Best posts made by dontjudgedave

I'll try not to, but according to co-workers, I tend to ramble when I email so..

TL;DR: Spafford Fucks. Lancaster Sucks. I'm the King. Spafford wants to take my mom out?

Anyway, Let's get started.

"What the fuck? What is this place? Where are all the buildings? What's that sickly orange glow in the sky? Jesus, is that a horse and buggy? What year is this? What am I doing with my life?” I think as I stand outside that station, surrounded by nothing, waiting on my buddy to pick me up. My last show was the BK Bowl so this is quite the change. It's a friend's 30th Birthday so I get to party a bit there before grabbing my Uber over to the show.

The Venue:
I'll complain about this first. Security was uptight just yelling about getting us in when no one was even rushing or anything. I thought sound was good (I saw some complaints) but the layout was tough with a sold-out show. Pretty much had to choose getting drinks or seeing the stage which is a bummer. Lots of talkers, which I don't usually mind as I can tune them out easily, but this was another level. I find it hard to believe that Lancaster has more ChadBroWookButtheads than Philly or NYC but, well, they sure showed me.

Alright, now for the good stuff...

Set 1

All In: Really enjoy this song and this version had a really nice jam. I haven't gone too far down the All In hole to rank it anywhere but it was a ton of fun and some fat bass from Jordan is a great way to start a show and get you moving.

It's a Bunch > On Fire: some fiery guitar work by Brian before a nice mellow building jam and, if you weren't already in party mode, by the time you even realized they slipped into On Fire you were full on grooving hoping your shoes were still on (they were, don't worry.)

Todd's Tots: Not much to say about this. Great playing and great version. Again, one I love but I still haven't taken the time to seek out the best of the best versions.

Radio: Digging this new one but it really gave the chompers their chance to shine. I had to ask Chad Wookington in front of me not to swing his hoodie around in the air since it was hitting people behind him in the face (this came up a few times). Kinda bummed the sing for me at the show but hearing it on the AUD it was a nice calm before the storm that was coming.

Leave the Light On: Highlight of the first set for me. One of the first Spafford songs I started getting into and this was a solid version. Great tight first jam and then it opens and goes big enough during the second jam that even the Chattiest of Kathy’s start grooving. Definitely gonna be listening to this a lot more.

Slip and Squander: Rick Mitarotonda from Goose (Their set was really a lot of fun, definitely a good choice to open. I'll be checking them out more soon I hope) sat in and was awesome. I already love the song and Rick and Brian played off each other great for a pretty sick version to end the set.

How pumped am I right now between 1-10: Probably about 7. Venue kinda eats it and it's a fight to get up closer to see better. But that was a great first set and I'm ready to keep moving.

Set 2 - This was pure rocket fuel that starts sweetly with a Happy birthday to JP as I walk out of the bathroom.

Now, maybe you already saw my post on FB about it, but I had mentioned a few days before how I'd love for them to mix up the sandwiches to keep us guessing. Now, I had completely forgotten about that post until like mid-second set

Shout out to DannSnack Williams too if you're on the site...cool name, man

Electric Taco Stand: I'm already a big fan of ETS so hearing “Let's Get Funky” as they drop into it raised my pumped meter up a bit. Really nice jam that builds and smooths a bit before Cam starts adding some Weasel-esque edrums as they wind down the jam into a mellow groove

Palisades: Definitely wasn’t expecting this but love the song and havent heard it live since my first show at American Beauty (RIP) and that show is ..hazy to say the least. Really happy to hear this. Seems a little rushed but I really dig it.

HARD STOP -> FUNK

Electric Taco Stand: They stopped on a dime and Brian dropped into a sick little groove with Jordan, Cam, and Red hopping right back in with him after a few seconds and the four of them bring it to a fun peak back into the lyrics. It was at this point that Chad Wookington had to be asked again to stop whipping his hoodie around in the air...I'm glad he's as pumped as I am about the music but don't hit us with your stink hoodie, bro. The outro jam may have been one of my favorites of the night, but I’m a sucker for that kind of slow bliss jam that builds and that's exactly what they did. Once that jam peaked they quickly dropped into another, more dance-y groove before switching gears.

Pumped Meter: about a 8-8.5. As Palisades dropped back into ETS I started thinking about that comment I made about the switched sandwiches but that ETS outtro had me forget all about it until...

Weasel: Funky groove drops hard into the Weasel intro and I start getting amped and now the first thing on my mind is how rad it would be if they played the set I said but figured it wasn't likely. First Weasel jam floats nicely for a bit, I really love the effect Red uses on the keys here. Not sure what it actually is but it reminds me of the reverse effect my delay pedal has. I hear it in a lot of jams and I'm really liking it. The jam winds down a bit and then I hear it:

Pumped Meter: 10

Alternate Ending: They maybe got like three or four beats into this before I lit up like the Griswald's house in Christmas Vacation. I couldn't hear it much on the AUD but maybe the SBD picked up my out of control OWWWEEE at the start as it became clear to me that they're playing what I said. Definitely one of my favorites (those blissy jams tho) and that peak is always just perfect. A few more Dave OWWWWEEEE’s at peaks to finish it out for good measure.

Pumped Meter: I don't know, some number I can't count to...like 14? 15?

Weasel: The transition back is quick but smooth as Cam eased back into the weasel groove leading to a great little jam that got Chad Wookington to spin Mrs. Wookington just a bit too fast and she fell down a few times as Chad let us all know that she's fine while proceeding to not help her get up.

At this point, I'm so jacked up and excited that drugs might as well have been taking me. Many people start to head towards the bar before encore and I use this time to get further up front finally. Being the Chameleon Club (with the Lizard Lounge next door) I was really expecting a Salamander encore but, no, they continued to keep me on my toes.

Take Your Mama: Fun little Scissor Sister cover I first heard them do at the Fillmore in Philly last Fall. Lots of fun and in my excitement started thinking to myself “so they played something I said...then played Take Your Mama...is this Spafford hitting on my mom? Tour ends in Florida...my mom lives there.”

Hmm..

Now, wheher or not someone with the band saw my comment and they decided to try it or it was just a sweet coincidence, I choose to believe that it was for me and I could not have loved it more. So you're all welcome. See everyone in Asbury!

Update! Asbury fucking ruled and no problems with anyone talking ...shit was rad. I need more.

Used to do this to pass time on PT when I was active there a few years ago. Just make up a set list you think would be cool - can be for a specific upcoming show, venue/date you want them to play, or just a random fantasy set list. I'll get it started..

Set 1: All My Friends > Bee Jam -> Tom Sawyer[1] -> Bee Jam -> Todd's Tots, Eternity, Backdoor Funk > Down Under

Set 2: Electric Taco Stand -> The Postman -> Windmill -> Alternate Ending -> Windmill -> Electric Taco Stand -> The Postman

Encore: Into the Mystic

[1] Rush Cover, First Time Played

Thinking of something like this for the Brooklyn shows - anyone know if there is a version of this shot without their feet cut off?

Tried basing it on this Beastie Boys shirt

Edit: updated a little bit

Always liked Plans but have been hooked after hearing that NYE Run version and then Asbury was a lot of fun. What are some of your favorite versions?

In the spirit of combining my half-assed best jam threads and my half-assed tab threads, I think im gonna work on the chords for Plans next (or maybe Windmill...I'll probably half-ass both)

Spafford | "Plans" | 12/29/17 | Crescent Ballroom | Phoenix, AZ – 19:09
— Spafford

October 6th 2018
Leave the Light On Festival - Night 1
Some sick ass Motel 6 somewhere

Set 1: All My Friends > Leave the Light On[1] -> Bee Jam -> Dream Jam -> Catfish John, Lonley, Backdoor Funk

Set 2: Eternity, All In > Alternate Beginning -> Electric Taco Stand[1] -> Stuck in the Middle with You -> Plans

Set 3: Weasel -> Mad World -> Weasel, My Road (My Road)

Encore: Radio, Those Shoes

[1] Unfinished

October 7th 2018
Leave the Light On Festival - Night 2
Some sick ass Motel 6 somewhere

Set 1: The Remedy -> The Final Countdown -> The Remedy, Virtual Bean Dip -> Feel Like a Stranger

Set 2: Motel 6 Jam -> Leave the Light On[1] -> The Reprise

Set 3: People, Lovesick Melody > Soil -> Electric Taco Stand[2] -> Salamander Song[3], Walls[4]

Encore: Fuck Your Face[5], Jam -> Leave the Light On[6]

[1] Second Verse, Still not Finished
[2] Finished Night 1 Version
[3] Inverted, Jam first then Lyrics
[4] With Original Lyrics
[5] Phish Cover, First time played
[6] Ending

Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-10-12 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY

Wow…what a killer weekend! Each night was sick and so great to see so many friends and Nerds at the show! Awesome to meet so many of you, even if I don’t remember it…post show can get pretty …hazy.

Anyway…Fuck Yeah, Friday night was sick.

After some hiccups trying to get out of work on time, I made it over to the venue to VIP Check-In and grabbed my poster and cup then went and got in line with all the Nerds already waiting out front. They let us in about 6:30 to catch the tail end of Soundcheck which included a rocking version of Simon & Lily, then after some discussion, a sick In the Eyes of Thieves.

After Soundcheck, we were all kept in the venue until showtime - and the bars weren’t serving yet (lame) - but it gave us a chance to just hang out downstairs and say hi to a few more Nerds I saw rolling in then get up to a good spot before showtime.

Set 1:

A fat Lovesick Melody > Soil to open things up was great way to start the weekend. Really digging Lovesick Melody lately and have been loving the Soil jams since they started playing it. Funkadelic > The Remedy…FUNKADELIC > THE REMEDY. It’s just that fucking good, like for real. I love the Funkadelic riff and anyone that was around me at all this weekend probably heard me and my buddy singing it “ba-da da-da dat-dat-da baaaa-da da-da dat-dat-da” over and over…It’s Tuesday as I (started) writing this and I am still catching myself singing it. The groove into The Remedy was pretty stellar and then Remedy went straight bananas... it was sick. I’ve only caught Remedy once before, which was a pretty stand-out version (1/25/17 in Asbury - check that out, I’ll wait..) so this had a lot to live up to, and it nailed it. Really cool jam here, dug the almost post rock kinda feel to it as it built up before Brian did those Brian things to bring us back into it. Honestly, they could have just ended the set there and I would have talked about how good it was for weeks. Living for the City was a great choice for a set closer and got me dancing into set break with everyone else.

BA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA BAAAAA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA

BA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA BAAAAA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA

BA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA BAAAAA-DA DA-DA DAT-DAT-DA

Oh, right…Set 2:

The Postman is always a great set opener and this one did not disappoint. Some really great interplay between the band but so much from Brian & Cam it was getting ridiculous. Cam has been getting better and better with the rest of them over the past year and a half and now that he’s really started to push everyone harder and harder its great. You can tell Brian digs it too. So many times over the weekend Cam would start going ape shit and Brian would just light up and blast it was great. I am a very big fan of Hollywood and this was my first time (I think) catching it live. The jams out of this have been getting cooler and cooler lately and after the whistling section that felt like a “45 minute bird of paradise duet in an electric rain forest on one of the rings of Saturn” (shout out to @Johnny-Love - couldn’t have worded that better myself) they take us through a really cool jam that I’m definitely going to be listening to more and more. The jam eventually takes a darker turn and works its way into the dirty funk Weasel intro. Weasel wasted no time, about 3 minutes in and it was a full-on dance party. This kind of stuff is what really got me to love Spafford. They can be untzing and getting weird but Red stays on that Electric Piano sound and just keeps them grounded and its such a cool combination that I love. Not that there's anything wrong with big 20 minute dance party jams, I get it - I do drugs, so I love them too, but this is better. I'm a huge fan of the bliss jams and it’d be a really hard choice if someone asked me to choose between Palisades and Alternate Ending as my favorite but we got both over the weekend so luckily I didn’t have to. The Palisades jam was awesome and a great, b-e-a-utiful peak. HARD STOP. WEASEL DANCE PARTY IS BACK. Right where they left off and they rock us full blast to close the set. I’m tired. But I can always keep dancing.

Encore:

I think I saw the setlist someone got listing something else for the encore but I’m really glad they decided to do some Van instead. Have always loved Into The Mystic and after not hearing much in the way of Red vocals all night, it was really great.

Truly, a beautiful night of music…really hard to pick a favorite but this show is definitely in the Top 3 for the weekend.

Just realized this show never made it up on Nugs...

Love Electric Beethoven and was debating that day if I wanted to try and catch them open for the Motet then rush over to BK for Spafford. Ended up just heading right to BK and catching Mungion open which was still great

Really glad Stoops ended up sitting in his style fits with them well hoping he does it again. A Spafford tour with EB opening would be sick

Siiiiiiiiiick...all hail the spaffnerds!

Hmm I dont think I could put them in a real order but

Leg 1:
Ft Lauderdale 1-31-18
Atlanta 1-27
Lancaster 1-20-18
Washington 1-25-18
Asbury 1-24-18

Leg 2:
Terrapin 3-3-18
Crystal Bay 3-5-18
Steamboat 3-15-18
Frisco 3-16-18
Boise 3-10-18

I dont know if I could pick a top show but I think my most listened to Jams have been

Ft Lauderdale 1-31-18 Windmill gets real blissful and Eyes of the World-y
Lancaster 1-20-18 Second ETS - that outro jam between ETS and Weasel uhuhuhuh
Boise 3-10-18 Ain't That Wrong -> Down Under

Thats not counting the big jams like the Steamboat Jam, Culture Jam, Crystal Bay VBD - those monsters are in a different class IMO

DISCLAIMER: List subject to change next time I listen to a show

Definitely need a bunch of two night runs

How about:
2xBurlington -> NH -> Maine -> RI -> 2xMA -> Albany -> CT -> 2xBK Halloween -> 2xPhilly -> Baltimore -> DC -> VA

Then whatever else through the East Coast around through Texas and some Midwest love before ending tour on the West Coast like last year

I like the idea of them doing NYE in AZ, would love to finally make it out there and getting out of the cold for NYE would be great. Is it warm enough in AZ for an outdoor show over NYE? A NYE Fest with them and a couple other bands would be sick

Any rumors for Winter 2018 yet? Seeing the 420 Fest lineup getting me pumped. Hoping for some early winter east coast dates like this year - Asbury in January is still one of my favorite shows. I know they just finished the East Coast ...but I want more. MOAR

Good thought about new material, wasn't even thinking about that. Okay okay early winter tour -> Record album -> full blast summer tour -> release album -> sick ass fall tour

I planned the year for them. You're welcome, Spafford

In reality I'm happy with whatever I'll find my way to see them next year I'm not worried. That 420 fest looks kick ass I'm gonna have to find a way to make it there

Good recommendation on a Legend? Listening to the Asbury show and am remembering that I really dig it and havent really searched out other versions

Also, Ive listened to all of Asbury so many times but finally heard between Legend and Eyes the dude that was standing not too far from me yelling "Play Margaritaville! I love that song!" ...forgot about that

I love them.

Abaculus was great and then Echo Sessions kicks ass. I havent listened to the Globe 2nd set yet or the Ogden Soundcheck yet but I'm sure theyre awesome.

I've said it a ton on facebook groups but I'd love them to do a tour or something set up like the Echo Sessions - a set of Spafford songs and a full set of improv. Would be really sick

From what I remember walking from the train station to the wonderbar last year, Assbury is a ghost town in January. I remember everything being closed, though I did not get there until probably 8pm and will likely be getting there around that time again this year. Really eats it getting to Assbury from NYC but its worth it.

Its a pretty small venue though, I think we shouldnt have any issue finding eachother inside

My vote is start with the last show in Nugs, 1/31/18 ...that Jam -> Backdoor Funk to open is wild and the rest of the show holds up to it. They're on fire right now this whole 2018 has been sick you can't pick a bad one starting with recent shows.

Now were getting somewhere weird. Perfect.

I would check out phish.in as well as relisten.net - both are pretty much the same set up but phish.in allows accounts to save playlists and such which would be awesome for spafford. I believe phish.in pulls from phishtracks actually while relisten is from archive. Im sure it wouldnt be "super" difficult to have it pull the information from the spafford archive instead

Id also contact @damian maybe you guys could work on setting it up through this site keep everything in one place

5min LTLO? #wedontjam

But being serious, I dig it. Sounds really great and the short little "jam" was nice. For a band thats moniker is "we jam" to release that first I think is more of a statement to that. "heres a 5min single" then people like it and realize that they haven't played in under 15min (besides sandwiches) in a long time as far as I know

Could work as a nice intro to the band for some people

@Johnny-Love definitely going to make some more trash slaps for Fall tour