Phish

Help Out A Friend

Two weeks ago, en route to the Telluride Phish shows a friend of mine and many in the Phish community Shawn (aka whyweigh, aka liquidgoggles) was in a terrible car accident that has left him with a broken neck, pelvis and hand. No one else was seriously hurt but shawn is in a Denver hospital far from his home near Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, this is not Shawn’s first brush with serious medicinal issues, back in 2003 he was diagnosed with Relapsing Polychondritis, a condition that he continues to deal with today, and which is probably at least partly responsible for the severity of his injuries sustained in this crash, due to brittle bones caused by side-effects of high doses of prednisone.

I’ve met Shawn at some shows and have known him for years now. He’s as nice a person as you’d hope to meet and very generous to the community. Several times last year I featured his photographs here on rowjimmy.com (and we’re doing so again today) and now I’m hoping that I can use this site to spread the word.

Two of the online communities that Shawn frequents have come together to raise funds to assist Shawn with expenses as well as to supply him with internet access as his laptop was destroyed in the crash and, due to his injuries, he is mostly stuck in bed. As a joint effort between members at phishposters.com and week4paug.net, a series of Phish-related posters (more than one Pollock!) have been donated to be auctioned for Shawn’s benefit. More posters should be going up later this week, so keep checking back. All funds from these sales will be going to Shawn.

Check out the auctions here.

If you aren’t into collecting Phish posters but would like to pitch in, head over to paypal and send what you can to whyweighfundraiser AT gmail.com. And, even if you can’t help out with a few bucks, please, spread the word.

Thanks.

-rj

Got Memories…

We took Saturday off from Jerry Week because, hopefully, we all had better things to do than sit and read the interwebs on a Saturday. Today, I want to tell you about something that occurs to me on occasion and which struck me just yesterday as I drove listening to Friday night’s Phish show from Berkeley, CA.

Among the new rash of songs that Phish brought out since their return to the road in 2009 is one entitled “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan”. It’s a rocker with an angst-ridden blues guitar riff that, at first didn’t do too much for me. Then I found this shirt.

Some may bristle at the idea of Phish fans appropriating Grateful Dead icons for their lot shirts, but this one carries an awful lot of meaning. The lyrics describe a man living a new life, with new rules and responsibilities. He’s thinking of escaping and recapturing his freer past but knows that it’s not ever going to be the same.

Personally, I don’t dream of escaping my life. But I do often think back to a time that can never come again. Don’t we all? For me, of course, it’s the dream of seeing The Grateful Dead. That, obviously, is not going to happen but there are days when my memories turn into daydreams and those daydreams sometimes turn into real-life adventures (like Phish shows) that may be similar but will never be the same as seeing The Grateful Dead.

This song reminds me of those days but past and present and this shirt (which I’m wering as I type) ties it all together. Not being able to relive the past is a fact of our universe but at least I’ve got memories…

If you don’t know the song, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4fewvLmnuI

Phish Fall Tour Recap

Phish 2009-12-05 by rowjimmy

During rowjimmy.com’s little “break” since Festival 8, there was a little thing that we like to call Phish Fall Tour 2009. Your lovable and reliable bloggers (sophist and rowjimmy) managed to take in a couple shows apiece and listen to the rest diligently. Someone’s got to do it, right? So now, we present to you a run down of the entire tour, night by night, for your entertainment and reference.

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Festival 8

fest8

For those of you playing along at home, Festival 8 has begun…

The campgrounds are open, The Bunny is on the air and they even played a soundcheck last night.

I’m not there but I’ll be following closely from home (and wherever else I go this weekend) and I thought I’d offer up a few links and whatnot so that you too, the random reader of this oft-neglected blog, can stay informed.

So… Campgrounds. As you probably know, the campgrounds are named for albums that remain on the Phish Festival Eight site. If you are avoiding knowing the albums at all, don’t click on this link HERE. that’s a pdg of the festival map. It’s pretty sweet.

As for The Bunny(!) they’re live from the site now and will be doing so all weekend. Their website features a spot for requests and a twitter stream so you can follow the action.

Now, if you want to hear the Phish sets, your best bet is to fire up your Sirius/XM radio and… What? You don’t have a satellite radio subscription? Me neither. Head over to their website and hook up a free, online, streaming 7-day demo. then tune in at the following times:

Friday 6PM ET (9hours)
Saturday 6PM ET (9hours)
Sunday 3PM ET (9hours)

Update: Sirius/XM streaming is during the sets ONLY. They do not stream The Bunny at all and they do not start at the times shown on their schedule. Tune in at the set times posted below. This is the best capacity stream for the sets.

Actual set times are as follows (these are Pacific Time):

FRIDAY (10/30)

7:30PM Set 1
10:00PM Set 2

SATURDAY (10/31)

3:00PM Set 1
7:30PM The Halloween Set
10:00PM Set 3

SUNDAY (11/01)

12:00PM Acoustic Set
5:30PM Set 2
8:30PM Set 3

Otherwise, The Bunny is streaming in a more limited capacity. Phish.net has the scoop on that here. (By the way, have you checked out the new Phish.net? It’s great. )

Update! Now you can stream it via LivePhish Radio!

Follow setlists via Phish’s website here.

This being the 21st Century, Twitter has got more info that you need. Check the #Phish and #Fest8 tags. You can follow rowjimmy.com on twitter as well and I’ll try to keep folks abreast of any points of interest that I hit upon during the weekend. Look for updates after the jump.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!
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Phish Finds Joy

With Joy, Phish returns to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite (Billy Breathes) and caps off their return from the indefinite dark time since they ‘broke up’ in 2004. They’re older, wiser, healthier, and more optimistic than on 2004s Undermind and it shows. Life hasn’t always been easy for the past five years but there are good things around us all and Phish has decided to show us the way.

“Backwards Down The number Line” is a perfect distillation of a jamband pop-rock song. Catchy melody merged with interwoven instruments and a solo that gives chills. Reminiscent of the ecstatic, melodies in a Summer ’97 “Gin” jam with a touch of early 70s Dickey Betts, this solo is worth the price of admission. The lyric may be a tad syrupy but syrupy is not territory that Phish has mined heavily in the past so it’s not as if we should be sick of it, yet. They go there several times on this record and come out with some delightful gems. If “BDTNL” was too syrupy, “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” responds with a bit of a punch in the face. Opening with tension, driven by a pounding piano and ripping guitar riff (“machine-gun Trey” makes an appearance on the solo,) this song has a strong yet abstract lyric that is open to enough interpretation to keep the fans guessing.

The title track follows with a delicate introduction and a moving lyric. “Joy” is connected to Anastasio’s sister’s recent passing from cancer. Such a topic could leave a listener wrapped in grief but this tune turns sadness into inspiration. In life, if you encounter someone who is hurting, it can be a challenge to reach out with empathy and lift them up. Phish would not be my first guess of bands that could do so in song; until now. Continue reading →

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