This week on the program we continue our effort to review all past Phish festivals, which, if you are playing along at home, means that we have landed at The Great Went. Phish’s first of three fests from Limestone, Maine, this was the band’s biggest concert to date and it definitely did not disappoint. Scotty B is in the driver’s seat for tonight and we are joined by Dave Calarco, Brian Bavosa, and Chris Bertolet. The cast covers everything from the tour leading up to The Went, the impact of this event on festivals to come, what the scene was like, and even the weather. It should be no surprise that we have pulled the best clips to represent this amazing event (spoiler: one is The Gin).
Have a memory from The Went you want to share? Leave a comment below. We will be back in two weeks, details to be determined. Thanks for listening,
The Ultimate Phish ‘Nerdgasm’ Part 3: Sweet Sixteen to the Champion
Howdy once again and welcome back for part three in what has become quite an epic Type II adventure. For this final installment, Chris, Steve Paolini, and I began at the Sweet Sixteen round and played through until we crowned a champion. Again, you really need to listen to both previous episodes to be caught up to speed, as we don’t waste any time going over the rules that made up the selection process. Also, please download the bracket in order to play along at home. This episode features clips of each of the top sixteen jams and the entirety of the winning song to close us out. So block off the next two hours of your life and get ready to find out what Type II Cast deems the “best” phish jam.
Agree or disagree with how things turned out? Let us know below. Also, you can find links to stream all of the jams via this google doc. Thanks for listening, see everyone in two weeks.
The Ultimate Phish ‘Nerdgasm’ Part 2: Rounds 1 & 2
Hello and welcome back for Part 2 of the Ultimate Nerdgasm, our take on a “March Madness” style tournament. What separates this from similar brackets are the six rules developed by panelist Chris Glushko and guest .netter Steve Paolini. These rules guided the selection of the 64 jams that we discussed on this episode. Before listening, you absolutely need to listen to the last episode and print out this bracket in order to follow along at home. Over the course of this episode, we voted from the original 64 jams down to the Sweet Sixteen and played clips (each exactly three minutes) for some of the closest matches. Each selection should be credited to the collective consciousness of Chris and Steve. Their Phish nerdiness is truly remarkable. Of course, that left me as the deciding vote on a few occasions, a task that was quite challenging at times. Fortunately, it’s hard to go wrong at the end of the day since all of these selections will fill your ears with hosey goodness.
How would you have voted on these 64 Jams? “Who” do you want to see make it the Final Four? Let us know below, and stay tuned for the final installment of The Ultimate Phish “Nerdgasm” next week.
This week on the podcast we talked about one event that goes down before every show, even though most of us will never hear it: the sound check. And while the main reason for a sound check is technical necessity, the band has on many occasions used this time to do everything from joke around with each other to straight up melt faces. Of course, covering thirty years of sound checks is nearly impossible, even considering that many never reach the public’s ears. But from what is available, Josh, Brian Feller, and I hit you with some of our favorites and discussed the state of sound checks past, present, and future. Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments section below.
Thanks for listening. We will be back in two weeks with “March Madness.”
You Enjoy Myself. The quintessential Phish tune. It has everything: great composition, improvisation, fun antics, sports equipment, and a vocal jam. You love this song and it’s probably on the CD you gave to your little brother when you tried to turn him on to Phish. Having been played more than any other song in the band’s repertoire, doing a history in an hour podcast would be impossible. So contained within is how we chose to tackle the topic. The cast discusses some best versions, our personal favorites, trends over the years, and ultimately builds a Frankenstein-like YEM for the outro. Included in this discussion are panelists Chris Glushko, Josh Korin, and guest Charlie Dirksen. As we mention in the episode, there is simply too much to choose from, but we hope you will enjoy the few clips we did pick. What other YEM’s should we have discussed? Let us know in the comments below.
After three months and eleven episodes, summer tour has come and gone. The leaves are changing and we are left with only our anticipation towards NYE and hopefully some great memories. Keeping with tradition, we needed to do some kind of recap before moving on. This time we have Eric Wyman and Chris Bertolet, who share a mere five clips in order to paint the picture of summer 2012 from their point of view. I, on the other hand, happily stayed quiet at the controls as I definitely needed a break by this point. Clips are presented “mystery jam” style, so play along at home. Bonus points if you can guess the outro clip.
We find ourselves at the last stop on Summer 2012′s Leg 1. We had 3 nights nestled ever so gently into a state park at Saratoga Springs. We had a few bustouts, the type 2 jams, and creative setlists. Overall, we definitely had 3 great nights of music. So it should be no surprise that I was excited to review this run with fellow panelist Chris Glushko and guest Josh Korin. We technically chose 13 clips in all, which may just be the most ever, though we doubt anyone will mind. If you do, please leave a comment on the blog. In fact, send us all your hate mailz, we dare you.
I’m gonna keep this one short. This episode covers the Riverbend > Starlake > Blossum run from Summer Tour 2012. Joining me are Tanya and past guest, friend of the show Josh Korin. This was a great three days and as expected it took us a while to cover everything. Great setlists, antics, whale calls, type 17, plinko, and even a bustout litter these six sets. Josh was lucky enough to hit all three, while Tanya and I were confined to the land of ghetto couch tour and a failing Live Phish app. We hold no grudges for missing out on a great run and enjoyed every minute of of our ten clips for the evening. Check back soon in the comments for the track listing.
Thanks for listening and we will see you guys after Alpine.
This week on the podcast I am joined by Drew and Stephen T. from TWoL. Both were in attendance at the 2 nTelos shows, and I did #couchtour proper. We love this venue, and we love the antics and jams that Phish threw down over this 2 day, midweek run after Bader Field. I had wanted to keep this on the shorter side, but with 6 clips and an outro, will clocked in at just over an hour. As will happen from time to time, we go beyond the show reviews and drop some info and lulz that you don’t want to miss out on.
We will be back in just a few days with our review of Cincinnati > Burgettstown > Cuyahoga. Thanks for listening.
- Steve
Thanks for listening,
Steve
PS: Apologies for Drew’s audio which has issues at time. He was on an AT&T iPad in the middle of the woods.
This week, we finish off the final review of the summer, Dick’s Sporting Goods in Colorado. Tanya Sperry, a Type II Cast regular, joins me along with our special guest Tao Pauly from Coventry Music Blog. Both attended the Dick’s shows, while I did the official Couch Tour for all 3 nights. After digesting this three night run for two weeks, we came up with “Uber Clips”. Like . . . seriously, there are a lot of clips. And this episode clocks in at an hour and twenty minutes, possibly the longest one to date. So grab your headphones, a snack, and get ready to experience Dick’s the Type II way.
By the time you are reading this, Phish will have completed Leg 2 of their 2011 Summer Tour, but here at type II cast, we are just starting the reviews. This week, Scotty, Drew, and Eric tackle the first 3 shows, both Gorge and the Hollywood Bowl. As usual, we selected a few clips to highlight what makes these shows stand out. And we tried not to let future events effect our opinions, though Drew does step into the future machine once.
This post is gonna be another “No Spoilers” episode, as knowing the clips ahead of time could bias some of you out there. Feel free to voice your opinion below, we all check the blog from time to time.
Thanks to all the loyal listeners out there, stay tuned as next week we discuss Tahoe and Outside Lands.
This week, Justin and I tackle the Midwest Run of Phish Summer Tour 2011. Justin attended all 3 in person, while I was on couch tour. Overall, we both liked DTE and Blossum, but felt Riverbend fell a little short. That said, Phish is playing very well, and no one is complaining. And by the end of the year, we bet there will be some clips pulled from this episode for the “Best of 2011″.
This week, I am joined by Adam Scheinberg from Phish.net, and we review Phish’s 2 night run at PNC Banks Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. This is Phish’s first return to my hometown venue in just about 11 years, and I was uber excited for these 2 shows. Perhaps a little too excited as, by Wednesday evening, I ended up feeling a little short changed. Fortunately, Adam was there Wednesday night as well to help balance out my (at times) jaded opinions. In the grand scheme of things, these 2 shows are still worth a listen, and there were definite highlights, but we doubt they will end up in your tape mp3 rotation.
Thanks for lsitening,
Steve
PS: There is a slight low-end hum that is noticeable on this recording. I apologize in advance, and will hopefully have it worked out by next episode.
Welcome to Type II Cast’s first attempt at a Phish Game Show. Think Jeopardy meets phish lot meets podcast. In an effort to avoid any spoilers, take a listen to the show and test your knowledge at home. We hope you enjoy, and I imagine we will try to do this again in the future.
For the record, we edited out portions of the program not effecting the outcome, which is why we did not run this show live.
With Phish returning to the University of Illinois at Chicago this summer, we found it fitting to review their first UIC performance, which went down on 6/18/94, for Episode 19 of Typeiicast.
In this week’s show, Steve, Sam and I discuss and share clips from this type 2 jam laden gem, beginning with Maze from the first set, and followed by multiple examples of exquisite improvisation from the second set. In addition to audio clips from Peaches En Regalia, Maze, David Bowie, Tweezer, You Enjoy Myself, Chalk Dust Torture, and Tweezer Reprise, Episode 19 also includes a couple of Typeiicast firsts: we play a Grateful Dead Mind Left Body Jam clip from 10/25/73 to illustrate contrast to Phish’s approach to the same chord structure, and we share a couple of minutes of the psychedelic YEM vocal jam. We encourage everybody to give this show multiple listens and hope you enjoy unearthing its many gifts as much as we did.
The beginning of April conjures up thoughts of the Island Tour for many Phish fans so we thought the band’s revered four-night stand that took place from April 2 – 5, 1998 was the perfect topic for Episode 18 of Type II Cast.
For this week’s show Sam, Justin, Steve and Scotty discuss the many factors that made this group of performances special. We talk about the patience the group displayed, how Phish was building on the ’97 funk, the new material debuted on the run and many more topics. The episode includes nine clips to help illustrate our points. If you don’t already own the official recordings of the Island Tour, which sound fantastic, head over to LivePhish.com to buy them with the added bonus of supporting the Mockingbird Foundation.
In Episode 17, Eric, Scotty, Steve and I explore the explosively creative month of music that was performed in August, 1993. To help bring this unique tour to life, we welcomed Brian Feller from phish.net to share his insights and experiences. Brian hopped on this tour on from 8/6-8/14 and then flew out to Berkeley for the closer on 8/28. This episode features 9 clips from 7 shows that showcase different facets of the band’s creativity: from unrestrained, powerful jamming, emotionally-charged singing and improvised vocal melodies to beautifully executed composed pieces, Phish achieved a state of simultaneous looseness and tightness that stands the test of time.
Thanks for listening. Please join us for Episode 18 on 4/5.
I knew all year that we were going to do some kind of “Year end, Best Of” list from the minute we started Type II Cast. Last year, I ran a little survey via YEMBlog and Phish.net collecting what people thought were the “jams of the year.” The list was widely varied but I culled through the responses and ranked them by the total votes and a little executive decision. It started as a huge list with a lot of one-off pieces in it, but because I only asked for Number One choices there was a decent consensus. Seven Below > Ghost was the runaway winner. We ran through the list on TWoL and it was kind of fun.
With Type II Cast we have 7 really passionate fans. I knew we could take this to another level. One man’s top-10 list is little more than opinion and we all know what opinions are like. With 7 of us we couldn’t really let our personal passions sway the groups collective opinion (kinda).
Continuing where we left off from last week, the crew counts down to the #1 best jam of the year. This week we have a full house with Eric, Scotty, Drew and Tanya joining me and a full episode clocking in at just over 1 hour. Despite being possibly our biggest episode to date, we only saw one “technical difficulty”, which I chose to leave in as it resulted in some comical banter. Without a doubt, the crew did a fantastic job defending their top picks, or arguing against some. Listen now for no spoilers, or get a peak at the top five after the jump.
Most every blog has been releasing their “best of” opinions over the last month and we just couldn’t resist joining in on the fun. To mix ours up we had all 7 panelists submit their individual Top 10 list, then we ranked and aggregated the scores for a “definitive” TypeIICast Top 10 list. Now there’s some interesting results and some interesting opinions on what makes something most worthy of being included in the list. Join us for Part 1 as Steve, Justin, Sam and Eric defend and discuss their choices and the bonehead exclusions made by their peers.
This week we countdown from #10 – 6 (kind of…it proved to be a challenge mathematically).
This week Justin, Sam, and Tanya join me to talk about one hell of a week in Phish tour. We start with the Augusta Civic Center and work our way to Amherst Night 2. We have some clips to share, along with a debate about Set 1 vs. Set 2. and even a report of h3tty chowder slipped in. We taped the show while Phish was playing quite the first set in “ManchVegas”, so every now and again, you get our “couchtour” reactions. Lastly, we play you out on what we all agreed was a much needed bust-out.
Be sure to join us next week, when Eric, Scotty, and Drew will be on to talk about the final 4 shows of Fall tour 2010.
In Episode 2, Steve, Scotty, Justin and Tanya briefly discuss Phish’s sets from Austin City Limits and 4 Mile Canyon Revival before jumping into the first 5 shows of fall tour. We cover The 3 shows in Broomfield, CO and the 2 in Charleston, SC.
All of the panelist agree that the Austin City Limits set was a well-played selection of songs designed to welcome new listeners to Phish’s music. The 4 Mile Canyon Revival did not include a Phish set, but did feature a stunning Trey and Mike acoustic set. Tanya attended the event and shared a clip from My Friend My Friend. Conclusion: Mike can get dirty playing acoustic.
The meat of the show involves discussion around several of the highlights of the 5 shows. We begin with Broomfield night one, and move right into the Ghost. The Ghost jam was deserving of 2 clips: one to highlight the jam’s peak, as Mike kicked in with the chunky funk, and then another toward the jam’s descent. The second clip begins with Jon hitting the cowbell to lead into a more rhythmic jam. This Ghost is Scotty’s favorite jam of the tour so far. He point outs that the boys do so much with the minor>major key jamming and patiently let it develop, as was their style of improv during the 2.0 era. Broomfield night one set 2 also featured the brilliantly-placed debut of My Problem Right There-right in the middle of a Makisupa sandwich. Scotty notes that the rare extra verse in Makisupa has the first drug reference of 3.0. The passing of the dank, in Tanya’s opinion, was fitting in Colorado. The final highlight from night 1 that is touched upon is the gorgeous version of Slave to the Traffic Light. Again, the patient musicianship was appreciated by all of tonight’s panelists.
Broomfield night 2 included another brilliantly-placed debut: What Things Seem, from Mike’s new album Moss. Justin plays us a clip, and Tanya remarks that it was well-received by the audience. Justin also shares a clip from Golden Age, which, as Scotty mentions, is the one-timer cover that fans want to see according to the poll in Hidden Track. Steve, Scotty, Justin and Tanya agree that the Broomfield version of Golden Age was very well-played and demonstrated that the band is responsive to fan feedback. Justin encourages us to give Broomfield night 3 a few listens. He likes the less-traditional setlist and shares a clip from the explosive Carini set 2 opener, as it transitions into David Bowie. Broomfield night 3 set 1 also featured Meat, which is saved for later.
Episode 2′s discussion wraps up with highlights from both Charleston shows. Scotty takes us there with a clip of Dr. Jack McConnell carrying on the tradition of performing Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? Scotty’s assessment that Charleston night 1 was a marathon song-based show is shared by the panelists. Charleston night 2, however: different story. Set one featured the return of a beautifully played The Curtain With (everyone except Steve likes it With all of the time – Steve will take it With 9 out of 10 times), accompanied by Sand and Pebbles & Marbles. Scotty then plays us a clip from the set 2 Crosseyed and Painless opener to highlight the hilarity of the vocal reprise toward the end of the song. The final piece of music shared in Episode 2 is the Mike/Jon jam from YEM – another example of unrushed improv that characterizes this first part of fall tour.
Finally, this epidose of TypeIICast takes you home with Meat from Broomfield night 3 set 1. The panelists’ final word on early fall tour 2010: Patient, exploratory improv gives us hope that more type 2 jamming is on the horizon.
Join us next week when we discuss the next week of Phish tour, ME>NY>RI>MA.
Tonight we pick up where we left off discussing our first Phish shows with Steve and the remaining three members of the Type II Cast panel, Drew Hitz, Sam Davis and Eric Wyman.
We start off traveling back to Winter of 1992 with Eric, who shares how a “tease” of “On Broadway” cemented him firmly in Phish’s musical grasp in a clip from Mike’s Song. Check out the setlist…
12/29/1992 Palace Theatre, New Haven CT
Set 1: Funky Bitch, Runaway Jim, Guelah Papyrus, Llama, My Friend, My Friend, The Divided Sky, Wilson, Uncle Pen, Stash, Tela > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg
Set 2: The Curtain > Tweezer > The Horse > Silent in the Morning, My Sweet One ->Big Ball Jam, Fast Enough for You, All Things Reconsidered, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Hold Your Head Up > Terrapin > Hold Your Head Up, The Squirming Coil, Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Big Ball Jam, Carolina, Rocky Top
Next up is Sam from Dogoneblog who brings a different experience prior to his first show in 1999. We take a listen to the boys gelling together on Ghost, What’s The Use and a decidedly “un-zep” jam in Misty Mountain Hop. Here’s a look at the setlist.
7/20/1999 Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto ON
Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Sample in a Jar > Cars Trucks Buses, The Sloth, The Divided Sky, Waste > Ghost, Wilson > You Enjoy Myself
Set 2: Twist > The Moma Dance, What’s the Use?, Train Song, Also Sprach Zarathustra > Misty Mountain Hop[1]
Encore: Guyute, Hello My Baby
Up third is Drew with his first show from New Years ’93 and how four “idiots” stepped on stage and would forever change the path of a talented classical musician. And why a raging finale to Split Open and Melt will beat out Character Zero any day. Take a peek at the setlist…
12/31/1993 Worcester Centrum, Woostah MA
Set 1: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Stash, Ginseng Sullivan, Reba, Peaches en Regalia, I Didn’t Know, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Tweezer > Halley’s Comet > Poor Heart > It’s Ice > Fee > Possum, Lawn Boy,You Enjoy Myself
Set 3: Auld Lang Syne > Down with Disease Jam > Split Open and Melt, The Lizards,Sparkle > Suzy Greenberg > Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin’ Rosie > Hold Your Head Up,Harry Hood, Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Amazing Grace
Last but not least, we take a quick listen to a clip from Steve’s first show at Penn State in ’97 and we all wonder how someone who hadn’t listened to any significant amount of Phish prior to the show really felt after a 29 minute Simple.
We’ll be back again next week, LIVE while Phish plays in Augusta ME discussing the first week of Fall tour with Tanya, Jay, Scotty and Steve. We hope you enjoy the show, let us know what you think in the comments!
Type II got off to a tremendous start as the members of Panel #1 -
Justin Wendt, Scott Bernstein and Tanya Sperry – each discussed
highlights from their first show moderated by Producer/Host Steve
Olker. We figured talking about our initial Phish experience would be
a great way to give the listeners insight into how we came to be fans
of the band.
Justin started us off by discussing his first show, which took place
at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI on November 11, 1996. Take
a look at the setlist…
Monday, 11/11/1996 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Guelah Papyrus, Cars Trucks Buses, AC/DC
Bag, Sparkle, Brother, Theme From the Bottom, Axilla, Runaway Jim
Set 2: Timber (Jerry), The Divided Sky, Gumbo, The Curtain, Sample in
a Jar, Tweezer, Swept Away > Steep, Maze, Contact, Slave to the
Traffic Light
Encore: Waste, Cavern
Notes: Divided Sky included an All Fall Down signal. [all setlists via
Phish.net]
We checked out a funky bit of improvisation from the Tweezer before
Justin revealed the real reason he attended the show that night.
Next, Scotty shared some memories from his first show, which took
place at the Beacon Theatre in New York, NY on April 15, 1994. Take a
look at the setlist…
Friday, 04/15/1994 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
Set 1: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Paul and Silas, Harry Hood, Wilson >
Chalk Dust Torture, Bouncing Around the Room > It’s Ice > Down with
Disease
Set 2: Maze, If I Could, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg > The
Landlady, Julius, Wolfman’s Brother -> Alumni Blues > I Wanna Be Like
You > Hold Your Head Up > Cavern
Encore: Magilla, Amazing Grace
Notes: Suzy through Magilla featured the Giant Country Horns: Carl
“Geerz” Gerhard on trumpet, Dave “The Truth” Grippo on alto sax, Chris
Peterman on tenor sax, Mike Gallick on baritone sax, Don Glasgo on
trombone, and Joey Sommerville on trumpet. Alumni Blues was incomplete
as only one verse was performed, but it was the first since July 18,
1991 (301 shows).
You’ll never believe what Phishy tradition that continues today Scott
was a part of starting that fateful evening. The Giant Country Horns
joined Phish that night and we listened to the moment the six-piece
horn section strode on stage.
Finally, Tanya took us for a ride in the Wayback Machine as she talked
about her first show, which took place at the University of New
Hampshire’s Memorial Union Building in Durham, NH on April 27th, 1989.
Take a look at the setlist…
Thursday, 04/27/1989 Memorial Union Building, University of New
Hampshire, Durham, NH
Set 1: Golgi Apparatus, Jam, The Sloth, The Divided Sky, Sanity, I
Didn’t Know, Alumni Blues > Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues > The
Lizards, Whipping Post
Encore: Contact, David Bowie
Notes: The Jam, which is sometimes labelled String Changing Nature,
arose while the band tuned their instruments and included some funny
stage banter. This version of Sanity was the fast version. This show
is believed to have been sponsored by the UNH Outing Club and
performed in the pub of the Memorial Union Building.
As a UNH student, Tanya had a front row seat to the beginning of
Phish’s career. By the end of Whipping Post at her first show she was
completely hooked. We checked out the peak of that Whipping Post as
well as the hilarious intro to Bowie. The frenetic Alumni Blues from
Tanya’s first Phish concert played us out this week.
Check back next Tuesday when Panel #2 – Eric Wyman, Sam Davis and
Andrew Hitz – get in on the act by describing their first Phish shows
along with Steve.
Note: Be kind on the audio… Still working out the new setup – Steve
