Setlist, Attendance, and Recordings for: 2018-07-21 - The Peach Music Festival - Scranton, PA

Peach Fest. July 21, 2018. Saturday at Peach was very wet, with a huge rain storm rolling in early in the morning and intermittently dropping buckets of water onto all of the Peach veterans and noobs alike. My day started off with a 35-minute wait for a shuttle to the top of the mountain, as they had seemingly forgotten people were still parking in our lot. @Cody, @Kyle-Burbank, Collin, and I met up with the legend himself, Johnny Love, as well as a few other S’nerds that were there for the set, and in between all the running around and trying to find cover, we managed to get ourselves thrown out of the main stage after we accidentally entered the reserved section.

After a long day of being damp and waiting out middle-aged Mule fans for pavilion seats, we made our way over to the Mushroom Stage. As we arrived, the band was starting to set up their gear, and they looked very worried about the amount of water pouring off the roof and onto the stage. The crew ended up putting them as far upstage as they could in hopes that the water wouldn’t get to the band, but we would all come to see that placement didn’t matter… they were going to feel some rain. Just before they got started, the crowd tried to help instill a little confidence in the band by erupting into a giant cheer, letting them know that we’d be there no matter what. We had waited all day, and we weren’t gonna let some stinkin’ rain get in the way of our Spafford.

Bossa Nova Jam > Funkadelic: I have no idea where to even begin with this. The jam went on for at least half an hour, and this whole segment took up almost the first hour of the set. Musically, it was incredible. The members have very obviously been picking up some jazz chops with their time off, because for an improvised jazz jam, they were absolutely Killing It. It seemed as though they were taking all of the anxiety and frustration they were having before the set, and turning it into fiery section after fiery section. What was really special about it was how the weather seemed to be reacting to their music. Words can’t describe the experience, but I’ll try to write an apt description.

This section of the show transported the band and the crowd to a whole different world. It was as if Mother Nature was Spafford’s LD and the rain was another cue she had access too, because every time the jam started to pick up or peak, rain would start pouring out of the sky. It was raining so hard at points that the wind was whipping it sideways, throwing it across the stage and swirling it through the radiant beams of light and around the band members, making them look like some sort of otherworldly jam beings. It was made even better by the fact that the crowd danced harder and harder the more rain came down. It was energizing us, keeping us in the moment, and appreciating the heat that was radiating off of the music the band was laying down. It was a truly breathtaking experience that no one in that crowd will forget for the rest of their lives.

> Electric Taco Stand > Dis Go in 5? > Electric Taco Stand: After that hell of a first half, ETS was a welcomed morale booster. There’s not a single Spafford fan I know that doesn’t enjoy ETS. They spent a little more time on the intro jam since they had to transition out of Funkadelic, but once they got into it, they got into it. After a big sing-a-long with the crowd, they proceeded to perform the dirtiest transition into Dis Go in 5? I’ve ever heard or seen. Dis Go was longer than I’m used to, but right as it started to go into that peak > ETS section, the rain started pouring again, as if it was summoned by the band’s music.

All In: This was the first pause of the night. They had been playing for an hour plus at this point, and they were ready to keep the energy going. All In is another of those songs that’s beloved by every Nerd, so the whole crowd was singing along and raging the night away to Jordan’s magnum opus of ballads. The coolest, but most unfortunate, part of the show was when Brian’s pedalboard started malfunctioning. The rest of the guys realized what happened and quickly started jamming as a trio to compensate for Brian’s gear troubles. He’s since told me that it was his Tube Screamer and Carbon Copy that were the root of the problem, and once he and his trusty sidekick Sashi troubleshot? the problem, he rose from the ashes like a phoenix (thanks Rachel!) and threw down the best solo of the night. He took all of his anger about the pedalboard and harnessed it to make the Raven cry out through the storm, melting the faces of anyone in a 100-hard radius.

Take Your Mama: This tune was fun to see, but definitely the odd one out in the midst of all the grandiose jams they were laying down. It seemed to serve as a sort of break for the guys, as Brian’s gear malfunctions and the rain weren’t making it easy for them.

The Postman: After seeing the written setlist, it’s fairly obvious that Postman was a last minute decision. They discussed what to play for a while before Brian suddenly dropped into that familiar intro, hinting to the audience that they wanted to go out with a bang. This really solidified the legend of this set, because the only way they could follow all of the madness that had just ensued was the most grandeur song they have in their catalog. The composed section was pretty standard, and once they got through the “I’m the postman” section, they took off to the races. I legitimately forgot we were still in Postman at a few points, because the jam took the music so outside the typical Postman sound. When they seamlessly dropped out of the jam and into the outro, the crowd went wild, and the rain started coming down harder than it had during the whole set. It was the perfect ending to an incredible night.

This experience is one I’ll never forget. The rain, the lights, the crowd, and everything else that contributed to that set couldn’t have been more perfect. We were there for jams, and they delivered beyond any of our wildest expectations.

A little intro to explain what this is about. A couple weeks ago @JohnnyLove approached me to write an article looking back at Cam’s first year with the band, pointing out some big moments and how his playing had been implemented to the band’s sound. I was more than happy to oblige, as my entire writing career spawned from a review I did of the 2017-10-07 Portland, ME show, and I felt it would be fun to discuss Cam’s incredible year with the band. This was a ton of fun to write, I hope you enjoy! Shoutout to @Cody for helping me pick these moments.

As of today- May 25th, 2018- Cameron Laforest has been the drummer of Spafford for a full year. The band has grown exponentially in that time, putting together two cross-country tours and releasing "For Amusement Only" their first studio album in 6 years (recorded mere months after Cam’s addition no less). The fans have come to know and love the newest and hopefully permanent drummer of our favorite Arizona jam band.

I think a lot of people’s first Cam experience came from the video of the famous Summer Camp ‘17 Mind’s Unchained, which was his first performance with the group. In the video you can see Brian already falling for Cam’s playing and the whole group making sure he felt welcome onstage by laying back and allowing him to make the song his own, only to find that he was already down for pushing the songs to their limits. That video showed that Cam wasn’t scared to already start adding his own flare to the band’s existing sound, which I think stuck with a lot of people that were both skeptical fans from the Nick-era and newcomers that had never heard or seen the band before.

Another big moment in Cam’s time with the group was the week that they released their hour-long improvisational studio record, Abaculus, and played a late night Phish after-party at the famed B.B. King’s club in NYC. Abaculus made big headlines in the jam scene, and for good reason, as it showed off just how impressive Spafford’s group improvisation abilities were with this new drummer. The session (recorded by Jordan Fairless w/o the band knowing) moves through so many splendid melodic themes and vibes, and Cam works effortlessly with Fairless to keep the whole thing going. Just a week after Abaculus was released, the group played an after show on Night 12 of Phish’s Baker’s Dozen run, which won them lots of fans as they tore through some exceptional versions of Leave the Light On and America > The Reprise, driven by Cam’s groovy yet aggressive drumming style.

The point where I really started appreciating Cam was their 2017 Fall Tour, which was their first tour with him. I caught them in Boston and Portland, which both happened to be absolutely amazing shows, but he consistently killed it that entire tour. The amount of times I must’ve heard “This new drummer is amazing!” throughout the shows was enormous, and there was a noticeable buzz online about how well he was fitting in with the band. The relentless schedule allowed for the band to really learn the ins and outs of his playing, and as they grew more and more comfortable they expanded their jams even more, notably jams such as the Dream Jam > All My Friends > Bee Jam > Alternate Ending > Ain't That Wrong from Albany and the Columbia Bee Jam.

All of this led up to the ultra-legendary Old Town Jam, a 57-minute monstrosity the band threw down to kick off their Steamboat Springs show in March. The Old Town Jam took all the aspects we loved about Abaculus (many different musical themes, complete improvisation, all members’ abilities showcased, I could go on) and used them to form a jam masterpiece. Again, Cam was the driving force behind the entire jam. He and Jordan had gotten to know each other’s playing so well that they could keep it tight no matter where the music took them. Cam had become fully immersed into the group’s improvisational oneness, and solidified himself as the perfect drummer for the group.

The past year with Cam has been exceptional, and the band has grown exponentially in that time. Cam’s playing has changed the sound of Spafford for the better, and helped them explore some new, uncharted jam territory. I know I speak for most Spaffnerds when I say this: I hope he stays in the band for the long run. He has been a wonderful addition to the group.

It should be noted that the band’s wonderful resident poster wizard @Jon-Rose did something very clever with the Summer Camp posters this year and last. As last year was Cam’s first show, the poster depicted a giant seed, which has grown into a big blooming tree for this year’s Scamp poster, representing Cam’s growth as a member of the band.

Special thanks to Coastykid Captures and @dontjudgedave for the kickin' photos

Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! The treble and bass are both set to somewhat of an equilibrium at 12 o’clock, the gain is set to 1 o’clock-ish, and the volume is rolled back to in between 10 and 11o’clock. He uses it as more of a boost for the Tube Screamer so it’s set pretty flat. Hope this helps and enjoy the new pedal dude!

@603Brett said in Review: 2017-10-07 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME:

You sure that was me calling for Jordan? I remember summoning Red’s mystical Keys, but I think somebody else yelled for Jordan. Disclaimer: I was partying, so anything is possible...lol

Hahaha it could have very well been Wes or someone else, but I’m like 80% sure it was you. I feel like I remember immediately turning around after whoever said that said that, and you kind of gave me a knowing glance.

@uconnwes The Plush w/ Fender Bandmaster is his main amp, he’s had it for a long time, but he’s never really brought it outside of Arizona before. The Twin Reverb is his backup amp, because it’s the amp that sounds the closest to how he runs his Plush.

@Bm_Jam dude hell yes! I was just listening back to my first Tots from Cambridge on Friday thinking “man I really need to learn this!” Thank you for all the hard work!

Setlist, Recordings, and Attendance for: 2017-10-07 - Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME

This past weekend has been one of favorites in my year of going to see jam shows on a regular basis. Spafford was one of the last few bands I had left on my wishlist, and finally being at these shows after buying the tickets back in June was completely surreal. I met a bunch of people that I knew from the Facebook groups (George, Brett, Kyle, Cody, Delaney, Seth, and Wes, thank you guys for making it such a fun time!), raged with the Spaffnerds’ resident insane man Kyle Burbank for two shows (He was seeing Seven in the span of eight days), and got to embark on I what I believe is my longest solo road trip.

Pre-show:

The morning of October 7th, I woke up on my sister’s couch in the South End of Boston. I had just raged the sold out show at The Sinclair the night before, and I was jonesing for some more Spafford as soon as I woke up. After a quick shower, I said my goodbyes and started to head up to Portland, only to get stuck in standstill traffic for close to an hour in Lawrence. Once I’d gotten through the traffic, I kept trekking towards the city, only stopping to grab lunch in the Maine-renowned Kennebunk rest stop.

If you’ve never been to Portland before, you probably don’t know that it is one of the hardest cities in New England to find an overnight parking lot in. Kyle arrived to the city pretty much right when I did, and the two of us spent half an hour driving around the same span of four blocks over and over trying to find a decent space until Kyle found an overnight lot (which we later found out was false advertising) by the Holiday Inn. The two of us proceeded to wander around town for a good 3-4 hours, just talking about music and life and anything that came to mind while we aimlessly explored the streets around the venue.

After watching a chunk of soundcheck through the front door, we had a very interesting conversation with a homeless man, and then met up with Cody and Delaney to grab food before the show at this place called the BRGR Bar. We chowed down on some pretty tasty burgers, headed into the venue (which required Brett to pretend to be my dad; thanks again Brett!), and positioned ourselves on the rail, preparing to have our faces melted off. What ensued was one of my favorite shows I’ve ever witnessed.

The Show:

Set 1:

Memphis in the Meantime > Walls:
As soon as they broke into Memphis, my face cracked into a big, goofy grin. My dad raised me on John Hiatt, so when I found out they played this song in Charlottesville, I was hoping they’d play it during one of my shows, and boy did they deliver! They played through Memphis pretty normally, and after Jordan was finished singing, they broke into a nice, laidback funk jam to get us in the mood for Walls. Walls wasted no time getting into things; they brought us right back into that funkiness they were playing around at the end of Memphis, and Brian started to shred like there was no tomorrow. Cam was absolutely killing it, bringing a back beat that started the dance party early. I think during almost every song I heard someone say something along the lines of “Wow, their new drummer is incredible!” They kept a good groove going before ending the song with no distinctive peak, just a good amount of group improv.

Legend > Backdoor Funk:
Legend was a nice cooldown after the funkfest that was Memphis > Walls, and provided a new experience for me as I’m not extremely familiar with the song. I should mention, Boston & Portland were my first two shows, so this was my first time hearing a healthy portion of these songs. During Legend, Brian started to use his whammy pedal as if it was a whammy bar, (I think I didn’t really notice him doing that in Boston due to the fact that we couldn’t see his board from where we were) and I started to notice that he kept looking at me while he used it. This moment started an amazing trend throughout the night.

Before the Boston show, I found Brian and Jordan up the street from the venue, and I showed them that article I had written about their gear, which they both complemented and provided corrections for. For a majority of the Portland show, Brian would look right at me whenever he started to do some weird stuff with his pedals, and it was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. Brian continued the train to shred city a little bit towards the end of Legend, and then they broke right into Backdoor Funk.

Backdoor Funk was the first big jam of the night, with a very tense build-up section that broke into an amazing peak that put a smile on every face in the room. Brian was keeping the shred city train going yet again before they slowed it down a bit and he took a very thoughtful solo. He looked directly at me yet again during the middle of this solo, which was cool as all hell because he’d had his eyes closed for a majority of it. They jammed on it for a little while longer, and then decided to end the song.

Funkadelic > West LA Fadeaway:
Funkadelic was another new one to me; I thought the whole song was just a random jam, but was surprised to find out what it was from the Spafford Twitter account during setbreak. Funkadelic definitely kept the heavy jamming theme from Backdoor Funk going, keeping a steady, tense groove going the entire time. Cody had thrown some I’m Killing It stickers in between Jordan and Brian’s monitors before the show started, and Jordan was looking at them any time he didn’t have his eyes closed during Funkadelic. Towards the end of the song, Brian turned on both his digital and analog delay and looked right at me afterwards. They ended the set with West LA Fadeaway, which was the second Grateful Dead cover of my mini-run. The whole crowd sang along with Red, and Brian took one more killer solo before they went back for set break.

Set 2:

Lonely >:
During set break, I was holding down our spot on the rail while everyone went and bought more drinks, and once they got back, I went to go grab a water and use the bathroom real quick. I introduced myself to Jordan’s girlfriend Lizzie on the way to the bathroom (she’d shared a super useful picture of Jordan’s board while I was trying to figure it out, thanks Lizzie!), and had to run back to the front of the stage once I realized they had started playing.

Lonely was a very good start to the second set, with the highlight being the super quiet (low volume) jam, which caused Brett to yell “Jordan, where are you?!” when Jordan started to play particularly soft. This song had the second big peak of the night, with a crazy build-up section leading up to it. Little did we know, this was getting us ready for what was about to happen.

Weasel > Palisades > Weasel:
This is the section of the show where they started to get down and dirty. I have never experienced a cooler jam vehicle than this Weasel > Palisades > Weasel. Up until last night, I’ve also never had the urge to headbang at a jam show, but Weasel was going so hard it was impossible not to. Almost immediately they went into a weird electronic dark jam. Red was using one of his synths to create these long flowy pads, while Jordan started to utilize some of the bass synth available on his pedal board. In my notes I wrote “this tension could be cut by a knife,” which was 100% true; they kept building and building for what felt like an eternity, and we all started to get anxious. During this whole jam, the Lighting Director didn’t have any lights on the guys, just using some smaller ones for effect, and right before the peak I looked over at Red in the darkness and caught him smirking at me. The peak cause more headbanging to ensue, and then they went right from the peak to a slower, ambient jam that was being used to go into Palisades.

Palisades felt much shorter than both parts of Weasel, but it might’ve been my favorite part of this big ol’ jam sandwich. It felt like they were taking us to a fantasy land through the music, and in this fantasy land we were having a huge dance party. Red was smiling for the entire jam at the end of Palisades, which was brought up into what felt like a rather short peak, and then they went back into another dark Weasel jam. They built up another extremely tense jam section, and finally released it with another headbanging peak that glued a smile on my face for the rest of my night. After they had ended the crowd was so impressed they were screaming for more, and all four guys on stage looked so happy about what had just happened. It was a truly special moment!

All In:
All In started to bring some of the funky jamming from the first set back into mix, and began with everyone singing along which caused Red to continue cheesing. The jam in All In got just dark as Weasel > Palisades > Weasel, and really combined the funk of the first set and the headbanging that took place in the previous song. During the darker section Brian turned on his digital delay and got weird with some pick scratches that were super spacey, and then they brought it into this weird section of a funk jam into a heavy jam into an almost ambient jam in the span of five minutes. During the ambient jam Red took a killer Hammond solo, and Jordan was bringing back that bass synth sound he was messing around with earlier in the set. They brought us up to one more super tense jam section before bringing it to yet another head banging peak that literally caused Red to jump out of his seat.

****Beautiful Day:
There is really not much for me to say about this song other than the fact that it’s one of my favorites, so I was very glad to end out my weekend on this song. It really hit me in the feels last night, because it kind of made me reflect on the two Beautiful Days I’d had with all of my new friends this weekend. The lyric “I know that days like these come around only once in awhile” hit me especially hard because I knew this euphoric feeling I’d had all weekend would be coming to a close soon. It was an amazing way to end the second set.

Encore:

America > The Reprise:
I didn’t write too many notes about this section, because it was so much fun! More headbanging took place in this one, and they did another weird ambient jam in the middle of America where Red was going at it on his synth. They wasted no time jamming right into The Reprise, which Kyle was very happy they played because he had only heard it once in the five shows he’d seen already. It was an extremely fun encore, and a great way to end a truly mind blowing show.

Post-show:
Once the show was over, Kyle, Cody and I stayed by the stage, gunning for one of the setlists. Kyle had introduced me to their guitar/bass/keys/drum tech, Bob, the previous night in Cambridge, so he gave one to each of us, but Cody didn’t manage to grab one. We all said our goodbyes to Brett, and the security guards were starting to usher everybody out, so our whole group went out to the sidewalk to continue our conversation. Around midnight, I said goodbye to Cody and Delaney (pretty reluctantly, because they were super fun to hang with all night), and Kyle and I started to head back towards our parking garage.

Our parking garage just so happened to be the street over from where the band had parked their bus, and while we were walking down the sidewalk, we ran right into Jordan and Lizzie who were outside the venue smoking. Jordan greeted Kyle and I with “Ah, my two favorites!” and a huge smile on his face, which might have been the coolest thing to happen to me all weekend. We hung out with them for a good 10 minutes just talking about the show and how our runs had been going, and Brian walked through at one point FaceTiming his wife and recognized me as the dude that was super into their gear. Jordan mentioned that he thought of me a couple times when turned on his Bass Metaphors pedal, because we’d had a conversation about how weird it was the night before, and he said he’d try to keep me updated on his board so I could keep the Spaffnerds article up to date.

We thanked Jordan for the amazing show, said goodnight to them, and kept venturing back to the garage that started our whole adventure off. After a little more conversing, Kyle and I said our final goodbyes, heading our separate ways. This weekend was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time. Getting to meet some of my musical heroes and have them already start to recognize me, raging with a bunch of S’nerds that I’ve been wanting to meet for a while, and adventuring around coastal New England. I wish this weekend had never ended, but I’m extremely grateful it happened.

EDIT: Talked to Brian and Jordan about this article, and got some corrections from them!

Jordan said I was spot on, but Brian fixed what model the Whammy is, told me that’s using an OC-3 (not a Flanger like I thought), and the Wah is slightly different model than the regular GCB-95. He couldn’t remember the exact model number, but he said he’d get back to me. He also told me what year the Plush was, and what cab he’s using. Enjoy!

Original Post: I saw a post on here asking about a breakdown of what they’re using for gear right now, and spent the past two days figuring it out. I got lots of helpful pictures from people over on Facebook!

Enjoy:

Brian Moss

Top Row:
TC Electronic Polytune (Tuner)
Wampler Ego (Compressor)
Boss Super Octave OC-3 (Octave/Octave Fuzz)
Malekko E Filter (Envelope Filter)
Boss Phase Shifter PH-2 (Phaser)

Bottom Row:
Digitech Whammy 2(5?) (Octaver)
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95F (Wah Wah)
Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9 (Overdrive)
Xotic BB Preamp (Volume Boost)
MXR Carbon Copy M169 (Analog Delay)
Boss Digital Delay DD-6 (Digital Delay)

Signal Chain:
Polytune > Ego > Whammy V > Cry Baby Classic > Tube Screamer > BB Preamp > Super Octave OC-3 > E Filter > Phase Shifter PH-3 > Carbon Copy > Digital Delay DD6

Guitars:
The Raven
Gibson Les Paul Junior

Amp:
Fender Twin Reverb
1969 Plush Head through a Fender Bandmaster 2x12 w/ EVLs

Jordan Fairless

Top Row:
TC Electronic Polytune (Tuner)
Boss Bass Synthesizer SYB-5 (Bass Synth)
EHX Bass Metaphors (Compressor/Distortion)
Boss Bass Flanger RF-2B (Flanger)

Bottom Row:
MXR Bass Envelope Filter M82 (Envelope Filter)
Source Audio Soundblox SA143 (Envelope Filter)
Flashback Delay X4 (Digital Delay)

Signal Chain:
Polytune > Bass Synthesizer SYB-5 > Bass Envelope M82 > Bass Metaphors > Soundblox SA143 > Bass Flanger RF-2B > Flashback X4

Bass:
Ibanez BTB

Amp:
Furman M-8X2 > SansAmp Tech 21 > QSC GX5 > David Eden 4x10

This tab is based on the Live At Firefly 2013 version of Leave The Light On, but it fits most versions of the song.

Intro Riff:
E|-------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------|
G|--------8-8--9-9------------------------|
D|--9-9-------------9-9--6-6--7-7------ | (Repeat x4)
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

Brian usually plays this riff 4 times, sometimes playing the chord riff every second time he plays this riff.

Chord Riff
E|--7-----------7-7-------------5-5-------------------|
B|--7h9p7----7-7-------------5-5h7--5------------|
G|--8--------8-------8----------6-6--------6---------|
D|--9----------------------------7-7-------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------|

The whole song is based off a B-A chord progression. Basically imagine Fire On The Mountain by the Grateful Dead in double time, and you've got Leave The Light On.

The Intro riff is also the Verse riff, and the Chord riff is what he plays during the Chorus. These two riffs are all you need to play along with the song.

Jam Section:
Most times it goes Type 1, Jordan and Red follow along with the regular B-A progression. To jam along with the song, you can use B Mixolydian or C sharp minor. I've put tabs for these scales below:

B Mixolydian Scale
E|-------------------------------------7-9-|
B|----------------------------7-9-10------|
G|---------------------6-8-9--------------|
D|-------------6-7-9----------------------|
A|------6-7-9-----------------------------|
E|-7-9-------------------------------------|

C Sharp Minor Scale
E|----------------------------------------------9-11-12--|
B|-----------------------------------9-10-12-------------|
G|---------------------------8-9-11----------------------|
D|---------------------9-11-------------------------------|
A|-----------9-11-12-------------------------------------|
E|-9-11-12-----------------------------------------------|

I hope this helps you Spaffnerds out!

Intro/Verse Chords:
The intro and verse of ETS follow the same chord pattern, only changing every other 4th bar on the E9 chord. Essentially it follows a 4 bar pattern comprised of D9 and E9, like so:

D9-D9-D9-E9

Each one of those represents a bar. It's hard to explain how Brian is strumming it, you really have to listen to the song to figure it out. Every other time he plays the progression, the whole band syncopates the E9 like "1 2 3" during the Intro, and "1 2 3 4" during the Verse, with a snare hitting in between each strum of the chord.

Bridge
I'm calling the "Too many times I can't recall" part the bridge because it deviates away from the verse pattern for this line. It essentially does this:

C          G                 D9 
Too many times I can't recall

Chorus
The chorus is just two different 3-chord progressions that they switch between, going like this :

D       C            G
           As the times go by
D       G         F
           You broke my heart
D       C            G      D  G  F
           As the times go by

After this, they fall back into the regular Verse progression again.