oh kee pah

Fortunately, I have other, more positive associations with the Dead. At a Madison Square Garden show we were about 10 rows back (the only time I got anywhere near the stage), and for the first time I got to appreciate the virtuosity, the benevolent musical force of nature that was Jerry Garcia.

One wall of "Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New York Historical Society" is devoted to backstage passes and lists. Names on the "laminate guest list" for the Dead's San Francisco Civic Auditorium series of concerts Dec. 27-31, 1983 include the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Ken Kesey, Bill Walton, Bill Murray and Robin Williams. For me, backstage meant literally that: at a concert at the Meadowlands with Aris, we were seated behind the stage—the band's backs to us.

Returning to an older band once one has established their main band can often be tricky. On one hand, why bother? If a musician is getting one’s rocks off with a sweet sonic breadwinner, why return to the roots from whence they came? Well, why, indeed, as Ali Baba’s Tahini’s latest release proves to be a pleasant exception to that conservative rule. Umphrey’s McGee guitarist/vocalist Jake Cinninger’s original band has recorded, and occasionally done brief runs of bars and clubs, over the last decade since his arrival in the UM camp in September 2000. Often, the music has been fun, exciting, and off the wall, yet never completely resonating within the scheme of things in the Cinninger ledger.

After several weeks of listening and analysis in the Phisht Thoughts sound labs, the time has come to unveil the latest installment of “Miner’s Picks” for the first leg of summer tour. Because first sets and second sets contained such divergent vibes over the month, I’ve split the picks into a highlight-reel setlist, containing Set I, Set II, and an Encore. Though it was hard at times, I limited myself to one version of each song, so there are no repeats throughout this seven-plus hour compilation. With only a week and a half to go before The Greek kicks off Leg Two, here’s an audio retrospective of Phish’s first month of 2010. Enjoy the selections!

’99 brought “Piper” to new heights on a regular basis beginning in the early summer. On the second night in Oswego, the band took the song for many fans’ favorite excursion to date. A segment of the intro was actually used for the studio version, a testament to its quality. The jam gradually cruised through numerous themes sweeping all 65,000 attendees into private satori moments.