So, I am sitting here in my office in Maine updating my photography website and listening to a very cool podcast by Whitperson, who contributes to LiveMusicBlog.com, which I am very excited about discovering. Today’s podcast features some of the finest Phish jams from their exhaustive years of touring.
I saw Phish for the first time at the Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey in the summer of 1993. I had been listening to them since 1989 when my brother introduced them to me and it was an amazing experience seeing them for the first time and such an early part of their career. I went on to see them many, many times after this first show up until 1998, when I slowed down a bit and only caught occasional shows.
Whitperson handles this mix beautifully striking on Phish’’s “blue light” years where there was a definitive tranced-out, psychedelic vibe glued together with experimental rock and roll. The band was moving in new musical directions at each new show they played during these growing years. It was exciting to be there.
In 1995, on New Years Eve inside Madison Square Garden, was the most electrifying moment in my strange Phish mini-career. When the band launched into “Chalkdust Torture” the entire arena was literally moving from people boogying down so hard. The ceiling of the Garden literally felt as if it might just take off in flight. I have seen a handful of bands since then inside the Garden and no one came close to filling that arena with sound like Phish did. It is a big venue and to encompass its vastness with sound, you need a unified relationship between the music and the crowd.
This is where Phish always shined. They were able to psychologically gage the mood of the crowd and deliver a sound that met the needs of the crowd and the venue being played. Very few bands ever achieve this mutual understanding that when executed is magical and religious at the same time.
If you are lucky enough to have scored tickets for any of the upcoming spring and summer dates, you are in for a rare treat. Phish is going to be out there once again formulating radical new sounds and pushing the limits on how much sound American Arena’s can handle without exploding.
I am feeling a “2001…Tweezer” opener in Hampton. Oh, and if you happen to have an extra ticket for Jones Beach by all means let me know! My buddies just started a cool online trading site specifically for Phish. Check out cashortradeforyourextra.com
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces
Take a little dance, infuse it with some edgy rock, fiery vocals, fantastic organ riffs, killer baselines and sprinkle all over with hypnotic tranced out raw rock and roll and you get indie rockers “The Fiery Furnaces.”
The Fiery Furnaces were launched in Brooklyn, New York City in 2000. They are driven by super hip siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The brother-sister duo, along with bassist Jason Loewenstein and drummer Bob D'Amico, who replaced former bassist Toshi Yano and drummer Andy Knowles are armed with an arsenal of far-out groovy tunes that echo back to the era of 60’s garage rock. But, this band has been taking good notes in a new school of pure, unsolicited rock and roll from present day rockers who are defining a re-birth of classic rock.
Mathew Friedberger captains the keyboards, which playfully launch you into brand new cosmic heights and ride around and around in such a funky ass way, you swear you just stepped back into a psychedelic 1970’s discotheque at the stroke of midnight on a Saturday eve. It’s that hot.
Eleanor Friedberger parades the stage in throwback 60’s vintage threads belting out fiery vocals over cosmic, downright mischievous rock riffs. Her strong vocals swirl with melodious vengeance from cavernous organic depths steeped in dance hall heavy beats and wondrous sound. It’s a beautiful voice from a beautiful girl in a beautiful band. These cats are some of the funkiest felines slinking around the music scene downtown.
Have a listen. Have a cocktail. Throw on some funky pants. The Fiery Furnaces will be sure to make you want to dance. Check out this noteworthy performance from the Paradiso Rock Club in Amsterdam.
The Fiery Furnaces were launched in Brooklyn, New York City in 2000. They are driven by super hip siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The brother-sister duo, along with bassist Jason Loewenstein and drummer Bob D'Amico, who replaced former bassist Toshi Yano and drummer Andy Knowles are armed with an arsenal of far-out groovy tunes that echo back to the era of 60’s garage rock. But, this band has been taking good notes in a new school of pure, unsolicited rock and roll from present day rockers who are defining a re-birth of classic rock.
Mathew Friedberger captains the keyboards, which playfully launch you into brand new cosmic heights and ride around and around in such a funky ass way, you swear you just stepped back into a psychedelic 1970’s discotheque at the stroke of midnight on a Saturday eve. It’s that hot.
Eleanor Friedberger parades the stage in throwback 60’s vintage threads belting out fiery vocals over cosmic, downright mischievous rock riffs. Her strong vocals swirl with melodious vengeance from cavernous organic depths steeped in dance hall heavy beats and wondrous sound. It’s a beautiful voice from a beautiful girl in a beautiful band. These cats are some of the funkiest felines slinking around the music scene downtown.
Have a listen. Have a cocktail. Throw on some funky pants. The Fiery Furnaces will be sure to make you want to dance. Check out this noteworthy performance from the Paradiso Rock Club in Amsterdam.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
About Drive To California
“Drive that Fucker Home,” is a line that I totally dig from a Poi Dog Pondering tune and today that statement rang profoundly through my swimcap and into my brain as I swam laps in an empty, cavernous University Pool with just a lifeguard and me.
A bunch of “classic tunes” I have heard a thousand times throughout my life were reverberating around the big room and it suddenly hit me. I have been spoon-fed the same musical crap my whole life. The same damn songs over and over like there is some musical dictator hanging out somewhere approving or disapproving what gets sent out on the airwaves.
Whatever. I listen to more then just the airwaves. I listen to mostly what’s not on the airwaves, but then again, I take music fairly seriously. I sometimes think that if there were National Geographic Explorers who went on wild safari rides in remote musical landscapes in search of deep meaning and life-altering discoveries, then I would be that bearded guy wearing the cool tan vest, sitting on a camel cruising around some far-off place researching unspoiled, raw, beautiful rock and roll.
So, I dig it. I dig music and I’m not saying I have led some sheltered life away from it all, but in this strange moment while I was swimming laps of all things, it hit me hard and it got me pumped up to start spinning music again and writing about cool new bands.
It rocked my world. It made me furious and I don’t really get mad, so it was a bit strange. Mind you… Had you seen me swimming my laps, you would have never guessed that all this was swimming through my head, but as notes were struck on those same damn songs that have played countless times on the radio, I became increasingly inspired to get rocking.
Play something new! Let’s get off this roller coaster ride of musical monotony. Let’s set sail to explore some radical, free-thinking bands that are out there playing today and possibly tonight at a venue near you. That is what this blog is about and I hope that you might discover some new bands with me along the way.
I will also be launching my podcast "Drive To California" and featuring each recording on this blog. Stay tuned for what will be a great mix of over 50 years of sweet rock music.
A bunch of “classic tunes” I have heard a thousand times throughout my life were reverberating around the big room and it suddenly hit me. I have been spoon-fed the same musical crap my whole life. The same damn songs over and over like there is some musical dictator hanging out somewhere approving or disapproving what gets sent out on the airwaves.
Whatever. I listen to more then just the airwaves. I listen to mostly what’s not on the airwaves, but then again, I take music fairly seriously. I sometimes think that if there were National Geographic Explorers who went on wild safari rides in remote musical landscapes in search of deep meaning and life-altering discoveries, then I would be that bearded guy wearing the cool tan vest, sitting on a camel cruising around some far-off place researching unspoiled, raw, beautiful rock and roll.
So, I dig it. I dig music and I’m not saying I have led some sheltered life away from it all, but in this strange moment while I was swimming laps of all things, it hit me hard and it got me pumped up to start spinning music again and writing about cool new bands.
It rocked my world. It made me furious and I don’t really get mad, so it was a bit strange. Mind you… Had you seen me swimming my laps, you would have never guessed that all this was swimming through my head, but as notes were struck on those same damn songs that have played countless times on the radio, I became increasingly inspired to get rocking.
Play something new! Let’s get off this roller coaster ride of musical monotony. Let’s set sail to explore some radical, free-thinking bands that are out there playing today and possibly tonight at a venue near you. That is what this blog is about and I hope that you might discover some new bands with me along the way.
I will also be launching my podcast "Drive To California" and featuring each recording on this blog. Stay tuned for what will be a great mix of over 50 years of sweet rock music.
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