Superballin’
Unofficial SBIX Print (Masthay)
Sun has risen on day two of Superball, and day one was divine. To be back on the grounds of the Phish festival with the band at the top of its came felt like the days of lore. The sky was a bit bluer as the clouds floated above and the music was a bit slowed down as it blanketed the intimate concert ground. From note one Phish dropped a power-packed and poignant opening night of a festival that people will be talking about for time to come—the time when a full-powered band and their grand summer tradition came back together in the new era.
As it stands, I have little Internet access on site as I chase down friends with Droids to use their phones as a wifi hotspot. Combined with this spotty web access and the 24 hour nature of the festival, I’ll speak to you on the other side. Or when I catch up with a Droid again…
I: Possum, Peaches en Regalia, The Moma Dance, Torn and Frayed, NICU, Bathtub Gin, Life on Mars?, My Friend, My Friend, Wolfman’s Brother, Roses Are Free, Funky Bitch, Quinn the Eskimo
II: Jam > Crosseyed and Painless -> Chalk Dust Torture, Sand, The Wedge, Mike’s Song > Simple > Bug, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Weekapaug Groove, Joy, Character Zero
E: Show of Life
*****
SBIX Mini Print (Masthay)
*****
SB IX Mini Print (Masthay)
*****
A bit more…Without having listened back, the band anchored the first set with huge versions of their classic pieces—“Moma Dance,” “Wolfman’s,” and “Bathtub Gin”—while pulling out several rarities, taboot. A scorching and cleaned-up “Peaches” came at the beginning of the set, while an out-of-the-blue “Life On Mars?” was delivered in the middle, before a jammed-out and exclamatory “Quinn the Eskimo” sent things to setbreak in high style.
The second set featured more exploratory playing from the band—peaking in a utterly sublime “Simple”—channeling the mysteries of the universe through the speaker towers of Watkins Glen. After a shredding “Crosseyed” jam, the band dropped onto an ambient path that wound a slow and enchanting route into “Chalk Dust.” This juxtaposition of styles, from shredding to abstract to shredding, kept things interesting before a way laid-back “Sand” provided a shining mid-set highlight filled with festival-sized dance grooves. A monster “Mike’s Groove”— centered around “Simple’s” cosmic trek—dominated the second half of the set, and just when it felt like “YEM” might close the set, out popped out a crunching “Character Zero.” An enthralling version of “Show of Life—and perhaps the most extensive to date—provided an indelible stamp of catharsis to a very poignant night of Phish.
The festival is back and better than ever. Love every minute of IT, folks! See you at 3pm!
Tags: Festivals, Summer 2011
I don’t think i go the Darien Soundcheck. I got the group of tunes Shapiro put out that had Bethel Waves soundcheck. I know the link has been posted a million times, but there are 10 million posts on this thread. If someone could be so kind.
Pinball Lounge was poppin’ off right before the storage jam!
pinball lounge is the only place you could get hard alcohol inside the venue.
shitty liquor too. but my girl still kept walking over there for cocktails.
Alright. gotta go pick up some grub and then gonna spin night 2 from the top.
I think you are reading a bit too much into whether the lack of attendance is really something that anyone needs to worry about.
Nah, I never read too much into anything 😉
Mostly I recall the negative pre-Bethel talk about summer tour and have been reflecting that it’s all worked out much better than many thought it would
***
Lol at Trey telling the guy in the ferris wheel to jump! Wonder who that guy was?
(Trey banter at the end of day 1 set 1 Bathtub Gin -I can remember that moment very vividly)
Most intense ferris wheel lights I’ve ever seen -the LED light patterns never repeated. Insanely trippy…
C5K has really made excellent use of LED lights – he switched this tour to using them instead of traditional par cans on the upper silk screens – made the effects a lot more vivid and interesting.
phish nerd dilemma: label 7.1 show as one show with 26 songs (my usual strategy for two set shows) or label each set separately.
#phishinainteasy
Holy crap thats a lot of songs night 2 set I. 16 to be exact. Not saying thats a bad thing at all. Just jump out at me when i looked at the listing in my itunes.
@Mr. P
http://www.mediafire.com/?66bnwb8dbe650
FTA1,2,3 and WG SC
7 Walkers playing in Sacto tonight…anyone seen them?
yikes, holdin nothing back, NYtimes.
“Phish’s most recent East Coast festival, Coventry in Vermont in 2004, was plagued by bad weather, drug abuse and poor performances.”
I couldn’t look at the ferris wheel Saturday night
interesting to read some confirmation that the storage jam included instrument rotations…fun
“I know I have a whole grip of friends who lurk and give me shit about posting – calling me AJ and shit”
lurking is fine. peace and love to the lurker horde. lurking and busting on your buddy who’s down to post is a li’l cheesy tho…just a bit on the weak side.
just a smidge.
thanks Bingo’s!
@skyballs +3 for apt use of “rodgering”
~doffs cap, golf clap~
don’t be surprised if there’s another July 4th WG Phish fest:
A day after the last Phish fans packed up their tents and grills and rolled out of Watkins Glen International, track president Michael Printup was still glowing about Super Ball IX.
“It’s hard to describe this concert from our point of view. It was New York City on New Year’s Eve, just a fantastic, Apollo landing-type of event. This was so cool,” Printup said.
Printup said he “would definitely love to have Phish back,” and Richard Glasgow, Phish’s tour manager, told The Leader over the weekend WGI was “right at the top of the list.”
http://www.the-leader.com/topstories/x1860263421/Phish-fest-draws-rave-reviews
agreed, jtran, whenever Phish was on stage I also couldn’t look at the ferris wheel
wonder how much a backyard festival sound system costs? we’ve plenty of tall trees to hang the speakers from. headphones pale in comparison…
I really love these local stories with people who aren’t phish fans talking about how good the music is. choice.
“He marveled at the energy of the fans, who tossed beach balls and glow sticks and grooved to Phish jams for hours every night, then spilled into the campgrounds for wild afterparties.”
um….yeah I think we’ll let that one go unexplained
@jtran
Hah.
I actually spent a lot of those jams looking back over the crowd at the wheel – seemed at points like the band was absolutely playing to those lights. Trey in particular, and the Hood jam (in particular)^2.
Also, I reiterte: the Mound closing solo is staggeringly good.
My wife just said, “hey let’s head over to the pinball lounge for some cocktails!”. If only…
Great great job all around this weekend. Saw AW. Hi aw. 🙂
awwww top comment on the syracuse article
“My boyfriend asked me to go on the ferris wheel right before the last set on Sunday. Once we stopped at the top he pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring and asked me to marry him. Not the first time I cried tears of happiness at a Phish show, but surely the most memorable. Absolutely unforgetable weekend.”
You tell em, Mr. Completely! No one likes bullies.
And yes, it is a unicorn being abducted by aliens in a field of mushrooms.
lol