revisiting my post-Coventry thoughts

reading this:

Phish was not playing its best before the breakup. The Coventry shows in particular had both Phish’s longtime fans — possibly the most detail-oriented and judgmental cult in rock — and the band members themselves calling the performance sloppy, as Mr. Anastasio did. “If there was ever a concert that represented a band smacking into a wall, that was it,” Phish’s drummer, Jon Fishman, said. “I think that was one of the great train wrecks in live concert history.”

on the eve of their return, I decided to go back and re-read what I wrote immediately after watching Coventry in the theaters, and I thought I'd share

***************
I felt uncomfortable
I felt sick.

Literally.
My stomach felt as if it wanted to puke.

"hey, I've got a great idea, I'm gonna get really fucked up and make an ass out of myself in front of 100,000 people."

That was bullshit.
***************

when an artist no longer feels as if (s)he has something to prove, (s)he becomes a shell of one's self artistically.

I know that's not a real phrase that I copped off someone, but it should be. (or maybe it is, and I just don't remember where it came from)

Fuck that lemons and lemonade bullshit. When someone serves you shit on a plate and expects you to eat it gracioiusly you should throw it back in their face.

Trey completely disregarded anyone else's enjoyment. He could not fucking play at all. At most concerts if an artist appeared that visibly and AUDIBLY wasted, he would probably get booed off stage, but oh no, Phish fans will just lap up anything that's thrown at them. Complacent with their Phish. If you played that third set for a non-Phish fan, who at least knew what the songs were supposed to sound like, that would be the ultimate jusification in their not getting it. "You mean you listen to that shit? You think that's good? You must be on drugs, or something."

One of my roommates in college really wanted to play guitar. He really loved Phish. He really tried to play Guyute. He could not. No matter how many times me and my other 2 roommates would try and teach him how to play it, he just couldn't. (and we're just talking about the easy parts). It used to be an ongoing joke. His playing was not unlike Trey's bullshit last night.

I don't mind Trey being chatty with the David Bowie story, I thought that was pretty cool. But what was so fucking ironic and pathetic was the fact that he couldn't play the song at all after this long speech. That was by far the weakest post-hiatus Bowie I've heard. A song that, to me, had come to represent somewhat of a rebirth for them. This song had really started to come into its own, again, and prove to be a show stopper every time. Too bad the last one had to be so weak.

Yeah, the Twist was AMAZING (another one of the defining post-hiatus tunes). Page's work in Twist was some of the best I've heard out of him, ever. Yeah, Gordon was ripping shit up the third set. So was Fishman. I was really impressed, at first, after being pretty disappointed with the first 2 sets. But, once Stash rolled around, you could sense obvious visible frustration from all of them towards Trey. HE COULD NOT PLAY ANY OF THE FUCKING SONGS. How can anyone fucking tolerate that? These were not minor flubs. These were mockeries of the songs and band that they represent. Even if he was dreaming of a scenario like this in his cabin 20 years ago, I'm sure he wasn't imagining himself being coked out of his gourd. He spent the whole third set, when not playing wrong notes, wiping his nose. It wasn't fucking allergies. I don't mind a little party, whatever. But when you can't keep the party to yourself, and you wind up crashing down on the parties of everyone else...

I'm not going to go down in some happy ball of goo just because we're supposed to celebrate this. We're celebrating the music. Trey shat all over the music that third set.

They wanted to avoid becoming a nostalgia act, and (supposedly) that's (one of the reasons) why they quit. To just overlook the clearly blatant trainwreck of Trey Anastasio last night is to turn them into a nostalgia act.

Fuck all that stupid Trey needs to practice bullshit. Trey needs to go to fucking rehab and starting caring about his art, or he'll just become another washed up musician.
***********************
I don't want him to miraculously fix his problems.

How about being within some sort of ballpark of sober? Being competent enough to, oh, I don't know, play in key, even if you can't play the right notes. Maybe 72 on Rolling Stone's list was a little too high.

That was not a miniscule part of the music. It was an hour and a half of excruciatingly awful guitar playing (save for a few minutes during Free). In bands, you can distinguish between the rhythm and the melody makers. Trey is a melody maker. A walrus passing a kidney stone probably makes better melodies than what Trey was doing during that 3rd set.

That was not Phish last night. Phish is a group of 4 members playing cohesively together. That was what happened during the first set, and the results, while not overwhelming, were still nice to see, and I enjoyed it for being a Phish show, because it was a Phish show. I had a good time.

I think I'm justified in my negativity. And anyone who says otherwise can kiss my ass. I can't enjoy the music for what it is, when it is not enjoyable. For me to do that would be selling out my ideals. Fuck that.

I am sad, I'm very sad. And that is how my sadness manifests itself, in anger and frustration. (this is not limited to Phish, but an actual manifestation of my personality projected upon Phish)

Phish has played such an important role in my life (as it has in many people's), and to see such a bloated disgusting travesty of music come from them is really disheartening. You can name any number of tragic characters from our annals of written history and make some sort of allegorical connection to the downfall. Trey's hubris is surely a key role in the demise of Phish.
***************************
Trey's guitar playing this weekend was probably the most disgraceful shameful pathetic attempt at entertainment I have seen. He knew on saturday (and probably before that even) what their last song was going to be. He knew that he wanted them to play The Curtain With as their last song. Could he be bothered to even learn how the song went? No? Yeah, thanks. We, the fans, mean so much to you... Come on man, can't you just remember the fucking chorus to Chalkdust Torture? Maybe the chords to Carini? These are not difficult tasks to do for some who wields such amazing guitar talent and prowess.

There were some great moments last night. but you know what, at the end of it all, none of this weekend, to me, felt like Phish (outside the on-stage antics on sunday). It was 3/4 of Phish and some guy they brought along because he played a role in it. Mike, Page, Fish, were all pinnacles of class and poise. Further cementing their roles as the influential and legendary musicians that they are. My problem doesn't lie with Phish, it lies with Trey. He has so undermined his reputation with such crass performances.

The Alpine Valley shows I saw were fucking amazing. The flubs were to a minimum, and the playing was inspired.

Everybody makes mistakes. And I went into post-hiatus with that in mind after a rather bitter divorce when they left the first time. And I enjoyed pretty much all of my post-hiatus experiences (14 shows, 3 in theater) with the band...until this weekend.

And that's not to say that there was not enjoyment going on. I was up and grooving to the whole first section of songs on friday, hell, pretty much the whole set until that Antelope. Second set, I was up for the whole Bag, just waiting for them to take it to the next level, which they didn't. Which is fine. They don't have to do that. But it was the Halley's to me that killed my momentum towards the set. To watch Trey not know all the words, or not know how to sing, or not know what the chords are or not know what comes next, and then never hitting that one chord change in the jam out, the one that just hurts so good when they play it. They didn't do that. That's the best part of the song. The Ya Mar, Mike's playing was amazing. Trey, again, made a mockery. I've been over the bowie and zero. And the 3rd set, I was so into the Twist, I was really into some of the later parts of the Stash jam because of the groove Mike and Fish were locked into, Drowned had some pretty cool parts. But everything else was pure SHITE. That standing on the rocks idea was great, until Trey tried to get girls to flash him. What a fucking selfish act. To stop playing guitar, stop playing music for 100,000 people who are listening to your every note, to try and get someone to show you their tits. Fucking classless.

I felt yesterday's show was a reasonable representation/retrospective of the band. Taste was the highlight of the first set for me, 'twas a rager, and that Reba jam was gorgeous. The Velvet Sea was the most emotional that I have ever felt during a concert performance, I couldn't hold back my own tears, and I didn't want to. Some phenomenal grooves/soundscapes achieved in the Melt, DwD, and Seven Below, the jamming was pretty good, and downright enjoyable much of the time. But it was not Trey carrying the weight, or even pulling his own, for that matter.

Trey's inability to play the notes he's *supposed* to play was such a joke all weekend. And what about his inability to sing/remember lyrics? I'll give a little to the whole nervous/emotional thing. That's fine and dandy. But most/all of those were not just mental gaffes because of overflowing emotion. They were due to lack of respect to the music he created. I'm glad Phish is now over so Trey can no longer make a mockery of the foundation that he built.

I am so sad that Phish is over.
We will never see Mike in an environment like that ever again
We will never see Trey in an environment like that ever again.
We will never see Page in an environment like that ever again.
We will never see Fish in an environment like that ever again.
And to me this is very frustrating/saddening/depressing
We have lost 4 of the greatest, most groundbreaking musicians ever to walk the planet. Yes, we have. We will never hear any of them approach the greatness of Phish. Or even play up to the standards that they have created for themselves while in Phish. That environment was so suited to each of their strengths.
Phish was a sum far greater than any of its parts. Their sheer power when they reached critical mass is still unlike anything I've ever known, musically. To become one unit in pure beauty and bliss. And to tell us tales of delight along the way. That was Phish.

If it wasn't for Phish none of us would be "here" right now. They are owed tremendous amounts of respect for everything done and persevered through over the years.

It was almost 9 years ago that I started reading and posting to RMP due to my love for, and desire to share with others, my thoughts about this magical musical beast. Starting down that path completely altered my life, and has played a major, if not defining role, in where I am right now. And as much as all of this might come across as bashing, it is a sign of how much love I have towards the band, and my emotional struggle with the deteriorating quality of the music (the parallels to a relationship with a girlfriend are almost staggering). But I wouldn't change anything I've ever done for the music. Nothing. Please me have no regrets, indeed.

I attended a celebration/funeral for a friend this past weekend, and it was bitter/sweet...

*************
*************
*************

I will say this, though.
a lot can change in 4.5 years.
a little cathartic to go back and read all of this.
but I think it's good to see how far we've all come, and where it is we're coming back from.
I'm as excited as anyone for their return.

imeem UM podcast player

just in case you ever want to click like 2 buttons and have the ability to listen to UM for 80 hours straight without having to do anything else.

the picture

Poor John McCain. This picture is a gift to anyone who is ever going to want a narrative on McCain's campaign/this election season. Not only that, I'm thinking it's going to thrive in internet infamy for quite some time. As if the age of instant mass media and satironycasm hadn't been awful enough to McCain, he had to go and pull this.

At least it was a lively debate last night. The last 2 were so god damn boring. I've got to be honest, I'm pretty comfortable with how the next few weeks is going to play out. No more anxiety about it all. Twenty months this has gone on through all of the ups and downs, but it's finally here - Victory. It was the right message, in the right vessel, at the right time. in 3 weeks, we can party. and we will party. But after that, there's a lot of work to be done.

questions for Sarah Palin

alright, play time is over, and it's time to get serious.
sure you could point out that she was part of a group seeking the independence of Alaska, or that she was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against, or that she was for Ted Stevens (head of a 527 group in favor of him) before she was against corruption, or that she sought out $27M in federal earmarks for a town of 8000 and is running as a VP candidate for Mr. Anti-earmark, or that "Under God" was actually not in the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance which most certainly was not written by our founding fathers, or that her philosophy of gov't employees is first and foremost about loyalty. But those are just all obvious hypocrisies/gotchas that we can just keep harping on without actually focusing on the fact that this candidate who will be a heartbeat away from the presidency doesn't have any established views on anything besides drilling ANWR (something which drill-drill-drill-drill-drill-the-coast McCain isn't even in favor of).

while I couldn't fall asleep last night, I came up with a few sets of questions I'd like to hear answers to.

1) What aspects of John McCain's economic agenda do you find would most benefit the direction of our country? Which should he place the most importance upon once elected?

2) You are in favor of teaching creationism along with evolution. Do you define this as a states' rights issue? How does this square with your view that global warming is not man-made and that we should not protect Alaska's most charismatic mega-fauna, the polar bear? How important is science to the economic growth of the USA?

3) What is your stance on Energy? How much oil can we get from ANWR? How fast and for how long? How much oil does the USA consume on a daily basis? With ANWR's vast natural gas resources, should the gov't be subsidising the auto industry to produce more cars which run on it?

4) You cited Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro as influences. How do you feel about Ledbetter v. Goodyear? What is your Judicial philosphy? How would you define judicial activism? Do you agree with John McCain that Roe v. Wade should be overturned?

5) What is your stance on Iraq? To what would you attribute the recent advances in Iraq? What is your stance on Afghanistan? How succesful do you think Hamed Karzai has been? What is your stance on Pakistan? On pursuing attacks in Pakistani tribal lands across the border from Afghanistan? Would you agree with John McCain that former President Musharraf was a good friend of the US? What is your stance on Iran? would you encourage diplomacy with Iran? on al-Qaeda? on North Korea? on Somalia? on Zimbabwe?

6) If you are the chief executive of a nation that only has limited natural resources, how do you balance a federal budget? Who are the economists that have most influenced your views?

7) How do you feel about privatized Social Security? Do you agree with John McCain that our current system is "a disgrace"?

8) How do you feel about individual health savings accounts? Do you believe that any American with access to an emergency room has health insurance?

9) To which branch of government does the Vice-Presidency belong to? How do you feel about Dick Cheney's performance of its duties?

10) you're running on anti-corruption. what do you think that the Senate would be able to further accomplish after all of this so-called corruption is removed?

Bonus question: are you at any point going to take questions from the press?

the me bundle

It's everything you've ever wanted, in order
to show just how much you value me as a friend.
$29.98, to be exact (plus shipping & handling).

I guess I'm a little behind on the fact that an album I'm responsible for has been released in a fairly official capacity in CD form with artwork and even like web ads(?!?!) and stuff, as well as another pretty cool first...on itunes (which claims it is on SCI Fidelity. sure(?)).

Actual start to finish for the album was probably 8 months from first round of listenings through the final edit. This is the first one that I've felt confident enough to put out with a serious presentation, as something to be taken a little more seriously. It's a long ways from the first one I did 5 (!!!)years ago, and I think I've finally figured out the best way to do them moving forward, with each successive album being a retrospect of the previous calendar year.

As always, I manage projects like an aloof horse with blinders, I'm glad everything came out pretty much around the time when we wanted to (even if due to time constraints I had to pick up the first batch of albums on my way to Bonnaroo...where they were being released).

Conveniently, I happened upon this bad ass artist from Albany, Rob Servo, who was able to create an artwork concept after listening to the previous 2 albums, and then put together the whole packaging. I can safely say this would have never reached it's final stages of production/distribution without all of his help/hard work in getting the artwork together. He has done 2 very limited (self-printed) posters for UM shows in the last year, and his artwork is awesome. I'm hoping to get him more involved with UM artwork/branding, he's got a great approach that has consistently impressed.

This is the first one I've ever received serious feedback from band members, with actual desires to change around the album. And I definitely liked the final project a lot more (not just in presentation) after making some changes they pushed for. Plus their commentary on the last track of the first disc (What is Jimmy Stewart?) and the podcast came out well enough to get out that messaging just a little more. The cherry on top naturally being that they turned one of the tracks (Eat 2.17.07) into a new song (Waist Down).

I've still got a few ideas that I want to incorporate for the future, and hopefully I get a new computer and software setup in the next few months to help me out.

it's not about "Victory"

to say Iraq is about Victory or Defeat is to completely misunderstand the situation. There are no immediate Winners in nation building but there are always Losers. The goal is to minimize the losses so that what is left can have the chance at a brighter future. Yes, we were the victors over Saddam, but that is the last claim of triumph anyone can have in the whole ordeal until Iraq can triumphantly declare its complete independence and sovereignty. (I do not consider the expunging of Al-Qaeda of Iraq as something that could be considered a triumph, as AQI did not exist until they had an opportunity to create it after our invasion. At best it's a zero-sum...and we know that's not the case)

At this point, Iraq is about Finished and Unfinished. This is how the debate needs to be framed so we can get the mindset of the country right and back to ourselves. Nobody wants Unfinished business. Nobody. But we have to start Finishing. That is why John McCain loses this argument over and over again. Finished does not mean threatening Iran. Finished does not mean the U.S. taking sides in a dispute between squabbling intra-religious factions in which we have no stake. Finished does not mean a permanent presence in the Middle East. It means all of our troops back in the Midwest. We may have fucked the country up good, but we are not the ones who can complete the repairs. Finished is when Iraq can declare itself Finished. Until we start bringing this to a close with us removing our troops while they resolve their own political disputes, it will remain Unfinished.

(No, there isn't possibly any way that this post could have been influenced by Heads in the Sand, which I just finished and would recommend to anyone who thinks reading about foreign policy might be a fun endeavor.)

I'm on Rhapsody!

keeping up with myself on the internets, "Jimmy Stewart" - The Album is now up on Rhapsody.

Hey Ben Stein!

Fuck off.
I blamed Win Ben Stein's Money for introducing the world to Jimmy Kimmel. Little did I realize it made the far more egregious error of keeping Ben Stein in the spotlight.

what a truly pathetic man, making a truly pathetic argument.





edit: Godwin's Law. You lose

Obama tour

from The Economists' Democracy in America blog:

A young black man in dreadlocks was selling Obama posters and T-shirts at a table nearby, chanting “Tell Chelsea’s mama you’re voting for Obama” as the crowd streamed past. I guessed he wasn’t a Pennsylvanian. “I haven’t been home in 50 or 60 days”, confirmed the Los Angeles native, who said his sales of Obama gear across the country had raised thousands for the campaign. “And I haven’t had a date since 2007”, he added, looking me in the eye.

Phish tour always provided us with an answer to cultural conundrums like, "what is that east coast jew doing in the middle of Utah?" Now it's Obama's turn.

planning a social revolution.

sure. why not.
if ever there was a time and place, it's in the here and now.
(or would that be 'now and here'?)
breathe easy...

Drunken Punchup at a Primary

The title of Radiohead's Hail to the Thief referenced crooked power grabbing politicians and the sorts.
Fitting I suppose that this song should remind me of someone these days.

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
i don't know why you bother
nothing's ever good enough for you
i was there and it wasn't like that
you came here just to start a fight

you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punchup at a primary.

hypocrite opportunist
don't infect me with your poison
a bully in a china shop
when i turn round stay frozen to the spot.

you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punchup at a primary.

the pointless snide remarks
of hammerheaded sharks
the pot will call the kettle black

in a drunken punchup at a primary
no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no I haven't been thinking about this very much.

I was already won over on the issues and the approach.
this shameless tooth and nail shit is getting old.
It's time to start getting ready for November.

The Girl is Mine - Legend/Colbert

I can only confess my undying love for Stephen Colbert so often...and this morning is one of those times.
this bit of genius from last night's show features a duet of Colbert and John Legend performing the Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney classic "The Girl is Mine." (apparently some band Humpers McPhee covers this song, too...here's a version from 11.14.03).

so John Legend is pretty good, huh? Been hearing the name for so long, and it took a little Colbert bump to get me over the edge. ha.

one last gem from The Wire crew

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right," wrote Thomas Paine when he called for civil disobedience against monarchy — the flawed national policy of his day. In a similar spirit, we offer a small idea that is, perhaps, no small idea. It will not solve the drug problem, nor will it heal all civic wounds. It does not yet address questions of how the resources spent warring with our poor over drug use might be better spent on treatment or education or job training, or anything else that might begin to restore those places in America where the only economic engine remaining is the illegal drug economy. It doesn't resolve the myriad complexities that a retreat from war to sanity will require. All it does is open a range of intricate, paradoxical issues. But this is what we can do — and what we will do.

If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will — to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun's manifesto against the death penalty — no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war. No longer can we collaborate with a government that uses nonviolent drug offenses to fill prisons with its poorest, most damaged and most desperate citizens.

Jury nullification is American dissent, as old and as heralded as the 1735 trial of John Peter Zenger, who was acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, and absent a government capable of repairing injustices, it is legitimate protest. If some few episodes of a television entertainment have caused others to reflect on the war zones we have created in our cities and the human beings stranded there, we ask that those people might also consider their conscience. And when the lawyers or the judge or your fellow jurors seek explanation, think for a moment on Bubbles or Bodie or Wallace. And remember that the lives being held in the balance aren't fictional.

I'm convinced.

tabs, add

so, I thought the introduction of tabbed browsing was an excellent thing. But as things have progressed...I'm winding up with 10, 12, now 15 tabs of open of things I have to read or address. and I just opened up a 16th tab to post this.
I don't know how to solve this. I can think up of more "tasks" than I'm able to complete, and I don't complete tasks well.
It's not that I have an internet addiction, I just have to be on it all of the time.

traditional garb

the interweb's a tussle this morning with that picture of Obama (as part of a diplomatic tour of Africa in 2006) in traditional Somali garb. As if it isn't inherently obvious why someone would want this photo to circulate.


Even Matt "don't say it, just smear it" Drudge is quick to point out that Hillary, Bill, and G.W. have all participated in diplomacy through clothing (one may recall people making a stink over Nancy Pelosi last year). It's one thing when a trip is part of a news cycle. It's another thing altogether to dig up a photo from 2 years ago and then circulate it, in an appeal to the base, raw emotions of xenophobia and racism that still run deep through parts of our country. (it's not clear who was responsible...though the Clinton campaign released a pretty explicit non-denial)

But where's McCain in all this?
The best I could find is him dressed in traditional Iraqi garb (because the streets were so safe).