SlipLive

With the SliP on the cusp of delivering the record that will undeniably change their careers, I thought I might as well add my two cents to the discussion of where they've been and where they may be going. I don't post on message boards often.

I first saw the SliP at the Rhodes-On-Pawtucket Ballroom, Lazy Day Homecoming 2002. At that point I thought I had gotten into the game a little late, seeing that the band had been performing consistently for half a decade already. I had the luck of being turned onto the band by some "with it" pals who played me 'Johnny's Tune' over a now defunct CD player during the waning minutes of a high school jazz band rehearsal. The Homecoming show was pure magic, delivered with the cunning and virtuosity only a wild few possess. It was late fall, it seemed like there were a lot of familiar faces in the SliP community who had showed up to welcome home the local boys, and there was a feeling of urgency in the room.

There was a moment after the SliP took the stage but before they played a single note that sent shivers down my neck. Brad Barr cradled his jazz box, looked at Andrew, stood up on his toes, and took a deep breath. In a time when bands often beat the drum for themselves in self-servience louder than their audience is beating it, this was a band of spirituality and humility I rarely see in the world, nevermind at a sweat-soaked music show. It was a elegiac and inspiring.

The SliP demanded more from an audience then I ever knew an audience could give. It was taxing just to stand near the stage for three hours while the band played intros and outros and inbetweens. But it was worth every minute. What the band gave out was also equally astounding.

I have wound in and out of the SliP's music in recent years. Caught some great NYE shows, got the opportunity to open for the band, walked out of a Surprise Me Mr. Davis show, and saw silhouettes smoking cigarettes at the bar of a Flaming Lips show.

Whatever the future course of events, I feel indebted to an incarnation of this band that we will never see again. The days of the epic are long gone. And that's okay. It seems that people are finally figuring out a way to market the SliP that is taking their music to a whole new audience and a larger arena to be heard. Still, I feel a little disappointment that something is getting lost in the shuffle. Where I once felt there was a band out there that could change people's perceptions of music and what it meant to be an active listener and indeed a participant in the creative process, there is now a very good rock band.

Still best of luck to the band at this exciting time. Eisenhower is a great sounding rock album and it reminds me that everything evolves. Like it or not.

-David

I can say with certainty that the slip are my favorite band. I have dedicated a lot of my time to help promote and spread the sounds of this trio. With this love also comes the community. I was immersed in it and am glad i decided to drown myself in its waters. I have created some amazing bonds and it is always fun to meet new people along the way.

However,

In recent concerts that small communal atmosphere is being diluted. It is no longer 80 proof of hardcore fans, but more like a 5% alc by volume and 95% guitar hero. Nothing wrong with this, and I expected it so its not as much as a complaint as an acceptance. I always showed my friends to the slip as much as i could. These people are getting some of the best music around today.

I see Eisenhower as a pivotal step in their careers. If you look around, how many of us, well, people who are independent, and have followed this band forever, have the money to really support them as much as the y need. They are getting older, stuff is getting more expensive, if they want a future with a wife and children then they need to step up the game and the sure did.

Eisenhower or IKE what ever has all the qualities to thrust this band into the starlight. I will never forget my first time seeing them, hearing those sounds that made my feet leave the ground and ask this question of how they sound that big and be that small. I am not upset at this direction, in fact most bands have this period. Its a transition, a birth just this time its a real different sound then anything else. The flaming lips if you listen to their stuff in the almost 10 years before their number one hit, it is nothing like it is now. Look at how that band has made it and look at their ages.

I love this sound and i feel there is more to come. Zaireeka gave birth to the soft bulletin remember. 2005 was the transition, 2006 is putting it to the test and 2007 will be taking over the musical world!

There is stuff i miss surely but i wont sulk in the past. There are other young bands that i am also into to occupy my time (grimis)

just dont think this is the end. if you really dont like it then stop sulking and move on. with alot of bands, there are albums i dont like some being the later stuff. LIke yo la tengo's newest album i like it but not as much as the older ones. everyone has favorites, mine is gecko, but IKE aint to far behind. The slip however still reign over all my other musical loves.

not sure what else to write so ill end it here-
keep this going

Dan don't be silly. the new YLT album is great, way better than Summer Sun (not as good as that soundtrack album they did though).

anyway The Slip. in my opinion...I love the new direction, it's great, but then again in my opinion tightly structured music that goes somewhere is far better than jamming to no particular place. and until they veer into Flaming Lips territory and play literally the same fucking show every night, then even the more common repeats in setlists don't bother me, because I honestly think that Even Rats and Paper Birds have got better and better each time I've seen them. but I didn't see my first Slip show until 2005 (sorry late bloomer here) so my view is pretty different anyway.

Rhodes-On-The-Pawtuxet was an awesome show.....


Dan, when/where was your first show?

I can honestly say I'm not definitely sure when my first show was. I'm thinking it was at the Wetlands in NYC sometime in '99 or so. The earliest show I really remember though was the set they did at the Jammy's in 2000. But I had been going to the Wetlands so much prior to then I figure I must've seen them there at some point before the Jammy's.

its nice to see so many people on here talking about the rhodes.. that was my first full slip show (herd them first opening for the flecktones at ppac... fell in love with melina.. bought jumby.. i was in love.) the earth will dissever opening is still one of my favorite concert memories, absolutely blissful. i can see my 16 year old self in a few of the pictures on phrazz's site. its so exciting to see these guys blow up... i really hope ike puts them on the map, lord knows ive been pimping them to all of my friends for 4 years now.

and i really odnt think the days of the epic are over. my last show was the narrows over easter break last year and i remember a really ill eube opening the show... and i saw them about 4 times that fall (was in RI for the semester because of katrina) and remember some sick cowboy ups... and a particularly ill gecko on halloween. so who knows. when i herd airplane/primitive for the first time (lupos 12/29) it reminded me of all the old marc compositions... jumby, planet of inexperience... and that was blissful. the boys still have it, theyve just learned how to make the studio work for them, and i think its made there sound grow in incredible ways. i love seeing the bss/built so spill/flaming lips influence on these guys, its a great direction.