Weekend Nuggets: Tennessee – Fall ’95
DOWNLOADS OF THE WEEKEND:
6.16.09 The Fox (B.Kisida)
Having just visited Tennessee for three shows this past tour, this weekend, let’s look back at Phish’s visit to the state in Fall ’95. Both of these shows often go overlooked in the monstrosity of this tour, but both are filled with great Phish. Bela Fleck, one of the guests that routinely jives with the band, sat in for much of Nashville’s second set- climaxing with a gorgeous “Slave” that sees Trey and Bela shredding cohesively.
11.28.95 Civic Center, Knoxville, TN < TORRENT
11.28.95 Civic Center, Knoxville, TN < MEGAUPLOAD
I: Stash, Dinner and a Movie > Bouncing Around the Room, Foam, I Didn’t Know, The Divided Sky, Guyute, Hello My Baby, Sample in a Jar
II: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, Suzy Greenberg, Uncle Pen, Free, HYHU > Wind Beneath My Wings* > HYHU, Run Like an Antelope, Contact, BBFCFM, Funky Bitch
E: The Squirming Coil
*Sung by Fish and dedicated to Col. Bruce Hampton (who sat reading a newspaper on stage); first time played
Source: Audio Technica 4031 > DA-P1
***
11.29.95 Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN < TORRENT
11.29.95 Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN < MEGAUPLOAD
I: AC/DC Bag, Ya Mar, Reba, If I Could, It’s Ice, Theme From the Bottom, Acoustic Army, Fee, Split Open and Melt
II: Timber Ho!, Sparkle, Simple, Possum, You Enjoy Myself, Fog That Surrounds*, Heart and Soul*, Poor Heart*, I’m Blue I’m Lonesome*, Long Journey Home*, Slave to the Traffic Light*
E: A Day in the Life
*With Bela Fleck on banjo
Source: AKG 460
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VIDEOS OF THE WEEKEND:
“Crosseyed and Painless” 6.21.09, Alpine Valley (partial)
—–
“McGrupp” 6.16.09, The Fabulous Fox
Tags: 1995, Weekend Nuggets
Talk about a band I enjoy live besides Phish….Bela in any form…Flecktones are sick always.
My top bands to see besides Phish, in no particular order:
-Derek Trucks
-Allmans
-Flecktones
-MMW
-Yonder
-Keller
Watching the C&P video it always makes a jam better than just listening to it. It’s seems sooo different….
great picks miner! the 11.29.95 show is one I regularly use to turn non-fans on to the band. The Slave with Bela is absolutely beautiful… And 11.28 is no slouch either…
In the discussion of non phish music from the other day & revived by ColonelJoy, I don’t think anyone mentioned Jurassic 5?
I remember freezin my ass off on the top of the parking deck at this Nashville show! ! My god was is cold. Super fun show and Bela is always welcome. The Slave was a real highlight.
The Civic Center Stash>Dinne&Movie was very cool.
Thanks for the 95′ Tenn shows today!
Hmm, KWL…I’ve never heard of Jurassic 5…tell
Mr. Miner,
I don’t know if you are already planning on doing a piece on this, but I would love to hear your thoughts on CK5 and the evolution of the lighting rig at Phish shows. I am as ardent a phan as anyone, but I am having a hard time with Phish 3.0’s over-the-top lights.
It used to be that CK5 would use a couple colors, maybe three at the most, for most moods or song sections. Once in a while, he would throw something in there that spanned the entire spectrum. And whenever he did the later, it really stood out because it was different than what your eyes were seeing for the previous ten minutes.
The same observation applies to the use of moving lights. I remember when one of the only times we would see the lights move like crazy was during the vocal jam of YEM, the spaz-out section at the end of Bowie, and other similarly lit song sections (there are obviously quite a few). Now, it seems like every song has three or four layers of colors in addition to a couple of layers using a lot of movement. The end result is that it has become a very complicated visual context for the music, during a live show.
You know how CK5 (still) lights PYETE? (with the use of one color at any given time, that changes with the rhythm of the music?) Well, I feel like CK5 used to use that style of lighting far more in the past. In fact, I feel like he was the most on point before 2.0 and 3.0.
Don’t get me wrong, CK5 is the best lighting director that I am aware of for any live show out there – I have yet to see anyone come close to his abilities. However, there reaches a point when someone can try to do too much and the poignancy of each light setting (for each section of the songs) is lost.
I don’t mind it at all when the lights go complete ape sh$t – in fact, I LOVE it – but I don’t want to see it all the time. The simplicity is better when it stands in contrast to the craziness, and likewise, the craziness is better when it stands in contrast to the simple.
One thing that I really miss in particular is how CK5 would light a Mike’s Song. Whenever Mike’s used to drop into the nasty section, CK5 would always use the red and white spinning lights (nothing else) and have them directed towards the crowd for a few bars of music. I always felt like it looked so sinister and completely mirrored the audio portion of the show perfectly. Since Knoxville was my first show back in 3.0, I was sad not to see this effect used there during Mike’s because it was so simple and yet so perfect.
I just think that CK5 is using more complicated pre-sets than he used to use. Rather than really thinking about which hues and which patterns best compliment the mood of the song, he is relying on the ability to “wow” the spectator’s eyes instead. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly songs for which the lighting is really good still (PYITE, among a few others) but I would just like to see more consistency and effort in that area.
To all of you phans out there on this Saturday morning, have a great weekend. I hope everyone gets to enjoy the days off of work (if you are a 9 to 5’er). I was really hoping on going to Indio for Halloween but my brother (my life-long phish partner) just found out he can’t go because of a some work-related issues. Regardless, I am still considering flying out there and just making it happen on my own.
Peace, Love and Potato Chips…
KWL, I hope your are trying to be funny…
Jurassic 5 … Cool Hip Hop….Good Beats…Good Lyrics…Good Energy…Good Show
Good stuff! Can’t wait to check out the Knoxville>Nashville run. Thank you!!!
That was the first time I saw Phish live. I was living in Murfreesboro going to MTSU at the time and had been listening to them for quite a while.
I distinctly remember the Bela jams and a great YEM vocal section with the great lights. I had seen the aquarium rescue unit and Bela quite a few times before that but
I was really blown away by the energy in the room. I had never felt that at any other concert before. Fan for life after that show.
lights are best they have ever been imho. i specifically remember how sharp and precise they were during PYITE in knox. kuroda was doing split second stuff in the intro that had laser like precision.
i always wondered how the band stays focused with such overwhelming lights in their face.
@Lights,
Obviously, I haven’t attended any 09′ shows yet, but the pics of the light show look amazing.
@ ColnelJoy,
I think if you will notice, however, 90% of the pics that look really cool are the ones that have captured a simple light composition (two to three colors at most and really nice lines).
Those more simple-looking images are the best.
Compare some of those photos with 85% of the lights used on the Alpine “Crosseyed and Painless” (video posted above). There is almost too much going on in those lights. Compare that “Crosseyed” with the lighting from the Big Cyprus “Crosseyed” and you will see what I mean.
Have a great day everyone.
Peace, Love and Party Platters…
i heard that part of the light rig at cypress broke after the first night. remember the crazy 3d lights during ‘mike’s song’ with the red balls over the crowd? someone told me that they were gonna do stuff like that all night on new years, but they could not fix the problem in time.
@ whole tour!,
YES, I am so glad someone else remembered the lighting for “Mike’s” at Big Cyprus. I wish he would use some of those techniques again nowadays. It was so simple and yet so effective.
Peace, Love and Penguins…
lights were still sick. especially during that ‘melt >catapult’.
that melt > catapult was during the day 😉
i don’t think they use the smoke/fog effects like they used to in ‘2001’ or ‘mike’s’ anymore.
also, the outdoor shed rig is placed behind the band up to the rafters in a new set up. the indoor gigs with people behind the stage is more like the old set up.
if i rember correctly, the cypress ‘melt > catapult’ was during sunset, right when the lights began to become more noticable. maybe it was because we were so close, or maybe my memory is hazy for some particular reason…lol
😉
or maybe i’m thinking of the end of that set. there were definately lights going off in my head. good times.
you might be right, miner!
I think i might have been thinking of the later end of that set, perhaps starting with the “melt >catapult”.
Here are some KILLER pictures i took from the afternoon set on 12/31/1999:
Cypress 12/31/99 pre afternoon set crowd:
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/WholeTour/123199cypress4.jpg
Cypress 12/31/99 “melt > Catapult”??
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/WholeTour/123199cypress3.jpg
close up shot of above pic
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/WholeTour/123199cypress2.jpg
These are the lights i was talking about, perhaps it was later in the set:
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv351/WholeTour/123199cypress1.jpg
Ahhh, the Big Cypress Mike’s lights…that’s one of the darkest and most sinister moments I’ve ever experienced at a Phish show…wasn’t exactly sure what all was going on but LOVED every second of it (one of my buddies had to go back to camp at that time, was losing his shit…mmmm, good L). Chimp, I was a little surprised about the lack of red/white during the K’ville Mike’s…but Kuroda made me quickly forget about it. Lights have been GREAT at the 5 shows I’ve been to this year…and Kuroda’s got some impressive new toys taboot!
Somewhere recently i found a link for a youtube interview with CK5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EkU64hjVAc
He talks about the new LED lights(i think) and that for years he had to be a beat ahead with the light drops. now he has instant lights, so he is still learning not to jump the gun.
Personally i think the lights are better than ever. Only saw 1 indoor gig, Knox, and it was unreal. I sat just a few rows behind the soundboard. Watching Chris dance around and then make everything happen all at once was really cool. Using the people behind the stage as funky props in a space jam, (drugs helped) blew my mind.
sniggle…were you in the taper’s section? we were probably right near each other at the show! i was literally dead center like a row behind all the mics. It was cool watching kuroda work ihis magic, that is when i could peel my eyes away from the spectacle onstage! Ck5 has the best job in the world!
@Floyd,
Unfortunately I can’t access any vid links here, but I am intrigued by your critique of the lighting, and comparing versions of lighting by song…
Honestly, I don’t remember lighting, though it does make a huge impression on me. I believe Kuroda’s work is vital.
I think the first time the Band really hooked me for keeps (when I knew spending rent money and traveling far would happen) was in Seattle 95’….It was the second night and my fourth show. The first night blew my mind and I was ready for more. When I got to the venue on night 2….with a gaggle of noobs from the Barracks I dragged along, I began yelling and screaming, riling the crowd up the sleepy northwest crowd around me….I was like, “Stand up you fucking hippies!! Phish is here motherfuckers!! Phish is Here”….it was pretty successful
Anyway, so they open with a sick Maze, which melts the Noobs Face Like the Nazi on Raiders of the Lost Ark….yeah, lights were sick
Then they close the set with YEM….at that point, my first YEM, in person or recorded……so, While only my fourth show, I was already quite into Phish….I had just not listened to Junta….was a Nectar/Rift guy at that point and was clueless on boots, more or less, so being introduced to YEM in person was just overwhelming, to say the least….asshole torn
Remember when Kuroda used ot synch the lights with the vocal jam with the white lights….using the cone effect coming down on each member and strobing it….yeah, that is the lighting moment I remember, from that YEM…..cause I was so on tour after that, man!!!