Higher Ground, Winooski, VT

Date:    Fri, 5 Feb 1999 08:31:31 EST
From:    Phillip Zerbo [email protected]
Subject: Re: amfibian review

Amfibian, w/Gordon Stone, 1.30.99, Higher Ground, Winooski, VT

Ahhh, a great weekend in the north country! This isn't an especially meaty
review, musically, so pass if that is what you are looking for. They sure do
keep it cold in Burlington, probably to keep all the colonizers at bay! My
friends Ken, Marco and myself made the trip from Boston, we were treated to an
awesome clear, crisp day cruising through the mountains, very chill afternoon
in town after picking up tickets at the club. Being the proper road-tripping
tourists that we are, among other things we stopped on main st to have Nectar
himself serve up some gravy fries :-)

This was my first time at Higher Ground, and it is a killer facility for its
size. I guess it isn't all that uncommon, but the first thing that struck me
odd is that the club is in a shopping mall... huh. A wide but shallow stage
sits just a few feet off the floor in front of the main area which is I guess
about 100 feet long and 70 feet wide, with small risers for tables on either
side. This would be packed pretty solid all night. The bar area was really
airy, well-lit, not too smoky, generally comfortable, with couches and tables
and a really nice fully enclosed bar. This area was chatty but very chill and
not nearly as crowded, but still with a decent to good view of the stage; my
kinda place.

I was having a late dinner and so unfortunately missed most of Gordon Stone.
Both the dinner and the company were well worth it, but I regret missing any
chance to see Stacy Starkweather play especially; he seems content playing the
gigs he does, but he is someone that could kick a spark into a lot of bands I
can think of, he is just really under-appreciated, I'd be psyched for him to
get more exposure in some setting. Gordon Stone also sat in with Amfibian for
Olivia's Pool and one other tune I didn't know, with predictably excellent
results.

The place was packed and in great spirits, and I ran into more netters, phunky
bitches, and band members offstage than at many recent Phish shows. Dan and
Ann, Tara and Marcus, Benjy Eisen, Dan Seideman, Jim Raras, Shelly, Erica, Mike
Lerman, Ellen, Katie Holloway, others I'm forgetting. For laughs, even Antelope
Greg was seen mulling around, sans karate kid act from what I could see. No
sign of Trey, but Mike and Cilla were there for the early part of the night,
Page and Sofi were there the entire night, and Fishman showed up late in the
evening. All of them were just chilling, chatting with whomever was around,
very mellow, but admittedly a pretty fun scene as they chose to hang in the
same area of the bar where we had staked some space early on. Dumb luck wins
again!

Folks were chatty with them, but appropriately left alone enough to chill and
enjoy the show... which should be a given, but often isn't. Page shaved his
goatee and looks 5 years younger (and really good), and Sofi especially was
really chatty and friendly; Page said he was a little disappointed about Hawaii
(news which had broken earlier in the day to the public) but that it was
all for the best. A minorly funny Fishman anecdote: toward the end of the show, I
was chilling behind the soundboard, and I was wondering why all these young
ladies were checking me out (yeah, right!), until I finally realized Fishman
was standing right next to me, and apparently had been for like 20 minutes,
doh! He cut his hair real short again, plus he is like a foot shorter than I
am, so how is a guy to notice these things? :-) Anyway, it was cool and pretty
unique, hanging around members of Phish in the audience while Phish tunes were
being played in the club, checking out their reaction and such.

I flailed in the face of my civic net duty and I didn't write down a setlist,
as I didn't know a lot of the songs anyway, plus I was just otherwise occupied.
Sorry. Katie has one of the lists off the stage, I'm sure she'll post an
accurate setlist soon enough :-). I do recall Olivia's Pool, Brian & Robert,
Twist, San Tropez, Velvet Sea, Water in the Sky, Dirt, Farmhouse, and Waste.
Some of the few originals I knew were Way I Feel (-very- cool funky tune), Long
Black Veil, Bug, and there were probably 4 or 5 other tunes I didn't know.


Tom seemed really at ease playing, he had one small keyboard and sat on a
little stool, nothing approaching his more flamboyant stage persona he projects
in many of his appearances with Phish. Tom really does have a nice voice, I
think, and it is refreshing to hear his take on tunes he is written that I'm
used to hearing Phish play, a number of points of emphasis or subtle inflection
places the words in a whole new light. He doesn't do anything especially
exciting on keys, but he holds his own, and in jamming segments was able to
forge some really interesting musical spaces, he is a solid, mellow,
complementary player.

Matt Kohut from Ween is on bass, I don't have any significant comment on his
playing. He holds a solid beat, but is very straightforward, traditional rock
bassist. He was also way too low in the mix for my taste, so I couldn't form
any definitive impression. Andrew Southern is on rhythm guitar, he plays this
really simple hollow body, frankly it looked like a toy up close, but I
don't know shit about guitars. He didn't stand out at all in his playing but to me
had the strongest supporting vocals. I thought the drums and percussion
duo was
overkill; the relative simplicity of the grooves just didn't demand it, and
there wasn't any rich, textured grooves that were added, IMHO. Both of the
players  (Peter Cottone on drums and JP Wasicko on percussion) were more than
competent, but the structure of the tunes didn't lend itself to showcasing
any of their talents.

Scott Metzger on lead guitar, though, this guy has potential. He is really
young, maybe 22 or 23? Melodic, patient, willing to take charge of a jam
but not overbearing, wide dynamic range, this guy has all the tools, if a
little unrefined. I heard from two different people he takes lessons from
Trey; I haven't the foggiest whether that is true, but it wouldn't be a
stretch, you can hear Trey's influence in a lot of areas of his playing.
I'm psyched to hear him again and take a closer listen for more of the
show, as I was half social and half focused on the music for this
particular gig. He is good. Very good. The overall sound was what you
would expect out of a band playing their 4th gig, especially in front of a
very relaxed and home-away-from-home crowd. Rough around the edges. One
negative that stuck out was their regular attempts at four-part vocal
harmony, call-and-response, passing lines and such (think Limb by Limb,
Twist Around, Rift, et cetera). It sounds awesome when done well. Tom
and Andrew carry their weight, but Scott and Matt have talents that are not in
the vocal category, and sometimes it was borderline painful. On the brighter
side, both straight ahead funky grooves and interesting, complex, rich,
loosely structured jamming highlighted a number of tunes (most notably Twist
and Way I Feel). This is no token band thrown together so Tom could get out of
his computer job, jam, and get sloshed afterward. They have musical  potential.
They definitely have an awesome lyricist!

All-in-all: a killer time. Some people expressed regret that members of Phish
didn't play; as far as I heard, it was not their gig! :-) We went with the idea
that it was a killer excuse for a road-trip (like we need one anyway). It was,
and then some. Great friends, great party, great tunes. Two thumbs up, I'll
definitely see them anytime they are within a reasonable driving distance, all
the more likely if it is among a setting as chill as Saturday night. Cheers,

-Phillip

p.s. boards of the Wetlands and Middle East gigs circulate, I listened to the
Cambridge show on the way back, they worth seeking out IMHO (please don't ask
as I do not have a copy handy). I'd be happy to point any ambitious tree
administrators to a seed.



Date:    Wed, 3 Feb 1999 09:52:53 -0500
From:    Ken Morton 
Subject: Re: Review: Amfibian, w/Gordon Stone, 1.30.99, Higher Ground,
         Winooski, VT

Mule Panic wrote:
>
> >Some of the few originals I knew were Way I Feel (-very- cool funky
tune),
> >Long
> >Black Veil, Bug, and there were probably 4 or 5 other tunes I didn't
know.
>
> Long Black Veil is a cover by the Band. Great review!

And they also covered Traffic's "40,000 Headmen" which is a song I never
expected to hear live...or anywhere other than my apartment from the CD.
If you're interested, it's on Traffic's self-titled second album -- the
one that has "Feelin' Alright" on it. Great album -- a true classic.

I proved to myself once again that the experiences I have at shows (any
shows) are directly related to my expectations. I had very low
expectations for the Amfibian show -- to the point where I almost bailed
on making the trip from Boston to Burlington. I'm very glad I went. I
had a better time at Amifibian than I had at SCI, Bela Fleck, .moe, and
the Disco Biscuits. I'm not saying that Amifibian is a better band, but
in all the other examples, I had gone into the show expecting a great
show, so my expectations were merely met, not exceeded, with the
exception of .moe, who I've decided are boring and I probably won't
bother with again.

One of the advantages of being an older guy in this scene, is that I'm
usually content to stay in the back or at the bar, chillin' quietly with
a drink (or quite a few drinks, as it turned out). At the Amfibian show,
it meant numerous close encounters with Mike, Page and their spouses,
which was groovy. Page is a genuinely friendly, down to earth guy.

It was a gas to see Phillip pushing through the crowd and actually
putting his hand on Fishman's shoulder in order to squeeze by without
realizing it was Fishman. Great smile, Phillip, when it all became
clear.

Beautiful drive home on Sunday, in time to get to a Superbowl party and
watch a crappy first half, and then spend the rest of the game playing
chess and eating dip.

Cheers,
Ken


Date:    Sun, 31 Jan 1999 07:12:31 GMT
From:    SOAMYEM 
Subject: Amfibian 1/30/99

I just got back from the Amfibian show in Winooski Vt. at the Higher Ground. It
was pathetic.....the place was packed with Phish fans who traveled as far as
Boston to see this band...the best part of the night was the opening band, The
Gordon Stone Band.....they rocked the place only to be let down by a weak
Amfibian show..I felt as if 90 percent of the people who attended this show
were only there in hoping that Mike, Fish, Trey or Page would show up on
stage...people were yelling out Phish songs as if the band was going to just
stop and play a request...The band itself wasn't bad in the sense it was only
there third show....but the only songs people got into were the Phish songs
that Tom had written the lyrics to, and let me say that they weren't anything
like Phish does them...as far as I'm concerned, they ruined the Phish song when
they should have just played their own stuff, reguardless of who had written
the song...the guitarist was in his glory because of the fact that they
were playing Phish songs as he had attempted to rip it up like Trey would have, but
could not pull it off to save his life...I know this may sound bitter, but I
was there and was definitely not impressed with the scene nor the music....I
take that back, The Gordon Stone Band, with whom I have been a long time fan,
jammed!!!! Stacey Starkweather ripped it up on bass with the band and they
definitely should not have left the stage that night.....well enough of
that...I'm really interested in what other people thought of the show, other
than the fact thatey were disappointed that Phish didn't show up....

Clifford

Date:    Wed, 3 Feb 1999 06:59:43 GMT
From:    SCincident 
Subject: Re: Amfibian 1/30, what, no reviews?

> Mike and Page were in
>the audiance somewhere, although I didn't see them at all and they didn't
>play.

Fishman was there, too.  I only saw him for a second as I passed him on my
way from the bathroom to the bar.  He seemed to be really into the show.

Mike kept to himself for the most part, talking to some girl while they
both faced the corner of the bar.  They happened to end up right behind
where we were sitting, so I couldn't help but notice them.

 Page was very talkative.  He was with his wife and they also ended up in
the same corner of the bar as us, but he wasn't facing the wall and was mingling
with the crowd more.  He seemed to be in a really good mood.  He talked about
Hawaii not working out and also said they might play the Garden State Art
Center this summer. 
I thought Amfibian was pretty damn good for a band that has only played
together a handful of times.  I think the reason they get a bad rap is
because lots of people go to see them expecting them to be like Phish, and
they aren't. There are some obvious similarities, but they are their own
band.  If you go see them with no expectations like I did, then you will
probably have a good time.  They aren't bad for a bar band.