II: Kill Devil Falls* > Tweezer **** > Prince Caspian*> Gotta Jibboo* > Wilson > Gotta Jibboo > Heavy Things* > 2001** > Slave to the Traffic Light

The New Years Eve run in Miami technically started the night before, December 28th, but for all practical purposes, that show was just a warmup.  If there was a single day of the year that Phish can really be counted on to take you there, perhaps other than the obvious New Years and Halloween, that day is December 29th.  This year did not disappoint.

While the Golgi Apparatus opener probably shouldn’t raise any eyebrows for most listeners, the blistering Maze followup certainly gets your attention. There are certain songs that, when placed prominently in the first set, nearly always herald a great show.  Mike’s Song is one of these, because its heavy jamming tendencies tend to land it in the second set.  It usually signals that the band is really eager to get into the “good stuff”.

While Maze is a much more common first set song, (probably around 70% of the time) its placement this early in the set plus this version’s intensity definitely stands out.  In a spot usually reserved for the warm-up paces, the band heads right into a full-on sprint.  A dizzying organ solo right off the bat provides the launch pad for a face-melting Trey solo.  They do dial it back a bit with Driver and The Connection before a Wolfman’s Brother that starts out in typical cow-funk mode before Trey kicks off a singing rock groove.  Following Ocelot is a striking Reba – one of the best of the year.  Here Trey weaves intricate melodic lines over Page comping adroitly on the electric piano.  The song seems to improve with each additional listen; the 9:00 mark especially is when the band seems fully locked into each other until the abrupt ending. No whistling for this version, but that’s almost better, as it lets the music hang in your mind…

Following this spectacular Reba we get the little played Mike tune from the Round Room album, Access Me.  This little ditty is followed by a solid Divided Sky and taken out with Cavern.  As far as first sets go, they really don’t get a lot better than this.  Highlights all the way through, but the Reba is definitely where this set is at.

Set two starts off with what is normally a straightforward rocker, Kill Devil Falls.  This KDF, which I usually consider to be the understudy to Chalkdust Torture, features a much more Birds of a Feather-type jam which sets it apart from the average summer tour version.  If you like Kill Devil Falls, this is a version worth hearing.

2009 was a pretty good year for Phish.  The Jones Beach Hood.  The Gorge Gin.  The  However, the Tweezer that comes next is, I think, the best single performance of the year.  Before the song is even over, Trey is audibly itching to get into the jam.  Following some nontraditional sonic embellishments into and out of the “Uncle Ebeneezer” verse, the band immediately drops into a Manteca-style jam with some vocal accents.  Page and Trey continue laying down some texture for a time while Mike busts out a dirrrrrrty, Meatball-infused Boogie On-style solo.  Funk siren, bass solos, synth effects – it’s all going on here, and it’s brilliant. The communication between all band members here is incredible. All of this eventually comes together into a blissful, atmospheric What’s the Use-ish jam that leads the band into Prince Caspian.

I realize this might seem like a bit of a bold statement, but this is, in my opinion, one of the best Tweezers the band has ever played.  While many may hold the experimental ‘95 versions as the pinnacle of Tweezer achievement, this is superior, I believe, because there’s nothing experimental about it.  At least part of the success of many of those versions owed to the fact that they were all 30 minutes or more.  This version is half that, yet it’s artfully distilled into a dynamic, cohesive whole.The reason I love this band, why I’ll drive hundreds of miles and thousands of dollars to see them, is embodied by this Tweezer.

But oh yeah, Caspian. It’s no secret this isn’t my favorite song, but coming out of that Tweezer ain’t nothing the band plays gonna sound bad.  In fact, this actually features a pretty intense Trey solo before leading into an ambitious Gotta Jibboo. Sparked by some rhythmic guitar accents on the way in, this is an excellent offering.  The jam begins as a Page-driven comping excercise before getting its legs as a rock jam which finds Trey settling in on a riff that eventually and inevitably becomes Wilson.  Then to top it off, it somehow finds its way back into Jibboo.

While the Jibboo reprise isn’t nearly as exciting as the first installment, it does make an unexpected transition directly into Heavy Things.   This is a long version with an extended outro noise jam that finds its way deftly into the runner up for the set, 2001. Not a long version by any means, at only 6 and a half minutes, but it’s completely smokin’, with lots of little flourishes throughout and crowned by bending guitar notes over some thick space-funk.  Slave to the Traffic Light is really the only way this set could end as it puts the finishing touches on a scorcher of a set.  And as soon as the band breaks out Sleeping Monkey for the encore, you know it was a smoking show.

All in all, this is my favorite set of the year.  The band was taking lots of chances, communicating brilliantly, and just downright playing about as well as I’ve ever heard.  If you want to use my star system as an indicator of show quality,  this is easily the show of the year, with 15(!) stars. Almost every song in the second set was at least above average, with the Jibboo and 2001 exceptionally strong, and the Tweezer downright transcendental.

Synopsis:

Set 1: As solid a first set as you could expect, highlighed by one of the best Reba’s of the year

Set II: Easily the best set I’ve heard this year.  The Tweezer alone makes this worth listening to, but the rest of the set is fantastic and inventive from start to finish.

Notable versions: Maze*, Wolfman’s Brother*, Reba***, Kill Devil Falls*, Tweezer****, Prince Caspian*, Gotta Jibboo*, Heavy Things*, 2001**

Overall: The mystique of 12/29 is further bolstered by this show, which should absolutely be part of your collection.

Tweezer

2001

Download this show Listen to this show

“Let this music relax your mind”

After several months of speculation, the day finally arrived.  Despite the fact that Phishbills were handed out upon entrance to the venue in the afternoon stating that they would be performing the Rolling Stone’s Exile on Main Street, it didn’t seem to dampen any of the anticipation.  Sandwiched between two great Phish sets, we would be treated to a performance of one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

I: Sample in a Jar, The Divided Sky, Lawnboy, Kill Devil Falls, Bathtub Gin*, The Squirming Coil, Runaway Jim, Possum*, Run Like an Antelope*

II: Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Shake Your Hips, Casino Boogie, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Torn and Frayed, Sweet Black Angel, Loving Cup**, Happy, Turd on the Run, Ventilator Blues, I Just Want to See His Face**, Let it Loose, All Down the Line, Stop Breaking Down, Shine a Light, Soul Survivor

II: Backwards Down the Number Line -> Fluffhead, Ghost**, When the Circus Comes to Town, You Enjoy Myself***

e: Suzie Greenberg**

Of course the Exile set was the centerpiece of the evening, but before you get to the main course, you’ve got to have some appetizers.  The band eases into the first set with Sample in a Jar before a great Divided Sky that flows beautifully from Trey’s guitar before he takes plenty of time to soak it in at the “sunset” portion of the song while the attentitve crowd cheers him on.  Then, before Page takes center stage for Lawnboy, Trey speaks for the first time, acknowledging the beauty of the venue while perhaps giving us a play on words (”it’s been a long time since we played on grass”).

Following the keyboardists suave vocal performance, the band kicks it up a notch with Kill Devil Falls, followed by another first set staple, Bathtub Gin.  Even though it will be November in less than 24 hours, it still feels like summer.  After this blistering Gin, the band takes it down a notch with The Squirming Coil, and starts to build back up with Runaway Jim on the way to finishing the set on a high note with a rollicking duo of Possum and Run Like an Antelope. All of this, of course, is just a warmup for the evening.

When I first saw the Phishbill on the way into the venue, I let out in a shout of joy, “It’s Exile!”.  One of my all-time favorite albums, I had been hoping Phish would choose the Rolling Stones classic from the moment they announced Festival8.  Even a casual fan would recognize the oft-played cover Loving Cup, but the album goes so much deeper than this single track.  There’s the grimy blues of Casino Boogie, the soul of Shine a Light, the tender Sweet Black Angel.

The only question was how Phish would handle the arrangements, with a number of tracks featuring horns and female backup.  But no worries.  Phish gave the album the star treatment it deserves with the help of star soul singer Sharon Jones, as well as Saundra Williams on vocals, Dave Guy on trumpet, David Smith on trombone, and Tony Jarvis on sax.  These five extremely talented musicians helped Phish bring this album to life the way they would never be able on their own.

Just prior to taking the stage, the audience was treated to a montage of some of the albums that didn’t make the cut.  Bowie, Prince, Hendrix, et al were worked into an intriguing mix. (A brief clip of Jerry drew the largest cheer of course.)

I’m not sure how many fans would have recognized the album when the band first let into Rocks Off, but I would guess that as the set went on they would probably recognize more tunes than they might have suspected. While none of the tracks on the album really rival the noteriety of Stones hits such as Satisfaction, Paint it Black, or Ruby Tuesday, to me, many of these songs feel like the “real” Rolling Stones – British rockers whose primary influences were American bluesmen. This album is a rejection of the British Invasion they helped fuel.

Similarly, the choice of this album by Phish is a statement from them as well. Despite the (usually derisive) label of being a jam band, Phish is triumphantly proclaiming “We’re a rock band!”  And they do rock this material, getting down and dirty with Rip This Join, Shake Your Hips, and the first song of the night they deviate from album form, if even for only a few minutes, Casino Boogie.  By this time, the horns and backing vocals are in full swing.  But it’s Tumbling Dice that’s the first real showcase of the amazing backing vocals of Sharon Jones and Saundra Davis.

Sweet Virginia, a tune Phish has covered in the past, is Fishman’s first lead vocal of the night, before the classic, bleak portrait of life on the road, Torn and Frayed, which I’m sure hits very close to home for Phish. This begins what I feel is the strongest portion of the album (and the set), as Trey switches up for his acoustic for the tender Sweet Black Angel before unleashing the crowning jewel of the set, Loving Cup.

Now, we’ve all heard Loving Cup before from Phish, and it rightfully has a spot in many fans’ hearts as their best cover song.  But we’ve never heard a version like this before, and likely never will again.  Everybody knew it was coming at this exact moment, yet the crowd erupts with a huge cheer, and the band absolutely delivers.  This entire version felt like one huge release as the  band, horns, and vocals all come together perfectly.

Following this peak, Happy and Turd on the Run almost feel like an afterthought as the album moves into some of the “filler” portion.  However, this gives the band a chance to stretch it out a little bit and provide one of the sleeper hits of the evening, Ventilator Blues -> I Just Want to See His Face. The swaying chorus of “Let this music relax your mind” builds towards a powerful climax, one of the high points of the evening for me.  From this point on it’s back into rhythm ‘n’ blues as they propel towards the finish with Let it Loose, All Down the Line, and Stop Breaking Down before the soulful singalong of Shine a Light and the straightforward rock’n’soul of Soul Survivor put a huge exclaimation point on a fantastic 100 minutes of Phish.

And we’re stil not done for the evening.  After a long setbreak, the band returned to the stage with a tune that’s at once accessible to the general listening public, yet also fast becoming a crowd favorite, Backwards Down the Number Line.  It’s jammed in a fairly straightforward way into a song everybody was expecting at some point in the weekend, Fluffhead.   It’s an energetic yet fairly standard version until the final section of the song, “The Arrival”, when Kuroda lets loose with the enormous tiki torches that mark the unofficial boundary of the music area.  And when I say “tiki torches”, I mean “huge jet burners that could power a hot air balloon.”  We were standing back by these things, and they were bright, and they were loud, and they were hot.  Of course the crowd goes nuts as the band wraps up a wild ending to Fluff.

Next up is the first real big jam tune of the night, Ghost. Where one could expect the band to take Ghost into dark, spooky territory, it being Halloween and all, instead the band lays down a relatively rocking version.  Page goes crazy on the clav early into the jam over some sick Mike bass lines, and Trey takes over later in the jam with some circular melodies that keep the energy up.  The band then decides to sort of let everybody refresh with a beautifully placed and performed When the Circus Comes to Town.  The Exile set aside, this is surprisingly the only cover of the entire weekend.  Wrapping up the 5-song set is a blistering You Enjoy Myself, one of the best of the year.  The jam is wide ranging, from some Herbie Hancock “Chameleon” style work on the synth early in the jam to some guitar shredding to a dirrrrty bass solo.  This version clocks in around 22 minutes, all of it pure gold.

In an unsurprising move, the band reprised the horns and singers for an amazing encore of Suzy Greenberg.  No matter how many times you’ve heard this tune, you must, must, must hear this version.  On top of a full-bodied, horn charged version, the band gives some space for Sharon and Saundra to go wild in a sort of soul vocal duel.  They might as well retire Suzy, because this version will never be topped.

While I’ve certainly heard better shows musically (not that this show wasn’t fantastic in that regard) this is one of the greatest Phish shows I’ve every personally attended.  From the musical costume, to the amazing festival grounds, to the infectous vibe of the crowd, and the inspired playing of my favorite band, every aspect of this day was epic.

Synopsis:

Set I: A high-energy first set that felt like summer tour. Highlight: Possum

Set II: The Exile set may go down as their best musical costume ever, topped by an amazing Loving Cup.

Set III: A mostly rocking, jammed out set anchored by a huge YEM.

Highlights: Bathtub Gin*, Possum*, Run Like an Antelope*, Loving Cup**, I Just Want to See His Face**, Ghost**, You Enjoy Myself***, Suzy Greenberg**

Overall: A memorable show from start to finish. An instant classic.

New! to Helping Friendly Book – Audio!

Loving Cup

I Just Want to See His Face

Suzy Greenberg

As an aside, just right now this minute I have been chatting with a cool guy Hideki from Tokyo who has come over for the festival.  He first saw the band in ‘92 (I assume in Japan…did they play there then? Don’t have my Phish Companion handy)  In his opinion, last night was one of the most special shows he’s ever seen.   He feels they’ll play Electric Ladyland tonight, but I’m pulling for the Stones.  Anyway, the setlist:

I: Party Time, Chalk Dust Torture, The Moma Dance, NICU, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Stash, I Didn’t Know, Poor Heart, Cavern, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Ocelot, Time Turns Elastic

II: Punch You in the Eye, Down With Disease* -> Prince Caspian -> Wolfman’s Brother -> Piper, Joy, David Bowie, Harry Hood !-> Golgi Apparatus

e: Character Zero

There’s not a lot I can say about the first set – our flight got delayed 3 hours leaving Minneapolis yesterday morning, so we got into LAX right during rush hour, so it took us forever to get down to Indio.  We missed Party Time, a song I still have not heard, and finally caught the very end of Chalk Dust Torture on the Bunny as we neared the venue.  We also heard The Moma Dance, NICU, and Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan on the radio. It was actually kind of surreal, hearing a live Phish show on the radio as it’s being played.

We missed Stash completely as we made our way from the car past the horse stables and training grounds to the festival area.  However, as soon as we walked in I could tell this festival would be something special. The grounds themselves are absolutely beautiful, but all the special festival art installations and setup is spectacular – definitely the best festival I’ve ever seen from an aesthetic point of view.

We arrived in the stage area just as Fishman was taking the front of the stage for I Didn’t Know, which featured a pretty good vacuum solo.  The rest of the set pretty much just flowed along with a collection of songs – Poor Heart, Cavern, Beauty of a Broken Heart (one of my favorite new tunes), Ocelot, and, mercifully, getting it out of the way so we can all stop wondering when it’s going to appear this weekend, Time Turns Elastic.

Spent the long setbreak exploring some of the various festival trappings that were set up.  There’s some really cool stuff – I should be posting pictures later this weekend.  As we were making our way back, the familiar scraping beginning of Punch You in the Eye rings out, and I dance my way back to the stage area.  PYITE is followed by Down With Disease.  There’s not much crazy going on with this Disease until about the 10:00 mark when Page starts going nuts on the Clav while the band supports him with some start-stop type jamming, and then Trey gets in on the action with some effects of his own.  All of this contributes to one of the strangest segues I’ve ever heard as Trey starts ringing out the opening chords to Prince Caspian.  Somehow it’s strangely effective, though.

The last notes of Caspian make a more natural transition into Wolfman’s Brother.  This is a very good Wolfman’s, probably better than any I heard from this summer.  The beginning of the jam is heavy on piano, then it takes a grooving turn before going into a great noise jam which leads into Piper.  I have to add that the lighting effects are absolutely stunning – Kuroda has the palm trees surrounding the music grounds lit up and tied into his rig!  Even the tents 400 yards behind where we were standing seemed to occasionally be synced to the music.  Incredible!

Joy follows Piper, followed by David Bowie (foreshadowing? Supposedly Trey introduced it with “Here’s a hint for Halloween”, but I didn’t hear it, and I’m not sure I would believe it if I did).  But the you-had-to-be-there gem of the year was Harry Hood.  It begins in an inauspicious manner, normal Hood stuff.  However, a few minutes into the jam, a huge orange blob of balloons (lit up from inside the balloons, like they had glowsticks in them) rises up from the crowd, Page side.  It looks like the Great Pumpkin, and I think this is the “burble” that was rumored on the internets last week.  And let me tell you, this thing was mesmerizing.  It hovered in place for a long time, before suddenly changing colors to, I think, green.  Then purple. Then back to orange.  By this point, everybody in the entire crowd has turned to their left and is watching this thing. A gasp of delight erupts as the burble spontaneously ripples with new colors, and it begins floating towards the back of the grounds.  I don’t think anybody is even paying attention to the music anymore, which at this point is a mere soundtrack. (It’s one of those sort of noisy, directinless Hoods – it was great for the situation, but I’m not sure if it will hold up on tape).

Finally the burble stops way back and tethers to one of the art installations as the band launches into the set closing Golgi Apparatus, and a strong encore of Character Zero sends the show off.

I should not that the band had very little interaction with the crowd – not sure if they’re nervous, or just being coy.  But I guess we’ll see tonight…I can’t wait. Wish you were here.

Synopsis:

Set I: Mostly a collection of songs, of which I missed half.

Set II: A couple of interesting jams, but the highlights were all visual.

Notable versions: Down With Disease*, Wolfman’s Brother**, Character Zero*

You had to be there: the Hood burble

Overall: Mostly just a warmup show for the important Halloween set.

I: Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Ya Mar, AC/DC Bag, Esther, Divided Sky, Halley’s Comet -> David Bowie*

II: Split Open and Melt, Sparkle, Free, The Squirming Coil, Waste, Talk, Train Song*, Strange Design, Hello My Baby, Mike’s Song** -> Simple -> Contact -> Weekapaug Groove*

III: Makisupa Policeman, 2001 -> Down With Disease** -> NICU, Life On Mars?, Harry Hood**

e: Amazing Grace

Chalk Dust Torture gives the band a comfortable platform to ease into the set in front of one of their biggest crowds to date.  I’m sure they were extremely nervous, yet they start it off well.  The set continues in a solid but fairly straightforward manner with Bathtub Gin, Ya Mar, and AC/DC Bag before a few old school Junta tunes, Esther and Divided Sky.  Both are played with much emotion and attention to detail, giving these complex songs the treatment they deserve.  Halley’s Comet is fun, with a short jam that eventually leads into yet another strong Junta tune, David Bowie.

Set two can be divided into three very distinct parts.  The set begins with a somewhat disjointed series of Split Open and Melt, Sparkle, Free, and The Squirming Coil. The Melt is the show’s first real big jam.  Perhaps it’s because I’m not the biggest Melt fan, but I didn’t really find this jam particularly interesting.  If you’re a big Melt fan, though, you still might want to check this version out

The second part of the set was a treat, however, with acoustic versions of Waste, the rare Talk, Train Song, and Strange Design.  Of these, Train Song is easily my favorite.  It’s a simple song to begin with, but the acoustic arragenment suits it well and allows the vocal harmonies to really take center stage.  Talk also shines in this setting.  I would be very in favor of Phish bringing this song into the regular rotation if it always sounded like this.  This mini-acoustic set is capped off by the acapella Hello My Baby.  (This little run of songs has got me wondering what we’ll hear at the full acoustic set at Festival 8 this coming weekend. I’m so excited!)

The last part of the set is where the band really seems to settle in and loosen up a bit.  Mike’s Song is a very strong version.  While not long, it’s pretty intense.  Although they sort of telegraph the transition into Simple, they take their time with it, building the anticipation so it really pays off when they finally commit.  Contact coming out of Simple is the surprising sort of twist that’s a perfect example of the reason I love live Phish.  The band must really feel comfortable at this point to take such a turn before veering back into the traditional Weekapaug Groove closer.  This doesn’t veer too far out of typical Weekapaug territory but it’s soaring and melodic, a great way to close the second set.

The third set starts on a humorous note with Makisupa Policeman (”dank”), then the groove busts out with 2001 -> Down With Disease.  This is a very good Disease, and is sort of a microcosm of 1996 Phish – good, but sort of without identity.  It’s definitely past the experimental stage of ‘95, and hasn’t really reached the groove based Phish of ‘97.  This leads into NICU, followed by Life on Mars? (of David Bowie’s Hunky Dory album, which as of the time of this writing is still an eligible contender for the Festival 8 Halloween album).  The final song of the set is Harry Hood, which is a quiet and delicate offering, that builds to an understated climax.  A very effective version.

Overall, I think Phish did a pretty solid job musically with this show.  I’m sure they felt a lot of pressure to deliver, and they did so admirably.  There’s a lot to like about this show.

Synopsis:

Set I: A well constructed set heavy on old, complex, composed tunes.

Set II: Starts out a bit disjointed, but finds some focus in the acoustic set, and really delivers with the Mike’s Groove.

Set III: Lots of jamming, fairly representative of 1996.

Standout versions: David Bowie*, Train Song*, Mike’s Song**, Weekapaug Groove*, Down With Disease**, Harry Hood**

Rarities: Talk

Overall: A multi-faceted show with something for every type of Phish fan.  Some song based sections, the acoustic set, and several big jams

While it’s doubtful the eventual winner will be fully revealed before Halloween, I think this will just fuel the speculation even more.  Still, there’s some I wouldn’t bet too heavily on.  Anything relatively new, which rules out Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the White Stripes’ Elephant, Funeral by Arcade Fire and the beforementioned MGMT.  I would also probably not expect them to play any bands they previously played for Halloween, which would exclude Rubber Soul, Velvet Underground and Nico, Who’s Next, Meddle, and The Wall.

Then there’s the stuff that just wouldn’t work.  A Tribute to Jack Johnson only has 2 songs, and they’re both themselves basically improvs.  Master of Puppets and Appetite for Destruction, while both great albums, don’t really fit the demeanor of the band or the crowd.  I don’t think they have the vocal chops to pull off Thriller, Purple Rain, A Night at the Opera, or Super Fly. And I know Zappa is a huge influence on Trey, but I just can’t see them pulling off Apostrophe or Hot Rats.

My bet is on three of the biggest influences of the band – The Dead, The Stones, and Zeppelin.  Of course, I’ve been speculating for weeks, and my top three, even before this was unveiled, were American Beauty, Exile on Main Street, and IV.  And they’re still alive!

I would really like them to choose the Dead. I know they’ve downplayed comparisons in the past to the Dead, and rightfully so, but let’s face it – no other band informs their live experience as much as the Dead.  Plus, they’ll be in California for this. It all makes sense for them to embrace this opportunity.

There are a few others on the list though that I would love to see that hadn’t occurred to me – Eat a Peach (although this really needs another guitar…Warren Haynes, anybody?), Ziggy Stardust, Blood on the Tracks, either of the Hendrix albums, Paranoid, and my sleeper choice, Rush’s Moving Pictures.

It’s gonna be an interesting month!  Let me know what you want to hear.

II: Maze**, Gumbo, Stash**** -> Manteca* -> Stash -> Dog Faced Boy** -> Stash, Strange Design, You Enjoy Myself

e: The Wedge, Rocky Top

1995, as we all know, was a great year for Phish.  On the cusp of breaking big, they were playing like they had something to prove on the way to their first ever Madison Square Garden date.  This particular show, played just over a month before that historic New Year’s gig, shows the band hitting their stride just in time.

The show begins somewhat typically with Chalkdust Torture and Foam before a tender rendition of the then-new Billy Breathes. Despite the song debuting barely a month and a half earlier, this version sounds remarkably mature, and the harmonies very confident. Some more well-worn material follows this up in the form of Divided Sky and Esther.  A deliberate Free, also new at the time, is next, and then a rocking Julius.

The Bill Monroe bluegress cover of I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome, makes an appearance next, with the set closing Cavern on its heels.  Not your typical throwaway set closer version, Trey takes the opportunity here to play around a bit with the last few notes of each verse, giving this Cavern a slightly off-kilter feel (and foreshadowing what would be to come after set break)

Before the second set starts, we are treated to one of those old Phish-isms that I wouldn’t plan on seeing again any time soon – the Audience Chess Move.  For those unaware, during the Fall ‘95 tour, the band played a few games against the audience.  The band would announce their move before the show (via a large chess board hung on Page’s side of stage), and then the audience would have the first set to confer and decide on a move to be announced onstage by an audience member before the second set.

With these shenannigans out of the way, Phish starts out the second set strongly with a dark, Page-heavy Maze.  Gumbo is next, setting the stage for a truly epic Stash.

This Stash doesn’t even wait to hit the jam before it starts getting experimental.  Between verses, Trey plays all of his notes very muted, to great effect. This keeps up into the jam while Trey plays a repeated series of muted, staccato ascending scales over the rest of the band’s descending riff.  The result is a frantic, tense, wild melodic jam.  This leads into a more typical tension/release style Stash jam, which doesn’t last long before evolving into a percussive section underscored by subtle clav and piano work by Page.

Phish siezes this opportunity to bust out a little played gem, their off-kilter take on Dizzy Gillespie’s Manteca.  This is then subtly jammed back into Stash. Gone though is the wild tension, replaced by a watery rolling jam evoking Lizards, or perhaps Esther which came earlier in the show.  They flirt briefly with the main Stash theme before steering into a short, pulsing noise jam, which itself quickly transitions into ambience.  Page’s low-C’s and Fishman’s sparse, mechanical playing brings to mind a sinister grandfather clock.

Now when you think Ambient Phish, what’s the first song that comes to mind?  It’s not Dog Faced Boy? Well, maybe it should be.  Another rare bustout, this sounds much less like the album version than Catapult. It basically keeps the essence and melody of Dog Faced Boy, but here they have made it submit to its surroundings.  The result is an insanely creepy, sparse arrangement that swells to another burning noise jam, before Stash triumphantly rises out of the ashes and puts a cap on an all-time great performance.

After all of this, a cool down is welcome in the form of Strange Design, before You Enjoy Myself, which has something to prove after that Stash, emerges. While it’s not quite of that quality, it’s an extremely good version with some beautiful ensemble work during the composed section.  The vocal section has great energy (as well as God/Shit reversed here).  The jam features a funky Page organ solo followed by a driving rock rhythm featuring a notable Immigrant Song tease.  Finally, a crazy, fuzzed out bass solo leads into a double time vocal jam.

There’s plenty to love about this show, but the Stash is truly epic.  For my money, this experimental version is easily as thrilling as any of the big Tweezers played in ‘95.  It’s an amazing, nearly 40-minute stretch that is as good as anything Phish has ever played.  Luckily, this show is easily available, as it was released as part of Phish’s official archival series.  At only $10 for the mp3 version, it’s a steal, although I would probably spring for the higher quality FLAC version for an extra $3.  You can download it here right now!  And you should, because this show is really that great.

Synopsis:

Set I: A farily standard first, with a few solid versions of standards

Set II: A legendary Stash is the key to a perfect vintage 1995 classic set. YEM is not too shabby, either

Standout versions: Julius*, Cavern*, Maze**, Stash****, Manteca*, Dog Faced Boy**, You Enjoy Myself***

Rarities: I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome, Manteca, Dog Faced Boy

Overall: This instantly became one of my favorite sets of all time the first time I heard it. Definitely a must have.

I’m happy to report though that Joy really delivers. While I don’t feel that the material itself is necessarily the strongest, the execution really makes up for it.  More than perhaps any of their other albums, they manage to bring the same energy and intensity from the stage into the studio.

It should come as no surprise after just a single spin of Backwards Down the Number Line, the album’s first track and single, that the track was recorded in a single take.  Trey’s guitar solo is bright and lively, rivaling any version from this past summer.  Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan is similarly energetic and crisp.  Whereas in some past albums, the mix has sounded a bit thin with regards to vocals and Trey’s guitar tone, Joy successfully navigates the band past this obstacle.

The other songs that really shone on tour – notably Kill Devil Falls and Ocelot – really preserve that immediate feeling, but it’s the uplifting Light that is really elevated by the Steve Lillywhite production, while maintaining its open feeling that makes this song a jam monster in waiting.  Its spacey, watery intro is a great studio touch, like before launching (albeit a bit awkwardly) urgently into the main song which is buoyed by adroit vocal harmonies and striking guitar work.

However, I think it’s in the slower material where the production really shines.  I think very few Phish fans would claim Joy as their favorite new song of the summer, yet they put in a pretty good effort with their titular track.  The quirky Sugar Shack, Mike’s lone contribution to the album, benefits from the band’s ability to highlight some of the changes and subtleties of the song.

Then there’s the question of Time Turns Elastic.  As a live song, it was, at best, received with mixed reviews. Yet, as a studio work, it really comes into its own.  Reportedly it took 250+ takes (although I’m sure not complete takes) to put this one together for the album, but it was apparently worth it.  Every note is in its right place.  Whereas this always felt a bit half baked this summer live, the studio version is a masterful gem of classic Trey composition.

One of the theories I’ve heard the reason this song doesn’t really work live is that nobody really knows what to do…do you dance? stand with your arms at your side? bob your head?  It’s a challenging song to listen to, and most people just want to dance, especially if the band is going to use 15 precious minutes on a song even they hadn’t really figured out yet.  I’m not sure this will ever really come into its own live, but the studio version proves the song’s merit.

If there’s anything that could be called a miss on this album, it’s the rather  aimless Page song I Been Around.  Even still, it’s short and I’ve heard much worse from this band. Twenty Years Later seems like a bit of an afterthough following TTE, and it’s not the strongest song on the album, although I think this song has a lot of live jam potential.

Still, the hits far outweigh the misses on this album, which I feel is easily the strongest since Story of the Ghost.  More than any of their other albums, it captures the energy of their live show while at the same time taking advantage of the extra production the studio affords them. I strongly recommend Joy, which shows Phish is still fully capable of writing good songs and doing great studio work.

In the meantime for this blog, I’ll be playing catchup with this tour a little bit, and searching the archives for a few gems.  For now, check out this link, which has some cool visualizations of summer tour, of both frequency of certain songs, as well as # songs played per show.

http://jamtopia.com/blog/phish-statistics-visualized-summer-tour-2009/

I: Kill Devil Falls, Sample In A Jar, Ocelot, Paul and Silas, Windy City, The Curtain (With), Train Song, Gumbo, Heavy Things, Time Turns Elastic

II: Backwards Down The Number Line* > Carini* > Gotta Jibboo, Theme From The Bottom, Wilson, 2001 > Chalk Dust Torture, Harry Hood, The Squirming Coil

E: Loving Cup

The show gets going in fairly energetic fashion with Kill Devil Falls, Sample in a jar, and Ocelot.  Minor jams in both of the new tunes, but mostly just Type I stuff within the confines of the song.  Paul and Silas is a blugrass tune that was very common in ‘93, then only played a few times since, the most recent being ‘98.  So sort of a bustout, even though it’s not a Phish original.  I’ll admit I didn’t recognize the tune until somebody behind me said what it was, although I do know the song.  It’s just a very strange arrangement, which I didn’t particularly care for…just my opinion.

After this old tune, Trey announces a new Page song, Windy City, a sort of generic, bluesy tune that really failed to grab my attention, although I was out getting drinks at this point.  I’ll reserve judgement until I hear it again a few more times.  From here they go into a string of less common tunes that I enjoyed…The Curtain (With), Train Song, and Gumbo before throwing in Heavy Things and Time Turns Elastic.

Despite the fact that they played some tunes I liked, and there was nothing wrong with anything they played, this was just not a good set. But more on that later.

Set two picked it up a little bit right off the bat with Backwards Down the Number Line.  This is probably the most jammed out version to date.  A little bit aimless in the beginning, but hit some nice ideas and peaks towards the end, before a very unexpected segue into the hard rocking Carini (my first live version).  It did not disappoint, as it was probably the high point of the show for most in attendance.  The rock jam dissolved into an electric ambience just waiting to explode into…Gotta Jibboo.

Jibboo is jammed out in standard fashion for a while before Phish reels it in and throws out Theme From the Bottom for consideration.  Can you see the pattern here?  Trick question.  There isn’t one.  While the show so far has included a few good jams and songs, the flow is completely off.  This continues as a rocking second set Wilson sets the stage for a funky, danceable 2001 which is followed by Chalkdust Torture.

After a moderately exploratory jam, the opening drum shots of Harry Hood ring out, possibly signaling the end of the set.  Thankfully, it’s not the end of the set, because I wouldn’t want to end the show on this note.  If there’s such a thing, this is a bad Hood.  I’ve mentioned before that it’s great that the band is taking risks.  They can’t hit the high notes without taking risks.  However, the seldom mentioned corrollary to this is that sometimes things don’t work out.  This time it didn’t.  I’m not sure what Trey was trying to say with this jam, but it just didn’t click with me.  The band seemed completely out of sync, and while not there was nothing wrong with the playing from a technical standpoint, artistically it just did not come together.

Luckily for us, we are graced with a Squirming Coil closer that allowed the band to end on a high note, as they played a solid Coil with the standard band-members-individually-peel-off-the-stage- for-Page’s-solo ending.  The fan-favorite Loving Cup send the show off on a high note.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know I try to review shows from the standpoint of somebody listening to the tapes.  And from that perspective, this show is somewhat of a dud.  The first set, while perfectly fine from an execution standpoint, had absolutely no high points worth remembering.  As I mentioned before, I liked Train Song and The Curtain, but that doesn’t mean that these are noteworthy versions that elevate the quality of the set.

And I was there!  It’s natural to rate a show higher if you were there, since it’s easy for the emotional aspect to color a review.  In this case, there was no emotion to color with.  The consensus of everybody in my group was a collective “meh”.

The second was a little bit better.  The Carini was absolutely explosive in person – some of the most rockin’ shit I’ve ever seen Phish play.  Completely awesome.  But that was largely an immediate emotional experience that I don’t think will hold up in the recordings.  Wilson and 2001 were also lots of fun, but there’s nothing that would make these versions stand out from any other average version.  And I’ve already shared my opinion on the Hood.

The long and short of it is that sometimes Phish doesn’t deliver, and this was one of those shows.   Unfortunately, it happened to be the one show of the tour I saw in person, but sometimes that’s how it goes.

Synopsis:

Set I: A completely lackluster set with no remarkable performances.

Set II: A disjointed mix of funk and rock.  Lots of chances taken, not a lot of payoff.

Rarities: Paul and Silas, Gumbo

Overall: A somewhat confusing, disappointing show, the least engaging of the year so far.

I: Golgi Apparatus, Halley’s Comet, Chalkdust Torture, Divided Sky, When the Circus Comes to Town, Time Turns Elastic, YaMar, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Suzy Greenberg, David Bowie**
II: Backwards Down the Number Line, Down With Disease**, Limb by Limb, Oh! Sweet Nuthin, Cities -> Maze, Mike’s Song -> Simple, Weekapaug Groove
e: Let Me Lie, Bold as Love

With only one brief stop in Cali between Red Rocks and The Gorge, Phish had only one chance to make it count.  Unfortunately, this show largely comes up short.  The first set is largely devoid of highlights.  While it starts off with a lot of songs known for their energy, I just don’t feel like it delivers much.  Golgi Apparatus, Halley’s Comet, and Chalkdust Torture are all very short. Divided Sky and When the Circus Comes to Town are both a bit underwhelming.

How much trouble is this set in?  Time Turns Elastic actually breathes a little bit of life into the set.  YaMar, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan and Suzy Greenberg don’t really add much.  The closing David Bowie is really the only redeeming feature of this set.  It’s psychedelic and spooky during a slightly extended lead in, and has an absolutely screaming ending.

The second set improves things somewhat.  I really like Backwards Down the Number Line, but this isn’t their best effort.

Down With Disease actually has some interesting things going on.  Its jam begins with a soaring Trey solo, but then Mike creates an interesting bassline that wraps around Trey’s playing in helix like fashion.  As the jam progresses, the song sort of slows down as though it’s a mechanical toy in need of a wind.  It picks up for a while before morphing into a smoldering ambience, remaining unfinished as Trey rings in the chords of Limb by Limb.

A beautiful, bluesy, soulful cover of the Velvet Undergrounds Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ is followed by another cover, Cities, with a short funk jam and a passage of mechanical ambience that would make the Talking Heads proud. This fittingly transitions into Maze.

Mike’s Song signals the end of the show is near.  This version is pretty good, with a dirty, scowling solo form Trey that abruptly segues into Simple.  Weekapaug Groove follows, though I would be hard pressed to call it a segue between the two.  The encore is the new Let Me Lie and Bold as Love.

Overall, I think this was a below average show.  David Bowie and DWD were strong, but there’s not much else in this show that’s really worth hearing.  I’m sure it was great if you were there, but this show just doesn’t hold up on tape.

Synopsis:

Set I: Largely devoid of life, save the Bowie to close

Set II: Down with Disease is pretty good, but the rest of the set flows poorly and doesn’t really hit any high notes.

Standout versions: David Bowie**, Down With Disease**, Mike’s Song*

Rarities: Oh! Sweet Nuthin’

Overall: Skip this show unless you were there