The winner has been chosen and contacted.  We just loved the idea of a drug called “Shazbot” too much and, coupled with the idea that it’s of the grimy mini-mart variety, it was too much for us not to select it as the winner.  It was a tight call though, so thanks to everyone that entered!  We actually have a couple more ticket giveaways running right now–namely, The War on Drugs and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks–so make sure to check those out and keep your eyes peeled for more in the future.

It’s been just over 30 years since Mike Gordon co-founded the band Phish at The University of Vermont.  Since then, the bassist has held down the low-end in one of the most versatile musical outfits in modern history.  A notoriously improvisational act, the 4-piece is well known for never repeating the same set twice, and their music has the ability to travel as widely as the thousands of fans that follow them from show to show across the country.  Phish definitely has a penchant for exploring some truly disorienting and spaced out territory–some of us may have even believed that we were dead and/or trapped in an alternate dimension at moments of their shows–but it’s Mike that drops the bottom out, supplies the groove, and really gets people moving.  And while his solo career finds him continuing to experiment with new directions, that unmistakable Gordo bass sound is something that he never fails to take along with him.

Mike Gordon really launched his individual career outside of the band during the 2 1/2 year hiatus that Phish took beginning in the fall of 2000.  From the jump, he proved himself to be the most interesting member of the quartet, as a solo artist moving forward.  Taking the time off from the collective for which he’s most known, he collaborated with legendary acoustic guitar wizard, Leo Kottke to release the surprisingly organic LP, Clone in October of 2002, just months prior to Phish reuniting.  The respective styles of he and Kottke blended so effortlessly that the duo teamed up again for the album, Sixty-Six Steps, 3 years later.  Less than a year after their first collaboration, however, Mike released both a film and the first project to rest entirely on his own shoulders, and under his own name, alone.  Inside In contained some really refreshing material with complex yet hypnotic layering, and featured a slew of cameos by artists like Bela Fleck and the late Vassar Clemens.  Since then, he’s continued to find time to push forward and explore on his own, releasing 3 more full-length “Mike Gordon” albums; the latest being Overstep, which dropped only a couple of weeks ago.

Touring in support of Overstep, Gordon will be playing in Seattle at the Neptune Theatre next Friday, March 21st.  As you Phish phans have likely already seen, the bands upcoming Summer Tour dates were just announced, completely blowing off the West Coast. yet again.  The assumption might be that they’ll make up for it in the Fall, but the boys have also exhibited a pattern of only visiting Washington State to play the Gorge every other year.  They did just play here last year, so… this might actually be your only chance to catch Gordon in the area for awhile.  The good news is that, thanks to our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group, we have a pair of tickets to give away to one of you jokers for free.

[CLICK HERE to buy tickets]

THE CONTEST / GIVEAWAY:

*1 Winner will receive a pair of tickets to the following performance :

Mike Gordon
The Neptune Theatre – Seattle, Wa
Friday, March. 21, 2014 @ 9pm

HOW TO ENTER:

This giveaway will center around the title of the opening track from Mike Gordon’s new album.

#1

The first song on Overstep is a track called “Ether” and, while the lyrics clearly imply that it’s about something entirely different, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear that word–other than the retaliatory Jay Z diss track from NAS–is the time that I ran into a gaggle of teens geeked out on solvents at Capitol Lake Park in Olympia, Wa.

Your job as the entrant is to come up with the street name for a new drug.  Be as detailed as you want–what form is it in? how is it ingested? what does it do? etc.–or, just be really basic with it (just the name).  It’s totally up to you.

#2

Post your answer in the comment section below.

#3)

There is no part 3. That’s all there is to the contest. It’s pretty easy… but you should probably read the fine print.

The Fine Print:

All entries must be received by Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 at 11:59pm to be eligible.

You can enter as many times as you want, but use a valid email so that we can contact you. If you sign in with Facebook, make sure that your account can accept a message from us. Winner will be chosen arbitrarily, based on our personal “favorite.”

If you are not sure that you will be able to attend the show, do not enter! You’d be surprised how often that shit happens and we don’t want these going to waste.

If we are unable to contact the winner in a reasonable amount of time, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!