…. it’s coming….

i know it’s been a long, long time friends… but updates are coming soon!

see you all in DC, Berkeley and Telluride…

latest phish rumored tour dates

enjoy!

sorry…

i know i haven’t posted much lately. i’ve been busy with other things writing…

SO, to make it up to you I present a four-camera audience-shot video of phish at Festival 8 doing the Stones’ ‘Torn and Frayed’ (highlight of the set, for me at least)

sweet job by team hood.

under new management: a large dome that wasn’t managed well before

the Broomfield Events Center, known best for putting on shows with the caliber of New Kids on the Block and Warner Brothers on Ice has been bought out by AEG and will now be called (wait for it)….

THE ODEUM.

apparently getting to the place is a real pain in the ass, even though it is a stone’s throw from 36… and the sound isn’t that great either.

hopefully they completely redo the motherfucker inside with some sound panels, etc. so that it doesn’t suck.

otherwise, it’s a pretty swank place to have as just a concert venue. i’m pretty excited about it.

from westword:
“To that end, Morris and his team have been working with the city, which is in the process of erecting the pedestrian bridge mentioned above, to improve access and to add parking and additional signage. The sound, perhaps the most important part of a music venue, is also being revamped — which is probably a good thing. After attending some shows at the venue, Michael Roberts commented in an earlier blog item that “it’s essentially a concrete barn, with the acoustics that description implies.”

“I’ll be very honest with you,” said Morris. “The building has some deficiencies, but we knew deep down we could fix them if we took it over. And we’ve been working on that, actually, in our heads, as we’ve been doing our first shows there.””

from the denver post:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13904356

“Music fans in the northern suburbs, rejoice: Starting in February, more concerts than ever are headed your way, to the Odeum.

Some of the biggest names in Colorado music will officially announce on Thursday the Broomfield Event Center’s new name — the Odeum, according to an industry source — along with upcoming renovations and the lineup for the opening weekend of Colorado’s newest music venue.

Peak Entertainment — made up of AEG Live Rocky Mountains and Kroenke Sports Entertainment, which already are partners on the annual Mile High Music Festival — has managed the city of Broomfield-owned venue since June.

That means some powerful businessmen are intimately involved in the site, which failed to draw steady business under previous manager Broomfield Sports and Entertainment.

Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz owns AEG Live, and promoter Chuck Morris fronts his local Rocky Mountains division. Denver sports mogul Stan Kroenke heads everything at KSE, meaning he runs the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Rapids, the Pepsi Center, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the Paramount Theatre — and other sporting franchises, such as English Premier League soccer team Arsenal.

Morris and Paul Andrews, KSE executive vice president, will announce the changes at 10 a.m. Thursday at AEG headquarters, 930 W. Seventh Ave. in Denver.

Ever since Morris and his crew, including Don Strasburg and Brent Fedrizzi, left rival promoter Live Nation to form a local division of AEG Live in late 2006, the group has been on the hunt for a 3,000- to 6,000-seat venue to call their own. The team considered building a venue or taking over existing space.

They are credited with building the Fillmore Auditorium into one of the hottest mid-sized rooms in the U.S. Currently, they operate the Bluebird and Ogden theaters.

With Anschutz and Kroenke on his side, Morris will try to accomplish with the Odeum what he did with the old Mammoth Gardens, transformed into the 3,600-capacity Fillmore Auditorium.

Peak Entertainment has started renovating the 6,000-seat, $43-million Broomfield venue, built in 2006. Plans have been tossed around for a Colorado Music Hall of Fame to line its hallways.

Starting in February, shows that might normally go to the Fillmore, Magness Arena, the Denver Coliseum or the Wells Fargo Theatre could be directed to the Broomfield space. With Morris’ clout and AEG’s backing, the total 2008-09 concert load will likely triple or quadruple at the venue in 2010.

Fans should expect various sporting events, including matches of the roller derby league Denver Roller Dolls.

“It’s not a definite-definite yet, but we’re moving toward being up there in Broomfield,” said Tracy “Disco” Akers, a skater with the Roller Dolls’ Mile High Club team. “It’s very exciting. It’s a bummer that we’re be farther away from Denver, but hopefully, our fans will come up to us — and we’ll also reach a new demographic.””

the first shows to kick off the new venue are march 4 and 5, with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh’s Further project… something i’ve been really excited to see.

hopefully this place gets some really cool mid-sized shows…

AWESOME festival 8 video…

Came upon this REALLY cool photo/video montage of Festival 8 today…

click the link to get to it… i still can’t figure out how to link vimeo vids to this damn thing…

(another) Cervantes update…

sounds like they have a lot going on up in the old Casino Ballroom in Five Points right now… some really good things too (including ::shocker:: cold beer!) I’m also looking forward to what the new layout will be with the bathrooms all being shifted to the stage right side of the room as well as hearing what a decent soundsystem will do for the flatness that is that concrete-and-wood-floor box of a room. I wonder what chemical they are using to remove the wookie-grime from the handrails in the balcony, though… that always confounded me how they were so nasty.

the place deserves it, honestly and I’m glad that such a historical venue is going to shine on for a while longer (the list of people who played there, from BB King to Aretha Franklin, would blow your mind, as well as it’s history being chronicled in Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’).

maybe they’ll even put in some vents or retractable something-or-others in the roof to air that bitz out during hot/smokey shows. I always thought that would be a great idea for places like that and the fillmore….

anyway, this is a pass-on from Duncan, via [pt.com]:

So…it’s been a month and this has been a lot of fun (stress) so far. This really is the job that I have always needed and I will definitely thrive at it. Thanks for all the support from everybody so far!

UPGRADES UPDATE:

1. STAGE – The stage is brand new and f’ing kick ass. It extends out on the front sides where they were squared off before. The subs fit under the front of the stage now instead of free standing on the sides like they were before.

2. SOUND – We’ve got 2 new Meyer Mica series line arrays that are actually fitted for a venue like Cervantes’. The hanging speakers that we had before were more fitted for an outdoor venue. Let me tell you, the sound is incredible now! I don’t even have an ear for sound but I can tell that there is a HUGE difference.

3. BATHROOMS – We will be breaking ground on the bathrooms on Monday, November 16th. The women’s room will be moved to where the current green room is and there will be at least 5 stalls with 5 toilets not including the current green room bathroom that will remain. All of the toilets will be new ‘power flush’ models. LADIES, YOU WILL NOW HAVE 6 STALLS WITH 6 TOILETS THAT SHOULDN’T STOP UP ANYMORE.

4. COLD BEER – Beer is now being delivered on Thursday instead of Friday which gives us an extra 24 hours to cool the beer down for Friday night shows. We’re also being more proactive about making sure to stock the walk-in with as many cases as we can so that once it comes out of the walk-in it goes straight into the beer cooler behind the bar.

We’re making progress! Come down and say ‘hey’ sometime. I will definitely be here. This is my new home!

just got home…

and i’m beat like a rug. more on the last night of the fest, plus pics and hysterical stories in the morning.

for now, i need to eat some indian food and pass the heck out.

-b

opening video/99 album mix

here’s a the video they showed right before the band took the stage for the Exile on Main Street set… great way to hype up the crowd before the second set. thanks to my friends at Coventry blogspot (http://phishcoventry.blogspot.com/) for the link:

Eclectic Method Goes Phish from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Sleepy time

At the daytime acoustic set and it’s hot. Erin and I are laying in the shade be the beer tent listening and lounging.

Setlist is
Very mellow so far, so everyone has sat down up front.

Acoustic curtain!!

good morning.

phish’s approach to the Stone’s ‘Exile on Main Street’ was spot on. As Nickel said before the show, ‘I’m expecting them to show me this album in new ways’.

The background singers and horns were exactly what the band needed, and the sound from the stage was bigger than anything i’ve heard phish put on. The way they pulled off Tumbling Dice through Loving Cup was amazing, actually. They jammed out tumbling dice a bit, and Loving Cup was easily the best version they have ever ever pulled off — complete with horns and background singers. Stop Breaking Down was pretty raging too.

The third set:
Backwards Down the Number Line >
Fluffhead
Ghost
When the Circus Comes
You Enjoy Myself

was awesome. BDTNL was very well done, they really explored that song out this time around and while the transition into fluffhead wasn’t as clear as they probably intended, by the time the song took off it was perfect. Trey was adding little guitar noodlings all throughout the composed part. There was also the biggest glowstick war I ahve ever seen during this and then into Ghost.

We left the grounds around 1 a.m., got home and grubbed by the hot tub for a while. headed back to the fest around 11 for the daytime set, then back home for some NFL football before heading back up for the rest of the festival.

not much else to report. my brain hurts, so i’m sorry if this is just rambling.

SET ONE
Sample In A Jar
The Divided Sky
Lawn Boy
Kill Devil Falls
Bathtub Gin
The Squirming Coil
Runaway Jim >
Possum
Run Like An Antelope

SET TWO
Rocks Off
Rip This Joint
Shake Your Hips
Casino Boogie
Tumbling Dice
Sweet Virginia
Torn and Frayed
Sweet Black Angel
Loving Cup
Happy
Turd On The Run
Ventilator Blues >
I Just Want To See His Face
Let It Loose
All Down The Line
Stop Breaking Down
Shine A Light
Soul Survivor

SET THREE
Backwards Down the Number Line >
Fluffhead
Ghost
When the Circus Comes
You Enjoy Myself