Auto-reply: BENJYS-DIGEST Digest - 26 Nov 1997 to 28 Nov 1997
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Date: 28 Nov 97 00:11:21
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There are 3 messages totalling 239 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE (2)
2. Hartford Setlist 11/26/97
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 20:28:55 GMT
From: Fonefono <fone...@AOL.COM>
Subject: A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE
Friends,
Over the past several months I have joined a community of fellowship based
around the music of Phish. I have learned many things through this community,
and at this time of year, where culturally we are conditioned to reflect upon
the graces bestowed upon us by Life, I hope you allow me a little reflection
about what I have learned and for which I am thankful:
The music: The band, undaunted by the lack of recognition by the mainstream
music press and populous, continues to create, record, and play on tour some of
the most profoundly unique sounds ever produced by the four piece rock combo.
Reaching deep within the wellspring of human creativity, they manage to bring
forth, emotional expressiveness heretofore unparalleled by instrumentally
similar groups. Educated, disciplined, joyful, and extremely communicative
with one another, the band is ever aware of the evolutionary roots from which
they progress, and celebrate these collective pasts and futures from moment to
moment in every song they perform. In this way, each song and each version of
each song takes on an individual life of it's own, reflecting the accumulated
experience of all that came before it in the light of where it struggles to be
tomorrow. Those who understand the importance of this relationship most are
those who search for the gold in the concert tapes. There, hidden in the
magnetic orientation code of the acetate fabric are the gross experiences of
millions of lives who hear the sounds as realities in themselves or as
recollections of events in their lives, i.e., the Phish concert.
The concerts: The prize goal of the initiated follower of this group, one show
in any tour seems never to be enough, as if every show would suffice either.
Scraping the money and plotting the logistics, we calculate where and when we
will once again conjoin with other like minded enthusiasts to share in the
universal at-one-ment which is the concert experience. Where all the opinions
and reviews of a hundred previous shows dissolve with the minds and egos as the
first notes begin. Twenty thousand individual hearts beat as one along rhythms
maintained on the sole of a strangely wonderful man in a dress. Thoughts of
who we are and where we're going are dismissed the instant the "groove' is
established, and like lemmings gladly running into the sea, we follow the
song's voice, and bask in it's loving message. As songs end we stand
obliterated in the incomprehensible wonderment of how this sound was achieved
and can't begin to appreciate enough the power of the band.
The band: How could any of us, save for the struggling musicians among us, come
to understand the sacrifice and talent of the rather ordinary men who provide
such extraordinary music. As we live our typical routines and bask in the
relative comfort of our daily lives, can we only speculate on the hours upon
days upon weeks of torturous practice which the band endured and endures for
the Sound we love so much. It's easy to dismiss the process when we share in
the absolute joy of the concert experience, but without the love of the music,
the intelligence, discipline, respect for another, determination, and
ultimately, hard work, these four people might have only achieved true
mediocrity. Evidenced by the scramble for New Year's Eve tickets, the band is
far from mediocre, and the long lonely hours of monotonous repetition has
served them well in their quest for the Sound. As any fan will attest, no one
is more thankful for their sacrifice than we who listen.
The fans: As far as I can determine, the average rmp'er is indicative of the
average Phish fan. Incensed by the term Phish Head, because of the need to
separate the concept of Phish from the concept of the Grateful Dead (Oh, the
infernal comparisons by the soundbite generation of thinkers!), there is no
fan like a Phish fan. In the evolution of the "sixties" flower child, hippy
generation into the mainstream of today's society, those stalwarts who followed
the Dead throughout the years attained a certain regality, a certain respect
for being referred to as Dead Heads. No such respect is allowed to the fans of
Phish. Belittled and bemoaned as copycats of a bygone era, the fans must
embrace attacks from even the closest of friends who for reasons that none of
us really understands, don't get it. Girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives,
children and parents, with tongue-in-cheek, placate the fan's deep attachment
to the music, the group and each other. In the light of the ignorance of the
general public, the fan is forever struggling to defend against the
pigeon-holing tactics of the media and the generalizations of the uninitiated.
And in all cases, the struggle is one of love. For there seems to be no more
kinder, no more human, no more correctly "centered" individual as the average
Phish fan. As most circular arguments produce an affect based on a cause
produced by an affect, the love causes the music which causes the love....and
the music is at the heart of us fans.
Specifically: I've had some most amazing connections with all of you over the
brief few months that I've hung out here, and although I'm truly thankful for
all of you because you typify what is best about us as creatures of Life, there
are some new friends that I really have a need to thank in open forum:
Drew Croke first invited me to his web page after reading my first post to the
ng. Provided the forum and enthusiasm for me to begin externalizing the most
amazing feelings about this music.
Kim Hannula read my first lengthy entry on the Darien concert and invited me
out into the open. I know she's reading this from her self-imposed exile from
the ng, and want her to know that she's needed out here. She's an important
force to the fan base, and is sorely missed.
Casey White read the ng posting about Darien and offered to spin that show as
my first set of tapes. Does anyone forget your first show, first tape, first
anything. He has provided me with what is most important about this whole Phish
scene: good music and good fellowship.
Matt Frankel is the son of an old college friend of mine who, along with Casey,
has spun more of the sweetest shows in the past few weeks than I know what to
do with. They've explained taping and trading and have opened up a whole new
world to me. How much more thankful can I be.
Patrick Donahue sent me an outstandingly mind numbing account of his Went
adventure. Reaching aggressively into areas of our souls, his essay helped
confirm to me the profundity of the music, and the importance of being able to
convey these feelings to one another.
Doug Loeb likewise provided a necessary feedback on where the music takes us
collectively and how necessary it is to experience in all its myriad of forms.
Corey Lennon Fields is as much a necessary feature of the fan base as that
little tap hammer that the doctor uses to test your reflex action. Caustic,
sarcastic and irreverent he's a mind check against mental numbness, and
thrashes you back into reality when you fall asleep at the wheel. But few fans
are more in touch with the music and the spirit of play than Corey.
Dan from Dartmouth, Sam, Andy, Eric and a host of others who make up so much of
what is good about all of us............thanks for giving of yourselves in the
spirit of community and in the spirit of love, of the music, of ourselves.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Bill Marconi
Alias fone, fonefono, honey, dad, papa, mr. marconi, chubbs, billikins, moron,
and of course, asshole!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 02:56:44 -0500
From: benjy eisen <be...@EZONLINE.COM>
Subject: Re: A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE
Your post about giving thanks, on this day of Thanksgiving, to the
people who make the Phish experience so worth IT, was right *on*.
However I feel it would be incomplete without mention of the following:
Shelly Culbertson for acting above and beyond her call of duty, often
being a direct liason between the fans and the band.
Amy Skelton for being a dedicated fan since day one, and an integral
part of Phishtory...not to mention the Phish merchandise so many of us
cherish.
Tom Marshall whose lyrics we not only know by heart, but quote
regularly and whose doctrines often act as inspiration or advice in
ways that we each can relate to individually. "A dream it's true"
"Can't I live while I'm, young" "Just relax, you're doing fine." and
so many more...the piper, the family berzerker and a damn fine person
with a good heart and words of senseful meaning to meaningful nonsense...
The Mail-Order Crew, which, despite what alot of people think, is not
comprised just of Shelly...
Chris Kuroda whose lights take us by the hand on our live Phish journeys.
Paul Languedoc whose wonderful and uncanny natural ability as sound
engineer make even rooms like MSG and HersheyPark arena appear to have
better acoustics than they do for any other band...even if he did
cause the Talking Heads to break up ;-)
Kevin Shapiro for documenting and archiving this extravaganza - a job
every one of us is envious of, Kevin has every night Phish ever played
documented on audio and/or video media, in Phish's vault, of which he
is Master. Also known as the voice on the Archive Shows for the Ball
and Went, Kevin don't take offense when I say you're the next Dick :)
Brad Sands for, well, for being Brad, take him or leave him...:)
John Paluska for managing, Cynthia Brown, the list goes on...
Stephen, Richard Gehr (whose writing I admire), Mockingbird, Dean
Budnick, the list goes on...
...and I could get down to the nitty gritty and list every single
person who works on or with the Phish crew, down to the bus drivers
and Greenpeace Mike (well, no longer "Greenpeace" Mike per-se...) but
instead let me just give a collective THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED IN THE
PHISH ORGANIZATION. Without every single one of you, none of us would
be able to enjoy the band we love so passionately, as often as we
like, both live and on tape, in such a great way. From taper sections
to mail-order to the schvice to Balls and Wents, your effort is
appreciated. THANK YOU.
And finally, thank you Rosemary for showing that everybody who has an
e-mail account can indeed get involved in Phish discussion without
having to shift through endless ticket grovels and tape trade
pleas...because of the service you once provided me, it is my hope to
try to continue this service with Benjy's Digest (aka "The Eigest")
And to all r.m.p. and Digest readers and contributers - thank you all
for making this experience what it is.
Happy Thanksgiving. Gobble gobble, eat, swallow, see Phish! Woo-hoo!
Walk with light my friends,
Benjy
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 06:30:20 GMT
From: Dan Seideman <djse...@UNIX.AMHERST.EDU>
Subject: Hartford Setlist 11/26/97
11/26/97 Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT
Set I: Tweezer -> Sparkle, Gumbo > My Soul, McGrupp, Dirt, Split Open
and Melt, Horse > Silent in the Morning, Taste
Set II: Character Zero -> Also Sprach Zarathustra -> Cities ->
Ya Mar -> Punch You In The Eye > Prince Caspian, Poor Heart >
Tweezer Reprise
E: Cavern
(-> denotes true segue, > denotes transition)
Show Notes: The Tweezer opener started very quiet and built in volume until
the opening melody. (~17min) Gumbo was well-jammed. (although not as much
as Star Lake) Taste was about 14 minutes long and very hot. Character
Zero was unfinished, jamming in a different direction than normal, with
heavy "Take Me To The River" teases. (~20 min) ASZ (2001) was VERY long
and absolutely LADEN with the funk!!! (lots of James Brown soloing) Great
segue and key change into Cities, which then segued beautifully into Ya
Mar. Ya Mar was unfinished, as the band ripped into PYITE. Poor Heart was
begun as Rocky Top, but Mike sang the Poor Heart lyrics instead, taking the
band into P.H. Cavern encore had Trey repeat the same line twice,
forgetting the lyrics, only to sing the "alternate" lyrics of yesteryear.
First set was a bit disjointed...second set was right on!!!!
Dan
p.s. Hello to everyone I saw in Hartford. (Noah, Beau, Hitz, Chico, Saul,
J()e, and anyone else I may have forgotten) See you on Friday!!
***************************************************
Dan Seideman
<djse...@unix.amherst.edu>
http://www.amherst.edu/~djseidem/
Check out:
http://www.phish.net/mockingbird/
***************************************************
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End of BENJYS-DIGEST Digest - 26 Nov 1997 to 28 Nov 1997
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