bradm

...and I'm a taper."
"Hi, Brad!"
"It started innocently enough...I'd download shows other people had taped, listen to them, and imagine what it would be like to tape shows. When I'd be at shows where people were taping, I'd hover around them, basking in the technological glow, and the light from the equipment. It shone at me, like small beacons in the distance...or maybe like a lighthouse, warning me about the shoals I was approaching.
"Then I borrowed some equipment. I went to the heavy stuff pretty early, a portable DAT and a good set of mics. A friend showed me how to use it...I don't blame him for my obsession, it's all my fault, he had no way of knowing.
"We did one show together, and I think I was hooked right there. Two days later, I did a show alone. For me, it's the fire & ice buzz: you've got your ears tuned to the show, your eyes on the gear, and your mind flipping back and forth, wondering how the tape will sound, or if you're getting it at all.
"And, of course, there's the whole gear thing. I love cables, buttons, plugs, jacks. I'm also an engineer, and taping is a great way to utilize my 'How can I make this work?' nature. Improvisational expressions of technology are, for me, a big part of it all.
"After the show, I rushed to the deck. Stopped it, rewound it a few minutes, whipped out the headphones, and, with trepidation verging on paralysis, pressed . What I heard made my heart sing! Not only did I get the show, it sounded great! Then came another aspect to it all: showing off. I wandered the room, thrusting the headphones at anyone who'd give me the time. 'Hey, you've got to hear this!' I'd say, and then bathe in the reflected glow as their eyes lit up.
"I got home, it was pretty late, I should have gone right to bed, but I had to hear more; a small taste at the club just wasn't enough. I stood in the kitchen, plugged everything in, and listened more. It was as good as, if not better then, what I heard before.
"I slept fitfully; my dreams included cables, slithering like serpents in my garden of tranquility, and jacks and plugs taking the place of the usual puerile imagery. In my dreams, I was back at the club (as if my spirit hadn't been sated and had never left it).
"The next day, I didn't listen to any music. I tried to take a day off. I didn't tape yesterday, and I won't tape today. I've gone looking for equipment on e-Bay, but just once, I swear.
"I'm taking a day at a time. There'll be temptations, but I think I can be a social taper; I just have to avoid binges.
"Thank you."
Aloha,
BRAD (Been Reading About DATS)

Ten years ago tonight:
https://archive.org/details/ween2007-10-26.oktava.shnf
Ween - (live recording) 2007-10-26, Sound Academy, Toronto, ON
Next up, also from that night:
https://archive.org/details/dlauzon2007-10-26.oktava.shnf
David Lauzon - (live recording) 2007-10-26, The Dominion On Queen, Toronto, ON
Aloha,
Brad

That's what the guy said. He was standing a few feet away from me on the bus, and he had a Phil and Friends t-shirt on. I had a Phish t-shirt on, and we made eye/t-shirt contact, recognizing the common ground we had both tread on.
The "they" he was referring to was the Dave Matthews Band, and we were on our way back from seeing them at the Corel Centre.
"No, they're not," I replied.
"Well, if you like Phish, you have to check out 'nero'," he said.
That was the second time I'd heard that band's name that day; earlier, I'd had a reply from a guy I had e-mailed, who was looking for people to fill out a jamband he was forming. He didn't need a guitar player, but told me to check out 'nero' if I liked jammy guitar stuff.
"They're playing downtown tonight. You should come out," my bus-buddy said.
OK, I took the twice-hearing-of-a-band-I-didn't-know-in-one-day as a Sign, and went along.
It was a tiny, upstairs bar, and the decor was more like a biker hangout than a Nice Place. There was a stage over in the corner, with a trio of musicians' gear on.
The band started playing, and I was hooked. Walls of emotion-filled music wafted over me, wrapped around me, and then went through me. I don't think I'd ever been that close to something like that.
Time passed, and the band finished. Being a guitar player and a gearhead, I noticed something unusual: the guitarist's amp.
"Hi, I'm Brad," I introduced myself.
"Hi, I'm Dave," he replied.
"What model of Dr. Z is that?" I asked.
"Wow...most people don't know it's not a Zenith..."
Can you say "fast friends"? I thought you could...
Can you remember where you were or what you doing three years ago? I can: all of the all of the above happened on Tuesday, August 7, 2001, three years ago, today.
I walked away from the bar, The Whipping Post, with a couple of things: knowledge of a new (to me) band I liked a lot, a website to go to (then called The Phish Sanctuary), and a couple of new friends, including the guy I talked to him on the bus: Davey Boy.
I had spent most of the '90s living a quiet life. I might go to a show or two, but hardly ever a club; I didn't know many bands, and had a pretty small circle of friends. Some of my "hibernation" was due to a hangover from a pretty tough few years at school, but a lot of it was, I think, shyness, and the paralysis induced by a feeling of safety.
Since then, well, words almost fail me. I've made more friends, seen more shows (125 days with shows in 2003, alone), and done more in the past three years than I'd done in the ten years before. I don't amalgate well (there's a certain bit of loner in my psyche), but this community has, without thinking, I believe, it's just the way it works, welcomed me, and allowed me to grow and do what I can and be what I am (and have become). It's given me so much, and allowed me to give back so much, that, I can't (and don't want to) imagine what my life would be (and would have been) without all of it.
Bring on the next three years! (Well, after I get through celebrating the anniversary at GTB tonight. :
{{{{{{{{{all of you}}}}}}}}}
Aloha,
BRAD (Been Reminiscing About Daves)

That's what the guy said. He was standing a few feet away from me on the bus, and he had a Phil and Friends t-shirt on. I had a Phish t-shirt on, and we made eye/t-shirt contact, recognizing the common ground we had both tread on.
The "they" he was referring to was the Dave Matthews Band, and we were on our way back from seeing them at the Corel Centre.
"No, they're not," I replied.
"Well, if you like Phish, you have to check out 'nero'," he said.
That was the second time I'd heard that band's name that day; earlier, I'd had a reply from a guy I had e-mailed, who was looking for people to fill out a jamband he was forming. He didn't need a guitar player, but told me to check out 'nero' if I liked jammy guitar stuff.
"They're playing downtown tonight. You should come out," my bus-buddy said.
OK, I took the twice-hearing-of-a-band-I-didn't-know-in-one-day as a Sign, and went along.
It was a tiny, upstairs bar, and the decor was more like a biker hangout than a Nice Place. There was a stage over in the corner, with a trio of musicians' gear on.
The band started playing, and I was hooked. Walls of emotion-filled music wafted over me, wrapped around me, and then went through me. I don't think I'd ever been that close to something like that.
Time passed, and the band finished. Being a guitar player and a gearhead, I noticed something unusual: the guitarist's amp.
"Hi, I'm Brad," I introduced myself.
"Hi, I'm Dave," he replied.
"What model of Dr. Z is that?" I asked.
"Wow...most people don't know it's not a Zenith..."
Can you say "fast friends"? I thought you could...
Can you remember where you were or what you doing three years ago? I can: all of the all of the above happened on Tuesday, August 7, 2001, three years ago, today.
I walked away from the bar, The Whipping Post, with a couple of things: knowledge of a new (to me) band I liked a lot, a website to go to (then called The Phish Sanctuary), and a couple of new friends, including the guy I talked to him on the bus: Davey Boy.
I had spent most of the '90s living a quiet life. I might go to a show or two, but hardly ever a club; I didn't know many bands, and had a pretty small circle of friends. Some of my "hibernation" was due to a hangover from a pretty tough few years at school, but a lot of it was, I think, shyness, and the paralysis induced by a feeling of safety.
Since then, well, words almost fail me. I've made more friends, seen more shows (125 days with shows in 2003, alone), and done more in the past three years than I'd done in the ten years before. I don't amalgate well (there's a certain bit of loner in my psyche), but this community has, without thinking, I believe, it's just the way it works, welcomed me, and allowed me to grow and do what I can and be what I am (and have become). It's given me so much, and allowed me to give back so much, that, I can't (and don't want to) imagine what my life would be (and would have been) without all of it.
Bring on the next three years! (Well, after I get through celebrating the anniversary at GTB tonight. :
{{{{{{{{{all of you}}}}}}}}}
Aloha,
BRAD (Been Reminiscing About Daves)

That's what the guy said. He was standing a few feet away from me on the bus, and he had a Phil and Friends t-shirt on. I had a Phish t-shirt on, and we made eye/t-shirt contact, recognizing the common ground we had both tread on.
The "they" he was referring to was the Dave Matthews Band, and we were on our way back from seeing them at the Corel Centre.
"No, they're not," I replied.
"Well, if you like Phish, you have to check out 'nero'," he said.
That was the second time I'd heard that band's name that day; earlier, I'd had a reply from a guy I had e-mailed, who was looking for people to fill out a jamband he was forming. He didn't need a guitar player, but told me to check out 'nero' if I liked jammy guitar stuff.
"They're playing downtown tonight. You should come out," my bus-buddy said.
OK, I took the twice-hearing-of-a-band-I-didn't-know-in-one-day as a Sign, and went along.
It was a tiny, upstairs bar, and the decor was more like a biker hangout than a Nice Place. There was a stage over in the corner, with a trio of musicians' gear on.
The band started playing, and I was hooked. Walls of emotion-filled music wafted over me, wrapped around me, and then went through me. I don't think I'd ever been that close to something like that.
Time passed, and the band finished. Being a guitar player and a gearhead, I noticed something unusual: the guitarist's amp.
"Hi, I'm Brad," I introduced myself.
"Hi, I'm Dave," he replied.
"What model of Dr. Z is that?" I asked.
"Wow...most people don't know it's not a Zenith..."
Can you say "fast friends"? I thought you could...
Can you remember where you were or what you doing three years ago? I can: all of the all of the above happened on Tuesday, August 7, 2001, three years ago, today.
I walked away from the bar, The Whipping Post, with a couple of things: knowledge of a new (to me) band I liked a lot, a website to go to (then called The Phish Sanctuary), and a couple of new friends, including the guy I talked to him on the bus: Davey Boy.
I had spent most of the '90s living a quiet life. I might go to a show or two, but hardly ever a club; I didn't know many bands, and had a pretty small circle of friends. Some of my "hibernation" was due to a hangover from a pretty tough few years at school, but a lot of it was, I think, shyness, and the paralysis induced by a feeling of safety.
Since then, well, words almost fail me. I've made more friends, seen more shows (125 days with shows in 2003, alone), and done more in the past three years than I'd done in the ten years before. I don't amalgate well (there's a certain bit of loner in my psyche), but this community has, without thinking, I believe, it's just the way it works, welcomed me, and allowed me to grow and do what I can and be what I am (and have become). It's given me so much, and allowed me to give back so much, that, I can't (and don't want to) imagine what my life would be (and would have been) without all of it.
Bring on the next three years! (Well, after I get through celebrating the anniversary at GTB tonight. :
{{{{{{{{{all of you}}}}}}}}}
Aloha,
BRAD (Been Reminiscing About Daves)

An Indonesian group has covered "Insurrection" by Ottawa's The Souljazz Orchestra:
Aloha,
Brad

Five years ago tonight:
https://archive.org/details/um2012-10-24.oktava.flac16
Umphrey's McGee - (live recording) 2012-10-24, The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Happy Birthday, bouche! I hope you're having a great day (and will have many more great days to come).
Aloha,
Brad

Thanks, bouche. I was in for Charles Bradley, but I think I'll be there for Bixiga 70, too.
Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

CBC: Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Audioslave singer, has died at age 52
Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad

Aloha,
Brad