photo by Peter Wallace
After a Tuesday night show filled with deep jamming, Phish delivered a lighthearted, segue-filled show on Wednesday that included the second “Tweezer Reprise” of the run and a smooth “Plasma” jam.
The show began in style with the epic composition “Fluffhead.” While the band is certainly not as precise with the tune as they were in the '90s, they still managed to bring emotion and intensity to the rendition. “Guyute,” another ambitious choice, followed, and the band nailed this version. Next came a standard “Martian Monster,” not seen since Bonnaroo, followed by “Llama,” played at its original fast tempo. “Steam” made its third appearance of the summer, again in the first set. After being a mostly second-set stalwart since its 2011 debut, the last five versions have appeared in the first set (however, one of them was Friday at Bonnaroo this year, which was only one set total). “Poor Heart” got the crowd bouncing, and “Crazy Sometimes” brought the funk. The classic pairing of “The Horse” and “Silent in the Morning” came next, and then the band began “Sleep,” a song that had not been played in 289 shows (last seen August 17, 2011, in Chicago). “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” originally performed by Ghosts of the Forest, closed out an exciting set.
Set two began somewhat predictably with “No Men in No Man’s Land,” as the band has played it at every multi-night run of this tour besides Bangor. The relatively short jam contained some wonderful communication between members as they shifted from the song's minor key into a blissful major-key jam. This gave way to the tour debut of “Dirt,” before guitarist Trey Anastasio began “Plasma.” This led to the highlight of the night: a sequence of “Plasma"> "We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains”> "Plasma"> "Tweezer Reprise.” The band began the “Plasma” jam in standard fashion before shifting to the key of D major, the key in which “WACTOOB” begins. After spending a few bars setting up the song’s chord progression, Anastasio began singing, cementing a fantastic segue. Phish wasn’t done, however. Upon finishing the rendition of “We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains,” the band continued improvising, with Anastasio playing the “Plasma” melody to lead them back into a “Plasma” jam. Still in the key of D, Anastasio and pianist Page McConnell began teasing the “Tweezer Reprise” melody, before the entire band locked in on a reprise of Tuesday night’s “Reprise,” which sent the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Upon finishing “Reprise,” the band turned on a dime into “The Wedge,” which gave the crowd a chance to catch their breath and/or sing along. Next came “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley,” a song not seen since November 2, 2018, in Las Vegas. This version began standard, but shirked a vocal jam in favor of a segue into “Run Like an Antelope.” A short rendition “More” followed, and then the band opted for “Slave to the Traffic Light” to close the thrilling set. Phish's rendition of the Velvet Underground's “Rock and Roll” served as a fitting encore to close another excellent SPAC run.
Check out the full setlist below as it appears in our Box Scores section, along with some fan-shot video from the night. Phish continue their summer tour schedule this weekend with a two-night run at Boston's Fenway Park starting tomorrow evening.
In other Phish news, SiriusXM has announced it will be broadcasting both of the band's performances from Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena next week on the newly minted Phish Channel (ch. 29). Furthermore, Phish's Dry Goods merch store will be hosting pop-ups at the band's shows in Boston this weekend, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. before both the Friday and Saturday gigs on 20 Jersey St. Fans can line up starting at 9:30 a.m., and the pop-up will feature an exclusive David Welker poster and WaterWheel/Ben & Jerry's t-shirt plus much more.
Phish
Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NY
Set I: Fluffhead, Guyute, Martian Monster, Llama, Steam > PoorHeart, Crazy Sometimes > The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Sleep, DriftWhile You're Sleeping
Set II: No Men In No Man's Land > Dirt > Plasma ->We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains > Plasma > Tweezer Reprise > TheWedge > Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley > Run Like an Antelope, More> Slave to the Traffic Light
Enc: Rock and Roll
Source: Phish.net
