x

The High Council / Blog

Bryce and Tracy's BBQ Bash Appendix...

Appendix: Zeke’s Vocabulary-Bee Workshop Word Of The Day: Erhu (EAR-who)…I swear I’m not making this up. On public radio I heard a talk about dead languages and how when words are lost, so is the meaning lost as well. Some aboriginal native peoples in Siberia or someplace have this word, Erhu, which describes the FEELING one gets as they witness something in a state of change. So, it was really cool and we dug the show and hung for a bit then went home. I love this band about as much as my own. And I promise to write a scathing critique instead of these Cream-puff exercises in flattery, but THC will have to cooperate and play a show where they really stink the joint up.

Bryce and Tracy’s BBQ Bash 05/22/15

Tim Maloy Slug date: 05/25/15

The weather cooperated nicely with the Annual Barbecue Bash at Sedro Woolley. Mild to warm temperatures and dry ground kept the gathering comfortable whether seated, dancing or feasting. I saw less dancing than usual, however this was more like a Show than a gig. THC performed three full sets in excess of an hour for each set. THC can carry it; no doubt at all. I would like to dissect and re-hash the entire show, but suffice it to say that you shoulda been there. I’m getting around to a different THC discussion. So here we are. The sun shining, the music playing, salads, my favorite dead animals on the barbecue, seafood and desserts providing both sustenance and pleasures make for a splendid evening that holds the promise of Summer. I topped it off with a stimulating cup of Mother P’s Herbal Tea. THC was playing their way from gig to show, and Grady belched fire that no Prevacid nor Rolaids could tame. The evening was underway! Michelle asked me about musicians, bands and creativity. Since I know a little bit, and I can guess the rest, I answered by explaining the notion of a Jam Band. I suggested that, putting aside “cover bands” for the moment, bands that do defined songs do a lot of jamming during the creative process, but a lot of that ends up “on the cutting room floor”, the fat having been trimmed before presenting the final version to the audience. I offered that THC gives you the process as part and parcel. Like, when your math teachers wanted not only the correct answer, but wanted you to “show your work”. The Jam includes the display of the creative process. There are guideposts that have been placed along the trail that are familiar to the band and –to some extent—the audience. The fact that the “trail” has markers does not diminish the display of the creative process. They show their work (pretty much, kinda sorta)-- even when it’s a familiar arrangement. And when the most remote or distant trail marker is reached, we all move into the uncharted where things we’ve never seen become familiar. Sorry ‘bout that. It really did just come out that way. So I’m digging on the THC Show, and really appreciating how nimble the band is; both as a group and individually. My Fan Brain queries, “Well, then, just how “good” is THC? I mean I’ve seen several shows and it keeps getting better!” So let me define, “good”, please. I don’t mean Good, like they are kind to small animals in the forest, although they probably are. Here I mean, when I say they’re Good, I mean that subjectively, I like them and their musical choices. I mean that their ability and musical competence displays a deeper talent for Group Creation, occasionally composing as they play. To make all this operational is to place lightning in a bottle. If you can harness Nature, you’re Good. THC is Good, get it? The Tangible Paisley, having been formed and presented in the third set lifted as a hovercraft . It caroms off of and bounces between the players like it’s a pinball and the trail markers and guideposts that exist in the bands “muscle memory” that “flippers” as the group aims their creation skillfully along their path. Each player’s aim is guided by individual (subjectivity) and group (inter-subjectivity). It makes for amazing listening entertainment. And then some. I was pleased to go along for the lift-off, a little cruising and a gentle landing as the hovercraft resumed the image of six guys on stage holding instruments. Like a big dirigible or a giant Dodo bird settling down in the nest. It’s like a huge block of granite that is so dense as to crush anything beneath it but it lowers deceptively gentle, into place. The audience is part of the pinball table, too, of course.. When the pinball seems to get loose, it’s like a home run belted deep over the centerfield wall into the seats. And we toss the ball back into play with a smile, a dance, a Hoot, or just a look of rapt attention while we experience the erhu.

Tim Malloy of The Naughty Blokes shares his thoughts.

Part I: I hope to appear in this space again, as I'm sure I will continue to try and put into words my THC concert experiences. I am a Fan of this band and I'm not ashamed to say so. Even though I belong to my own band, which I love as the sea loves the moon, I am a fan of THC. Just sayin'. Except by way of introduction, my personal ID is unimportant to the narrative voice. Suffice it to say that I met Zeke and Pang pre-THC at a Skagit Valley jam. Then a year or so later Pang invited me to see an earlier lineup (at least bass and guitar players have since rotated in and out.) playing a gig at Wild Horse Campground in George, WA. I had tix to see Phish across the street at The Gorge, so, why not? That was my first THC show. At that time I did not even recognize Zeke as he'd cut his hair, and shaved, except for a patch of Chin Spinach. And, possibly a Soul Patch. Pang greeted me with a hug and introduced me to his bandmates. A little sugar goes a long way and the afternoon was indeed sweet. It was a perfect introduction to their shows. It would be a few months before I would see them on NYE in Port Townsend at the Uptown Bar, but I'm getting ahead of myself, here. At The Gorge, it was intriguing to become aware of the band's artistic direction. Later, I saw Phish, but it was the THC experience that I brought home that weekend. I cannot portend to sum that direction in so many words as their collective creation would be short shifted, but try as I might, one must come and experience THC for themselves. Drawing one's own inferences can be the only way to go. I make no attempt to define THC. I only share my impressions. By the wee hours of January 1st, NYD 2014, I can say that the band's direction was no more important to me than the various destinations THC visits with their audience during their shows. I remember the realization that THC is capable of creating a Tangible Paisley onstage by performing their music. I became a willing participant in the experience whether seated, dancing, sitting in with a djembe or a shaker, or reciting RocknRoll Japa, not pronounced as in, (softly) "A-a-h-h-h-..." but, instead a more urgent, "YA-A-A-A-H-H-H-H-O-o-o-o-w !" Well, kinda sorta. On some recording, it might be heard, because I looked to see that my expression was probably picked up on a recording mic during a drum solo. Sorry 'bout that, guys. I have seen THC nine or ten times since the summer of 2013. I have enjoyed THC shows indoors, outdoors,and on stages both spartan and well lit. The Paisley always appears. This is not a chronology. It is not an orderly chronicle. I draw from random memory. I am remembering NYE 2014, now. Port Townsend. Larger room than the previous year in the same town. More people. More energy. More lights and lasers, to fill the breathing space with so many bright, shiny, multi-colored wiggly worms, beams of laser light and shapes of circles and geometric patterns bouncing across the dance floor while the audience of merry souls danced through them all. I danced my way to the front of the stage and found my portal into the band's space. THC provides these portals for our appreciation and convenience to access the Inside. I once asked Pang if these were placed intentionally. Regardless of his answer, maybe they do and maybe they don't. And what does it matter? The portals exist anyway. And they're ours to use, given freely. Share and share alike. Part and parcel. What part of water is wet, anyway?

Who is Morningglory?

This was found at a Phish Phan site and now the post is not available. "I was sitting in my idyllic treelined campsite in the lovely wildhorses campground, saturday afternoon b4 the Phish concert at the gorge, when i realized that what i had taken for a very loud, very clear dead bootleg from the early 70s, was instead a truly kick ass real live jam band! They pulsed, they swung, they rocked, the singer crooned, and they tripped way out, seemingly effortlessly and with the joy and familiarity that can only come from playing lots and with people you love playing with. Suddenly the lead guitar took the steering wheel with gentle authority and led his cohorts on a ride that was at times maniacal, at others tear drop tender. I was captivated, if i was wearing any panties, i would have thrown them. Jerry was smiling down on washington at that moment. Having been to hundreds of dead and phish shows, i am well versed in jam lore and know the real thing when i hear it. This was undeniably organically spellbindingly real. I learned from a friend that they are called THC, the high council, and that they are from seattle, a town not known for jam bands. Friends, thats about to change, go see THC soon, next year you'll be waitin in line." By Morningglory

Thank you for those great words from THC