oysterhead - 11-18-01 - Stephen G. O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL

Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 15:19:28 EST
From: [email protected]
Subject: Oysterhead Review 11-18-01

Oysterhead @ Stephen G. O'Connell Center
Gainesville, FL   11-18-01
 
Just returned from the Gainesville Oysterhead show still basking in the glow
of Trey's "rock-star" persona.  Going into this experience (after 9
and-a-half-years of Phish shows) I was set to enjoy it for what it was worth,
A) Trey getting to play kick-ass straight-ahead "Cock-rock"  B) the
opportunity to see Stewart Copeland live (with Trey taboot) and C) one more
in what can never be too many opportunities to watch my personal hero, Chris
Kuroda, work.  I had no expectations of any last-night-of-tour surprises or
anything not from the album (or Immigrant song or Changes), and I had seen
two Frog Brigade shows this year, so was familiar with what to expect from
Les.  That said, I feel no need to submit a song-by-song review, but rather
state a few observations.
 
TREY:
Trey did not disappoint. He caught fire within minutes of the opening number
and he seemed to take direction on most of the jamming leading them into
varied spaces from dark (Mike's Song-esque) space to rapid-fire wailing solos
to Trey's own unique use of delay loops, Trey was clearly leading the charge
last night. It was quite the experience to see him play the Matterhorn
sitting amongst people who I would surmise were unfamiliar at best with
Trey's love of feedback and delay.  My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Trey's
feedback play through what seemed a repeated chorus from behind us of "what's
he doing ... how's he doin' that?"  He also did an extended delay loop jam
towards the end of another jam which was extraordinary.  Trey's acoustic
playing on "Birthday Boys" was beautiful.  It's a treat to watch his acoustic
playing progress.  The song itself was well placed as a much needed breather,
and a chance to chill-out and listen to one of Trey's tu! nes. Les' banjo
playing on this one, while distinctly Claypool, was pretty damn cool.  I do
have one question for others who were at the show, was Trey not completely
teasing "Cavern" during the extended opening into "Mr. Oysterhead"?  The only
"criticism" I can offer of Trey's performance was that his singing on
"Changes" was pretty weak, but as far as that goes: A) who cares, it's the
last song of Oysterhead tour, Buddy Miles' voice isn't in Trey's range (thus
Page's handling vocal duties on Phish's only take on the song) and B) in
typical Trey form, if the vocals suffer, he more than compensates with the
guitar and this was no exception.  Other than seeing too many "Fire" encores
in the early 90's, I love to hear Trey play Hendrix, and I prefer Band
O'Gypsies to Experience as far as Jimi goes, so getting to hear Trey rip
through "Changes" was a blast.  This was the first live Trey experience for
my friend Curtis (who is my Hendrix Guru) and he was waitin! g for certain
licks, all of which Trey nailed.  OK, ready to hear me talk about something
other than Trey?
 
STEWART COPELAND:
I am 31, and thus, grew listening to plenty of Police, and always considered
Copeland one of the better drummers in the realm of musicians I was exposed
to at the time. He's a lot better than I had hoped. Simply, Copeland rocks.
 His playing is driving, yet not overbearing (unless he wants it to be).
 Years of film-scoring also made Copeland quite proficient at playing the
ambient-type stuff which can greatly complement some of the more outside
jamming Trey was doing at points. His "tirade" to intro "Wield the Spade" is
something to see (my wife and I were joking that perhaps Trey had taught
Stewart the "Kung" chant and that a runaway golf cart marathon would ensue).
 
 
CLAYPOOL:
A little backstory needed. We saw the Frog Brigade in February (with the 6
piece lineup) in Orlando, and they were amazing.  We saw the Frog Brigade in
July (with a four piece lineup) in Orlando, and other than Skerik (who always
comes to play) it left a lot to be desired.  The set seemed short, it was
largely songs they had played the last time at the venue and songs they
pretty much played most of their tour to that point.  The point is, I enjoy
Les' playing.  There is no doubt, the man is a great musician, and quite the
showman as well.  I won't complain about Les' "antics" because usually he's
very funny, and anyone who loves Jon Fishman like I do cannot complain about
any other perfomer's stage antics.  What I will say, is that seeing Les three
times in the past eight months, it seems as if I haven't seem him do much
different.  For example, and this may sound stupid to some of you, but I am
one of those Phish geeks who notices stuff! like this... All three times I
saw him, he teased a few lines from "Dueling Banjos." It's not that I don't
get the joke (I find Ned Beatty humor as funny as anyone else - I'm quite
lowbrow) but does playing that line have to be done at least once every
night?  I simply get the feel from Les that being in a band that doesn't vary
the setlists much doesn't really bother him.  Like I said, I'm not a moron, I
figured they wouldn't play anything but the album because I watched the other
setlists unfold as tour progressed, but am I the only one who is surprised
that the tour panned out the way it did? I would have thought with all the
banter about "Power Trios" Les was doing early in the tour, perhaps some
variety would in cover material would have been appropriate.  As far as his
performance at the show, he was pretty-much on.  He is great at the
hard-driving rock style of many of these songs, and his soloing (despite the
aforementioned "Dueling Banjos" riff) w! as impressive. I appreciate what Les
brings to Oysterhead, and it has been interesting to watch Trey's playing
develop as he plays with other musicians.  Two final points on Les: 1) We're
pretty sure you botched the first few bars of the opening to "Changes", but
it's cool ... and 2) You said this was the "funnest" tour you'd been on,
"funnest" isn't a word.  Yes, I was being sarcastic (I don't hate Les
Claypool).
 
and in the tradition of saving the best for last...
 
KURODA:
(Is he CK-4 in this case?)
What can I say? The man never ceases to amaze me.  Having missed the 1999
Trey tour I never got to see Kuroda light a trio, so last night was a first.
 His rig was smaller than I expected at first, until it went dark and I saw
which lights he brought and thought "Why bring a lot, when you can bring just
the best ones?"  There is really no way to describe what Chris does to anyone
who hasn't seen it, but the people around us who had never seen his work
before seemed nearly overwhelmed at some points. His abilities indoors are
scary, and he brought quite a bit of energy to an already jacked-up show.
 Also, nice touch with the Christmas lights during "Shadow of a Man." Quite
simply, Chris Kuroda is the man, and he ever wants a disciple or protege he
can feel free to email me.
 
Basically, the show itself rocked.  The venue is not without its problems.
 The sound is still pretty weak (anyone who saw or has heard Phish there in
95 or 96 knows what I mean), and I offer this piece of advice to cigarette
smokers, bring some nicotine gum or something because the security staff are
a bunch of fascists who run around shining flashlights in people's faces and
then demand that they instantly put out their cigarette or be tossed.  I have
been in venues where they don't want you to smoke and when the lights are on
they can be somewhat uptight about it, but once the show starts, you can
usually smoke cigarettes undisturbed.  At this venue, you cannot. You will be
hassled and there is no designated smoking area anywhere and reentry is not
an option.  It was quite a sight upon leaving to see people everywhere
lighting cigarettes the second they made it outside after the show.
 
- Jay Kaplan
Tampa, FL
 
PS.  PLEASE COME BACK TO FLORIDA TREY (PERHAPS FOR A TREY BAND TOUR, EH?) 


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