5/11/99 The 9:30 Club, Washington D.C.
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 22:22:16 GMT
From: KAZDEYNA
Subject: Trey 5/11/99 9:30 Club - Setlist and Review
Trey Anastasio
Acoustic and Electric
Tuesday, May 11, 1999
The 9:30 Club
Washington D.C.
Set I (acoustic solo Trey)
Get Back on the Train 7:56pm
Farmhouse
Kissed by Mist 8:00pm
Snowflakes in the Sand 8:08pm
Bathtub Gin* -> 8:12pm
Sample in a Jar 8:17pm
Driver 8:22pm
Real Country Song 8:30pm
Billy Breathes** 8:31pm
Sleep*** 8:40pm
Blue and Shiny
8:43pm
Set II
(electric with Tony Markellis-bass & Russ Lawton-drums)
Gotta Jiboo 9:20pm
Go Round In Circles 9:35pm
First Tube 9:43pm
Ooh Child 9:50pm
Heavy Thing (Where I'd Hoped I'd Be) 10:02pm
Sand -> 10:08pm
Jam ->
Drumz 10:30pm
I Can See Clearly Now 10:44pm!
Aqui Como Alla
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
11:09pm
Encore:
Row Jimmy 11:20pm
*dedicated to co-author of song Susanah Goodman, with crowd sing-a-long
** Trey on piano
*** w/ Tom Marshall
Tonight we got the Good, the Bad and the Ugly! (mostly in the acoustic set).
The Scene was very mellow. A long line formed outside the club, but we were
there early and got in easy. Besides the Fascist Security guards (I am 30
years old and was asked for a second form of I.D. besides my Driver's License)
the 9:30 Club is a very pleasant place to see a show and run very smoothly. A
quick look at the ceiling shows that this place is designed to do concerts
well, sound protecters, booms, beams, you name it. The place has many bars and
bathrooms. It's your typical rectangular orchestra pit with a balcony around
the perimeter, very spacious and they don't back them in. The walls are
painted in blue and it resembles a little of the House of Blues in New Orleans
or even a very modern Tipitina's (probably what the House of Blues wanted to be
when it copied Tipitina's), with an iron "fence" balcony railing. Two to Three
stair-like levels on the balcony even. The sound was good and loud on the
floor, a little bommy on the balcony since the stacks were more pointed towards
the floor but overall excellent!
The Acoustic set, well lets just say this was an off night. I have seen Trey
play acoustic at the Carnegie Hall Tibet House benefit and have heard the
Higher Ground 2/15/99 show, so I know what he is capable of (even under severe
conditions 2/15). But man, one too many drinks in him and his playing went down
hill. Hey, everybody is entitled to a night off and a night of fun, and he
sure was soaking in the club atmosphere providing us with some hammering (or
should I say hammered) of the acoustic guitar and piano. Truthfully the first
half of the set was done well, it's only after the Bathtub Gin (Ironically)
things went a little south.
Back on the Train is a nice new tiddy, or "driving" song. Quick tempo, and
moving, played well with a cons tat moving tempo, and job well done, did I
mention the song moves... :)
Farmhouse is done well acoustic, better electric! However, the soul is
still there in parts and the little alright, alright addition is ok.
Kissed by Mist, with all due respect to it's intent (Julia Butterfly
Hill's cause), is an extremely simple song musically, and a very big song
lyrically which just don't go together. A folky protest attempt, which
probably would work better as a poem or editorial in the newspaper than put to
music, or should I say to the one chord that Trey keeps playing.
Snowflakes in the Sand was the best of the acoustic songs we heard
tonight! The song has a very unique sound and a slight hook, or "jam" which is
very good and which to me resembles Beppe Gambetta's guitar playing, can I pick
a more obscure reference, but that's what it reminds me. (Pick Up Beppe's
Gambetta's "Good News From Home" album and listen to "Duet for One" and tell me
what you are reminded of.........Glide).
Bathtub Gin got a huge response from the crowd, first thought that comes to
my mind is how is he going to play this solo, but the crowd got to join in big,
first with a chorus of "love to take a bath" and the then helped out a lot on
the Duu, duuduu, duu part, would've been nice to see what Trey would've come up
with in that spot on the acoustic, but the crowd filling in was also good, and
received an approving smile and nod from Trey! Good vibes. Good Fun!
Here is where we get into the bad and ugly.
Driver begins with a staring into the crowd confused looking Trey strumming
on the guitar introduction, which already make you think he is getting a little
out of his head. But is done Ok.
This is followed by a dialogue which Trey talks about this because of it
being a club is a little different atmosphere than the Theaters he's been
playing, but "It's OK" to talk, and have fun since it's a club, he then says he
will play a softer/quieter song called Mountains of the Mist, but "It's OK to
talk and order drinks, and he really can't complain" Also "tip those
waitresses" Trey tells us bringing us back to the days of playing clubs like
Telluride's Roma.....the crowd begins to feel that "club spirit" and Trey
abandons playing Mountains of the Mist and says he'll play something
appropriate for the setting (or something to that affect), and goes into a
sarcastic Real Country Song. "So type that into the Internet".
Billy Breathes on piano was not so good or should I say not his best
effort, seemed to just loose ground and fade away......
Sleep with Tom Marshall and then the closer Blue and Shiny was ugly. Tom
with all due respect should keep his day job, and Trey was just goofing on the
last song which my friend Ed made the comment it sounded like something from
Sesame Street (which isn't a bad thing), but the playing was even worse and
eventually just laughed off. Trey drops his guitar as he is placing it down
when leaving the stage......thus as he is walking away gives us the "let the
drunken mayhem begin" line.
Trey, drinking, and acoustic guitar (and definitely piano) do not
mix............but you know he can pull off the electric material in this
state, so we got a very nice 2nd set!
Set 2:
Started with one of the higlights and a great dancing tune, Gotta Jibbo ("and
keep drinking too" as Trey adds to the lyrics). The song had a big fun, funk,
jam that really had the whole place moving for a goof 15 minutes! The whole
band was playing/jamming very well together!
A scratchy intro led into Goin' Round In Circles, which had a big solo in
it, Russ and Tony stepped back and let Trey let a big solo out, nicely done.
First Tube (which also was "called" once weeeohhhweee, but no longer contains
the wee oh wee portion) contained a lot of Trey shredding and wah-wah'ing,
finally ending on a shredding of low notes at the very low end of the guitar
neck.
Ooh Child was also a big highlight up to this point, so soft and soothing
that my friend Ed (and I) wanted the solo to go on for another 10 minutes, very
Reba-esque solo! Leaving many spaces between the notes and hitting just the
right amount of soul! Well Played!
Heavy Things or Where I'd Hoped to Be is a good song, don't remember much, I
do remember the crowd was a little lost in it, but the somewhat upbeat song
fell well in line and I liked, wish I can offer more.
Sand or Pistol as it was called was mainly an all out jam, at one point it
contained a pecking or tapping sound which Trey was producing with a foot pedal
and then it contained some bomb dropping whistles, then moved into some
Hendrix-esque sounding riffs, eventually going into a 14 minute!!!!! Drum solo
with Trey and Russ (I wouldn't much call it a duel, since they played more
together then against one another).
Out of this come some more highlights, three in a row!
I can See Clearly Now was standard but great to hear, better version probably
occur on this tour (and even the Higher Ground version seemed better), but I
like hearing it and seeing it live was good enough for me whichever version we
received.
Aqui Como Alla, let me tell you Trey loves playing this song and besides the
Voodoo Child, I think this is the best song technically he played all night!
He really put his best foot forward trying to hit all the changes and nuances
of this song, standard version but also good to see Trey smiling as he's
playing it telling the crowd see this is a good one and fun to play.
Voodoo Child, just a MONSTER! no need to explain it, just imagine it. Trey
doing this song with the effort that he puts into all his hardcore, hard
rockin' covers........and multiply it by 100x. Fantastic!
Row Jimmy capped of a great electric set the way the last four covers did.
Excellent effort, well done and warmly accepted by these ears! Fun!
Thanks for the time!
Peace,
Kaz
Kazdeyna@aol.com
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 10:27:26 -0400
From: ScheinbergS@fedsources.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net, dws@gadiel.com
Subject: Trey review 5/11
Well, it was everything I hoped for and more.
Trey came out and the crowd went friggin nuts. The first real highlight
came with Farmhouse, which sounded so eloquent in it's acoustic rendition.
The new songs were all nice to hear, but Bathtub Gin was a special treat.
The guitar solo at the end was sung by the thousand or so people jammed into
the club, and it brought a smile to Trey's face. That segued into Sample,
which was really clean and energized for an acoustic song. Billy Breathes
stands out, too, as one of the moments in the first set where I nearly "lost
my shit." Tom Marshall's appearance was also pretty cool, and the little
children's song at the end of the first set was a crack up. All things
considered, the first set was incredible, but I had no idea what was to
come.
It was the second set that knocked me down. As soon as I saw Tony Markellis
walking onstage, I held up my little makeshift sign that read, in bold text,
JIBOO. Trey certainly saw it. Only a few people had signs, and he squinted
to read them all. When I heard the opening notes of Jiboo, I knew the night
was about to get nuts. Jiboo rocked for what seemed like forever, and I
didn't mind a bit. First Tube was the highlight of the entire night. I had
to steady myself on the girl in front of me a few times because I was so far
lost in the moment. It was truly one of the best moments of music I've been
present at. When it finally wound down, Ooh Child emerged. That, when
you're actually in front of the band, is one of the sweetest little songs
you could ever hear. The whole crowd was swaying happily.
The next few songs left me lost in the distance, I was so with the music,
and I didn't get myself together until the drum duel. It was intense and I
welcomed I Can See Clearly Now as a familiar tune. It was the second set
Voodoo Child that sealed the deal, it was a show at that point: we all
watched in awe as Trey & co busted through Hendrix like it was Hootie.
The Row Jimmy encore was like a cherry on top. No encore would've been fine
for me, as the show had already cemented its spot in my head as incredible,
but when we heard the opening notes, everyone took a deep breath and
relaxed, taking in the spirit and just enjoying it. The insanity of the
crowd exiting afterwords wasn't even bad because the vibe was so on. You
HAD to love it.
If you have a chance to see Trey, Tony and Russ this tour, DO ANYTHING
POSSIBLE to get your butt into that place. It was a true musical
awakening.
-adam
adam@scheinberg.zzn.com
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 11:36:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Yo Mama tatyfool@yahoo.com
To: dws@gadiel.com
Subject: review of your review
I am responding to the person who wrote the
annotations to the setlist of 5.11.99.
While we all appretiate having up to date info on our
favorite friends while we can not be with them if I
could address one issue. Relax. Put down your pen and
enjoy the show. Such excessive detail is really not
necessary, and in fact takes from one's unique
experiene of being there. thanks for your hard work,
but Relax and take a break, guy.
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 13:32:17 -0400
From: rowjimmy@iname.com
To: dws@archive.phish.net
Subject: 05/11/99 The 9:30 Club - Washington D.C.
05/11/99 The 9:30 Club - Washington D.C.
First things first.
Wow.
I can still hear Voodoo Child ringing in my ears. 9:30 Club was packed
and the streets were lined with ticketless folks. Trey came out at about 8
and folks were ready to roll.
The opener "Get Back On the Train" was a nice upbeat opener, which I
happen to dig quite a bit, and was followed by a nicely received
"Farmhouse". Then 2 more new songs
"Kissed By Mist" and "Snowflakes in The Sand" both of which are sweet
little tunes. Trey explained that "Kissed..." was written for Julia
Butterfly who has been living in a redwood tree in California to protest
the logging of old growth forest. Pretty song but someone whispered to me
"remember the teacher from Beavis and Butthead?" and, as Trey sang about
the "woodland folk and forest creatures.." it was everything I could
do not to laugh out loud. Not to diminish Trey, that cartoon hack would
never play a song this good but, Damn, it sure was kinda funny.
"Snowflakes..." has good lyrics and some nice quick riffs in it and I'd
like to see this developed with Phish in the future. Next was "Bathtub
Gin" which was dedicated to Susannah Goodman who was in attendance. The
audience sang the "faucet" portion of the song and Trey had the hugest
grin as he played. This seemed louder than on the Murat Theater tapes but
then, everything in 9:30 seems loud.
"Gin" gave way to "Sample..." and "Driver". Next Trey, as he prepared to
sing
"Mountains in the Mist" began talking about duologies and trilogies of
songs and a trilogy of duologies and something rather hard to follow from
memory. Get the tape and listen to it a few times to get that bit
straight. Then Trey tells us that, in honor of the apparently impending
"Drunken Mayhem" (Trey even lifted his cocktail and said "I'll drink to
that") of a club show versus the theaters he had been playing he's
decided not to play "Mountains..." and that he's gonna play a "real
country song". He and Tom wrote this song (guessed to be named "You'll
Know My Name") in response to all of the crap on the radio that passes for
"real country". This was a beer swillin bootstomper.
On to the piano for a virtually flawless "Billy Breathes". He then
introduces Tom Marshall who sings harmony on "Sleep" and a "world debut"
the title of which was not given (guessed to be called "Blue and Shiny")
but the harmonies were cool and they really appeared to enjoy themselves.
With that the acoustic set ended.
Set 2 is a different story. I could not possibly break down the
song-by-song details because it really seemed to me to be a few songs
strung together with looong jams. "Gotta Jiboo" is fat. Funky and very
jammy. This opener lasted a while and reprised itself after an excellent
jam. "Will It Go Round In Circles" was a dancers delight and a real crowd
pleaser. More great jamming with some cool lyrics which I'm dying to
check out again on tape. Next "First Tube" kicked much ass. This set
was definitely a Dancefest.
Back to song for a break with a nice "Ooh Child" that had folks singing
along and spinning in the balcony. "Heavy Thing" seemed to me to coexist
with "Sand" I did not distinguish between songs at the time... Then Drums.
Make no mistake Russ Lawton is a good drummer. Real good. He and Trey
were tightly bouncing beats off of one another and turning on a dime
together for over ten minutes. everybody seemed to dig it. I danced my
ass off through the whole thing.
"I Can See Clearly Now" was so sweet. A bit of grounding wire to keep
this electric room from exploding. After which came the bomb. Voodoo
Child. Straight from the center of the Earth to the fires of the sun, Trey
burned a whole in my mind which still echoes 13 hours later. Russ and
Tony provided (as they had all night) tight and dynamic rhythm beneath
Trey who laid into the 'Doc and tore the building down. I didn't time it
but I'd say is was long and luscious. After that, they had to stop. Where
else to go?
I'll tell you where. Encore with "Row Jimmy", that's where.
Trey's definitely got this one down. They all do. That swinging
shuffle hasn't sounded as sweet to me (I missed The Warfield shows last
month...) in a few years. This is one of my favorite songs and, despite
one or two lyric flubs, it was great.
All Grins after that. This was a great show, both in format and
performance. It was nice to have the intimate acoustic set followed by a
full on jamfest. And to see Trey in a club! Well, All I can really sum
this up with is this: If you haven't seen Trey solo, Do. If you're
reading this after the tour, get the tapes and don't miss out if
and when it happens again. I won't.
Oh, and one more thing. A buddy of mine hung out with Trey & Brad and 6
or 7 of our friends in the downstairs bar after the show. Trey bought top
shelf rounds of tequila or all of them. They were the only ones there and
my buddy got his stub autographed. Lucky bastard!
jmh
rowjimmy@iname.com
return me to the trey solo page