Tuesday 13th march 2012 @ 03:00

We woke up and jumped in the car for an early morning drive to Geneva with Moss Remixes and Inside In as perfect soundtracks for the pitch-black night. The flight to Amsterdam was on time and except for the fact that my wife forgot her iPhone on the seat of the car everything went fine. We decided not to go back and went straight to the airplane.

Hopefully, my 2 years old son was very calm or asleep during the flight and security. He is a fanatic of transport vehicles like planes, buses and, most of all, trains. "Train" and "Wagon" are usually his first words in the morning and last in the evening. So when we arrived in the Netherlands and made our way inside Schiphol airport to the station and took the first train to Amsterdam Centraal, he was happy. And when we took the tramway to Leidseplein, he was more than happy ! We immediately found people very nice and a man inside the tram spontaneously asked if we needed help and gave his seat to my wife.

The day before our departure, I was able to download a 16km square of Amsterdam in the Google Maps application of my Android phone. This way I could use GPS signal without downloading the maps on the expensive 3G network. This made me see that we were going in the wrong direction as soon as we stepped out of the tram.

 

10:00

So we walked pass the tourist information and found ourselves in front of the Melkweg, where Jam in the Dam would take place the day after !

 

About two minutes later, we found our hotel... just behind the Melkweg ! Great suprise ! We hardly could find a nearer place to stay. So after our big letdown from the day before, it was a good find. Freeland Hotel was a nice little hotel with very welcoming people, some of them even speaking french. The room was nice and quiet, but only if you could reach it... the stairs to the fourth floor were very narrow and very steep. It was difficult to bring our heavy luggage up there in climbing. Fortunately we were allowed to leave the stroller at the reception each time we went to our room.

 

11:00

We have decided that today we would just wander in the street to discover the city by our own. My wife had seen on the Internet that there was a big park near the Hotel, so we headed to the Vondelpark. We stayed there while our son played in the children areas. The park was very big with a lot of grass land and a lot of jogger, much like Central Park in New York.

Then it was time to eat and we returned to the "civilization", searching for a restaurant. We found out that it was nearly impossible to find something else to eat than "snacking" (hamburgers, hot dogs, Croque Monsieur, salad...). We finally stopped at Dante and ate one of the best hamburgers we have tasted.

Continue reading...

I'm back in France from Jam in the Dam in Amsterdam.

 

Friday was the last night of the festival and Mike Gordon opened in the Max Hall. Great show as usual with a little help from the audience.

After this, I went to the small room to see Keller Williams jamming with one half of Dark Star Orchestra !

I then stayed to see the full Dark Star Orchestra recreating the Grateful Dead show from 5/10/1972 in Amsterdam.

I hop off mid-second set to dance my ass off to the end of Lotus set. Those men are really awesome !

 

Here are some quick pictures before full reports and all my photos in the next days.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that a signing session was planned at the opening of the Melkweg. I arrived very early and was first in line, soon joined by Stephen, the Vita guy that I met the previous night. He also is the one who bought the poster number 1!

When the doors open the members of Dark Star Orchestra, moe. and Keller Williams were here. They were nice and happy to be at Jam in the Dam. Lotus arrived also but no sign of Mike Gordon. We were very disappointed, especially Stephen who brought his bass to get it signed!

Anyway, the rest of the evening was great with a Phish cover from Keller, a sit in by the same man during the amazing moe.'s set and a great Mike show closer.

 

Just a quick review from Amsterdam where the first night of Jam in the Dam took place yesterday at the Melkweg.

I arrived early and had to wait until 7 to finally get my Pass and enter the Melkweg. I rush to the store to grab the limited edition poster that will be sign by the bands tomorrow. I got number 2 of 300! As we can freely come in and out with our pass, I rush back to my hotel just behind to get free of the poster, jacket and hat before the show.
I sat in front of the stage beside a guy playing with a PlayStation Vita. We ended up talking during all the evening, he's an american guy living in Amsterdam since 2009. During the wait I managed to lost half of my photo camera's batteries bellow the stage! I finally got another one from Brad, one of the taper.

The show started at 8 with Lotus . The band was simply amazing! They jammed furiously and they even played what I knew them for at the beginning : 2 themes for the video game Zelda .
Then, came the man because of whom I'm here : Mike Gordon. I finally got to be at a Phish member show and it was awesome. This band knows how to jam! We got great covers and long solos. I even witness my first Phish song live and it's one of my favorite : Meat. At the end of the show, I managed to grab the setlist and take a little break before going to the smaller room.
Dark Star Orchestra was ending their first set when I arrived and they came back a few minutes later. I don't know every Grateful Dead song so most of the show was new for me. They stretched most of the songs with lengthy jams and solos. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward for Friday show where they will recreate the Dead show in Amsterdam from 1972.

Of course, I'll write more about those nights when I'm back in France and post the pictures I took with my real photo camera. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter as have a free WiFi access inside the Melkweg for live tweeting!

Here is my final (?) schelude for Jam in the Dam next week. I'm pretty sure it won't stand still. but the goal is to see all Mike Gordon shows and at least one show of the 4 other bands.

I'm a little bit disapointed that Mike doesn't have more that 1,5 hour each night while moe. have 2, Lotus have 2 on the last night and Dark Star Orchestra 3 or 4 hours !

Jam in the Dam is just around the corner and I can't wait ! I'll try to write during the festival but I can't garantee. Of course, you'll have a full review afterwards.

Anyway, it's time to announce what's behind those fancy cards. It will be a way to promote the blog while I'm in Amsterdam but not only. As you noticed, there's a QR Code on one side. This code is a link to this site using Goo.gl. My initial plan was to detect those who come here from this link but, unfortunatly, it's not possible with this kind of redirection... And as I can't re-print the cards with another QR Code, I had to find another way.

 

 

So that's why there's a button on the right column that leads to a form to enter the contest.

Because, yes, there's a contest.

All you have to do is enter the end of the link encoded on the QR Code to participate. If you can upload a picture of the actual card you found in Amsterdam (or elsewhere) you have a second chance to win !

Here are the prices :

• Bouncing Around The Room (Promo Single CD)
• Fast Enough For You (Promo Single CD)
• Shine (Japanese version with bonus tracks)
• A code for a free mp3 show on livephish.com

 

Good luck and see you in the Dam !

Our flight is booked and we'll travel from Geneva.

I made a map on Google to gather all the important places we'll go to.

Afficher Amsterdam March 2012 sur une carte plus grande

Here are the cards I'll give away next month in Amsterdam during Jam In The Dam. I'll try to do something special for those who'll come from the link in the QR Code. There's also a link to the Phish Phans in Europe page on Facebook.

After playing 3 nights in Amsterdam as part of Jam in the Dam, Mike Gordon will be playing in London on Sunday 18th March !

That's a great statement, I think, that at least Mike is willing to tour in Europe. I'm pretty sure that as soon as Trey's probation is over, we'll have a full Phish Europe Tour !!

Source : http://www.mike-gordon.com/news/

 

 

Meanwhile, it's so good to see a Europe tab on the tour page of phish.com (even if the map feature doesn't seem to know what's East of the Atlantic...)

 

Earlier this week, I finally found a good deal on Groupon to book an hotel in Amsterdam for mid-march. Now I know where my family and I will sleep during Jam In The Dam !

I'll choose the flight next week between the one taking of from Lyon or from Geneva...

And then, the schedule will goes like this :

• 14 March
  • Lotus
  • Mike Gordon
  • moe.
• 15 March
  • Keller Williams (of if I don't like the first 30 minutes, Lotus)
  • Dark Star Orchestra (first 2 hours only)
  • Mike Gordon
• 16 March
  • Mike Gordon
  • Dark Star Orchestra
  • (end of) moe.

 

 

 

Later tonight, I'll be watching my first Phish concert live at it happens. Yes, I'll be in my living room, chatting with Holger, during the webcast of the New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Holger has been live-facebooking during the first 3 nights. You can seen what happened and follow us tonight on EU Phans, Phish Phans in Europe page on facebook.

 

See you tonight ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last but not least, Phish has just released today an archival show from 20 years ago exactly !

31th December 1991, Worcester Memorial Auditorium, Worcester, MA.

Here is the official announcement followed by a last minute chrstmas gift.

Phish had a busy year in 1991, signing a record deal with Elektra Records and touring coast-to-coast for a total of more than 130 shows including a fourteen-show tour with a three-piece horn section and the first unofficial Phish festival at Amy’s Farm. That summer Phish also recorded their third studio album, "A Picture Of Nectar". White Crow Studios in Burlington, Vermont provided the backdrop for Nectar’s namesake with engineering duties covered by Kevin Halpin and Jon Altschiller. While Jon was still getting his start as an engineer, he was also a fan and was among the dozen-or-so tapers at The New Aud for the band's New Year's Eve concert. Thanks to his work on Nectar, Jon was allowed to set up his microphones inside the front-of-house position. He also managed to snag a then-rare soundboard patch from FOH engineer Paul Languedoc.

Fast forward to 2010 when Jon returned to work with Phish on the road as LivePhish.com remote engineer and the seeds were sown for the release of this classic show. Twenty years later, Jon combined his audience and soundboard DAT recordings to create the matrix for The New Aud release. Mastered by Fred Kevorkian, this unique source is a proper document of the show, combining the qualities of both sources and harnessing the electricity that characterized this special performance.

For your listening and sharing pleasure...please feel free to download and share (by stream, download or broadcast) the following track from this archival show:

Tweezer>McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/1327822594/d06bfb7f7fd5866ba5c024d40fd5c35c

Setlist:
12/31/91 Worcester Memorial Auditorium (The New Aud), Worcester, MA

Set I
1. Possum (8:25)
2. Foam (8:11)
3. Sparkle (4:33)
4. Stash (9:00)
5. The Lizards (10:03)
6. Guelah Papyrus (5:46)
7. Divided Sky (12:42)
8. Esther > (9:49)
9. Llama (4:47)
10. Golgi Apparatus (4:56)

Set II
1. Brother (6:12)
2. Bouncing Around The Room (3:43)
3. Buried Alive > (2:28)
4. Auld Lang Syne > (0:52)
5. Runaway Jim (7:37)
6. The Landlady > (3:27)
7. Reba (11:30)
8. Cavern (4:53)
9. My Sweet One > (2:28)
10. Run Like An Antelope (10:35)

Set III
1. Wilson > (6:50)
2. The Squirming Coil > (7:33)
3. Tweezer > (13:13)
4. McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters > (8:10)
5. Mike’s Song > (7:42)
6. I Am Hydrogen > (3:04)
7. Weekapaug Groove (7:09)

Encore:
8. Minkin Appreciation (1:26)
9. Lawn Boy > (2:30)
10. Rocky Top > (2:36)
11. Tweezer Reprise (3:16)

 

What about the gift ? I have two livephish.com codes to download a free show of your choice. You can use it to download tonight NYE show, of the one from 20 years ago, or any show you want ! Just leave a message here with your new year's resolution and the two first will win.

 

Happy New Year !