Mr. Miner's Phish Thoughts

Holds have been placed on credit cards across the country, and official emails should be following sometime soon. Hang tight folks, and best of luck to all!

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Jam of the Day:

“Piper > 2001” 11.4.98 II

The most memorable segment of Denver’s second set in the band’s follow-up to Utah’s Dark Side escapade.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1998-11-04d2t03.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1998-11-04d2t04.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

2.21.03 The Crown, Cincinnati, OH < Megaupload

Today we look back on night one of the band’s two-night, post-hiatus stand at The Crown. The opening set features strong versions of “Disease” and “Antelope,” setting the stage for a throw-down second set. Coming off a standout show in Chicago, Phish really began to hit their first stride back during this Midwestern weekend.

I: Wilson, Frankenstein, Down with Disease, Lifeboy, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Run Like an Antelope, I Didn’t Know

II: Mike’s Song > Free,  Waste > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Harry Hood, All of These Dreams, Possum, Cavern

E: Wading in the Velvet Sea

Source: Unknown

Never have I wanted my credit card to be charged as much as I do right now. The magic digits of $564 are the numbers that would bring me bliss, celebration, and relief. $564 (or $282 if you’re rolling solo) represents the cost of two tickets for The Greek and Telluride. (Or any 10 single tickets, but that’s mere trivia in this instance.) Anyone who gets the privilege to purchase these golden tickets via Phish’s lottery this week will be able to deeply exhale and put their feet up, while everyone else sweats it out. Lottery winners will be automatically freed-up to stab for east coast lower pavilions, or to help friends on the harder missions this weekend. But more than anything, one’s hassle will be over before it ever began.

Phish tickets are fickle bitches these days. At times costing upwards of $300 in the secondary market for the smallest shows, at many other times, one can’t give them away if they tried. The actual market value of a single Phish ticket fluctuates so greatly in relation to locale, as one can clearly observe this summer. Other than The Greek and Telluride, all other tickets will be easy scores, and the only issue will be lawn or pavilion. If one waits out the initial feeding frenzy, many of these tickets will be for sale on lot for far under the $60 face plus fees value. The same scene took place in 2009, where the only hard tickets (besides Hampton) became the tiny Fox Theatre in St. Louis and the band’s uber-climactic return to Red Rocks, holding only 10,000 people. (Asheville gets an honorable mention, but it wasn’t the same.) For most other shows, one could score a stub for $20 -40 easily, and it was a fair deal leaving both parties happy. It used to be that one could walk to the venue with an extra ticket with no doubt of selling it to someone along the way. But at this point, when trying to sell extras, one encounters far more people trying get rid of their own superfluous stubs than anyone looking to buy one. Except for these special shows when tickets are worth more than gold; it’s quite an interesting dichotomy.

Last year’s Fox show, one case study, turned out to be a very funny occasion. So many people flew across the country and paid top dollar to get into The Fox, and Phish responded with one of the tamest shows of the tour, centering “Time Turns Elastic” in the second set. A decent, yet linear, “Halley’s” jam held the only redeeming value on a night that everyone had circled for months as the “can’t-miss” show of summer. But unquestionably, The Fox represented an exception rather than the norm, as Phish rarely disappoints. And something tells me the band won’t be dropping duds in Berkeley and the Rockies come August.

With only a few days separating us from summer tour’s general on-sales, everyone and their mother (pun intended) will be getting their lottery emails before too long. Over these next two days fans will obsessively check their credit cards, praying for that magic $564 or $282 hold, and before long, we will all know one or two people who scored huge. But in the meantime, all we can do is wait and cross our fingers. With the amount of requests versus the amount of available tickets, the word “lottery” has never seemed so appropriate.

Good luck to all, and may the force be with you. We are gonna’ need it.

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Jam of the Day:

“Wolfman’s Brother” 7.26.99 II

The second set opener from Summer ’99’s US finale at Deer Creek.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2-04-track-04.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

6.20.04 SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY < Megaupload

This show concluded Phish’s last gasp of full-blown creativity in 2004. As the band sculpted their unofficial post-hiatus finale over SPAC’s magical nights, they left us with two more shows to remember forever. The band’s first visit back since Summer ’95 proved to be high point of ’04. The second set – “Seven Below > Ghost > Twist, YEM” – contains top-notch jamming throughout.

I: Rift, Julius, Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?, Waves, Gumbo, Water in the Sky, Horn, Poor Heart, Drowned

II: Seven Below > Ghost > Twist, You Enjoy Myself

E: Good Times Bad Times

Source: Unknown

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NOTE: I am out of town for a few days at an undisclosed location with very sketchy Internet connectivity. This will effect the site in a few ways this week. First off, there will be no torrents. I will do my best to get torrents of this week’s shows up when I get home. Also, I may not be able to connect for long enough to upload new shows for Downloads of the Day, therefore, I will likely feature shows that were posted a long time ago or went directly to the archive. Things will be back to normal by the weekend. Thanks for your understanding!

With June methodically approaching, one can’t help but think of tours past under the welcoming warmth of the summer sun. Just like every tour has particular shows that standout as highlights, there are always a some performances that either get dogged on, or flat out forgotten. Sometimes these criticisms and cases of historical amnesia are well warranted, but other times, not so much. Below are three shows that either get a bad rap, or glossed over in Phishy historical dialogue, and  each, I believe, has more to offer than their legacy suggests. (Click the orange show titles to download.)

*****

8.14.1996 Hershey Stadium, Hershey, PA

Perhaps the perfect example of this phenomenon, people have ripped on Hershey since the day it happened. Many fans skirted Chocloate City for Plattsburgh, in order to set up camp at The Clifford Ball a day early. But for those who braved the bare bones environs of Hershey Stadium, they were treated to a show with more than a few highlights. Right off the bat, the band jammed out “Wilson” uncharacteristically, building an elongated sonic bridge into a searing “Down with Disease. “Reba” and “Stash” provided musical adventures of the opposite nature, providing the improvisational yin and yang for the rest of the opening set.

Although front loaded, set two came out with more than its fair share of jamming. An old-school, multi-themed “Runaway Jim” kicked off the frame, and set the table for a second song “YEM.” But the jam of the show came in the mid-set “Tweezer,” a twisting rendition that got far more interesting than its bombastic Clifford Ball counterpart. While the end of the set trickled out a bit, there was more than enough meat in this show to hold up to its Summer ’96 brothers. While not the strongest show of the summer, Hershey deserves a earnest re-listen if it hasn’t been heard in years.

I: Wilson > Jam > Down with Disease, Fee > Poor Heart, Reba, The Mango Song, Gumbo, Stash, Hello My Baby

II: Runaway Jim, You Enjoy Myself, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Cars Trucks Buses, Tweezer, Theme From the Bottom, Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin’ Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, Sample in a Jar, Tweezer Reprise

E: Julius

*****

7.29.97 Desert Sky Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ

While this show doesn’t get the harsh treatment of Hershey, I find that it often gets overlooked all together. Following a climactic first week of Phish’s US tour, and before a memorable run up the west coast, the band dropped a bomb in the desert. On a Tuesday night, Phish continued their revolutionary summer with a standout session of bulbous grooves in the first set’s “Gumbo.” A piece that stood out to Trey, himself, as quoted in The Phish Book, the jam’s connected funk rhythms followed the band’s musical goal of the summer, setting the foundation for larger dance extravaganzas throughout the tour. A blowout, late-set “Ghost” kept the beat pulsating before the band took things into setbreak.

Phish turned in a wilder direction with the drop of an early-second set “Antelope.” Taking this piece much further out, and in different directions, than most late-90s “Antelopes,” this version became an instant classic. The second standout jam in the set, and perhaps one of the most dark-horse pieces of improv from Summer ’97, took place in “Twist.” A song that had been debuted only a month earlier in Europe, this early stateside version crawled slowly into unique places. Taking the jam into a darker, murky musical swamp, Phish was still experimenting with where “Twist” could take them, and on this night, they nailed one. Desert Sky ’97; don’t sleep.

I: Theme From the Bottom, Beauty of My Dreams, Gumbo, Dirt, Sparkle, Ghost, Swept Away > Steep, Loving Cup

II: Olivia’s Pool, Run Like an Antelope, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Twist > Taste, Sample in a Jar, Rocky Top, The Squirming Coil

E: Possum

*****

7.15.99 PNC Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ

This first night of PNC’s two-night stand followed the typical pattern of delving into deeper, more exploratory jamming than its second night counterpart. Phish filled the second set with this type of open risk-taking. Starting the set with the summer’s anthem, “Meatstick,” this version emerged as the one time the band actually jammed out of the song, crafting a sparse and playful plane of bass-led space-funk. Extending the into engaging exploration, the band finally landed in the intro of “2001” –  or was it “Split Open?” For a second it seemed that the band didn’t even know, but they steered the groove into the intro to “Split.” As the improv dropped, Phish got very heavy very quickly, alternating tempos in a menacing piece of music. Building the snarling textures into “Kung,” the band blasted out of their Gamehendge-based chant into a blistering, break-neck jam. Playing with fury, the band took off into intersteller communication. Interestingly, however, they eventually reached a chilled-out plane where the entire band was still clearly anchored in “Split;” some adveturous psychedelia to say the least.

“Punch > Ghost” opened the show with as much pop as possible, and the rest of the night flowed from there. A rare “Axilla” and “Sloth” popped into the first set before “You Enjoy Myself” set the crowd into the intermission. This show gets largely ignored, and the second set contains some impressive grooves and stellar abstract improv, while the second night went on to boast a setlist of greatest hits within a relatively safe performance.

I: Punch You In the Eye, Ghost, Farmhouse, Horn, Poor Heart, Axilla > Theme From the Bottom, I Didn’t Know, The Sloth, You Enjoy Myself

I: Meatstick > Split Open and Melt > Kung > Jam, Bouncing Around the Room, Chalk Dust Torture

E: Brian and Robert, Frankenstein

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Jam of the Day:

“Reba” 10.26.94 II

This mellow and meditative Monday morning “Reba” served as a precursor to the scintillating Halloween ’94 version. Plucked from the Download of the Day, this is another great example of the synergy between 1994 and “Reba” jams.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1994-10-26d2t03.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

10.26.94 Appalachian State University, Boone, NC < Torrent

10.26.94 Appalachian State University, Boone, NC < Megaupload

An animal-themed first set and a classics-based second, combined for this pre-Halloween party in the mountains of North Carolina in October of 1994.

I: Simple, It’s Ice, NICU, Run Like an Antelope, Guyute, Dog Faced Boy, Scent of a Mule, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg, Runaway Jim

II: Rift, Bouncing Around the Room, Reba, Axilla (Part II), You Enjoy Myself > The Vibration of Life > You Enjoy Myself, Hold Your Head Up > Cracklin’ Rosie > Hold Your Head Up, David Bowie

E: Nellie Kane*, Foreplay/Long Time*, Amazing Grace

*Acoustic

Source: AKG 460s

DOWNLOADS OF THE WEEKEND:

Carrying Friday’s focus into the weekend, here are two more complete shows from August ’93. Once I get the archive caught up (hopefully next week,) most of August, and much of July will be available for download in one place. Until then, enjoy a couple more from this phenomenal era.

*****

8.16.93 American Theatre, St.Louis, MO < Torrent

8.16.93 American Theatre, St.Louis, MO < Megaupload

I: Axilla, Possum, Horn, Reba, Sparkle, Foam, I Didn’t Know, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil

II: Mike’s Song > Faht > Weekapaug Groove, Mound, It’s Ice, My Friend, My Friend, Poor Heart, Big Ball Jam, Take the ‘A’ Train, Good Times Bad Times

E: Amazing Grace, Rocky Top

Source: Nakamichi 300 Omnis

*****

8.17.93 Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS < Torrent

8.17.93 Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS < Megaupload

I: Wilson, Llama, Guelah Papyrus, The Divided Sky, Weigh > Maze, Fluffhead, Fast Enough for You, Daniel Saw the Stone

II: 2001 > David Bowie, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, Rift, Suzy Greenberg, You Enjoy Myself > Purple Rain > Hold Your Head Up, My Sweet One, Cavern

E: Memories, Fire

Source: Unknown

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Jam of the Weekend:

“YEM > Halley’s > Slave” 8.6.93 II

This classic segment of the Cincinnati Zoo’s second set featured a “Cocaine” jam in “YEM,” and the first “Slave” since October ’91.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1993-08-06_sbd_d1t06.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1993-08-06_sbd_d1t07.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph1993-08-06_sbd_d1t08.mp3]

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VIDEOS OF THE WEEKEND:

“Glide” – 7.21.93, Middletown, NY (H.O.R.D.E.)

“Fast Enough For You” – 8.8.93, Cleveland, OH

In interviews these days, Phish consistently discusses the importance of striking a balance in their lives during this era of their career. Combining Phish, families, side-projects, and some down time, the band members, thankfully, seem to be prioritizing personal sustainability in round three. But this is not the way it always worked. For the first decade plus of their career, Trey, Fish, Mike and Page dedicated their entire beings to the entity of Phish. Virtually every waking hour was spent pushing, practicing, and refining their skills. Phish, unquestionably, represented the most important facet of their lives. Notoriously intense practices and improvisational exercises drove the band’s single-minded musical communication, as they lived, ate, and breathed Phish 24 hours a day. And when listening to their sublime musical output during their first massive peak of Summer ’93, one can hear the hours of intense dedication; one can hear the complete and total focus on the mastery of their music; one can actually hear their burning desire for excellence.

The summer of 1993 represented a crucial phase in Phish’s development. After touring the summer circuit in 1992 as an opening act for Santana, in ’93 the band began headlining larger amphitheatres, themselves. At the same time, Phish sought to distance themselves from the first wave of “jambands” with whom they co-billed a couple of July’s H.O.R.D.E. tour stops. At this time, the music industry grouped, and often dismissed, Phish with other neo-hippie acts such as Blues Traveler, Aquarium Rescue Unit, The Spin Doctors, and Widespread Panic. But combining a youthful exuberance with a dedication and passion rarely seen in modern music, Phish forged ahead, breaking down boundaries of live music. Ensuring that every night provided a wholly different experience for their fans, the band held themselves to rigorous standards, playing with a life-or-death urgency every time they hit the stage. All the while, Phish shows grew more adventurous then ever before; the music began to take on a life of its own.

The intense drive that Phish possessed in this era never wavered, in large part, due to their lack of distractions. Not yet rock stars on any level, the totality with which the band dedicated themselves to their craft crossed the line of obsession, and simply became part and parcel of who they were as people. Yet to marry or to start families, Phish – the band – was, without a doubt, the singular, most important entity in any of their lives – and it showed. Over the previous four years, they played 532 gigs – an average of 133 per year – and going into Summer ’93, Phish carried the momentum of a torrid four-month winter/spring tour that had ended only a month before. Add that run to the scorching year of 1992 in which they played 121 shows, and the band had a full head of steam. While their early years fostered the band’s burgeoning virtuosity, Phish sat on the brink of Summer ’93, primed and ready for their first massive musical peak of their career.

The band displayed drill-bit focus and overwhelming creativity throughout the summer, resulting in nothing less than superlative, transcendent improvisation all season long. With their roots firmly planted in both the jazz and rock traditions, Phish crafted sublime, original music nightly, launching into vastly different universes with nearly every jam. One simply didn’t know where the music would travel each time out of the gate; their improv had zero predictability. Similar songs got different treatments on different nights, as the band explored completely divergent musical territory. The meticulous musical conversations that characterized this tour were indicative of the telekinetic connection, and unity of purpose, the band members felt at this stage of their lives. Jumping into the void multiple times per night and playing with calculated vigor, Phish locked into each others’ ideas and responded to them subconsciously, playing with a style of wizardry that would dissipate in their later years of groove to the chagrin of many fans.

During this summer, Phish sounded like they were playing for their lives every time they hit the stage, and essentially, that is exactly what they were doing. On the verge of breaking from of the pack of H.O.R.D.E-style bands, Phish dedicated the entirety of their lives to making Phish the craziest live experience and most enticing music in the scene. The scintillating surreal adventures that characterized their entire tour, solidified Phish as the preeminent force in improvisational rock. With fewer jam vehicles in their catalog than later days, each time out, songs grew more unique, moving away from previous incarnations and into uncharted domains. Open, or type II, jamming became the norm rather than the exception, as Phish explored all corners of the musical cosmos with white-hot intensity.

Also of significance,The Grateful Dead kept on truckin’ during 1993, leaving the Phish community protected from the masses with a youthful  innocence that would be lost come Fall ’95. Summer ’93 still held a certain intimacy, like everyone shared a secret from the rest of the world, and secret power of Phish. Possessing shining skill sets and incredible enthusiasm, while constricted by few other cares in their lives, the band, themselves, raged Phish harder than ever before. The band never came out flat or careless. Each time they performed, the show immediately transformed into the most important event in the world, and this relentlessness pushed and pulled their musical exploits into fantastically ludicrous, mind-expanding planes. The psychedelic unknown became the defining quality of their improvisation; one took the leap of faith with Phish each time a jam dropped, trusting that whatever mania ensued, the band would, eventually, lead the way home. Giving oneself to this experience held a different meaning when there was no predictability where the music would go.

While Phish played outstanding shows throughout July, in August 1993, Phish achieved one of their all-time peaks. Alongside other career high-points of April ’92, June and November ’94, December ’95 and November / December ’97, and December ’99; August ’93 possessed a separate musical quality all to itself. Boiling down to hunger, desire, and stretching the possibilities of live music, Phish absolutely annihilated their two-month, bi-coastal jaunt. Every show during August contains genuinely outlandish moments of improvisation, pieces that one must hear to believe and digest. Providing a portrait of Phish at one of their highest musical mountaintops, Summer ’93, though seeming like ancient history, lives on 17 years later through memories, recordings, and in the hearts, minds, and souls of the Phish community.

To honor this incredible summer and the exploits within, I have compiled “Miner’s Picks: August ’93.” Because Phish had less vehicles in their repertoire at the time, I have split up the compilation into two “sets,” each with similar songs. (I left out the LivePhish releases (Murat, Tinley Park) for which I only have the official SBDs.) These selections paint a vivid, six-hour picture of a band centered in the moment, while careening towards the future. It’s truly an era that is not to be forgotten.

****

MINER’S PICKS: AUGUST ’93 < Torrent

MINER’S PICKS: AUGUST ’93 < Megaupload

Set I:

1,2. “2001 > David Bowie” 8.17, Kansas City, KS

3. “Split Open and Melt” 8.26, Portland, OR

4. “Reba” 8.16, St.Louis, MO

5. “Stash” 8.21, Salt Lake City, UT

6. “Run Like an Antelope” 8.20 Red Rocks, CO

7. “Tweezer” 8.15 Louisville, KY

8-10. “Bathtub Gin > Makisupa > My Mind’s…” 8.2, Tampa, FL

11-13. “Mike’s > Faht > Weekapaug” 8.16, St.Louis, MO

14. “Harry Hood” 8.26, Portland, OR

15. “You Enjoy Myself” 8.3, Miami, FL

Set II:

16,17. “Buried Alive > Tweezer” 8.6, Cincinatti, OH

18. “Stash” 8.15, Louisville, KY

19,20. “Split Open > Glide” 8.9, Toronto, ON

21. “Reba” 8.12, Rochester, MI

22. “Runaway Jim” 8.21, Salt Lake City, UT

23. “Run Like an Antelope” 8.28, Berkeley, CA

24-26. “Mike’s > Great Gig > Weekapaug” 8.11, Grand Rapids, MI

27,28. “2001 > David Bowie” 8.26, Portland, OR

29. “Slave to the Traffic Light” 8.20, Red Rocks, CO

30. “You Enjoy Myself” 8.28, Berkeley, CA

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1993 Rift Promotional Video  (Great Footage!)

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Jam of the Day:

“2001 > David Bowie” 8.17.93 II

This selection opened up the second set in Kansas City, and also kicks off the above compilation.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Track-01-21.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Track-02-31.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

8.15.93 The Macauley Theatre, Louisville, KY < Torrent

8.15.93 The Macauley Theatre, Louisville, KY < Megaupload

The “Stash” and “Tweezer” were worth the price of admission alone.

I: Sample in a Jar, All Things Reconsidered, Caravan, Runaway Jim, Fee, Paul and Silas, Stash, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Chalk Dust Torture

II: Rift, Tweezer, The Lizards, The Landlady, Bouncing Around the Room, Maze, Glide, Sweet Adeline, Ginseng Sullivan, Nellie Kane, Free Bird

E: Harry Hood

Source: Unknown

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Jam of the Day:

“Split Open and Melt” 7.3.94 II

Some Summer ’94 face-meltage from Old Orchard Beach’s July “4th” celebration.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Track-01-2.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

8.2.98 Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN < Torrent

8.2.98 Deer Creek, Noblesville, IN < Megaupload

Continuing our virtual tour of this summer’s sheds, here we have the first night of Deer Creek ’98. This show is undoubtedly highlighted by the second set segment, “Ghost > Lifeboy, Bowie.”

I: Roggae, The Divided Sky, The Horse > Silent in the Morning,  Boogie On Reggae Woman, Reba, Weigh, Too Much of Everything, Birds of a Feather

II: Possum, Ghost > Lifeboy, David Bowie, I Get a Kick Out of You*, Loving Cup

E: Harry Hood, Bittersweet Motel

*Debut

Source: Schoeps CMC641 > Lunatec V2 > Apogee AD-1000 > D7 @ 48kHz

Darkness and light, opposite symbols that go to the very core of cultural mythology. The psychedelic journey often mirrors these poles, taking one from the eye of the beast to the most glorious, self-realizing peaks. Staring down the dark side in order to most clearly see the light of one’s new self. While Phish regularly condenses these introspective rites into three-hour sessions, on one occasion they had all night. In the swamps of Florida, on the brink of 2000, Phish finally had the setting to match their goal – an all-night affair with no restraints. In the Clifford Ball DVD extras, filmed in 1996, the band spoke of the “LG,” or the “Long Gig” they envisioned one day, where the band would just keep playing and playing, outlasting even the fans who stayed all night and beyond. They claimed it would happen; they’d get port-potties onstage, and one day they’d play their “Long Gig;” it was the ultimate goal. While the band exaggerated in typical fashion throughout the interview, the glimmer in their eyes told a different story. Through their goofy looks and hyperbole, one can see the sincerity behind their claims. They meant it. And finally, on December 31, 1999, Phish had their “LG.”

In their 1996 interview, Trey pondered what type of music the band would play after 60 or 70 hours straight. Well on this night, eight would have to be the test. And the results were other worldly. Producing jams that were connected by a certain ethereal quality, like a patient thread splicing together the band’s divine musical offerings. Without time constraints, and armed with their port-o-potty, Phish played as the spirit moved, extending jams as long as felt natural. While no single piece of music broke any record, (somewhat surprisingly), the night included many extended jams, first highlighted by the night’s opening features of “Disease,” “Bathtub Gin,” and a sublime “Twist > Caspian” which truly began to set the musical tone for the evening. Following next came one of the nights longer, thematic and defining jams, “Rock and Roll.”

The darkest chunk of the night kicked off with a scorching “Crosseyed,” which carried a melodic progression throughout the jam, and peaked with a percussive 40-minute apocalyptic grooves of “Sand > Quadraphonic Toppling,” bringing the many climactic late ’99 versions to an unquestionable head. Resolving this darkness with a multi-tiered “Slave,” the band commenced the jam without even a beat remaining until it became time to move. Phish let is all hang down on this night, playing a macrocosm of any regular show, we all finally had a place to be instead hallucinating in hotel rooms until the sun came up.

Perhaps the most connected piece of music came in the depths of the evening, as the band brought a reprise of “After Midnight” into one of the most hallowed musical passages of their career – set and setting considered. Powerful, soulful, music, channelled from the ether, where every note mattered as much as the next. The final peak of the night came as the sky began to turn a dark grey, foreshadowing the oncoming day. Phish sat into “Roses Are Free” for one of few times since their epic Nassau adventure in April ’98, but never had they again transcended the composition. But when they unshelved the song on the brink of dawn to bring in the millennium’s first sunrise, everyone knew this time would be different. Moving right out of the song into multi-faceted epic, the band passed through several planes of ambient, melodic, and, finally, deeply dark and churning music. The ultimate stage seemed as though the universe’s final plates were shifting into alignment for the onset of the new era.

Before the sun began to rise in earnest, the sky boasted stunning patterns of pink puffy clouds that nobody who witnessed will ever forget. Phish and the forces were at work again, this time collaborating on a soundtrack for the passage of time. And while that is what the entire night represented, the entry back into morning’s light boiled down to the second-only “Roses” jam.

And it was good.

Almost eight hours, or a lifetime later, Phish had finally done it. They had played their “LG.”

***

“The Long Gig” – Clifford Ball Extras, 1996

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Jam of the Day:

“Roses Are Free” 12.31.99 > 1.1.00

Here’s the epic piece that brought darkness into the dawn of the millennium, and a sampling of the newly circulating Cypress FOB source, taboot.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph991231d09_03_Roses_Are_Free.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

7.7.1999 Verizon Wireless Amp, Charlotte, NC < Torrent

7.7.1999 Verizon Wireless Amp, Charlotte, NC < Megaupload

Continuing our tour of Summer 2010 venues, here’s Phish’s stop in Charlotte in the Summer of ’99. The second set really brings the heat with its 35 minute “2001 > Disease” and grows more abstract with some ambient sound-sculpting out of “My Left Toe.” After a guitar-driven “Bug,” a catalog of Phish grooves closes the night in one of the summers most infectious “YEMs.”

I: Back on the Train, What’s the Use?, Billy Breathes, My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own, Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley, Axilla, Rift, Wolfman’s Brother,  Maze, Loving Cup

II: 2001 > Down with Disease,  My Left Toe > Wading in the Velvet Sea > My Left Toe > Bug, You Enjoy Myself

E: Possum* > Funky Bitch*

*Derek Trucks on slide guitar

Source: Schoeps cmc6/mk4v > Lunatec V2 > Tascam DA-P1 (@ 48 kHz)

As the mail order deadline rolls around this Friday, the hottest topic in the Phish community has got to be how the hell to score tickets to Telluride. The golden ring of summer stubs, of the 9,000 tickets, only 7,500 will go to people nationwide. After the near-impossible on-sale on April 2, we will all be left to our own own devices, and it may not be a pretty scene. The hardest ticket since Hampton’s ’09 reunion will undoubtedly be the top prize of 2010’s preseason, and here are some of the details.

Over the weekend, an article from The Telluride Watch emerged explaining the 1,500 “locals only” slots which will be sold in unique fashion to prevent resale.

Purchasers will need to present their driver’s license proving San Miguel County residency at a sales venue in order to purchase access to the concerts…For those local residents who don’t have an up-to-date drivers license, other means of proving residence such as a current utility bill or pay stub may also be accepted as long as the bearer can also produce valid identification, confirmed Ronnie Palamar of the Sheridan Opera House and Karen Lamb of Telluride Music.

“Everything is going to have to match,” explained Lamb, later adding, “We’re just trying to make sure the locals don’t get squeezed out.” Purchasers’ names will be placed on the Will Call list and they will again need to present identification at the concert box office in order to obtain a wristband for entry. They will also need to accompany the person for whom they bought a ticket at the concert box office.

For everyone that doesn’t get lucky in Phish’s Tickets-By-Mail crap-shoot, there won’t even be an option to go to an outlet unless your get yourself to Telluride. From Phish.com, here are the on-sale details for April 2.

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 2nd at Noon Mountain time. Tickets can be purchased online at www.tickethorse.com or charge by phone at 866.461.6556. Tickets may also be purchased at the Sheridan Opera House and the Telluride Music Company. Tickets for this show are only available as part of a 2-day ticket for entry to both 8/9 and 8/10. You cannot purchase tickets for individual days.

In case you missed that, the core facts are that the entire nation of Phish fans will be battling online, or on the phone, for 7,500 two-day passes. To make matters all the more complex, Ticketmaster isn’t selling these tickets, rather, Tickethorse, a Colorado-based agency that is bound to crash, will be dropping the Phish ticket of the season. Giddy-up? One can only hope.

Even with a legit system, 7,500 tickets would be gone in the first 15 seconds, and with a two-ticket limit, extras won’t exactly be floating around the Internet. I would imagine the only viable trade for a two-day Telluride pass would be tickets to all three nights of The Greek, (or two at the very least.) It should be an interesting post on-sale marketplace, as scalpers will have as hard of a time snagging these as anyone; there simply are not that many tickets! In this case, it seems that the lottery, of all places, is the most-likely way of scoring. And that, my friends, is a bleak situation. With the town booked solid, how this will all unfold remains to be seen. If nothing else, it will certainly be an adventure.

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Jam of the Day:

“The Curtain > Stash” 6.17.95 I

A sinister exclamation point to set one in Gainesville, VA circa Summer ’95.

[audio:http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph95-06-17d1t09.mp3,http://phishthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ph95-06-17d1t10.mp3]

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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:

7.13.99 Great Woods, Mansfield, MA < Torrent

7.13.99 Great Woods, Mansfield, MA < Megaupload

The second night of Great Woods ’99. This summer, Phish will stop at their old-school Massachusetts stomping grounds on Tuesday, June 22.

I: NICU, The Curtain > Halley’s Comet > Roses Are Free > NO2, Lawn Boy, Reba > Carini, Funky Bitch

II: Wolfman’s Brother > Piper > Bug, Mountains in the Mist, Run Like an Antelope, Possum*

E: Tuesday’s Gone*

* w/ Scott Murawski

Source: Schoeps cmc6/mk41 > Lunatec V2 > Apogee AD1000 > Sony D100 (@ 48 kHz)