday before and the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was also
the first time I saw shows on 2 consecutive nights in 2 different
cities. But I really don't remember any Black Friday sales in the
Lot..... So without further ado, here is another installment in my
award hoping for series, It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Phish, Live at
the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA, November 24th, 1995.
After a jam filled show at the Cap Centre, and the following
day with turkey and football, we headed out early for the long drive
across the western highlands that are Pennsylvania. Don't remember
where we stayed or any of that stuff.
Of all the shows I've attended,
this might be the closest to an “average “ Phish show. Definitely
no down points, but outside of Gin, no real jams. It was a great show
with all the composed parts nailed but otherwise, nothing really
stands out. First time for a few songs for myself. Still not sure
what to make of Bike. Favorite part of the show was the double
encore. I really like Life on Mars? and I feel a band should leave
the last song as a high energy peak.
While there is no Devolver show
this year, Andy will be playing with the Winter House Band at the
Miscreation Brewing Company this Wednesday November 25th,
starting around 7ish. And next week I will have one of my favorite
shows of all time to write about, Phish's first trip to the Land of
Chocolate in Hershey, PA.
Hello everyone. I hope your fantasy football season is going
better than mine. The less said the better. But I'm not here to
bemoan semi legal gambling, I'm here to throw down some knowledge on
some of the posts I've been most looking forward to, my Fall Tour '95
recaps. While I have written about this Tour before, it was one of my
first blog post you can read it here
But now I'm ready to get into it balls deep as I start the epic
run that was Phish Fall Tour 1995: It was 20 Years Ago Today, Phish
Live at the Capital Centre, Landover, MD, November 22, 1995.
As I wrote before, the summer of 1995 was a season of
contrasts. I was geeked when the Dead announced their Fall tour after
their hellacious Summer Tour had finally ended. We were doing three
nights at the Spectrum and I was pumped. It would be my first real
run of shows after I had graduated. Then Jerry died and my whole
world collapsed. You can read about that here.
To say I was depressed is an understatement. But then about
three weeks after that I got a flyer in the mail announcing Phish's
extensive Fall Tour. How extensive? Try a 54 date tour going from the
end of September until the third week of December, spanning the
country from San Fran to Lake Placid. Few points of note about this
tour. First, they probably booked this in the spring without knowing
the upheaval our scene would be going through. Second, it would also
be a trial by fire. The kings of our scene were gone and Phish had an
opportunity to show they would be the new standard bearer for all
things improv. It would also be an endurance test. With only a week
off after Halloween, it was run of mostly one night stands as they
traversed this great land. What would their energy level be seven
weeks into the tour? I was about to find out
We rolled down in Nad's dad's
van, a hulking behemoth from the early 80's. It was our friends'
first proper Phish show (they had attended 10/7/94 in Fairfax, VA,
but only to hustle nitrous in the Lot.) We had our full equipment
packed for some super dope tailgating. After the usual way over the
top security check that was always present at the Cap Centre, we got
down to business.
First set was typical for the
era. High energy CT and B got us going. First set Fluffhead is always
welcome. I'm a big fan of Fog (which evolved into Taste). But the
nutmeat of the show was about to hit us upside the noggin in the
second set.
They started of with Rift,
which quickly fell apart. Trey blamed Fishman for it and then
proceeded to show us the future of Phish with a 33 minute!! version
of Free. Wow!! This was the second real lenghty trip into the
farthest reaches of space the boys ever did, the first being the
Disease from Saratoga Springs the summer before. I might be wrong on
this declaration, but I don't think I am. Words don't do this song
justice, but things really get interesting after the ten minute mark.
Everything after that was gravy. I normally don't like a slow song to
end a set but Strange Design was just the warm embrace we needed
after such a long journey. Not the biggest fan of the slow version of
Poor Heart but glad they were mixing up the arrangements.
We made it home and prepped
for a hearty Thanksgiving meal, just like everyone else on Tour. And
after a day off, we would be back on the road for the next show on
the tour in the Steel City, which I will write about next time.
