5/4/99 Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, Indiana

Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 15:04:18 -0500
From: juillert [email protected]
To: Daniel W. Schar [email protected]
Subject: Re: Murat Review

        Downtown Indy was buzzing with excitement on the evening of Trey^�s
performance at the Murat.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and it felt a
bit like summer tour.  My friends and I arrived at the Murat early to get
some pizza and brew at a nearby restaurant.  However, much to our dismay we
learned that they could not serve alcohol until six o^�clock because it was
election day.  I^�m not sure who gets smashed and then goes to vote, but oh
well.  At about 7:15 we ambled over to the theatre to find a small, but
enthusiastic crowd of heads cruising through the parking lot.  The first
thing we noticed were the ridiculous amount of free tickets available.  As
we waited in line to get into the theatre we passed a tree that had numerous
tickets hanging in it that were up for grabs.  We also walked past tickets
that were simply thrown on the ground.  Once inside, we made our way to our
seats in the upper balcony.  The show started about a half-hour late, and
the sold out crowd gave Trey a thunderous welcome as he took the stage.
        The first set was very mellow with a heavy emphasis on lyrics. Trey
noted between songs that all of the lyrics were written by himself, and
long-time friend Tom Marshall.  He also broke out a couple of Phish
favorites like Chalkdust Torture and Bathtub Gin.  Bathtub Gin was
particularly notable because the crowd enthusiastically sang and whistled
the refrain while Trey played his guitar.  Trey ate this up and gave us
several thumbs up at the conclusion of the song.  He also said, ^�We^�ll be
back in four years to play that again.^�  (It^�s actually been six years, but
who^�s counting?)  Overall, I was quite impressed with the new material.
Trey seemed to be emotionally attached to many of the songs and performed
them with lots of sincerity and enthusiasm.  The crowd was reserved
throughout most of the first set and listened intently while seated.
However, there seemed to be a huge amount of pent-up energy in the crowd,
and a visible desire to dance and get on their feet.  The second set would
definitely appease their desire.
        Setbreak went quickly, and it was obvious that everyone was ready to
jam.  Second set started with Will it Go Round in Circles, an extremely
funky groove that I will never forget!  It was definitely a different sound
that I have never heard from Phish.  Funk and blues were prevalent
throughout the second set.  Tony and Russ were solid and kept a
metronome-like groove while Trey went off.  It was obvious that this was
Trey^�s show and his time to shine.  There were moments in the second set
which did feel awkward, especially when they strayed away from the blues,
funk feel.  Also, when all three of them were singing, their voices didn^�t
quite gel in a comfortable way.  The new tune Windora Bug was interesting,
but a bit wacky, and So Martin seemed bland and dragged on a bit too long.
However, the rest of the set was excellent and very entertaining.  The cover
songs Ooh Child and I Can See Clearly Now brought singing and favorable
reactions from the crowd, but in my opinion were not the highlights of the
set.  Musically, I thought the best covers were Will it Go Round, Bell
Bottom, and Voodoo Child.  Trey seemed to step into Jimmy^�s head during
Voodoo Child.  Often times Trey will add his own flair and flavor to covers,
but this was straight Hendrix style from start to finish.
        Another thing I noticed about the second set was the driving,
consistent rhythms.  I remember thinking that I wanted to get a tape of the
second set so I could play my djembe along with it.  Playing a hand drum
while listening to Phish can often be frustrating and downright impossible.
However, many of these beats seemed to be tribal and predictable, and I
often found myself tapping my hands to the beat.  Also, the drum duel
between Russ and Trey proved that Trey is a consummate musician.  When it
began I thought it would be a short, farcical interlude.  However, it turned
out to be a lengthy, complex explosion of energy and rhythm.
        The encore, like the rest of the show, was surprisingly lengthy. I
heard several folks around me quietly singing or humming along to the
peaceful and lyrically heavy Row Jimmy.  Last Tube got everyone back in the
groove and then slid nicely into Come on Baby Let^�s Go Downtown for the
finale.  Overall, I was quite pleased with the show.  I will definitely
track down the tapes.  Although this show was definitely not Phish, most
people in attendance seemed to be very receptive to the different sound and
style.  I^�m still not sure whether I preferred the pensive, emotional first
set, or the rhythmic, funky second set.  I thought they complimented each
other quite nicely, and gave the entire performance a nice balance.  It will
be interesting to see if either or both of these styles creep into Phish^�s
repertoire during summer tour.  I^�ll see you there!

Peace,
Jonathan Juillerat
^�Triple J^�

Date:    Wed, 5 May 1999 16:44:34 -0400
From:    Greg Broxterman [email protected]
Subject: MURAT REVIEW (Re: To anyone that SAW / IS SEEING Trey..)

rrr.mmmmm.ppppp,

in response to [email protected] (DataPanik0) (leo)'s post...........
(which was in response to kentalope's post)
(which was in response to some divine act of.. uh.. i don't know..
peanut butter..)

hey this was a great review.. i went as well, and you covered a lot of
what i was surprised no one has mentioned yet.

i can't believe i made it to this show just in time. i can't believe i
found a meter spot across the road from murat. i can't believe the
dirt that opened!

there have been a few shows i've heard where i liked the dirt, but
it's often a bit of a downer for me. this dirt seemed to have sooooo
much more meat in it, tho.. nice gentle opener.. then trey seemed to
do some really nice improv-composing to fill out the end..
i thought to myself "this is actually really nice, just too bad it'll
be missing my favorite part of the song: mike's she-bop she-bop's"
..then trey sang that part with his usual lines.. very funny, must be
heard to be understood. made me, a bunch of people around me, and trey
himself, laugh, and what's better than that?

dogs stole things was also one of my favorties for the night. i'd just
warmed up to this song lately, and this version is arguably better
than the full band version.. trey can really lay into that chordy
groove when that's all there is to the music. aaahhh :)

mountains in the mist (mist duology I) :), "some train song", and
purple hugh were pretty nice- hard to make snap judgement on- kind of
songs.. but i enjoyed them a lot, as i was looking forward to hearing
some fresh stuff. don't remember much of how they went.

> - Of the new acoustic songs, Snowflakes in the Sand really blew me away.
> Touching lyrics (without being sappy) about his relationship with his
daughter
> (at least that was my interpretation).

i have to completely agree here.. SitS is one of those songs that you
just pick up right away. i had to call velvet sea velvet cheese for a
while at first, but love the song now. this song has great lyrics,
though.. just when you start to think 'ah, it's cheesy'.. listen on,
and they all tie in very nicely. i got the impression it was about his
relationship with his wife more than daughter, but who knows? maybe he
just really had a great sandwich. =^)

>  The only new acoustic song that didn't
> impress me was the one dedicated to the redwood tree lady (Kissing by
Mist) -
> it came across as lyrically convoluted and forced.  Maybe with repeated
> listenings, it will connect with me.

again, i have to agree. some line about the spirit of a tree made me
leary, but some of the imagery was very playful sounding, which made
up for it a lot.. maybe i just like the term "woodland folk" too much.
hee hee

gin was of course incredible. it didn't have anything like a 98
soaring jam, but it was played/toyed/(stirred?) with nicely.. and you
can't take anything away from 2 spontaneous (right?) crowd
interactions. it seemed to me like the crowd got a little tired of
doing the "la la's" by the end of the song, so the whistling replaced
it. then the whistling and trey plop down together right on the same
last note.. aaaahhh

i did feel like i missed the band a bit (how can you not miss page's
fills during gin?),
and you could almost look at it like only 1/4 of the song was being
played.. but trey does have a way of surprising you and pulling things
out, which is what he did throughout the first set. just when i though
chalkdust might lack something, it starting getting interesting and
culminated in the on/off-the-riff type jam mentioned already.

random note: i think trey specified whether is was purple HUE or HUGH,
but can't remember which it was (or if this even happened ;))

the first few songs of the second set jammed pretty well.. some great
creative trey twists and turns. bell-bottom blues was great.. i
thought maybe this song was aided by playing the vu set.. some good
emotion channeled into that puppy!
"wing of a bug" sounded more like "window or a bug" to me. i doubt it
makes as much sense as wing of a bug.. it was a pretty dern whimsical
tune.. tony's voice was great and cracked me up. wonder who'd do that
line if this goes into the phish rotation?

SOMANATIN was --almost-- the show's highestlight for me. i *love* this
song from the outtakes tape, and somehow knew (hoped) it'd surface
live someday. i'm a sucker for the little multi-instrument pattern
songs. (know what i mean? like i saw it again and silent in the
morning) most of that was gone, though.. seeing as how the piano's
out.
this version was considerably (well, somewhat) different from the
outtakes version. still great, though. dare we start hoping for
meatstick again? :)

i remember liking "andre the giant/incredibly long song title that i
think is abbreviated on the phish.net setlist", but don't remember how
much of how it went.
i anticipated "i can see clearly now" after seeing some setlists... it
was fun, what can i say? nice and long, very pleasant.
don't remember pistol, but the drum duel... you know, i've never seen
anyone use the mic stands for percussion as much as trey... :) :) he
seems like such a little kid sometimes.

finally, i have to toss in also that that's one nice venue. go check a
show there sometime if you're nearby.

and so off to bed..
peas,
greg

Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 12:06:29 GMT
From:    Jsemmler [email protected]
Subject: Re: Chickens, eggs, and BATHTUB GIN

>  The riff is from composer George Gershwin's
>  "Rhapsody in Blue." It has been used in the
>  Airline commercials for sometime now.

Speaking of Gin, I'm surprised more folks haven't talked about the acoustic Gin
played at the Murat Tuesday night.  Before the tune Trey went on to explain how
he had told a told a story in Michigan the night before about some of the new
songs in his set didn't have titles and he was going to check the internet for
the first person to post a name for the new song after the show ("Mountains in
the Mist" is what this tune in question eventually became called I think).

Comically, the next night in Indy when Trey announced that someone had posted
to the net calling it "Minestrone", a whole row of guys erupted in the middle
of the floor and began going bonkers (obviously the authors of the post). Trey
went on to say that this wasn't going to be the permanent name of the tune
which gave us all a good laugh and he deticated the next "soup song" tothem.
The first notes of Gin sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The crowd hummed the entire refrain along with Trey leading to a most  excellent
vibe in the room.  He just kept playing with the hugest grin on his face the
whole time while 2,000 of us rocked back and forth humming out loud.

jjs

oTAc:  5-4-99  Oooh Child  :o)

Date:    Wed, 5 May 1999 14:55:07 CDT
From:    Mark Hutchison [email protected]
Subject: Trey in May! - 1st two shows

Wow.  These two shows have been awesome.  Honestly, I did not expect these Trey
solo shows to rock as hard as they did.  Granted, it's not Phish, but I was
suprised by how well Trey led this new ensemble.

Last night, at the Murat Theater, things were different altogether.  No miracle
seekers here, you couldn't even give your tickets away.  It was worse than the
Thursday night of Nassau.  I've sill got an extra to the Murat if anyone needs
one......

Wow - this place is so cool.  The outside looks like a cross between a Turkisk
mosque and a medieval cathedral, very ornate and intricate, with a faux face at
the front of the theater depicting the whole Turkish/Indian theme (and the word
'MURAT').  We chatted briefly with Russ who was out taking a picture of this
Theater - basically both of us saying how fun it was to play with Trey. He
complimented him on "keeping with it" and not letting yourself get discouraged,
perservering through hard work and finally making it on your own terms. He
said he was a bit sad that his own band had moved from the rural area to Boston
then to L.A. in order to 'make it.'  Inside wasn't bad either; the uniformed
ushers, lack of security and full bar made me think I was seeing the symphony.
Getting in was a bitch, a near strip search lost me a few nicely rolled
j's...but inside all was taken care of by a few Tanquery & tonics.  (woo hoo!)
Before the show one of the ushers - an extrememly excited 17 year-old girl,
came over and told us how the balcony shakes when the crowd gets going. And
she wasn't kidding.  I was sure the place was gonna come tumbling down during
the second set opener.

5/4/99 - Murat Theater, Indianapolis
 Set I:
Dirt, Dogs Stole Things, Mountains in the Mist, Snowflakes in the Sand, Purple
Hugh, Talk, Bathtub Gin, Kissed by Mist, [Something Train song], Wading in the
Velvet Sea, Chalk Dust Torture

Trey told us tonight that all the songs in the first set were written by Tom
Marshall and him.  I'd actually been wondering that on the drive down, thanks
for the clarification, Trey.  Dogs was very enjoyable, ultra-bluesy. Mountains
in the Mist was anounced as the official title of that song, as was Purple Hugh
(which Trey spelled so there'd be no confusion).  The crowd erupted for Talk,
almost like they had for Bouncin' the night before (which - I failed to
mention, Bouncing had a long, almost 'jammed out' ending.  Quite impressive.
Absolutely the best Bouncing _ever._) ;^>  Gin was then dedicated to the guys
that had posted the title "Minestrone" for Purple Hugh, with the audience again
singing on the chorus and winding down perfectly with Trey for the ending. The
jam was great, and afterwords Trey commented that he'd be back "in 4 more years
to play Bathtub Gin again".....I love his concept of time...it's been six
years, Trey....

Kissed by Mist was a very pretty tune, and is for Julia Butterfly Hill (a woman
who has been sitting 180 feet up in a redwood for 18 months to protest
deforestation - what a gal!).  The next one was as of yet unnammed, but Trey
mumbled something to the effect that it sounded like another train song. (Not
that it sounds like Trainsong, but that it sounds like a train.)  Velvet Sea 
was nice - strange to hear Trey singing it.  Chalkdust rocked like you knew it
would.  I forgot what song he was playing in the middle of it.  (Too much
Tanquery...)

Set II:
Round In Circles, First Tube, Ooh Child, Bell-Bottom Blues, Heavy [something],
Learning the Rules, Somantin, Andre the Giant, I Can See Clearly Now, Pistol ->
Drums, Voodoo Child (slight return)
Encore: Row Jimmy, Last Tube -> Come On Baby

I'm not sure about the accuracy of this setlist in partuicular, I think First
Tube is really Last Tube and I don't know what last Tube is, but like I said
I've never heard the Tubes so I'd better shut the hell up.  So I'll talk about
the new tunes.  :)

Bell Bottom Blues, new tune...bluesy.  Cool.  Not much else to say.  Heavy
something was either a tune Trey has not decided the tune to, or maybe he just
mumbled it.  At any rate, we didn't catch the title.  Learning the rules was
the one Reilly, Peerless & Rob heard that sounds like the Meat intro  with a
Makisupa-type beat.  The bassist has a repeated vocal "Is it a wind...or a
bug?" line which has some people calling it "Wing" "Bug" and lots of other
things.  This title was picked by me becuase.  The lyrics paint a picture to me
of musicians learning to play with one another ("leaning to speak...now we know
the rules..." etc.)  I suppose it could also apply to any new relationship.
Somantin is from the 5/8(?)/98 Bearsville sessions tape, much more well done
last night.  Weird tune, nonetheless.  Andre the Giant featured Tony, pretty
funky.  Don't remember much about it except that Trey intrduced it by saying
"This tune is either called [blah blah blah] or Andre the Giant."  It didn't
matter what the [blah blah blah] was becasue everyone erupted for the latter
name.

This Voodoo Child was much better than last night's.  Woo whee!!  And the
encore was very nice, although quite long!

So it has been a pretty fun two days.  Right now me and travelling companion
Eddy are hanging at Purdue University, watching the Cubs-Rockies game.  I keep
thinking they're saying Anastasio is pitching....

Until tomorrow,

- Mark

From: Michael Witt
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 1999 12:45 PM
Subject:      FW: Put away the rye bread, Grandma:  Trey Band in Indy


If you have tickets and are looking forward to one of the upcoming Trey
shows, you might want to skip this email.  I don't want to bring you down.

I thought the show last night in Indianapolis was pretty bad, myself.  I
love Trey, and he will remain my favorite guitarist in the rock-n-roll
genre of music, but last night's show was miserable.  The backup vocals
were downright awful, and they attempted a bunch of 60s R&B/soul/gospel
tunes that rely heavily on them (Oooh Baby, I Can See Clearly Now, etc.)
that SUCKED SUCKED SUCKED.  The acoustic set was reduced to a sing-a-long,
although it was nice to hear some of the new tunes in their early stages.
It'll be interesting to see which ones get picked up by Phish & what gets
done with them.  I would dare to take a step further and say that Trey's
backup musicians were unexceptional.  They had decent energy, but they 
played the same comps over and over again from song to song.  I didn't
enjoy Trey's playing as much because he had to "carry the load" for most
of the songs.  He spent most of his effort maintaining the songs' melodies
and rhythms, only infrequently "lifting off" from them or improvising much
except for his solos.  The other musicians in the band gave him virtually
nothing to interact with or react to.  There were no segues to speak of,
and contrary to reports, very little jamming.  The concert was very
song-oriented, and I don't think that is Trey's strength.  Trey's little
drum duet was boring, in my opinion.  Granted, I realize that it's the
Trey Anastasio Band - and that's EXACTLY what it was:  Trey doing
everything.  I'd much rather hear Trey supported by a good band with
personality and drive, jamming, and improvising instead of this business I
heard last night.

After reading the reviews online, I guess I'm the only one who didn't like
it.  Oh well.  Just so that my opinion isn't discounted, notice that I'm
making no comparisons to Phish.  I actually think I would have been
happier if I had gone with more expectations (I made a point of going with
no expectations) of a Phish-related performance, because then at least I'd
have enjoyed the sing-a-long part of the show more.  Instead, I went to
see the Trey Anastasio Band.

And I hate to sound negative, but I just don't think they're very good.

yf,
Mike


return me to the trey solo page