-----Original Message-----
From: Wolfman [mailto:TERRAPINWOLF@HOTMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 2:29 AM
To: [email]psychedelicbreakfast-fans@yahoogroups.com[/email]
Subject: [PB Fans] BUTTERFIELD- The end of an era.
It is my sad duty to report that it looks as though there will not be
any more shows in Butterfield for PB or anyone else. Housing
services at UMass has permanently removed every resident of
Butterfield and plans to turn it into an honors dorm. Displaced
residents cannot even live in Baker dorm, just because Baker
is "cool" too. The demise of Butterfield began in the fall of 1999,
when a new residence director took over. He hates college students.
He has kicked out dozens of students in his two years, including 18
this past semester alone, and for the most minor transgressions
imaginable. One student, a house council member no less, was kicked
out for something he was asleep during. The new RD booted 3 out of 5
members of house council, and hired a narc to bust Mike "Biggie" Cook
who booked PB\'s first show ever in 10/98. The November 99 show was
able to go deep into the night because the RD was new and didn\'t know
what the **** was going on, but since then shows have had to end at
one. This past semester, he canceled a show for two college bands
from Maine the week after the PB show on 3/30 because "too many
people were drinking during PB". (Beats me, all I could see was
pillow fluff.) The list goes on, but the bottom line is that he got
his higher ups to kick everyone out of Butterfield, regardless of
their behavior history.
Those of you lucky enough to be at the show in November of 1999
witnessed what truly made Butterfield the launching pad for PB... who
will ever forget a room full of college students hurling themselves
into walls so PB would come out for a second encore. It was close to
3am when the cops came and put an end to what was truly a space city
affair. On a personal note, it was my first PB show and I walked out
of it having instantly developed the love and awe for this band that
we all share. Since then, Butterfield shows have taken on a special
significance for the band, the fans, and the relationship between the
two. The band always arrives early to chill and jam with the
students, tears the roof off, and then goes upstairs to party the
night away. Special band/fan musical moments have taken place there
as well, such as Happy Birthday to Freddie Wah on April Fool\'s Day
2000, an April Fool\'s YEM that was repaid to Butterfield a year later
on 3/30/01, the debuts of Stash and Phonebook on 11/17/00, and the
Battle Royal last show. And of course, there is always the after-
parties, which have done as much as the music to turn UMass into a
love lake for PB. I will never forget the Baker Quadfest show, a
free and joyous gathering of all UMass , Connecticut, and new fans,
and the consequently the band\'s biggest show ever at the time. After
the music, everyone was thanking and hugging the band for playing,
and after I got finished doing the same with Ron, we took in the
peace and love surrounding us and he said to me "Wow Wolfman, I\'ve
never seen people so thankful that we played."
While it is possible that shows will be allowed in Butterfield, it
seems highly unlikely at this time, and there is no doubt that a lot
of what makes those shows so special has been taken away from us.
You can still be assured you\'ll see the Baker crew at shows across
New England and New York all year, and I hope to set up another Quad
show for late September/early October. There are also other good
rooms on campus such as the Skybox, and locally the Iron Horse and
Fire and Water. But for anyone who has been to a PB show in
Butterfield, consider yourself extremely lucky for having been a part
of what will be PB legend for as long as the jams go on.
Sharing my thoughts with those who understand,
Seth Wolfman
-----Original Message-----
From: Cusick, Brett [mailto:BCUSICK@ENSR.COM]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 10:01 AM
To: \'psychedelicbreakfast-fans@yahoogroups.com\'
Subject: RE: [PB Fans] BUTTERFIELD- The end of an era.
Very, very well said Wolfman. My first PB show was at Butterfield, and the
only other Butterfield show I attended was the outdoor jamfest that we will
never forget. Being that I have only been to just over a dozen shows, and
seeing that they are all very special, I do understand what you are saying
about the magic of the jams at Umass. We have to be thankful that we had the
opportunity to have shared what we did, and we can only hope the best for
the boys. I think it is very obvious how things are going to work out. I
mean, come on, have you seen Jambase lately? Anyway, keep your head up Wolf,
there will always be magic to be made whenever they come out to play. Hope
you all have a fantastic weekend. Q
-----Original Message-----
From: [email]ryan@deblock.net[/email] [mailto:ryan@deblock.net]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 10:31 AM
To: [email]psychedelicbreakfast-fans@yahoogroups.com[/email]
Subject: RE: [PB Fans] BUTTERFIELD- The end of an era.
I\'m not gonna do it, I\'m not gonna do it, okay, I\'m gonna do it. What the hell
is wrong with this Resident Director. What is he a member of Lamda Lamda
Lamda? Come on when are people going to learn that college is not all about
education. It\'s about learning to live in an environment outside of your
normal habitat. Learning to live with people of other backgrounds and of other
cultures. You can, for all intense purposes find yourself. But college is the
time you have before an average of 40 years of work in a corporate society.
It\'s the last time that crazy times will be accepted because it\'s college. I
don\'t know much about UMass because after I was rejected, I really didn\'t have
an urge to learn. But I\'m sure that it\'s like every other college in which
there is a group that likes to go to the bar and get hammered. There\'s a group
that likes to get dressed up and go to clubs all night long. There\'s a group
that likes to study in the library for hours on end. All legitimate ways to
spend you college years. But there is also a group that likes to listen to
music and relax with a few beers or what have you. But why kill the music
because a couple of people got drunk and drank their beer out of a can instead
of a plastic cup. If they were a problem at the time, them that problem should
have been taken care of. It\'s not the band that says get drunk, run a muck.
No it\'s people\'s own decision to act the way that they do. I\'m not sure if
this new resident director actually spent his college years outside of a
library or his dorm room, but I can understand it if the college itself said,
we have to turn it into an honors dorm, but allow the music to travel to
another dorm. I ask all of the UMASS people to look deeper into this, because
there has to be something behind this.
RYDB