Poll: In what year did you first become a fan of The Slip?

[rhythmicstorm]

10 years! holy shit. 1998 the choppin block. after the show i was so blown away- i had no idea what had just happened in there, but i knew i liked it.

[macfly]

03/21/2001: Kuumbwa Jazz Center: Santa Cruz, CA
Set I: Instrumental, Trane-ing, From the Gecko> ?> Kick Samba> (Take A) Beetle to the Badlands (orig I: My Room, Trane-ing, Gecko > Jam > Phase One, (Take A) Beetle to the Badlands)
Set II: Instrumental (jazz standard), Johnny's Tune > sitar instrumental, So Dope, The Air is the Body > With or Without You > The Air is the Body
Encore: Moral Decay (with Grayson Farmer on Trumpet)

Rode downtown to the Kuumbwa that evening as a last minute decision, after seeing the band's name pop up in live show trading circles time and again. show was sold out, but luckily for me i mistakenly arrived an hour before doors opened, just as the venue released 5 more tickets, so i hurried on in, grabbed my favorite seat in the second row, and watched the beautiful people trickle in. the opener ("My Room") piqued my curiosity as the swing drew me in and got my foot tapping. the moment that "Trane-ing" hit me, i felt something that i can really only describe as an awakening within. that awakening, i think, was the initial conception of my connection with Slip music that has continued to strengthen and expand to this very day. i can recall my bike ride home under the moonlight that night, full of hope and happiness.

there's a heavy swing feel that permeates this whole show. of note is a classy version of "Trane-ing", a sick little sitar jam that arises out of "Johnny's Tune" (it gets hot towards the end when the band starts trading 8's with Androo), and the closer, "Moral Decay", with Grayson Farmer on trumpet that had the whole room grooving and bouncing. also check out an early version of the opening chords of "Sometimes True To Nothing" nestled inside a most heartfelt and moving "With Or Without You" which, in turn, is nestled inside "The Air Is The Body" (d2t7).

i've closed my eyes many times and listened to this show, and each time it makes my heart smile and reminds me of the happiness, inspiration, and growth that i experienced during the two years that i lived in Santa Cruz and attended Cabrillo College. the show at Kuumbwa was a very special part of that time in my life, so now i share the recording with you and hope that it inspires and warms your soul!

[Jason Booth]

Where is 'The Viper ?'

If you refering to Skye, he just moved back from Australia to Oakland..

[bradm]

It was fall, 2002 for me:

11/23/2002: Le Swimming: Montreal, QUE (CAN)
Set I: Munf, Driving Backwards with You, Johnny's Tune, Else%, Aptos, You Might Say, Rhythm-a-ning
Set II: Cool #9(?), Jumby> Get Me with Fuji, Pass It On#, In Your Dreams> Planet of Inexperience> In Your Dreams, Wolof, Mr. Meowskers, Yellow Medicine, ?
Encore: Just a Closer Walk with Thee^
Notes: Kosta: hkharlan at yahoo.com # Bob Marley cover from "Burnin'" ^ funky chicken tease % Built to Spill cover song.

We rolled in to Montreal from Ottawa, got to a friend's place, who informed us that the show wasn't on, or maybe it was. The band didn't have their paperwork in order to get across the border, so went home, ditched their gear, and came back across as individuals/tourists. They borrowed gear from a punk band the sound engineer was in, and proceeded to melt our faces. I remember patching my DAT recorder into a matrix, but can't find the tapes.

Aloha,
Brad

[stephen]

June of 1998 at the Middle East when they opened for John Scofield. I'll admit that I didn't quite "get" what they were about then. But then I saw them in May 2000 when they did this Cinco De Marley show at the Sommerville Theater and they just blew my mind. Been on board ever since....

[harrymcq]

Whoa, that 2002 show looks pretty epic, I would love to hear some tapes from that!

[kiwi]

As you can see, I don't post here often but randomly started thinking about the band again so I decided to seek out the board... so I figured I'd share my story.

I was introduced to the band by my RA freshman year at Boston College... he'd always talk about them, and then they played at our student union, which happened to be right next to my dorm. Right next to as in, like, 50 feet away heh.

02/07/2001: Boston College O'Connell House: Chestnut Hill, MA
Set I: Intro > Munf, Nellie Jean, The Woods, Co-op City, Air is the Body
Set II: Johnny's Tune> Torque, My Room, Gecko>3rd Stone from the Sun jam > Gecko, The Weight of Solomon> Julia's Kitchen tease> Weight, Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Great show, and thus began my love of the band!

[jpkuckens]

First show was 6 years ago today, Earth Day 2003 in Amherst. It was also the first time BAM played Children of December, apparently they wrote the progression on the ride to Amherst.

04/27/2003: Amherst Common - Earth Day Festival: Amherst, MA
Set I: Children of December> 74, The Witch in the Kitchen, Back in Fifteen Minutes, Moral Decay, Get Me with Fuji, Dear Melina, Love and Tears*, Mr. Meowskers*
Notes: * Brad on 12-string green electric.

I was spoiled to get a Meowskers.

[jibooer]

best shows I can remember are the early ones w/ the Miracle Orchestra. those miracle slips were the stuff of legend as far as I am concerned...

[tote]

I was a young pup of 15 when I piled into Torph's car and caught my first sound of The Slip one afternoon at Bishop Connolly high school. Upon asking, I was informed that the name of the tune was "the social" which was really a much more sophisticated answer than I was prepared to appreciate (the social having been something they used to play during Cumulus, essentially sounding just like it, as far as I remember). This was in early 1998. I ended up making it to the Met Cafe soon after for this incredible show:

02/27/1998: The Met Cafe: Providence, RI
Set I: From the Gecko, The Highlands, Yellow Medicine*, Julia's Kitchen> ?, Cumulus, Eube, Steel Drum Zion
Notes: Miracle Orchestra opened. Whole show with Timo Shanko on Tenor Sax. *w/ Yippy Yuck Poem (Shel Silverstein). [cleantone - Mon Feb 28 2005]

The next time I saw them was at a Frat party at Brown University. I only managed to get in because my friend worked at the Hot Club for one of Andrew's best friends and got us on the guest list. It was actually pretty chill.

09/12/1998: Brown University (Fraternity Party): Providence, RI
setlist is missing on Slipbase, but it was something like Tempest Forget It, Children Of Atlantis, 5446 (Was My Number), an African jam with Tyler, a djembe player from Providence who was part of Abdoul's group.

I have to bring up the Steel Drum Zion from the middle east with members of Lettuce because of how awesome it is...

There really are too many great shows to mention. One other that sticks out in my mind is New Years Eve with ThaMuseMeant from their first tour with The Slip. That Hallelujah with all those musicians on stage was magical, naked, and almost frighteningly real, for the entire audience at Sommerville, I'm almost certain. I hope it's not bad luck trying to describe it. It's not the first time anyway. And of course, it probably doesn't translate onto tape. But anyway, that moment, after the Ball dropped and Brad had just led us all in the defeating of the evil Robot creatures by the singing of one single note, all decked out in his eggshell regalia, was one strange moment indeed. It was my introduction to the way-under-appreciated stage antics of The Slip. Using almost half-goofy cringe comedy, they managed to get the complete attention of the entire room for Hallelujah (you could hear a pin drop), and what followed was indeed beyond words. The song after that was a blistering Honey Mellon... The reason I mention it: it's interesting that the boys are still so close with ThaMuseMeant and particularly Nathan after all that time. It makes me feel more certain that I was not just imagining the magic in that room. Have I mentioned that I love this band? Not to mention all of you who make what they do possible..

[gruszy]

It's so cool that many of these responses boil down to an exact moment when people begin to love The Slip. The same is true for me. I first fell in love with The Slip when I heard them play in our school dining hall for a charity "Empty Bowls" event hosted by Bob Mogilnicki. I was a junior in high school at the time. Maybe that's just an impressionable time in life, and that can explain the intensity with which I connected to their music. Or maybe those boys simply have a Gift.

Through all of the years since then, I have continued to love their melodies and the evolution of their sound over time. It hits me in the same sort of place in the heart/mind that is triggered by familiar flavors and smells. Nostalgic but present all at the same time.

I only just found this forum and I'm glad that there is still a venue for The Word. Just skimming through, I recognize names that have been directly related to The Slip since I first became a fan. I'm sure that I've met some of you in the past. Perhaps at Niagara Falls? (There was a really sweet couple who let me tag along from a show in Rochester, way back in the early 2000s. If you're on here, thanks!)

Pleasant tidings,
Amanda

[Phrazz]

10 years! holy shit. 1998 the choppin block. after the show i was so blown away- i had no idea what had just happened in there, but i knew i liked it.

Or maybe 1997...I remember Timo on sax.

02/14/1997: Choppin' Block Pub: Boston, MA

Set I: 54-46 Was My Number, Sea Legs, Munf, Yellow Medicine, Alsoa, Nasty Fucking Chicken Pizza, Weight of Solomon, Dark Blue, Children of Atlantis, Honey Melon, The Clap, Hello Sunshine (w/ Liz) (Featuring Timo Shanko on Tenor Sax)
Notes: [Cleantone]

However, I also remember friends telling me they played the 1st Ho-Down (which I missed):

07/06/1996: 1st Annual Ho-Down: Amherst, MA
Notes: The Slip played at Schleigho's 1st annual Ho-Down, held in Eric Krasno's back yard. [Cleantone - Thu Nov 25 14:46:23 2004]

Which maybe was a year or two after I caught them in the basement of the Red House (which may have been my actual first gig)...which could have early to mid 90's. I think my roommates knew them when I lived on Brainerd Rd....that was 1993ish...oh, forget about remembering back then! Too bad my first digicam was 1999...just think of the history of photos that was lost to the sands of digital time!

Can someone please contact the slacker who runs SlipBase and tell him to bring it up to date?

-Phrazz

[harrymcq]

Yikes I was trying to add a few years to the poll and ended wiping out the poll data! I will check later to see if there is an easy way to recover...

[joeyoudon't!]

First heard Headshot>Meowskers in a friend's car in 2003 when I was 12 or 13, I'd been heavy into Phish, but this resonated with me a lot more. Got alivelectric, worked my way backwards hearing Angels > Does > From The Gecko. Parents wouldn't take me to concerts or let me go alone, so my first show wasn't until Nov. 2005 @ the Somerville Theater. Mind was blown, seen maybe a dozen shows since then, catch them whenever I can, often when logic and reason would say I couldn't. I've loved seeing the few shows I've seen of them lately, but I'll always regret not going to a single show before '05 when they were playing more regularly.

[otherones]

08/24/2001: Evolve Music Festival: Antigonish, NS
Set I: Don't Foil the Mohel, (Take A) Beetle to the Badlands, Yoyo My Little Brown-Eyed Babushka, Dogs on Bikes

08/25/2001: Evolve Music Festival: Antigonish, NS -------Slip & Friends
Set I: Wolof, Trane-ing?, Weight of Solomon, ?, Moral Decay*