Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts

Nobody can ever claim that Mike doesn’t have a passion for the game; he lives and loves to play music.  The man who never wanted Phish to break up in the first place will be buying time between tours on the road with his own band for a 21-date fall tour.  Winding up in early October, Mike will have enough time to flip his laundry and head out west with Phish.  Totaling over sixty shows between the summer and the fall, Mike will have plenty of musical space to express his thoughts within the context of two separate bands.

Before Phish reunited, Mike said he wanted to make it a point to carve out time for The Mike Gordon Band, but who knew this is what he meant!  Playing clubs and theatres over the month long “Get Bassed” tour, Gordon’s band will move all around the east and the Midwest, but making it no further west than Chicago.

Consistently overshadowed by Trey’s solo projects, Mike has quietly carved out a fine solo career of his own.  After various small side projects, in 2002 Mike collaborated with finger-picking folk-guitar legend, Leo Kottke, in a virtuoso experiment called Clone.  The two eclectic musicians meshed quite well, both personally and instrumentally, and the the duo followed up with a second album, Sixty Six Steps, that gained critical acclaim.  With a laid back, yet sophisticated vibe, this the 2005 release also included a percussionist, lending a calypso sound, and solidified Gordon and Kottke as a legitimate musical team.

After performing stints with the Benevento-Russo Duo, Serial Pod (Trey and Billy Kreutzmann), the Burlington-based honky-tonk group, Ramble Dove, and some shows with the Rhythm Devils (Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Steve Kimock) between 2004 and 2007, Mike decided to step out on his own.  Taking over a year to write and record The Green Sparrow, his second solo album*, he took the next logical step and formed The Mike Gordon Band.  With longtime friend and guitarist Scott Murawski (formerly of Max Creek), Brooklyn drummer Todd Isler, keyboardist Tom Cleary, and percussionist Craig Myers, Gordon was now a band leader after spending his Phish life in Trey’s shadow.  And he loved it.   *(Mike’s first solo album was the soundtrack to his 2003 movie, Inside In.)

In all of the interviews, Mike spoke of how proud he was of his new album and how much he enjoyed playing with his own band.  And when they hit the road for a 25 date tour last fall, fans across the nation raved about the shows.  Playing an array of covers interspersed with Mike’s quirky, yet catchy, new songs, he had himself his own rock and roll band.  And they liked it so much they are doing it again in September.  Here are the dates:

09/08 – Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
09/09 – Somerville Theatre, Somerville, MA
09/10 – Port City Music Hall , Portland, ME
09/11 – Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock, NY
09/12 – State Theatre, Falls Church, VA
09/14 – Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh, NC
09/15 – Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
09/17 – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
09/18 – Freebird Live, Jacksonville, FL
09/19 – WorkPlay Soundstage Theatre, Birmingham, AL
09/21 – Minglewood Hall, Memphis, TN
09/22 – Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
09/24 – The Vogue, Indianapolis, IN
09/25 – Park West, Chicago, IL
09/26 – Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI
09/28 – 20th Century Theatre, Cincinnati, OH
09/29 – The Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
09/30 – Mr. Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
10/02 – Mod Club, Toronto, ON
10/03 – Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY
10/04 – Higher Ground, Burlington, VT

Check out Mike’s site for complete tour and ticket info!

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“SAVE THE DATE” MAP CONCLUSION:

In Phish.com‘s mystery turned mockery, last night the organization finally gave up the information we all knew from the start, the Halloween festival will be in California.  With one last flash animation, the absurdity ended as we watched Washington drilled, and drain into California.  But we still got no information about the actual festival! So Indio, here we come- but how ’bout some details?  Get it together guys!

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Jam of the Day:

“Antelope” 11.13.94 Erie, PA I

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Track-09.mp3]

They just don’t make ’em like this any more!  This first-set closer reaches the very essence of  “Antelope” with a ferocious jam that few others can match.  Sitting on the precipice of huge success, and fully immersed in psychedelic improv, the band played like their life depended on it each and every night- a sense that clearly translates in this jam.  This one is a monster that provides a vibrant portrait of a time gone by.  Warning: This may not be appropriate for office listening without headphones!

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

8.24.93 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC SBD < TORRENT

8.24.93 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC SBD < MEGAUP.

Phish’s fourth-to-last show on an extensive and smoking summer tour began to wrap things up for the epic month of August ’93.  The band had been touring almost constantly since Februrary, and they were playing better than ever. Phish reached another peak during August, a month that is considered one of the best of their career.  Luckily there are many soundboards out there to remind us!

I: Chalk Dust Torture, All Things Reconsidered, Bouncing Around the Room, It’s Ice*, Nellie Cane, Split Open and Melt, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Uncle Pen, Maze, Golgi Apparatus

II: Llama, Horn, Ya Mar, Mike’s Song > Ginseng Sullivan > Weekapaug Groove, Wilson > Rift, Suzy Greenberg, HYHU > Cracklin’ Rosie > HYHU, Run Like an Antelope

E: Halley’s Comet, Poor Heart, Sweet Adeline

*With an “I Feel the Earth Move” jam

Tags: 2009, Mike, Side Projects

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