A Sinister Sunday
6.27.10 - Merriweather (Graham Lucas)
Phish concluded their transformative weekend on Sunday night with a dark, thematic set filled with shredding musicianship and exploratory jamming. Punctuating a four-night run that nobody will soon forget, Phish leapt into the fray with an igneous experiment that read “Saw It Again > Piper > Ghost > Jumping Jack Flash > Saw It Again.” Bookended by groove sessions, this psychedelic suite provided the core of the show, careening into uncharted territory with the new and improved Phish from Vermont.
Sparking the eighth set of the weekend with “Wilson,” the band cranked up the heat on an unbearably hot evening at Merriweather Post Pavilion, using Gamehendge as an energetic trampoline into the final frame. Potentially responding to an “up-fronter’s” sign, the band dropped into “Meatstick” out of left field, juicing the millennial anthem’s feel-good funk with emotive guitar leads and an out-of-character jaunt into a series of swamp grooves. As Trey, ripped a single chord, the band left the song’s progression for swanky dance rhythms that stretched seductively until Trey got another idea in his head. Once Red awkwardly ended a growing “Meatsick” with the opening riff of “Saw It Again,” the set flowed impeccably from here on out.
6.27.10 (G.Lucas)
Staging a sonic assault in “Saw It Again,” the band stretched the piece into thunderous sheets of sound and psychedelia while screaming the lyrics over the top of the evil soundtrack. Morphing into a significant piece of musical dramedy, the band continued shrieking the one-liner as they built a spacey segue into “Piper,” much like SPAC’s “Makisupa > Piper” transition from a week ago. And with “Piper” came the unquestionable creative and innovative highlight of the evening. Take the full-band crushing from “Oswego” ’99’s legendary version, and cross it with “Miami’s” crafty piece of musical density, and you’d come close to approximating the vibe of this stellar summer standout. Bombarding the crowd with a sawed-off shotgun of musical ideas, Phish exploded in an ever-morphing series of mini-jams. Without a tangible linear theme, the band took a jump off the deep end, going for the jugular in an experimental piece of roaring proportions. Transcending the uptempo rage-fest and avoiding generic percussive jamming of ’09, Phish wove through many creative portions of new-era music. This is one that needs to be heard to truly comprehend, as it reaches so many diverse places. In the jam’s denouement, the band broke into a groove that brought rhythmic resolution to the freight-train that had just demolished the venue. Moving the outro into a spacier texture, the band slid from their sprawling epic into the long-awaited second “Ghost” of summer.
6.27.10 (G.Lucas)
Left untouched since opening night in Chicago, the crowd was more than ready for the seminal late-90’s vehicle. This version shied from straight groove, as Trey began soloing early with notable nimbleness, and he simply never stopped. The whole band toyed with the changes of “I Saw It Again” throughout the “Ghost” jam, thematically uniting the non-stop sequence. Taking center stage, Trey slayed his leads as the band continued a driving groove beneath his display of fireworks. In an aural double-take, virtually nobody in the audience realized that Phish had sculpted “Ghost’s” jam directly into The Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Trey simply stepped up and sung the lyrics over the existing pattern in the smoothest possible segue; the kind you don’t even realize is happening. Blowing out the end of the cover, the band began chanting “I Saw It Again” over an increasingly menacing texture, moving back into the song that started all this madness. In a fifty-minute period of maniacal music, Phish painted Sunday evening black, celebrating their new found confidence with a compelling trek into the underworld.
Official Merriweather Poster
Breaking out “Contact” for a light, late-set interlude, Phish capped the evening with a short but sweet “You Enjoy Myself”, featuring “Jumping Jack Flash” teases at the beginning and end of the jam. The lyrical reprise of “I Saw It Again” that surfaced throughout the set came out most creatively as Trey substituted “Boy,” and portions of the “Wassha Uffizi” lyrics, with “I Saw It Again,” all completely in rhythm and with hilarious intonation.
Last night Phish underlined a set of seething music with their classic sense of comical creativity, illustrating, once again, that the band has arrived. Playing another flowing set flooded with modern ideas, Phish followed up their past two nights with yet another magnificent evening.With three straight nights of next-generation Phish, the band has redefined what it means to be a fan in 2010. Cranking out everything in their repertoire, from exploratory jamming to ornate compositions, and doing it like the maestros that they are, Phish has taken the second half of tour by storm. After this weekend, the south should take heed, as a musical cyclone is about to hit the region. With only a Tuesday stop in Canandaigua separating us from tour’s four-night finale, June will always be remembered as the month when the band began moving forward again. And the future has never looked brighter.
Set I Notes: The first set featured six summer bust outs, most notably, “Walfredo,” “Tela,” and Bob Marley’s “Mellow Mood.” Though everything was played quite well, the set picked up steam, in earnest, with another scorching “Bathtub Gin,” which, in turn, set the table for a closing “Antelope.” Before the two classic vehicles emerged, the set had translated as a somewhat choppy recital; but its ending salvaged the opening frame.
I: Walfredo, Mellow Mood, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Divided Sky, Tela, My Soul, Ginseng Sullivan, Sample in a Jar, Bathtub Gin, Brian and Robert, Run Like an Antelope
II: Wilson, Meatstick > Saw It Again > Piper* > Ghost* > Jumpin’ Jack Flash^ > Saw It Again > Contact*, You Enjoy Myself**
E: Fire*
*Saw It Again lyrical quotes
**Saw It Again quotes and Jumpin Jack Flash teases; Saw It Again and Surfin’ Bird quotes in vocal jam.
^ Phish debut
"Tela" - 6.27.10 (Graham Lucas)
Miner you should be in bed. Get some rest for christ sake!!!
Oh wait…..I recall you like to visit the free breakfast buffet. I hope it’s a good one 9Bagels, muffins, cereal)
Good morning anf thanks!!!
^ breakfast buffet was mediocre today… 😉
That sucks!
Hard bagels and shitty coffee is no way to start the trip to updstate NY!
great review of the 2nd set there, Miner. Sounds like some interesting listening ahead. Never really got into “Saw It Again” before but this set might flip me.
@sandstone
“Phish was the best blues band on the planet.”
whoa! Let’s not get carried away… 😉
Nothing worse than a soggy waffle…
Underfluffed Waffles are the worst 😉
@ Miner
Nice self editing there 😉
Thanks for the great reviews this weekend.
My sister and her man were at MPP and she texted me during the second set Ghost to say that know she got what “It” was and how it felt to be hosed.
It was a proud older brother moment.
looks like an amazing show. also looks like atlanta is not happening for me. These two things do not go well together at all.
THEY’RE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK
FOUR IN A ROW!!!! OH YEAH! Only caught camden night 2 and listened to a few highlights, can’t wait to dive in head first.
Three Cheers for BK
Three Cheers for BK
Three Cheers for BK
Ok, I’ll admit it, I got a bit excited when I saw Walfredo on the setlist. I know, the song is nearly as loathed as Jenny D by some, but I like it (“It’s been, ten years since I saw you/Grooving at Hunts…”). I had it on the Stuttgart 97 (I think) tape which I carried around with me while backpacking in Europe that summer, so it’s got a lot of great summer memories for me.
I love Walfredo but they pretty much butchered it. I still would like to see it.
phish kicked couch tour in the balls four nights in a row. that’s two kicks per ball, ouch!
i don’t stream, don’t believe in it. i like watching the setlists pop up on from the road, then i gently weep…:(
Being a phan in the middle of a great Phish tour is a wonderful feeling.
just watching a beautiful series of art unfold is beautiful.
Selector J, thought you would dig this:
Friends:
26th June On the Wire broadcast a radio sound clash with Jahtari vs
Maffi. The week before on 19th June the show featured an overdue
retrospective on Desmond Dekker with selections from OTW
co-conspirator Harry “Mr. Classics” Hawkes.
On the Wire can be heard 10 through till 12 midnight on BBC Radio
Lancashire (103.9FM, 95.5FM, 104.5FM – not on DAB or MW) the show’s
archives and playlists can be found on the net at
http://www.otwradio.blogspot.com and also on BBC iPlayer for one week after
broadcast.
Previous vintage shows originally broadcast in the early nineties can
now be found at:
http://www.otwradio.blogspot.com/2006/07/on-wire-dub-specials.html
These include:
Spear On The Wire – including archive interview with Mr. Winston
Rodney aka Burning Spear following his gig at Cleopatra’s in
Huddersfield in 1980
Rockers On The Wire – broadcast 24/6/90 as an Augustus Pablo tribute
Scorcher On The Wire – 16/7/89 broadcast in tribute to Mr. Clement
“Coxsone” Dodd
Yabby You On the Wire – 6/8/90 – in tribute to Vivian Jackson
Scratch On the Wire mc’d by Mr. Lee Perry himself
Dentist On The Wire (aka Keith Hudson)
Moods On the Wire – A tribute to the work of Mr. Harry Mudie
The site’s search facility will locate other specials from Wailing
Souls, Andy Capp, Derrick Harriott, I Roy vs. Jazzbo, Jimmy Radway (Fe
me Time) and recently a two parter on Bob Andy’s Songbook featuring
album, single and dub/instrumental versions of the classic tunes from
arguably reggae’s greatest song/vocal album and a two-parter “Rudies
On the Wire”. The original “Dubs On the Wire” shows from the late
eighties are still to be archived on to the site.
Forthcoming in 2010 and onwards is a Randy’s special with Clive Chin
(from Beijing), an early Solomonic singles special, a three part King
Tubby’s Special including guest selectors and a riddim-riot from
Rhythm-Master Glen Brown.
Steve Barker
I really need some “at least you are gonna catch 5 shows in leg 2” kinda love today.
walfredo rocks! only played in the US twice i think. one of my crews favs, so much that my buddy named his dog walfredo. some of you might have met fredo friend. if you’ve ever knelt down on lot to be shady, he might have mistaken you for a fire hydrant, hahahaha!
Also, three cheers for BK’s dad – role model for us pops out there.
Last night’s show starting on hoodstram right now…
Mellow Mood is my the song I dedicated to YEMily (the ladyfriend)
She cries every time it comes on – so funny
Visions of Deer Creek dancing in my head
I know that most people seem to be all about the second set (like, the reviews are only about set 2), but last night set 1 is looking like it was KILLER. Oh, by the way, they played Tela. Maybe I am missing something, but that set looks sick. I guess set 2 was just on some other world kinda shit.
I guess I picked the right shows to hit this summer, no? Man, I’m beat, but there is exactly zero regret to be found in my body. Just wish I didn’t have to leave a tour that’s getting better by the day!
They are savin’ DWD and a huge MIKE’s for Raleigh to celebrate their historic 97 summer show. That’s my guess…
Angry. Thanks for that blog link. I will check that out for sure. Not sure if it was you last week that mentioned Creation Rebel and The New Age Steppers but man am I loving it. I also stumbled upon Singers & Players. Great stuff.
spinnin 6/27 now. walfredo is forgettable. need to practice that one. rough.