It’s almost October and no fall tour announcement – hmmm. We know its happening; Trey mentioned that fall was mapped out in a recent interview with Timeout: New York, while Mike vaguely discussed further fall Phish plans with the newspaper, The Poughkeepsie Journal. The rumored dates that have circulated for well over a month seem all but set-in-stone. Then why is Phish holding back?
Rumor has it that ticket sales for Indio haven’t gone as well as expected, potentially pushing back the announcement of any other shows. Well, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to predict that placing the festival as far as possible from the band’s home turf, in an expensive resort town, would adversely effect the draw. With trips from the east coast to Indio totaling in the $1000 range, people aren’t exactly flocking across the country. This limited audience is one reason that Festival 8 could send the intimate west coast crowd directly to Cloud 9. The organization seems to have stripped away any surrounding shows from Halloween, in an effort to funnel everyone out west to Indio. If the band was playing the Hollywood Bowl in a month, you’d think we’d know already. But it seems just as peculiar that Phish wouldn’t play a couple warm-up gigs before stepping under the vast desert sky of Festival 8.
At this point, it seems that plans have been made – so announce the shows. The set of dates that have circulated for quite some time, from a number of reliable sources are as follows:
Fall Tour 2009
November 20: US Bank Arena – Cincinnati, Ohio
November 21: US Bank Arena – Cincinnati, Ohio
November 24: Wachovia Center – Philadelphia, PA
November 25: Wachovia Center – Philadelphia, PA
November 27: Times Union Center – Albany, NY
November 28: Times Union Center – Albany, NY
December 2: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 3: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 4: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 5: John Paul Jones Arena – Charlottesville, VA
All of these high-key east coast shows will sell out in minutes, perhaps another factor reasoning into the delayed announcement. Assuming this is the Fall Tour, it a mere ten shows. But of these ten shows, seven are in absolutely classic houses of Phish and will certainly be spectacles. The Spectrum > MSG chunk of the tour is the true meat, with a midwestern appetizer and a southern dessert. With an extensive summer under their belt, it’s not surprising that Phish would reel it back a bit for the fall. When an initial month long trek was rumored, it seemed like we were back in the late ’90s rather than in ’09. But as we approach 2010, the mere existence of fall tour is cause for celebration.
In all likelihood, we will hear something soon- just in time to juice you for “mail-order” money before heading to Indio. But fall tour will be upon us before we know it, transitioning this experiment in latter-day Phish from the breeze-filled nights of summer to the dark, concrete super-structures where dreams come true. Three multi-night stands and three nights at MSG in the middle of tour?!! If this is all true, go ahead, Phish, and take your sweet time to announce the dates. We’ll be here waiting.
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Jam of the Day:
“Free” 11.22.95 II
An aborted second-set opening “Rift” made way for the most colossal “Free” ever played.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
5.3.1985 Last Day Party, UVM-Redstone Burlington, VT SBD < Torrent
5.3.1985 Last Day Party, UVM-Redstone, Burlington, VT SBD < Mega
This is an historic Phish show for many reasons. First and foremost, this was the first time Page sat in with the band, playing for the entirety of set III. Strewn with Dead covers, including the only known performance of “The Other One,” Phish was still in the process of finding their musical niche- and their keyboard player. If that doesn’t give this show enough significance, it also contains the first known performances of “Mike’s Song,” “McGrupp,” “Alumni Blues,” “Dave’s Energy Guide,” and also the first incarnation of “Antelope.”
I: Slave to the Traffic Light, Mike’s Song* > Dave’s Energy Guide*, Big Leg Emma**
II. Alumni Blues, Wild Child, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Jam > Cities, Bring It On Home**
III: Scarlet Begonias > Eyes of the World, Whipping Post, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters* > Makisupa Policeman > Run Like an Antelope Jam*^ > The Other One**
E: Anarchy
*debut, ** only performance, ^ jam only
Notes: The only part of set I that is on this recording is “Mike’s > Dave’s Energy Guide.” All of Set II is missing. This is the only known circulated source of this show.
Source: SBD
