* Will Phish ever focus on open jamming again? — After Fall and New Year’s Run, the band is as tight as ever and communicating with ease…now let’s really take it places! With proficiency an issue of the past, and a full season of smoking improv under their belt, why was the amount of exploration limited last week — and from lessened from summer to fall? Whenever the band chooses to take musical risks, they have a near-100% success rate these days, but after the New Year’s Run, I wondered why they only shot for such excursions about once per show? (27th: “Seven Below” 28th:”Harry Hood,” 30th:”Tweezer > Light” 12/31:”Ghost,” 1/1:”Simple”) With four of those five selections finding pure gold, the question that begs asking is, “Why isn’t Phish digging more?”
* Will Phish play a July 4th festival at Watkins Glen, New York? — The rumor mill has been spinning on this one for quite some time now…
* When will we see a new jam vehicle debut? — “Light” has been an all-world performer since its rookie season of ’09, creating sound sculptures of all shapes and sizes. But it needs a new, modern running mate to continue pushing Phish into the improvisational beyond.
*With the material from Joy fully integrated into the catalog, will we see a new batch of songs this year? — A constant influx of new material has always kept Phish’s rotation fresh throughout their career, and they’ve never been shy about pushing it. With little music of impact debuted in 2010, it seems about time for another installment of tunes. Hopefully there are more Trey and Tom songs where “Pigtail” came from…
* Will Phish adopt a launch pad from “Exile” and/or “Waiting For Columbus?” — Over the past two years, Phish has covered two iconic double-albums from rock and roll history, yet, for whatever reason, the band hasn’t fully fused any Phishified covers from these records into their catalog. “Shine A Light” is a great encore and”Fat Man” is a great song, but looking at their previous three Halloween albums, they adopted “Drowned,” “Crosseyed and Painless” and Rock and Roll” — staples of their live show and primary trampolines into other worlds. What ever happened to “Torn and Frayed?” No “Spanish Moon” over the Holiday Run? C’mon now…let’s not rest on the past…
*When, if ever, will Phish do a west coast swing? — Sure, quality over quantity… Indio…Greek…blah…blah…blah. West coast swings of lore are some of the greatest memories of Phish tours past. Despite their age and east coast roots, even if only once this era, Phish should hit up a week-plus long run up or down the left coast, from San Diego to Seattle and all the beautiful places in between.
* Will Trey and/or Mike do a winter tour like last year? — Phish’s schedule has been close to clockwork since their return, so does that mean we will see a Trey Tour before Phish plays again? Strong srumors of Phish headlining the Hangout Festival on the Gulf Coast of Alabama between May 20-22, would place any solo circuits in the winter or early spring of 2011.
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Jam of the Day:
“Harry Hood” 12.28 II
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DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY:
12.28.2010 DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
FLAC Torrent (via etree), Mp3 Torrent, Megaupload < Links
I: Kill Devil Falls, My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own, Alaska, She Caught the Katy, Wolfman’s Brother, Pigtail*, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, Rift, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, The Birdwatcher*
II: Carini, Backwards Down the Number Line, Back on the Train > Limb By Limb, The Wedge, Frankie Says > Albuquerque, Harry Hood, Bug
E: Shine a Light
*debut
Source: (FOB) Schoeps mk5> KC5> M222> NT222> Aeta PSP-3> SD 744t (@24bit/96kHz) – (taper: taylorc)
