I'm Killing It! Sticker Raffle #1: First Spafford Show
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@damian
The squeeze ball was brilliant btw. It's something I've planned on adding to my kit for anytime I'm travelling with a group. I was often on the verge of wandering absently into the streets of New York, or about to freak out when I'd hear that happy squeak, and I'd be back in the fold.
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@Tim-Reid
Those WiscoBoys will seriously hijack a weekend!
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@SassyPete Dude it was a TOTAL coincidence. I had had Mustard at the field near my house that day and happened to bring the same coat to NYC. But yeah, once it was there I realized it's a staple.
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@myanruth
That's a great story! I remember That feeling of excitement and amazement leaving my first show. -
@damian
That's funny! Keli said it was a happy accident.
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@Andrew-Hilston
I forgot about free shows! Those are indeed a thing of the past. Hahaha -
@catfishsteve
Describing the band is always a struggle. To people outside the scene it just ends up being a bunch of gibberish. "So, they sound like funk, rock, reggae, and edm? So, they're just a big mishmash?"
To people in the scene it's describing them without constantly dropping other band's names that is difficult. And trying to convince them that Spafford is better than other jam bands without sounding like you're using hyperbole.
Ahh, the struggles of a Spaffnerd.
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@Poppa
I remember that show too! Even though Spafford played early they brought more people than anyone except Panic I expect. There was nobody watching the first act or two. Then Spafford took the stage, and the crowd finally arrived! They brought the crowd to its feet and set the rest of the acts up nicely. It was my first time seeing them at a festival, and I just remember being so disappointed when they were done in 45 minutes. I think they did 4 songs.
I guess I could check the show stats for that. Haha -
@SassyPete Yes, it was a little too short, but it was enough to know I was hooked and would be attending a lot of local shows. Made my year living in Arizona all that much better and met some awesome people in the process.
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Whats up Spaffnerds! Thanks to this website, I now know the date of my first Spafford show. It was 5-19-12 at the old Quixote's in Denver. Back in those days I was constantly going to shows looking for good new jam bands. Little did I know, the show I was about to see would become my favorite band.
When I saw this band called Spafford on the Quixote's website, I decided to google them and came upon a video of the band covering Men at Work's -Land Down Under. The video was from September 2011, I think. It's still up and still hilarious to watch the people dancing in that video. I'd never heard of anyone covering this song before and Spafford completely jammed the shit out of it. From that moment, I was hooked and had to see the show.
I remember getting to the show a little early to play ping pong. After crushing my friend, we decided to sit down next to the stage. We ended up talking to this guy sitting next to the stage for about 10 minutes. His name was Nick and he played drums for Spafford. Nick was a super cool and gave me a great first impression of what these guys were like.
I don't remember much of the show, so I'm really hoping a setlist pops up someday, but there were a lot of Phish covers in the second set. I do remember talking to Brian at set break and trying to convince him to move the band to Denver for more exposure. He respectfully declined, and I will always admire them for staying close to home, even if it meant spending more time breaking out.
I continued to be amazed at how much this band and fan base has grown over the last 5 years. It was rough seeing these guys play Denver in front of 10 people sometimes, but to hear they are playing the Ogden (1600 people), I couldn't be happier for this band, the fans and the future of improv music.
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I've listened to spafford for a while but my first live show was in Denver on 4/1/17. So amazing! I got a few friends to go see them at summer camp and they fell in love with them too! I've got 3 shows planned for the rest of the year as of now and hoping for more!
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So somewhere in 2013 somebody in the comments sections of blog about another band, someone dropped some links and said to check out this band. Spafford, Eh? Sounded like a misnamed band. Boy was I wrong! I quickly moved to Archive and dove into E&E's wedding show and it was over. I was All In. These guys played covers I liked and their originals were extraordinary sounding to me as well. The sound had massively familiar elements with broad brush strokes of originality. Let's face it, everyband starts out as a cover band. Get over it. As the universe was working it's Lila, I was fianlly able to make it out to the Sail Inn in January 2014. I was awarded the infamous free ticket through their FB promotion gag that I religiously bought in to. It was a great show and well, now I can confirm that this band is on a very exclusive list of bands I travel to go see. Sometimes I am wearing stuff at shows. Say Hi!
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I may have only seen a few spafford shows. Seeing them live for the first time. It was 12/30/16. They literally blew my mind. It gave me that feeling that you are witnessing something truly special. Which only about a handful of bands have done for me. The insane Eyes opener to start the show. Proved to me that this band is here to blow the roof off this place. I was a little tired after the Phish show, but that Eyes gave me the push I needed. That tingle that slowly lingers up you spine into your brain. Then releases and explosion of serotonin. From the audio sensory overload. I was re-energized, and I went straight up to the front and was there to stay. I knew I was about to dive head first into the void. The Bee Jam> All In were sick, and finally gave me a chance to catch my breath. I knew from that moment on. To me are one of the few bands. That I will vividly remember every part of where and when I was the first time I heard them (11-10-16 driving in my car . Listening to 10-29-16.) and seeing them live on 12/30/16. The whole show I had fun dancing with friends, and watching one of my best friends dance in a cage above the stage. One thing I will never ever forget, and cherish forever. Is the weasel from 12/30/16. It still gives me chills just thinking about it. The ending had me dancing so hard. I thought I was going to drop. I stopped to look at Brian and he just kept going and going. He absolutely destroyed it. So I just pushed it. The set ended, and I was in a state of pure bliss, amazement, and speechless. The whole show is great I wish Nick nothing but the best. I'm excited to see what happens next. Walking into outer space with my heart, mind and Eyes. Open!!!!!!
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Alright, @Cody-Soule, it looks like your post has the most upvotes at the time of closing of this here raffle. Great work, awesome story and can't wait to see you at a show. I'll contact you via private chat for your mailing address!
I'm going to toss the names of everyone who contributed in this thread into the ole randomizer and the first 6 names will get 100 stickers each. I'll post the names momentarily.
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@Jayson1974
@phokus
@ElGranJustino
@SassyPete
@Andrew-Hilston
@becky25You are all killing it!
I'll send a private chat to each of you in order to get your mailing addresses! -
My first show has yet to occur. I will be seeing these bad motherfuckers at their first ever (as far as I can tell) show in Music City!! I've already got 3 friends convinced to come as well. I know they are gonna kill it. Its gonna be glorious!
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@BushCow said in I'm Killing It! Sticker Raffle #1: First Spafford Show:
My first show has yet to occur. I will be seeing these bad motherfuckers at their first ever (as far as I can tell) show in Music City!! I've already got 3 friends convinced to come as well. I know they are gonna kill it. Its gonna be glorious!
You will not be disappointed and make sure to come back and post your war stories!
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@RadiantDarkness Don't worry. I've been listening for several months now and have loved just about everything I've heard. I am doing everything I can to introduce everyone and anyone that is willing to give a listen. Very positive feedback from all except my wife.
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As usual in late to the party and the contest is closed, but how can I not add my story to this amazing thread?
I started listening to Spafford thanks to @damian in the Fall of 2016 - gave Live Volume 1 and 2 a couple spins. I was impressed, I enjoyed, but I wouldn't say I was a convert. Fast forward to 12/30/16 and I am ready ticket in hand for my first Spafford show. Traveled to NYC with @damian and company for what was my first Phish show in way too many years and a mind-blowing experience. Danced my ass off at MSG to that spectacular performance and then followed mustards squeaky ball to American Beauty getting lost several times along the way with Diana. I'm sad to admit that my physical mental spiritual energies, which had been peaking for several hours, drained out my toes by the time Spafford hit the stage for https://spaffnerds.com/shows/2016-12-30. I enjoyed the show, I enjoyed the company, esp NYCs finest cage dancer @RadiantDarkness, but again I wasn't converted. My body was depleted and my mind was preoccupied with having to wake up somehow in less than a few hours to be Dad. Following the show I started listening to as many of the 2017 shows as I could find on YouTube and I felt my conversion begin. The early gems that caught my ear were All In, LTLO, America... fast forward to https://Spaffnerds.com/shows/2017-04-13. I met up with @damian, lindsay, rob, et al at Music Hall following a supercharging karate class at www.honmadojo.com. From the opening notes of https://spaffnerds.com/songs/slip-and-squander to the undying notes of https://spaffnerds.com/songs/the-reprise, we were up on the rail for one of the absolute best musical performances of my life. Not dancing was not an option, and thanks to my sweaty armpits there was a nice little circle of space around me in which to groove. I definitely already liked the band, but now I was officially converted. And the more I listen, the more I like. I've checked myself numerous times along the way to make sure I am not just drinking the kool aid and jumping on a bandwagon. But the truth is this band is rare and amazing and most of the time I'm listening to them is late at night, in my backyard, alone under the moon, and without a single other nerd in sight. And I still dance my ass off because not dancing to Spafford is not an option for me and I can't help but dance and rage and marvel at this moving music.
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@Johnny-Love You smelled so bad.
