MR. MINER'S PHISH THOUGHTS

Four Wishes For Fall Tour

8.2.13 (Brian Thomas)

Phish played so well this summer, these lists are getting harder and harder to make. But as we go into Fall, there are still a few things I am hoping to see.

1. The First Set: The last remaining weakness of modern Phish shows is undoubtably the first set. Aside from SPAC’s “Split Open and Melt,” there were no open ended jams in the first half of any shows this summer. There is rarely even much contained jamming of note in opening frames, causing these sets to be musically uneventful. At no point in the last few years have I spun any first set from start to finish, and rarely do I dip into first sets at all but for the random “Reba” or “David Bowie.” Why does Phish choose to keep their first sets so mellow? Sure, lots of fans are there to hear their songs, but how about mixing it up? When the band throws down a great second set, I consider it a great show at this point. Imagine if they infused both sets with creativity? I’m not saying it should be like 1997, but just a bit of interesting music, some meat—and not always “Stash,” “Bathtub Gin,” or “Antelope.” An air of unpredictability has returned to Phish’s second sets this year, but their first ones have remained quite routine.

2. “Energy:” We’ve just seen the birth of Phish’s newest jam vehicle—”Energy.” In only three versions after its debut, the band has built an open-ended psychedelic juggernaut. Sprouting a jam in Alpheretta, the cover was soon placed in the hallowed spot of second set opener in Chicago and San Francisco. The band first opened up “Energy’s” jam in Chicago, charting an uplifting course with an ambient outro, while in San Francisco, they took it down a less cathartic, darker path. I believe we will see this song really blow up this Fall, starting right away in Hampton. I also believe we will see the band take “Energy” jams in wildly different directions, making the new Apples In Stereo cover all the more intriguing.

3. Get In Set Two! : There are several songs that have been begging for the second set treatment, though Phish has been quite stubborn in in keeping them as structured, first set jams. They are: “Wolfman’s Brother,” “Bathtub Gin,” “Tube,” “Stash,” “Split Open and Melt,” “Ocelot,” and “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing.”

4. New Phish Material: Before every tour for the past couple years, this hope has been listed. Let’s be serious, the band hasn’t written a song in ages. “Steam” is the only original that has debuted in this era and stuck around. Joy songs have been played into the ground and then some. A new album has been hinted at all year, though nothing—even a rumor—has materialized. Does this mean another run with no new originals? Most likely. They did great this summer adding “Energy” to the mix. “Say Something” has potential. But how ’bout an actual Phish song? It’s about time.

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Winged-music-note

Jam of the Day:

“Rock and Roll” 8.3.13 II, BGCA

This monster version provided the centerpiece of Bill Graham’s second show. PS—Thanks for your feedback. I am keeping the links.

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Phish played so well this summer, these lists are getting harder and harder to make. But as we go into Fall, there are still a few things I am hoping to see. 1. The First Set: The last remaining weakness of modern Phish shows is undoubtably the first set. Aside from SPAC’s “Split Open and …

Four Wishes For Fall Tour Read More »

On the Brink of Fall

Hampton ’09 – (J.DiGiuseppe)

This is not 2009. This is not 2003. As soon as Phish and their audience steps into Hampton Coliseum in exactly one week, this feeling will be palpable. The band has not stepped foot in The Mothership as a dialed in, well-oiled machine in 14 years—since 1999—and even those shows were anti-climactic. With tickets for next weekend’s throwdown inexplicably going for under $20 on StubHub, Phish is set to annihilate Trey’s storied “favorite room” in the land, in a three-day party that will launch Phish’s first fall tour since 2010. Extrapolating on Hampton, Phish hasn’t stepped inside for more than four shows since their 2012 breakthrough—this run is going to be special!

Featuring a number of historic tour stops, including Hampton, Worcester, Hartford, and Rochester, one new tiny venue in Reading, and a return to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Fall 2013 is primed to explode. Fresh of their most creative tour of the modern era, Phish is now in a place where they can take things deeper for the first time in three years. And back then they were still getting going. Armed with a couple new springboards in “Energy” and “Say Something” and a child-like enthusiasm, Phish seems on he cusp of some serious music.

Hampton (J.DiGiuseppe)

The only fall tours of 3.0 came in the era’s first two years, a time when the band was most certainly still getting their sea legs back. As a result, the psychedelic mind-fuckery that has traditionally been associated with fall shows never totally came to fruition since the 2009 comeback. Perhaps that’s also a development of the band’s age, but perhaps it was also a result of where they were on the road back. Will the music turn like the season this in this Autumn of 2013? We will know the answers soon enough. One way or the other–dark, light or in between—I predict the music will be as good as ever, and having a two-week run through New England during the back half of October—well—that just feels like old times.

We gotta get on the road…

*****

A Playlist of Fall Venues

“Halley’s Comet” 11.22.97 II, Hampton, VA

The best jam ever played in the legendary Mothership—an all-time classic.

***

“Stash > Free” 11.30.97 II, Worcester, MA

Trey incorporates his signature Fall ’97 wah grooves into a dark and dirty version of “Stash” whose funk fury blends right into “Free.”

***

“Down With Disease” 12.11.97 I, Rochester, NY

This jam—right at the beginning of the band’s Rochester’s Fall ’97 debut at the War Memorial—foreshadowed a very special night.

***

“Mike’s Song” 11.22.97 II, Hampton, VA

A ferocious kick off to Phish’s signature Hanpton performance.

***

“Simple” 11.21.98 II, Hampton, VA

In this jam, the band focuses their their Fall ’98 ambient style on an uplifting rendition of “Simple.”

***

“Weekapaug > Antelope” 11.27.98 II, Worcester, MA

A beefy “Mike’s Groove” f0llowed all the bust-outs and antics in this classic Worcester show. This is the “Groove’s”—and the set’s—final sequence.

***

“Ghost” 12.11.97 II Rochester, NY

This “Ghost” came as the funk relief after a notably dark and psychedelic set that anchored by a monster set “Drowned.”

***

“Reba” 10.31.94 I, Glens Falls, NY

The only true improvisational keeper from Phish’s only performance at Glens Falls Civic Center, a marathon endeavor featuring their first musical costume, The Beatles’ “White Album.”

***

“Jennifer Dances” 12.5.99 II, Rochester, NY

The debut of everyone’s favorite song. But, seriously. Bring it back.

***

“Chalk Dust > Whole Lotta Love > Chalk” 12.30.10 I, AC, NJ

This is the truly fierce Zeppelin sequence from a tongue-in-cheek performance on the night before Halloween 2010.

***

“Character Zero > 2001 > Cities” 11.26.97 II, Hartford, CT

This is the most dynamic jam in the history of Phish’s performances at Hartford Civic Center—a Hendrix-inspired shredder than blends into a funkier than thou “2001.”

***

“Sand > Carini” 10.29.10 I, Atlantic City, NJ

This show gets overshadowed by the next two, and might just be better than both. This sequence is one of the main reasons why.

***

“Harry Hood” 12.31.93 III, Worcester, MA

One of the greatest classicly-shaped “Harry Hoods” of all-time.

***

PS: I think I am going to stop providing download links for these jams. Do people still use them? I figure we all have the music. No? Let me know.

This is not 2009. This is not 2003. As soon as Phish and their audience steps into Hampton Coliseum in exactly one week, this feeling will be palpable. The band has not stepped foot in The Mothership as a dialed in, well-oiled machine in 14 years—since 1999—and even those shows were anti-climactic. With tickets for …

On the Brink of Fall Read More »

The Diversity of 2013

7.27.13 (Eric Battuello)

Back in 2009, most Phish jams possessed a common, well-worn course that began with guitar-led, rock textures, passed through a sparser section of percussive grooves and then ended with a quasi-generic, ambient outro. By the time fall tour ended, this formula had been beaten to death, for even many of the band’s better jams followed this path. Regardless of whether they sprung from “Disease,” “Piper,” “Rock and Roll,” or “Drowned,” 2009 jams tended to sound the same. Staggering improvisations were few and far between while the guys built their chops back, as they relied heavily on this formula to navigate their jams. Only come Miami did we see things truly begin to diversify.

7.14.13 (Andrea Nusinov)

Fast-forward four years to Summer 2013 and Phish has cast down a completely different improvisational paradigm. Over the past four years, from 2009 to 2012, we saw Phish gradually move away from the templatized jamming of ’09, while adding signature sounds of the present era. But this year, for the first time since their comeback, the band came out with a wholly renewed musical perspective that took their music in new and original directions. Blending styles from the totality of  their career, the band carved a new musical path this year, unrelated to the rebuilding process that—in all honesty—lasted until Dick’s 2012. Throughout this re-evolutionary process we saw flashes of brilliance that reminded us of Phish’s utmost capabilities. Jams like Albany’s “Seven Below,” Miami’s “Tweezer,” the Greek “Light,” the MSG “Ghost,” and the Gorge “Rock and Roll” kept us on the path, believing that the turning point was but a tour away. And then—building on the momentum of Dick’s and MSG—Summer 2013 happened.

It was apparent from the get-go that the band was determined to make things different this summer. Bangor’s sublime “Antelope” gave us the first glaring sign, and then confirmations came flooding in at SPAC with completely original jams  out of “Light,” “Split,” “Carini,” and “Disease > Ghost.” These jams were not only outstanding, they were stylistically diverse—a trend that continued all tour long. Diversity even existed within versions of a single jam this summer. Take, for example, “Light.” In 2012, each version of the song conversed with and built upon the previous rendition, coming to a massive peak in Colorado. Conversely, in 2013, Phish took “Light” in different directions that were wildly unrelated. To illustrate, let’s compare this summer’s first four versions.

7.22.13 (Jake Silco)

At SPAC, Phish played a tightly wound, psychedelic tale that evoked the feel of 1995, with masterful command of musical tension  while releasing into a blissful outro that could only have been played this year. Days later at PNC, Trey anchored a dark horse, late-set version with stunningly emotive soloing. At Merriweather, Phish fused hard groove with a sort of free jazz to craft an explosive, avant-garde show highlight. Then, in Chicago, they dropped a third set “Light” that favored delicate, almost ambient, full-band interplay before blossoming into groovier, melodic textures. Four different jams that all sprung from “Light,” yet totally dissimilar—a microcosm of the summer’s improvisation in full.

The diversity of Phish’s 2013 jamming is also evident in looking at tour highlights. Tahoe’s “Tweezer,” Hollywood’s “Harry Hood,” Denver’s “Chalk Dust,” San Francisco’s “Runaway Jim,” the Gorge’s “Undermind,” San Francisco’s “Rock and Roll,” the list goes on and on. But at no point do these jams significantly overlap like so many jams did from 2009-2012; they all contained fresh ideas and unique directions. This is something new to 2013 Phish. Throughout the band’s glory days, they progressed in a very stylistically focused way, meaning that they—largely—concentrated on a single improvisational style within a single tour. Even in the hallowed tour of Fall ’95, one will hear far more stylistic consistency than in Summer 2013. And maybe that is the hallmark of Phish’s current Golden Age? While past eras can be identified by a homogenous musical style, 2013’s “style” is its musical diversity. The band is now able to step between improvisational feels better than ever before, an unquestionable result of thirty years in the trenches together.

So what does this mean for Fall Tour? Well, for the first time in three years, the band will be able to legitimately build off their accomplishments of summer. This, in itself, is huge. With the assumption that they’ve had to practice for their Halloween performance, one can assume the guys have been in close contact since Dick’s and are just as excited to hit the road again as we are. The band’s ability to hook up on stage—something that became second nature this summer—should be back in full force when they step inside Hampton Coliseum for the first time since their legendary comeback. But where the jams will go, however, is anyone’s guess.  Throw in a Halloween weekend, some tiny venues and some classic rooms, and considering how the band has been playing, this tour—albeit short—has to be the most anticipated of the era.

7.14.13 (Andrea Nusinov)

So what does this mean for Fall Tour? Well, for the first time in three years, the band will be able to legitimately build off their accomplishments of summer. This, in itself, is huge. With the assumption that they’ve had to practice for their Halloween performance, one can assume the guys have been in close contact since Dick’s and are just as excited to hit the road again as we are. The band’s ability to hook up on stage—something that became second nature this summer—should be back in full force when they step inside Hampton Coliseum for the first time since their legendary comeback. But where the jams will go, however, is anyone’s guess.  Throw in a Halloween weekend, some tiny venues and some classic rooms, and considering how the band has been playing, this tour—albeit short—has to be the most anticipated of the era.

For the first chunk of their comeback, I often wondered what the band’s new stylistic focus would become. Would it be “plinko” funk?“ Storage” soundscapes? Maybe bliss jamming? No, it would be none of the above. The place to which the band was building has finally arrived—a comfortable peak where they can code switch between improvisational settings like a chameleon. The band can now reach into their arsenal and pull out just about anything, providing a new drama to modern shows. The intense creativity that once defined Phish is back in full, and the band is cranking out jams and shows at a level and consistency unseen in years. But instead of doing it with one style of jamming as in their peaks of the past, they are doing it with all the tools in their thirty-year repertoire.

7.14.13 (Andrea Nusinov)

Back in 2009, most Phish jams possessed a common, well-worn course that began with guitar-led, rock textures, passed through a sparser section of percussive grooves and then ended with a quasi-generic, ambient outro. By the time fall tour ended, this formula had been beaten to death, for even many of the band’s better jams followed …

The Diversity of 2013 Read More »

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