Miner’s Picks: The Second Leg
With Labor Day behind us, the summer season has officially come to an end, and what a summer it was! Witnessing nothing short of the resurrection of Phish, the months of June through August brought a different type of heat this year. After five years that seemed like a lifetime, we were on the road again- and our destiny most definitely unbound. Bursting out of Fenway and pulling into SPAC, Phish traversed the country for the first time in ages, seething with renewed energy that was infused directly into their music. Re-evolving right in front of our eyes, the band left off quite a bit ahead of where they started.

The Gorge (G.Lucas)
Peaking at The Gorge, Phish’s second leg of summer was utterly triumphant, in every sense of the word. Feeling at home on stage again, the band allowed their exploratory spirits to roam, resulting in music that barely resembled that of June. In a second leg that was littered with creative jams, it was astounding how much had changed in five weeks and how engaging the music was- seemingly all of a sudden. Phish had got their mojo back, and showcased it throughout two-plus weeks in August. Completing their first summer back, things couldn’t be sweeter.
To capture the highlights of the second half of summer, I have compiled “Miner’s Picks: Summer’09 – Leg II.” Because the highlights were so copious this past tour, I’ve divided the compilation into “West” and “East” and allowed myself to select only one version of each song for each half. I have essentially crafted two huge sets- one for each region. There are other highlights, for sure, but these are Miner’s Picks.
MINER’S PICKS: SUMMER ’09 LEG II WEST < Torrent
MINER’S PICKS: SUMMER ’09 LEG II WEST < Megaupload
1. “The Curtain (With)” 8.1 I
2,3. “Tweezer > Number Line” 7.31 II
4,5. “Bathtub Gin > Harry Hood” 8.7 II
6,7. “Down With Disease > Limb” 8.5 II
8. “Split Open and Melt” 7.31 I
9,10. “Rock and Roll > Makisupa” 8.8 II
11. “Boogie On Reggae Woman” 8.2 II
12,13. “Cities > Maze” 8.5 II
14. “Stash” 7.30 I
15,16. “Ghost > Wolfman’s” 7.30 II
17. “Antelope” 8.8 I
18-20. “Fluffhead > Piper > A Day In the Life” II
21,22. “You Enjoy Myself” 8.8 II
23,24. “Light > Taste” 8.7 II
25. “Gotta’ Jibboo” 8.1 I
26-28. “Drowned > Crosseyed > Joy” 7.31 II
29,30. “Sneakin’ Sally > Cavern” 8.7 I
31-33. “Mike’s > H2 > Weekapaug” 7.30 II
34. “Slave to the Traffic Light” 8.2 E
***
MINER’S PICKS: SUMMER ’09 LEG II EAST < Torrent
MINER’S PICKS: SUMMER ’09 LEG II EAST < Meagupload
1. “Party Time” 8.15 I
2,3,4. “Drowned > Caspian > Rift.” 8.13 II
5,6. “Ghost > Psycho Killer” 8.14 II
7,8. “46 Days > Oh! Sweet Nuthin” 8.15 II
9. “Stash” 8.14 I
10. “Antelope” 8.13 II
11,12. “Number Line > Twenty Years Later” 8.16 II
13,14. “Piper > Water In the Sky” 8.14 II
15,16. “Carini > Jiboo” 8.11 II
17. “Birds of a Feather” 8.14 I
18. “Fluffhead” 8.13 II
19-21. “Disease > Wilson > Slave” 8.14.II’
22. “Harry Hood” 8.11 II
23. “David Bowie” 8.13 II
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Jam of the Day:
“Tweezer > Runaway Jim” 12.16.99 II
This gem from ’99’s spacier, more ambient era came right before the tour’s final two night’s at Hampton. Featuring slammin’ grooves, a gorgeous build, and a cathartic peak- this “Tweezer” is a can’t-miss-highlight of December ’99. With searing walls of sound and effect, Trey was in the the midst of his millennial experimentation.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
9.29.99 The Pyramid, Memphis, TN < Torrent
9.29.99 The Pyramid, Memphis, TN < Megaupload
A wild night in Memphis back in ’99.
I: Runaway Jim, Free, Driver, Taste, Dirt, Nellie Kane, Stash*, Theme from the Bottom, Tweezer Reprise
II: Gotta Jiboo, 2001 > Down with Disease, Billy Breathes, Get Back on the Train, Mike’s Song > Catapult > Mike’s Song > Kung > Mike’s Song > I Didn’t Know > Weekapaug Groove
E: Cities
Source: Schoeps mk4v>kc5 actives > cmc6 > sonosax sx-m2 > apogee ad-1000 > d8 > btp
Tags: 2009, Jams, Miner's Picks, Summer '09
@ Lycan
That was quite moving. Thanks for sharing!
no problem…
caught my attention to say the least.
I loved all the different stages or movements of the piece.
they’re definitely spendy, the DL DVDrs – but now that they’re becoming standard the price will drop within a year, I bet.
The cheapest I’ve seen them is about $25 for a little spindle of 20. Often a lot more…compared to 50 for $12 or something on sale for the regular ones.
I haven’t really gone looking for deals online yet though. They may well be cheaper if you dig around
However – just from looking at the video briefly without burning it, the quality looks amazing, so I’d rather not downsample it. Team Hood hasn’t done me wrong yet, so I’m gonna try to roll with it. It’s hardcore, though, bandwidth and blank-media wise…
lol cypress is formatted for dual layer and is 25+GB, haven’t tackled that one yet
well I don’t have it here yet but I have seen a few disks at various times. It varies. there’s an hour of pro-shot ABC footage, and a bunch shot from down front that’s kind of average for video from that era – kind of crappy looking by modern Hd-spoiled standards, but basically fine – some from further back – kind of pieced together to get coverage of the whole thing I guess. A hell of a project.
the audio is the split Neuman source.
so how is the cypress dvd?
quality wise?
weird, my reply is showing before your question…? am I in a Lost episode?
I have 2 extra 4th row center Somerville theater get bassed Mike Gordon tix for Wednesday. Anybody want em? Brendan.Neagle@gmail.com
wow, that sand art video was something else…i’m calling it a night after that, thanks lycan
emotional to say the least
Pretty sure Mike just busted out a Radiohead song. Oh Snap!
15 step is def Radiohead tune!
Awesome
Way much.
(sorry, that was in response to Lycan’s post about the cost of DVDs on the last page of comments…)
Thank you for your Picks, Miner!! I love these compilations.