Monthly Archive for June, 2009

World’s Best Pasta y Fagioli

Published on June 16, 2009 in Food. 3 Comments

While my claim might be a little dreamy, I have never had a Pasta y Fagioli that I have liked better, even at the best of Italian restaurants. The only thing I can come up with is that the restaurants are making a peasant’s dish too classy. The dish is meant to be simple and easy to make with few ingredients. After all, in English, it just means “Pasta and Beans”.

The recipe that follows has been handed down to me from my mother. It’s the same way my paternal grandparents made it (oddly enough, my father doesn’t know the recipe). This is the same recipe that has been my favorite meal since I was pretty young. Being that this is one of those handed down recipes, there’s a lot of improvisation (the garlic, oregano, and basil were my additions).

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti (I use Barilla)
4 8 oz cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce (the plain one)
1 can of cannellini (white kidney) beans (brands very. I prefer Sclafani. Progresso is no good)
1 medium size yellow onion
6 cloves of Garlic (if you don’t like garlic, use less, if you do, use more)
Olive oil (I use extra virgin, but it’s just what I have in the cabinet)
Oregano (dried flakes)
Basil (dried flakes)

Chop the garlic and onion. Add some olive oil to the bottom of a pot. I usually use a 3 qt pot, but it gets filled pretty close to the rim. Cook the garlic, but don’t burn it. Add some more olive oil and then add the onion and sauté until the onion is translucent. I generally end up with a lot of olive oil in the pot to the point where it’s nearly covering all the onion (I like olive oil). I let it get hot and add the tomato sauce and cannellini beans (including the “bean juice”). After each can of tomato sauce is added, I carefully fill the empty can with water, making sure to mix the excess sauce in, and add that to the pot. I usually rinse the bean can just enough to get some water in it and mixed with the excess “bean juice” and add that to the pot as well. I then add the oregano and basil to taste. You can also probably add salt and/or pepper if you want, but I generally don’t. Let the whole thing come to a brief boil, stirring pretty regularly, and then let it simmer covered.

While the sauce is getting hot, I get the water going for the spaghetti. While I’m waiting for it to come to a boil, I break the spaghetti up into small pieces (about 1-2 inches in length). It’s a lot of work, but it makes eating this a lot easier. By the time I’m done, the water is ready. Cook the spaghetti according to the package. I generally stir the spaghetti with the same utensil used for the sauce. In fact, I’ll add a small amount of the sauce to the spaghetti water (you’ll understand soon enough). When the spaghetti is done, pour about 1-2 quarts of the water used to cook it into something to save it (again, you’ll understand by the end of this), then strain as usual. Add the spaghetti back to the pot and then dump in the sauce and stir it up. The consistency should be almost stew-like. Cover the pot and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. This allows the spaghetti to soak up the flavors from the sauce.

Serve it in soup bowls or pasta bowls. I usually add a good amount of grated parmesan or romano (or a mix of the 2) cheese to it and mix it in. It’s best eaten with a good crusty Italian bread for dipping.

This recipe makes a lot. I don’t know the exact number of servings, but I always end up with a lot leftover. This is where that water you saved comes in. I add the leftovers to a container for the fridge. But usually by the time I do it, it has thicken up quite a bit. I add some of that water (which already has a lot of the flavors mixed in) to loosen it up a bit. If you add too much of the water, it will be bland. If you don’t add enough, it will be really thick.

I’m still perfecting this each time I make it. I have yet to have a brand of beans besides Sclafani that meets my approval. Sclafani may not be available in all parts of the country (I can get it in RI or CT). You can try making it with 2 15 oz cans of the tomato sauce (always use the plain Hunts). I’ve made it really bland. I’ve made it overpowering. It all comes down to the spices. Now, the one thing I can’t remember (which is why I said you can add it if you want) is if my mother used salt and/or pepper in the sauce. That might be why it sometimes comes out bland. Though, on that same note, I’ve had it be absolutely fantastic without adding that stuff. I do salt the pasta water (adding a good amount of salt after it’s boiling, but before adding the pasta).

If you try this or make some changes, let me know what you think in the comments. I really don’t care what anyone says. This will always be the world’s best Pasta y Fagioli to me. Enjoy!

A Few Months with FiOS

Published on June 9, 2009 in Internet and Technology. Closed

As I posted a while back, I ended up switching from Cox High Speed Internet to Verizon FiOS. There were many reason for that switch, but here’s my thoughts on FiOS so far.

First, I’ll start with my bandwidth. I have more bandwidth available to me than I would have with Cox. It’s a tough judgement here because it’s noticeably faster, but part of that is because it should be. I have 20 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream. It’s quite convenient, but difficult to compare to my Cox connection because it wasn’t supposed to be as fast. However, I will say that my connection has been more reliable with FiOS than it ever was with Cox. With Cox, I had been through 3 cable modems (granted I’ve only had FiOS for a few months now) and always had a problem with dropped connections. I suppose it could’ve been my router (which I plan on trying to use with FiOS as I’ve heard there’s a way). Now their router, while it works well and does what I need to (and even seems to give off a stronger wireless signal than my Linksys that had 2 antennae) has a really crappy interface (warnings everytime you go into an “advanced” setting, even after you’ve confirmed a change in an advanced setting). The advanced settings shouldn’t be called advanced. People should be able to set their wireless encryption to WPA or WPA2 without having to go into an advanced area (that scares them away). I can’t change the DNS server (I used OpenDNS on my old router) and if you mistype an address, you go to Verizon’s error page/search engine (a little shady if you ask me, I’d rather get a “page cannot be displayed” message). However, I need to use their router because it grabs the on demand and guide for the set top box.

The TV service is also good. I like having HD service, though I’ve noticed that I can only get 1080i (my TV does 1080p). I don’t know if I have something configured wrong, if I have a crappy HDMI cable (came from Verizon and Gizmodo says it doesn’t matter), or if HD cable service only goes as high as 1080i. It really shouldn’t matter because based on the size of my TV and the distance it is from where we sit, I shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p. However, I can’t really compare it to my Cox service as I didn’t have HD with them. From time to time, I do notice some digital pixelation, but that can happen with any digital cable service.

The DVR, however, sucks ass. It had to be said. There are 2 reasons I’m using their DVR. The first is because I can’t afford a Tivo HD. The second is because even if I could afford a Tivo HD, I wouldn’t have the Verizon guide and I wouldn’t be able to use any of the on demand features (I may even lose out on the music channels, but I’m not sure on that). That being said, Tivo’s interface blows away the Verizon DVR. I’d also get a whole lot more storage from a Tivo and better multimedia capabilities without having to pay an extra fee (as with what I’d have to do do get those from my Verizon DVR).

So it’s not all roses over here in FiOS land, but it’s better than my experience with Cox. Cox’s support system was a whole lot better. They have phone numbers listed for easy access on their webpage. They had realistic hours (Verizon stops answering their phone at 6 pm). But the extra bandwidth and reliable service make FiOS better for me.

Update: Apparently, after doing a little research, the set top box is only capable of 1080i.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 7: The Conclusion

Published on June 9, 2009 in Music and Phish. Closed

The following article is the final part in a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would suggest starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

As I wrap up this series on my life as a Phishhead, I have churned up many old memories of Phish in my life – from buying my first album to going to my first show, from awaiting the newest issues of the Schvice to standing in line at the Hartford Civic Center, from the sadness of their departure to the excitement of their return.

When I first heard of them, I thought they were some fad band that people in my high school liked. I started listening to them and got more and more into them. I soon realized they weren’t a fad. They didn’t go away. If anything, they got bigger and bigger. I am still surprised that there are so many people who had never heard of them. Even at the height of their popularity in the late ’90s, there were a lot of people who had no idea who Phish was. I have done my best to spread the word and turn people on (or off, in some cases) to the band.

I remember the day they announced their breakup. Of all the people to send me condolences, my father was a big surprise. I had no idea he even knew who they are, let alone that he knew they were breaking up. That just goes to show how big they had become and how important they are in the world of music.

If there is anything to learn about Phish it’s that they are much bigger than just the four guys that make up the band. Phish is a community, a community that could not be any stronger than it is right now. A community I hope will never go in the direction it had gone in the post-hiatus period. There was so much hate, so much contempt. They were some dark times for both the band and the community.

As the tour continues tonight in Asheville, I can only get more excited to see what they do next. My next show is over 2 months away. And while this may be the final chapter of this little series on my blog, this is certainly not the final chapter of Phish. The road continues onward and upward.

One thing is certain, the world is a much better place with Phish and I am grateful to have been a part of this whole thing.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 6: The Triumphant Return, Phish 3.0

Published on June 8, 2009 in Music and Phish. Closed

The following article is part 6 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Early on in 2008, rumblings of a Phish reunion started to float around. As the year went on, the rumors started to fly about where and when it would be. Would it be Halloween in Vegas? What about New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden? No matter what the rumor said, it was beginning to feel like Phish would be back sooner rather than later. Trey had his famous “left nuts” interview, during which he said he would give his left nut to be back with Mike, Page, and Fish playing the same songs over and over. It was now just a matter of timing. Mike was off on his solo tour. Trey had started working with the classic TAB. Did they have time to bring Phish back?

Then came the announcement. It was a normal October day when a visit to Phish.com brought you to a video of a guy drawing the Hampton Coliseum with the dates of the March 2009 reunion. The beloved band from Vermont was back. The first words out of Susan’s mouth… “My life is over”. Rumors started to fly again (this is Phish after all, what would we do without rumors?). What would they play? Will they be as poorly rehearsed as their last reunion? What will their first song be? What kinds of guests will be there?

I suspected they would play something as “Phish” as they could and they would not invite any guests to the stage. I was correct. They opened the first of the three Hampton shows with the classic composition “Fluffhead” telling everyone that they were back. They were serious. And, most importantly, they were rehearsed. They blasted through two long sets that first night playing song after song with little jamming. Instead, they were proving to themselves that they could play together and play the songs properly. This wasn’t a return from hiatus. They were back and they were going to do it right. There was little jamming or improvisation during those three nights in Hampton. Each of the shows had two very long sets with a lot of songs packed in. They played them out a bit more as they moved towards the third night, but even that night had little jamming compared to years gone by.

Before the Hampton shows even started, rumors began to surface about a summer tour. Sure enough, they announced the tour in January by way of a new video on Phish.com. It was a short tour of shows mostly in the Northeast and east of the Mississippi River. The west coast fans were being left out. Then more rumors started to fly, including a possible tour opener at Fenway Park in Boston. A second leg of the tour was announced started with 4 nights at Red Rocks and 2 nights at the Gorge. It also included a night at Shoreline Amphitheater in California. The rest of the tour brought them back east. The video for this late summer tour featured a Google Earth image that zoomed in on a field in Texas. Rumors started to fly about an end of summer festival in Texas. While a Phish festival would have been fun, August in Texas is disgustingly hot. While I’m sure they don’t have anything against Texas, I doubt they would ever choose the state as a location for a summer festival. Soon thereafter a new video went up featuring Fenway Park. They were opening their summer tour in Boston. It made sense, after all. The Red Sox were away that day and the Dave Matthews Band was playing the previous two nights (Phish and DMB are both managed by Red Light Management). The logistics were easy as the stage and field seating would already be in place.

I managed to score tickets to the three New England shows – Fenway on May 31, Great Woods on June 6, and Hartford on August 14. Susan wasn’t overly pleased about the Great Woods show (the first of the three to be announced) as it was the day before our first wedding anniversary, but she understood and said she’d go with me (and as seen in my previous post, she enjoyed herself). She gave me a hard time about the other two as well, but I told her I could have asked to go to more. She’ll get something in return eventually, and, hey, she’s going to the Hartford show now, too.

The first several shows of the summer tour have come and gone. The band is leaving the northeast as I write this. The reunion shows (Hampton plus the initial six shows from the summer) have proven to be a build-up. The band has built upon each show culminating in Camden with a raging show from start to finish. Fenway proved to be a builder, building up from the start to the finish. It was really more the spectacle of the venue and event than anything else. The Jones Beach shows featured the band experimenting with some old songs (see “Harry Hood” from June 2) and introducing some more new ones. Great Woods proved to be a show where they got down the precision of each song, including the return of “Fluffhead” played to early 90′s standards and the first post-breakup “Julius” along with a fun “Contact” and “Golgi Apparatus”. Each song played with great precision. At Camden, they opened the floodgates and proved they were back.

Phish has returned in full force. The rest of the summer tour should be amazing to see. The boys are back in full glory. The scene seems to be back in pre-hiatus form… the people are here for the music rather than the scene. They have returned, and it has indeed been triumphant. August 14 cannot come soon enough for me.

Phish Great Woods Review 6/6/09

Published on June 7, 2009 in Music and Phish. 7 Comments

Yesterday was a perfect day for late spring in New England. The sun was shining, there was little humidity, and the temps were in the mid-70s. Who could ask for anything more? Well, we could, of course. The Phish tribe came down upon the Great Woods amphitheatre (aka the Comcast Center) in Mansfield, MA in full force last night. Susan and I arrived at the lot around 3:45 yesterday afternoon and it was already nearly filled to the brim. Being Susan’s first Phish show, I had to bring her in early to tailgate and learn about the scene. I attached the Phish Twitter Twibe flag to the top of my car and it was time to sit back and enjoy ourselves. After hooking up a fellow Rhode Islander and Twitter follower with the tickets that were originally meant for my cousins who bailed on me, things were smooth sailing. We hung out with some beers and our lot neighbors. People from the Phish Twibe showed up and hung out for a bit (great to see @UNOlker, @coffeewithian, @PBRandPBJ, @jmvalentine, and @KiminRI. Susan and I cooked some juicy burgers. Before we knew it, it was time to head into the show.

We found our way to our seats, which were in a great spot at the end of the row on the inside edge of Section 8 (the far left section in the back of the pavilion when looking at the stage). What we didn’t take into account was the fact that the steps going up took a left at our seats. This resulted in us having to guide drunk, stoned, tripping, and otherwise confused people throughout the night. It provided some amusement as I watched them walk into the seats completely confused, but it was mainly an annoyance as it distracted us from the music.

The band took the stage just after 7:30. The crowd went completely nuts. The energy that was present at this show was just unreal from start to finish. They opened with one of their new songs, “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan”. I had listened to it from the Jones Beach show, but it was definitely played better last night. And this precise playing continued to be the theme for the night. They then went into the lighter “Nothing” off of Undermind. While I was disappointed at first, as the song just doesn’t impress me either on the album or the one time I heard them play it in Brooklyn at the start of their “final” tour in 2004, I took it in with an open mind. One of the people from Twitter, @YEMblog, made a comment “nice to them play (not just sing) a song off of Undermind.” I could not agree more. They played the song quite well. While the energy was high from the beginning, it picked up quite a bit at the first notes of “Back on the Train”. They played it quite well, though didn’t really jam it out at all. This show was beginning to feel a bit like Fenway with the first set being about the songs. When they busted out “Golgi Apparatus” the roof came down on the place. People went absolutely nuts as it hadn’t been played since before the breakup. They then busted out “Sparkle” and played it with such speed and precision, I thought everyone was going to collapse afterwards, but they still had plenty of energy for “Gotta Jibboo”, the first song to really have any kind of a jam associated with it, though they remained within the songs structure for the most part. They gave our legs a little rest, but our voices still got nothing. The opening notes for “Lawn Boy” brought about some of the loudest cheers of the night. Page was crooning and Mike was playing right along with him. It felt almost as if we had traveled back in time about 50 years and were listening to the Rat Pack. They kept it mellow with the Trey solo tune “Let Me Lie”, which caused a good portion of the crowd to head out for a bathroom break. Unfortunately for those who left, they played this song quite well. I had seen him play it at the Newport Folk Festival and at a Classic TAB show shortly after. Neither of those performances came anywhere near this one. Though there was little reason to leave, they pulled everyone back in with a powerful “Taste”, one of the most powerful I have heard. Just when I thought they were going to end the set here, they started playing the crowd favorite “Makisupa Policeman” with its groovin’ reggae beat. This was followed by a slowly building “Prince Caspian” to close the set. This Caspian was stretched out and became quite powerful towards the end. The first set had come to an end.

About 25 minutes later, the band comes back on stage and quickly starts up one of the favorites from the Round Room album, “Seven Below”. The band played this song out with some of the best jamming of the night, playing it with such precision. It was a sign for things to come. The second set was going to be special. And, by the end of the song and the first notes of the next song, the second set had become special. It was “Fluffhead”, not heard since they opened up their first reunion show at Hampton in March. The only difference was this time it was played with complete perfection. By this time, the crowd was bouncing off the walls. When “Fluffhead” ended, they quickly started “Scent of a Mule”. The crowd was dancing hard by this point. The jam and the Russian dance segment were played perfectly and Mike had taken his song as his own and kept the other guys at bay when he brought the song back from the jam with his extra long “wellllllllllllll”. In fact, Trey could be seen laughing on stage not knowing when Mike would continue, but he eventually did. They lightened it up a bit with “Heavy Things”, but didn’t make it too light. The last time I saw them play this song, Trey messed up the lyrics. This song was played with great precision, just like the slower songs from the first set. In fact, they even took it to a different level than I had ever heard before, extending the short jam section out a bit. They quickly brought back the force of the set with “Harry Hood”. I was hoping they’d do some exploratory jamming as they had at Jones Beach on Tuesday. Instead, they played the song as precisely as it could possibly be played and gave it a powerful jam that, for the most part, stayed in the confines of the song’s structure. They then played a completely rockin’ “Possum”. They gave it a different kind of a jam that was a little less country feeling than usual. Finally, they played “Bug”. I was extremely disappointed at first. This is the one song that can completely kill the groove of a great set. However, they blew us all away with the jam at the end. I had never heard “Bug” played out before. It was usually given it’s few minutes of glory allowing us a bathroom break. This one was special and quite fitting for the set closer.

After a short break, the band was back for the encore. The first notes of “Contact” made for a special end to a special night. The band had a ton of fun with this song. Towards the end of the song, a kid jumped on stage and started dancing. Trey made some comments to him and one of the security guys grabbed him and pulled him off stage. Trey then said “Let’s hear it for this guy ’cause he’s getting thrown out and won’t hear this next song”. Then they bust out with “Julius”, which made for a great ending to a great night.

Overall, the show was fantastic. I was worried, after playing 3 awesome shows at Jones Beach, that last night’s show was going to be a bit of a downer. However, the playing was much better than the Jones Beach shows, even if they weren’t quite as exploratory in their jams. The highlights for me, in addition to the two songs of the encore, were the following:

Set One

Awesome “Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan”
The bust out “Sparkle”
The crooning “Lawn Boy”
The powerful “Taste” and “Prince Caspian”

Set Two

The powerful, well-played “Seven Below”
The perfect precision of “Fluffhead”
The perfect “Harry Hood” (I have never seen them play it without Trey screwing up somewhere)
The rockin’ “Possum” jam
The extended (believe it or not) “Bug”

We left the show and headed back to our car. We took a breather and had some water and a snack. When we looked at the traffic getting out, it was stopped and our friendly neighbors offered us some food. So we hung out with some people for a while before deciding we should try to make our way home. We got in the line of car and ended up turning the car off again. Apparently, there was an accident on one of the single lane roads out of the lots. The Great Woods lots are not known for their easy in and out. In fact, there are 2 entrances and they funnel everyone out the same exit. Last night, I experienced some of the biggest assholes (and I don’t like to use foul language on my blog) I had ever seen. The number of cars that tried to prevent people from merging into the exit lanes was unreal. I pissed someone off because I managed to step on my gas faster than she could when I merged in. She started screaming and giving me the finger. It’s not like being one car behind was going to make her get out any slower, but that’s Massachusetts driving for you. I, of course, allowed people to pull in in front of me, especially knowing that I had a royal bitch driving the car behind me.

I was also disappointed by some of the people at the show. The number of “puppy pullers” (people who bring their dogs on tour) in the lot was unreal. I had never seen so many dogs at a show. This is animal cruelty, plain and simple. Do not bring your dog on tour. In fact, your dog is better off in a kennel. During the setbreak, a guy was behind me looking around and eventually says “I dropped a joint, I can’t find it”. A little kid (I thought it was a girl, but it was a boy) comes up next to me and I start talking to him. Eventually, I look around for his parents. The joint dropper sees the look on my face and claims the kid as his. First of all, I don’t know if a crowded Phish show is the best place to bring such a young child (the kid was no more than 4 or 5). Second of all, don’t be sitting there rolling joints while your kid is running around. I wouldn’t have had a problem if he had the kid in view at all times. The lawn would have been a better location for a child as people aren’t crammed into such a tight space. Finally, on our way out, when we were stuck in traffic, the driver of the car in front of us stumbled out, obviously seriously intoxicated, to get another beer out of the cooler. During the time waiting, no fewer than 3 times did his passenger leave to find beer for both of them.

This show was Susan’s first. She is, by no means, a big fan of the band. In fact, she doesn’t really like listening to them at all. However, this show is not going to be her last. I have 2 tickets to the Hartford show in August. She asked if she could come with me or if I would rather someone really excited about the band take the second ticket. She really enjoyed the show, but wants to experience it in a less distracting seat. Our seats in Hartford should be in the middle of the section and not on an aisle with people walking into us. She said the show was like nothing she’s ever seen. She has never been to a concert where the people were all so into the music and all over the place (she was quite shocked that the staff didn’t force people out of the aisles). She was also amazed at the energy of the crowd.

I have said many times that there is nothing like a Phish show. It’s really the truth. A Phish show is a very unique experience. The music, the crowd, the energy, and even the light show all make for an experience you will not find at any other concert. This show was no different, and the fact that Susan enjoyed herself made for a great first anniversary.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 5: Post-Breakup

Published on June 6, 2009 in Music, Phish and Trey. Closed

The following article is part 5 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Following Coventry, I continued listening to Phish for a while, but eventually decided to branch out a bit. My concert attendance had decreased in general. I started listening to moe. a bit more and some newer music, including Ryan Adams. I kept going back to Phish every now and then, but it was few and far between. As I had a lot more time on my hands and found myself single and living in a city where I didn’t know a whole lot of people other than those I worked with or who worked for me, I started meeting some people on Craigslist. Eventually, I met the woman who would eventually become my wife. She, unfortunately, was not a fan of Phish, but that wasn’t a problem.

We had gone to a moe. show together in Worcester. We had a good time, but the sound sucked. And honestly, after listening to many recordings of moe. shows, they need a better sound guy. They sound muffled in all the recordings, and they sounded muffled at the show itself. It didn’t help that we were near a bunch of people who talked throughout the entire show, but the sound was still horrible. The Palladium is not a very large venue. It’s about the size of the current Lupo’s in Providence. I have seen bands at Lupo’s and the sound was not a problem. The was the first and only time I have seen moe. Don’t get me wrong, I love their music. I just haven’t gone to see them again (though if they come to Providence, as they should, I’ll be there).

Trey started up another band, 70 Volt Parade, with some of the members of the old 10 piece TAB. This band was more of a rock band. Susan and I went to see them in Boston one summer with Matisyahu opening for them. I really enjoyed Matisyahu, but Trey just wasn’t that good. In fact, his 10 piece band was much better. Sure, the show had its high points, but overall, it wasn’t anything special. I had gone to the show very hopeful, but left wanting more. He released his album Shine, which was full of catchy pop songs, but wasn’t musically interesting.

Phil Lesh and Friends came through Providence to play two nights at Lupo’s. I went to one of them and finally got the music that I needed. The band was solid. The show was fun and musically awesome. While they gave it a folksy/country sound, it was just what I needed. Phil Lesh and Friends was like the anti-Trey. Phil had put all his drug and alcohol problems behind him and concentrated on his family, his friends, and his music. They were just plain awesome and very tight.

I had seen Trey on two other occasions. The first was opening for Tom Petty on his 30th anniversary tour. He was with 70 Volt Parade. Again, he was good, but his set was nothing special. I love Tom Petty as well, and had seen him on another occasion (which may have been during the hiatus with Bob Dylan opening). This Petty show wasn’t as fun. It seemed to be more about the show than his music. The worst part of the show was when he brought out Stevie Nicks, whom I despise. I enjoy Fleetwood Mac, but I can’t stand her. At the previous show, Petty made it a lot of fun. This one lacked the fun. The one high point was when they “went back to their roots” and played some British blues rock. That part of the show was great.

The other time I saw Trey was opening for Phil Lesh and Friends. The only difference was that this time there were two openers. First was the Benevento Russo Duo followed by the addition of Trey and Mike. This show was interesting. Trey was pushed by the solid playing of the others, but you could tell something was still “off” about him. Phil and Friends were awesome as usual, though Susan wasn’t overly impressed (she just doesn’t like jamming).

I had also started listening to The Breakfast a bit more. I grew up with guitarist Tim Palmieri. I had a lot of fun at the shows I attended. I haven’t seen them in a few years, but they’re definitely worth checking out. I’m hoping now that the Century Lounge has re-opened in Providence they’ll come back here instead of just going to South County.

Time went on and Trey had released some more solo albums. Page and Mike both released solo albums as well, which were extremely solid and well received. In fact, those two albums are far better than anything Trey did without Phish. Everything came to a head when Trey was arrested in New York for drug possession. More hatred and rumors started flying around the message boards. I decided to just step away from it all and ignore it. I didn’t really care. It was Trey’s personal issues to deal with on his own.

Sometime after his arrest he started doing some interviews saying how he wanted nothing more than to play the old Phish tunes again. He was booked for a solo acoustic gig at the Newport Folk Festival last summer. I was lucky enough to go. Obviously, he was a highlight for me. He played a bunch of Phish tunes and some of his solo work to a crowd that stayed through the rain to watch him. People were chanting to “Wilson” and singing the lines to “Bathtub Gin”. Everyone had a great time and Trey seemed super excited to be back. He looked healthy and happy. Other worthwhile performances were the Cowboy Junkies, Willy Mason, the Black Crowes, Jakob Dylan, and the American Babies. Trey also brought back his original solo band, dubbed Classic TAB, and went on a small tour. I was lucky enough to catch him in Providence. The band was on fire from start to finish. It was very obvious that Trey was back and clean. They ripped through some solo Trey songs, some new songs, and a bunch of Phish tunes. For the encore, they were joined on stage by Scott Murawski of Max Creek, Bill Kreutzman of the Dead, and Oteil Burbridge of the Aquarian Rescue Unit and more recently the Allman Bros. They all tore it up for a packed crowd. Trey was definitely back and on top of his game once again. He was clean and sober and, more importantly, healthy and happy.

Rumblings of Phish’s return were getting louder and louder over the next couple months when they announced by video that they were reuniting for three shows at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. Everyone was ecstatic, though there were still many naysayers, particularly those who still held a grudge from Coventry.

The next post in this series will cover the reunion at Hampton and the summer tour. I have not decided if I should wait until the first leg of the tour has ended towards the end of the month or if I will write it after Great Woods.

Sweetwater Brewery Pics

Published on June 5, 2009 in Beer. Closed

I said I’d post some pics of the Sweetwater Brewery from our Atlanta trip. Well, they are on Flickr.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 4: Coventry

Published on June 5, 2009 in Music and Phish. Closed

The following article is part 4 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Once Phish had announced that Coventry would be their final show, I immediately bought tickets. I had never been to any of their festivals and I certainly wasn’t going to let them quit without me getting to at least one of them.

So I had my tickets. One of my friends who had never seen Phish was going along with me. The band had planned, as a way to prevent the big traffic jams that occurred at the Limestone festivals, to open the campgrounds early. They were set to open at noon on Thursday before the festival rather than Friday. I had the day off, but my friend had to work. I spent the day packing my stuff and then headed down to Connecticut to pick him up in the afternoon. We made our way north, making a stop in Worcester, MA to pick up fuel for the camp stove and a stop in Concord, NH to pick up food and beer. We continued up I-93 through New Hampshire until we hit the Vermont state line. We pulled off in St. Johnsbury, VT at the intersection of I-93 and I-91 to fuel up and grab a quick snack. It was about midnight we were there. The only places open in the very small city were a gas station and a McDonald’s, both packed with people heading up for Phish. We fueled up and hit the McDonald’s. We found out from the girl at the drive-thru that the manager told them to stay open until people stopped coming through. She handed us a notepad and asked us to write our names and where we were from. She was doing it to see how many different places were represented. We spoke with a police officer in town who mentioned that the traffic started about an hour north of there. We didn’t know what to expect and drove until we hit the traffic. The officer was right. We drove for about another hour before we were stopped in the line of cars trying to get to Coventry. It was about 1:00 am on Friday morning at this point.

We parked the car and did what anyone else would do, got out and hung out with our neighbors. We chatted, drank, told Phish stories, etc. We had a grand old time and actually stayed up until the next morning. Around 9:00 a kid came running through yelling “They’re moving! They’re moving!” We hopped back in the car and continued driving. We probably drove for about half an hour, slowly. We ended up moving about 3-5 miles up the highway. At this point, they had us in two lanes – the breakdown lane and the right lane of the highway. We stopped and started a few more times throughout the day, hanging out whenever we weren’t moving. They had the left lane of the highway open for through traffic and people were staring at us and wondering why we were all parked on the side of the road like that. One Canadian couple drove through and asked what we were doing. When we told them we were there for a concert, they gave us a very confused look and continued on their way. People were drinking, smoking, doing whatever. It was a generally peaceful traffic jam. Everyone was united in their love for Phish. At one point on Friday evening, the cars stopped moving. We were still about 5 miles from the exit. Since we had been up the entire previous night, I crashed in the driver’s seat of my car. I woke up the next morning and it was a cold damp morning. We spent the morning listening to the radio station that Phish had setup for the event. On Saturday morning, the Vermont state police chief came on telling everyone that they were doing their best to get everyone in. However, around 10:00am, Mike came on the radio and read a statement that basically said that after discussing it with the police and the state, they would have to turn people away. Anyone who was left on the highway at that time would be turned away. If you were on the exit ramp or off the highway already, you were in. Once Mike finished his message, there was a loud “FUCK” heard from all the cars around us.

We learned that the problem was the rain that the state had gotten the week before. It was more rain than ever before. They were parking cars on grass fields, which had turned into mud. They were using farm tractors to pull the cars into the parking spaces one by one. It was a huge mess and the band had no choice.

People started packing up their stuff, taking bathroom breaks and deciding what they were going to do. Many people started discussing parking their cars, grabbing the necessities, and hiking in. Vermont state police cars were driving up and down the highway telling us that any cars parked on the side of the road would be towed. The people in front of us decided they were gonna hit the road back to Connecticut. They said The Breakfast was playing a couple shows and they would just party with them. Since both my friend and I had to work on Tuesday and I couldn’t afford to have my car towed, we just headed back. We drove as far as we could, saw the cops standing in the highway, and turned around to head south. We stopped off at a nearby rest area and chatted with some people there. We met a couple girls from New Hampshire who were nearly in tears because they were going to miss the final performance of their beloved band.

At the time, I was upset. When I got back home, I called up a friend who had made it in. He was pissed. He said they had one entrance, were bringing cars in one at a time. He said they could have done a better job at getting more cars into the site. To this day, he is still pissed at the band and is basically ignoring their reunion. And he’s not the only one. There are many fans who have held onto the grudge because of what went down at Coventry.

The band had announced they would give the people who turned away something, but hadn’t figured out what. Great, we were getting a consolation prize. I found out through message boards that the band actually had the nerve to thank people for walking in even though just a day before, they had asked us to leave. We followed their wishes and they were thanking the people who did not follow their wishes. I was not happy about that. I learned I would be getting a free download from LivePhish.com of the performance. I downloaded the show and realized it was one of their worst performances ever. Once I learned what I was getting for turning around, I was a little happier with my decision. I ended up with a photo book signed by all four members of the band. I cherish this book. It’s really one of the only things they could have given us to make up for turning around. I am glad I wasn’t at the show. I heard stories from people about how they were knee-deep in mud. Many people didn’t have their tents and were crashing with others. People had to pay lots of money to get rides from Vermonters into the show. It was a disaster.

In retrospect, I’m glad I wasn’t there watching my favorite band make a mockery of themselves, unable to play many of their classic songs properly. I was sad to see them go, but I would have been even sadder had I seen the pitiful performance at Coventry from the mud.

The next article in this series will discuss the post-breakup period and how I got through it.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 3: Phish 2.0

Published on June 4, 2009 in Music and Phish. 1 Comment

The following article is part 3 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at the beginning: Part 1, Part 2

While the era formerly known as post-hiatus Phish (now known as Phish 2.0) has come and gone, a lot of resentment, bitter feelings, and even hatred exists as a result of what occurred in the period from New Year’s Eve 2002 through the last notes of Coventry on 6/15/04. While I have never been one to run off on tour with the band, I have seen and listened to enough shows to know that this period wasn’t the wasteland that many people make it out to be.

I went to 4 shows during the hiatus. The first show was February 28, 2003 at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. This show was solid from start to finish. The audience seemed to just move the band and kept them going. They busted out “Destiny Unbound” (first time since 1991, 788 shows), completely unexpectedly during the first set. When they did that, the crowd went so crazy I couldn’t hear the beginning of the song. There was some great jamming in “Bathtub Gin” and “Back on the Train”. The second set had another bust out with “Soul Shakedown Party” along with solid jamming in “Tweezer”, “David Bowie”, and “Harry Hood”.

My second Phish 2.0 show was actually see from the comforts of the Regal Cinema in Branford, CT. Sometime after the band announced their Summer 2004 tour, they decided to call it quits. I had already been planning to see them at Great Woods (at the time, aka Tweeter Center). They then announced that the tour opener on June 17 from Coney Island would be simulcast to theatres across the country. So my 2 cousins and I decided to check it out. You know what? We had such a blast that we consider it as seeing the show. The vibe in the theatre was the same as we would have gotten at the actual show without the rain. People were dancing, bouncing beach balls around, and even tailgating in the parking lot and playing frisbee out there prior to going in. The show was solid, opening with a great “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing”. It had a perfect “The Curtain With” (unlike Coventry where they totally butchered it). The “Kung” was hilarious, dedicated to the US Open, which was being played elsewhere on the island. They closed the first set with a sick “Frankenstein”. The “Divided Sky” encore was a great end to the show.

As the tour went on, time passed by and we ended up in Mansfield, MA for the August 10 and 11 shows at Great Woods. We arrived late to the first show and got in during the “AC/DC Bag” jam. The show was solid start to finish with a great “Mike’s Groove”, which included an explanation of when they wrote “Weekapaug Groove” on the beach in Rhode Island (!!!!) and about the guy for whom they wrote several songs, including “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing”. While the “Dog Face Boy” and “Friday” were really mellow, I really enjoyed the break in the set. It offered a nice respite for the great “Harry Hood” that followed.

We made it to the second show early and tailgated. I should explain that I went to these 2 shows with a guy I met through PCP who had moved to RI and bought my extras (I was planning on going alone). It was fun meeting someone new and hanging out with them for the 2 shows. The second show is a must-listen show, pretty much start to finish. They opened with a very solid “Divided Sky” and the first set was solid straight through. During “Scent of a Mule” in the jam, they broke into “Tears of a Clown”. No one in the band knew the lyrics. So they did what any sane band would do and pulled someone up from the audience to sing it. She did a great job, as nervous as she was. The biggest downer to the show was the “Mexican Cousin” that closed the first set. The second set opened with a jammin’ “Run Like an Antelope” that they played for about 15 minutes without finishing and segued into “2001″ which then segued into a great “Golgi Aparatus”. The slowed things down for just a bit and started “Waves”, which had a great jam and segue to a very dark “Tweezer” that had a sick segue to “Hold Your Head Up” with Trey playing the actual song on guitar before the band broke out into their fun ditty with Fishman coming out to play the vacuum and do Syd Barrett’s “Terrapin”. Following the final HYHU, Trey asks Page and Mike to hold off. He then tells a story about how he and Fishman would do double drum solos together in the practice rooms at Goddard College and asks Fishman to do one with him then and have Page and Mike start the next song. The double drum solo was awesome and the ensuing “Timber (Jerry the Mule)” was dark and solid. They closed the set with a great “Sample in a Jar”. The encore brought us back to earth with “Bouncin’ Around the Room” and a great “Tweezer Reprise” to end the show.

While that may end the description of the shows I actually saw during this time, that’s not the end of the list for great shows from the post-hiatus, Phish 2.0 era. The show from July 29, 2003 at Star Lake in Burgettstown, PA was supposed to be a sleeper show, but was most definitely not. One only needs to check out the setlist (you may have to scroll for it, the anchor tags aren’t working) from that show to realize just how much of a gem it really is. Best of all, you can buy it on CD from Dry Goods. There’s also the highlight of post-hiatus Phish that is IT, the third festival they held in Limestone, ME on August 2 and 3 of 2003.

That’s all I can come up with off the top of my head in writing this piece. I remember hearing that the Miami NYE run in 2003 was also solid, but I have yet to listen to those.

Now, all this being said, there was more poor playing on the part of the band than there was good playing. This was especially true for Trey. The band had very obviously cut down on rehearsal time. They didn’t practice as often between tours. They were generally less refined than they had been previously, and it showed. Trey’s drug problems became obvious at times as he often looked like a mess on stage. He did an interview with Charlie Rose to explain the reasons behind the breakup, and while he tried to sound fine, he didn’t look all that great. It was obvious that his heart just wasn’t in it. The announcement of the breakup, while surprising many of us who had been following them since before the hiatus, wasn’t completely heartbreaking. They released one of their worst received studio albums with Undermind, though it does have its gems. I’m one to actually enjoy their studio stuff, especially the well-produced albums. This one just doesn’t do a whole lot for me with the exception of several songs. With every other album, I was able to get into most of it and stay into it. This one, for some reason, did not have that effect. Trey’s poppy song-writing had pushed into Phish and it wasn’t good.

On the message boards from the time they mentioned the breakup and even after Coventry, the fans were unsure of how to react. Many were downright pissed at the band for just getting up and leaving. Many were putting all the blame on Trey and his drug problems. Many were sad. And then there were those of us who kind of understood. We had been through the hiatus and seen their sloppy return. We understood when Trey said that he didn’t want the band to become a caricature of themselves. He was right. That’s what had been happening throughout the post-hiatus period. There was a commonality in those who hated the band for breaking up. They seemed to be younger fans who either had just gotten into Phish right before they went on hiatus or didn’t get into them until the hiatus or even after they had come back. They hadn’t had the chance to experience Phish in their prime. They hadn’t seen the whole downfall of America’s greatest jamband. Now, I apologize for the generalizing, but that’s how it was. There were, of course, older fans who placed the blame on Trey. And he did have a problem and was a big reason for the breakup. However, Page tried to put out some of the flames. He explained that Trey wasn’t the only one feeling that way about the band. It turned out that Mike was the only one who wanted to continue on. It all came down to something that the band had always agreed on. If one of them wasn’t into it anymore, the band would stop. That’s exactly what happened. I have no resentment or illwill towards the band. They did what they had to do at the time. It was time to enjoy what little we had left of them.

I already described my experiences with the regular shows during the summer tour. My Coventry (mis)adventure deserves its own post. That will be the next part of this series.

A RunawayJim Retrospective Part 2: The Hiatus

Published on June 4, 2009 in Music, Phish and Trey. Closed

The following article is part 2 of a multi-part series on my life as a Phishhead. I would recommend starting at Part 1.

The hiatus brought with it a lot of time to reflect on Phish and a lot of time to seek out new bands. While the members of Phish had went about to work on their own side projects, I spread my musical roots and went on listening to new music. One of the first jambands I had gotten into while listening to Phish was the String Cheese Incident (SCI). I started listening to them around 1998 when the album ‘Round the Wheel was released. They had won some Jammy awards and I figured they were worth a listen. I really enjoyed what I heard. I bought some other albums and downloaded some shows and got into them, though nowhere near the way I was with Phish. I had also gotten into Trey’s solo work with the Trey Anastasio Band (TAB). The band had grown into a 10 piece group by that point. While these bands are quite different, they are related in my musical growth during the hiatus.

I had gone to see TAB at Great Woods in the summer of 2001 with my then girlfriend (different girl from either of those in Part 1). The scene was similar to a Phish show, but slightly different. People weren’t quite as into it as they were Phish, but it was still a whole lot of fun with all the weirdness that surrounds a Phish show. We had a blast. The Phish community was still pretty intact. Everyone was still friends. The show, while musically not as interesting as a Phish show, was good (though I think David “ZZYZX” Steinberg said it best when he said that TAB would have been better playing 6-8 minute long songs rather than 10-15 minute songs).

I had also, through this girlfriend who was seriously into music, gone to see many other bands during this time. Martin Sexton was one I saw twice. He’s got a great voice and can put on a great show, though, at the time, I felt he needed to mature a bit as a performer. There seemed to be a kind of disconnect between him and the audience.

I had also seen Crosby Stills Nash and Young and Paul McCartney. Both of those shows were really good, but they obviously weren’t the same because they were basically nostalgia acts.

When I found out SCI was coming to Radio City Music Hall in 2002, I had to go. So we went. I didn’t really know what to expect. At the time, the band seemed to be trying to fill the hole that Phish left when then went on hiatus. They were worth checking out. I was excited because I liked their music and I loved the venue. The show started off pretty strong, but went downhill pretty quickly. It had a couple other high parts, but, in general, I was not impressed. The jams all sounded the same. There was no dark/light contrast throughout the show at all. It was all “happy” music. Worst of all, Michael Kang, the lead electric guitarist, sounded as if he was trying to imitate a cross between Trey and Jerry Garcia rather than create his own sound. This bothered me quite a bit as a huge Phishhead and not-so-huge Deadhead. As I said, there were high points. Whenever they played a bluegrass tune and kept it mostly acoustic (Kang also played either fiddle and mandolin), they were spot on and they kicked ass. They also played a cover of the Talking Heads’ Burning Down the House, which could have burned down Radio City it was so good. Unfortunately, though, the majority of what they played was this electric jazzy funky stuff that went nowhere and it all sounded the same. I left extremely disappointed and have since stopped listening to SCI. Every now and then I throw in a CD and try to listen to them. When I do, I’m reminded of how amateurish they really are (again, the exception being the bluegrass). If you have something, build upon it. Don’t try to be what you’re not. That’s the moral of SCI.

In addition to branching out during the hiatus, I also really got into trading and downloading shows. I had lived on campus my last summer at UConn (summer of 2001) and setup an FTP server to allow people to download shows. I discovered Bit Torrent and how people started using that to trade shows. At the time, Bit Torrent wasn’t huge and was mainly used for legitimate purposes, such as trading taper-friendly concert recordings and distributing Linux distributions. During this time, I was more active in an online community called People for a Clearer Phish (PCP). I had discovered them before the hiatus had started. They are a group that got started to get away from trading the analog cassettes that I had mentioned in my previous post. The problem with the cassettes is that they have generational quality issues. Each time you record one, it creates a new generation as you go down the line, slowly degrading the quality. PCP was a group of pioneers who use a file format called Shorten (.shn) to compress the audio and trade it. Shorten is a lossless audio compression scheme, unlike mp3, which will loses data during the compression. The files were huge, about 1 GB per show. When I first got involved, I had no CD burner and could only do a blanks and postage (B&P) type trade. I would send someone the blank CD-R’s and a self addressed stamped envelope and they burned the discs and sent them back to me. Once I got my own burner, I was more actively trading and sending shows to people and helping people out. Once more people had broadband internet connections, this type of snail mail trading died off in favor of FTP hosting and eventually Bit Torrent. PCP became eTree, which started bt.etree.org, a Bit Torrent site full of shows from taper-friendly artists. PCP remained as an email discussion list for Phish. I had many great discussions with many awesome people, including PCP founder Patrick Marshall and ZZYZX, who happened to be a member of the group (there were others who are more well-known Phishheads as well).

Soon enough, rumors started floating around about Phish coming back and a new album. Sure enough, the band was coming back. They quickly recorded their album Round Room, which is about as raw in the studio as you can get (you can hear Trey cough during “Friday” on the album). They also announced their comeback show would be on New Year’s Eve 2002 at Madison Square Garden, followed by a short run at the Hampton Coliseum in early January 2003 and a short 12 date winter tour in February. The hiatus had ended. Phish was back with a new album of new material released before we saw them perform the songs live. This was not normal for Phish. They tended to introduce new songs live before the album was released. No one cared much. Their beloved band had returned. All was right in the world… or was it?

The next article in this series will be about my experience with what will become known as post-hiatus Phish, or later Phish 2.0.