Jam in the Dam | 03.16 - 03.19

maaaan... looks like it was a great time! I'll be there next year!

dank you

amazing!!! If it wasnt for UM that would have been an all time classick! DSO rules!!

This must be fun. I mean let's be honest, just about any live music in Amsterdam is a good time. Missed it this year, but that won't happen again. DSO in the DAM EFF YEA!

Till then, see ya'll at Mountain Jam!

Great photos. I love Amsterdam. Great museums, beautiful town, diverse cultures...and the hash doesn't suck.

This event, however…meh. Go all the way to Europe to see Umph and a bunch of cover bands? DSO are good, but they are still a cover band. PG, Lotus and Bisco are basically covering Phish jams and people have bought into it being original. Oh well. You'd need all that pot to make that interesting.

Umph is AMAZING live... What the $*&! are you talking about, Savage?? Oh, and yes, DSO puts on a great show but it ain't the real thing...

Wow Kirkbrew. Of course you have your right to your opinion about the music, but "Bisco are basically covering Phish jams"...either you haven't given the biscuits a fair chance...or you know nothing of Phish. They sound nothing alike. Great photos guys!!!

I must say does look good it was a great time. as for the comment of a bunch of cover bands. seems very uneducated to see the only one that could apply to is darkstar. but the way they perform the dead is right on point i have never heard a better cover band(using that term loosely) than them. Bisco hasnt played a phish song since mid 90's or so. But hey I would go to amsterdam any time to see these cover bands rock out a classic venue and classic jams. Enjoy the season approaching and a good show to one and all.

Nice shots Sam - looks like a hell of a good time

Dark star orchestra is so damn good.....Of all the cover bands I have ever heard they are by far the most talented....I don't really undertand everyones problem with them.......I have seen the dead, phil and friends, ratdog, the mickey hart band and I thought dark star put on a much better show than all of those bands..........I know that phil, mickey and bobby were the original writers of the music....but close your eyes at a dso show and tell me it isn't amazing

Nice photos, Sam and Dave!

How can you compare lotus to phish? honestly i love both bands but lotus is straight up mind blowing fusion.. its like a band on acid and steroids at the same time,. amazing energy can't wait to see them friday in northampton

Beautiful pictures!!! Wish I could have taken them.

I too, do not understand why people give dso a hard time. For one, its very special what they are doing keeping the deads music alive. Also, I dont get out much, but out of the 20 or so shows i have seen, DSO at Dunegrass was my favorite, and thats over Bisco, Umphreys, Sts9, and SCI.

Kirkbrew what the hell are you talking about Lotus and P Groove are Phish cover bands. Have you listened to any of their music? Your way off the mark their buddy...and obviously you have in no way actually listened to any of their shows. I can think of no song even mildy Phishesque that Lotus plays...sunrain, its all clear, nematode, flower sermon, hammerstrike,wooly mammoth etc...hmm nope not even close to Phish. DSO is a cover band sure...but they have grown and developed into a musical organism deserving of countless praise for their dedication, craftsmanship, and skill. The others sorry bud, but your way off the mark. Sounds and looks like an amazing time. The music combined with the culture must have been a surreal experience. Thanks for the pics.

damn i love amsterdam

This festival looks like the heady steez! I heard Bisco, Lotus, and PGroove threw down. I wish I could have been there. This was the best Jam in the Dam lineup in years. I'll definitely be there next year if the Biscuits and Lotus are there. WHOMP!

That does look amazing. Great pics. Looks like one hell of a party. And yes, DSO shows are amazing. I'm really looking forward to their late-night set at Mountain Jam.

Oh yea, the bickering on this site is ridiculous. Apparently if you don't like or listen to a certain band, you hate on them every time you post? How many kids are on this site?

damn you guys have the sweetest fucking job in the world!! awesome pics... looks like such a blast. and lotus is way under-rated by the way!

kirk you are a schmuck. how is pgroove like phish? does anyone know if its going on archive

Everytime I look at these comments there is some week negative comments from Liberalsavage guy

Why check out the site so much if there is such a constant gripe about what is or isnt to your liking

i love it when people try to talk shit and then make statements that completely reveal that they know absolutely jack shit about the subject

thanks for the laugh kirkbrew

I wouldn't sweat these buttholes' remarks, people. They're the same people that claim that the scene is being littered up with impostors and people who don't fit. If you ask me, the only people who don't fit in a scene are the ones who think that it is exclusive to their tastes. Those of you who can't see the music scene emerging as something that (finally) is breaking down the boundaries of genre and social class will probably always find a new gripe. Maybe one day you'll be stricken with the weight of most of the pioneer's intentions to diversify the scene. Get out of your box and go see MORE live music!

These photos are seriously amazing - wow! Definitely very inspirational for me.

Thanks for posting this article.

Gary

http://www.festivalfriendly.com/

http://www.festivalfriendly.com/forum/

Dave - nice shots from our apartment! Good stuff!! We should do it again soon...

YO - anyone that has plans to go to Amsterdam - check out www.homeandaway.nl and talk with Niels - he will hook you up in one of the most righteous places in the city...Trust me.

ALSO: I am constantly wondering why music fans see a comment box and take it as an opportunity to bash others? For crying out loud ya'll -- just put your two cents down and leave the person bashing to the politicians.

jambase - please add an ignore user function, so i never have to see Savage's comments again. seriously

ao1- I TOTALLY AGREE.

Great pics here. I def. need to get my ass to jam in the dam one of these years...

Thanks for all the love regarding THE PHOTOS AT HAND

How did this turn into a smorgasbord of negativity??

Umphrey's always puts on the most insane shows. I looked at their setlists though and I kinda think it's gotten so big, it's a bit watered down. I wish UM got 2 full sets one night. Maybe they need to invite fewer bands... I would rather watch 2 awesome bands play a lot, then 6 (UM not included) meh bands play.

That's what is so great about a festival, the lineup changes every year.

I bet everybody had a blast. Yay, Amsterdam!

these images are nothing short of gorgeous.. thanks guys!

i just want to know what kirbrew has been huffing to think disco, pgroove, and lotus are covering phish jams. Now i gotta be honest I'm not a fan of the disco biscuits, I've seen them live once and I didn't like them. I am very huge fan of umph and allthough i've never seen pgroove or lotus live i've heard many of their shows and thought they were both talented bands, but if you knew anything about these bands, or phish you'd know that the sound was completly different. People go to these shows because of the different new sound and style that makes the bands unique. Phish had their own unique sound and style, and other bands in the scene recognized that and tried to incorporated their own style and their own jams. If you wanna hear a band sound like phish, go to a phix show or another phish coverband.

It's that reason that people go to these shows, so they can see a band that sounds diff from the dead, or phish or sci so they can get a diff, maybe better, experience out of the band and experience a maybe better newer, different sounding sound.

And I don't get a lot of you DSO haters. I have much respect for mickey, bobby, phil and bill and what they are and have been doin in the past, but to go to a show and have the band, not just cover the songs, but recreate an antire set, or even show, is mindblowing to me, ontop of that the band almost recreates the experience flawlessly, there aren't many cover bands who can do that.

I'll def be seein you all at jam in the dam next year!

Sorry – you guys are somewhat correct and I am somewhat off the mark. Lotus, P-Groove, Bisco really don’t write songs like a band like Panic, Phish or even George Michael. They just kind of jam. And when they sing (at least Bisco), I just pray that the skies will open and drown out those off key wails. At the very least, write better lyrics.

My point is that those songs/jams that are essentially no different from any extended Phish jam. Cool groove, solid funky bass coloured by guitar or keys. First with a simple theme that is added to (double the time and add as you go or a number of Trey’esque tricks) leading to a crescendo of some sort. Bring it back down, throw in a new riff, reformulate your elaboration, return elements of the original theme and crescendo again.

And you are probably right that I am off here too. Phish were relatively succinct with their jams. And when they went off, they did so with purpose. They told a story. The modern jamband, in contrast, stretches these rhythms and noodling to a point of exhaustion (or boredom).

So Lotus use samples, some late 80’s/early 90’s e-rhythms and elements of dance music. P-Groove get prog-rock with a bit of ELP. Bisco throw in analogue synths sweeps for the trippers (when they should sell that mini-Moog and buy voice lessons or retake High School lit). That’s window dressing. It’s far from being significantly different from the 10 to 15 minutes in the middle of any Ghost, Tweezer, Antelope etc…

At least that is what I’m picking up. I am more familiarly with Phish than the above. But when I listen to them, I say “That sounds like that cool Weekapaugh from the ’96 Deer Creek show. Screw this, I’ll listen to the Deer Creek show.”

Hence – my comment that these are all cover bands. I will not argue that I am ignorant or uneducated. That’s just what this ignorant, uneducated ear is picking up on.

And DSO is a GREAT cover band. But still a cover band and (to me) not really worth the scratch.

I went in '06 and its still the best fest ive been to. All these bands rule!

I would go if they got some better bands...With these bands, you're better off just going over there for the Cup. Even though 9 out of 10 strains we have in this area would still be far superior to the Cup winner.

Damn Vince get a HAIRCUT!!!!!

"I would go if they got some better bands...With these bands, you're better off just going over there for the Cup. Even though 9 out of 10 strains we have in this area would still be far superior to the Cup winner."

I must agree. This fest has the most potential of any festival anywhere if they'd just mix it up beyond bisco and Umphreys. Throw in a little MMW, Ween, Claypool, and someone else, and i'm there.

gotta agree with a lot of you guys here. Kirk, I fully feel ya with the lack of originality. That's just music though. and if you think about it a lot of these guys haven't ever seen the dead, phish, or houser panic so this is all new to them. On the other hand I do like what TLG has to offer.

The pics are absolutely gorgeous though! a great mix of music and culture.

well done. :)

^^^ Those bands are great but they play short sets. I know MMW can go all night, but Claypool hasn't played a set over 90 minutes for 3 or 4 years now.

Primus has the catalog to play three shows but that's just wishful thinking.