Show Notes
The setlist for this show is unknown but Jeff recalled that Phish was the opening band for poet, Allen Ginsberg and that they performed in the main auditorium rather than the basement. The rest of the information about the show was based on a 2/28/86 (Middlebury) The Campus article by Gene Konklin entitled ‘Ginsburg and Randall; The Poetry of Protest.’ This show was part of the Mayor’s Arts Council Series Midwinter Muse: A Poetry Weekend put on by then-Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders. According to the article “This past Friday, the poetic and musical gifts of local artists Aron Tagor, Ellen Powell, and Phish were put on display as well as readings by South African liberationist poet Zenzile, feminist poet Margaret Randall and Beat avator-courage teacher Allen Ginsberg. Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium played cozy host that evening to the approximately 200 folks who had dared brave the icy roads and harsh winds blown off the waters of nearby Lake Champlain.” The article continued “Next under the footlights came South African liberationist poet Zenzile, backed intstrumentally by the Burlington-based percussion ensemble Phish.” Describing Zenzile, the article continued “His poetry – the rhythms of exile – conveyed his sense of isolation from his native homeland and an urgent desire to see it set free from its oppressive systems. ‘The patience of the poeple is not endless’, Zenzile said. The tribal drums in the background recalled the heat and angst of a country beset by turmoil. Zenzile is a spokesman for that which transcends the realm of politics; the realm of the human spirit.” The article went on to describe Ginsberg’s reading included parts of “Kaddish” and him leading the “entire congregation in a rousing rendition of William Blake’s ‘The Nurse’s Song'”…”and all the hills echoed.” Allen’s poem “On Cremation of Chögyam Trungpa, Vidyadhara” was published in 1987 as a tribute to his spiritual guide on the occasion of the burial ceremony conducted by friends and students in Vermont.