From zchisholm@hotmail.com Sun Oct  4 16:50:23 1998
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 15:40:37 CDT
From: zach chisholm 
To: dan@netspace.org
Subject: Re: 10/03/98 review (on site)

PHARM AID
review by Zach Chisholm

How was the TV & net broadcasts of farm aid for all those sitting at home? The show was nuts from a on site perspective. The lot, well lets just say there wasn't one and it wasn't the warmest of days. Everybody huddled together trying to stay warm. All the kids stayed out side for as long as we could but the police started kicking us in to the show. So avoiding any confrontation we all went in.
Everybody was getting anxious since we had to sit through four hours of music before the boys came out. It was kind of cool to see other people enjoy their favorite bands as much as I enjoy Phish, but I still could help the usual chatter, what are they going to play, just about everybody had Birds, Farmhouse, and Moma Dance picked out but not Runaway Jim or all that other craziness. I somehow managed to walk all the way down to tenth row center without having my ticket looked at once right before Neil went on. The kid next to me had the same luck. We had six empty seats around us to boggie in too.

During Neils set there were quite a few people watching him from the side of the stage including Trey. Neil played pretty well but it was weird to all of a sudden ask for money from those at home.

Then Phish came out. The moment I had been waiting for. Birds of a Feather rocked, we all started getting down, we were surrounded by people that seemed to have never even heard Phish. They would look at Phish on stage then look at how good of time we were having then back at Phish, they didn't know what was going on but most stuck around for the grand finale. Trey seemed to be having some kind of trouble with his glasses he tried cleaning them then he set them down on Page's piano and played without them. Farmhouse was sweet. Moma Dance was phat and I finally learned the Moma Dance, the kid next to me Jeff was in Europe at the Gray Hall on 6-30-98 so he taught me the steps. Runaway Jim was good too probably the longest song they played. When Neil came out and jammed it got really crazy. Neil came out during Runaway Jim and finished off the tune then they went into Down by the River where Trey and Neil were both going off and it turned into feedback layered on feedback and all kinds of crazy sounds were coming from the stage. At one point Trey and Mike were standing next to each other looking at Neil with a confused look. Then Willie Nelson and Paul Shaffer came out on stage. Everyone started playing Moonlight in Vermont except Trey he stood there for a minute cleaning his glasses. I don't know about you but I felt this was the point where Phish started to get a little cramped. Don't get me wrong I like Willie but the music slowed way down and they didn't get to choose any other songs. You could tell they wanted to play something different but nobody would follow them. Trey was teasing some Hendrix but everyone ignored it. Willie then went into Will the Circle Be Unbroken and a group of Native Americans walked onstage stood there in front of Page and Paul kind of dancing. Amazing Grace was pretty good although it took a little while for everyone to match up. At least they let Trey do his thing for a little while during it. An Uncloud Place was good they had their big finale, everyone finished and Phish continued playing so they would have the last note of the evening.
All the kids walked out of there with the same words coming out of their mouths, "I wish they would have played more Phish".

p.s.: if anybody knows a kid named Jeff from Lawrence Kansas that took photos of Pharm Aid please give me his email address or if you know the person that made those Pharm Aid stickers inside the Phish logo, let me know. --------- Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 07:16:12 GMT From: Jethro8146 Subject: My thoughts of Farm-Aid (fairly long...) First off, to all you people bashing CMT for their coverage, you should be happy you got what did. Take it from someone who tried to watch the Allmans on last year's broadcast, tonight's coverage was unbelievable. The fact that they didn't interrupt Moma Dance is amazing in itself...they had already gone at least ten minutes between commercials, and they showed the entire twelve-minute funk-fest. So you missed a little of Jim...big deal. It's better than missing all of Moma or some of the meaningful parts of the Down By the River jam. You gotta remember, unless they're doing their blugrass thing, Phish is a band CMT could give a rat's ass about. I think it's wonderful they stuck it out. As for KT and Toby...well, what did you expect? If it's rock and roll, they're probably not gonna be very into it. At least the only thing they made fun of was their name. Okay...on to my review of the set itself... BOAF--Farily predictable opener...Trey seemed a little petrified at first, he loosened up as he began his solo. Great solo. The final chorus was a little flubbed due to an apparent frog in Trey's throat. A little confusion about when they were gonna finish it (Page jumped the gun), but overall, a good opener. Trey then made a speech about how a factory farm in Vermont was shut down by a grass-roots organization with help from the Farm-Aid foundation. He seemed a little nervous (or stoned...maybe Willie had a gift for 'em backstage) during this as well. He then introduced... FARMHOUSE--took 'em a little bit to get everything together, but you gotta expect that...this was their first public performance since Lemonwheel, so there was probably still a little rust there. I thought the solo was a little more intense than usual, but other than that, pretty standard. I was expecting a commercial break here, but instead the camera zommed in on the stage, were Trey, Mike and Page are agreeing on... MOMA DANCE--Started off well, except for some sound problems...Page was hardly audible. Opening wasn't real tight at all...probably the sloppiest I've heard. Still, it's hard not to love hearing this song, regardless of the occasional mistake. Trey's pre-vocal solo was a little dull and uneventful, IMO. When the vocals began, more sound-problems reared their ugly head...this time it was Fish's mic (Page had since been turned up). They never quite got the bug out. Nevertheless, all the lyrics were on-target (gotta like that close-up enlightment on the "Moma Dance" vs. "Moment Ends" debate...). Trey then took a solo that absolutely raged, even though most of it was same melody as usual. CMT then took a commercial break...from the reports of others, there was a segue (transition?) into Jim, so I'll take their word for it... RUNAWAY JIM--I'm am flat-out amazed at this point...gotta be honest; I was looking for either a bluegrass-flavored set or a blatantly commercial set. So far, out of four songs, half of them were "concert" songs, and the other half were from the "soon-to-be-released" category. The broadcast came back in at the chill section between the third and fourth verses. Trey did a little impromptu noodling in here that doesn't happen very often. As the jam began, I was expecting a farily short, to the point Jim jam. But, they strecthed out a little bit, and for a couple of minutes, were dangerously close to losing the first-timers out there (if they hadn't already gotten lost). As the Jim Jam was finishing, I noticed Neil Young back by the amps with an electric axe, and he appeared to be tuning it. Mike noticed him and gave a slight grin...Trey seemed oblivious as he sang the closing chorus. Neil is now playing with the boys, and doesn't let Jim end. He and Trey then embark on a little feedback journey, a la Crazy Horse. Fisman seems hell-bent on bringing Jim to a proper close, as Mike realized this could go on for awhile and just starts running scales and shit. I'm not sure what the hell Page was doing during all this...I was too busy listening for any recognizeable melodies. Finally, after about five minutes of noise, Neil plays that unmistakeable lick from Down By the River...the one that starts the first solo. After a minute or so, everyone realized what was going on, and they settle into... DOWN BY THE RIVER--If I had been on acid, I may have broke down crying at this particular moment. Along with Phish, Neil has always been in the top five music acts in my book. Just seeing them playing together was more than I could have ever asked for...but for them to break into this particular song...one of the songs that got me into Neil's shit (along with Cowgirl in the Sand and After the Gold Rush)...still one of my all-time favorites...holy shit. The first solo was pretty standard (for Neil and C.H., that is...)...longer than usual, but it pretty much sounded like most good live versions of this tune that I've heard. Trey added a little bit that neither of Crazy Horse's guitarsts could (melody, anyone...?), but it's amazing how Neil rubs off on a person. If I remember right, Jimi Page played much like Neil when they jammed together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. The second solo was nearly the same as the first, and included a little string-scratching duel between Neil and Trey, that Fish quickly changed direction with. There was a little confusion here...first of all, Neil came in a half-measure or so too early, which threw Fish off. Also, I'm not sure if Phish was familiar with the way Neil goes into the final verse when he plays the song live. Both of those factors led to the tune kind fading out after twenty minutes. CMT then took another break as the sound of feedback again filled the air. I didn't care though...they had gone another half-hour with no interruptions whatsoever. Mighty cool of them, I though. When they returned, Willie was on stage along with Paul Scheaffer (sp?), Neil, and Phish. After singing a song about the Moon in Vermont (admittedly, I don't know a whole hell of a lot about Willie's music...a couple songs here and there...), they broke into Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which also saw a group of "native americans" come up onstage (a couple of them had drums with them). Willie then began singing Amazing Grace, which was backed up nicely..Trey threw in a very nice solo, and Paul threw in a, well, cheesy solo. Big finish...Willie starts singing something else, and CMT cuts in to say their goodbyes. We are treated to a big ending--the traditional blues ending heard in Mango and the Big Ball Jams, with a few extra hits thrown on the end for good measure. Overall, the first one-third of the set (Birds-->Moma) was nothing to write home about. The second part (Jim-->Down By the River) is probably one of those things that's gonna pop up as filler on half of the tapes you trade for in the next few months. Absolutely incredible, unbelievable, amazing...whichever superlative mows your lawn. The last part (the "all-star" portion) wasn't nearly as good as the second, but still one of those one-of-a-kind moments that are worth hearing at the very least. If you've read ths far, I'll spin you an analog copy of the show for B&P...well, the parts that CMT broadcast, anyways...missing the first minute and a half of Jim, the tail end of Down By the River, and the final Willie tune. I'll take as many as I can handle. Thanks for reading... -jeff "Daddy's rifle in my hands felt reassuring.... He said red means run, son, numbers add up to nothing" -Neil ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 02:54:10 -0500 From: "F.S. Bulldog" Subject: Farm Aid Review Birds Of A Feather, Farmhouse, Moma Dance > Runaway Jim > Down By The River, Moonlight in Vermont, May The Circle Be Unbroken > Amazing Grace, On That Uncloudy Day Playing a relatively high-profile showcase, and with a new record coming out soon, they opened with the single Birds Of A Feather. I really like this tune, and it's obvious from the recent European and US summer shows that the boys do too. I don't begrudge Phish their shots ay accessibility when they work. Birds is gaining its road legs a bit more each time I hear it. I have not heard the studio rendition yet. This comes to a close and Trey speaks: "Thank you very much. I've just got to say how happy we are to be here. I'm going to add one thing to some of the things that the artists before us have been saying. Our home state is Vermont and we had a successful year last year with Farm Aid. There's a factory farm that opened up, and a grass roots group called World Vermont was able, with the funds they got from Farm Aid, was able to stop the expansion of this factory farm last year. And it's the first factory farm in Vermont. So this can work. And everthing that Neil was saying about calling up and donating money, and also hoping that we can change things in Washington. We've got Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy who are doing a great job for us. Everyone should vote. Everyone should send in money and thank you for supporting this. We really appreciate being a part of this. It's just great, so thank you. And we want to play a song that we wrote called 'This is a Farmhouse' that we wrote while we were staying in a farmhouse in Vermont and it kind of hopefully captures the spirit of the rural farm. So thank you." I'm not here to criticize. Someone once said that there are no statues of critics. They were tight throughout the set, but Trey's voice was kind of broken on this one and the solo lacked any real direction. Eh, it was their 'Rain on the Scarecrow' of the night, and not a big number anyway. Trey called out Moma Dance and the funk ensued. Probably the slickest groove to hit CMT in '98. I wonder what the hardcore country fans thought of this, or the set in general for that matter. They seemed to warm up a bit here, and things were looking up in the jam department. A smattering of space ensued and Trey cranked out the 'get ready to dance' intro to... Runaway Jim. Bluegrass meets psychedelic rock. A nice choice and, if abbreviated, another pure jam for the folks in attendance, initiated or not. In retrospect, the energy build at the end of the tune must have been influenced by what they knew was coming next. The final D chord turned into a free form instrumental interlude that included none other than a very electric Neil Young. I nearly fell over when I noticed that the man was sporting a Doc. I've heard that not many guitarists that pick up one of Trey's guitars can really work it, much less control the feedback. Well, Neil riffed like the pro that he is and they all worked their way into 'Down by the River', the title of which I'm not sure. Neil sang, and I'm thinking that I've heard this before and pretty sure it's one of his. If anyone can elaborate... Well, this one was truly something. If there have ever been two Docs blaring live at the same time, another detail I'm unsure of, I am sure that it didn't quite sound like this. Trey and Neil swayed and jammed and swayed some more, and I was in heaven. As a parallel, I've listened to the Trey/Santana collaborations again and again and always come away regarding them as more of a guitar-duel style performance than the cohesive mix that Phish brought about with Neil. After a deep and touching, classic Neil Young acoustic set, it was fun to see the old guy really get his 'rocks' off with our favorite rhythm section backing him up. Even through the RealVideo (I no longer believe in TV), I spied a very smiley and fulfilled Trey in the background. As a big fan of both of them, I was happy to see them having such a good time. I found myself thinking that Phish as Crazy Horse was not such a stretch, and wanting to see a whole show with the five. Our host Willie Nelson then took the stage with his weathered acoustic axe and fronted Phish in a lovely little number and nod, 'Moonlight in Vermont'. Once again, song title corrections are welcome. The all-star closer further took shape with Paul Shaeffer joining in on the Hammond. My reference tape at this point is littered with Apple-shift-3 noises (Mac users will understand) as I captured pics of Paul/Page/Trey/Neil/Willie/Mike/Jon. It was all good fun by now. Willie launched a version of 'May the Circle be Unbroken', exercising the band's genre-bending prowess. This began a little on the uncertain side, but quickly got going once everyone found the progression. The ensemble, plus a host of extras then moved into a unique Amazing Grace with all sharing vocals and Trey and Willie providing interpretive solos on the melody. The show closed with a verse of 'On That Uncloudy Day' and a big rock finish from Phish as the others laid down their guitars. Wish I had been there, but it was fun anyway. I hear that taping gear wasn't allowed into the venue, so the VHS dubs will probably be the only record. Good night... ------------------------------ ---------- Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 08:42:55 -0500 From: BNmelo Subject: farm aid thoughts Arming Neil w/ a 'Doc is like giving a terrorist a Nuclear Bomb. Neil Loves feedback, and the 'Doc is the quitar with the sustain!!!! I saw Neil at the '94 Bridge show and he was playing his acoustic and he would move up to "tape spots" on the stage and just start feeding back for minutes. I wonder of he does this at home??? Anyways.. >From what I could gather from the show..... Runaway Jim was poorly placed within the set. I am a huge Jim fan but listening to Jim after MoMa didn't do it for me last night. Moma->Brother->DBTR would have really done it. But... That's why they are paid the big bucks and I am writing about it. The small jam in Jim was nice but seemed not to get stretched out enough to really be interesting. Down By the River....I really thought that there was no clue on all the participants on where this song was going. They seemed to go to ending three or four times before they found themselves back into the verse again. Talk about taking the reins of he song and riding it for all it's worth. Vocally Neil never had it better. The backing Vocals were so strong I couldn't tell if it was live or tracked in the studio. They had it almost too much for me to think that they might be covering Neil for Ween. I thought the "Vermont" tune with Willy was great. Willy is a wonderful guitarist and it showed with his playing with Trey. I really, really enjoyed this!!! Overall it was a pleasure to see phish being Phish and not a "polite, Benefit show Phish" I look forward to The Bridge!!! Let me sidedshift for a sec....For all of those posting "This is what Phish would sound like with two guitars",,,,, Whatever Pholks. The great and wonderful thing about Neil Young songs are they are like snow. Even though it piles up on your driveway you can plow though it and they land still pure and all similar but completly different. BTW...7/28/98 or 8/15/98 B&P/Trade offer. Reply to get details Peace, Scott ------ From Robb_Barrett@cch.com Sat Oct 24 16:25:34 1998 Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 07:41:14 -0500 From: Robb Barrett Reply-To: Phish WWW workers mailing list To: PHISH-WWW@netspace.org Subject: Farm Aid Review Since I haven't seen a review of the boys yet, I'll submit mine. I was there, 13th row on Page's side of the stage. The crowd sucked, mostly Phish-heads who were nice (but judgemental on how everyone was dressed.) I'll skip the reviews of everyone else, except to say that Melloncamp ROCKED! Okay, so Phish came out and I bet my girlfriend that they were going to open with Birds. She thought it would be Farmhouse, so we made a bet (thankfully I won, because I have neither the money nor time to go to the Carribean by the end of the year!) and when Birds began, we were ecstatic. Then Trey announced they were going to play Farmhouse, (my first Farmhouse!) and it was good. Both songs were really short though, so I could tell the yhad some surprises in-store for us! Then MOMA Dance, not only the first time I've ever seen it, but I haven't heard it yet either, so I didnt' catch it off the start. Fish sang it beautifully, but again it was short. Really nice Runaway Jim, teased out at first, then delivered. And towards the end is when the whole show was lost. Neil comes in with his over-bearing ego and HE wanted to finish Runaway Jim. Trey and Neil had it out for WAY TOO LONG before it was over. Then Neil does Down By The River, and decides that he wants to hog the stage and the show, since Phish was getting too much attention from the phans. He tries to beat Trey in the soloing competition, but Trey has to prove the old man wrong, so what it listed as "Space Jam" to me seemed more like Trey -v- Neil in the battle of the ego's. Then finally old Willy came out to prevent Neil from making a complete ass of himself. They did their thing with Willy, and then Willy started Amazing Grace (which I'm pretty sure Phish wanted to do by themselves.) Our boys started to sing it a little, then just quit singing all together, those Indians were on stage, but no one knew why (they played a drum for a few minutes durring Grace,) and Willy liked taking all of Phish's appluase, so he finished their set. Several times it looked like Trey was really frustrated at being ousted from his performance by Neil and Willy. Security guards were better this year, and let us all run up to the front row during Phish, but those Indianswere kinda in the way, and no one could figure out why they were on stage in the first place. When I got home, Sarah and I discussed the show with her mom who is a HUGE Neil Young fan from back in the day. She was the one who brought light to the fact that Neil thinks way too highly of himself, and that's why he can't keep a band. She agreed that he got jealous of the attention Phish took, and he wanted to claim it for himself. So my review, summarized: Phish was Great, Neil is too egotistial, and Willy tried to be the peace-maker, but the spotlights made him forget his set was over with. Now, for this nice review, does anyone want to offer to (begin grovel) spin it for me? My dad "forgot" to tape it for me (end grovel.) -------- Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 20:38:28 GMT From: kaufmak@MY-DEJANEWS.COM Subject: Farm Aid from an attendee, part 2 Part 2. Neil and Phish After the Vegas act from Mellencamp, Neil Young came out with an acoustic guitar and harmonica and blew him completely off the stage. The guy next to me wouldn't shut up about "The Cougar" and how great he was, but after I stopped talking to him and pretty much completely ignored him to concentrate on Neil, he finally got the point. Not to overemphasize, but Neil brings more to the stage than most performers. Him alone with his acoustic has as much energy as most bands with a full band. Anyway, after Neil's powerful set... Phish!! What, you were expecting something else? After being at Farm Aid for the better part of six hours, what struck me immediately about phish is how DIFFERENT they really are. It was like I had been doing one exercise all day, and then, WHAM!!, I had to use a completely different set of muscles. Birds of a Feather just sounded so freaky after hearing all that other music. It was a fairly tight version and I really see this song taking off in the next couple of years. Then came Trey's little speech, and I'm glad that he took the time to give a personal connection as to why they were there. Also unlike alot of the acts, Trey, like Neil Young, mentioned that this was a fundraising event, an event about change. Launching into a very pleasant Farmhouse. Not much else to say here, but I find this song incredibly pleasing to my ear. Just a great image is created by this song. I really feel like I'm walking into a farmhouse and looking around. It kind of reminds me a CSN's Our House. From there a lovely Moma Dance insued. This definitely scattered the un-phish crowd. The guy who wouldn't shut up about "The Cougar" left(thank god) and I saw a pretty steady stream of folk leaving. Which leads me to say that phish fans, for the most part, are much more open minded. A lot of the heads I saw were willing to give Willie a chance and Mellencamp, and most of the acts. The other folks had already made up their minds about Phish. Also if the things are little off the beaten path, most people run for the familiar. So, kudos to the phish fans for really being good sports at this show. I think we were well represented. Anyway Moma wrapped up and Runaway Jim came through which was great! I think for the most part, if this mini-set was all some people were going to see of phish, it was a good starter set. Especially when Neil came out to join in the jam. I think in a lot of the non-phish fans minds this added a certain legitimacy to the Phish set. It kind of said "Oh, if Neil plays with them, then they must be good." Sure enough, the Down By the River was the song that brought the house down. Just a fantastic moment. I'm extremely glad I was there to be a part of it. After that, the Willie songs were a lovely little way to wrap up a great evening. Pace, Kevin K. ------------------