On Saturday night Phish rolled in to Merriweather Post Pavilion for the first of two weekend gigs at one of the oldest sheds (circa 1967) still in operation – if you are in any doubt, visit the bathrooms, they are exactly the same as on opening night. Yet another venue where Phish has a proven track record of performing amazing shows (see especially 8/8/98 and 6/27/10), and following an uneven night in Camden with spectacular highs and baffling lows, anything was possible. Grab your popcorn!
For the third straight show, Phish opened with a traditional / bluegrass standard, and again one that was apparently played in response to a fan sign: “Daniel Saw the Stone!” This was by far the biggest bust-out of the tour to date (last played at IT on 8/3/03, 137 shows). Then we move into a more traditional opening sequence of a compact “AC/DC Bag” and then a soulful, patient, and well-above-average “Ocelot.” “Access Me” follows, and given the precision of the performance (see 10/26/10 for a stark contrast) plus the fact it was only the fourth ever performance can safely qualify as the “Best ‘Access Me’ Ever!” The often-requested but infrequently played of late “Vultures” follows, a far from perfect – it is a difficult song, even for Phish – but still enjoyable version.
The first set starts to gather steam with a strong “Wilson” followed by an even stronger “Sand.” The “Sand” doesn’t stretch out from the core structure, but this version is a prime example of the strength of Trey’s playing these days: confident, attacking yet patient, well-thought-out phrasing, few discernible crutches, etc. A great version with innovative mid-set placement. Ween’s “Roses Are Free” is next and offered just a hint of the ‘90s-style jamming extension that so many hope for... but it wouldn’t be a recap without “the ripcord.” The beloved classic “Reba” follows and stands alongside “Ocelot” and “Sand” as the clear highlights of this very strong first set. The composed section was nailed, but the jam is simply stunning, with the band laying down the sublime background to Trey’s absolutely brilliant, almost tearful solo. Don’t miss this one. Allen Toussaint’s “On Your Way Down” and a formulaic yet always fun “Antelope” (with an “On Your Way Down” tease from Trey) rounds out one of the best first sets of the tour. Great stuff. We’ll be back in fifteen minutes.
A compact, uneventful “Bird of a Feather” opens set two, followed by “Tweezer.” This “Tweezer” – that featured an opening segment with a full band stop and a vocalized HUH! – was poised for lift-off and was definitely airborne and soaring, if not quite reaching maximum sustained cruising altitude. The jam worked to a natural (non-ripcord) conclusion and gave way to “The Horse” > “Silent in the Morning.” The Round Room favorite “Waves” follows, and while not hitting the home-run that was the stunning Bethel version, still delivered. A somewhat rare mid-set “Chalk Dust Torture” kept the energy meters pegged for the naturally enthused Saturday night crowd.
The middle segment of this set brought the wood and witnesses the band at the peak of their craft. The second powerhouse “Rock and Roll” in the last week (see Great Woods) dispatches with the song structure proper after five minutes and continues in hyper-drive for the next six, offering power Type-I jamming and then dissolves into pure Type-II space. Great stuff! Neil Young’s “Albuquerque” allows everyone to catch their breath, before we leap off the cliff again with “Piper.” There are two components of “Piper” that most fans love – the patient, we’ve-got-all-day building intro, and the wide-ranging jams that might emerge. This version was hurried in the former, but crushing in the latter. The final ~eight minutes of this jam is full-band improvisational gold! More. Of. This. Please!
That said, just when this set had real possibilities to enter the outlier, “truly great” class, the band retreated into a more businesslike, predictable, jukebox approach. Not to say that they weren’t delivering high-quality adult entertainment – it was very much that – but the “Wading in the Velvet Sea” > “2001” > “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” > “Suzy” set closing sequence and the “Show of Life” (with Mike on his brand new Fender Precision bass) > “Tweezer Reprise” encore could have been dialed up from any recent standard performance. Although the “Suzy” did have a little of the proverbial “extra mustard” and some “WHAT?” Great stuff. Please drive safely!
The verdict? Wow! That was an excellent performance and a well above-average Phish gig, especially for the “3.0” era. The show was almost Hampton ‘09-esque in the number of songs packed in (26), and as such didn’t have too much room to navigate into extensive explorations. That didn’t stop the gig from bringing the heat, albeit in smaller doses. Highlights were the “Ocelot,” “Sand,” “Reba,” Tweezer,” “Rock and Roll,” and “Piper.” Will any single song from this gig stick in the “best ever” versions from the band’s long and storied history (other than the “Access Me” :-))? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean this was anything less than a stellar performance. This band delivers! So great that we should... do it again tonight! Same bat time, same bat station. We’ll be back tomorrow with a recap.
If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Phish.net is a non-commercial project run by Phish fans and for Phish fans under the auspices of the all-volunteer, non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.
This project serves to compile, preserve, and protect encyclopedic information about Phish and their music.
Credits | Terms Of Use | Legal | DMCA
The Mockingbird Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Phish fans in 1996 to generate charitable proceeds from the Phish community.
And since we're entirely volunteer – with no office, salaries, or paid staff – administrative costs are less than 2% of revenues! So far, we've distributed over $2 million to support music education for children – hundreds of grants in all 50 states, with more on the way.
i thoroughly enjoyed the entire stretch from Rock and Roll -> Albuquerque -> Piper. Although I loved the placement of the Albuquerque after the great Rock and Roll jam , I sure do wish they had extended the -> quite a bit more. Nevertheless, a great stretch of music.
Agreed on the Suzy. Can't remember last time I listened to a version and said to myself, "that was FUN!" since maybe Arrowhead Ranch. But yeah, the Suzy had it going on in the energy and fun categories.
Hopefully the bluegrass openers are dispensed with soon but I suppose I'll trade that for first set Sands anyday.
That Roses are Free really did fake me out on the stream...thought for sure it was going deep. Heavy riffing in Wilson reminds me a lot of the set 3 Halloween version from AC, had a similar Hendrixesque section. Killer Sand. IMO Suzy has been extra zesty for some reason on this tour. Loved Bethel and the Mansfield version, not my fave tune to hear but both were hard to deny in their rockingness.
Nice recap @pzerbo!
Anyway, really enjoyed this review, almost as I enjoyed listening to Set I. Set 2 retains flow and remains solid imo through Chalkdust Torture, but then things tend to drop off. I for one wasn't too particularly impressed with this Piper, but maybe I need another listen. Reba was gorgeous, hands down my favorite section of the evening, despite how good Wilson > Sand was.
Alright now Phish, maintain this stuff through Alpharetta
Tweezer...
Let the glow sticks fly!
I hate the fact that I enjoy the sticks soooooo much, cause once upon a time I was not against them or anything, but I wished that people would pay more attention to the music being played. Some years later however, I'm all about the sticks now lol.
I really didn't dig the Waves > Chalkdust transition/choice, but that's all right because the rest of the show brought IT. Every tune was great; the audience ecstatic; and yes, the multitudes of glow sticks flew to the moon and back. Suzy "WHAT?!"s... hilarious, and that was all ya heard in the lot for the next hour or two.
Merriweather PP is a great venue, btw, but I wish there was a centrallized Shakedown rather than the occasional dude selling shirts just wandering around. But it's no bother. I will be back
I love that phish, like frank zappa, rely on humor and good-natured fun in their music. The weekend long joke of "WHAT!?!?" was an aspect that made me feel like I was part of something unique and special. The band has tons of inside jokes among them, but this was one that made the audience feel like they were in on the whole thing. Especially when they brought it out for night 2 and the encore.