Dan wrote:i got a tape sadly I was asked not to circulate it.
correction, im not so sad that i wont circulate it because it really is a horrendous recording of vocals.
-Dan
I feel bad for your efforts, Dan, and hopefully BAM won't play the Middle East again anytime soon. Paradise is a much better room and has far fewer meat-heads and better management (easier to sell out also due to its location). The crowding up front was extreme, and there wasn't time to fly mics on the ceiling to pick up the vocals off the mains. That AT doesn't have enough side coverage to get the monitors, even still, you don't know which ones have the best vocals until the show so it's an impossible situation.
Those five or six frat types who squashed everyone also didn't help matters and really had me "on guard" for most of the show. Luckily they didn't get worse, but they really bummed out a lot of people who were up front to enjoy the music peacefully and likely were Bonnaroo expatriates.
Thanks for remembering these main components of the setlist. I was too busy being a wall to even think about writing songs down, and I was even distracted for long periods of time to not want to be burdened with a camera (ie, essential to keep both hands ready for business). I have never felt such an aggressive scene front and center at a Slip show, but after wandering all over the room, I realized these few
Jabroniswere perhaps the only ones in the whole room and hopefully will never go to a Slip show again (if Karmic Fate has its day in court, which I am confident it will -- I am not confident these clowns will ever learn, otherwise I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, which I always give at least once even to the most belligerent of clowns).
Now to explain further the lack of more chatter about this weekend,
being up until 8 AM every morning may dissuade accurate or timely recollection. I can illustrate further with specifics, but I don't know you all well enough, and those who I do know well enough were already in the same
Dawn Patrol caravan to sunrise (Fri & Sat. nights...DC doesn't belong in that category). So if we all had Way Too Much Fun, the stories may be late and laden with cobwebs. Hard to write things down when you lose your pen. [That's a metaphor, BTW.]
Anyhow, I sort of know how that tape will sound and can't blame it for not being released. You snooze, you lose. Middle East is not taper-friendly. After this last show, I'm not sure it is entirely BAM-friendly (though subtraction of drunken bullies may have made it more tolerable). The view from the stage and the view from the crowd are different -- and I'm still not sure if Marc hit the ceiling with his bass by accident or on purpose.
The Bowery is a much better room (and was a longer show). That's one of my favorite venues on the East Coast and has really brought some names that I would expect to play much larger rooms. My pick for best-for-BAM Boston venues is still the Paradise (until something better comes along). Landsdowne clubs get over too early and Somerville has too many seats. ;-} Plus, Paradise has those tiers and balcony so you can get good views from most any location, which spreads out the crowd and helps avoid pileups in the center. The Middle East's design I feel encourages crowding and the PA is oppressive as is the low ceiling and shoddy lighting. I doubt I will ever return to that pit of despair. In spite of all that bothered me and my friends personally, we still had a great time and the show was quite excellent (but Bowery was the best of the three shows I saw, overall).
-Phrazz
P.S.: Next Fully Celebrated show is:
July 2 - 10:30pm
Matt Murphy’s Pub
14 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA
Green Line D Train to ‘Brookline Village’ stop.
If you're in the area, do not miss this show!
