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From: Matt Laurence 
Subject: The Umass Extravaganza
Reply-To: mlaurenc@world.std.com
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 17:21:16 GMT


I tried to post this earlier, but luckily for me the world had
a head crash and I lost it all. Twice. So here goes (this time
from a word processor):

Wow! Blee! Excitement and phulfillment and all that phun stuff!
Yup, the Umass Spring Concert was a phun-philled event for
all this past Sunday.

It looked pretty ugly in the earlier morning, with big nasty
clouds hanging threateningly above my car as I sped westward,
but as I approached the Happy Valley, the clouds split open (and
mel... nahhh. Too obvious) and the sun shone down with a big smile
from behind its Wayfarers and the birds were singing and happy
animals pranced merrily in twos through the forest and jolly
cherubim beamed and played the harp on gossamer wings.

Well, it WAS sunny and beautiful....

Anyway, the fun began, thanks to John Greene, at the Net Gathering.
Aphishianados and netheads of all styles showed up for pre- and
post-show enjoyment of tapes, each other and refreshment of
both liquid and other varieties. For me, just meeting all the pholks
was the highlight of the day (and I would greet each and every one
by name, but I have forgotten many and would surely screw up
others, so I won't publicly embarass myself. Yet)... that and
playing music with Jack and John at various points throughout
the day. All I can say about THAT is... yeP!!!!! (and Mario rules!)

Though the huge number of people that showed up at John's place
drifted over to the concert in small groups over the course of 
the morning, and despite the fact that it was easy to lose
people in the 6000+ crowd at the Campus Pond, it was hard to get 
REALLY lost, since there were plenty of phamiliar phaces to 
latch onto (and a fair contingent of net shirts, I noticed!). 

Phish came on fourth, after Rippopotamus (two big thumbs up
for these guys! I know, those who were with me know that I
didn't actually SEE Rippo at the Pond, but I've seen 'em before
and they really live up to their name), The Mighty Mighty
Bosstones (distinguished by the fact that they have a lead
singer with the world's WORST voice), and fiREhose (I think I
got the right letters capitalized there). This would have been
fine but for the fact that the large contingent of drunk frat boys
in the front of the crowd had just been pumped by ska and
hard rock. They had seemingly just discovered the fine art of
slam dancing, but were more influenced in their style by the
World Wrestling Federation, so by the time Phish came on, 
the roving slam-vortex near the front of the stage couldn't be
completely dispersed, and it got vicious at times Q definitely
NOT your usual Phish crowd. It was early on in the set that
a group of us decided we would leave the vicinity if they
decided to play Big Black Furry Creature, if only because
most of us are fairly attached to our limbs and wanted to
stay that way.

Other than the crowd antics (which the band seemed to like at
first, but didn't seem so sure about as the set progressed and
people started being taken away by security), the set was 
pretty standard. Despite the good number of netheads and other
aphishiandos, no one seemed to remember to keep a set list.
So here's the best that six of us could do post-facto on the
Student Union Lawn:

Landlady
Suzy Greenberg
Stash (strange, so soon after Landlady, IMHO)
Sparkle
Cavern
Uncle Pen
Reba
I Didn't Know
You Enjoy -->
  Vocal Jam
'Possum

No encores, no second sets... it was kind of sad, but to be expected,
I guess. During one song or another, they did some language stuff,
a Simpsons and (too our dismay, standing in the front, up to our
ankles in evil, squishy mud) a 4-descending note "fall down" cue.
Almost no one in the audience "fell" for it (sorry), though a few
crouched symbolically, and nobody waited for Fishman's drum blat
to get up. This was the first time I'd actually seen the BAND all
fall down, though, so that was kind of cool. It was generally a
strange perspective to see the band from, since the stage was
a good 10 feet off the ground and we had to crane our heads way
up just to see Mike's nostril hairs. But never having had the
opportunity before, I guess it was an experience....

Fishbone and The Beastie Boys closed for Phish (I like to think of
it that way), and they were good... lead singer for Fishbone climbed
up to the very top of the 60-foot scaffolding that made up the
stage and sang to the crowd from there, and the Beasties 
actually played instruments! More than I expected.

So, some of us were mulling this over: If Dead followers are
Deadheads, and Phish phollowers are sometimes Phishheads,
does that make Fishbone followers 'Boneheads? How about
fiREhose? 'Hoseheads? Just wundrin'.

A few of us managed to reconnoiter back at John's place after
the show, and there was fun and dancing and tiddlywinks (sort
of - what do YOU thin, Jack?) and more refreshment and plenty of
great live music coming out of the basement. The bad part of
the day was that yeP! was NOT allowed to play the party they were
slated to jam at... evil neighbors and housemates and nosy cops
kept it from happening. So an impromptu jam happened in the
basement, and that was just as much fun. For those of us playing,
anyway.

So there you have it. The tale of Umass. 

'Nuf said. See y'all at the Orpheum.

Matt


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From: 92mdb@vax.cc.williams.edu (Hayduke lives!)
Subject: UMASS Extravaganziiyyaayayayaya!!!!
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 19:54:00 GMT

Ok, I was gonna post this earlier, but of course a Sunday concert always
destroys my work schedule....never mind!  Enough griping!

Well, we got a bit lost on the way to the net.gathering, turned the wrong
way
down two separate one way streets, piled out of the car twice to ask for
directions (none of us bothered to print out the map!), but still made it
by 11:45 or so.  It was great to be able to place some faces with some
monnikers, but I still think that the next batch of net shirts should
have our names on the back.  Not our real names, just our fake computer
names  8^)

So after a few beers generously provided by jg, and after filling the 
bar-noculars (2 x 8oz) with some--well, never mind just what!!  I plead
the fifth (even though the 'noculars were not mine)!!  Anyway, after
getting everything together, we headed off on the 1/2 hour walk up
to the "arena."  For some reason, the 10 or 12 of us all got into some-
what of a frenzy and started chanting "go blue!!" as we passed a 
softball field.  This became our motto for the day, and we yelled it
at every opportunity.

Anyway, we missed RRRRRRIpopotomus (trill them 'r's!!) because of an
emergency food stop at the dairy mart. But we got to see the mighty
mighty bostones.  They were basically a fishbone wanna be band with
slightly less energy and a vocalist who was probably employed by
makita or stihl or john deere.  I'm not sure which, but my guess is
that they used him to test mufflers (just sing into the catalytic
converter!!).  Ok, enough joking.

Anyway, there was some cool slam dancing which we took the opportunity
to partake in.  The slam pit was essentially all mud, so you ended up
getting your legs completely covered.  The obvious problems with the pit
were:  1)  no traction.  You can see the problem here all by yourself. 
2)  dunken frat boys.  Only a problem for a while.  Once they got tired,
all the shots were free.  As one said, "It's the only real chance to
kick a skinhead's ass AND a frat boy's ass and get away with it!!"

fIREHOSE was next.  They sucked.

THEN...the moment you've all waiting for...I'm getting to the point!!
Yes!!  Here it comes!!  Phish.

Matt Laurence already posted the setlist, so I won't bother listing it
out neatly.  The opener was Landlady.  COOL!!  The little dance got
everyone rocking and dancing.  I was actually a little farther back,
outside where I thought the slammers might be.  Good thing, too,
because it looked like the slammers were continuing.  I actually
like slamming, but I like to WATCH phish more.  Slamming is for
when you don't care about the music, really.

Sparkle began slow, but by the time it got fast, the crowd (which
had to be up around 6-8K by this time) was whipped into a frenzy.
They slowed it down a bit with Stash, but the solo at the end---YYYEEE
EEEEEHHHHHHHAAAAHWWHHWHWWHWWWWWW!!!!!!!!   It was one of the most
smokin stash solos that I have ever seen!!  

Uncle Pen kinda frieked out the slammers. I mean, who with a conscience 
would ever slam dance when s/he should be square dancing!?!?  But as
always, it was its old fun self.

Cavern really got the crowd moving (as if they weren't already).  But
I mean REALLY moving.

I think that fishman's vaccuum solo also freaked out the slammers. It
also took some people by surprise.  One of my first time friends said,
"This is so wierd."  Before I could answer, another guy (whom I did *not*
know) piped up, "WHY??  What are you some NORMAL person?!?!"  TAKE
THAT!!  BTW, I think that fishman is getting *really* good on that
thing!

You Enjoy Myself was, of course, the highlight.  I haven't seen it
in a while, and it was great to see it again.  The solos at the end
were some of the best that I have ever heard.

And last:  Possum started with "D'OH!!" and "falling language"  All
of us (the 20 or so from williams) fell down and did the D'OH!!  
People around us were like, "what the *hell* is going on here!?!"
But hey, we didn't care--we were having too much fun.  The solo on
Possum was one of the best Possum solos since 10-2-90, which I
only have on tape.

Right after this, one of us came within a hair's breadth of getting 
arrested for the barnoculars ("How is it that you're drinking from
binoculars?"), but thankfully, there was only water in them at this
point. So we weren't oppressed that badly.

Fishbone was amazing.  I watched the band for about half the show,
but finally, I had to slam.  And good thing.  It was the best slamming
of the day.

The beastie boys were last.  They, too, sucked.

That's it.  I'm outta here.  This account is history.  No more
hayduke lives!  Until next year, anyway.  But then I'll be a west
coaster.

--Mikey


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From: rstern@col.hp.com (Richard Stern)
Subject: Re: UMASS Extravaganziiyyaayayayaya!!!!
Date: Tue, 12 May 1992 21:05:55 GMT

92mdb@vax.cc.williams.edu (Hayduke lives!) writes:
> 
> fIREHOSE was next.  They sucked.

I wasn't at this show, so I can't comment on it, but I'd like to at least
put in my thoughts on fIREHOSE.  They are excellent!!  I have all of
their CDs (except a recent one of only cover tunes), and they have lots
of very creative and interesting tunes.

I've only seem them once live, and the sound was so bad (loud and
distorted) that it was painful.  Too bad, because they were playing
quite well.  I also have 2 bootlegs of them from their 1st album tour,
and the band sounds great.

So if you have the chance to hear some of their studio stuff, give it a
listen with an open mind.  You might like it.

For those that don't know them, fIREHOSE is the drummer (George Hurley)
and bass player (Mike Watt) from The Minutemen.  After D Boon died
(guitarist for Minutemen), they met Ed Fromohio and formed fIREHOSE.
Quite a talented and creative trio, imho!

OPC: They're one of my favorite bands, but I still like Phish better :-)!

Richard Stern
rstern@col.hp.com

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From: acbonin@amherst.edu
Subject: Hooked on Phish: UMass
Date: 13 May 92 14:35:45 GMT

I got there in time to see fIREHOSE, and, well, I have to agree with the
majority opinion, and then some.  They kicked ass.  Some of the more solid
bass
playing I've heard in a while...kick-ass intensity, just solid all over.

And then came Phish.

This was actually my first time seeing them live...I had heard a lot about
them, from friends of mine here.  I'd listened to Lawn Boy and some of
Nectar
and thought...hey, this is ok.  Then I saw them, and now I am hooked.  The
jams
blew me away...Cavern especially just floored me.  They just seem to be 4
guys
having one hell of a good time up there, doing what they love and getting
a lot
of money for it (well, maybe not a _lot_ yet...)

I was right in the "pit" section for Phish and fIREHOSE so I must disagree
with
the others.  Especially during Phish, there was no moshing going on--just
people dancing, bouncing, twirling...I was very close to the front, and it
was
very cool.  During Fishbone, however, the whole crowd became a big, nasty,
violent pit...which can be a good thing, mind you.  

Oh yeah, Fishbone was great, but not on for long enough--manic intensity. 
Angelo up ther 60 feet in the air...whoo!  Thankfully, he didn't repeat
the
actions from his last time at UMass which got him arrested (indecent
exposure).

And the Beasties sucked. [consensus opinion from about 20 of us]

Anyway, I'm hooked on Phish now--copying boots from friends of mine
frantically
before I leave...

-adam
-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Adam Bonin '94        | "If one in every four animals is a beetle, then
maybe |
|Amherst College       |  one in every four persons is a DUMB
F-CK!"-NoMeansNo |
|Amherst, Mass., U.S.A.| "Some students are calling me 'fascist' and I
have to |
|                      |  chuckle at that.  Fascism is just a word to
these    |
|acbonin@amherst.edu   |  students."  -Gary Berte, Chief of Security,
9/11/91  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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From: "Rich Fromm - 'Whatever you do, take care of your shoes.'
13-May-1992 1700" 
Subject: Re: Hooked on Phish: UMass
Reply-To: fromm@tecrus.enet.dec.com
Date: Wed, 13 May 1992 20:59:42 GMT

acbonin@amherst.edu writes:

|I was right in the "pit" section for Phish and fIREHOSE so I must
disagree with
|the others.  Especially during Phish, there was no moshing going on--just
|people dancing, bouncing, twirling...I was very close to the front, and
it was
|very cool.

i'm sorry, but i beg to differ; you may have been relatively close to the
front 
(it was quite a large field), but you obviously weren't immediately in
front of 
the stage if that's your impression; there were many people who were
dancing 
very violently, spoiling the enjoyment for others; the two worst offenders
were 
a guy and a girl who looked like they had little concept of reality
(probably 
just very drunk, or spacing out on something else); these two were
eventually 
escorted under the stage by the cops (i can't believe i was actually glad
to see 
people being taken away by security - that's a first); it was a little
better 
afterwards, but still a bit out of hand i think; if you want a lot of room
to 
move around, you ought to fall back a bit; there's obviously going to be a
lot 
of people right up by the stage, and if you want to be there too you ought
to be 
considerate of others; sometimes i'm a couple of feet from the band at
shows, 
sometimes i'm all the way in the back; sometimes i dance up a storm,
sometimes 
i'm a bit more mellow; but i never do anything to infringe upon somebody
else's 
enjoyment of the show

anyway, i thought the show was okay, but certainly not spectacular;
although my 
views might be a little slanted due to the fact that i was probably a bit
beat 
from camping and biking during the weekend, there were far too many
"assholes in 
the front row", and i'd certainly rather see phish for two sets than one; 
personal highlights that i can remember offhand were the possum intro and
the 
you enjoy myself vocal jam; nice to see a bunch of netters at john's, and
it was 
also nice to finally drive home from a show when it wasn't snowing

i spotted somebody with a t-shirt that a bunch of bug-eyes poking out of
the 
dark on the front, with the caption "Let's get down to the nitty gritty."  
Recognizing this as a line from AC/DC bag, i thought it was some home-made
Phish 
shirt i had never seen.  But when the guy turned around, i discovered it
was a 
Eureka vacuum (sp?) shirt.  Well, a vacuum is definitely related to Phish.
I 
thought it was a funny coincidence.

- Rich

p.s. Matt Laurence  writes:

|This would have been
|fine but for the fact that the large contingent of drunk frat boys
|in the front of the crowd had just been pumped by ska and
|hard rock.

not all drunk assholes are in fraternities, and not all fraternity members
are 
drunk assholes; i was in a fraternity when i was in school, and i consider 
myself to be a relatively normal person; please don't perpetuate this myth
that 
all fraternities fit the image of "animal house"; it's just not true, and
it 
gives college administrations all the more impetus to try and push them
out of 
existence


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