LawnMemo

The Daily Ghost

The Daily Ghost #47 12/31/1998 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

(@KernelForbin Remaster)

Background (Ghost Position: Set 1 of 3 – Song 5 of 7-Show Gap: 8)

The first Ghost at the Garden.  In the first set of the NYE show, Ghost follows Mike’s Groove. The segue into Ha,Ha,Ha has been included.

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Composed Section (0:00-4:32)

Trey closes out the year’s last Ghost, by offering up the same opening loops that have characterized so many Ghosts of 1998.  Fish and Mike come into the party at 0:45 and you can hear the buzz of the crowd.  After a Mike’s Groove….Ghost??  First set?? That is what I am talking about!  The tempo is so confident.  You can tell they know this is going to be great.  The crowd sings along to the opening vocals.  Great feel to this Ghost.

The solo section has the relaxed feel to it, with a touch of funk to give it some life. A good length pause with some cool feedback.  When the feedback ends the drop in is really nailed!!  Well, well done!

Patience My Friend, Is a Virtue (4:33-7:18)

This is slanky out of the gates, with a controlled tempo and some early sectioned off jamming.  When the jam breaks away, the tempo picks up a bit.  Page is on his piano, and Trey starts to solo at a controlled pace.  Fish tries out a couple different rhythms attempting to provide a road map for this jam.

At 5:11, Page plays a great couple of chords and the jam settles in.  Trey starts a lick at 5:30 that he repeats slowly and uses as the backbone of this early section.  At 5:38, Page drops in a couple of great notes and then comes back to that lick at 5:58.  Mike moves nicely around it and his bass blends beautifully.  Great little groove here.

This is clearly a band that has toured incredibly well, and completely on top of it’s game with regards to Ghost.  The patience is so evident from everyone, especially Trey.  They own this song, and can do whatever they want with it.

At 6:30, Fishman tries to push the pace a bit.  Though, Trey is very comfortable in the position they are in, and continues to take things slowly.  At about 6:48, Fishman starts to noticeably pick things up.  Page starts to join in but Trey puts the kibosh on things a bit.

The Chairlift Ride (7:19-11:20)

At 7:19 Fish slows down as Trey moves back to that early lick, which he continues to repeat.  As Trey repeats the lick, Mike really starts to take the lead.  He creates fantastic melodies and does some really creative stuff.  As each note rings longer from Trey, Mike moves faster and provides great balance to the jam.  A beautiful run from Page and then he follows with some great sound chords.

Trey responds taking this lick higher and higher.  Fishman has really pushed the pace behind this jam and things are building beautifully!  Fantastic flow to this Ghost.  This build is a continuation of what had been built in the first section.  It just takes what they have already built and builds on it.  Basically they build what has already been built.   Did I really just write that?  Facepalm…

I think of climbing or taking a chairlift (in my case) to the top of a mountain during this section.  I love to ski, and sometimes the most fun can be the chairlift ride to the top.  Just watching everything below you and how incredible the view becomes, every second you move toward the top.  Every measure that this Ghost builds, feels like every second of my journey moving towards the top of the lift.  This section builds so smoothly, and never rushes.  It feels like that chairlift ride because of smoothness this part has.

At 10:12 Trey signals that the chairlift ride is ending.  There is never a peak to this Ghost, just a beautiful journey to the top.

New Years, The Final Frontier (11:21-15:46)

So no peak right?  So now what?  Instead of skiing down the mountain, a dark march begins.  A deep bass line from Mike changes the course of this jam.  After Fishman, helps to break this jam down, Mike plays an awesome bass line beginning at around the 12:00 mark.

This bass line is ferocious, and it has teeth.  Trey hops on board right away, his lick is even meaner, and scarier.  I feel like that is so bad ass that the Death Star might enter the picture.  This is some angry, angry stuff.  So out there, and so unique.  Again, can you tell how confident this band is!

By about 12:48, the Death Star starts to move away and we are left floating through space.  Things are still pretty angry but the band is moving deeper into outer space.

Fishman provides such an awesome lock down, that the band really has a chance to explore this final frontier.  They find this space, and just continue to work on it.  Instead of jumping to any other rhythm, they just build on this one.

At 14:30 things get a touch on the lighter side, before the Death Star reappears with vengeance at 15:29.  Then just as it appears as if it will destroy all of MSG…Ha,Ha,Ha begins.  So awesome!

Final Thoughts

A fantastic end to an incredible year for Ghost.  This Ghost has incredible patience, and therefore, incredible flow.  I love the patient build of the band, the darkness parts, and the uniqueness of this Ghost.  The first Ghost at the Garden certainly left a great mark and helped create a story that will be told once again.

Score 8.9