SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Phish Downloads 5.8.93 UNH Fieldhouse, Durham, NH (2007).
This concert was recorded on my birthday. Although I wasn’t there (and wasn’t even really a fan at the time). This is the last show of the tour, so they thank the crew and have a lot of fun with that. This is a great 3 CD set because there’s a lot of strong bonus material at the end of disc 3.The set opens with a rocking “Chalk Dust Torture” and segues into a really tight “GuelahPapyrus”—I love how they can start and stop in total synch. There’s great harmonies on “Rift” and a perfect tempo-change into “Mound.”
Then comes a jamming 12 minute “Stash” with a lot of bass sections. It segues into the delightfully bizarre “Kung” and then returns to “Stash” for another minute before switching to “Glide.” “Glide” has more great harmonies with a very long pause (over a minute of silence, which gets the crowd excited) before ending the song. It’s followed by a great version of “My Friend, My Friend” that segues into a 13 minute Reba.” Trey thanks the crew and everyone for the tour after which they play a very jazzy “Satin Doll.”
The first set ends with a blistering “Cavern.”
Set Two opens with a minute of “David Bowie” before Page turns it into a cover of The Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” (including a Simpsons’ “D’oh”). “David Bowie” returns with a 10 minute jam–no solos, just the band rocking–before mellowing out into a reggae version of “Have Mercy” by The Mighty Diamonds. That two-minute slow down is followed by a scorching soloing conclusion to “David Bowie.”
They take a kind of break with “The Horse,” an acoustic guitar piece for Trey (It’s very pretty and one of the few times I’ve heard him play acoustic). It turns into a great “Silent in the Morning.” There’s a nearly 10 minute “It’s Ice” in which each player really stands out—Mike’s bass, Fish’s drums, Page’s keys—everyone is highlighted in this quirky staccato version which segues perfectly into a 16 minute “Squirming Coil.”
There’s a great jam in this song with a lengthy piano solo. The ending is wildly erratic and weird (and I suppose is technically a “Big Ball Jam”) as they continue to jam for a few extra minutes before launching into “Mike’s Song.” Like “Bowie,” “Mike’s Song” is broken up to include a bluesy cover of “Crossroads” with lots of piano soloing. It segues back into the end of “Mike’s Song” which doesn’t really sound like an end to the song. But it’s followed by a pretty “I am Hydrogen” which launches into a great, funky bass roaring “Weekapaug Groove.”
Towards the end of “Groove,” Page stars playing “Amazing Grace and as it softens up, the band sings a quiet a capaella version of the song. And then the launches into a jamming version to end the set.
The encore is a loose “AC/DC Bag” for a nice end to the tour.
The Bonus songs include “Shaggy Dog” from the 5/8/93 soundcheck. It’s just guitar and voices with good harmonies.
“Tweezer” and “Tela” come from 5/6/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY. “Tweezer” is totally rocking and 19 minutes long. There’s a bass-filled jam in the start and it gets dark and a little crazy in the middle. It slows way down to just one drum and one bass note and then segues nicely into a very pretty “Tela.”
The final bonus track is a crazy 32 minute “You Enjoy Myself” from 5/5/93 Palace Theatre – Albany, NY. It features special guests Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit as well as the Dude of Life. There’s a funky middle section of 3 to 5 note motifs repeated. There’s a lengthy bass solo—just Mike. It segues into a series of descending riffs until more percussion comes in and someone (Dude?) is talking (incomprehensibly) into the microphone. Then comes bongos and horns. I believe there’s even a vacuum solo. The end of the song has a jazzy scat sing along with the guitar and some rally heavy drums at the end.
On many of the discs, the bonus material is sort of interesting to have but on this one, the “Twezer,” “Tela” and YEM” are outstanding in and of themselves.
Here’s a longer essay about this show by Kevin Shapiro.
[READ: May 8, 2017] The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories
It’s always weird to read posthumous stories, especially if you’ve been a fan of the author for years. But like the previous collection Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this book collects stories from when Terry was a young lad (between 1966 and 1973) in the Children’s Circle of the Bucks Free Press. He says that they are as they were except that he tinkered here and there with a few details and added a few lines or notes, “just because I can.”
There are 13 stories in the book, and they explore variations on Pratchett’s themes like that the unfamiliar is not the enemy (necessarily) and that people can and often will be surprised by how others react to things. He also has a story idea that would blossom into the Carpet People stories later on.
“The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner” (1970)
This begins with a great premise: “Uncle Ron Swimble, the magician, enjoyed performing at parties. He did lots of simple tricks and the kids enjoyed him. But when he went to his most recent party, things went awry. But in a way that the kids loved: when his hat fell off, three rabbits jumped out. And when he bent over a flock of pigeons flew out from under his coat. The kids were delighted. But Ron was the most surprised because he had no rabbits or birds in his act. Every time he moved his hands something vanished or appeared. It was crazy. Then they figured out that Uncle Ron had knocked over Mrs Riley’s vacuum cleaner. And as all the kids knew (but the adults didn’t seem to ) Mrs Riley was a witch. The resolution to this story was really delightful.
“The Great Train Robbery” (1966)
This story is set in the wild West, but not the wild west you know. This is the wild west of Wales in the town of Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo. It was a small town until the great Coal Rush of ’81. Things were crazy and unruly as the Wild West is until PC Bunyan biked into town. There were some unsavory characters in town of course, like Big Dai Evans. And a mildly unsavory character named Gorsebush Jones. Gorsebush, a small time poacher knows all about the bad guys in town and he gave the PC a heads up about an upcoming robbery. Thus, he was deputized. Just how two men on bikes are going to stop a train robbery …is quite funny indeed.
“The Truly Terrible Toothache” (1973)
This story was great. In the town of Blackbury A man finds an old book in a box. When he reads part of it out loud, there is a puff of smoke and a flash of light and a man in a long black coat and long black beard stood before him. It is Black William de Blackbyry. His arrival causes a delightful shift in time–Black William doesn’t understand what’s happening in the modern world, so he begins to revert all of Blackbury to Elizabethan times. Cars and electricity don’t work and soon people are speaking Elizabethan English. It’s very funny. What does this have to do with a toothache? The answer is quite funny.
“The Frozen Feud” (1967)
This story returns to Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo. This time the PC must break up a fight between two rival ice cream sellers.
“Darby and the Submarine” (1966)
Darby is a tiny fellow–he rows a walnut shell boat. He and his kind live an idyllic life which is bothered by a duck. Fearing for their lives they get out their anti-duck machine–a submarine. But as soon as you venture underwater you are endangered by the spiny stickleback.
“The Sheep Rodeo Scandal” (1969)
Returning to Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo (in the paper these stories would have been published quite some time apart, I see) this time the trouble comes from sheep rustlers. The two primary sheep owners keep accusing the other of stealing his sheep, but there seems to be a third party involved.
“An Ant Called 4179003” (1970)
Sometimes and ant wants a bit of time to himself. But when an ant escapes, it sets in motion many guards trying to track him down. Can he find help from a rogue bee?
“The Fire Opal” (1968)
This is a story of trolls, who are half as tall as houses. They lived on top of a mountain and their king wore a jewel called The Fire Opal. One day the opal fell off the crown and headed down towards the center of the Earth (where it was originally dug up). The trolls must track it down. They meet wood trolls (dryads), a water nymph, and, perhaps even take a trip to the moon?
“Lord Cake and the Battle for Banwen’s Beacon” (1968)
Returning to Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo and the great Coal rush, it was Lord Cake who upon hearing the news that coal was under the Earth claimed it all for himself. He even had the (fabricated) paperwork to prove it. It all seems legal, so it might take some illegal activity to make things better.
“The Time-Traveling Television” (1972)
This was one of my favorites in the book. Returning to Blackbury, Professor Miriam Oxford, of the Blackbury Museum is handed a fantastic fossil–looks to be in great shape. But when she puts it to her ear, instead of hearing the ocean, she hears a man singing a tune. She is then given a fossilized copy of the local paper dated a few weeks from now. What? Well, it turns out that Bill Posters has begun travelling through time–because of his television. This story is quite brief. The merits and realities of time travel are not even remotely addressed because there is a great piece of story to uncover once someone turns off that telly. Great stuff.
“The Blackbury Park Statues” (1970)
Back in Blackbury, at night the statues come to life, don’t you know. They walk around and chat with each other, reliving their glory days. But one of them is concerned–Mrs Mice, the old lady who feeds birds and squirrels has not come around in a long time. She was a daily fixture. And so they go looking for her. Upon hearing that she has passed away, they also learn that she was a powerful suffragette and helped to earn women the right to vote in Blackbury. Perhaps they can use that information to do some good. This was a surprisingly sweet story one I enjoyed immensely.
“Wizard War” (1968)
This story has lots of elements of the Wizards at Unseen University. It is just a glint of an idea but it lays down some great foundation. Two wizards Robellam and Mallebor live close enough (in towers of course) to mess with each other. So they lob spells at each other all day long. It is up to Robellam’s apprentice Jack and Geryboam, a cat who was Mallebor’s assistant to straighten things out. I love that the rest of the village cannot see the magic but Jack can see it as a red cloud floating around. It’s also an interesting twist that the apprentices can’t solve the problem on their own–they need help from an even bigger wizard!
“The Extraordinary Adventures of Doggins” (1966)
This was probably my least favorite story of the book. It felt pretty long and a little bland . Doggins is a lying in the grass when a zeppelin floats by and drops anchor. The captain asks where they are and Doggins climbs aboard to show them on the map. Then the anchor comes loose and they float off. It’s an adventure! The first place they land is where money grows on trees. It’s a pretty funny conceit and Pratchett sees it through quite well, but there’s no real drama there. Sometime later they are attacked by pirates. They defeat the pirates with some excellent help from a feathered friend (I liked that part). They ultimately head home to find Doggin’s home in trouble and of course they are willing to help out.
“Rincemangle, The Gnome of Even Moor” (1973)
Since I know that Pratchett called his first wizard Rincewind, I’m delighted at the prefix Rince on this character. But this story about Rincemangle the Gnome is basically a precursor to Pratchett’s book Truckers. In this one, Rincemangle, a country gnome, travels to the city where he meets city gnomes. But they must flee the city and the only way to do that is by hijacking a lorry. It’s all good fun and Pratchett’s joke ratio is pretty high here.
This is a really good collection of stories–lots of funny stuff and some really great ideas too.
As with the previous book, the text is manipulated to make it very kid-friendly (large print when people yell, different fonts, that sort of thing) which is a little odd, I feel. But whatever. This edition does not have illustrations like the previous volume did. I’m not sure if the British version has them.
I tried to imagine my kids enjoying these stories, but I didn’t really think they would. Perhaps because they aren’t British and it isn’t forty years ago. But I enjoyed them. And each one brought a smile to my face.
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