MR. MINER'S PHISH THOUGHTS

6.18.11 Raleigh (J.Crouch)

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You Enjoy Myself” 3.9.90 II, Burlington, VT

A smoking early “YEM” with Dave Grippo on alto sax.

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David Bowie” 2.21.91 II, Charlotesville, VA

Phish has teased “Manteca” forever.

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Run Like an Antelope” 3.20.92 I, Binghamton, NY

A classic jam from a classic show

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Dinner > Tweezer” 8.9.93 II, Toronto, ON

A “Tweezer” that was ahead of its time.

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Split Open and Melt” 12.1.94 I, Salem, OR

A maniacal ’94 “Split.”

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Mike’s -> Weekapaug” 12.7.95, Niagara Falls, NY

A top five “Mike’s Groove.”

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Simple” 10.31.96 III, Atlanta, GA

The highlight from Halloween’s third set.

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Chalk Dust -> Taste -> Yamar 7.25.97 II, Dallas, TX

A beast of a sequence with Bob Gullotti.

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Ghost” 7.2.98 II, Christiana, Copenhangen, DK

A all-timer from Den Gra Hal.

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MFMF-> My Left Toe -> Whipping Post” 7.25.99 I, Noblesville, IN

A legendary first set sequence from Deer Creek.

**** “You Enjoy Myself” 3.9.90 II, Burlington, VT A smoking early “YEM” with Dave Grippo on alto sax. *** “David Bowie” 2.21.91 II, Charlotesville, VA Phish has teased “Manteca” forever. *** “Run Like an Antelope” 3.20.92 I, Binghamton, NY A classic jam from a classic show *** “Dinner > Tweezer” 8.9.93 II, Toronto, ON A …

TTFF: Through the ’90s Read More »

As readers know, I’ve spent most of my time on this site highlighting the best and the brightest moments, jams and shows of Phish’s career. But let’s be honest, sometimes the band just doesn’t get it done. One needn’t look any further back than Bill Graham’s second night or 2011’s craptacular New Year’s Run to find shining examples of these less than stellar performances. Today, instead of pointing out gems from the past, let’s take a look at four of the least inspired runs in the band’s career.

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New Year’s Run 2002-2003

NYE 2002 (S.Campbell)

Though everyone was through-the-roof excited for Phish to be back after a 2 ½ year absence, once they hit the stage, there wasn’t a hell of a lot to write home about. Their 2002 New Year’s performance contained very little impressive jamming, and got by on the community’s adrenaline alone. The only musically memorable part of this night came in the third set with “Runaway Jim -> Time Loves a Hero,” and even this jam was nothing too special. Phish’s highly-anticipated comeback show easily took the cake for the worst New Year’s Eve show of all time. And once the band got down to Hampton—the fucking Mothership—things just got worse.

Strewn by sloppy and uninspired play, the band slogged through three shows with zero listen back value whatsoever. The first night in Hampton provided the strongest effort of the three, highlighted by the jam of the run in “46 Days.” The second night fell totally flat despite a first set that looks great on paper. The “Wolfman’s” from set two provided a decent jam that got the Coliseum rocking, but outside of the live experience it’s not worth remebering. The third night was highlighted by—well—nothing that I can remember. The band had more or less lost me by the fourth show in the run, and I was just rooting for some serious practice time before they came out for winter tour. “Weekapaug > What’s the Use?” would have to be considered the jam of the show, but it was not memorable. When the band returned at the Forum in LA and then Las Vegas in mid February, they announced their return with their instruments, not just their presence on stage, and the 2.0 era got rolling in earnest

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Turkey Run 2003

20th Anniversary Print (Pollock)

After a phenomenal and exploratory Summer Tour in 2003, the band took a few months off before hitting Nassau, Philly and Boston for their 20th Anniversary Run in November. Everyone was expecting some very special shows over this weekend, and most everyone was let down. Over these four nights, there were only a handful of highlights with “Twist -> Simple” from 11.29 at The Spectrum leading the way by far. The first show in Nassau Coliseum featured two engaging first set sequences in “Ghost -> What’s the Use” and “Bathtub > Free,” but the second set was completely innocuous, featuring a string of unjammed singles. Philly, outside of “Twist -> Simple,” really need not be discussed at all. I know a lot of people enjoyed the third night in Albany, but I found it to be a totally setlist driven affair. If there could be any less action in a sequence labeled “Tweezer > 2001 > YEM,” show me too it; it doesn’t exist. The “Wolfman’s Brother” that came towards the end of the first set pumped the crowd up and provided the one true highlight of the night. Halfway through the second set,however, the band invited their original fourth member, Jeff Holdsworth, to the stage to perform his songs “Camel Walk” and “Possum.” Holdsworth stuck around for to play the first song ever performed live by the band, “Long Cool Woman With a Black Dress,” and their old-school single “Run Like an Antelope.” It all sucked. Steeped in Phishy nostalgia, this set contained nothing worth listening to again.

When the band made their way up to Boston for their 20th Anniversary show, everyone expected musical fireworks and something extra special. But the band didn’t even address the crowd or acknowledge the event but for a stellar video retrospective that aired on stage during setbreak—easily the highlight of the show. The beginning of the second set provided the a small musical takeaway in the unconventional combination of “Rock and Roll -> Weekapaug -> Tweezer Reprise.” The guys dropped a solid “Maze” late in the set, but “Maze” can’t do much to save a show. All in all this “celebratory” run was pretty piss poor. Antelope Greg maintains that these shows didn’t cut the mustard because he wasn’t there. Well, Greg or no Greg, these shows simply blew. (But check that “Twist -> Simple” below as the jam of the day.)

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Vegas 2004

Vegas ’04 (Pollock)

The three night run in Las Vegas in the spring of 2004 marked the beginning of the end. After this weekend, Trey would post his notorious message on Phish.com proclaiming—“We’re done.” The news came as a stake through many a fan’s heart, but based on the guys’ haggard musical output over the weekend, few could argue with his reasoning. Sandwiched in the middle of a lot of very messy playing, however, there were some really solid jams, led by “Halley’s > Tweezer” that opened up night three and a manic “Twist” from night two. The other Vegas notables include a near twenty-minute “Pebbles and Marbles” from the final set of the run and an opening night sequence of “Drowned > 2001 > Disease.” But relative to what we recognize as quality Phish today, these shows really stunk up Sin City.

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 New Years Run 2011

MSG 2011 (DKNG)

It’s no secret that last year’s New Year’s Run at MSG blew goats. After a stellar summer that concluded with an outlandish run at Dick’s, the community was incredibly excited to “Occupy YEMSG” for the holiday celebration. But after Phish came out and raised hopes with a high quality opening show, everything went down hill. Getting progressively worse by the night the band stumbled to the finish line in a run for which they didn’t hold rehearsals. The 29th featured little to no improvisation, with a single segue between “Chalk Dust” and “Hydrogen” making the only buzz of the night. The 30th was a trainwreck, less the jam of the run in the second set’s “Piper,” and New Year’s Eve immediately challenged the 2002 show in the same building for the worst ever. On one of Phish’s high holidays, a bunch of first set singles gave way to the “main event” in the second. The only jam of note in the set, however, was “Light” which saw Page make token use of his Theramin. Though the band jammed “Light,” I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to this version after my once through after the show. Remember the third set? Probably not. Three words—“Velvet Sea,” “Alaska.” Nuff said.

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Jam of the Day:

Twist -> Simple” 11.29.03 II, Philly, PA

The one gem of 2003’s Turkey Run.

As readers know, I’ve spent most of my time on this site highlighting the best and the brightest moments, jams and shows of Phish’s career. But let’s be honest, sometimes the band just doesn’t get it done. One needn’t look any further back than Bill Graham’s second night or 2011’s craptacular New Year’s Run to …

Four Crappy Phish Runs Read More »

8.5.11 – The Gorge (Graham Lucas)

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 ‏@alicht: What’s the least favorite show you attended and why?

I am often asked this question, and my usual response is Raleigh 6.25.2000. (I don’t really consider Coventry an option.) The only redeeming part of this show was the first-set closing “Melt.” The rest of the show was totally uneventful, and considering the shows that surrounded it (Lakewood and PNC stands), this one really stood out as a stinker. Just look at this second set—nothing.ever.happened. The second set starts with a generic “Jibboo” opener and it just gets worse from there. “What’s the Use > Slave” is a cool show-closing combo, but after a lackluster set, its effect was totally lost, not to mention that the “Slave” was nothing special. Throw in a mid-set “Scent of a Mule” followed….just shoot me in the face.

I. NICU, Sample in a Jar, The Old Home Place, Punch You In the Eye, Water in the Sky, Funky Bitch, Horn, Heavy Things, Dirt, Split Open and Melt

II. Gotta Jibboo, Fast Enough for You, Scent of a Mule, Meat, Maze, What’s the Use? > Slave to the Traffic Light

E: Uncle Pen, Bold As Love

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@Dustinlewis148: If you had chance to interview phish collectively, but could only ask three questions, what would they be and why?

1)  What is your intent when you take the stage each night and has it changed over the years?

2)  How do you decide when you will jam and when you won’t?

3)  What happened at Dick’s?

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@GeeRubbs: What is your favorite indoor and outdoor Phish venue? And where have you not been but want to go?

Indoor: Any venue that has a truly GA Floor. The Centrum is pretty dialed in at this point now that they took the seats off the floor

Outdoor: Any Festival due to unlimited space and freedom.

Not Been (but would like to go): With all the cool venues they’ve hit this era, there is really none on my list.

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 @Teddier If you could ask Phish to play segues they have never tried what would be your top 5?

I’d like to see them out of songs and then creatively work their way back. They did this more when they were younger. How about:

Tweezer -> Mike’s (with second jam) -> Tweezer

Bathtub Gin -> Roses are Free -> Gin

Harry Hood -> My Left Toe -> Hood

Split -> What’s the Use? -> Split

Reba -> Splinters of Hail -> Reba

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@stillwading: 3 songs in the TAB rotation that you’d most like to hear the Phish interpretation of?

“Dark and Down,” “Spin,” and “Greyhound Rising”

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‏@hombredelrey: In your opinion, what song(s) have potential to become future 2nd set jam vehicles?

“Stealing Time” and “Ocelot” have carried potential since their debut, but as my high school football coach said, “Potential never won a ball game.” To answer your question, I honestly have no idea. I hope some new songs to show their face very soon.

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@robjeschke: What was the hardest part about putting together your book? #mrminersphishthoughts #phish

The most difficult part was figuring out how the book would flow. At first I had a tremendous amount of content (that all needed editing) but no real organization. I had developed “chapters,” but the second half of the book felt detatched from the first half. When my designer and I came up with the idea of “connectons,” a light bulb went off in my mind—it could be a giant, Phish-based, choose your own adventure book! All of a sudden, the sprawling volume had a thread running through it. The reader could navigate the book—and the band’s entire career—in any order they chose. We had a system that created a non-linear flow to the book, a similarity and correlation to Phish jams themselves. But the incredible minutae that went into creating the entire system of connections was staggering; it was a entire project on its own. But it worked, and it came out great!

I’ll use this opportunity to plug the most recent sale that is going on over on the book site. From now through the holidays, Mr. Miner’s Phish Thoughts is on sale for $29.99 plus shipping and handling. This is the lowest price the book will ever sell for, as I am barely making any money on each sale. Do your holiday shopping for your favorite Phish fan in your life today! Grab one now!

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Jam of the Day:

Split Open and Melt” 7.12.99 I, Mansfield, MA

A blood red sunset provided the backdrop to this stellar “Split.”

***  ‏@alicht: What’s the least favorite show you attended and why? I am often asked this question, and my usual response is Raleigh 6.25.2000. (I don’t really consider Coventry an option.) The only redeeming part of this show was the first-set closing “Melt.” The rest of the show was totally uneventful, and considering the shows …

Miner’s Mailbag III Read More »

8.5.10 – The Greek Theatre (Wendy Rogell)

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Zero -> 2001 -> Cities -> Yamar” 11.26.97 II, Hartford, CT

One of the consistently underrated sequences of Fall ’97, in which Trey brings the spirit of Jimi to life.

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Mike’s Song” 12.30.93 II, Portland, ME

A classic rendition from Cumberland County.

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Simple” 8.6.10 II, Berkeley, CA

The innovative and astral jam from The Greek.

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Stash” 12.31.03 II, Miami, FL

My favorite jam from 2003’s Holiday Run.

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Rock and Roll” 6.7.11 II, Mansfield, MA

A stellar excursion from an otherwise underwhelming show.

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Disease > Lizards” 12.12.95 II, Providence, RI

A gargantuan “Disease” from the magic month of December ’95.

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Sand” 12.13.99 II, Providence, RI

One of the upper echelon “Sands” of December ’99.

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Piper” 7.18.99 III, Volney, NY

The Osewgo “Piper.”

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Run Like An Antelope” 8.12.96 I, Noblesville, IN

A burly, mid-second set version from the cornfields.

**** “Zero -> 2001 -> Cities -> Yamar” 11.26.97 II, Hartford, CT One of the consistently underrated sequences of Fall ’97, in which Trey brings the spirit of Jimi to life. *** “Mike’s Song” 12.30.93 II, Portland, ME A classic rendition from Cumberland County. *** “Simple” 8.6.10 II, Berkeley, CA The innovative and astral jam from …

TTFW: Midweek Melange Read More »

Justin Bieber – LA (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

It all started in Long Beach. During a setbreak conversation, a friend told me that Justin Bieber was the show and had stood right next to her at the soundboard for much of the set. “Interesting,” I thought. I had heard of Justin Bieber. He was the teen-aged idol of today’s generation of young girls; a teen pop star through and through. I had never heard a lick of his music, but I thought it was cool that the kid came to the LBC to see Phish. After the show, more information came out. Bieber’s guitarist, Dan Kanter, was a huge Phish fan and had brought Bieber and his girlfriend, Selena Gomez (who I had never heard of) to the show that night. The trio had met the band during setbreak and hit it off while talking music. Then more. Since Phish had no plans for fall tour, Chris Kuroda would be designing the light show for Bieber’s upcoming tour (!), which was one of the reasons Kanter brought him to the show. Over the next couple of days, there was some confusion in the Phish community—was Kuroda actually going in tour with Canada’s pretty boy, or was he just designing the lighting schemes? It soon came out that Kuroda would actually hit the road on Bieber’s “Believe” tour while Phish spent time with their families and solo projects. Taking his Jedi-like skills to the most mainstream act around, CK5 would now see how the other half lived, all while lighting up the minds and imaginations of teeny-boppers across the land. Kuroda worked for The Black Crowes, Aerosmith and R. Kelly during Phish’s haitus, but this would mark his most crossover effort to date. Once everyone figured out the truth of the matter, laughter prevailed in community, but Bieber Fever went into remission as Phish went on to crush the second leg of tour.

Bieber and Kuroda Light Up Los Angeles (Jeff Kravitz)

Fast forward to last week when Bieber’s North American tour kicked off in the southwestern states. In scrolling my Twitter feed, I noticed YEMBlog had posted a short piece about Kanter teasing “Divided Sky” in a live show! “Cute,” I thought, but certainly didn’t think anything of it. And I didn’t even bother to check the clip. In addition, the short piece mentioned that Kanter had also threw in a tease of “Fluffhead’s” “Bundle of Joy” section in a different song! Apparently, Kanter and Kuroda were having some fun while getting paid. It’s doubtful if Justin, himself, let alone the thousands of prepubescent girls in the audience, knew anything of the musical trickery.

Kanter and Bieber (Jeff Kravitz)

Then yesterday, the Phish Internet exploded with Bieber talk. Kanter had worked in significant sections of “Sand” and “First Tube” into Bieber’s show! Several websites had written up the entertaining blurb (all which contained priceless comments from a mix of Bieber and Phish fans.) This time I checked the clips. Amidst a more “grown up” part of the show that flashed images of street action and aggressive music, Kanter sure enough tore right into the themes of “Sand” and “First Tube!” It was not subtle. To see Bieber running and dancing around in a multi-million dollar, mega-production to Trey’s melodies was just too hilarious for words. I immediately retweeted the clips to my followers as I watched and laughed. Kanter had taken the prankster spirit of Phish and wove it right into one of the cheesiest shows on the planet! And I can only imagine the shit-eating grin on the guitarist’s face, let alone Kuroda’s, as he did so.

Biebs In Action (Jeff Kravitz)

I jokingly Tweeted to Kanter, “When are you gonna drop “Tweezer” licks in a Bieber show?” Within a minute, YEMBlog responded that Kanter had already posted on Phantasy Tour that “Tweezer” was coming next! My mental response was a fusion of “WHAAAT?!?” and “That’s fuckin’ awesome!” Within minutes, a multi-party conversation started with people making all sorts of Phish/Bieber jokes, primarily focused on the absurd possibility of a Bieber-focused gag on New Year’s Eve. I suggested that Tom Marshall would be announced as Bieber as he descended from the rafters of MSG at midnight with the goth-angel outfit that Beiber has worn for the same stunt to kick off each and every show. Marshall responded, suggesting he would be introduced wearing an overcoat onstage only to have Bieber shed the costume and appear on stilts to sit in with Phish as the clock struck twelve! Everyone was in on the humor! But then people started worrying about Phish embracing the Biebs too much. “Really?” I thought. Fans were actually concerned that Bieber’s fans—and more particularly his music—would cross over to Phish. Now this seemed a bit absurd. Perhaps the guys work a Bieber allusion into a New Year’s joke or tease a pop song in jest, but theories hypothesizing the potential of Justin singing with Phish felt a bit too ridiculous for me. But, hey, he’d probably pull it off far better than Kid Rock did! The bottom line is “Who Cares?!” But for those sweating it out, the Canadian heartthrob is off for New Year’s Eve!

Regardless if the pop star ever steps foot Phish’s stage, I really don’t see an influx of fourteen year old girls and their parents infiltrating the Phish scene. Nor do I see Bieb’d out setlists as even a remote possibility. But to see fans began to sour over the potential was enough for another personal chuckle. Would some Bieberheads get turned on to Phish? Probably. Is that a bad thing? Hell no! But regardless of fan crossover, the real humor here is that Phish music that will continue to be woven into Bieber’s upcoming concerts! While the band is off tour, the question every morning will now be,” What songs did Kanter dropped on the domes of 20,000 unknowing teens last night?” And we will all sit back and laugh. Shit, if you were a Phish fan playing guitar for Justin Beiber, wouldn’t you do the same thing? I know I would.

8.15.12 Long Beach (John Florek)

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Jam of the Day:

Tweezer” 8.17.97 I, Limestone, ME

Something groovilicious for any potential Bieberites stopping by.

It all started in Long Beach. During a setbreak conversation, a friend told me that Justin Bieber was the show and had stood right next to her at the soundboard for much of the set. “Interesting,” I thought. I had heard of Justin Bieber. He was the teen-aged idol of today’s generation of young girls; …

Step Into the Bieber Read More »

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