A Utica Preview
On May 24th, on the brink of Summer Tour’s kick-off in Bethel, Phish will drop the DVD/CD Box set “Live in Utica,” commemorating what many fans, including myself, selected as the show of 2010. As the release gets closer, the band will likely release several previews of the DVDs, and the first snippet came today—footage of the show’s first set “David Bowie.” Below is my description of the jam, excerpted from last year and the video clip.
***
While Fishman’s cymbals danced into the intro to “Bowie,” Trey continued to play “Guyute’s” triumphant lick with increasingly distorted phrasing, a seemingly innocent move at the time. But these teases sparked a theme for the rest of the set – self-referential integration of one song into another in with the spontaneity of lore. As “Bowie’s” jam dropped, Trey used the same “Guyute” line, phrased differently, to initiate the improvisation. Almost immediately, the band landed in the opening hits of “Wilson” and the crowd caught on just as quickly. In a call and response exercise, the crowd chanted “Wilson” to which Trey answered in Guyute-speak, “He’s bouncing like a new born elf.” Instead of dropping into “Wilson,” in earnest, the band made the far shrewder call of melting back into a delicate, full-on “Bowie” jam. Page’s piano leads wove with Trey’s melodies, pushing the piece in an ominous direction. Mike supported with harmonizing rhythm offerings that catalyzed a darker feel, and the band took off running in a powerful version of their revitalized classic. Passing through an additional “Wilson” tease on the way to a smashing final section, Phish had dropped a twisting tour highlight smack dab in the middle of the first set. And that wouldn’t even be their most impressive excursion of the half!
***
***
Read the rest of my Utica two-part retrospective…
***
Jam of the Day:
“Run Like an Antelope” 10.20.2010 I
The peak of Utica’s opening set.
[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Phish-Disc02Track05.mp3]***
Tags: 2010, Fall '10
Gotta say, this TAB Bonnaroo show of legend really is quite awesome.
How did they channel the Jedi force with that McDonald’s Banner staring them in the face?
thats the one and only TAB show i have seen Garret
a truly epic throwdown Garret. That show, along with the Frog Brigade, Ween, and Bcuket of Bernie Brains show made the first ‘Roo one of the best musical weekends of my life.
Genesse Factory !
What’s the date on that show?
6/23/02- What a show….
Thanks, I’ll have to track that one down.
@EH
6/23/2002
Top to bottom, I think Utica is the best show the band has played since returning. 8/7/09 belongs in the conversation as does 8/7/10 and 1/1/11. I didn’t attend Utica, but smiled my ass off on playback. They were definitely feeling ‘it’ that evening. Awesome.
finally a Phish DVD that really starts to capture CK5’s work
Trey Anastasio
Sunday, June 23, 2002
Bonnaroo Festival
Manchester, Tennessee
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=542786
an excellent sounding AUD that voopa upped for us a while back -should be seeding
Many, many thanks for the quick post, Sumodie.
Utica was a definite facemelter -usually I’m dancing my ass off but that night I was wide eyed and immobilized as the band just dug in deep. Will be especially psyched to give this remaster a spin
Hands down this is gonna be the best dvd phish has released to date. Sick show, latest technology in video/audio and an indoor venue that seems to finally show off some of CK5’s magic.
I’ll hop on to seed that TAB Bonnaroo source as well. It sounds fantastic and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the lossless upgrade. Hooray for Voopa and Sumo!!
this video looks sweet. definitely will be grabbing this one…
yup, I’m def seeding that Roo show
g’nite
time to dream of more leg 2 dates dropping….tomorrow? well, I doubt tomorrow but I’m betting UIC isn’t the end of 2011 PH
I sound like a broken record but if you don’t know, click on my name for links to shows I can easily seed
(you need to paste the link in the right hand column into your browser to get to the proper torrent page)
zzz time….
Just pulled the trigger on Superball “Icks”.
checkin out this Bowie vid, looks heady
wife says turn on the end of the lakers game this makes me want to leave the room
her cracking point seems to be when Phish engulfs the tv screen, cuz they always have all the speakers and computers, thats a given
the ck 5 view light shot from the sbd is what weve been asking for
Hey BB
wow, that vid makes you want the whole dvd, NOW
thanks sumo. and thanks miner for the huffpo link earlier.
enjoyed a run through that bowie just now. fun.
off to bed.
bethel is soon. i’ve got a trip to jazzfest first. 🙂