With an unexpected text message late last night, the news dropped. Phish had just played. Reuniting for the first time in four years at former road manager Brad Sands’ wedding, the band- donning their suits- picked up the wedding band’s instruments, and played enthusiastically through a three song mini-set of Suzy Greenberg, Julius, and Waste. One video of the Julius solo has surfaced on You Tube and you can see it below.
What can we take from this? This is not the first time Phish has played a friends wedding while officially “on hiatus,” but with the anticipation of an upcoming Phish return, this takes on even more significance. This is another positive step back along the path to redemption. The band is obviously comfortable enough with everything right now to step on stage, with no rehearsal, and have fun. And that is what Phish was all about- stepping on stage and having a collective good time- and it’s incredibly encouraging to see that the four of them are at that point again, even wearing stuffy attire. As if this wasn’t enough, soon after Phish stepped off, Stuart Copeland, joined the wedding band for renditions of The Police’s “Can’t Stand Losing You,” and The Meters’ “Fire on the Bayou.” Sands served as tour manager for The Police on their recent tour.
As the summer turns into fall, and Trey is about to go on tour with his band, even such a mini performance as this, reminds of where all this energy is heading. Phish is on the return. In a recent interview, Mike reflected on Phish’s seemingly imminent comeback, “In my opinion the Phish thing is pretty likely at this point, because people are so healthy and enthusiastic about it among the band members. The vibe is really good.” In reference to when this might happen, Gordon responded, “I don’t know exactly, but soon enough, we’ll have a better idea.”
Soon enough, soon enough. Phish 2009.
