Stub Memories: Jerry Garcia Band, 11/19/1991
Posted: September 28, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: 11/19/1991, cults, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, Providence, shows you saw in college, stub memories 3 Comments »
I have one distinct memory of this show, which took place in the fall semester of my sophomore year. On the way into the arena, I looked up, and there, selling merchandise, were two people I knew from growing up. One was a really good friend of one of my siblings. She had started touring with the Dead in high school or college and got completely sucked into this strange, cult-like group. If I’m not mistaken, this group followed the band around – and Jerry’s solo projects too, I guess – and supported themselves selling Guatemalan-type clothing (“I mean, is that a Mexican poncho, or is that a Sears poncho? Hmmm. No foolin’.”)
Then, and I don’t know what the story is here, her younger sister got sucked into the cult as well. Both of them were outside the gig, with their wares spread out on the ground. We exchanged a bit of small talk.
I haven’t seen either of them since, but I’m pretty sure they both extricated themselves from the cult. Again, not entirely sure of my facts, but I think there was some sort of breakdown where the cult’s leader was exposed as a total fraud or bamboozler or whatever. I suppose that’s how these situations often end.
Anyway, as for the music of the show, I remember just about nothing. Thanks to The Jerry Site, however, we’ve got a set list – and video!
- Set 1 -
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
He Ain’t Give You None
That’s What Love Will Make You Do
And It Stoned Me
Dear Prudence
Run For The Roses
Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Deal
- Set 2 -
Lay Down Sally
Shining Star
Waiting For A Miracle
Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox
Tore Up Over You
Don’t Let Go
That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
Midnight Moonlight
Stub Memories: Grateful Dead 09/17/1991
Posted: August 24, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: Bruce Hornsby, Grateful Dead, shows you saw in college Leave a comment »
In contrast to some of my other stub memories indulgences, I don’t have to play history detective with this show. It was a memorable gig.
In the fall of sophomore year, a pal of mine was dating someone he had met that summer on Nantucket. She was a serious Dead Head. Like on tour kind of Head.
Her family was also loaded. I can’t remember why.
Now, this turned out to have some ancillary benefits for the friends of her boyfriend, because in the fall of 1991, her loaded parents and my buddy’s parents were kind enough to treat everyone to box seats at Madison Square Garden for a Dead show.
So we all moseyed down to NYC. The night of the gig, which interestingly was a Tuesday, I remember an unfortunate incident occurring as we walked up to the Garden. An absolutely irate cab driver was yelling at a bunch of Dead Head types, who had just gotten out his cab. I guess they had stiffed him on the tip or something. The cabbie ran around to the back of the car, unscrewed the antenna that was attached there, and brandished it at the poor folk. They coughed up some cash, I think saying something like “Ok, ok, ok, ok!” Yeesh. Road rage.
Anyway, inside the show, I remember thoroughly enjoying the box seats. There was free food and booze. Sure, it was a little awkward with the parents and everything, and maybe not the coolest way to take in a Dead show, but that didn’t particularly bother me.
Unfortunately, it did bother my friends, and a decision was made that the gig would be more fun out in the crowd. So we ventured out.
The only other thing I remember about this show was thinking that Bruce Hornsby was a great addition to the band. When they played Iko, the opener, Bruce rocked an accordion!
Here’s the set list, courtesy of Dead.net:
Iko Iko
Greatest Story Ever Told
Althea
Little Red Rooster
Loser
Baby Blue
Brown Eyed Women
Picasso Moon
Box of Rain
Cold Rain and Snow
Samson and Delilah
Eyes of the World
drums
space
This Could Be the Last Time
Black Peter
Throwin’ Stones
Not Fade Away
U.S. Blues
Stub Memories: Phish, 02/01/1991
Posted: August 13, 2009 Filed under: Concerts, Listening | Tags: Brown University, Compressor Pedal, phish, phishows.com, shows you saw in college 1 Comment »
For the record, I am not someone who judges bands or artists by what they used to be. This phenomenon, unfortunately, is especially evident in the realm of a certain musical quartet from Vermont. On Phish message boards, you see a lot of pining for the early and mid-nineties.
I disapprove of that sort of thing. Bands evolve, artists evolve, and nobody’s getting younger. There’s no harm in savoring the past now and then — I do it regularly on this blog — but I feel sorry for people stuck there.
Now, ahem, with that disclaimer out of the way, this post is going to seriously celebrate the Phish of 18 years ago.
On February 1st, 1991, Phish played at Brown University’s Alumnae Hall, pictured above. A freshman at the time, I wouldn’t have missed the show, having been seriously blown away by the band at an earlier event.
I have no stub for this one, but I promise you I was there. In fact, I should have two stubs for the show, because I bought two tickets, one of which I ended up selling, or maybe giving, to some joneser on the street who was looking for a “miracle.” He got one.
The only other memory I have of the show was that a friend of ours, Earl Bethel, worked for BSA, the student agency in charge of live music. Sophomore year, well after the gig, I remember Earl saying how he had helped set Phish up, and while doing so, he checked out Trey’s rig. I believe he mentioned that Trey was using a lot of compression at the time. This issue has flared up recently, as Rolling Stone reports here.
Anyway, that’s all I got from the FBdN cerebral databank, prior to a little help from humankind’s great cognitive digestive system, the Internet. The show has been archived here. I’ve been listening to it, and a couple of things bear observation.
First, Phish ran through some new material at the show, including two songs played for the first time live: “Guelah Papyrus” and “Chalk Dust Torture.” Now, for a big fan like myself, that is thrilling. It’s like finding out that you were in fact there at the unveiling of the Mona Lisa or something. Seriously.
Second, listening to this show, it’s pretty clear that this band is absolutely going full throttle. They are also apparently having a good time doing it. Trey adds a showman’s “Thank you!” after every number. His voice sounds like he’s bursting with good mood, almost like he’s about to break into laughter. At one point, he is indeed sort of cracking up while singing the words to “Guelah” – the new one.
The show gets broken up at 12am by Brown security. I had forgotten this until I listened to the bootleg. The band sounds like it doesn’t want to get off the stage, nor does the crowd sound too happy about it either. If that’s not what good live music is about, I don’t know what is.
Stub Memories: Allman Brothers, 09/06/1991
Posted: August 11, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: Allman Brothers, shows you saw in college Leave a comment »
For this blog post, I had to play some serious history detective.
As the photo shows, the stub isn’t in terribly great shape. It’s pretty clear about “Great Woods” and “A…man Brothers.” But the date info on the stub isn’t at all obvious, given the layer of paper schleg covering it over – I had to use the toothpick on my Swiss Army knife to gently scratch away at that layer. “Sept. 6, 1991″ seems to peek through. I checked on AllmanBrothers.com, and sure enough, the band played at Great Woods that date.
But, at that point, I still couldn’t recall anything about this gig. How I got there. Where I stayed. Where I sat at the venue, or whom I sat with. And the circumstances of the show didn’t lend themselves to memory. By that I mean it didn’t really add up. Sept. 6 would have been just a few days into sophomore year. You’d think I would have been more preoccupied with, I don’t know, buying books and shit. Settling in. Why would I schlep out to Great Woods for an Allmans show?
So, playing the history detective, I consulted with two Brown friends who were my roommates that year. Maybe we all piled into our buddy’s Econoline van as a back-to-school treat? Nope. Neither recalled anything about the show.
Next, I sought help from high school friends, with whom I’d done a lot of hanging during the summer of 1991. I bounced an email off one. Perhaps, he said. He’d check his photo album.
A day or two later, he emailed back. “You were indeed at that show…as was I,” he said. Photos confirmed it.
I asked high school friend if his photography revealed anything about where we were that night or that weekend. No word back. If he comes through, and it means anything to me, I’ll post. Maybe memories can be jogged after 18 years.
Here’s the set list from that night, courtesy of AllmanBrothers.com There’s also a concert video of this show. I doubt it would help with my memory here, unless I miraculously made it into a crowd shot or something.
- Intro Jam
- Hot ‘Lanta
- Statesboro Blues
- Blue Sky
- End Of The Line
- Nobody Knows
- Low Down Dirty Mean
- Melissa
- Come On In My Kitchen
- Midnight Rider
- Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Kind Of Bird
- Get On With Your Life
- In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
- Revival
Encore:
- Jessica
- Whipping Post
Stub Memories: Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman, 07/25/1991
Posted: August 8, 2009 Filed under: Concerts | Tags: Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, shows you saw in college, stub memories Leave a comment »
This show took place at Great Woods Performing Arts Center in Mansfield, MA (now known as the Comcast Center).
I don’t remember anything about the music played at this show, and I can’t find a setlist out there.
Reflecting on this, it’s testament to the power of the Grateful Dead at that point in time that these two could headline a gig at Great Woods. That’s a pretty big venue for a show like this, two dudes going acoustic. Here’s a YouTube of a Weir/Wasserman performance from 1990.
One faint memory I have of this show is that I think a friend of mine was having some fun up on the lawn, sliding or rolling down the hill somehow. Problem is, she slid or rolled, by accident, right into a nachos and cheese platter that someone had left on the ground. It completely bummed her out. I think she was in some sort of mind-altered state, so the sliding part was fun; the “I’m covered in cheese product” feeling was not.
I also remember stopping to pick up snacks on the drive back from the show. Someone either bought or talked about Sunny Delight, a beverage. I remember not knowing what Sunny Delight was.
Wow. Those are some serious dregs for memories, but that’s all I’ve got.
Finally, I looked on Hot Tuna’s website, hoping to find some archived set lists or something. No luck. I did notice this on their tour dates page:
Promoter / venue will stop audio / video taping, flash photographers as well as people walking up to the front of the stage and take photos with their phone.
Yikes. Seems a little harsh, no?
Stub Memories: Blues Traveler and Phish, 10/6/1990
Posted: August 5, 2009 Filed under: Concerts, Listening | Tags: Blues Traveler, Capitol Theatre, phish, shows you saw in college, stub memories 2 Comments »
Not too many memories peek through the fog for this show, which took place at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
- This was fall semester of freshman year. I went to the gig with a couple of college friends, one of whom would die the following summer in a car accident.
- This was the first time I saw Phish. I may be imagining this, but I do believe I was astounded at the show by the band’s ability to crescendo, particularly on a tune like Possum.
- Exiting the gig, I bumped into someone I went to summer camp with back in the day. I think he was sober. I certainly was not.
- I might be imagining this too, but I’m pretty sure that when Trey got up on stage with Blues Traveler, I felt bad for Chan Kinchla, Blues Traveler’s guitar player. There was a substantial talent gap between the two guitarists. Who knows, though. Maybe Kinchla didn’t care. His band was headlining, after all.
It’s a shame I don’t recall much from this show; the set lists are nice.
PHISH
The Landlady
The Squirming Coil
Dinner and a Movie
Bouncing Around the Room
Foam
You Enjoy Myself
The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg
Esther
Possum
Hold Your Head Up > If I Only Had a Brain > HYHU
David Bowie
Carolina
Encore: Don’t Get Me Wrong (with John Popper)
BLUES TRAVELER
Trust In Trust>
Sweet Talking Hippie
Weird Chick>
Mulling It Over
Gina
Gotta Get Mean>
Gloria> (Trey Anastasio on guitar and vocals)
Gotta Get Mean
Crystal Flame
But Anyway
Mountain Cry
Dropping Some NYC>
Mother Funker
Mike Gordon Tour, Warren Haynes
Posted: July 17, 2009 Filed under: Artists, Concerts | Tags: George Porter, Max Creek, Mike Gordon, New Releases, Scott Murawski, shows you saw in college, shows you saw in high school, Warren Haynes 2 Comments »
PHISH – BONNAROO 2009 – MIKE GORDON
Uploaded to Flickr by simpsonradio
Two things crossed my transom this afternoon.
First, Mike Gordon is hitting the road this fall. He’s playing in the greater DC area on September 12, a show I will strongly consider attending.
From Phish.com:
After two highly acclaimed runs last year touring on the release of his album The Green Sparrow, Mike returns with the same five-piece lineup, including longtime collaborator Scott Murawski on guitar, Vermonters Craig Myers on percussion and Tom Cleary on keyboards and Brooklyn drummer Todd Isler.
Scott Murawski, for anyone wondering, is of Max Creek fame. I’ve seen that band twice. The first time was at my high school, where I only remember them putting on a killer show and a student administrator complaining about their backstage demands (I think their contract stipulated a bunch of random things, like spaghetti and meatballs). The second gig was at some club in Providence, RI – I’m pretty sure it was the Living Room – freshman year. That was a good show too, although I remember not much about it. They played “Just a Rose.” You can find that number here.
Next, Warren Haynes is keeping very busy, according to Billboard.com. And check this shit out:
Haynes is also enthused about the eventual release of a solo album he recorded that he says “hearkens back to my earliest influences…soul music but it also kind of sounds like when Freddie King and B.B. King and Albert King did their more crossover records, where they were mixing funk and soul with blues.” Haynes recorded the album with Meters bassist George Porter, Jr., Ivan Neville and Ian McLagan on keyboardist and Ron Holloway on saxophone. Neville and Ruthie Foster sing, along with Haynes.
Holy guacamole. Sign me up for that one.
