With all of the recent hubbub duly centered on Phish’s retro-sized fall tour – their most anticipated of this era – everyone has forgotten about the band’s first appearance of the season at Austin, City Limits Music Festival. Headlining the opening night of the indie based event with a two-hour set, Phish will close out the evening at one of the nation’s premiere musical gatherings. But the question remains, “What will they do in Austin?”
Taking part in their second mega-fest in as many years, will Phish actually play a significant set of music in Texas? Over their two shows at Bonnaroo in 2009, Phish threw down out two of their most creative jams of a rather tame June in “Kill Devil Falls” and “Light.” Otherwise, the band played it fairly straight up. But that was their first month back on the road and Austin presents a completely different situation than America’s McFestival.
Because Austin will be the first set of tour, Phish will have something planned in advance. If they were to come out and play off the cuff and wound up with a typical first set of tour, their slot would be a disaster. One might imagine a set featuring “Stash, “Number Line,” “Bowie,” “Hood” and “YEM,” with a significant “Light” placed somewhere within. And depending on the course those pieces take, they could form a stellar or average set. Since Phish is only now beginning to jam consistently in their own shows, and have Broomfield looming, the possibility of an innocuous festi set hangs over the band’s Austin appearance.
Playing overlapping sets with The Strokes, the hipsters may evacuate the Phish stage in favor of New York’s neo-garage rockers. When the lights drop for Phish, the scene may not be so unfamiliar, as Phish fans are sure to flood the festival grounds on Friday night. Given a large stage and two hours, a lot can happen in Austin if Phish wants to go that route. But perhaps more of a payday than an intent to make any statement at all, the band may fill their time with palatable music and move onto their own 3-night bash to kick off fall for real. With rumors of a club show silenced and squashed, Phish could be in Austin for less time than their fans en route to Colorado. But could that time be spent playing a ballistic set of music? That is the question at hand.
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Jam of the Day
“Kill Devil Falls” 6.12.09 II
This was the first jam of ’09 to really jump outside the box, and it happened at Bonnaroo.
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
Only the fourth show of 1994, this month saw Phish gearing up for a long road ahead.
I: Maze, Glide > Foam, I Didn’t Know^, Punch You In the Eye, The Horse*> Silent in the Morning, Down with Disease, If I Could, Lawn Boy, Llama
II. Split Open and Melt, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, It’s Ice > Digital Delay Loop Jam**It’s Ice, Sparkle, Harry Hood, Bouncing Around the Room, Big Ball Jam, David Bowie, Suzy Greenberg
E: Contact, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars
^ w/ Mimi Fishman on cymbals, *w/ Trey on acoustic, ** first digital delay loop jam
Source: Neumann RSM 190i> neumann m/s preamp> Teac DA-p20> Oade Active > Sony D-7 @ 48k
