NYS Music 20​15

Category: Flashback

  • Phish Magnaball Day 3: Your Magna Trip is Short

    Many Magnaball attendees were foggy rather groggy Sunday morning after an epic Saturday of music, so it was good that fans had all day to recover and gather their strength for a final night of revelry with Phish.

    Sunday’s show started out with a cheer as fans recognized the opening chords to “Punch You in the Eye.” That segued into a rarity, “Buffalo Bill.” The song hasn’t been played since Ohio in June 2012 and the set continued with “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing,” then “Limb By Limb,” which featured a jam that built to a quick payoff. The melancholy “Waiting All Night” moved into “Theme From the Bottom,” with a beautifully melodic breakdown in the middle. That transitioned into “Maze,” the only song of the night off Rift, the album released on vinyl for the first time the previous day. “Maze” built to a frightening frenzy multiple times before breaking back into the dark, sparse end section.

    phish magnaball

    The mood lightened with the lyric-heavy “The Line” while “Stash” got everyone dancing with a jam that included some great guitar/bass interplay and piano builds. “Reba”’s nonsensical recipe for disaster was super fun, as always.

    phish magnaball

    Band members then sang “I Didn’t Know,” until Trey asked the Little Beast Boy (Fishman) to come forward and play the vacuum and “suck love” at a long list of people Trey read off that the band wanted to thank, ranging from the band’s crew and staff to local officials. The set finished off with a high-energy version of “Character Zero” that left the crowd hungry for more.

    phish magnaball

    A loud appreciative roar from the crowd accompanied the opening audio segment of “Martian Monster” whose words of blasting off on a voyage of discovery undoubtedly rang so true for so many at Magnaball. An energized but fairly standard jam soon followed before the music shifted towards ambient spacey tones and, soon after, the opening bass notes of “Down with Disease.” As they’ve done regularly this summer, Phish stretched out a second set “Disease” jam into a beautiful one that started out with a slow ambient groove that slowly and surely evolved into a raging rock and roll blissed out jam.

    After reaching an apex and stagnating for a few minutes, the music shifted seamlessly into a far less common song of late, “Scents and Subtle Sounds.” Although not played with the full intro section as it was in Philadelphia two weeks prior, this newly revived 2.0 gem ushered in a new wave of beautiful improvisational rock with standout fills from Page on piano and Trey repeating some soaring and beautifully dissonant chords on guitar. The short and power packed jam was not even finished yet as the opening chords to another rarity, “What’s the Use?” started up with Fishman still singing along to a petering out “Scents and Subtle Sounds.” This along with “Dirt” that followed seemed to serve as a chance for everyone to conserve some energy for the stretch run and for some to cross some rarer songs off their lists.

    The final leg of a magical weekend began with a “Mike’s Song” that was played to perfection with Page again shining on the clavinet and Trey unleashing a relentless attach of high octave shock waves courtesy of the Echoplex. While some held their breath for another go round of the second Mike’s jam, instead, the group launched right into “Fuego” which brought its signature brand of powerhouse rock to the second set. While the composed section was run through perfectly, it was a fairly short version with no jam as the music immediately shifted gears into “Twist.” One of the true MVPs of this summer tour, “Twist” featured some of the more improvisational moments of the second set as a quick run through of the composed section gave way to a nifty guitar and bass breakdown between Trey and Mike. A quick blues based jam with the whole band involved soon followed which escalated into yet another full on rock barrage replete with “Immigrant Song” vocal teases from Trey and Fishman. Although it may not have been as stretched out or as epic as previous summer “Twist’s,” this version served as a clear example of how effortlessly the band can shift from one musical mode to another. The customary “Weekapaug Groove” that followed was also a prime example of this as some light-hearted toying around with the song’s tempo towards the end of the jam gave way to a reemergence of “Martian Monster” and all the audio samples that come along with it. If it was the band’s intention to pack as much different music and madness as they could into a short “Mike’s Groove,” then they succeeded most admirably.

    phish magnaball

    A show and a weekend like this one could only have one fitting encore and the group’s seminal classic “You Enjoy Myself” fit that bill. This final musical sendoff gave Phish one last chance to delight the crowd with its mastery of ambient noise, blissful cohesiveness, trampolines and vocal jamming. At its completion, a majestic fireworks display went off to the right of the stage that left revelers with minds blown and mouths agape. It served as both the final page of a fantastic and memorable Magnaball and the initial call to arms for those fortunate fans ending the summer tour with the annual summer ending party in Colorado in two weeks.

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Set 1: Punch You in the Eye > Buffalo Bill, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Limb By Limb, Waiting All Night > Theme From the Bottom > Maze, The Line, Stash, Reba, I Didn’t Know[1], Character Zero

    Set 2: Martian Monster > Down with Disease[2] -> Scents and Subtle Sounds[3] -> What’s the Use? > Dirt > Mike’s Song > Fuego > Twist -> Weekapaug Groove[2] -> Martian Monster

    Encore: You Enjoy Myself

    [1] Trey thanked the crew, production staff and local officials.
    [2] Unfinished.
    [3] No intro.

  • Magnaball Drive-In Jam: Phish treat fans to an audio-visual Odyssey

    Phish has surprised their fans with special, unannounced sets at many of their festivals in the past 19 years. At The Clifford Ball, a flatbed truck drove the band around while they jammed. During The Great Went, the band DJ’d under fake names in a tent for a “Disco Set.” The Lemonwheel featured an hour long ambient set late at night, while Big Cypress had slightly-announced ‘Midnight set’ where the band played for seven hours straight, stretching from the end of the last millennium into the dawn of the new one. IT had The Tower Jam, with the band performing on an air traffic control tower while acrobats danced below and Superball IX had the ‘Storage Jam,’ which sparked a new era of psychedelic jamming and broke new ground. The Drive-In Jam would join all these in the annals of Phish lore.

    Via unpluggedmusings.wordpress.com

    Magnaball’s foray into the history of Phish’s special festival sets was the Drive-In Jam and it raised the bar while putting forth a performance on par with the ‘Storage Jam,’ if not exceeded this established upper echelon of improvisation. On a 183 foot movie screen, a wide array of visual treats combined with a progressively growing ambient jam that eclipsed the Lemonwheel by a longshot and morphed into a full on jam for 50 minutes. The Drive-in Set raised the bar for surprise performances and gave fans a treat after the music on the main stage ended an hour prior.

    How can one explain what happened in those 50 minutes and the lead up to the Drive-in Jam performance? For starters, you can watch the video captured by Phun Guy and judge for yourself what transpired. Add to this a breakdown of what occurred in each ‘segment’ of the Drive-In jam and take a waltz through Phish at the top of their game, more than 30 years into their career.

    Breakdown of the Drive-In Set (times are approximate, based on Live Phish recording time.)

    0:00 – 8:10
    Gentle, airy, spooky feedback with the sound of chains and haunted house noises – a psychedelic Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House. Screams and chimes ala “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies” build on the cosmic sound that develops from the first portion of the jam.

    8:10 – 10:30
    Waves and a few bass notes from Mike redirect the jam to fresh territory, an ocean-sound-scape, where some light vocals accompany the developing music.

    Phish drive-in

    10:30 – 12:30
    Trey takes a lead and Fishman is more prevalent in the mix, building towards a jam that could be a Type II jam of any song from this summer – the epic jams we experienced are found within this portion. All four are synced up now.

    12:30 – 15:30
    Trey jumps ahead with some arcing riffs while Fish works the crash cymbals loudly. Page is the captain here – guiding the band into the grandiose trip through an ambient wormhole. Trey keeps jumping ahead at times, short leaps that propel the jam with the rhythm section building upon already fertile ground.

    15:30 – 17:30
    Mike brings the bass to the fore and now we have a change in the tone – deeper and weirder. Trey pops in with some lighter notes while Page adds in UFO sounds to freak people out. The visual display at this time was practically a trip through an episode of Cosmos, minus Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s narrating.

    Phish drive-in

    17:30 – 22:30
    And here comes Fishman! The pace picks up a bit as Mike and Fish are going double time and leaving the ambiance behind. Trey and Page follow suit and we have lift-off. This section of the jam is quite remarkable for the build and peaks throughout the ascent. This is a hyper-space jump via ludicrous speed. Fish doesn’t let up on the drums for a second and Trey gets a little nasty towards the end here.

    22:30 – 24:00
    Trey wants to get weird, so Mike gets into a new bass groove. A jam that could be found in an odd version of “Catapult” grows while Page adds in some subtle screams; the build is tremendous here. Closeup fractal imagery of the band is seen over the rest of the crazy visual effects.

    Phish drive-in

    24:00 – 27:00
    Fish returns the jam to earth’s orbit. The mild funk that develops thankfully doesn’t fizzle or fade but instead grows into a new jam, one working in deep bass from Mike and spacey Page effects. The jam collapses in a collective heap of Trey and Page.

    27:00 – 29:00
    Bells, looping and synth arise and slowly rebuild the jam. Fish pounds the drums to redirect and we’re off once again!

    29:00 – 32:00
    With a solar array lighting the screen, another Type II-esque jam develops, eliciting a portion of “Cheap Sunglasses” followed by a vocal jam from Mike and Trey. This is a freaky portion of the entire jam and fodder for future late night Freakouts by The Bunny.

    32:00 – 34:30
    Some meatballs from Mike as Trey slowly paces forward and new territory being broken in a disjointed area where they slowly reconvene.

     

    Magna late night #magnaball

    A photo posted by NYS Music (@nystatemusic) on

    34:30 – 37:00
    Trey takes over and we have all four dialed back in. A blissful jam emerges. The visuals of the band projected on the screen are more solid and animated with a touch of tripped out A-Ha.

    37:00 – 40:00
    As this jam builds it develops into a nearly composed portion that would be a treat to hear again live. Mike and Fish steer the ship while Trey leads the way and Page sets the tone for the jam – it’s hard to hear this jam and not recoil in amazement.

    40:00 – 43:20
    This just keeps getting better and better. Page is now leading the way with Trey and Fish creating interplay for a broader jam to develop that adds layers to the already existing jam – a meta jam. ‘Whoa’ vocals emerge midway through then Trey takes command.

    43:20 – 45:30
    Trey moves the jam into final section territory, a possibly composed portion of accelerated guitar work to signal a shift, which the others follow perfectly. The jam mellows a bit without flatlining; instead Page adds some synth effects to provide a base.

    45:30 – 46:30
    We come towards the close of the Drive-in Jam, all four slowly winding down the jam until it is just a series of beats and feedback played behind the screen.

     

    Drive In set #phish #magnaball A video posted by NYS Music (@nystatemusic) on

    46:30 – 49:30
    A darker section emerges, driving home the remaining jam with audio-hallucinations and growing vocals from Trey and Mike building the jam up.

    49:30 – 51:40
    Sound effects from Page are the beginning of the end for the Drive-In Set, as eerie mad scientist laboratory sounds carry over while Trey uses the Mu-tone to drip a little “Space” goodness into the final minutes. After one last build, the music ends slowly and gently.

    51:40 – 52:17
    Well deserved applause from the faithful 30,000 that stayed awake to witness this incredible musical event.

    drive-in jam

  • Phish’s Magnaball Day 2: The Circus is the Place For Phans

    With an absolutely mind blowing Day 1 under their belt, Phish carried the momentum in stride and coasted gracefully into what was the single best day of Magnaball on Saturday. Delivering four sets, including one unannounced “secret set,” which included almost an hour of free-form jazz infused improv laced with a touch of funk that lasted well into the morning, Phish came out and laid down a more than memorable first set which included a diverse blend of both classic and revamped numbers.

    phish magnaball

    As Phish took the stage for their first set of the second day of the festival the weather and the crowd could not have been better. It seemed as if the majority of the crowd was fairly responsible on Friday night and opted out of late night partying into the sunrise in order to be full force for the marathon day that was Saturday; however, this likely wasn’t the case for everyone. Nonetheless, from where the NYS Music crew was planted, the crowd was in full swing and the energy was at an all time high for the day set.

    Walking out on the stage, Phish opened up with “Divided Sky,” the crowd was instantaneously locked into a dancing groove as the range of this song truly captivated the masses. One of the most beautiful live music experiences a fan can have is when they get so lost in their own dance moves – that when they do finally take a peek out of the corner of their eye, they’re embedded in a sea of dancing people locked into a developing wave of unison. That feeling of not being alone is invaluable and that energy is absolutely unparalleled. Take yourself back to some of the highest moments of your life; a sexual encounter, walking across the stage after graduating, landing that big job after a good interview, making a crowded room of people laugh at the same time, etc… None of it can be compared to that feeling of simply belonging as an individual in a crowd of thousands of people all enjoying the same music together.

    After the band pushed through their classic staple “Divided Sky” they slammed into “Moma Dance” which whiplashed the crowd into another wave of dancing madness. Mike, Page and Trey each took their turn to step into the spotlight and lead the rest of the band through their own respected numbers as Phish went on to play “Mound”, “Army of One” and “Scabbard.” as well as the stellar “Sample in a Jar” and “Tube” before the band hit a cool down song with “Halfway to the Moon.” Page poured out an abundance of emotion and took his time to work through the core of the song with precision.

    As the band was feeling the energy, “Camel Walk” surfaced and a flowing wave of dancing emanated through the crowd; the good people were feeling this song and had the moves to prove it. The new Mike song, “How Many People Are You?” one of many new songs Phish has in their arsenal when they hit the road for their 2015 Summer Tour, made an appearance again after being debuted earlier this summer. The new songs were well received by the fan base as well as the next studio album is sure to be as well.

    The sweet and tender cover of “When the Circus Comes” put the entire weekend into retrospect. The place, the people, the crew, the music and the community as a whole were part of this traveling circus and the circus was the place to be. The band stepped in and out of their solos beautifully and even the composed parts of this version spoke volumes.

    Closing their set with “Undermind” > “Run Like an Antelope” was full of raw energy simply foreshadowing what was yet to unfold throughout the rest of the day. This was just a small piece of the pie as a whole, but what was witnessed on the first day of Saturday was some top notch Phish and they set the stage for the brilliance of music that was planted firmly on the horizon. As the nightfall came the music only got better. When the lights are turning ‘round, the wheels were rolling on the ground.

    How does one describe Saturday’s second set without gushing over the energetic jams? Phish came out for this first night set swinging. The set moved from rocking energy to extended inspired jamming. The audience was on their feet throughout the set, often kept on their toes, not knowing what to expect next.

    A powerful “Wolfman’s Brother” kicked off this energetic set. It was followed quickly by the one-two punch of a short, but sweet, “Halley’s Comet” straight into a “46 Days” that starts out raging and morphs into a slower and darker than usual jam. As the jam picked back up, Anastasio patiently incorporated the opening chords of “Backwards Down the Number Line,” bringing about an incredibly smooth transition. The band gave this traditionally standard tune a bit more energy than usual, keeping up with the energy of the earlier songs.

    The set was capped by a perfectly combined “Tweezer” and “Prince Caspian.” The “Tweezer,” which seems to have a little more pep than most, goes into an intricate jam, out of which comes a near-perfect segue into “Prince Caspian.” There is little one can say about this “Caspian” other than “WOW!” What is usually a breather song for the set was anything but that this time around. It starts off with far more power than anyone expected and morphs into a nearly 17 minute excursion that almost returns to “Tweezer” before the band keeps the improvisation moving.

    The entire set is must-hear Phish, an example of some of the finest playing the band has performed in their current era and one of the best sets of the tour. The “Tweezer” > “Prince Caspian” segment alone is some of the best Phish ever played, with “Caspian” being one of the all time versions of the song.

    phish magnaball

    By the time Saturday night’s set started, mild weariness from a lack of sleep may have set in due to the immense overall fun of Magnaball. That quickly dissipated, thanks to a killer opening section of “Meatstick” > “Blaze On” -> “Possum” > “Cities” > “Light” > “555.” Fresh off that amazing second set closing “Tweezer” > “Prince Caspian,” which, admittedly got the crowd wildly worked up, Phish came out blazing for an incredibly diverse set that featured 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 song choices.

    “Meatstick” got the juices flowing with a short and fun solo from Trey. Up next, however, is the jam of the entire festival. And that’s an incredibly tough statement to make amidst a weekend packed with some of the best Phish jamming since — wait for it — 2004.

    “Blaze On” has risen quickly up the ranks as the best new song the band has debuted since 2009. It’s almost like Trey is saying, “Hey guys, check it out. Look where we are now, compared to where we were years ago.” The chorus ends with, “You’ve got one life, blaze on,” which seems like an omen to the past, present and future, telling us that these first 32 years were only the beginning.

    After some polite psychedelic rambling, the band kicked it into high gear around the 10-minute mark for a major key jam, paced initially by Page’s clavinet, before Trey ramped in with a somewhat haunting lick that takes the jam into a completely different direction. The final two minutes of “Blaze On” are so reminiscent of the Superball “Golden Age,” it’s actually a bit eerie. At times, it even dove into sounding like it was riddled with anxiety, which came right after a calm and uplifting segment. Either way, this jam is a total keeper.

    Up next was a straightforward, but always fun take on “Possum.” where the real winner was the hypnotic segue into the decades-old song written by original band member Jeff Holdsworth. This is one hell of a segue and a must-hear for every fan. “Cities” was next, and for a minute, this was going to go the way of Philly’s jam on August 11, but it ended up sounding like a bit of a reprise of the “Blaze On” jam.

    “Light” was fun for nearly 16 minutes, but it doesn’t stand out among the behemoths of Magnaball. A fun segue into the Mike Gordon-penned funk song “555” seemed a bit out of place coming out of the space “Light” left behind. “Wading in the Velvet Sea” slowed things down even more, but it was well played, especially for a Phish festival.

    Closing out the set was a personal favorite, “Walls of the Cave.” While this version doesn’t stand out much on the radar, it was executed perfectly, with Trey building tension throughout the jam, before bringing the song to a raucous close. A “Boogie On Reggae Woman” and “Tweezer Reprise” encore put a cap to an almost perfect Phish set, the latter bringing the crowd into a swirling frenzy.

    We all had no idea what was about to happen next…

    Set 1 review by Stu Kelly, Set 2 review by Jim Rizzo, Set 3 review by Neil Benjamin, Jr.

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Set 1: Divided Sky, The Moma Dance > Mound, Army of One, Scabbard > Sample in a Jar, Tube, Halfway to the Moon, Camel Walk, How Many People Are You, When the Circus Comes, Undermind > Run Like an Antelope

    Set 2: Wolfman’s Brother, Halley’s Comet > 46 Days -> Backwards Down the Number Line > Tweezer > Prince Caspian*

    Set 3: Meatstick > Blaze On -> Possum > Cities > Light > 555, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Walls of the Cave

    Encore: Boogie On Reggae Woman > Tweezer Reprise

    *Unfinished.

    Notes: Caspian included a Tweezer tease and was unfinished. Cities contained a Mind Left Body Jam tease.

    Read about the Drive-In Set here

  • Phish Magnaball Day 1 Recap: A Magna-ificent Start

    Phish returned to Watkins Glen International Raceway on Aug 21-23 for their 10th festival, Magnaball. The sold out event gathered more than 40,000 fans to the gorgeous hillsides of the Finger Lakes Region of New York for 3 days of camping, art and the musical jam stylings of the Vermont quartet.

    phish magnaball

    Creating a small city within itself, MagnaBall offered a Ferris Wheel, onsite radio station known as The Bunny, a Post Office, a huge 183-foot movie screen, a high class restaurant serving local and organic five-course meals, interactive art installations and so much more to keep fans glad, glad, glad they had arrived. Despite being sold out, tickets could still be purchased at the gates making for a slightly hectic arrival on Thursday and Friday.

    The festival started around 8pm on Friday with a perfect yet uncommon opener of “Simple” with Page tickling the notes of “Magilla” and a howling good time as the band went into “The Dogs” from their Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House Halloween set, a nod to us all that Phish and the fans are wild animals. A sincere surprise was the appearance of the beautiful, instrumental classic of “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday” as it jumped into a strong “Avenu Malkenu” and back home again in “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday,” which slowly led into “Free,” reaching great heights as Trey blared the rocking riffs to Mike’s hard hitting bass.

    phish magnaball

    Taking a moment from the music, Trey reflected on the band’s history with their festivals and how their families have since grown in the number of children the band collectively has. Showing a bit of his ’embarrassing dad’ side, Trey shared that this day was also daughter Eliza’s birthday and requested a collective “Happy Birthday,” which the crowd happily performed as he brought her onstage.

    The major bustout of the set was the short and sweet “Mock Song,” an original Mike tune that hadn’t been played since 2003 and with an appropriate lyric change of “Clifford, Super, Magnaball.” The highlight of the set that was talked about all weekend was the set closing “Bathtub Gin”. The Magna Gin was over 20 minutes long with intense, improvisational peaks of highly danceable rhythm, layers upon layers of interchangeable, bizarre melodies and a blissful, playful pace to start the festival.

    Trey brings his daughter Eliza out for a happy birthday wish. ? by Patrick Jordan.

    A photo posted by phishfromtheroad (@phishfromtheroad) on

    We were one set deep into Phish’s 3-night, eight-set Magna-opus and the gloves were already off. You weren’t getting out of there without some pain and bruises, but you were definitely getting out alive, possibly more alive than when you entered. The summer has seen the band playing at a consistently high level, not just for 3.0, and not compared to just 2.0 or 1.0.

    The band is older, the crowd is older, but the music has been reinvigorated both with new songs and new twists on old favorites that has rejuvenated all involved. A ‘Not Your Father’s’ second-set-opener of “Chalkdust Torture,” got things jumping off from the rocking shell of the song proper, and as soon as the last verse was sung we were deep into a pool of straight improvisatory gravy. That gravy would flow throughout the set, as jams became songs became jams once again, oozing together over and over into a delicious stew for over 90 minutes.

    After a dark and winding “Ghost,” Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” took a journey that eventually wound around to the bopping reggae groove of “Harry Hood.” They lingered patiently for a couple of minutes before launching into the “Hood” nearly everyone saw coming, giving the band another chance to showcase one of their rejuvenated songs, with a rejiggered closing section that allowed a bit more freedom. This time it meant a nifty little “Cars Trucks Buses”-esque jam preceding the typical climactic finish.

    “Waste” provided a pleasant breather before more renewal was on display with the fresh off the wire “No Men in No Man’s Land.” The 2015-debuted tune is already taking on a fun rocking life of its own. There was nothing particularly new about “Slave to the Traffic Light,” sitting there in its classic set closing greatness but it stood tall and proud still, executing the dismount perfectly. Still got it! No surprises were in store with a “Farmhouse” and “First Tube” encore, but the stage was set, and the final energetic notes would dance along the Watkins Glen air for the remainder of the weekend.

    Magnaball was not just some mash-up of two random words, but simply the best way to describe the current state of Phish, a band sounding as fresh as ever, even after 32 years. The first third of that definition was in the books.

    Set 1 review by Susan Rice, Set 2 review by Eli Stein

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Set 1: Simple>The Dogs > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday> Avenu Malkenu> The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Free, The Wedge, Mock Sock, Roggae > Rift, Bathtub Gin

    Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture* > Ghost -> Rock and Roll > Harry Hood -> Waste > No Men In No Man’s Land -> Slave to the Traffic Light
    Encore: Farmhouse, First Tube

    *Unfinished.

    Notes: Page teased Magilla in Simple. TMWSIY and Avenu Malkenu were played for the first time since July 4, 2012 (124 shows). After Free, Trey asked the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to his daughter, Eliza, who briefly joined him onstage. Mock Song was played for the first time since July 12, 2003 (320 shows), and featured a lyric change to “Clifford, Super, Magnaball.” CDT contained a What’s the Use? tease and was unfinished. Hood contained a CTB tease from Mike.

  • Cheers to 20 Years: A Gathering of the Vibes Flashback

    There’s no doubt that we’ve been having one hell of a year in music. Most recently, we’ve seen artists like Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Bill Withers (finally) becoming inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Leading up this year, we’ve seen big name artists like Taylor Swift pulling their music from online streaming services to crush the myth that “physical sales just don’t sell anymore.” We’ve seen lawsuits changing the recording world and the way we associate artists with earlier musical predecessors.

    In the live show atmosphere, we’ve seen many great small music festivals lose the support they need to bring us great music. Luckily, there’s one festival that seems to have left a firm stance in an ever changing music industry, and it’s back for its 20th year to bring us the music that’s so very near and dear to our hearts. Friends, get ready for the Gathering of the Vibes.

    Starting as nothing more than a small memorial celebration at SUNY Purchase, “Deadhead Heaven: A Gathering of the Tribe” was created from a batch of devoted, yet mourning fans of the legendary Jerry Garcia: local promoter Bob Kennedy, business guru Ken Hays, and publishers of the fan magazine “Dupree’s Diamond News” Sally Ansorge Mulvey and John Dwork. Their aim was to provide an atmosphere that celebrated the incomparable success of the Grateful Dead, while mourning the loss of a respected, legendary frontman with hope and celebration. As the word spread about the show’s reminiscent and engaging atmosphere, so did the festival itself. Moving to Croton Point Park, NY a year later, it was renamed “Gathering of the Vibes,” named after the devoted fans self-proclamation as the ever present “VibeTribe.” To meet the growing number of attendees, the festival moved the following year to Plattsburgh, NY as the founders searched for an even bigger venue to host a long-term contract. Upon finding Seaside Park in Bridgeport, they immediately jumped on the opportunity, gracing Connecticut with the 1999 and 2000 Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival. It was then that Bob Weir himself played the Vibes stage, alongside his band Ratdog.

    With great success always comes great challenge, and renovations needed to be done to Seaside Park as Vibes gained notoriety. For the next six years, the festival hopped over to Red Hook, NY followed by the Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, N.Y. That certainly didn’t stop Dead members stopping in on the fun, however, since Phil Lesh & Friends made a two night cameo appearance in the 2002 festival in Mariaville.

    Despite the festival’s continued success in New York, Vibes was able to relocate back to Seaside Park from 2007 onward, with endless support from the Town of Bridgeport as well as the devoted VibeTribe. Today, you can still witness the same spiritual cleansing and celebration of great music that these great pioneers aimed for back in SUNY Purchase. Along with the great artists that graced the stage back in 1996, including Strangefolk, Max Creek, and moe., Gathering of the Vibes has brought in some of the greatest legends in music, including Elvis Costello, Allman Brothers Band, James Brown, Buddy Guy, and Primus, to name a few.

    This year, the team at Vibes has thrown us a couple of surprises in their 2015 lineup, including Weezer, Wilco, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, and The Gaslight Anthem. Though you may plan to make your way into a crowd of sweaty, sprightly individuals to jam out to the newbies of the Vibes lineup, make sure you take part in the shows of those who came at the early stages of Vibes, including but not limited to Max Creek, Strangefolk, Warren Haynes, and Deep Banana Blackout.

    With so many venue relocations and constant adaptations, Gathering of the Vibes has been no easy wind. With constant support from the beloved VibeTribe, Gathering of the Vibes has been able to withstand the odds and survive as a notable festival, earning ranks on Rolling Stone’s “Summer 2015 Must-See Music Festival.” To join in the 20 year celebration, visit the Gathering of the Vibes official website and get your tickets. While you wait in anticipation for this year’s festival, however, make sure to check out the past performers that graced the Vibes stages, dating back to SUNY Purchase in 1996. The Gathering of the Vibes has certainly beaten many odds and maintained its high reputation, which is certainly worth celebrating, so we’re looking forward to this year as well as many years to come.

  • Flashback: Aquarium Rescue Unit at the Pump House, May 6, 1993

    May 6, 1993. I was a high school junior, two weeks out from my 17th birthday. It was a Thursday night and Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit were playing a gig in Syracuse at the Pump House, a semi-dive bar in a semi-seedy area of town. I had been introduced to ARU through their association with the first H.O.R.D.E tour the summer prior. I was already a Phish fan at the time, having been to seven shows already.

    I missed the H.O.R.D.E. tour, however, so had not seen any of the other bands, but probably owned all of their CDs at the time. Somehow I was alerted to this ARU show in town (pre-Internet I can’t even recall how that might have been), and somehow I convinced my parents to let my friend and I go out to a bar on a school night. Just the “bar” part of that equation alone was enough to warrant a solid “no,” so not sure how I managed that, but I am forever thankful.

    Aquarium Rescue Unit

    So my friend and I headed down to the Pump House with no idea of what we were getting into, musically or physically. We got there probably earlier than even the listed time, completely unaware how bar shows operate. We had no fake IDs. The bouncer understandably balked. We pleaded with him to let us in, promising we wouldn’t try to drink, we just wanted to see the band… which was true. I don’t remember it being all that hard, a little convincing and he let us through. We got in the bar, and it was empty. Completely dead. We took a seat at a table and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited for what felt like an eternity, and likely was well over an hour. Finally a band appeared on stage. But it wasn’t ARU. It was the (unlisted) opening band. Ugh. We were restless. Lucky for us, the opening band was pretty freaking great. They were a band from Syracuse University named Sons of Papaya. I would end up being one of their biggest fans, seeing them quite often a year later, when I went to school there. But that is a story for another time.

    Finally the Aquarium Rescue Unit would take the stage. Jimmy Herring (guitar) Oteil Burbridge (bass) Apt. Q258 (on Earth known as Jeff Sipe (drums)), Matt Mundy (mandolin), and Count Mbutu (percussion), played a short intro jam before their unkempt leader, Col. Bruce Hampton, ambled on and led the band into “Payday,” off their then new release, Mirrors of Embarrassment. At this time there was still just about 20 in attendance, four of which were the opening band and two of which were my friend and I.

    Listening back to the show now, I can’t even imagine what the younger me was thinking. It still sounds fresh and mind-blowing different today. They were an all-star band in reverse. We all now know their names, and know them to be some of the best at their respective instruments, but at the time they were just a young rag-tag bunch being led around by this eccentric uncle-type. It was most certainly a mind and taste-expanding experience for me. Their unique blend of bluegrass, blues, lounge, rock, jazz and everything in between filtered through the bizzaro lens of Hampton’s vision was enough to send even the most educated music fan’s head spinning.

    The Colonel wasted no time getting into his antics. “Jimmy Herring, born right here in Syracuse, returning for the 2nd time to his hometown!” (Every stop on tour was his hometown…) My friend and I, none the wiser, ate it right up. Amazing! He’s from here?! “Oteil, from Egypt!” (Again, not true…) He does look kind of mysterious… “Apt. Q258!” OK, that’s just weird. (After the show they handed out signed promo posters promoting the new album, and Jeff Sipe’s signature was a drawing of a house with Q258 written on the door.)

    Aquarium Rescue Unit

    Toward the end of the set, Hampton beckoned for Bela Fleck. Out walked the dorkiest looking musician I had ever seen, playing an electric banjo, what the?! Sadly I had no idea who he was, and as such, had no clue how great he could make the banjo sound. Meanwhile, we couldn’t quite hear what his name was and my friend continually joked how great it was that we saw Roberta Flack. I don’t even remember when it was I realized that I had seen Bela Fleck then.

    Over a year later, my tape trading buddy (that was such a thing back then) re-introduced me to him when he sent me a recording of the Flecktones (which I would eventually wear thin) and was forever hooked. But at the here and now of this particular story, I was still completely clueless. Through the beauty of the internet I can now confirm that the Flecktones had a show in Syracuse that same night as well. If only I knew. Fleck would join them from Trondossa through the end of the set. On memory alone, I would say my impressions were that he was surprisingly good considering he was, I had assumed, a local musician. But listening back now, I was a fool to think that he was anything short of spectacular, shining on a solo in “Too Many Guitars” and completely owning ARU’s tribute to Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place” in particular.

    The band would come back for a rather lengthy encore, as the “Aquarium Flecktones Unit” with Fleck and Futureman joining the band. Futureman would play the real drums as opposed to his usual Drumitar. But I was none the wiser.  Hampton said it best, “that’s one hell of a drum section there” with Futureman, Apt. Q258 and Mbutu all together. He also called out Victor Wooten before the night closing “Jack the Rabbit,” though he was just hanging out on the side of the stage, not playing, unfortunately. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bId4TxH5Q2U

    This was one of those out-of-the-way random-weekday playing-in-front-of-no-one special shows. And I was there. But in this case, I was the “unsuspecting crowd”; unknowing and under-appreciating of just how unusual it was. Ending the night “past curfew” according to the stage announcement, leaves me wondering again exactly how I pulled this trick off on a school night and underage, not even a year of driving under my belt.

    After the show I headed for the bathroom. Who was that at the urinal next to me? None other than Jimmy Herring. He washed up and headed out. He left the water running and I went to wash my hands. Yow! Just like his guitar playing, the water was scorching hot. My soft unworked 16-year-old skin was nearly burned. In addition to his wizardry on guitar, the fact that he could wash his hands so casually under boiling hot water had me shaking my head. Was he of this earth? No, he was from Zambi, just like the rest of them.

    The show was like nothing I had seen. The Aquarium Rescue Unit put on one hell of a unique live performance, unmatched in its combination of musicianship, utter disregard for convention, and creation of its own alternate universe, without the use of over the top theatrics… pretty much on attitude alone. This original lineup would soon after dissolve, first losing Mundy and later Hampton. The band would never be the same. But with their impending reunion, the magic may be reignited.

    I gave the one taper there my information in hopes of hearing that amazing music again someday. I never heard back from him, or got the tapes, but thanks once again to this internet thing, I can listen at the touch of a button now. The recording is very high quality, and as stated the music is quite incredible. I definitely recommend giving this one a listen. Take a trip to Zambi-land.

    Setlist: Intro> Payday, Compared To What, Time Flack, Dead Presidents. Same Old Thing. Basically Frightened, Lost My Mule In Texas, No Egos Underwater. No Reason To Complain, Time Is Free, Yield Not To Temptation, New River Train, Trondossa*, Too Many Guitars*, Two Truckloads*, Zambi*> Space Is The Place* > Drums > Rocket #9/Space Is The Place*, Workin’ On A Building*

    Encore: Swing**, I’ll Go Crazy**, Fixin’ To Die**, Shoeless Joe**, Jack The Rabbit**

    * with Bela Fleck, ** with Future Man