March 16: Today in RMP History
PZerbo
March 16: Today in RMP History
Shows on this date (3):
3.16.89 L+L Dorm, University of Vermont, VT [Setlist @
http://www.phish.net/hpb/1989.html#03-16-89]
3.16.91 Ten Mile Room, Breckenridge, CO [Setlist @
http://www.phish.net/hpb/1991.html#03-16-91]
3.16.93 Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, AZ [Setlist @
http://www.phish.net/hpb/1993.html#03-16-93 and reviews @
http://www.phish.net/reviews/shows/03-16-93.html]
------------------------------
From: tw...@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went)
Subject: Phish in Washington Post
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1992 04:57:20 GMT
A net welcome a week late to all! Returning from spring break, I found
the following items of interest in the Washington Post (reprinted with
no permission whatsoever):
3/13/92 - Weekend Section (announcements)
THE MUSIC MAJORS
Better read than Dead, the Vermont freestylists of _Phish_ have
developed a Phishhead following all their own; the equally eclectic
_Everything_ opens for them Tuesday at Lisner Auditorium.
3/15/92 - Show Section, in Eric Brace's _Limelight_ column
PHISH: IN THE MIX
Phish, a curious name for a curious band. "Rock, jazz, Broadway,
funk, bluegrass, and Latin. Those are our influences," says bass player
Mike Gordon. "We used to list 12, but we whittled it down to six. We
lost hard-core, calypso, reggae, blues, and some others." This musical
bouillabaisse has gotten the Vermont quartet a dedicated live following
that some compare to that of the Grateful Dead. "There are some
similarities," says Gordon. "We both improvise, and not too many rock
bands do, we vary song lists from night to night, and I think there's
something in the air. People say it's a special feeling. I hope I'm
not being pretentious."
What began as a collegiate art-rock band has evolved to the point
where "the influences from the outside and the crazy styles from the
inside are getting blended," says Gordon. He mentions a new piece that
had a Latin feel, until Gordon added a bluegrass bass line, "and it
ended up so you couldn't call it Latin and you couldn't call it
bluegrass. It's just Phish."
The band's major label debut has them on the road for a few months.
"We never thought it would get to this. We're splurging on separate
motel rooms so we don't get sick of each other. Imagine spending 24
hours with these guys!"
--
Tony Went (tw...@wam.umd.edu) - University of Merryland
"I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride."
------------------------------
From: DLD...@psuvm.psu.edu
Subject: ***** GO PHISH *****
Date: 16 Mar 92 04:46:05 GMT
hello phellow phish phriends!
as promised, here's the article printed in the march 12th vermont
times that i picked up while lounging in nectar's before the burlington show
on thursday. you have to see the two pictures to really appreciate them...
if anybody would like a photocopy just send a SASE (they don't copy very
well but they're still cool) to me at
ryan kerrigan
103 holmes hall
university park, pa 16802
***** ***** ***** * * ***** ***** * *
* * * * * * * * * * *
* ** * * ***** ***** * ***** *****
* * * * * * * * * * * (THAT'S SUPPOSED TO
***** ***** * * * ***** ***** * * SAY "GO PHISH")
WITH THE RELEASE OF THEIR MAJOR LABEL DEBUT LP,
THE PHORMER BURLINGTON BAND IS PHLYING HIGH
Phish, Flynn Theatre, Thursday
march 12. The show is sold out.
by Steve Rosenfeld
Staff Writer
So just how did phish, that quirky, energetic, jam happy band comprised
of four former university of vermont and goddard college students, do all
those things--build a huge underground national following, get a major record
contract they didn't seek, quickly sell out a show (this thursday night) at
the flynn theatre-- that have eluded so many other vermont bands for so long?
"It's not that we didn't want it," explains bassist mike gordon. he's
talking about elektra record's new release of phish's first compact disc, a
picture of nectar, named in honor of burlington's nectar rorris and his now
immortalized music hall. "but it wasn't something we planned."
Not since kilimanjaro released their highly acclaimed jazz albums in
the e
arly 1980's has a burlington band struck such a high profile outside the green
mountain state.
Already, a picture of nectar is in its second pressing, selling out a
35,000 cd first run and breaking into the top 10 charts in boston. including
thursdays flynn show, the band has just begun an 11 week national tour.
they'll be back in burlington this summer to make their second album and then
plan to go to europe.
Phish's success is a result of many factors, including no shortage of
talent, focus, and drive. but their spirit and sound--phish establishes rock,
blues, and jazz-like grooves, breaking into orchestrated progressions and
bridges, and then moving into extended solos where the goal is crashing from
one crescendo to the next -- come from playing in and around burlington, and
studying with a handful of central vermont's best musicians, composers, and
teachers, according to trey anastasio, phish's composer, guitarist, and lead
vocalist.
"The interesting thing about it is we've found all these people in
burlington and in the outskirts of burlington, this community of musicians,"
he says, crediting jazz composer ernie stiles, the university of vermont's
jane ambrose, goddard college's lois harris, the sneakers jazz band, gordon
stone, and others for encouraging phish not only to delve into studying
music but also to write their own.
"Having traveled around a lot, people ask us, younger bands, how do you
start to play this weird kind of music," anastasio says. "that's the thing
about nectar's and why we named the album after him. we'd go to nectar's
and play three nights in a row. our earliest experience on stage was taking
chances. one night we did a musical at nectar's. it was a project from
goddard.
"had we not come from burlington we wouldn't have made it as a band," he
continues. "there would have been pressure to play other kinds of music, to
do certain kinds of gigs. also, in burlington there are all these musical
influences. there are so many good players."
FOUR GUYS, A FEW TRAMPOLINES, AND A DREAM
PHISH SURFACES
Phish was birthed at UVM. anastasio and drummer jon fishman heard each
other playing through dormitory walls and soon teamed up. at that time there
was another guitar player, who has since renounced music for true religion.
gordon arrived in response to a poster looking for a bass player. and page
mCconnell, the hammond organ player, pianist, and goddard college student,
rounded out the sound.
At first the band played "obscure covers," gordon says, citing odd songs
by groups such as the bandleader herb alpert, blues man elmore james and the
electric penguin cafe orchestra. they also played a few songs written by
anastasio and some high school friends. one of those friends, tom marshall,
continues to write most of phish's lyrics; quirky, non-referential, tone poems
reminiscent of '60s beat generation stream-of-consciousness utterings.
After playing their first gig at nectar's eight and a half years ago,
the band began a steady climb, playing in vermont bars and clubs and branching
out across new england. because phish members had some family money, they were
able to practice daily and study music with vermont composers, musicians and
vocal coaches. when everyone had finished school they decided to become a
touring band.
By then phish had become known for their unpredictable and outrageous
live shows. in the early days, it wasn't uncommon for the drummer, jon
fishman, to appear naked onstage, perform a few acrobatic moves, and then
resume his playing. those antics have grown: fishman often wears weird
costumes, and anastasio and gordon sometimes jump on trampolines as they solo.
over the years the band has allowed itself to develop the entertainment side
of their shows, though the musical side has always come first.
"The growth of the band has been incredibly gradual," gorgon says.
"it's not as if we suddenly emerged from vermont. years ago, we didn't have
a gig at nectar's. then we played in a couple of different bars in burlington.
and then colleges, UVM, goddard, johnson state. what happened then is we had
a friend who helped us get gigs in southern new hampshire and northhampton.
"We met a friend of a friend who started booking gigs while he was in
school. they had no experience. but they started to do these great managerial
maneuvers. they got us a gig at the paradise theatre in boston. they were
spreading the word. we tried to do it ourselves but couldn't. we weren't music
business people."
The paradise show was the start of a turning point. phish booked the
hall for themselves--instead of having a promoter do it for them. they then
brought
ina bus load of fans from vermont, and family members from elsewhere, and
created attention and momentum for themselves at their third boston gig.
"It's similiar to what the guy did who managed U2," gordon says. "we
thought we would lose money. when we got there everyone was joking, 'have
you heard these guys before?' that was 1988."
COAST TO COAST
The band's first "national" tour involved going to telluride, colorado, to
play two nights. but the band tapped into the underground-yet-widespread
community of alternative types--the late 20th century's hippies, including
grateful dead fans--who began to loyally follow the band. as in boston, the
first time the band played san francisco, they packed the DNA club. the band's
manager, john paluska, made sure the right people were at that gig. the next
time they returned they were booked at the great american music hall--a solid
san fransisco venue. today, the band keeps in touch with its fans through a
mailing list of more than 10,000 names.
Phish was noticed by the record companies when music industry reports of
ticket sales started publishing the reciepts from their shows, gordon says.
"sue drew, the artist and recording person from elektra started to come and
see us play in early 1991. then we started getting listed. they didn't know
who we were."
At first, phish members weren't sure if they should sign a record contract
"all these people had warned us that major labels would take away all our
money and integrity and everything," he says. "it hasn't been like that at all.
they are great people at elektra. they don't care about money. they care about
music too."
The immediate benefits of signing have been plugging into a big
distribution network for a picture of nectar, getting airplay, and working
with other talented people, gordon said. elektra plans to release two of
phish's self-released tapes later this year.
looking ahead, the band plans to record its second album at burlington's
white crow studio this summer. unlike their first album, which was pretty much
self produced, gordon and anastasio hope elektra will bring in a well known
producer.
"like peter gabriel--but we won't get him," gordon says. "i like old
genesis," anastasio adds.
well, that's all pholks...hope you enjoyed it...
smile!
-ryan
"control for smilers can't be bought"
------------------------------
From: REIS T BARON <0306...@servax.fiu.edu>
Subject: Belated New Orleans Review w/ COMPLETE setlist:*)
Reply-To: 0306...@servax.fiu.edu
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 14:49:27 GMT
Howdy All!
This is Reis again with another show commentary. This one takes us to
Tipitina's in New Orleans. I'll post it night by night, to spare the sight of
the people who have already exhausted their eyes from reading all of my posts
in the last couple of weeks. Let's begin with the March 2nd show:
I-Buried Alive/Poor Heart/Stash/Reba/Sparkle/It's Ice/Fee/All Things Recons./
Chalkdust/Silent in the Morning/I Didn't Know/David Bowie
II-My Friend, My Friend/Uncle Penn/Tweezer/Lizards/Llama/YEM/HYH/Honey Love
Ya/
It's My Life/Loup Garous/Choo Choo/Harry Hood Enc: Amazing Grace/Golgi/
Tweezer Reprise
The first set was strong, but nothing really out of the ordinary as far as the
versions of the songs went. The Stash was nice, but the solos didn't extend
further than they had to. The jam at the end of Reba was one of the best I've
heard-lots of notes instead of sustaining by Trey. Page's It's Ice solos were
great-lots of ragtime-like jamming (most probably inspired by the atmosphere).
The Fee was done without the megaphone, apparently due to Trey's voice not
being in the best shape. There was no acoustic intro (Horse) to Silent in the
Morning, but this was a great version nonetheless. I Didn't Know had the
washboard solo that featured Tubbs, while being pelted with Mardi Gras beads,
scraping his stainless steel mamalian protruberances with thimbles, in a nice,
cajun-sounding rhythm. The Bowie was sweet, with some funky bass by Mike. He
tended to be more funky than usual the entire night.
The second set was amazing. My Friend, with the beatiful acoustic intro,
opened the set nicely, and made room for a perfect Uncle Penn. They seem to
have revamped the ending to this one, and it's now, IMHO, their strongest
bluegrass tune. Tweezer was one of the highlights of the night for me. At
some points I though I was watching the Meters jam some serious funk. Fish
seemed to be doing his Russell Baptiste imitation, with killer interplay
between his snare and hi-hat. Mike was all over this one as well. The backups
in Lizards are so phenominal now. This one is one of the tightest I've heard,
and definitely the strongest Gamehenge tune I saw on tour. The Llama seemed
exhaustingly fast, but paved the way for a smooth YEM that had some great piano
soloing-it seemed more than usual. Sunpie came out for 3 songs. I remembered
his name from a conversation with Trey in Tallahassee, and he said that this
guy was great. He was right. The guy looked like a linebacker for the Saints,
but had the sweetest voice. He combined that with some cool sounding accordian
and at random times throughout the tunes he'd walk up to the mic and laugh
hysterically, but in tune with the solos-pretty funny. It's My Life was a
typical 1-4-5 cajun tune, with some simple Trey solos when Sunpie laid back.
Loup Garous (pronounced Loo-Garoo), is an old cajun standard about an old
voodoo fairytale (something about a witch in the swamps that eats live men).
It was really fun to dance to. Sunpie offered up some solos on the Tubbs board
also. Choo Choo was like the Andrews Sisters meets the Neville Brothers-good
solos by all. The definite highlight of the night, though, was Harry Hood. Me
and the guy next to me had been yelling for it the whole set, and what an
amazing version. The bridge after "Thank you Mr. Miner" was by far the best
I've heard-great tasty piano licks, and the smoothest sustains from Trey. Mike
was loving this one. He was all over it. They came back out for Amazing
Grace and left. I was wondering what happened to #2, when they came back out
and did an explosive Golgi into a killer extended Tweezer Reprise...wow! I
freaked. I couldn't ask for a better encore. Tips was a cool, small place,
and the sound was great. I was happy to see a show at such a legendary venue,
especially a Phish show. So that's the first. Second night's next....
(*:REIS:*)
Please, we have no regrets!!
------------------------------
From: MH1...@student.law.duke.edu
Subject: YEM, Rift (long)
Reply-To: MH1...@student.law.duke.edu
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 16:03:19 GMT
Howdy Ellis and all . . .
One of my favorite YEM vocal jam words was Chapel Hill, 11/14/91
(same night as Roll Like a Cantalope), where it was a fast paced,
"I'm a chicken chicken sandwich chicken sandwich I'm a chicken
chicken sandwich" like a train, slowed down to very bellowing,
"CHICKEN SANDWICH . . . CHICKEN SANDWICH" then Fishman started a very
quick, "hamburger cheeseburger big burger bigger burger hamburger
cheeseburger big burger bigger burger HAMBURGER HAMBURGER!!!!!!"
Also on that Charlottesville night with "White boys attack," they
also chanted, "Take that rat outta my ass!" - Page, I believe.
I've recently finally had the time to sit down and really listen
to Rift, and after seeing the band play those songs before and after
the album came out, I've done something of a technical review of
Rift. Except for "Rift-first appearance" songs, it is largely a
review of the transition to an album, so general, "Great song!!" type
comments won't be there. Also, I probably left out a lot of things I
could talk about that I missed, but this is what I noticed . . .
Rift: Fishman's drums didn't seem to be as much in the forefront
as they are at live shows. I also noticed that the range of dynamics
that the band is recorded in is a lot smaller than the range they use
live. As a result, the album generally doesn't induce the frenzy
that live does. Semi-obvious comment, I suppose, but. . . Still a
great song, has been done with more punch.
FEFY: If you can pull off a ballad, you might as well play one!
Lengthwise: Syd would be proud. Is this the first segment in
"Fishman's Psychedelic Breakfast" - just before waking up?
Maze: Interesting transition out of LW. Listening to this, I
realized how much the lights in a live show add to the mood/energy of
a song. Especially in the beginning section when the lights cue with
Page's big organ chords. One, no two thumbs up.
Sparkle: Someone else pointed this out, and I reiterate - we've
heard Mike sing a lower "Fa-aall apart" the first time in this song -
oh well :*} I especially liked the additional piano line Page added
where the organ chords are featured live in the first verse/opening.
Horn: Great sound out of Trey's guitar - very crunchy (if you
will). The organ builds at a different time in the opening than it
did some of the times I've seen it live (tho it hasn't been the same
but a few time!).
The Wedge: Delightfully quirky rhythm - not so out of synch to
be uncomfortable, butt odd enough to be continually intriguing. And
the tamborine is in stereo - nice touch.
My Friend My Friend: I very much enjoy the acoustic intro,
especially how Page's keyboards sparingly follow Trey's lines, with a
great harmony on three descending notes.
Weigh: I really enjoyed Fish's snare work here. I think there
is an overdubbed second rhythm track as well that is great (and if it
isn't overdubbed, apologies).
All Things Reconsidered: True to live, but a tad more contained.
No real commentary.
Mound: Point one - unfortunately, I just can't take the
electronic clap seriously as a rhythm sound anymore. Personal
problem, I suppose. Two - I was suprised at how quickly they jumped
into the first verse out of the opening intro. I am used to them
setting the new rhythm up longer than that, tho on the album they
established it and then deconstructed it again. Keeping us on our
toes, I suppose. If I'm not mistaken, Fishman used some sleigh bells
in there - nice touch (ties in with the "It's Ice" setting . . .)
It's Ice: I like the additional haunting section in the middle
of the jam part.
The Horse: Best allowance for dynamics on the album.
Silent in the Morning: I like the stereo separation of the ride
cymbal and the hi hat in the opening, and I like the sound Mike gets
out of the bass. And I've always loved the quarter note triplets
during the outro.
Sorry if you are upset about the bandwidth,
Matt Heller
mh1...@student.law.duke.edu
------------------------------
From: POWERS MARK W <pm...@master.ceat.okstate.edu>
Subject: personal to the sarcastically challenged
Reply-To: pm...@master.ceat.okstate.edu
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 01:55:44 GMT
To the person who complained about Rob's scalping post: of course he was
serious! Why, any fool knows that unless a comment is followed by a ;)
sign, it must be an absolute truth! To wit:
1) I have 5,000 tickets to the Apr 11 Snively Arena show, which I shall sell
for $500 apiece starting at 12:00 pm March 31. (how'd I get 5,000 tickets,
you ask? I'VE GOT A GOLD CARD!) Members of the Spam Liberation Front shall
receive a 25% discount.
2) The lyrics to YEM are actually "Barney's Theme" played backwards; Phish
refuses to admit this for royalty reasons.
3) Bill Clinton is a huge Phish fan! He was an original member of the Giant
Country Horns, and has generously offered to donate Hillary's inauguration
gown for Henrietta to wear on the Spring and Summer tours.
4) Even as I speak, the government is developing a new chip, the flipper,
that will enable them to gain access to people's bathtubs via the
Internet.
Seriously, it's all true!
Mark
------------------------------
the phake world
Author: Kim Hannula <han...@panther.middlebury.edu>
Date: 1997/03/16
Forum: rec.music.phish
I loved Benjy's episode. And I love this idea, though I've never seen Real
World, and I haven't been reading rmp enough recently to parody you guys
very well.
Episode 421, beginning just after the commercial break.
Charlie: This episode sucks. The episode in Sacramento was much better.
Dom: i like this episode alot and i dont like it when you judge the
episodes so fast, it isnt fair, you should wait and judge the episodes at
the end like everybody else does.
Darius: Dom's right this time, Charlie. The second half of the show is
usually much more interesting than the first half of the show. Remember
that episode from Albany?
Charlie: Even the second half of the episode hasn't Moved me lately. I
don't think we've had a good episode since Darius cut his hair.
Darius: I cut my hair before we started doing these shows, Charlie, REMEMBER?
Charlie: Oh. Well, I still think the shows have been Extraordinarily Lame
recently, except for that show where Gordon's dog, Log, ate an entire pint
of ice cream and barfed it all over the floor.. hahahahahahahahaha (hack
cough wheeze Vaderesque breathing noises)
Rosemary: That was mean, Charlie. You shouldn't say things like that. It
isn't nice. People respect you.
Charlie: People are Morons and deserve to be Mocked.
Benjy: I thought some of the European episodes were pretty good.
Charlie: I don't BELIEVE you can't recognize that the Amsterdam episode
was clearly the Worst Episode Ever. Not rating that episode was an Act of
Extreme Cowardice and requires Severe Mocking pursuant to the California
Penal Code...
<cut off by Gordon entering with the mail>
Gordon: Let's see, we have tapes, tapes, tapes.. Rosemary, it looks like
you've got about 400 postcard with obscenities scrawled all over them, and
two submissions for inclusion in your Digest.
Rosemary: Sigh. I wish people would put some of the energy they spend
flaming me into writing things that are constructive for the community.
Charlie: What about me? Didn't I get any flames?
Gordon: No, just tapes. Sorry. Let's see, what else do we have.. I'm not
sure what this is, but it's addressed to Craig with lots of Greek letters
all over it. Oh, and look! Some TEST postcards sent to "Occupant!"
Excuse me, I need to cover these with old maxpoints stickers and write
"Return to Sender" on them.
<Gordon leaves, and Craig enters carrying a beer in each hand>
Craig: Hey everybody! Does anybody mind if I turn on the Clemson game on
ESPN?
Charlie: Wait! Shhh!
Darius: What?
Charlie: Don't you hear the incredible Mind Left Body Jam?
Craig: That's just the pre-game show. I'm going to turn it up now.
Charlie: No! Auuugggg! You just ruined the best Mind Left Body Jam of
the entire episode! That was soooooooooooo Lame!
<fade out as Benjy and Darius try to restrain Charlie and keep him from
killing Craig>
Kim, who is a chyk and who doesn't want tapes, but who finds the thought of
you guys in one apartment for 4 months very amusing. Frightening, maybe,
but amusing.
------------------------------
-Phillip