Published: 2009/11/03
by Charlie Dirksen
LOVING the music of a band for decades is a blessing and a curse. Caring too much about what you perceive to be the integrity of your favorite band’s music makes the refrain of “Wilson” — “Can you still have any fun !?” — a sincere question. One can miss the beauty in a moment while yearning for “the best.” And when you compare the song that you’re listening to with the most recent performances of it, or the versions performed many years ago, do you fully appreciate that THEY ARE BACK, playing for you and your friends again, right now? Are you as inspired in your listening, as the band is in their playing?
Twenty years ago, Phish performed a show on Halloween at Goddard College to benefit its sculpture building. Boxes of mac and cheese were passed out before the second set, so that fans could shake them during the hi-hat intro of “David Bowie.” The “Bowie” turned out to be one of the longest, most improvisational versions performed before November 1994. It therefore may not surprise you that many fans who first saw Phish play in the 1980’s are still showing up and paying attention today. The music has changed, the band has changed, and we’ve changed. But it is a testament to Phish’s power and passion as a rock band that having seen them in a small club in the infancy of their career is not much different than seeing them perform twenty years later on an enormous outdoor stage before tens of thousands. Yes, we are several decades and around 2900 miles from seeing Phish in a bar in Burlington or Boston, but this illusorily substantial difference in time and space is only one of degree. The boxes of mac and cheese may be gone, but the spectacle has expanded exponentially.
Phish’s basic instrumentation hasn’t changed. The sincerity of the music and the intimacy between the band and its fans is still present, as is the excitement for the next set opener, the next song, the next encore. Even the vacuum and trampolines still participate in making a Phish show unique and memorable, whether it’s your first — or two hundredth — show. And no matter how many shows you’ve seen and heard, which have made your Phish experience what it is, remember that the band has played them all. But they continue to perform with intensity and with love, as the highlights of their most recent tour demonstrated.
Phish kicked off their late Summer 2009 tour with four memorable shows at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. On July 30, the first set contained the longest and most daring “Stash” of the year, while the second set’s “Ghost” jam featured some teasing of Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” from Page and Trey and, later, some heavy “Windy City” teasing from Mike — even though “Windy City” didn’t debut as a song until Toyota Park in the windy city on August 11.
The July 31 show’s first set closed with a ferocious “Split Open and Melt” that swayed and twisted and soared with the swirling, roaring downpour. Although fans were soaked during the set break, they were rewarded with one of the best second sets of the year: a hose-everyone-down “Drowned” -> “Crosseyed & Painless,” followed by a precious “Joy,” a short-but-sweet “Tweezer” featuring a bit of the old dying-out-of-the-main-theme ending from versions of old, a good “Backwards Down the Number Line,” and a well-played “Fluffhead” with a “Dave’s Energy Guide” tease before “Piper” segued out of it.
The August 1 show, considered by some to be the weakest of the Red Rocks run, was nevertheless very entertaining overall. Trey used hand signals to communicate the name of the next song during much of the first set, even joking after “Jibboo” that “We do everything by hand signals now. There’s no more talking.” The second set opened with an excellent “Rock & Roll” -> “Down With Disease,” which included a brief tease of The Doors’ “L.A. Woman” by Trey. “Esther,” which hadn’t been performed since September 30, 2000, in Vegas, also returned to the relief of many fans. The fourth and final Red Rocks show on August 2 was one of the most expertly-played shows of the year. If it is highlights you seek, check out the second-set-opening “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” which has a very powerful jam, the fierce “Undermind” and fantastic “Character Zero,” both with the Grateful Dead’s Bill Kreutzmann on drums, and the sweet, show-closing “Slave.” But get the whole show from LivePhish if you like the setlist, because everything on that unforgettably gorgeous, moonlit night was cleanly performed.
Having had days off on either side of their Shoreline August 5 show, Phish played pretty loose. Despite a setlist that included crowd-favorites like “Halley’s Comet,” “Yamar,” “Cities” and “Bold As Love,” not to mention “Bowie,” “Mike’s Groove,” and the first “Oh! Sweet Nothin’” since Halloween 1998, this show was nevertheless not played as well as your average Phish show — which is, of course, nevertheless GREAT. It didn’t take long for Phish to make up for it, though, with two marvelous shows at the Gorge.
The first Gorge show on August 7 featured a must-hear, first set “Sneaking Sally” with some of the finest improvisation of the year, and phenomenally beautiful versions of “Bathtub Gin,” “Harry Hood,” and “Slave” to end the show. On August 8, while Gorge fans were treated to good versions of “Tweezer,” “Wolfman’s” and “Antelope” in the first set, as well as the debut of “Middle of the Road” (an upbeat Mike tune), the second set opened with a mind-blowing “Rock & Roll.” Curiously enough on this magical night, the mid-second-set “YEM” contained a brief tease by Trey of “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter.
Phish’s return to Chicago on August 11 at Toyota Park witnessed the first “Paul and Silas” since November 29, 1998, the debut of Page’s new tune called “Windy City,” and a wondrous “Curtain With” in the first set. The second set opened with an excellent “Backwards Down the Number Line” that abruptly segued into a very creepy “Carini” with some amusing vocals from Fishman during the jam and some spooky soloing from Trey. Worth a listen.
Shortly before the Darien Lake show on August 13, the legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul died. As this was also Trey’s 15th wedding anniversary, it was an especially meaningful show for him. To honor Les Paul, Phish performed his original, “How High the Moon,” for the first time since March 8, 1993. Fans of “Drowned” should hear this second-set-opening version. It is looser than the Red Rocks 7/31 version, but is still great. The “First Tube” encore is also thrilling.
You’ve likely already heard about the Hartford show on August 14. Believe at least some of the hype. Sure, the playing isn’t as tight overall as, say, the August 2 Red Rocks show. But this is absolutely a classic, above “average-great” Phish show, featuring about half of the Gamehendge songs and numerous rarities. The first set is a bit routine, even though the take-no-prisoners “PYITE” opener is fun and the first “Forbin’s” > “Mockingbird” since September 30, 2000, Vegas, is a treat. The second set, however, is ridiculously electric, filled with often frenetic energy. At times during the crazy set (“DWD” > “Wilson” > “Slave,” “Piper” > “Water in the Sky,” “Ghost” -> “Psycho Killer” -> “Catapult” -> “Icculus” > “YEM”), Trey repeated and looped an astoundingly annoying electronic noise — the aural equivalent of bed bugs mating in your ears. During “Icculus,” Trey darkly mused about how people weren’t reading books anymore (“When was the last time one of you picked up a fucking book?! . . . Nobody reads anymore! . . . Put down your iPhones. Put down your DVD-things. We’re going to have an illiterate generation soon. . . .”). Hartford was yet another hysterically entertaining Phish show, and further justification for seeing them as much as possible.
After hearing such an insane set, many fans wondered what would happen the next night down south at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Maryland. The first set on August 15 saw the jovial return of Fishman’s “Ha Ha Ha,” shortly followed by the world debut of Fishman’s (also amusing) “Party Time.” (This appears to have been the only time in documented Phish history when two 100% Fish originals were performed back-to-back.) Fans were also gifted with the second appearances on tour of both “Esther” and “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’,” as well as a “46 Days” in the second set with an unusually spacey jam.
Summer tour 2009 closed at SPAC on August 16 in fine form, with one of the best second sets of the year. A 20-minute-long “Backwards Down the Number Line” – the most improvisational version to date – blew open the second set, which also saw a sweet “Halley’s” > “Rock & Roll” and a non-serious cover of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” (naturally with Fish on vocals) in a “Harpua” sandwich. There’s also a strong set-closing “YEM” and a triple encore: “Grind,” the debut of Page’s “I Been Around,” and “Highway to Hell.”
While your most recent “YEM” or “Mike’s Groove” might be a far cry from the best you’ve ever heard, the spirit is there, as is the hope that you will hear the best version you’ve ever heard again soon. For years, Phish performed shows only for coins in a can. Now, of course, they can afford not to perform at all, and they don’t need to make every note count. But they’re still trying to do exactly that for the sake of the music, and for all of us who love it. After 1500 live performances as a band, Phish is still aiming to please and still sharin’ in the groove. Be sure to enjoy yourself.
Recommended Listening from 2009 Shows
03/08/09 Hampton: Bathtub Gin, Down with Disease
05/31/09 Boston: Destiny Unbound, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, Time Turns Elastic
06/02/09 Jones Beach: Harry Hood
06/04/09 Jones Beach: Ocelot, Drowned
06/05/09 Jones Beach: DWD > Twist Around > Piper
06/06/09 Great Woods: Gotta Jibboo, Prince Caspian, Seven Below
06/07/09 Camden: Sugar Shack, Sand, Tweezer
06/09/09 Asheville: Kill Devil Falls, Backwards Down the Number Line, Possum
06/10/09 Knoxville: Undermind, Waves
06/12/09 Bonnaroo: Stealin’ Time, DWD, Kill Devil Falls
06/14/09 Bonnaroo: Mustang Sally, Bobby Jean, Glory Days, Rock and Roll -> Light, First Tube
06/19/09 Deer Creek: Drowned > Twist Around
06/21/09 Alpine Valley: Joy, Crosseyed and Painless -> DWD
07/30/09 Red Rocks: Stash, Ghost
07/31/09 Red Rocks: Split Open and Melt, Drowned -> Crosseyed & Painless
08/01/09 Red Rocks: Rock & Roll -> DWD
08/02/09 Red Rocks: Boogie On, Undermind, Character Zero, Slave
08/05/09 Shoreline: DWD, Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, Mike’s Song
08/07/09 Gorge: Sneaking Sally, Bathtub Gin, Harry Hood
08/08/09 Gorge: Rock & Roll
08/11/09 Toyota Park: The Curtain With, Backwards Down the Number Line > Carini
08/13/09 Darien Lake: Drowned, First Tube
08/14/09 Hartford: Second Set
08/15/09 Merriweather: Party Time, 46 Days
08/16/09 SPAC: Backwards Down the Number Line, Harpua > I Kissed A Girl > Harpua
Charlie Dirksen is an antitrust lawyer in San Francisco and is also an officer and Board member with the all-volunteer, 501©(3) non-profit Mockingbird Foundation, which was founded by Phish fans and has raised over $600,000 for music education for children. Charlie first saw Phish at the Paradise in Boston on October 6, 1989.
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