Setlist 11-11-2005 Somerville Theater

[headnugg]

I really don't get you people who tell us to "shutup and stop whining" or whatever. First of all I'm not whining. Second of all I thought this was a discussion board where you're supposed to "discuss" shit you want to. What I, and it seems like everyone else, wants to discuss is the direction, musically, the Slip are moving in. If you don't want to join the discussion, then don't, but don't tell us to shutup. Maybe you should head over to Phishlive.com, they've got people discussing shit over there that might be more up to your maturity level. Thanks

[headnugg]

judging from that picture I definitely agree......

[francis]

i thought it was awesome, and that they tore the roof off of the place. i enjoyed it.

am i wrong?

Depends, when was your first Slip show?

headnugg, i was mainly talking about this. there's no need to know when he first saw the slip in order to validate his opinion.

[FromTheGrieco]

If I wanted to see high school girls I would go to the mall or turn on MTV. I'm sorry but I do not go to shows to look at jailbait. In fact I think the Slip are paying the price of playing too many high school shows. It completely explains why the entire front floor was mobbed with prep school kiddies waving their hands in unison to the new stuff, then standing emotionless to Cumulus & Gekko.

Everything Headnugg is saying is correct. Some of you people get so offended when someone says anything negative about the music. Every music forum has these threads. Just because BAM are nice guys doesn't mean we shouldn't be allowed to express our fustrations with their direction. Go over to the graffiti board and there are some even harsher reviews of the shows from the past week.

I mean haven't any of you longtime fans noticed how the demographics of the crowd has changed? Up until last year the slip had a very heady fanbase. Where did these people go? My guess is they would rather leave quietly than get on the internet only to be shouted down and be called a whiner.

Get a grip people. They are not immune from criticism.

[Dan]

i found our highschool girls,

[headnugg]

OW NICE!

Love them highschool girls, I keep getting older and they stay the same age. Yes they do.

[tim]

If I wanted to see high school girls I would go to the mall or turn on MTV. I'm sorry but I do not go to shows to look at jailbait

dude, it's just a joke...

All right, all right I'll ask her. Miss, miss! Do you know where the high school girls hang out around here? What? What? That's right, I'm the asshole! I'm the asshole!

[tim]

I mean haven't any of you longtime fans noticed how the demographics of the crowd has changed? Up until last year the slip had a very heady fanbase. Where did these people go? My guess is they would rather leave quietly than get on the internet only to be shouted down and be called a whiner.

seems like this is just an issue for shows around their home turf. i've been to 50+ shows and i'm pretty sure the only all ages venues i've seen them play were festivals, everywhere else has been 18 up. i agree that if i had to put up with the scene some of you are describing then i'd be pretty pissed too.

[Dan]

Its upsetting to see a bunch of kids flapping their fingers representing packing a dip can.

my fucking generation.

Like to see them with respect and passion. Anyone even listen to the show?

[Guy from RI]

I did and it sounded great, the harmonica was a little low on Cowboy Up and it's a shame You had to cut the first song, enen though I won't listen to it.

[booher]

sorry headnugg, but you are actually whining. plain and simple.

If you look at a lot of the new songs there still remains that jazz aspect of the slip...improvisation. You don't hear the same solo in any of the songs. The only one that actually has pretty much all written parts that I've heard is Cowboy Up, which I think is disappointing because the song has so much potential to be a really cool blues jam. But BAM usually don't take it that far.

I'll definitely agree that I wish the Slip would play more older stuff, or even newer "old" stuff. When was the last time you heard something from one of the alive cd's? I've never heard headshot/meowskers, and I think those songs are incredible. And then how many songs do we ever hear off of Angels or Gecko? I've heard Cumulus twice out of three of the last shows I've been to so far, and while I do agree with the guys saying that they're too rocked out, I did enjoy them. I still do wish that brad would take cumulus in a more jazz approach. but all we ever hear out of angels is STTN, which gets old after a while, and Brad seems to have trouble singing it sometimes. But there are so many songs off of Gecko and Angels and the Alive cds that I wish they'd play, and I haven't even touched Does.

But just because I have a longing to hear a lot of songs off of those cds doesn't mean that the new stuff sucks. Soft Machine isn't by any means new, and while CoD is said to be new by Brad when introducing it, it's not in the least new at all (i heard this my first slip show at the axis '04, which I thought had some damn cool stuff...especially clementine). Although, I wish they didn't get rid of the original ending of CoD, because that was the spacey, peaceful feeling that made you feel almost blissful after the energy of the song. But I really have started to appreciate suffocation keep, and the first time I saw them perform All I Saw Was You I was already hooked on that song. (it reminds me of Because by the Beatles). Even Rats is still awesome, although I wish brad would just stick to singing the "if you can hear me now" lyric in the second verse. And I think that I Hate Love is one of the catchiest 1-4-5 progressions I've heard in a long time.

All of the new songs, as said, still have a lot of the same improvisational approaches to them that you're used to. They just don't have the dissidence of a lot of the old hippie jazz. I wish marc would get a few more solos here and there though, I'll say that, and andrew, too of course. But I think that there is enough improvisation in each of the songs to appreciate. I actually thought some of the older songs were a bit overdone. Like last year's 20 minute yellow medicine at the halloween show at pearl street. to me, that was a bit much, and kind of wandered into the "wanking" category. But I've really enjoyed brad's soloing and improvisation, especially, as of lately.

I rambled a lot, but still, if you can't get anything out of the new shows, then you aren't listening enough. You're being too much of a stiff and not being open-minded enough.

[Katie]

booher, thanks for sharing something with a little more detail to it and constructive criticism. (And if you were one of the people in the front row who let me squeeze in for a song or two to grab a couple shots I appreciate it, I'll share the pictures shortly.) Interesting comparison with 'All I Saw Was You,' there's deffinately something about that song...

Personally, I'm kind of glad there wasn't a Children of December this time, although the only thing critical I have to say about that song is too much of anything will make people get sick of it, and that ones been in heavy rotation for 2 years.

[etahn]

The funny thing is I've been bitching about improvisation for years."I wish Brad would just settle down sometimes." "Why does every tune have to go to Venus, then Mars, then Pawtucket, and THEN back to the song?" "Why can't they just play it straight?"

But now that the grass is greener, I'm feeling a little confined. I miss tunes like Ernie Mickey and Witch in the Kitchen. But they've still got heart. Even if Andrew looks bored. Even if the songs seem like carbon copies from night to night. That's just their way. Maybe they _have_ changed. And what of it?

I did hear them play Headshot/Meowskers just a few weeks ago (Saratoga). And I hated STTN for a couple of years, but I love it again. And Cumulus has to keep changing. As much as I've heard these guys, as much as you have, we need to realize that they've played that song a thousand times (maybe), and they need to keep it interesting for themselves. I remember thinking how great it was that Andrew mixed it up in the middle section ("This is a takeovah!"), and how frustrated I was that he wouldn't cop to the classic beat of the happy jam at the end. As Steven Wright says , "Where would you put it?"

Part of me's really upset about this whole controversy, part of me thinks it's a pretty silly thing to get upset about. Part of me wants to hear old stuff recreated, and part of me wonders what's on the other side of door number 2.
Part of me realizes it's not even about me. The Slip will keep playing, or they won't. They'll play more 'jazz' stuff, or they won't. They'll become rock gods, or they won't.
And part of me realizes it's all about me. Whatever it is I'm struck by, awed by, in love with, afraid of, it's always me who's struck, awed, loving, fearing. It's always me who finds that little lick, that little groove exciting or interesting, or just plain familiar.

But I do find the Slip exciting. And interesting. And familiar.


It's almost like a relationship. Maybe it's time to move on. This is one partner who's stubborn and set in their ways, even if those ways mean they'll never be set. But there's nothing any of us can do to change them. And I, for one, wouldn't want that control. If it was my band, maybe. But it's not. It is, but it's not.

My dad, who is an ardent DeadHead for the last twenty years or so (I don't know what he was doing in the sixties and seventies, except raising me and my uncle, er, brother), always says this about the Dead: "About a third of what they do is total crap. And about a third of what they do is 'pretty good'. And the last third is the best shit _ever_." So take it with a grain of salt, you fucking sissies.

BTW, I really like Paper Birds, though I think it was better with the "nobody around to fuck it up" line, and the BSS-style chanting at the end. Like the new jam at the very end. And I really like Wine and White Soda. I think it's the funny beat Andrew throws for a minute during the chorus.

Broken heart, don't feel so bad
Ain't got half of what you thought you had

[sm]

well, im just about to give this sommerville show a listen, and i'll tell ya, i cant fuckin wait. hahaha.

you know what i was thinkin earlier? if you could hear december's children again for the first time, imagine how incredible it'd be? i know they play it alot, but they wrote a great song - i'd probably wanna play it for everyone, too.

i like the dead thing, too, etahn. was it tasoula who wrote something about the dead in her post on graffiti? i think so... i liked that reference, too... both make a lot of sense. i mean, there's not a lot of 80's dead that gets much praise - mind you, there is a lot of great shit to be found, its just the era that gets shit on the most.

anyways, i got a couple discs to burn - way to tape, dan-o!

[RL]

I say what happened to a couple of the songs that had real potential like, the shouters and chasing rabbits? I wish they would bust out with these every once in a while as they are both great songs. I'm sure after the new album comes out they will circulate many of the songs we'd all like to hear....I listened to Somerville and I liked it ok. I really dug the steel drums on suffocation keep and the new man on fire song, it seriously brought tears to my eyes so listen up Scott and let us know what you think.

RL