Here are a bunch of posts to rec.music.phish that I've made. When I write about
Phish, I write with more passion than when I write about anything else. Since
this stuff is all done over the internet, I usually don't edit or anything,
so bare with the mistakes. The emotion that pours out is more important to
me than a little grammar :^). Enjoy!
-Dan
-----------------------------
Date: 10 Oct 95 02:43:16 EST
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Reply-To: Col. Forbin
Subject: Songs That Don't End...(7/1/95 Stash)
To: phish@phish.net

After reading all of the outrage about the non-ending Hoods, I thought I'd 
post some random stuff about the ends of songs and some other, generally 
random stuff. First, I'd like to ask what people thought of the Stash on 
7/1/95 at Great Woods. While I was at the show, grooving to Stash, I felt 
the tension rising. It kept going until I was beginning to think that I had 
a legendary Stash on my hands (or my ears?). I was SO ready for the release 
at the end of this song, but lo and behold, a very interesting segue into 
Strange Design appeared out of nowhere. I won't go so far as saying I had 
"blue-balls" as some of the witnesses to the no end Hoods have been reporting, 
but it was somewhat of a letdown. Nonetheless, when Page started to sing, 
disappointment left my thoughts entirely. It really is a beautiful song; I 
agree with the title proposed at Lowell by Fishman: "Ahhh, Page Sings." I LOVE 
his voice, especially on this song, which really tugs at my emotions. But, I 
confess, at the end of this song, I hoped for a Stash Reprise, if you will, 
because there was still a knot of tension inside me that had not been completely 
released by the wonder that is Page. I was to be denied, however, and was 
treated to the slow release of Acoustic Army (and the chore of shushing 20,000 
people at once). As if to appease me (yeah, right), I got a Hood (in it's 
entirety) and a Suzie. And this is saying nothing about the first set, which 
left me reeling. All-around good show, if you ask me (aren't they all?). But, 
back to the Stash. This WAS an incredible version, with some spaceiness, but 
the question is: why didn't they finish it? I refuse to believe that they were 
"too far gone" to bring this song back to the Stash motif and finish it off, 
especially after standing in the Providence Civic Center and hearing them bring 
Bowie back from the land of bird calls and subliminal messages (DO IT NOW!). I 
really have no idea why this song didn't end. Don't get me wrong, I love a good 
segue (and this was a very good segue), but not at the expense of cutting off a 
killer Stash. Just thinking about the last riff of Stash, I hear the crowd roaring 
in my head and my mouth starts to water. Does this mean I am having some sort of 
Pavlovian response to Phish music? I don't remember ever having Veggie 
Burrito/Grilled Cheese extract sprayed in my mouth to the ending of Stash, 
but maybe Icculus is playing with my mind. So, does anyone know why this 
happened? (not the saliva thing, the segue) 

One more question for the net at large. Harry Hood, when it does end, has 
two different ways of doing it. 
One: The sing/yell the culminating "I FEEL GOOD!" at the end of the song.
Two: They don't sing/yell the culminating "I FEEL GOOD!" at the end of the song.
I prefer the first version, but much to my chagrin, the version on _A Live One_,
and the last show where I heard Hood (7/1/95 again) were of the second type. 
Has the "I feel good!" disappeared? If so, why? One more thing about the 
ALO Hood. Try listening to it with headphones. 

Okay, and if you've made it this far, you get to read a grovel. I know 
there are choice SBD versions of 12/30/93 out there. This was my first 
show (I know, I wasn't there on 12/1/84, I'm not a real fan), and the tape 
I have of it was made on a recording walkman with a built in condenser mike 
from far stage left and is 3rd gen. Needless to say, my copy sucks. So any 
kind souls who have an HQ SBD version of this show, mail me and we'll set 
something up. I have 100+ Phish tapes and about 20 assorted others (Percy 
Hill, DMB, WSP).

One last thing. The Omnious Seapods are playing up here on the 14th, and I 
have no idea what to expect. Could someone please mail me a little info 
about them? (i.e. band setup, style, etc.)

Thanks,
Dan 
Daniel.W.Mielcarz@dartmouth.edu

"The only thing I'm NOT into is turning your amp up and putting your head 
down and just listening to yourself." -Trey Anastasio

-----------------------------
Date: 26 Jan 96 00:11:05 EST
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Reply-To: Col. Forbin
Subject: Re: Does Phish make you laugh?
To: phish@phish.net

I had an experience just 10 minutes ago similar to what many other people
responding to this thread have had. Not the "boy, when Fishman has that 
light-up cape, that's funny" type, but the "I just heard an amazing piece 
of music and now I'm beaming like an idiot" type (not to demean the former,
I've had my fair share of those). I was sitting in the library,
supposedly studying, but actually just glancing at my book while listening 
to 10/7/95 Set 2 (Spokane). As Frankenstein ended, and I heard the beginning
notes of Hood, I closed my book, closed my eyes, and opened my mind. I'm not
one to analyze a song like Hood, down to the times of the jams and stuff 
(not that there's anything wrong with that :-). While I was listening, I 
just let my mind wander, away from gene mapping, away from the 8:45 test 
tomorrow. I started to see the music. (Keep in mind there are no drugs 
involved here ;-) During the "Harry, Harry..." section, I saw a kind of trial,
where the judge, jury and audience were all focusing one question upon poor
Mr. Hood. As the final "Where do you go..." came in, I saw myself back at the
12/11 Portland, ME show, with my best friend Jake and 10,000 other people. 
That was one of the best shows EVER btw, but that's for another post. Then the
"Thank you Mr. Minor (Miner)" part hits. Suddenly, I'm thrust into one of 
those sped-up city movies, where all of the cars are flying by, their headlights
turning into long streaks. The scene whirls around me, I don't know which 
direction I'm facing anymore. But it doesn't matter, all of the views are the
same. It's really an angry image, but soon enough: "Thank you Mr. Hood..." 
Now I'm out in the mountains of New Hampshire. And I'm stepping from peak to peak!
I don't know why this is happening. This continues through the quite [sic] 
section of the song. When the jam picks up in intensity, I'm in a huge 
field, that stretches as far as I can see, just running around aimlessly.
The whole nature theme to my imagery continues, as I'm taken by my brain 
from one beautiful location to the next. My heart starts to race, my breathing
speeds up. When the jam hits the familiar structure that usually signifies
the coming end of the song (you all know what I'm talking about, right?)
I'm back at the show, dancing like crazy. The song ends, unfinished to some,
but in this particular circumstance, completely mind-blowing. 
I open my eyes and see...the same people in the library, frowning over
their studies. A huge smile appears on my face as I watch them, their 
ignorance to what just went on inside my head is incredibly amusing to me. 
What they thought was simply another sleeping guy in the library was 
actually someone having a deep, musical experience. This just struck me 
as REALLY funny. I picked up my books, went outside, whistling
"You can feel good about Hood" as walked home. Experiences like this remind
you how great life is, don't they? Until you fail the test the next day...
-Dan
[Ed. note: I got the best grade on a test since I've been at college :^)]
--------------------------------
Date: 07 Mar 96 18:03:36 EST
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Reply-To: Col. Forbin
Subject: April Guitar World
To: phish@phish.net

Buy it! Or at least read it in the store =). There's an interview with Trey
and Marc Ribot (the other guitarist on Trey's album).  The article suggests
that "Surrender to the Air" is a tribute of sorts to Sun Ra.  It's pretty 
damn cool. Here are some quotes:

"I'm in a position now where I can expose a lot of people to this music.
Phish fans probably wouldn't seek this music out on their own. After 
hearing "Surrender," hopefully they'll go out and buy Sun Ra albums."
-Trey

"People who think only about money don't realize that everything you 
play goes directly to the throne of the Creator of the universe." -Trey

"This is the purest album I've ever been involed with.  This is what
I wanted to hear, and, untimately, that's all I care about.  I don't 
have much faith that people will quite get it. but I don't care, because
 I *do*.  But I truly believe that if this was the shit they played on
  commercial radio, we would save the world."
-Trey

 "A lot of people who are into Phish loved that 30-minute version of
"Tweezer" on our last album, A Live One.  And if they liked that, they're
going to dig this."
-Trey

"My first impression was, "Oh, my God! They're going to have 11 improvisers
there. It's going to be a big, terrible mess." But when I came down there
I got a second impression, and that was what stayed with me: it turned out
that there were some great musicians there, and some great improvising 
went on during those sessions."
-Marc Ribot

Interviewer: "Some critics say that this type of music is only for
musicians. What can a person who is not a musician get from this record?"
Trey: "I don't think that's true. I don't care what critics say.
When you're in the rock world it's so easy to get caught up in spending 
your day thinking about things that are completely unimportant in the
scheme of life. I've done that over the last 12 years and somehow managed 
to keep my feet on the ground.  But we continue to do what's important to 
us. There are definately a lot of pressures. This album was purely a matter 
of getting together with people I wanted to jam with, and that was it. I 
don't want to say what I think people should get out of it. They're going 
to get whatever they get. I know what I got out of it.  Beyond that, it's 
up to the individual."

This was a very good article. Trey gives very intelligent interviews, and 
this one was no exception. The 30 min. Tweezer comment made me feel good 
about STTA (brand new acronym, you heard it here first).  After that 
previous review I saw I was a little scared, but Trey put me at ease. 
I do know one thing-it'll be more worth my money than Crimes of the Mind.  
One more thing- when you're looking at the pictures, flip back to the 
picture of clapton in the table of contents. Not a bad resemblance...
-Dan
-----------------------------
Date: 03 Apr 96 02:13:03 EST
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Reply-To: Col. Forbin
Subject: Re: Expanding our musical horizons! (Bela Fleck & JMP)
To: phish@phish.net

--- TKKELLEHER@hcacad.holycross.edu wrote:
From: TKKELLEHER@hcacad.holycross.edu
Subject: Expanding our musical horizons!
Date: 1 Apr 1996 20:27:25 GMT

I had to post a message about a concert I went to on Friday March 29.

I saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in Concord, NH and it was one of
the best shows I have ever seen!  Those of you who have been turned on
to jazz who have not seen Bela should make their way to Ticketbastard
immediately and find tickets for his show.  

The bassist, Victor Wutan,  (I'm not sure if that is exactly his last name)
is the best bassist, without any debate whatsoever, that I have ever seen.
Bela plays so many different styles on the banjo.  The crowd is completely
silent, staring intently at the musicians, throughout the whole concert,
with enthusiastic cheers between songs.  The concert is for serious
music listening, not partying like a lot of a Phish show is.  At one
point the whole crowd yelled at one person for clapping.  You would have
to see it to believe it.

[Snip-although it IS worth reading]

That's it for now!  See ya.

Tim K. "tkkelleher@holycross.edu"

--- end of quoted material ---
I too was at the Bela Fleck & the Flecktones show in Concord (which happens
to be my hometown).  It was simply amazing.  Like Tim says, if you haven't 
heard Bela before, find your way to a show. Buy their albums.  Buy Bela's 
solo stuff. Buy Victor Wooten's solo album (A Show of Hands).  Trade for 
some tapes.  You won't be disappointed. Here's the setlist with some comments:

Set 1: Vix 9 
Stompin' Grounds 
Scuttlebutt 
True North 
Victor Wooten Bass Solo-The obnoxious clapper Tim referred to was 
chastised by the crowd and by Bela. The clapper was doing loud single 
claps during a bass rendition of amazing grace.  People tried to get 
the guy to shut up, but he wouldn't. Victor gave the crowd a peace sign 
and stopped playing.  Bela then came out (him and the rest of the band) 
and said something like "Victor has worked for a long time to write 
something that he could play for you people, and I think you should 
let him play it." A HUGE cheer went up from the crowd, and Victor started 
up again. It was really great to see people in my hometown getting in 
to good music. 
New Grass Revival Tune
Life Without Elvis-One of the best songs of the evening.  Everyone 
put their licks in on this one. 

Set 2: Future Man Drum Solo-Future man, if you don't already know, 
plays an instrument called the Synth-Axe Drumitar. It is shaped somewhat 
like a guitar, but has buttons for drums. This is a very simplistic 
description, but the music he creates with it is anything but. I'd have 
to say that he is as accomplished as any conventional drummer that I know of.
"Gro Bev Deli Gas"-My friend (Jake Morrill, to give him credit) and I 
settled on this name. It's the name of a store off of I-89 in New Hampshire.
Rainlands
F# Tune
Bela Banjo Solo-Things Bela did with the banjo during this solo and 
during the other parts of the night were amazing. You can't believe 
it until you hear it.
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo*
Jayme Lynn*
The Landing*
Cheeseballs in Cowtown*
E:Sinister Minister-The best bass jam of all time. By the greatest bass 
player of all time. Hands down. Unless there is another version of 
this song with a better one :-)
*=Unplugged
The woodwind player they had as a guest was Paul McCandless (sorry if I 
have his name wrong). He was great as well. He made better music with 
the Oboe & Contrabass Clarinet than I have heard (of course I have a 
little bit of a bias towards jazz over some other things.).  Again, 
I have to say that this was a completely amazing show. I love Phish shows, 
but it's great to check out other bands once in a while. I especially 
enjoyed the way the crowd was quiet, attentive and for the vast majority, 
sober.  For once I'd like to go to a Phish show where the fans are 
like that, but alas, I know it will never happen. 

Pretty good weekend, so far, right? Well it got better. The next night 
I got to see the Jazz Mandolin Project. Here's the setlist:
Set 1:
Monkey
Noz
Retail
Ballad for Gordon Stone (of Pedal Steel Guitar fame)
Airmail
Phil's Big Party
Opera

Set 2:
Sabre
Gourd
Nardis
Mandonian
Country Open

This was another great scene: a bunch of couches lined up in a coed frat  
living room with the band up at the front.  I had front row, although 
there wasn't a bad seat in the house.  These guys were great!  Jamie 
Masefield played so fast on the mandolin that his hand blurred. It was 
hard to believe that he got so much sound out of that little instrument.
It was a completely amazing show of musicianship. It was a liitle 
different type of jazz than a lot of people are used too, with a little 
more classical influence; without horns, the rythym section gets to be 
showcased a little more. See these guys at all costs. Which shouldn't 
be too much;  this show was completely free. Overall, it was a great 
weekend of non-Phish music. 

Now for the deal: I taped both of the shows with my Sony D-6 (which is 
analog, for those of you who don't know).  They came out good; Bela 
was taped from the 4th row and the JMP from about 8 feet. I'd like 
to set up some trades for basically anything, but especially HQ fall 
tour Phish. If you're interested, drop me a line at: mielcarz@dartmouth.edu. 
I probably won't be able to respond to everyone; so I'll have to limit 
it to the first five people who mail me that have stuff that I want. 
Sorry if it sounds like I'm being an asshole, but I just can't keep up 
with any more trades than that. Also, if you happen to be on John 
McLean's tapers digest, don't mail me. Just keep your eyes open for 
the tree that should be happening pretty soon of the two shows. 

Keep those ears open!
-Dan
--------------------------
Date: 03 May 96 01:45:34 EST
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Reply-To: Col. Forbin
Subject: Re: **What Does THE HOSE Mean to YOU?**
To: phish@phish.net

The man of many names, dirkch00@dons.ac.usfca, wrote:

>Several people have written me recently asking about THE 
>HOSE, and what exactly It means.  The following does not 
>profess to be Gospel.  I would be *THRILLED* to hear what 
>anyone has to say about their encounters with Hose, or 
>their understanding of Its meaning.  The Dead were masters 
>of It, though It wasn't, and It isn't, what they would 
>call "Hose."

[Good stuff snipped, because the article isn't on my news server]

My take on the Hose (which I capitalize because of its great importance in my life):

There are probably two different types of Hose, or two different definititons 
depending on who you are in relation to the music (ie the music maker or the 
audience). 

Since I know a hell of a lot more about being Hosed in the audience, I'll 
try to explain it. I've actually been thinking about this a lot before this 
thread came up, because of some stuff I've read for a philosophy of religion 
course (ahh, the joys of humanities requirements for a science major). We just 
started this book called "Religious Experience" by Wayne Proudfoot. He devotes 
the beginning of the book to this German and his book "On Religion: Speeches 
to the Cultured Among its Despisers" from 1800. The guy's name was Schleiermacher 
and he wrote the book in order to try to enlighten his creative, intelligent, 
skeptic about God friends(a description that fits many of "us," to make a 
sweeping, elitist generalization), and prove to them that God (or some being) 
exists. Okay, enough background. Here's a quote from Schleiermacher's book:

"Sense and object mingle and unite, then each returns to its place, and the 
object rent from sense is a perception, and you rent from yourselves, a feeling. 
It is this earlier moment I mean, which you always experience yet never 
experience...It is the holy wedlock of the Universe with the incarnated 
Reason for a creative, productive embrace. It is immediate, raised above 
all error and understanding."

That, to me, is the way things are when I get "Hosed." Proudfoot goes on to 
say that Schleiermacher thought that Science, Morality and Reason/Rational 
Thinking are separate from Religion/Feeling. Or rather that the first three 
cannot be used to explain religion/feeling. Proudfoot also says that this 
feeling is "a feeling of absolute or total dependence upon a power that is 
distinct from the world." This power, I think, is the music that Phish "directs" 
through the Hose. It is pure emotion; untarnished by rational analysis.

Just to restate it, the analogy of the Hose is that the music is already there, 
but Phish (or whoever) shoots it through a hose and sprays the audience. The Hose 
doesn't happen very often; like people have said. It's not in every Harry Hood, 
not in every 30 min. Tweezer, not in any Bouncing ;). Is it really that surprising 
that true "Hoses" are rare, considering the description above? I don't mean to say 
that when there is no Hose, it is bad Phish. I mean, the music can make you feel 
good, even without getting Hosed (for example every Phish song I've heard). BUT, 
a "true" Hose (IMHO) is when you cannot explain the way you feel with reason (nor 
with words, really). It is a truly religious event; "senses and object mingle and 
unite."  

What I've actually come to realize is that the only spiritual feelings I've ever 
had in my life have been at Phish shows. This might mean that I need to get out 
more;^) but I don't think so. What it really means to me is this: if there is a 
God or Supreme Being or some Force or something beyond our reason, Phish has a 
direct line to it. For ME, at least.  I'm not saying that Phish does this for 
everyone, or that they KNOW what's out there. Hell, [insert bad band here] 
might do this for some people (although,if Trent Reznor is reading this, I do 
think some amount of talent is required). I'm just trying to explain a feeling 
that I have that I can't do without resorting to some transcendental explanation.

So, I guess that's my definition of the Hose. Oh yeah, one more thing: drugs 
are NOT needed to experience the Hose. They can be fun now and again, but it 
seems to me that there is something false about a spiritual event occur with 
the help of THC. THAT, my friends, is another discussion altogether. And Charlie 
(or whatever your name may be), if you want to hear a Bowie from 95 that I felt 
Hosed me while I was there, check out Portland, 12/11/95. Even if it doesn't 
have IT, it's still a damn good jam. Well, if anyone managed to read the whole 
post, I'd love to your response: good, bad, ugly? E-mail replies only please. 
Thanks for reading.
-Dan 
--------------------
Subject: Unfinished Harpua at The Cliff "Claven" Ball
From: dmielcarz@aol.com (DMielcarz)
Date: 25 Aug 1996 21:10:40 -0400
Message-ID: <4vqtig$jmc@newsbf02.news.aol.com>

I know that people have probably read more than they ever want to about
this song, but I've been doing some thinking. There are two times when
Trey will tell a story during a show. Harpua and...

COL. FORBIN>FAMOUS MOCKINGBIRD

Now I guess Trey was probably pretty excited when he came up with the
encore story, but how perfect would Forbin>Mockingbird have been. Hell,
one of the three words in Mockingbird is FLY! The story would have come so
easily, and the plane could have been the Famous Mockingbird flying in to
Icculus. The best part of this would have been that they could have
finished the song. I saw two great shows last weekend, don't get me wrong,
but the Harpua left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought Trey was pissed
off, and this in turn made me pissed off at the people who I thought were
pissing him off. It turns out it was planned. That's good, but, couldn't
they have planned to use the "story song" that would have worked much
better under the circumstances? Think about it... the sparkler plane
flying around to Mockingbird. It would have been sheer beauty, rivaling
that of the glider during the orchestra. My heart aches just thinking
about it. Oh well, they did what they did, but I just thought about how
great it would have been to end the weekend this way.

-Dan
Col.Forbin@dartmouth.edu
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mielcarz/
---------------------------
Date: 15 Sept 96 
From: Daniel W. Mielcarz
Subject: "Free" Sound Clip Now Online
To: phish@phish.net

I was checking out the elektra phish page to see if they had any propaganda about
Billy Breathes. They had that same old stuff about ALO, but at the bottom they had 
added a sound clip from Free (the single, that is). Now before you run off to you 
web browser to try to download it, let me warn you: elektra's web address has 
changed. It isn't too hard to get to, but you might want to get the clip the easy 
way by downloading it from my phish sounds page. Here's the address:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mielcarz/sounds.html

There is also a link to the new elektra phish address, if you have a problem 
with .aiff sound files. I assume the propaganda about BB can't be too far off.

While I'm at it, I'll give my opinion on "Free" the single. I like it. 
Why? Simply put, it rocks like there is not tomorrow. I've always wanted a 
Phish song that I can turn up the volume and knock stuff off the walls with. 
Wilson didn't quite cut it for me, but Free has earned the title of "Official 
Phish Song to Blow Your Speakers With." Some of you might not like this, but 
I do. I think Hard Rock is one of the few places where Phish has feared to 
venture, and now they have overcome that fear. Believe me, I don't want Phish 
turning into {insert hard rock band here}, but I am glad my favorite band now 
has a song that is just plain LOUD.

Also, concerning the lyric change from "we go sliding by" to "the ship goes 
sliding by." I have a pretty farfetched notion of what this might be about. 
Actually, this is what I would want it to be about, because I think it would 
be pretty cool. Last summer, inspired by Prince Caspian, I re-read the Chronicles 
of Narnia books in which he appears. I posted a pretty detailed account of what 
he did in those two books (Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). 
Alas, this post has been lost forever. Anyway, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 
Prince Caspian and friends sail "afloat upon the waves" to the end of the world 
(Narnia is flat, in case you are wondering). Along the way, they meet the 
Dufflepuds, who have "stumps instead of feet." When they get really close to 
the end of the world, one of Caspians loyal companions, Reepicheep, a talking 
mouse, decides to keep going. He gets into a rowboat and rows right to the edge, 
and, basically, right up into heaven. Now I forget what the mouse said, but I 
can say with certainty that it was a "tiny cry" (cry as in yell) because, after 
all, he IS a mouse. What I'm trying to say is that "we" who "hear a tiny cry" 
are on the Dawn Treader as we go "sliding by" the mouse on our way back to Narnia.  
I really likt thins, because the album would come full cricle, starting and ending 
with Narnia  references. Alas, the other imagery in the song (i.e. "floating in the 
blimp a lot") doesn't fit this picture at all. Too bad. 

Now that I am officially rambling, I have one more thing to say about Narnia: 
the last two chapters of _The Last Battle_ (which is the last book in the series) 
contain the perfect metaphor for a Phish jam: "Further Up and Further In"  I'm 
not going to go too deep into it, because I think that everyone should have read 
these books as a kid, but it works like this: everyone is running, further up and 
further in through worlds that get more clear, more beautiful, more REAL. If this 
isn't what a Phish jam does, I don't know what it does. 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
-Dan
Dan.Mielcarz@dartmouth.edu
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mielcarz/