The Udder Ball
December 31st, 2007
I solemnly swear not to post about Phish’s Fall tour of 1997 again until, say, 2017, but today marks the tenth anniversary of the show that capped it all, when the udder ball exploded in Madison Square Garden, and it’s worth one last huzzah. The culmination of a remarkable tour and a no less remarkable holiday run, the three-set show featured a strange thing hanging from the rafters which was used to project trippy animation of cheese, olive loaf, and the New Year’s countdown. At midnight, it disgorged giant balloons.
Musically, the band had a hard time topping the previous night, with its bust-out of Allan Toussaint’s Sneakin’ Sally and the greatest encore in Phishtory, which supposedly cost them hundreds of thousands in MSG overtime fees. Still, between Emotional Rescue, a segue-happy second set, and Also Sprach Zarathustra > Auld Lang Syne > Tweezer for midnight (and Page crooning New York, New York to finish it off), 12/31/97 was a spectacular time. You can download the entire run for free; the incredibly funky 12/29 is also available from LivePhish.
Here’s the NYE97 clip from Bittersweet Motel. If you squint, you can make me out dancing like a fool somewhere in the 300s on the far right when the ball bursts.
And that’s enough nostalgia for now — I’ll spend the rest of the day looking forward. So, happy 2008 one and all. Perhaps I’ll see you tonight at the ReBirth? Either way — Prost Neujahr!
Previously:
The Word
December 30th, 2007
Any project featuring John Medeski is worth whatever Manhattan venues deem to charge, and The Word is no exception. A high-powered gospel/funk/jam outfit featuring Medeski, sacred steel guitarist Robert Randolph, as well as Luther Dickinson, brother Cody, and Chris Chew of the North Mississippi All-Stars, The Word has not played together since Bonnaroo 2005.
Thursday night’s reunion/revival went down at Terminal 5, a brand-new venue way west on on 56th Street with a capacity of 3,000 heads. Supertight hallways and bad crowd management made the place feel like a death trap, but once inside, all was well — especially when the sweet sounds of the Word hit. Using traditionals (and one White Stripes cover) as jumping-off points for gleeful, uplifting improv, they worked their way through a setlist that also included covers of tunes by Stevie Wonder and James Brown as well as the occasional Zeppelin tease.
But you’re better off listening to the music than reading about it, so check out the clips below. My favorite moments included the crowd-surfing maniac during “I Shall Not Be Moved” and the ill shit Medeski was doing to “When the Saints Go Marching In,” which I hadn’t heard live since Springsteen broke every heart at Jazzfest. A special shout out to Ducky from Alaska, whom I see but once a year, and only at shows surrounding the holidays.
Two videos — one from Thursday with a snippet of “Joyful Sounds”, and one TV appearance from a few years ago:
STS9 @ Studio Mezmor
May 28th, 2007
Sound Tribe Sector 9 have thrived on exploring the syncopated territory where electronica meets jam, laying down space-age grooves that still involve an actual band. Live PA sets, in which the members trade their instruments for laptops, are a natural extension of that approach, and STS9 has been performing them for a while–but until Friday night, never in New York.
Studio Mezmor, “the city’s #1 super club” formerly known as Crobar, served as venue for the occasion, creating a nice visual hodgepodge to go along with the music: dreadlocked hippies behind the velvet rope, grim-looking bouncers in dark suits and shades pointing spun-out girls in backless dresses down neon-lit hallways. I saw a marine in dress uniform and on crutches, sexy club kids raving it up on the speaker platforms, and the usual wookies doing the usual finger incantations/acid tracer dance, and a little bit of culture clash unpleasantness resulting in overturned trashcans outside the venue.
Sector 9 is at their best when the music seems to happen without effort or ego (nobody ever takes anything as selfish as a solo), and their setup on Friday enhanced that effect. There were drums, percussion, keyboards and a guitar on stage, but all five members were mostly engaged in button-tweaking, and the music just emerged, crystal-clear and bone-shatteringly deep, from speakers all around the room. You could never be too sure who was responsible for any particular noise. The club’s fog machines pumped fog to good effect but I was bitterly disappointed to see the gigantic disco ball go unused all night.
- Previously: Listening to Sector 9 in Tikal
- Official STS9 Downloads
- Sector 9 Podcast Home
- Latest Podcast (mp3)
Here’s a video of Sector 9 with their regular setup, playing a song called “Aimlessly”
