I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Slip Stitch and Pass (1997).

After two more studio albums, Phish released their second live album, Slip Stitch and Pass. Unlike the previous live album, this one comes all from one show, although it is not the entire show.  The recording was done at the Markthalle Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany, during Phish’s 1997 European Tour.

This was release on one disc and it sounds brighter than their other live shows.

What I always found strange about this releases is that three of the nine songs are covers.  Obviously, covers are a part of Phish shows, but it seems weird that their second live album is so full of covers, especially when they have now 7 albums to choose from.

The show opens with a rocking cover of Talking Heads’ “Cities” and segues into “Wolfman’s Brother” which has some great funky bass from Mike.  The song slows into a mellow jam of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”  Its slow and groovy, a nice contrast to the other songs.

I love Weigh and am delighted that they played this fun, very silly song: “I’d like to cut your head off so I could weigh it, what do ya say?
Five pounds, six, pounds, seven pounds.”  It leads into a great Jam of “Mikes Song” (one I’ve really wanted to see live but haven’t yet).  After a fun, suitably short “Lawn Boy” they start playing the fun that is “Weekapuag Groove.”  This version teases a bunch of other songs, like: Pink Floyd’s “Careful with That Axe, Eugene,” Rolling Stone’s “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” and The Doors song “The End.”  They have a lot of fun with The Doors with Fish shouting: “he walked on down the hall” and Trey saying, “Father….   Mother I want to cook you breakfast.”

The jam ends with a very quiet a capella rendition of “Hello My Baby”—it’s a little too quiet for the disc, but their harmonies sound great

The disc ends with “Taste,” a mellow jam with multiple singers. It’s a nice ending to the disc.

The full concert setlist was:

SET 1: Cities > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony, Down with Disease, Weigh, Beauty of My Dreams, Wolfman’s Brother -> Jesus Just Left Chicago , Reba, Hello My Baby, Possum

SET 2: Carini, Dinner and a Movie > Mike’s Song -> Lawn Boy > Weekapaug Groove, The Mango Song > Billy Breathes, Theme From the Bottom

ENCORE: Taste, Sweet Adeline

[READ: March 21, 2017] “Oil and Vinegar”

I’ve read a few things by Gray, and they have all been short.  This one is also short.  She really gets right to the point with her stories, and I rather like that.

It begins by telling us that Lissa looked forward to her bath every night.  She had recently discovered the trick of putting a few drops of olive oil into her bath.  She loved it so much that she would disrobe as soon as she got into her house.

Lissa was a shower person–never liked baths at all.  She also never cooked.  She  was decluttering her kitchen and was planning on throwing out the bottle of olive oil.  But she decided to give that suggestion from the magazines a try–a few drops in a bath.  It proved to be a luxurious experience, and she was hooked.

She went on this way for months and expanded upon the routine–a  book, some candles, wine.  It was wonderful.

And then she spilled some extra oil in the bath.  If a few drops made her feel good, more was even better.  A quarter cup healed the calloused ridges on her feet and cured the raw skin on her lower back.  The cleanup was kind of a pain, but it was worth it.

It made Lissa feel better all around. She even talked to people at work now.  She confided in a woman, Susan, that she had begun doing this and Susan was intrigued.  Although Susan wound up confessing that she had been drinking apple cider vinegar–two shots a day for skin conditions and cellulite.

Susan said she was stocking up because she didn’t want to do things by half.  This inspired Lissa to dump an entire bottle of oil in her bath.  It was glorious–like floating.  Unfortunately, the water didn’t drain at all.  She told er landlord a child had emptied the bottle in her bath (and then the landlord started watching her to see if she was running an illegal day care).

When she told Susan about the incident, Susan said that she decided to mix things up poured forty gallons of apple cider vinegar in the bath and climbed in with it undiluted.  She said it stung at first but that it was the best thing–she felt exfoliated internally and externally–her toxins are gone and she’s five pounds lighter.

Lissa decided it was time to go all in as well.  She stopped at the warehouse store and bought a huge load of oil. On the way out she saw a sixty gallon cooler and she had an idea.

She showered and then climbed into the cooler full of olive oil.  Once or twice she held her breath and went under completely.  And best of all, she didn’t need to drain it right away–even though she imagined it was full of toxins that leached from her.

Susan loved the cooler idea and decided to get one for herself.  And then Lissa invited her over so they could bathe together.  What a great twist on the title.

I suppose this story could have gone in a bunch of directions from here–I mean it is pretty weird to begin with.  I was surprised and a little bummed by the direction it went.  I guess it made some kind of sense overall, but I’d have preferred a different direction entirely.

Despite that, I really liked this story a lot.