Hello! So I'm back from the two day adventure up to Northern California to see Phish, and it was definitely the experience I was hoping for. I left Tues. afternoon for Santa Rosa and visited the fam for a night. My dad and I grilled a tri-tip and feasted on steak and baked potatoes, pared with some delicious melot--it was probably the best meal I'd had in six months. After dinner we capped off the evening with "Romancing the Stone", the mid-80's (I think) film starring Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. If you haven't seen it, I'd say its worth checking out at some point.
Wed. morning I hit the road to check out Two Rock Amplifiers, a Rohnert Park based amp company that builds some of the best amps on the market. For perspective, a few players who sport a Two Rock amp are John Mayer and Santana, so you can get an idea of the caliber of musicians that Two Rock attracts. I met with Mac, one of the five or so employees that Two Rock has, and he gave me the rundown of their facility and the amps he'd lined up for me to try out. All the amps sounded amazing; the Classic Reverb is definitely the one I'd like to pick up in the future. So after an hour or so of playing ridiculously expensive amplifiers, I said goodbye and drove to meet the madre for a sandwich before I took off for the Phish show. She's an awesome lady!
I got down to Mountainview about 4pm, and the pre-show antics were already in full swing. For anyone who has been to a Phish show, you know how sweet the parking lot is beforehand. It's pretty much this massive mobile colony of hippies who've been following Phish for the last however long, plus everyone who's come for just that show. Everyone is blasting great music, jamming on acoustics, throwing frizbees, and going from tailgate to tailgate saying "what's up" to see where people are from and such. I handed out a bunch of demos before I went into the show, and got to meet a lot of really cool people. A photographer came up to me and snagged a pic, saying he was going to write a story about the show. I got an email yesterday with the link, so check out the show details, and if you go to the photo album, you'll see a great photo of me with a pretty cracked out expression.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/entertainment/music/Phish-30-Lands-at-Shoreline-for-One-Night-Only-52638702.html
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Phish!!
So this week is going to be my first Phish show since 2002. The band is playing at the Shoreline Amphitheater on Wed. (8/5), and I think my biggest question is whether or not they're going to have the same gusto as they did back in the day. Granted bands change inevitably throughout the years, but to put it more finely, I hoping I'm as in to their current state as I was in '02. Trey has always been one of my influences and favorite guitarists, so it's going to be sweet seeing him jam again. And they always throw out a tasty cover or two, and I'm hoping they're a few new ones I haven't heard. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to go see the folks before the show the following evening, but I'll do a little recap of the experience later this week. It's going to be a cool little adventure.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
"Radin on the Parade"
I figured I'd make the title to this one as cheezy as the experience, or at least matching in its ridiculousness. Tonight Haircut and I went to the Joshua Radin concert. I must admit I didn't expect much--I'd only heard his recordings online and wasn't too enthralled. But one of my good friends told me that Josh's live show was amazing, and that I should definitely go. So we made the trek downtown and saw the show. I actually got to meet the guy. He seemed very regular, humble, made a few goofy jokes. But I didn't think the guy who I'd chatted with for a few minutes about his tour was the person who took the stage 45 minutes later.
The show started off well--everyone was thrilled that Josh was finally onstage. Girls were screaming, guys were not screaming, and everyone cheered loudly after his first song. But then he told everyone to quite down, and waited, and waited........and waited some more, probably for a full five minutes so that everyone would be quite. Mind you, this is in Downtown Brew, a BAR which means people DRINK and subsequently TALK. Apparently Joshua didn't get the memo. He started talking to the very front row only, so that none but them could hear what he was saying. He made jokes about the town, telling the people in the back who were talking to go walk around the "beautiful city they have" rather than chatting at the show. He even unplugged his guitar at one point and played three songs without the PA--all you could hear was him screaming every once in a while, and the people in the back still kept talking.
I think the worst part of it all was when people started filing out, and someone said, "You're loosing fans!". His response was, "Good, it'll weed out the suckers". I'm sorry pal, but no musician is above their fans, none.
It was painful to watch someone with a fairly reputed name, who obviously worked hard to get where he is, treat his audience like crap. It was as if he expected everyone to do exactly as he staid, like a child who knows if it cries, it will get what it wants.
The best part of the show was his last song. They were jamming away and right when Josh told his guitarist to take a solo, this lady who was standing right next to us by the sound board, put her elbow on the lighting system's kill switch, and the entire stage went black. Although it was the most awkward moment for that to happen, it was a perfect cap for such premadonna--lights going out at his final moment of glory.
Long story short: Joshua Radin = very self centered, crowd = half P.O.ed, have still loyal to the man, end result = man's got a short career ahead if he continues down that road.
The show started off well--everyone was thrilled that Josh was finally onstage. Girls were screaming, guys were not screaming, and everyone cheered loudly after his first song. But then he told everyone to quite down, and waited, and waited........and waited some more, probably for a full five minutes so that everyone would be quite. Mind you, this is in Downtown Brew, a BAR which means people DRINK and subsequently TALK. Apparently Joshua didn't get the memo. He started talking to the very front row only, so that none but them could hear what he was saying. He made jokes about the town, telling the people in the back who were talking to go walk around the "beautiful city they have" rather than chatting at the show. He even unplugged his guitar at one point and played three songs without the PA--all you could hear was him screaming every once in a while, and the people in the back still kept talking.
I think the worst part of it all was when people started filing out, and someone said, "You're loosing fans!". His response was, "Good, it'll weed out the suckers". I'm sorry pal, but no musician is above their fans, none.
It was painful to watch someone with a fairly reputed name, who obviously worked hard to get where he is, treat his audience like crap. It was as if he expected everyone to do exactly as he staid, like a child who knows if it cries, it will get what it wants.
The best part of the show was his last song. They were jamming away and right when Josh told his guitarist to take a solo, this lady who was standing right next to us by the sound board, put her elbow on the lighting system's kill switch, and the entire stage went black. Although it was the most awkward moment for that to happen, it was a perfect cap for such premadonna--lights going out at his final moment of glory.
Long story short: Joshua Radin = very self centered, crowd = half P.O.ed, have still loyal to the man, end result = man's got a short career ahead if he continues down that road.
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