------------------------------

From: Daniel Martin Baggott 
Subject: Gardenstated Horde-LONG
Reply-To: dbaggott@reed.edu
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1992 07:33:20 GMT

Just got back from Gardenstate Horde...

The band list goes like this:
   Aquarium Rescue Unit ->
   Widespread Panic
   Spin Doctors
   Phish
   Blues Traveler

First time I ever heard ARU, they were fun.  Recognized a couple
songs: Salty Dog, Working On A Building (the Junkies also cover
this), and Sitting On Top Of the World.  One of the guys in the band
particularly impressed me, I think his name was Moon.  He played
this miniature guitar thing, an electric mandolin? (you can tell I'm
not too up on instruments).  He played these cool bluegrassy rifts.
The transition from ARU to WP was very nice: one by one WP
joined ARU and then one by one ARU left.  Nice jam, high energy,
very friendly interaction between the two bands.  I thought WP was
better than ARU.  I think both bands played about 50 min each.  Both
bands played to an almost non-existent crowd.  Then Break.

Spin Doctors seem to be an aquired taste.  I really didn't think that
much of them but started liking them towards the end.  For some 
reason unfathomable to me, they got an excellent crowd reaction.
The singer said he was from NJ so maybe that explains.  Only four
members: guitarist, bassist, drummer, and singer (who didn't play
anything).  To be honest I couldn't wait till they got off so Phish 
would get on.

Phish came on.  The set list goes:
    Landlady, Runaway Jim, Foam, Sparkle, Stash, Squriming Coil,
    Cavern, Vacuum solo, You Enjoy Myself, Suzie Greenberg.

Things weren't quite right for the first four songs, probably due to
a combination of sound, band warming up, and me.  Although
hardly deficient, things didn't cook until Stash.  At the beginning
of Landlady Trey, Mike, and four scantily clad females (who also
came out during 2 or 3 BT songs) did this cute dance.  The female
dancers seemed somewhat overwhelmed by Phish and had 
trouble keeping up with the nimble Trey and Mike.  Foam seemed
shorter than usual.  Stash cooked; audience loved it.  Trey and Page
had some wonderful interaction during Squirming Coil, and as usual
Page delivered a magnificent ending solo.  Cavern hot.  As the final
notes/chords died out the stage lights darkened.  When they came
back on frozen Phish was revealed.  Mike, Page, and Trey were all
frozen in various positions.  Trey looked like he was in a particularly
uncomfortable one.  Unfortunately for the band, Henrietta somehow
escaped this fate and was free to drag out his trusty electrolux and
tortured the band with his noises (much to the audience's delight).
After his solo he went back to his drums and started playing, thus
ending the frozen spell.  All in all the band stood almost perfectly still
for about five minutes!  Very impressive.  (Trey did move a little but
like I said he started off in a pretty bad position, sorta bent over back
wards and staring at the ceiling).  YEM was positively scorching.  Trey
was shaking his head so hard that his glasses flew off, luckily they 
weren't damaged.  At the part where the trampolines are dragged, an
extra trampoline and a microphone were brought out.  Mike and Trey
proceeded to jump up and down for a while with the empty trampoline
in between them.  After a short while the obvious happened, out emerged
a rather large fellow with a hat.  None other than John Popper of BT.
After slapping hands with Trey, John made a climatic pause and then 
jumped onto the trampoline.  The trampoline broke!  The dejected John
Popper, w/ his head down, immediately walked off stage and didn't
return.  Oh well, if only Phish wasn't so cheap and invested in quality
trampolines...  Mike tried to jump into the broken trampoline but fell
on his butt instead.  He looked pretty silly sitting inside of a
trampoline.
The vocal jam was rather short and had no obvious theme.  Suzie was
nice, another crowd pleaser.  Page took his usual two solos: first one on
piano, second on organ.  Both were nice.  And then Phish was gone.

Blues Traveler did not at all impress me.  The only thing that band has
going for them is John Popper.  They opened with Gina, which I liked
(That is the correct name, right?).  The vocals were hard to understand.
BT
was joined by one of the Allman bros.  I'm not sure who, being not
terribly
familiar with them. The guy played guitar and I think his first name began
with a W, maybe Warren.  Can anybody give us the correct name?  After
Phish,
BT was a big let down.  However, Popper has a good voice and plays nice
harp.
The highlight was the long jam with the Allman guitarist.  He exchanged
many
rifts with both Popper and the BT's guitarist.

General comments and then I'll end this hideously long commentary.  Phish
blew the socks off of all the other bands.  They definitely should have
been
the final act.  At least from my perspective, the audience reaction seemed
to
concur with this.  Also, I overheard several conversations on leaving
where
people said something to the same effect.  It was neat seeing Phish with a 
crowd of which a significant portion had never seen Phish before.  This
seemed to add energy and excitement to old tricks (Vacuum, dances,
trampolines, etc.).  The crowd was very much the college crowd.

Thanks for bearing with me,

Dan

------------------------------

From: "Nicholas M. Katz" 
Subject: Garden State HORDE
Reply-To: nmkatz@phoenix.princeton.edu
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1992 18:09:40 GMT


ARU and Wipespread just didn't do it for me. They seemed to be going in no       
particular direction with their music. Spins were much better than I
expected
and I enjoyed their set. From what I can remember (not much) they played
Funky Booty, Cleopatra, and Little Miss Can't be Wrong. Chris Barren is
from
the Princeton area along with all of BT. He seemed to get a nice welcoming
from his home state. Someone even gave his a bunch of flowers that he held
onto
for the rest of the set. As long as Chris doesnt start rambling, which has
a
tendency to do, they really groove well.

Phish was surely the best band that took the stage. The set list et list
was'nt anything
out of the ordinary but it was still lots of fun. I was lucky enough to
have
been seated right next ot Mike and two of his friends. During all the
other
bands he did not so much as tap his foot. On th whole it seemed that Page
had
the sickest solos.

BT was a complete let down. Chan really knows how to ruin a band. His
distorted
screeching must stop! The highlight was when Warren Haynes from the Allman
Bros.
took the stage and jammed. Bt is definetly getting more popular mainstream
but
is getting alway from what I used to enjoy in them. They really cooked in
the
older days, it is a shame.

Looking foward to seeing Santana's opening band,
Jordan

p.s. Garden state arts wouldn't allow taping!!! They said it was state
law. The
bands appologized but said there was nothing they could do about it.

------------------------------

From: twent@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went)
Subject: HORDE at the Garden State Arts Center, 7-11-92
Date: 12 Jul 92 18:07:14 GMT

The HORDE, Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
July 11, 1992
 
Order:  Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit
        Widespread Panic
        Spin Doctors
        Phish
        Blues Traveler
 
Due to bad traffic around the Tappan Zee Bridge and down the Garden State
Parkway, it took my friends and I about 3 hours to get down to the GSAC
from
CT.  We arrived midway through ARU's set.  Not a whole lot of people were
in
the reserved seats yet, and the guys in Phish and the Spin Doctors were
wandering around the place.  My friend Jon, who plays drums in my band,
had
written to Phish and received a reply from Page, so when we spotted Page
sitting with his girlfriend a section down from us, Jon wrote out a note
and we got it to him as he was headed for the concession stands.  ARU
sounded
great; I recognized a few tunes from the disc.  They finished with a long
"Davy Crockett" jam, and Panic joined them on stage to segue into their
set.
We were then surprised when Page appeared in front of us, Jon's note in
pocket, and introduced himself!  We chatted for just a second and Page
headed
backstage.
 
Panic played a hot set, and the place began to fill up.  Among the tunes
that I recognized were Space Wrangler, Walkin', Rock, Pigeons, Love
Tractor,
and I'm Not Alone.  They aren't very exciting to watch, however, and they
suffered from a bad mix.  Their playing was very intense, and the crowd
seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.
 
The Spin Docs took the stage after a 20 minute intermission.  The place
had
filled up by now, and the crowd was really into it.  Eric was having a
blast
and it showed in his playing.  Among the tunes they played were Big Fat
Funky
Booty, a tune I think was called Charlotte's Cat, Little Miss, Jimmy
Olsen,
and Forty or Fifty.  They did a HOT Off My Line and finished with Two
Princes.
 
Ah, what I'd been waiting for.  Phish came on just as it was getting dark,
and
played an INCREDIBLE set:
 
        The Landlady
        Runaway Jim
        Foam
        Sparkle
        Stash
        The Squirming Coil
        Cavern -> vacuum solo -> Cavern last note
        You Enjoy Myself
        Suzie Greenberg
 
Wow.  A bunch of scantily-clad "dancing girls" who'd been dancing around
the venue for the first three bands came out and did the little dance with
Trey and Mike to "Landlady."  Sparkle got faster than I'd ever heard it by
the end.  Stash was amazing, as Trey's solo at the end was really great.
Squirming Coil was highlighted by a great piano solo at the end by Page.
They played a loud, heavyish "Cavern", and get this:  at the very end,
Fish
didn't cue the last note.  Instead the band froze in hunched-over
positions,
and Fish got up and brought the vacuum to center stage.  He played an
unaccompanied vacuum solo for a good three or four minutes, while Trey,
Mike,
and Page were frozen.  Then he got back to the drum kit and hit four beats
on his sticks, and the band hit the final chord to Cavern!
 
They started YEM, and when the time came, the crew brought out THREE
trampolines and a mic stand for the middle one.  I had been tipped off to
what they were going to do by overhearing someone behind me with a VIP
pass,
so I was looking forward to this.  Trey and Mike started bouncing on the
tramps, and then John Popper came out.  He gave Trey a high five and
started
hopping behind the center trampoline.  Then he jumped up on it, but
immediately broke right through!  Looking dejected, he walked slowly off
stage.  It was hilarious.  Mike then fell off his trampoline, landing on
his butt and yanking the cord out of his bass.  After plugging it back in,
Trey jumped off his, and the crew removed the tramps and Popper's fake mic
stand.  The whole band was banging their heads during Trey's guitar solo,
and
Trey was going so hard he lost his glasses!  They finished with a vocal
jam
that seemed to lose half the crowd, who were obviously there to see Blues
Traveler.  They played a high-energy Suzie, and that was that.
 
Blues Traveler came on after another 20 minutes, and finished the nite.
It
was the second time I've seen 'em, and I STILL haven't learned any tunes.
Oh well.  They were FAR too loud, however.  I ventured back to the lawn
and the sound was a lot better.  They were joined by Warren Haynes of the
Allman Bros. Band for their last tune, which was IMO the highlight of
their
set.
 
All in all, a great show.  If only I could have gone to Jones Beach today!
 
        Phish on!
 
        Tony
 
-- 
Tony Went (twent@wam.umd.edu)                           University of
Merryland
     "I'd like to hear my options so I can weigh them, what do you say?
      Five pounds, six pounds, seven pounds..."
                                        - Phish

------------------------------

From: twent@wam.umd.edu (Anthony J. Went)
Subject: MORE comments on HORDE / some replies
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1992 18:27:01 GMT

Just read Dan Baggott's review of HORDE at GSAC, and had to laugh since it
was so similar to mine.  I agree that they should have headlined the show,
but it seems a lot of the crowd was mainly there to see BT.

Dan - ARU's mandolin player is named Matt Mundy.  He really smokes!
Oteil,
the bass player, is also AMAZING -- I was lucky enough to meet him in
between
WSP and the Spins.  I also met John Bell of WSP during the BT set out at
the concession stands!  I love these shows where you can just walk up and
talk
to the musicians.

Howdy to net.head Ed Lee, whom I also met during the BT set.

I have to agree with John Greene's and Dan's assessment of BT.  Popper is
REALLY good, but Chan gets to me after awhile.  Their songs aren't very
strong
and their jams are a bit aimless at times.  And they were just TOO LOUD.

Oh well.  I shouldn't complain too loudly.  Hope everone gets to see them
this summer.

        Tony

-- 
Tony Went (twent@wam.umd.edu)                           University of
Merryland
     "I'd like to hear my options so I can weigh them, what do you say?
      Five pounds, six pounds, seven pounds..."
                                        - Phish

------------------------------
------------------------------

From: canders@isr.harvard.edu (Carl E. Anderson)
Subject: Re: Garden State HORDE
Date: 13 Jul 92 15:52:50 GMT


        Well, it hardly seems worth posting my HORDE comments, but I'll
throw in my tuppence ...

        ARU was all right, but I didn't like them as much as I thought I
would.  I got lost in all the jazzy stuff they did.  Certainly had their
moments though.
        I was pleasantly surprised by Widespread Panic.  I had never heard
them before, and vaguely assumed I wouldn't like them for reasons I don't
understand.  But I was damn impressed and have since picked up their first
CD.  Not bad that either ...
        I thought the Spin Doctors were all right too, and I didn't think
I
would like them either - but they were all right.  Boy is their singer a
nut case.  They played with the beach balls like real sports too.
        Phish, of course were awesome - but I expect that.  They did blow
away everyone else, I think, and got possibly the best crowd response
(though the crowd like the Spin Docs as well).
        Blues Traveller was LOUD, and really just far too LOUD on the
first
several songs - couldn't hear what they were doing worth a damn.
Eventually the quieted down a bit, but they still weren't really as good
as
I thought they would be.
        In all, all the acts were pretty good, but Phish, of course, wins.

        The venue was nice, there was a very cool T-shirt/tie-dye booth,
along with some other vendors.  There were some real wankers of drunken
fratboys in front of us for part of the show - but other than them were
mostly a whole bunch of young ladies who were nicer and most importantly
_shorter_ than the fratboys.  IMHO the young ladies in front of us were
more interesting to watch than the official dancers on stage, too ;)
        (no offense intended, of course!)

        I think the HORDE tour was a very good idea, and I hope they do it
again, and I hope that it gives these bands some good exposure.

Carl

------------------------------
------------------------------

From: Scott Bernstein 
Subject: (none)
Reply-To: bernstei@remus.rutgers.edu
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1992 02:31:51 GMT

Here's my review (already posted to the Spins Net)
of the NJ GSAC Horde concert:

My day at the Garden State Arts Center started out with major headaches.
Upon arriving at the gate with all of my taping equipment (including a
borrowed mike stand and microphone), I was quickly told that they were not
allowed inside, and that if I had any complaints, I had to go talk to the
security people at the center gate.  OK, I did that, and they were not
at all about to bend their policy for me ("We've been turning people away
all day with tape recorders.")  I was told that the unions have a rule
that
if anybody wants to tape at the Arts Center, the bands have to pay like
$10,000 extra to the union, and it was in the bands' contracts.

I was not about to give up so easily.  I sent my friend Rhonda inside,
with the instructions to go to the soundboard and bring back somebody
who looks important.  So who does she come back with?  None other than
John Fishman - drummer from Phish, and Gina from Blues Traveler (anybody
know what her job is for BT?).  They told the guards who they were, and
to let me in, since all of the bands allow taping.  "No way" was the 
response from the guards.  This was at about 4:00.  Gina then told me
to meet her at 5:45, and she would see what she could do for me.

So, I was stuck outside until at least 5:45, missing ARU, and Widespread
Panic.  I just sat right on the outside of the gate and listened, until
some asshole guards came up to me and told me that if I didn't move right
now, they would arrest me for tresspassing!!!  Even after I showed them
my ticket, they wouldn't let me stay anywhere within hearing distance.

So, anyway, eventually, Gina met me and a bunch of other people with 
problems (tapers who were trying to get in, or had been kicked out).
I don't know what the other people did, but I decided to go with plan "B".
This was to use my usual "sneakable" taping setup -- my Sony D-6, a little
clip-on stereo mike, and a WNEW-FM painter's cap to clip the mike onto.

So, I went in, met Gina inside, and got my stuff.  I got in just in
time to see WP's last song, and get set up.  I talked to the people at
the boards, and no soundboard taping would be possible, since there were
security people watching them like vultures.

The Spin Doctors came on next, played a smoking Lady Kerosene, then
Cleopatra's Cat (Chris said that this song was "Particularly appropriate
for today" -- I don't know what he meant by this), Can't say No (Which
I haven't heard since the Wetlands in 2/90), Big Fat Funky Booty, 40 or
50, after which he told us how NOW, planned parenthood, and NORML were
not permitted to have booths at the show.  NORML got the biggest response
from the crowd.  Then came Off MY Line, and a seemingly improv. poem about
the HORDE ("The horde is here, drink beer, cause we won't be back til next
year"),  Jimmy Olsen's Blues,  little Miss Can't be Wrong, and Two
Princes to end the set.  Not too bad, 65-70 minutes.

Then came Phish.  I was very impressed by them, this being my first time
seeing them.  I had just gotten 3 shows on tape the week before, and was
just becoming familiar with their tunes.  The ones that I knew the
names of were:  Runaway Jim, Foam, Sparkle, Squirming Coil, and
Suzy Greenberg.
There was one song which the drummer brought out a vaccuum to the
microphone stand, while the rest of the band froze, and did all kinds
of wierd feedback sounds.  They also brought out trampolines, during one
song (no, it wasn't "Bouncing Around the Room" - they didn't do that one)
3 of them 1 for the  guitarist, one for the bassist, and one for John
Popper who came out, jumped on the trampoline, fell through, and left.
I think he was going to play (they had set up a microphone for him at
the trampoline), but he was so embarrssed, that he left the stage.

Phish ended, then Blues Traveler came on.  Their set consisted of: But
Anyway, an improv acapella tune "We are All A Great Big Horde", Brother
John, Optimistic Thought, a  new song (I think) that I didn't know,
All inthe Groove, a killer long Crystal Flame, another song I didn't know,
and an  amazing Mountain Cry with guest guitarist Warren Haynes from
the allman Brothers Band.  That was it for the Traveler.

That was also it for the show.  In case you were wondering, the tapes
came out good, but my D-6 seems to be having a problem -- at the beginning
of a side, the high end seems to phase in ad out for a while, and then
fixes itself.  This problem is especially bad at the beginning of side
B of th e Spin Doctors -- during Little miss Can't Be Wrong, and
2 Princes.  These are barely listenable, while the rest of the tape
sounds fine.  It also happened during the beginning of Mountain Cry.

If anybody else taped,  let me know, so I can get those songs from you.
Somehow, it doesn't seem to have effected Phish's set at all (although
I have to give  it a closer  listen.

Also, if you  know how to correct this problem, let me know.  I think
I may bring it into the Sony Service center here in Union, NJ; but
that will mean missing taping the Santana and Phish next weekend here
at the Arts Center.  Oh well.

Scott Bernstein

------------------------------