Editor’s note: Here Mockingbird Foundation board member Charlie Dirksen follows up his piece on the first leg of Phish summer tour with an exploration of the late summer dates.
To read Trey Anastasio’s thoughts on some of the new Phish material, check out his commentary on Relix.com.
*****
IT has been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Dancing about photographs of architecture, or writing about a live musical performance, is perhaps even more absurd, when you have not experienced that performance or that architecture in the multi-dimensional world, with your eyes and ears wide open and your senses fully engaged. But sometimes that’s the best one can do, and whether you’re a fan of architecture, dancing or writing, Phish’s music this tour — with its focus on songs more than jams — may nevertheless feed your soul.
Phish continued their Summer Tour in August after a month-long hiatus with three shows at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, followed by pairs of shows in Telluride, Colorado (Telluride Town Hall), Noblesville, Indiana (Deer Creek, now known as the “Verizon Wireless Music Center”), East Troy, Wisconsin (Alpine Valley), and Wantagh, New York (Jones Beach). Although this “second leg” of the tour contained far fewer bustouts and far more repeats than the first leg of the tour in June and early July, which is discussed here, Phish continued to deliver the goods to its fans this month. But those “goods” typically contained less improvisation than Phish has performed in most of its shows in the last 20 years. Whether you think that’s good, or bad, please read on. Judging a Phish show by the length of its songs makes as much sense as judging a website by the scheme of its colors. As informative as limited information may be, being somewhat ignorant is still ignorant, and anything less than a shrewd perspective is ill-advised. That said, the claims by some that Phish outdid themselves yet again on this tour are adorable, but readicculus.
Phish is a GREAT band. They play GREAT shows. It’s what they do. Even on their worst nights, they have still managed to improvise in an awe-inspiring fashion (see, e.g., Coventry’s “Split Open and Melt,” or the last six minutes of its “Drowned”). They typically give you at least two and half hours of music over two sets with an encore, involving more than twenty songs, at a reasonable ticket price, when many other touring bands charge you a lot more for a lot less. Phish have been doing so for decades, taboot. They still have a fantastic crew, what with one of the most talented lighting directors in the business (Chris Kuroda), a soundman (Garry Brown) who continues to do justice to the esteemed legacy of Sir Paul Languedoc, and a mix engineer who is creating brilliant matrix recordings for downloading from LivePhish (Jon Altschiller). That last Phish show you went to that wasn’t all that great musically, whenever it was? You probably still had a hell of a lot of fun with your friends, the light show was amazing, and the setlist was still cool (all things re-considered), because you heard some of your favorite songs — even if Trey stumbled a bit here and there in the composed section of “You Enjoy Myself,” “It’s Ice” or, heaven forbid, “Divided Sky.” Phish puts on a show that’s a bargain given the cost of the ticket. They always have.
That said, Phish’s Summer Tour was heavy on songs, but light on jams. Light on jams? JUDAS! This may not seem like a fair criticism, because Phish did jam at every show this year, of course, consistent with past practice. In fact, they played several “must-hear” jams this month, as they did in June. Check out the Greek “Cities,” “Simple,” and “Light” (well, at least the last 8 minutes or so); the Telluride “Piper” with its “Maze”-like and “Birds of a Feather”-like jams; the Alpine Valley “Down with Disease” (with its vigorous jam and perfect segue into “What’s the Use”); and the jaw-droppingly divine four or so minutes of the jam in the Jones Beach “Backwards Down the Number Line” (aka “BDTNL”). Trey’s intermittent — as opposed to routine — use in August of the pitch-shifting whammy pedal, which occasionally produces a whale-calling-like effect, was also a highlight to be applauded, as was his use of a new Languedoc guitar.
But compared with previous tours (e.g., in 2003-2004, and even last year to some extent), this Summer’s tour seemed light on jams. Original songs that would be busted wide-open at least once or twice in past tours were not prolonged at all on this tour: “Stash,” “Tweezer,” “Runaway Jim,” “Tube,” “Antelope,” “Bowie,” “SOAM,” “YEM,” “Ghost,” “Mike’s Song,” “Weekapaug,” etc. Don’t get me wrong. These and other “traditional jamming tunes” on this tour did jam (some a lot more than others). For example, the relatively new-ish song “Light” has certainly become a routine jamming vehicle. It is more of a jam segment than a song, anyway. And every version of “Harry Hood,” “46 Days,” and “Bathtub Gin” this month were at least (typically) great. But it nevertheless has been surprising to see so many of Phish’s “jamming tunes” not go anywhere new and different this Summer — setting Camden’s dazzling “Chalk Dust Torture” aside, of course.
Yes, there were a lot of bustouts in the last several months, not only of new covers (e.g., “I Am The Walrus”) and old covers (e.g., “Quinn the Eskimo”), but also of Phish rarities (e.g.,“Fuck Your Face” and “Lengthwise”). So in claiming that there has been less jamming on this tour than in previous tours (generally speaking) is not to say that Phish hasn’t been great this year, or that they must play a 30 minute version of “Backwards Down the Number Line” or “Tweezer” in order for them to be true to some bogus notion of who and what they once were and/or are supposed to be today. It is just curious that so few of even the band’s most customary vehicles for improvisation ever soared off the road previously traveled this Summer into risky, potentially transcendent, territory. After all, Trey proclaimed in an interview during the so-called “second hiatus” that he’d give his left nut to play “You Enjoy Myself” again, and now that he’s playing it again, where is the version of “YEM” that, instead of sounding more or less like every other average-great “YEM,” champions the greatest versions in Phish history? (Did Trey actually give away his left nut!?) On the other hand, as the immortal refrain of “Bug” goes, “It doesn’t matter.” Like Trey, we still love “YEM.” It is a welcome addition to any set of Phish.
And, no, I am not going to engage in speculation that Trey’s sobriety is somehow responsible for Phish’s failure to perform something along the lines of the Orlando Stash (11/14/95), Nassau Tweezer (2/28/03), Deer Creek Cities (8/10/97), Providence Bowie (12/29/94), IT Ghost (8/3/03), St. Louis Reba (8/16/93), Dayton Tube (12/7/97), Alpine Piper (7/19/03), West Valley Mr. Completely (7/15/03), Riverport Gin (7/29/98), and so on. And I am not so disappointed by Trey’s occasional flubs that my perspective on the shows in 2009-2010 as a whole is unreasonably biased. As auricularly painstaking as winnowing out the flubs and setting them aside may be to some, if you can’t still have any fun at a Phish show, then what are you doing there? And while it may not have been clear at Hampton last year, it has since been established, with extreme prejudice, that Phish — and sober Trey — can improvise in a transcendent manner, channeling IT and the Almighty Hose in full force. This may not occur as often as it once did, but we’re blessed that IT occurs at all. And no matter how tired you might be of hearing Phish play “Fluffhead” (Hampton opened with it last year and Phish have played it 17 times since), don’t forget that the first online Phish community in the early 1990’s — an e-mail list, the precursor to Rec.Music.Phish (“RMP”) — used the song’s title as a giddily quirky, exclamatory roll-call of sorts, which carried-over somewhat into RMP.
Given the apparent emphasis during this tour on The Song, it is befuddling that Phish didn’t play most of their newest songs this month after debuting them in June. It was nice to hear Show of Life and Summer of ‘89 again, but the absence of Page’s wonderful Halfway to the Moon (not to mention his Beauty of a Broken Heart, which debuted last year) was regrettable. Mike’s Idea and Trey’s Dr. Gabel didn’t get played this month, either, and they seemed to have potential as well, even if they needed a lot of practice after their debuts in June. Is it also too much to hope for that Mike’s “Voices,” from his solo album The Green Sparrow, gets adopted by Phish and makes it into Phish’s setlists soon? The song grooves.
While Phish’s emphasis on songs rather than improvisation this year may be unfortunate to some, love for those songs (including their new ones) continues unabated, as is obvious at any Phish show that one attends. You don’t even have to leave home in order to discern the immense popularity of Phish’s music in 2010. Just take a cursory skim of the diverse, vibrant online communities of Phish fans (like those who comment on Mr. Miner’s Phish Thoughts, or users of PhantasyTour ), which consist in part of those who listen to every note of every show and see as many shows as they possibly can, as was true on RMP 16 years ago. Though such diehard fans can be quite critical of Phish’s music, their yearning for another show that makes them want to share it with everyone they know and love in an unduly spirited, frivolous effort to spread the Gospel According to Trey, Mike, Page and Fish, is understandable — at least to anyone crazy about something they love. Those obsessed about music want the bands we love to outjam themselves and blow us away, so that we can fall in love with their music all over again. Or at least so we can justify to ourselves and our significant others why we continue to care so much about what they play and when and how they play it, whether we spend the coin to attend a show, or just “couch tour” by listening to a show-in-progress on our PC or phone via Hoodstream – while simultaneously following the YEMblog tweets.
As jaded as you may feel you’ve become over the years about Phish’s music, hopefully you’re pleased that the band is doing just fine. And we are very fortunate, of course, that they’re still playing at all. While the $60 ticket prices this Fall may be a far cry from the $8.50 that a Phish ticket cost at a club in Boston more than 20 years ago, their shows are still more than worth it, and one can’t help but be excited about seeing them again soon. The quality of Phish’s music has always been paramount to the overall experience, of course. Just listen for yourself. And as predictable as part of the setlist may be, so long as they continue to put on a great show, we will be there, and it’ll be up to us to enjoy ourselves. FLUFFHEAD!!!!
[Author’s Note: The following comments on Phish’s August shows are the two cents of someone who only attended the Greek shows and who has heard too much Phish for his own — or anyone else’s — good. Just check out the setlist of any recent show on Phish.Net and, if you like it, download it from LivePhish, or Kevin Hoy’s incredible Spreadsheet, and you’ll likely be pleased. In other words, rely on the following critical noobtardery at your own peril.]
The Greek Theatre
Phish’s first show of August, a continuation of the Summer tour on Thursday, August 5 , while well-played, was notable for its surprising lack of bustouts or inspired improvisation — particularly given how marvelous the Alpharetta shows were in early July. As enthusiastic as the “vibe” at the Greek was, as energetic as we all were, and as entertaining as the whole spectacle proved to be, the intimate highlight came before the encores began, when Trey excitedly discussed his new Languedoc guitar that Paul had very recently given him. Trey explained that Paul had “put aside this magic piece of wood to build me one last really special guitar,” adding that he had been freaking out all night about how good the guitar was, and pointing out that there was an ocelot on it. Trey requested that the audience cheer for Paul, which they did, and Fish led everyone in a brief “Languedoc” chant. It was “banter” of the best kind: an elated Trey, explaining his love for his new axe.
Musically, the show was typically great Phish. The first set had no features, opening with “Possum,” closing with a great “Bouncin, Antelope,” and containing other favorites like “Wolfman’s,” “Divided Sky” (during which Trey was doused with confetti from confetti-guns), and “Funky Bitch.” The “Halley’s Comet” > “Sample in a Jar” was somewhat disappointing, because “Halley’s” deserves to lead into a serious jamming tune rather than “Sample in a Jar,” which has never been busted open. The second set began with a solid “Down with Disease,” which had a cool minor-key jam thanks to Mike, but it went nowhere. The set also featured a good version of “Back on the Train,” but the other tunes performed, even the set-closing “Tweezer -> Fluffhead,” were not noteworthy, even though the segue from “Tweezer” into “Fluffhead” is excellent. As I ate a delicious barbequed pork sandwich, however, the encore version of “Loving Cup” raged, and it is one of the better versions out there. As Trey held his new Langedoc guitar above his head while sustaining an insanely high, screeching note at the end of “Tweeprise,” the show literally ended on a high note.
The second night at the Greek on August 6 was definitely an upgrade, musically, from Thursday. First set featured a must-hear, hose-everyone-down “Cities” jam, that — albeit brief — is still one of the musical highlights of recent years. The set also ended well with a good “Bathtub Gin” and great “Stealing Time.” The second set was played well start to finish, with almost non-stop energy, and was a remarkably jam-heavy set, opening with “Rock and Roll > Ghost > Mike’s Song > Simple > BDTNL” and closing with a “Weekapaug Grove, You Enjoy Myself” combo. While the versions performed were for the most part typically great fare, the “Simple” contained one of the most sublime jams in years, reminiscent of other lengthy, sensational versions like 12/6/96 Vegas, 2/20/03 Rosemont, and 11/8/96 Champaign. Also, the “Mike’s Song” — despite its brevity — proved to be quite focused compared with other recent versions. The show’s oddest moment came when, shortly into the jam segment, Trey decided he didn’t want to play “Seven Below” after all, and promptly began “Weekapaug Groove,” creating one of the most amusing (and smoothest) segues of the tour. The set-closing “You Enjoy Myself” was good, with a great vocal jam (containing a quote from Trey of “I Want to Take You Higher”), and the “Good Times Bad Times” (E) was powerful icing on this strong show.
Phish’s run at the Greek closed remarkably well on August 7 with strong versions of “Reba” and “46 Days” in the first set, and another very jam-heavy second set. The jam segment of the second set’s “Light” began with whammy-whaling, off-key, pseudo-dissonant soloing from Trey, but eventually entered gorgeous, melodic, transcendent territory, becoming one of the most charming improvisations of 2009-2010. The set also featured wondrous versions of “Harry” and “Slave,” one of the funkier versions of “2001” from the last year, and a “Suzy Greenberg” with an extended jam segment (not as great as the 10/31/09 Indio version, but close enough, given that this song doesn’t typically jam like this!). The “Lizards, First Tube” encore was also a potent way to close this above-average show. If you’re limiting yourself to a handful of downloads from this tour, include this show.
Telluride
Much has been written already about these magical shows from people who were there with a righteously well-informed perspective. I’m not going to fluff the shows up too much, except to say that those of us who weren’t there GET IT. We understand from the pictures and from what our friends who were there have told us that the vibe and the scene could not have been more perfect. Just SPECTACULAR in every respect. Smiles were on virtually all faces, beers were relatively cheap, and concertgoers and staff alike were kind and considerate. The gorgeous setting for these shows cannot be overrated. This is why, when you combine great music from Phish, it is no wonder that some veterans left Telluride saying that these were two of the best Phish SHOWS they’d ever seen. That’s because a Phish show, of course, is and has always been about more than the music. It is the music, however, that brings us together and gets recorded and, thanks to the band’s generosity, is shared with those of us who were unable to be present at the show and experience it live. And the music of both Telluride shows was, for the most part, average-great Phish that you’ve heard before.
The first Telluride show opened with a great first set (including “Camel Walk” and “Wedge”), featuring a good cover of “Light Up or Leave Me Alone,” a lively, pleasant jam in Trey’s relatively new song, “Summer of ‘89,” and fun versions of “Possum” and “Julius” to close the set powerfully. (Every “Julius” tends to sound like the greatest version ever. But see, for example, 7/10/97 and 12/5/97.) Set Two opened with a punchy version of “Sand,” in which Mike employed the syrupy-funky envelope filter for a spell. A good version, but nowhere close to as strong as many versions in the past (particularly from 1999-2000, of course). The “Prince Caspian” in this set was unique in that Trey repeated the theme in a soulful way, making for an odd version with a repetitive, somewhat mysterious closing jam that segued well into “Tweezer.” The “Tweezer” was unremarkable except for the smooth segue — early in the jam segment — into what became a decent “Boogie on Reggae Woman” (not as great as the version from Red Rocks last year). The “Piper” that followed was easily the show’s musical highlight, with an urgent, hyperactive, thrilling jam segment with overtones of both “Maze” and “Birds of a Feather,” that dissolved into a lovely, spacey haze. It is one of the better jams of the tour to be sure, and a serene “Mountains in the Mist” followed it. The set ended well with good versions of “Bowie” and “A Day in the Life.” And, for the first time since 10/2/99 (209 shows earlier), Phish played a joyful “Quinn the Eskimo” as the first encore tune, before closing with (you guessed it) “Tweezer Reprise.”
The second Telluride show on August 10 was (musically) disappointing. After the strength of the preceding several shows, many anticipated more from Phish on this night. While this show looks great “on paper,” with “Yamar,” “Timber Ho,” “Roses are Free” and “Walk Away” (for example) in the first set alone, the first set’s only musical highlight was a pretty good “Stealing Time,” which was shorter, but otherwise similar, to the strong version at the Greek. The first set did close well with “Bouncin’, Antelope,” to be sure, but very good versions of “Antelope” have been cheap this year, even though none have come close to being must-hear. And if you’re impressed by this “Antelope,” at least check out the Alpine and Jones Beach versions from this month, first, before getting your head blown clean off by the 10/24/95 Madison or 2/21/03 Cincinnati versions (to name two). That said, I’m informed that the physical setting at the show during the “Divided Sky” as the sun went down was transcendent and memorable. The musical highlight of a lifetime in a glorious scene. But on “tape,” this “Divided Sky” just isn’t that great.
The second set on August 10 has a great setlist, opening with “Party Time,” and including “Crosseyed and Painless” in a “Mike’s Groove” along with rarities like “Destiny Unbound” and “Carini” with a set-closing “You Enjoy Myself.” But musically?!? Eh. In fact, this may be one of the most deceptive shows in Phish history. You take a look at the setlist — the show even encores with “Shine A Light” — and your eyes pop out of your head. But musically this show has nothing recommendable. Well, except for the “Carini,” because this second-set version (like most) is deranged, with a quote of Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” from Fish and a tease of “Echoes” by Page — the opening “ping” noise. This “Carini” is hard not to dig. And, yes, I know you had a fantastic time at this show, and/or you love the setlist, and/or it was one of the best all-around Phish shows you’ve ever been to. I get it. Phish is a great band. They play great shows. But I think this one was musically below-average for Phish.
Deer Creek
There had been so much hype about the Greek and Telluride shows that many wondered if Phish would be able to still “bring IT” for the Creek. Before Phish had ever played here, Deer Creek had a deservedly-mythical status in the early 1990s, given its peaceful, scenic beauty (despite an occasional gate-crashing incident). Phish began playing at Deer Creek on 6/19/95, and it was just as attractive then as it had been in previous years. Phish has played some amazing music in this “shed” since 1995 (e.g., check out the stunning 8/10/97 show, one of the best in Phish history, with remarkable versions of “Cities,” “Bowie” and “SOAM”), and many fans were quite optimistic about these shows.
The first Deer Creek show on August 12 had a wild setlist, with an awesome, crazy-fun “Fee > Nitrous -> Kung > Fire” encore (with Trey employing the megaphone on “Fee” no less), but the quality of the music was all over the place. The first set was hit or miss, containing straightforward, “solid” versions of tunes like “Runaway Jim” (the opener), “PYITE,” “Cars Trucks Buses,” “NICU,” “Horn,” and “Wolfman’s,” but a somewhat rough “Sugar Shack,” a version of “Roggae” that had so much pitch-shifting from Trey with the whammy pedal in it that I’d swear one of his strings went flat, and the worst version ever of “Time Turns Elastic” to close the set. I am one of those fans who enjoys “TTE,” and feel very fortunate to have seen it performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in May 2009. But if it is going to be played like this, then I hope it is never performed again. (It isn’t very popular among fans in any event.)
Although the second set opened unsurprisingly with a “Drowned” that had a mesmerizingly melodic groove (albeit short), it was followed by a decent “Gotta Jibboo” that segued smoothly into a short-but-sweet “Bathtub Gin.” While “Buffalo Bill” was an amusing treat to be sure, it followed a weak “My Friend My Friend,” and the remainder of the set was just ok. Admittedly, I may be unreasonably disgruntled, because there once was a time when a second set “Split Open and Melt” really meant something (see e.g. 7/3/94 or 7/15/99 ), and this version seemed to me to be aimlessly monotonous, and obnoxiously so — even though I appreciated the slow, delicate segue into “Dog Faced Boy” quite a bit. In any event, the set ended with a decent “Harry Hood” > “Golgi” and the show concluded with one of the most entertaining quadruple encores in Phistory, as noted above.
On August 13, the second Deer Creek show opened very “old school” with “Chalk Dust Torture,” “Guelah Papyrus,” “My Sweet One,” “Axilla,” and “I Didn’t Know,” with a hysterical vacuum solo from Fish. While great to get a good “Walls of the Cave” next (the first since Coventry), the subsequent and short “Stash” that followed was a bit disappointing, because like so many other “Stashes” from recent years, the jam just didn’t really gel. The remainder of the set, which included “Train Song” and “Curtis Loew,” ended as solid and old school as it had started, with “Wilson” > “Possum.”
Second set opened with “Haley’s Comet > Light,” and the jam in “Light” — like so many other versions — contained a “Type 1” jam (think of the typical jam in “Chalk Dust,” “Possum,” “Sample,” etc.) followed by a “Type 2” jam, where the improvisation transcends the customary path into new (or at least atypical) territory. While the first section of this jam in “Light” has a lot of pitch-shifting, whammy pedal action, the final four minutes or so involve repetitive, but melodic, spacey jamming, and the band returns to the chorus again as well, which is uncommon now. The “46 Days” that followed was short, but strong, and even went a bit weird and “Type 2” in the final minute or so, as Fish changed the rhythm for a bit before dropping out for a measure or two and then starting-up the hi-hat intro of “Maze.” Every version of “Maze” tends to sound best-ever-awesome (like “Julius” and “Character Zero”), and this one was no different. The rest of the show was also standard, “average-great” Phish fare, aside from the insane segue from “Meatstick” into “Mango.” Trey started up “Mango” after sustaining a note as “Meatstick” wound down, and Mike joined him just as Page launched into “Dave’s Energy Guide” on the synth (I think). Page then played “DEG” for a few measures, took a diversionary improvisational turn for a measure or two, and then returned briefly to “DEG” before playing the “Mango” chords. An unusually entertaining and long true -> segue to be sure and, frankly, it’s the musical highlight of this show as far as I’m concerned, as odd as that is to say. It isn’t a work of art by any stretch, but it’s cool. Trey butchers “Mango” at one point, but the “Fluffhead” and “Julius” to close the set were “typically great.” A good “Contact > Slave” encore closed the show.
Alpine Valley
The August 14 Alpine Valley show is one of the best shows of the tour. The setlist is wonderful, from the “Tube” opener through the “Quinn the Eskimo” encore, and every song is well-played, which is precisely what you’d expect from an “average great” perfunctory version of a Phish song. First set featured a very good “Reba,” the second “Fuck Your Face” of the tour, a good “Back on the Train,” and another short-but-tight “Antelope” set-closer. (“Antelope” closed FOUR of the eleven first sets in August, and in fact has closed the first sets of eight shows after having been performed in the second set of the tour opener on 6/11/10.)
The second set opened oddly enough (thanks to a sign from a fan) with “The Sloth,” followed by an excellent “Down with Disease” with a raging jam that segued magnificently into “What’s the Use.” This very powerful set also included a very good “Scent of a Mule,” a version that reminded me of how good the song can be, as well as a funky “Sneakin’ Sally” (with only a very brief vocal jam) that followed a “Mike’s Song > Dirt” and preceded a good “Weekapaug Groove.” And as much as “Bug” may borrow from Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin,’” I love that song, too, and it’s a great set closer. Closing the show with “Quinn the Eskimo” was a good call, not only because it’s a great song, but also because The Grateful Dead had encored with it at Alpine on both 6/22/88 and 7/18/89. (It had also closed the Dead’s final show at Deer Creek on 7/2/95, which was the last time that they would ever perform it.)
The second Alpine Valley show on August 15, despite opening with “Tweezer” and featuring a good setlist and a quadruple encore (“Oh! Sweet Nuthun’ > Cavern > Joy > Tweeprise”), was run-of-the-mill. “3.0’d,” as some say. Nice to get “On Your Way Down” in the first set, every song in which was performed just fine, but with the musical highlight being an average-great “Bowie” set-closer, it’s no wonder some thought the band had phoned this one in. And while the second set is played well, opening with “Ghost > Theme > BBFCFM,” the versions performed in the set were typically great (aka “solid”) Phish versions. “YEM,” “2001,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and “Character Zero” were good, and the mid-second-set “Piper” jammed very well and had a brief tease from Trey of the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” theme during its spacey, gorgeous, “Type 2” section. As noted above, Phish is a great band, they play great shows, and this is a great show. It is also below-average as I hear it.
Jones Beach
There’s been a lot of jibberjabber about whether the August 17 “JB1” show is the best show of the Summer tour and one of the best of 2009-2010. The first set opens with “Fluffhead,” but otherwise is unremarkable (i.e., typically great Phish), aside from one of the better versions of “Reba” in recent memory, and an unusual “Wilson” during which Trey jammed at times using what I’ve heard (possibly incorrectly) was a miniature copy of a Languedoc guitar — one that was not made by Paul. The slow “Cities” in the set is nowhere close to as good as the Greek version earlier this month, and as fun as the set-closing “Possum” is, it is “Possum” after all, and it used to routinely rock this hard.
The second set of this first JB show opens old school with “Lengthwise -> Maze,” which hadn’t opened a set since 10/20/94. This is followed by a “Halley’s > Mike’s > Simple > BDTNL > Caspian > Rock & Roll > Weekapaug,” that is outstanding, except for a somewhat sloppy (abrupt) transition from “Halley’s” into “Mike’s” and a dreadfully sloppy opening to “Rock & Roll.” The “Simple” is much shorter than the Greek version, but similarly contains some mellifluous, intricate jamming, and several minutes of the jam in “BDTNL” are ferociously tight and reach a blissful peak. Even the short “Caspian” contains some unusually melodic soloing and use of the “digital delay” device by Trey. The jamming in “Rock & Roll” is genuinely fierce for several minutes before it heads into a somewhat dark and twisted interlude of sorts, during which the band members intermittently yell “All right” and “It’s all right now.” And the “Weekapaug”? One of the best versions of 2009-2010, even if it’s a far cry from one of the “best ever.” Then the set closed with a solid “Loving Cup,” which is always a great set closer. The “Show of Life, Golgi” encores weren’t the least bit special, but it didn’t matter. The second set rocked, and if you haven’t heard it, check it out.
The tour closed on August 18 with a bittersweet show that was marred in part by the fact that, during setbreak, a fan had purportedly run and jumped off of the upper deck into the seats below. The fan suffered serious head and other injuries and, while he has since been released from the hospital, he now faces criminal charges. Another fan, who was in the “seats below,” suffered “minor” injuries, and it is incredible that no one else was apparently (physically) injured.
The first set of the tour closer was mostly well-played, opening with “Down with Disease” and ending with “Antelope,” though “Destiny Unbound” was a bit rough in spots. Similarly, “Ocelot” contained some flubs, but Trey was very busy during it, making it a version worth hearing if you’re a fan of this song. The mid-set placement of “Chalk Dust Torture” was cool, even if this was just an average version. But the “Gin” was the musical highlight of the set, and one of the better versions of recent years, similar in strength to the versions from Deer Creek and Merriweather from earlier in the tour.
The second set opened with good versions of “Axilla” and “Timber Ho.” The transition from “Timber” into “Light” was a bit rough, though, and “Light” had a jam that was all over the map. It began with about 8 minutes of what seemed to be unfocused, aimless soloing from Trey, despite persistently superb accompaniment by Mike, Page and Fish, but in the final four or so minutes, the improv seemed to meld and mix quite well, and a minute or so was even melodically reminiscent of the “Digital Delay Loop” jams of old (around the 11 minute point of the LivePhish download). The highlight of the jam in my view occurred when Fish played the opening rhythm of “Seven Below” for numerous measures, as everyone else improvised during the conclusion of the jam segment. In any event, as much as you may not enjoy the first half of this “Light” jam, the final few minutes are intriguing. The “46 Days” that came next contained some vocal-jamming of sorts and a great jam, but Trey was a bit sloppy in the “My Friend” that followed it. The subsequent “Harry Hood” is, overall, a very strong version, especially for recent years (even though it, too, wasn’t perfect). Surprisingly, and for the first time ever, “Tweezer” followed “Harry.” It didn’t do much, however, before segueing beautifully into “Horse.” The set closed well with a good “You Enjoy Myself,” and the “Suzy > Tweeprise” encore closed both the show and the tour well — albeit without undue fanfare.
Recommended Listening (if you can’t or don’t want to listen to everything):
Greek 8/5/10: Loving Cup
Greek 8/6/10: Cities, Simple
Greek 8/7/10: Light, Harry Hood, 2001 > Suzy Greenberg > Slave
Telluride 8/9/10: Prince Caspian, Piper
Telluride 8/10/10: Carini
Deer Creek 8/12/10: Drowned, Bathtub Gin
Deer Creek 8/13/10: Segue from Meatstick -> Mango
Alpine Valley 8/14/10: Down with Disease -> What’s the Use, Scent of a Mule, Bug
Alpine Valley 8/15/10: Piper
Jones Beach 8/17/10: Wilson, Reba, Simple, BDTNL, Rock & Roll > Weekapaug
Jones Beach 8/18/10: Bathtub Gin, Light (final 5 minutes), Harry Hood
*****
Charlie Dirksen practices antitrust law, and assists Scott Marks and Steve Paolini on the Phish.Net setlists team. He is a founding member and officer of the all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation, which was founded by Phish fans in 1997 and which raises money for music education for children programs. He occasionally “tweets” about Phish, and hopes to do so in Atlantic City (@cdirksen).
