David Crosby brought his friends to The Egg on Friday, November 17 for a sold out performance that featured tracks off his new album Sky Trails, as well as songs from the 60’s and 70’s by CSNY, CPR and The Byrds. Crosby’s Friends this evening included Jeff Pevar on guitar, James Raymond on keys, Mai Agan on bass, Steve DiStanislao on drums, and Michelle Willis on keys and vocals.
David Crosby and Friends at The Egg
Shortly after opening with “In my Dreams,” a prime sample of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s late 70s elevator rock sound, Crosby dove into the first of a few CPR tracks, “Morrison” and later “At the Edge” and the powerful “Breathless,” as he spread out his vast catalog throughout the evening.
After a show in Boston that had an audience member taking issue with Crosby’s anti-Trump stance, there were four instances this evening where he took jabs at Trump, with no vocal disdain from the audience. There was also the groovy “She’s Got to be Somewhere,” a song about a spy, influenced by Trump, and the first track off Sky Trails.
Crosby shared stories throughout the evening, the first about The Byrds touring in England for the first time in the 60s, and told of how they were scared to meet The Beatles because they had copied their look, clothes, hair, shoes, sound and all. While performing one night, Crosby saw Mick Jagger and John Lennon in the crowd, and while he was nervous to meet either of them, they were as mellow as could be when they got to talking after the show. This led to Crosby offering a Ravi Shankar album to George Harrison, which had a profound influence on the quiet Beatle and his music in the years that followed. Crosby and Friends then performed “Laughing” which was written for Harrison.
The touching CSN classic “Guinevere” was followed by referencing the Boston audience member, leading Crosby to wonder if “maybe they thought it was a Stephen Stills show,” before discussing the impact of Eisenhower’s “Military industrial Complex” speech and how it had an early influence on his view of American politics. With cheers and applause from the audience, he briefly spoke against the buying of Congress (and how there may only be five good ones left), which led into the short acapella song from an era of protest against the Vietnam War “What are their names?” Keeping the spirit of the era alive, a pairing of “Long Time Coming” and an extended “Deja Vu” with a soft jazzy interlude closed the first set.
“Delta,” a song written on Warren Zevon’s piano (thanks to Jackson Browne when he was helping Crosby get clean) and “My Country Tis of Thee” with a CSN spin on the American staple stood out in a shorter second set. An encore of Neil Young’s “Ohio” had Crosby encouraging the crowd to sing the chorus “Four dead in Ohio,” and left the audience emboldened to take the spirit of the era from which these songs were born.
While the show had plenty of reminiscing, Crosby’s show was far from a novelty act or nostalgia show. There were a few songs from his forthcoming album Sky Trails that were performed this evening amid plenty of classics from across his Canon. The 76 year old showed no signs of slowing down or mailing in his performance as he heads into the twilight of his career. Crosby is fired up and ready to go.
My husband and I were fortunate enough to be in attendance the last time the Farm Aid lineup rocked Burgettstown in 2002.
This time was extra special as it was the first time our six-year-old son was able to attend a Farm Aid event with us. The life experience he has gained from attending the press conference, being up close to music greats like Farm Aid board members, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, learning about vermicomposting in the HOMEGROWN Village and eating all the amazing food the local farmers and food vendors cooked up for the show; I can’t even begin to imagine the lasting impact that will have on him. Did I mention that all of the concessions sold at the show were sustainably produced by family farmers using ecological practices and any waste produced was recyclable or compostable? Awesome!
Although the day in many ways is about the music, I want to take a moment to focus on the heart of the cause…the family farmers. Farm Aid has raised more than $50 million to support family owned farms. The press conference held prior to the day long concert, focused on four stories of local farms. They varied from a produce farm that sold to local schools, a dairy farm that was able to stick it out and make things work even in tough times, one of the pioneers of organic farming in the region and an inner city urban farm that invites the community to have a safe haven to commune, work and get a bite to eat if they’re hungry. Pennsylvania was selected to play host to the 2017 Farm Aid concert because it is home to over 58,000 farms. However, those farms are declining at a growing rate. For more information about Pennsylvania farms please visit here. It is no surprise that the 2017 Farm Aid concert sold out the first day tickets went on sale. The lineup was incredible and featured some of the music industry’s best. Farm Aid 2017 featured Willie Nelson, Neil Young with the Promise of the Real, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson, The Avett Brothers, Nathaniel Rateliff &The Night Sweats, Blackberry Smoke, Margo Price, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Valerie June, Insects vs Robots and Blackwood Quartet. We met people who had traveled from Alaska and even Australia to see the show. The day opened with the smooth sounds of the Blackwood Quartet; followed by the experimental psych-rock band Insects vs Robots featuring Micah Nelson, son of Willie. Valerie June brought her beauty and talent to the stage. How many instruments can she play? Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real were on fire. It has been a few years since I have seen them and they have certainly progressed as a band. Lukas has a genuine, likeable stage presence and proved that he has natural talent like his father. In fact, this band is so amazing that they have the distinct honor of being the backing band for Neil Young. Jam-rock band Blackberry Smoke played a set reminiscent of the sound of the Allman Brothers. Farm Aid veteran Jamey Johnson took the stage next. The crowd was starting to fill in as he performed country favorites, “Up on Cripple Creek” and Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” I had heard great things about Margo Price, a newcomer to the alternative country music scene. She did not disappoint. She has a voice that will take her places and a personal reason for championing the Farm Aid cause; her family lost their farm in 1985. Things really started to heat up when Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats took the stage. It was my first time seeing the band and now I completely understand what my friends have been raving about. What an awesome sound that culminated with their performance of “S.O.B.” The Avett Brothers kept the momentum going. I am unsure of how to describe their sound. You really just need to check it out for yourself. They rocked “Laundry Room,” “True Sadness” and “Slight Figure of Speech.” Jack Johnson is one of the most laid back performers I have ever seen. He opened his set with a highly entertaining parody song aptly titled, “Willie Got Me High and Stole All My Money.” Jack invited Jamey Johnson, Sheryl Crow and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats to join him onstage to cover Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” To keep the party going, Jack called for someone to find Lukas Nelson so that he could come up and perform with him. Lukas was located and joined him for “Breakdown” which included a snippet from Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker.” Jack Johnson was clearly in the mood to share the stage and the Avett Brothers joined him for the final two songs of his set, “Mudfootball” and “Better Together.” The sun was finally starting to go down and Sheryl Crow was up next. She took the stage and immediately lead with hit song “Every Day Is a Winding Road.” She followed Jack Johnson’s lead by inviting Margo Price to join her for “Strong Enough” and ended her set with The Allman Brothers Band cover “Midnight Rider” with Margo Price, Willie and Lukas Nelson and Jack Johnson onstage to help. The first of the Farm Aid board members, Dave Matthews along with his partner in crime, Tim Reynolds performed next. Matthews and Reynolds laid down some mean guitar tracks during set opener “Don’t Drink the Water.” They pleased their diehard followers by debuting a new song that may appear on an upcoming album release that fans have dubbed “Odds Are Against Us.” Their set felt short. Of course I am accustomed to their nearly three hour long performances. John Mellencamp always puts on a good show. I am convinced he can pull off anything from country, blues, jazz-funk to good ol’ rock n roll. He can sing it all and his band is on point. He played fan favorites “Small Town,” “Check it Out,” an acoustic version of “Jack and Diane” to which Mellencamp said, “I don’t know why I play this song anymore. I guess it’s cause I know you all want to hear it.” “Rain on the Scarecrow” was very moving given it summarizes the heart of the devastation of the loss of a family farm.
I have seen Neil Young perform at Farm Aid several times but this year, he stole the show. Young along with Promise of the Real took the stage by storm with a thundering version of “F*ckin’ Up.” Young was ready to rock and ripped through stunning versions of “Cortez the Killer,” “Cinnamon Girl,” “Heart of Gold” and the crowd went crazy when the opening chords of “Rockin’ in the Free World” hit the air. He summed up the day by stating “Farmers are the American heroes today. They are living a real life.” It was time for the heart and soul of Farm Aid to take the stage… Mr. Willie Nelson. My son was overjoyed that he opened with his favorite Willie song, “Whiskey River.” Willie performed a Toby Keith cover “Beer for My Horses,” “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” “On the Road Again” and ended the night with some humor or perhaps satire with “It’s All Going to Pot.”
What can you do to help?
Shop at your local farmer’s market
Join a CSA
Grow your own garden or participate in a community garden
Talk to local farmers and learn about what they do and their farming practices
Chocolate donut night on the sixth night of the Baker’s Dozen MSG residency brought Phish to cover an American Idol contestant’s viral hit, bringing “Chocolate Rain” to life, along with “Ass Handed,” tying the theme to the music once again before letting loose with a set of rarities and surprise jams. “Free” and “Sand’” marked the high points of Set 1’s jamming, with ‘Weigh’ and ‘Destiny Unbound’ garnering the loudest cheers as fans crossed songs off their bucket list for yet another night. During “Divided Sky,” Trey held ‘the note’ for such a long time that Chris Kuroda lit up the arena, with one spotlight shining down on Trey as he slowly looked around the entire arena, in as much awe of his surroundings as the crowd was.
The ever rare “Have Mercy” was the bustout to start set 2, opening the way for “Chalkdust Torture” which clocked in at 24 minutes and stood out as the jam of the evening. Ascending jams that rose and rose with full band builds with no let up highlighted “Chalkdust,” creating a jam vehicle that found its way towards Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing.” Hearing the opening notes of the funk from this 70s classic, the audience erupted in the glee of an out of left field bust out that led to a funk jam for the ages.
“Mercury,” while fresh and left off Big Boat, bridged the ending of “You Sexy Thing,” a jam the band sought to return to at the first opportunity. By the time the funk ended, the audience welcomed “Backwards Down the Number Line” with as much energy as they could muster and with “Rock and Roll” following, the crowd went into a frenzy listening to that New York Station. An encore of the ever rare “Fee” and “Space Oddity” capped the night as Phish continued to raise the bar during their historic run at Madison Square Garden.
Setlist via Phish.net Set 1: Chocolate Rain[1], Ass Handed, Free, Weigh > Undermind > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony, The Dogs, Destiny Unbound, Divided Sky, Things People Do, Sand
Set 2: Have Mercy, Chalk Dust Torture[2], You Sexy Thing[3] > Mercury -> You Sexy Thing > Backwards Down the Number Line > Rock and Roll
Encore: Fee[4], Space Oddity
[1] Phish debut; a cappella, with Page on a midi controller keyboard.
[2] Unfinished.
[3] Phish debut.
[4] Lyrics changed to “have a chocolate donut and catch your breath.”
Phish returned to the comfy confines of Madison Square Garden for Night 7 of the Baker’s Dozen residency on Saturday with a show that had all the Phishy elements fans love, starting off with with the energetic scorcher “Llama,” fastening in the crowd for a memorable, cinnamon flavored night.
Many fans who didn’t figure out their ticket situation in advance were left with their finger in the air come show time as it seemed many were shut out. Inside the venue, a recording came on urging the crowd to “not eat the brown donuts,” as they are not so good, surely a play on the famous brown acid announcement at the original Woodstock.
After the straightforward “Llama,” Phish launched into “Wilson” and the crowd was instantly ready, painting the famed venue walls with only the type of energy a Phish crowd can bring. Normally a quick hype song, this “Wilson” stretched beyond the nine-minute mark with an atypical jam out of what normally closes the song, which caught few off guard after the surprises Phish had in the first six shows.
Standard takes on “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” and “Ya Mar” warmed up for the semi-rare, and ultra sought after “Tela.” The band nailed the song and Trey played the closing guitar section masterfully, igniting a rousing applause from the capacity crowd.
“The Birds”>”The Line” was a nice segue, with the latter containing a bit of full band improvisation. “The Line” takes a lot of heat in the Phish world for being a bathroom break song, but this one was well placed and you can just tell how much Trey and Mike enjoy playing the song based off their mutual grins.
A brief “Water In The Sky” came as a warm up for the close of the set, which began with a very well played “Vultures,” another song that seemed to add an extra layer of frosting on an already rocking first set. Mike took the lead to sing “Train Song” that led into a segue into “Horn,” in which the entire band played each note almost perfectly. In recent years, Trey has taken some online flak for not playing the composed guitar part of “Horn” perfectly, but he did last night.
Not many expected what came next. When Page hit the two notes on the clav and Trey played the fuzzy lead line, the crowd nearly exploded with energy as everyone realized Phish was covering The Beatles’ beloved “I Am The Walrus.” As the band and crowd sang in unison and Chris Kuroda turned the Garden into a rainbow light dance party, a guy leaned in to my ear and said, “So dude, I really think they’re not going to repeat a single song.” Me too, kid. Me too.
After set break, Phish started up with “Blaze On,” a song that debuted two summers ago and quickly found its place as a first set rocker, late set jam vehicle and the coveted second set opener. It was apparent that Phish was going to sink their fins into this one as Trey didn’t waste a second before jumping into a nearly five-minute lead solo that was him wield his Languedoc high, bending notes in his signature rapid fire licks. It was some of his finest playing of the run, which was a bit of foreshadowing for what’s to come.
“Blaze On” then started to devolve, until Phish reconstructed it into a major key with a mildly funky and ethereal jam that kept everyone’s interest before bringing it back to a swirling crescendo finish that clocked in at nearly 24 minutes and left some speechless. This band is clearly as comfortable as they’ve felt in a really long time.
After a segue into “20 Years Later,” which seemed to contain some Led Zeppelin type elements in the jam, Phish broke out “Alumni Blues”>”Letter to Jimmy Page”>”Alumni Blues,” two of their oldest songs. While the segment was very textbook, it was very well played and featured Trey and Mike facing each other for a short bluesy segment, after which Trey shouted “it’s alright now, ‘cuz Mike’s playing the bass,” which elicited a crowd roar, before Mike took a short but powerful lead solo.
Out of the soundscape came fan favorite “Meatstick,” which has a rich history with MSG. In 1994 and 2010, Phish used the song as part of their New Year’s Eve gags. After the dance part, Trey and Page led the band into an atypical and psychedelic jam which landed perfectly on “Dirt.” While “Dirt” is typically a first set song, last night’s placement couldn’t have been any better, giving fans a bit of a break after nearly an hour of some pretty unique music. But, hey, that’s why we follow this band.
With time winding down in the night, anticipation was high in regard to what they’d close the set with. When Fishman hit the drums, “Harry Hood” made it’s Baker’s Dozen appearance and did more than close the set. Clocking in at 17:20, this “Hood” broke itself down into ambient space before Trey, Page and Mike revved the sing into the highest gear with very Allman Brothers’ “Mountain Jam”-esque teases and quotes. Approaching 17 minutes, “Hood” finished with a peak that only that song can bring. When this is all done and said, “Harry Hood” will go down as a very notable jam from this run.
Almost forgot that the theme was cinnamon donuts? Well, after a somewhat lengthy encore break, Phish came out and lit into a cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl,” which was last played by the band 19 years, 364 days ago. The crowd had anticipated the song all night and Phish delivered with a stellar take on the song that sent 20,000 people flowing onto the streets of midtown Manhattan.
The stage is set for what we in the Phish world gear up for: A Sunday show. I think the saying goes something like, “never miss a Sunday show!”
In reality, it should be, “never miss a Phish show!”
Set 1: Llama, Wilson > Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Ya Mar, Tela, The Birds > The Line, Water in the Sky, Vultures, Train Song > Horn, I Am the Walrus
Set 2: Blaze On > Twenty Years Later > Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues > Meatstick > Dirt > Harry Hood
On Wednesday July 26 at Madison Square Garden, Phish devised a plan to make hump day a great day. Keeping in form with the powdered donut theme, the foursome launched into an acappella version of Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” to get the party started. The “white snow red as strawberries” lyric reprised the Saturday night donut theme to the delight of MSG regulars and set the tone for a cover-filled evening on Night 6 of their Baker’s Dozen.
Fans entering the Garden after work could relate to the traffic -jammed “Cars Trucks Buses” that took the second spot in the rotation and saw Page McConnell work his magic on the boards. The always welcomed “My Soul” kept the energy building before a “Roses Are Free” completed the back-to-back cover annihilation. The Chilling Thrilling Sounds “Very Long Fuse” received some extended love as the powder keg audience realized they wouldn’t be getting another five song first set.
Rarities like “Pebbles and Marbles” have been filling the donut holes in a magical way throughout this run and it has become so common to hear bust-outs that the audience didn’t even detect how special it was. While speaking about special moments, the almost 15-minute “Tube” was explored by the band as if it was in a 1990’s Discovery Zone. The bouncy punch initiated by Mike Gordon was only outshined by Page’s dirty synth orgy. Trey found his groove and dissected the jam into what will be known as the “Baker’s Tube” for years to come.
When second sets begin with hard-rocking machines like “Carini,” Phish followers know they are in for a sweet treat. The 16-minute lumpiness dug its feet into the ground and setup another rarity in “Mr. Completely.” The TAB classic has only been played a handful of times by the quartet, yet it made its second appearance this tour to the delight of die-hards. Trey’s ditty may or may not become a staple in the band’s repertoire, but for now there is still much work to be done with the jam.
“The World’s Most Famous Arena” experienced a flashback to 1998 as the Vermonters destroyed Price’s “1999.” The second set was familiarly baked with incredible choices but the highlight may have been the jam that ensued. “Steam” rose out of the stage as a seamless and perfectly placed transition before Led Zepplin’s “No Quarter” shocked and awed an already speechless crowd. Page’s well-executed vocal takedown mixed with the ferocious Jimmy Page-like guitar antics by Big Red solidified this version as possibly the best one ever played. An overly ambitious “Character Zero” closed the set and proved that surprises come in all forms during this epic 13-show run.
Where is the powder? There’s the powder. Phish never lets us down in terms of donut symbolism. The encore debut of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” closed the night and permanently gave us a new motto to live by: “Never miss a Wednesday show.”
Set 1: White Winter Hymnal[1], Cars Trucks Buses, My Soul, Roses Are Free > The Very Long Fuse, Gumbo, Yarmouth Road, Pebbles and Marbles, Farmhouse, Tube Set 2: Carini -> Mr. Completely > 1999 > Steam > No Quarter, Character Zero Encore: Powderfinger[2]
