Thursday 15th march 2012 @ 22:00

moe. was the only band at Jam in the Dam that I knew only the name. I've never heard anything from them before this show, so I wasn't expecting anything.

They played a kind of south rock with pleinty of jams all over the place. In the middle of the stage, there was Rob Derhak, the great bassist who played with ease, like if it was his every day job... well.

I really liked the different styles of the two guitarists Al Schnier (on the right) and Chuck Garvey (on the left). Chuck was more on long, sliding and ringing notes whereas Al played a lot of fast notes. They really completed each other and they both took great solos.

On the back of the stage, there were a solid rythm duo with Vinnie Amico on drums and Jim Loughlin on percussion.

During their set, Keller Williams came on stage to sing and play the guitar. I'm rather fond of those sit in, even if I don't know the song at all !

I was very impressed by the whole show and once back in France I listened to the other Jam in the Dam concert they did (see below) and they are both great too !

Make it fly !

 

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Tursday 15th march 2012 @ 20:00

Keller Williams opend the second night at Jam in the Dam in the Max Hall. I didn't really know him as I've only heard some songs and the cover of Phish's Birds of a Feather video with moe.'s guitarist Al Schnier. So I knew that he was a one-man band but I haven't realized he was that good !

He mostly played an acoustic guitar and sing funny half-improvised lyrics. But he had a bass and an electric guitars on stands and he recorded loops on a sampler to play along. He also added drums with an electronic drum machine. With all those layers of sounds, he was able to jam with himself ! It was very impressive to see and to listen because that's not just a gimmick. He can actually play very well all these instruments !

And to my surprise, he did cover Birds at the end of his set ! Nice start !

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Wednesday 14th march 2012 @ 23:45

After the first show with Mike Gordon in Europe since 1998, I decided to skip moe. to see Dark Star Orchestra playing the Grateful Dead in the other room. The last show of this first night in Jam in the Dam was a two sets affair and I arrived during the last song of the first one.

During set break I went front row and bumped into Stephen again. We stayed until the end of the second set and it was an amazing show once again. I don't know a lot of Grateful Dead songs but I can appreciate the good jams they played, even if I got a little distracted by the camera-stealing chick !

After these tiring day and evening, I was very pleased to be back at my hotel in less than 3 minutes. Everyone was asleep of course and I managed to slip in my bed without a sound.

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Wednesday 14th march 2012 @ 22:00

If you follow this blog, you should know that I've never been to a Phish concert although I've maybe listened to all of them. Of course, I've never been to a side-project show neither. That's why I decided a year ago to come at Jam in the Dam to see Mike Gordon. And at last, after so many years, the time had come !

While the crew was setting up the stage, we got plenty of time to look at Mike's bass and pedals. It was so strange to be less than 2 meters from his instrument after watching so much video for 15 years. And then, the man came.

In pure Phish/Mike tradition, he didn't say a word and started playing Horizon Line. I was right in front of the stage but wasn't realizing I had a Phish member in front of me, again less than 2 meters away. The stage was high (like up to my shoulders) and there wasn't any space between it and the crowd. So we could actually put our stuff, like my photo camera, on the stage !

The drawback was that even if the band was very close, it was so high that it seemed distant. It was a strange feeling, almost like watching yet another DVD. Actually, we were so close that we could hear the music coming right from each amp, but the vocals were unclear.

Anyway, we could greatly appreciate the show which was mind blowing. There were covers that I knew from past Mike recording and some I didn't. It later came to my knowledge that one of the songs, You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, was a first time for Mike's band. I also got to hear my first Phish song played live : Meat. Guitarist Scott Murawski was on fire all night and the two drumer/percussionist Todd Isler and Craig Myers completed each other perfectly. Don't Do It , sung by keybordist Tom Cleary, was also a great song and Dig Furthur Down is one of my favorite. But the jam that occurred during the Idea closer really set the bar high.

 

 

But it was too short. The show seemed to end as soon as it started. It took me several minutes to gather my mind again and this day will stick in my head for years.

 

Setlist :
Horizon Line >
Voices,
Sailin’ Shoes,
Emotional Railroad,
Meat,
You Don’t Mess Around With Jim*,
Dig Further Down,
Don’t Do It,
River Niger >
Idea

* First Time Played (Jim Croce cover)

 

 

Right on time, 2 recording of this show are available here :

• http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=553765 (Scott Bernstein, Neumann TLM-170)
• http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=553867 (Brad McMail, CA-14)

 

 

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Wednesday 14th march 2012 @ 20:00

I've known Lotus for about three years and I listened mostly to 2008 and 2009 shows, so I knew what to expect. I can't remember how I discovered them but I know what makes me listen to them the first time : a cover of The Legend of Zelda video game themes. As I am a video game fan and avid Zelda lover, I couldn't avoid this.

The band has a bass/sampler player in the middle (Jesse Miller), a guitarist on the right (Mike Rempel), a keyboard/guitar player on the left (Luke Miller), a drummer on the back left (Mike Greenfield) and a percutionist on the back right (Chuck Morris).

 

 

They had the difficult task to be the first act of this year Jam in the Dam and to wake up the crowd. And Waow! they rocked right from the start ! Their music isn't your typical jam rock stuff. Almost everything is played live but it sounds really electronic with some sampler sounds here and there. Mostly instrumental, the only vocals are from samples played my Luke or Mike. The guitar licks and solos were very well merged in the vibrating music.

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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 !

Here are the results for last week contest which consisted of answering a bunch of Phish related questions. The price was the new double DVD/CD Live in Utica. You'll find bellow the correct answers (green) along with some pieces of detail and the name of the winner.

1. Which of these songs has never been covered by Phish ?
   • "Waterloo" (ABBA)
     Never played by Phish although it was mistakly on the Wikipedia page : List of Phish cover versions.
     You can browse every song Phish has played on Phish's Stats.
   • "Sabotage"
     Played at the Hampton Coliseum on 21th November 1998
   • "99 Problems"
     Played on the 18th June 2004 in Brooklyn, with Jay-Z himself !
   • "Gettin' Jiggy With It"
     Sung by drummer John Fishman at the Hampton Coliseum on 20th November 1998
   • "I Kissed a Girl"
     Sung by drummer John Fishman on the 16th August 2010 in SPAC
   • "Mmm Bop"
     Played James Brown style during an open soundcheck in Italy on the 6th July 1997
2. Which of these songs is covered by Phish a cappela ?
   • "Bohemian Rhapsody"
     New Year's Eve 1996 encore, with a gospel choir
   • "Free Bird"
     Last example on the 29th November 2009
   • "Auld Lang Syne"
     Played intrumental at midnight at every NYE show
   • "The Great Gig In The Sky"
     Last time sung by John Fishman on the 2nd November 1998
   • "Big Pimpin'"
     Covered on the 18th June 2004 in Brooklyn, with Jay-Z.
3. When Phish cover these songs ("Purple Rain", "Love You", "Sexual Healing", "Gettin' Jiggy With It", "Bike" ), which instrument does the drummer use in his solo ? 
   • A Vacuum cleaner !
     FAQ on Phish.Net
     Here is an example with "Love You" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QovUHcmaw3U
4. Which of these video games has the same name of a Phish cover song ?
   • Wipeout
     Played on the 27th Novembre 1998
5. Ben Harper, k's Choice, Franz Ferdinand, Alanis Morissette and Phish both have played (at least once) a song having the same name, but which one of these ?
   • "Walk Away"
     Cover for Phish, original song for Ben Harper, k's Choice, Alanis Morissette and Franz Ferdinand
   • "Sexual Healing"
     Ben Harper has also covered this song as presented in his live album "Live From Mars"
   • "Something"
     Covered by k's Choice during their 2000 tour, as a tribute to George Harrison
   • "Take Me Out"
     Name for a Mike Gordon and Franz Ferdinand song
   • "Hand In My Pocket"
     A song by Alanis Morissette covered by Mike Gordon's solo band
6. What is special about those two shows (speaking of "reprise", the french word for "cover") : 6/18/10 and 6/19/10
   • "Tweezer Reprise"
     In Ted's words : Hartford had the double Tweezer Reprise (back to back Tweezer Reprises in the encore), and the very next night at SPAC they opened and closed the show with Tweezer Reprise! Classic Phishiness!
7. From which Michael Jackson album come the songs teased during the 2001 jam on the first anniversary of his death ?
   • "Thriller"
     In Ted's words : I was able to turn a Parisian friend onto Phish by playing him that 2001!
8. Which of these albums have never been covered in its entirely by Phish as a "musical costume" on Halloween ? 
   • "Quadrophenia"
     31th October 1995
   • "The Dark Side of the Moon"
     In Ted's words : In '98 everybody thought they were going to do "Dark Side" in Vegas for Halloween, but they did "Loaded" by the Velvet Underground instead. A couple of days later, on 11/2/98 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the arena was only half full. In the second set, out of nowhere Phish played a "Harpua" that went into a full rendition of Dark Side of the Moon! Craziness!
   • "Loaded"
     31th October 1996
   • "Exile on Main St."
     31th October 2009
   • "Waiting for Columbus"
     31th October 2010

 

The winner is Ted, a reader living in Grenoble, France. He sent me very detailed answers for every question and was radomly picked.

You can still watch several excepts from the DVD (almost all set 1) along with other HD video from current tour on the Vimeo Phish page.
LivePhish.com also provide two great live compilations to download here : Live Bait Volume 3 and Live Bait Volume 4.