Attendance Bias Podcast Revisits Phil Lesh And Phriends At The Warfield, April 15-16-17, 1999

Monday 04/15/2024 by Icculus

ATTENDANCE BIAS PODCAST REVISITS PHIL LESH AND PHRIENDS AT THE WARFIELD, APRIL 15-16-17, 1999

IT has been twenty-five years since April 1999, a musically awe-inspiring month for Bay Area fans of improvisational rock. Those who loved the Grateful Dead, Phish, Steve Kimock (and Zero and KVHW, among the greatest improvisational rock bands in history imnsfho), and Carlos Santana couldn’t be happier. That's because in addition to the three Warfield PhilSH shows mid-month---which you can (re)listen to here or on Archive.Org or even watch video of on YouTube---April 1999 began with two legendary KVHW shows at the Great American Music Hall. The month also featured two Zero shows at the Maritime Hall the weekend of April 9; three Santana Fillmore shows, the third of which on April 18 featured Trey and Page on a few tunes (my review of it on this site is at phish.net/review-archive/shows/4-18-99.html; a stealth-taped fob-daud of this show used to circulate on DAT, CDR and cassette but I can't find it online today); two Jazz Is Dead shows at the Maritime Hall with Kimock on April 23 and 24; and then a Kimock, Vega, Hertz and (Jimmy) Herring (“KVHH”) show on April 30 up 101 north in Petaluma! This was certainly among the greatest months of music in my life and the lives of many others.

The magnificent, transcendent music of the April 1999 Phil Lesh and Friends Warfield shows, featuring Phil on bass, Steve Kimock and Trey on rhythm and lead guitars, Page McConnell on keyboards, and John Molo on drums, has been exhaustively discussed by many, including in detailed reviews posted in the glow of the events 25 years ago. The shows continue to be among the greatest improvisational musical performances I have ever seen, and you'll hear more from me about that than you ever needed or wanted to know if you listen to the Attendance Bias podcast episode about these shows with host Brian Weinstein; you can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Sticker I Was Handed In Line At The Warfield, April 15, 1999

You can also read reviews of the shows by many folks by going to the legacy reviews page on this site, clicking on 1999 on the left side of the page under Show Reviews, and then selecting April 15, 16 or 17, 1999. I posted recaps of each of the shows hours after they occurred both on Rec.Music.Phish and/or RecGdead, see April 15 recap, April 16 recap, and April 17 recap.

Thank you, Phil, Steve, Trey, Page and John!

Did you attend any of these shows? What did they mean to you 25 years ago? What do they mean to you today, whether you saw them or not?

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12 comments - Link: http://phi.sh/b/6519dbd0

Comments

2024-04-15 3:55 pm, comment by RunawayJim4180

Still the best post-Dead lineup and musical output ever, IMO. It was only three days, but I haven't heard any other group capture the essence of the Dead's jamming style in such intricate and exciting detail. Clearly, Phil had a lot to do with it, but his choice of musicians couldn't have been more spot-on.

TLDR; start here and prepare for your mind to be blown:

Score: 4

2024-04-15 4:22 pm, comment by andrewrose

These shows have aged so damn well. Go back to them often. They transcend any post-Jerry labelling and go to toe with the best stuff Phish was doing in this era. What a time to be alive; wish I had been there!

Score: 5

2024-04-15 6:27 pm, comment by voopa

Only 1 person in our crew was able to get tickets for these Warfield shows, and at 5pm on 4/15 he called me telling me he couldn't go! I had to deal with some family business before leaving the Central Valley but got there in time to catch the UJB S1 closer. Didn't get to experience all of the other great music that was happening in the Bay Area at the time, but I did get a copy of the Santana show (messaging you Mr. Icculus).

Score: 1

2024-04-15 9:07 pm, comment by nichobert

It's really insane when you think about how little two guitar music Trey & Page had played in public, how few of these songs they'd played live before etc

I'm not really a Dead guy, I haven't listened to literally any other Phil shows, I haven't heard any other Kimock since like KVHW days.. but I'd take these shows over Big Cypress any day. The level of improv is too strong for words. Pure wizardry.

Score: 2

2024-04-16 3:26 pm, comment by dutchzoo

@Icculus Really enjoyed that podcast and your recollections, thank you.

I think the person who blessed you with all those tickets was likely Kathy Sunderland. She was on the UBCF board and very close to Phil as I remember. I got totally denied at the Sunday morning on sale at my go to super lurky lightly traveled south bay BASS outlet, and posted my melt on dead.net. She contacted me by email and said she could get me a pair to each night. I was skeptical that she was for real, and to assuage my fears, she actually invited me to her house in SF to pick up the tickets. Unreal.

As a deadhead, kimock freak, and phish fan, this was harmonic Shangri-La. Can't quite believe it actually happened.

Score: 6

2024-04-16 6:59 pm, comment by Icculus

@dutchzoo said:

@Icculus Really enjoyed that podcast and your recollections, thank you.

I think the person who blessed you with all those tickets was likely Kathy Sunderland.

Yes it was indeed Kathy! Thank you for posting this and reminding me of her name, and for your kind words on the podcast.

Score: 7

2024-04-17 7:02 pm, comment by phunkycold

These were four of the greatest consecutive musical nights of my life as I was also able to get into the final night of Santana at the Fillmore on 4/19. I remember the anticipation for these shows was so over the top it bordered on frenetic. I had run into some "in the know" friends at the Charlie Hunter show in Los Angeles a couple weeks before the P&Ph shows in which they spun tales of the rehearsals where Phil, Kimock, & Molo were also practicing Phish tunes. Until that point, I hadn't really thought that Phish tunes would work their way into these sets. Our minds went delirious with setlist possibilities of the band seamless weaving in and out of both Dead & Phish tunes. It didn't exactly end up the way we imagined but that didn't stop us from dreaming it... and dream I did. I have rarely been so excited about an event that it's impacted my dreams... but this one did. A few nights before the shows I dreamt I was in the high school gymnasium, the band was stage, and everyone in the audience was sitting cross legged on the floor singing in unison as the band ran through a version of Uncle John's Band. It was a short dream but that part was so real & so vivid. Needless to say that when they started playing UJB that first night, it was a pretty surreal moment for me... both arms raised high in the air and me yelling "I dreamt this! I dreamt this!". I got some rather awkward and stern looks from some folks within earshot of me but I didn't care. Dreams had become reality.

That week still feels like a dream to me. At the time, we felt so lucky to be witnessing such a momentous occasion in music history as if we understood it's timeless significance even in the midst of the experience. And one that sonically (and now visually thanks to the remastered videos!) has stood the test of time.

Score: 3

2024-04-18 4:33 pm, comment by AttendanceBias

@dutchzoo said:

@Icculus Really enjoyed that podcast and your recollections, thank you.

I think the person who blessed you with all those tickets was likely Kathy Sunderland. She was on the UBCF board and very close to Phil as I remember. I got totally denied at the Sunday morning on sale at my go to super lurky lightly traveled south bay BASS outlet, and posted my melt on dead.net. She contacted me by email and said she could get me a pair to each night. I was skeptical that she was for real, and to assuage my fears, she actually invited me to her house in SF to pick up the tickets. Unreal.

As a deadhead, kimock freak, and phish fan, this was harmonic Shangri-La. Can't quite believe it actually happened.

Great story and thank you for bringing that nugget of knowledge. And THANK YOU for listening!

Score: 3

2024-04-19 4:33 pm, comment by lofus99

It is very interesting how some people like Kimock and the rest of us think his solos are very dull and go nowhere. This Phil band is magic when Trey solos and Kimock plays rhythmic accompaniment. I remember getting soundboards of these shows and was in heaven to hear Trey and Page playing Dead songs with Phil. But after many listens I started getting annoyed with the other guitar player. Who is this guy? From Zero you say? Well, try as I might, could not get interested in Zero. Songwriting was not there....nor the guitar solos either. Finally few years later, Steve came to my town with his band...so I went to see if he could convince me. He reminds me of Bonamassa. Obviously has the chops and skills....but somehow just doesn't grab me when they solo. Seen both of them live and waited all night for some inspiration....which never came. I sat through 2 entire sets of Kimock and his band.......and nothing. A good friend left after the 1st set as "there is no point in staying, since nothing will happen". I gave him the benefit of the doubt, I mean if you only saw the 1st set of some Dead shows, you might think they were no good either! and stayed for the 2nd set.....but nothing ever happened. Lifeless solos. I just listened to some KVHW as did not really know how they played. I am a huge Zappa fan so having Ray there is gold and Alan Hertz is a magnificent drummer. However, I again hear these solos from Steve that have lots of notes played really fast and in the right way, but it just has no passion and goes nowhere. The band that Alan Hertz played with later, Garaj Mahal, is so much better than this KVHW ever was. Fareed Haque is many times the guitar player that Steve is and Kai Eckart on bass! But these 3 Phil shows are absolute GOLD when Trey solos and Steve stays in the background. I mean C'mon! ... just listen to the 2 guitar solos on Big Railroad Blues. One is full of life and makes you smile, while the other is, well, adequate at best.

Score: 2

2024-04-20 1:19 am, comment by NeverEndingSplend0r

I was at these shows and it was the greatest musical weekend of my life. Hands down. It was intense. Trey and Kimock battling it out and there were a few different factions in the audience. Trey mopped Kimock's ego across the floor, standing at attention all 3 nights while Steve must have changed guitars twice each song. Trey knew what made the Dead so special, and propped Kimock up throughout the weekend, while the opposite can't be said as Page filled in that role beautifully to set rhythms for Trey.

Luckily, Phil was standing between the two, holding court like the master he is.

The energy in that room won't soon be repeated, it was the union of 2 families and aside from the Terrapin a few tours earlier, marked the first time Trey was able to openly show his respect for the Dead in over a decade.

A fun story (I wasn't there but it's been confirmed by a few people). Phil had a BBQ at his house during rehearsals and he has one of Jerry's guitars on his wall. Trey looked at it and said to Phil "can I?" Phil said yes. Trey picked it up, tuned it, and put it back. He just wanted it to be right. Such a class act.

The Alligator is the highlight of my musical journeys. Everything I had been searching for was delivered on a psychedelic platter and that version of the song is the epitome of the weekend. Trey must have said "I'd like to Phish-ify one Dead song, and that was the one.

Have so much more to say about this run, but the tension between the 2 guitars and the magic of the unity are the most important.

During the Uncle John's, and older Deadhead family member came up to us, in tears. Saying she had been watching us rock out (we had drink rail in front of Trey, same spot all 3 nights) and was so happy to see Phish heads in action. We made her happy seeing "the torch" being passed on.

One last story - before the Wolfman's, Fish was standing behind the drums sidestage and Molo turned around and offered his sticks to Fish. He turned it down. Another class act. What a run, thanks for rekindling fantastic memories!

Score: 1

2024-04-20 1:23 am, comment by NeverEndingSplend0r

Did you hear about the time Kimock sold out Red Rocks?

Yeah, 200 people and his ego filled the place.

Dude is going to have that Jerry quote about how significant he was on his tombstone. He does nothing for me and his inability to share a stage and communicate as is needed for this kind of music drives me nuts.

Score: 1

2024-04-20 2:02 am, comment by jagjitchadha

I was at all those April shows. My buddy was taping FOB Schoeps in a hat for the Santana w/ Trey and Page 4/18/99 right next to me if anyone wants it.

Score: 1