Mid-Week Musings
6.10.11 (G.Lucas)
After the incredibly successful summer that Phish has already had, we still have a dozen shows to go! In a bit more than a week the circus will travel to the hallowed grounds of the Gorge to kick off the back end of the touring season. And things couldn’t look brighter. When we left the band just a few weeks ago, they had just thrown down the best weekend of music in the modern era amidst a full-blown Phish festival of the sorts we only dreamed about a few short years ago. It is impossible to deny the musical momentum built over the first half of this summer and— more than ever—it certainly feels like the dawning of Phish’s Golden Age.
7.3.11 (G.Lucas)
Full-blown creativity, new improvisational directions, experimental jamming, airtight communication, uncharted territory—all of these facets were part of Phish’s opening month of tour. And if the progress made from leg one to leg two during the past two summer tours is any indication, Phish is going to come back with even sharper jaws and enhanced improvisational adventure. At Super Ball, the band seemed to play with a laid-back patience, understanding that we were all there for three days and there was no reason to rush anything. As a result, almost almost no jams were ended prematurely and the weekend possessed an undeniable flow. Though some sets were better crafted than others, the band left us with a slew of the most innovative music to be played in this era.
Two nights at the Gorge, Hollywood Bowl, Tahoe x 2, Golden Gate Park, then two three-packs—at UIC and Denver…there is heck of a lot of music left to be played this summer! And just like the last two, when all is said and done, my bet is that the second leg will produce the most memorable jams of the tour. Building off a spectacular June that was in a different league than its 2009 and 2010 predecessors, the thoughts of what might come out of August is awe-inducing. Five new venues and a return to two of their most classic haunts will provide us with 24 more sets to take us through a Phishless fall. But something tells me that after a spectacular—and lengthy—summer, that won’t be too much of a problem for anyone.
In 2011, Phish has created a buzz in the community like no time since their Hampton return. Showcasing a completely revitalized improvisational brilliance—built upon the foundation of ’09 and ’10—Phish took people by storm in Bethel and have maintained that quality of play, and improved upon it, right up through Super Ball. It’s an exciting time to be a Phish fan, as the entire comeback has brought us to right now. And heading up to the Gorge in this context, could anything be sweeter?
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Jam of the Day:
“Light > Number Line” 6.19.11 II
Deep in Portsmouth’s second set, Phish got into an intricate and psychedelic take on “Light” in which Trey actually sets up a quasi-transition into “Number Line.” With so much meat in his show, this “Light” jam hasn’t been discussed to much; check it out.
[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/phish2011-06-19.d2t08.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/phish2011-06-19.d2t09.mp3] Tags: Summer 2011
the guy’s in a minimum security federal pen serving a 10 year sentence . . . i’m sure he’s got war stories for dayz
Mr. C- Other One from DP 18. The part you mentioned earlier almost sounds like Jerry is dropping Phil bombs before the second verse? Am i close? What a fucking solo. Wow. This is some hot fuckin ’78. Don’t sell this one short.
I’ve been on a helluva dead kick as well. I think it’s all been 70, 72, 74 & 77 this week.
I gave DP 17 a try twice now in as many days, but it just sounds so off*.
*I’m a huge GD n00bster
tt time anyone?
really getting pumped for Tahoe, should be fun. Been off the ph for a while, good break, so happy to be immersed again soon.
10/9/82 Frost Amphitheatre
C. Miller soundboard
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1982-10-09.sbd.miller.110621.flac16
Set 1
Alabama Getaway-> Greatest Story Ever Told, They Love Each Other, On The Road Again-> Beat It On Down The Line, West L.A. Fadeaway, Me & My Uncle-> Big River, Dupree’s Diamond Blues, The Music Never Stopped-> Deal
Set 2
Throwing Stones-> Touch Of Gray, Estimated Prophet-> Eyes Of The World-> Drums-> Truckin’-> The Other One-> Morning Dew-> One More Saturday Night, E: U.S. Blues
not well versed in early 80’s dead. Surprised to see Touch of Grey played that early. would have been off a few years with my guess.
’82 was the debut year for Touch i believe.
*catching up, just finished p. 17*
A recurring thread today has been, as Silly so succinctly put it, “the media dumbs down stuff”…so true, be it history, the markets, sports, even the perception of facial hair (as Tela’s mentioned re: his parents).
Which brings me to something I didn’t want to bring up, but it seems apt: Twice today on AM radio, I heard the hosts bash Phish, and write them off as GD wannabees with stinky fans. I’m not upset by these generalizations, in fact, bring it on! I’ll debate with you any day. And if the media generalizations keep the masses away, that’s fine. It’s hard enough to get tix as it is. Just don’t judge me because of the music I like. Sorry I have taste. If you like shitty music, I’ll judge you.
Ah, there’s the conundrum. Anyway, I did something today I haven’t done at work in 5 years (couldn’t go to TT, had to save system and network resources for the 100’s of queries I had to do today, besides, it was empty at Noon), and that was listen to NPR (got fired from there 5 years ago, and am finally letting go of the resentment). MAN it was nice to hear intelligent conversation on the radio again! Multiple times a day I get so pissed at the sheer ignorance of the guys on the air, and I usually listen to pretty moderate guys…today was refreshing, and a reminder of why I was attracted to Public Radio in the first place. What’s my point? You tell me.
Point taken Voops
I couldn’t get past the fact they were talking phish on am radio. In what context?
Rush Limbaugh has been to over 100 shows. He likes pharmies.
Think most people think that Phish is kook music and their fans are kooks. I am so far beyond caring about any of that. Seriously light years away from even getting how Phish fits into a larger picture or cultural understanding. It’s just something I’ve done forever…my own zone so to speak. Funny, even now, to hear people talking about em when I know damn well they are a massive band/org/thing.
I told people that I was going to CO. to see a band at work today, they looked at me like I was a martian.
I gave up on trying to explain the feeling. The feeling I get when I hear it is mine. I could give a fuck about the others views. If you don’t dig it..cool, more space for me at shows.
Just pulled off the AW drop liquid onto business card method for my flight this Friday (yes, I know it’s one week before the shows ;))
Fingers cross metal detectors can’t detect L
joe-
A local DJ (talk show host) fielded a call from someone who mistakenly took the host for a phan, and was Talking about the Tahoe shows, he and his co-host both promptly replied with “Phish sucks” and then he went on to say that they just want to be the GD. Pure ignorance.
Then on Jim Rome (same station), he was mentioning about how some comedian or someone is coming through, and played clips of his last appearance on the show, where he talked about how you can only enjoy a show if you’re on drugs, and how all the fans are smelly, etc. Rome’s said in the past that he has no problem with Phish (when a hockey player of note professed his love for the band earlier this year), but he seemed to have a lesser opinion today. Again, ignorance.
People are getting amped. And people are traveling far to get a fix. Dig it. I like seeing the effort made. I know it’s not easy for everyone to leave families, jobs etc and to keep shelling out the $$ but man do I get inspired by people making treks just to see if IT might happen one more time. I believe it will. Even the 2011 baseline show is pretty fuckin attractive (unless u got blueballed like Willowed 😉
You know I was blueballed when I stroke Camden
That Curtain (with) was hot though
I did enjoy Camden though. I was a little 😯 so that helped
Just read the liner notes to the GD Road Trips volume 2: wall of sound
Pretty impressive stuff
One thing I’ve noticed about most people who don’t know much about Phish is that they often vibe the sincerity about the scene.
It’s funny because my roommates aren’t in to Phish, but sometimes they fire up my hard drive on our shared sound system saying: “Will hasn’t had a Phish night in awhile.”
they always ask me when the next shows I’m going to are and they always ask me funny stuff like “Would you rather see a whole Phish tour or have someone hand you 20000 dollars and say you can’t see Phish for 2 years?”
i always say Do the whole tour, bitches.
“It was uncut … a pearly color, flaky, with a candy kind of smell to it,”
yeah that’s what my boy Johnny was bringing up the I-95 back in the day. peruvian, had a pink tinge to it, but that opalescent pearl look, and flaky soft, you could squash rocks of it with your thumb, we called it The Smush for that reason
the bad old days. john didn’t last long. a good soul in a bad business.
I don’t think I have the nerves to be a drug runner.
I’d freak if stopped. Or I’d give myself away by my hands shaking or voice cracking or something stupid.
certain amount of mental mastery involved. and i’m too anxious.
“I gave DP 17 a try twice now in as many days, but it just sounds so off”
meh. not a fan. not a bad show but I don’t like the mix and it just never clicked for me. I put it in the second lower tier of official releases, above that Alpine ’82 fiasco, with like the Hartford ’83, NAssau ’81* and MSG ’90 releases, not bad objectively speaking, but not my thing…
Vol 27, the ’92 show, lives on that bottom rung w/the Alpine. No thanks.
* sick pre-drums jam excepted
most overlooked super sick Dicks Pick: volume 16, but skip the first disk. Seriously, skip it, it’s bad. But if you can do the second and 3rd disks as No Spoilers….man oh man
Caution baby!
How good will the Jets defense be if they sign the CB from the Raiders? My spelling is bad enough, no way i am attempting that guys name. Revis and that guy. Damn.
Sorry for nfl reprise, but just saw a sports flash.