Phish is a protean music force whose creative genius is delivered in countless ways and in all shapes and sizes. For Deer Creek’s Sunday night finale, Phish applied their improvisational acumen over the course of the entire second set, crafting a unified musical statement that combined serious musicianship, trademark humor and a liquid flow. Seamlessly weaving one song into another with a couple of mashups along the way, the band creating a non-stop journey through the multiverse of Phish. Though the second set was underlined by fun, the music still got quite deep at several points, illustrating the yin and yang of a band that feels unstoppable right now.

A neon-futuristic dance club take on “Bathtub Gin” got the party started quickly after setbreak, as the band undertook an exercise in collaborative groove painted with their new-era sonic palette. As the jam approached the precipice of an ambient movement, instead it dissolved into “Waves.” A super thick groove emerged out of the post-hiatus piece, over which Trey spontaneously began singing the lyrics of “Ghost.” This slowed down, gooey take on the song seemed primed to launch into massive highlight, but at the break in the song before the jam, the band switched directly into the opening hit of “Sneaking Sally,” and this is where the zany mashup madness that would characterize the set began. Singing “Ghost” lyrics over a hyrbid “Ghost”-“Sally” groove the band, essentially, played two songs at once, reeling in an enraptured audience on their edge of their seats to see what would come next.

The deepest parts of the set came next, within a short but hypnotic ambient jam out of “Twenty Years Later,” and an absolutely menacing improvisational passage that emerged out of a late-set medley of “Twist” and “Makisupa.” Following Trey’s one man comedy act in “Makisupa” in which he created a lyrical mashup from all the songs in the set, the band took a left turn into the netherworld, building a dark and harrowing excursion that sounded like a summoning of demons and dark spirits of the occult. The abrupt change of vibe provided serious musical gravity to a lighter set of thoroughly entertaining hijinks-based Phish.

Sometimes when Phish rely on antics and comedy to carry a show, the musical experience can fall flat, but that was not the case on Sunday night, where the band’s musicianship and creativity remained on high throughout the show. The whole second set really felt like one piece of music from “Bathtub Gin” through the end of “Twist,” as the band never stopped playing and everything blended together seamlessly. And when they finally did stop to the roaring adoration of their audience, the band broke out a real treat in the Page-scribed rarity of “Most Events Aren’t Planned.” Capping the set with “More” which blended into the end of “Bathtub Gin,” Phish stamped a special set of musical theatre complete.

And while the second set provided the entertaining centerpiece of the night, the first set contained more than few musical highlights—first and foremost in the retro combination of “Curtain” > “Mike’s Song.” “Mike’s” has had a propensity for the generic in recent years, but this version broke the mold completely. As the band chugged through the well-loved jam, Trey and Page hit a point where they started to soar into major key territory. While Mike and Fish continued to hold down the infectious rhythmic pocket of “Mike’s,” Trey and Page took the top half of the jam to a heart-tugging, heavenly realm. This experiment in musical juxtaposition absolutely slayed and provided a slice of uplifting life music as the show had barely begun. From this point, it felt like it was going to be a special night in Phishland. Subsequent first half highlights came in an abbreviated but filthy “Mercury” jam, a funky and interesting new Mike song called “Casual Enlightenment,” and a ripping, on point set closer of “David Bowie.”

To end the night, Phish laid out a phenomenal version of “Slave to the Traffic Light” that summed up the emotional and communally appreciative vibe of the weekend in Indiana. Amidst pre-show rumors of the tour’s imminent cancellation, the crowd soaked up every last drop of Sunday night’s show, as the days of taking this all for granted are over and done. But this buzz seems to have been nothing more than white noise of the ever-churning rumor mill, as tour moves forth to Chocolate City tomorrow night. Hershey has had a small but special place in Phish history, and with Golden Tickets readily available for the undersold shows it certainly feels like the next two nights may add to its lore.

I. Sigma Oasis, The Curtain > Mike’s Song > My Soul, Weekapaug Groove, Mercury > 46 Days, Taste, Casual Enlightenment*, David Bowie

II. Bathtub Gin > Waves -> Ghost > Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley -> Twenty Years Later -> Waste > Twist -> Makisupa Policeman > Twist -> Makisupa Policeman -> Twist, Most Events Aren’t Planned, More > Bathtub Gin

E. Contact, Slave to the Traffic Light

After playing such a monumental concert on Friday night, one might have expected Phish to come out with a bit more contained affair on Saturday—aka the Saturday night special. But mellow doesn’t seem to be in this band’s vocabulary right now. Instead, they came correct with a Saturday night smoker held down by a well crafted second set that just wouldn’t quit. Flowing with jams of all shapes and styles, Phish displayed the breadth of their musical mastery to a raucous crowd at Deer Creek.

Kicking off the second set, the band dropped a groove leviathan in the form of “Everything’s Right.” After an initial segment that stayed fairly close to the vest, the highlight of this excursion came when Page led the band into into a darker lair that sonically depicted the underground dungeon of Super Mario Brothers. I can’t say enough about Page’s contributions to the improvisational mixture right now. His sounds, textures, and leadership have pushed the band into totally new places this tour, resulting in fresh sounding Phish jams of the likes that we have never heard before. One can find examples of his avant-garde contributions in each show of this summer, and even within every improvisational passage. Combined with Trey’s diverse arsenal of tones and effects, their synergy has been creating futuristic Phish jams. But the future is now.

The band emerged from this underworld into a cleaner improvisational place, finishing the jam with more conventional rock playing in which Trey teased “Simple,” giving a nod to the mind-bender from Friday night. The jam concluded with a sparser funk section that likened a “Moma” groove which bled seamlessly back into the song of “Everything’s Right.”

A vast and spacious take on “What’s the Use?” expanded throughout the amphitheatre, serving as an exhale from the set’s opening fire. This version really struck a chord with me, as the band allowed the music to breathe and swell as if it was its own organic entity. Really stunning stuff here, as the instrumental piece took on an enhanced vitality and provided a level artistry we don’t always see from this piece.

The set revved up again with a vigorous run through “Crosseyed” which featured some high octane playing Trey. His passionate leads drove the band through a triumphant improvisational mid-set frolic, which set up the most creative jam of the night in “Down With Disease.” Following the song’s composed jam, the band locked into a delicate conversation that saw Trey, Page and Mike tossing around ideas like a hot potato. This jam exemplifies one-minded Phish as it’s finest, where their listening and response time is all but non-existent—just a rolling, subconscious flow coming from all directions at once. And then amidst this supernatural exchange, Trey just held a note and the band built an astonishing crescendo around it leaving this audience member in awe.

Although I have focused exclusively on the second set, one of the sublime excursions of the night came in the first in an incandescent version of “Stash.” Phish blew out the borders of the usually structured jam into an awesome improvisational exercise that saw the band in lockstep forming a golden pathway of deliverance. Connecting a section of delicate, melody-driven interplay with one of exhilarating, hard-hitting groove, Phish sculpted the most memorable version of their early ’90s classic in quite some time.

I also wanted to mention the mid-first set coupling of  “Yamar” and “Roggae.” Both rarities were dusted off with particular zest. Trey’s “Yamar” solo really popped with creativity and flow and while his deeply expressive playing in”Roggae” surfed atop an oceanic tide from his bandmates. Both really standout versions.

The energy of Phish feels so pure right now. Perhaps it is that the pandemic has made them realize that nothing can be taken for granted at this point and the rug can be pulled out from under them at any time. It sure seems that they are savoring every moment on stage together and wasting none of them. If the past year and a half has taught us anything, it is that life is fragile, and with the earth continuing to march towards an unknown destiny, the time is now. Phish seems to be living this philosophy, and each and every one of us are blessed to be a part of the equation.

I. Crowd Control, Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, Back on the Train, Army of One, Bouncing Around the Room, Ya Mar, Roggae, A Wave of Hope*, Stash, Cavern

II. Everything’s Right, What’s the Use?, Crosseyed and Painless > What’s the Use? > Down with Disease > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Possum

E. Drift While You’re Sleeping

*debut

Wow. That felt incredible. The modern world of webcasts and audio streams is an amazing luxury to have when you are at home, but there is just no substitute for the live Phish experience. That goes without saying, as it is the basis of what I’ve written about for years. But having been away for so long, I forgot the visceral feeling of the music moving through you—the immersive three-dimensionality that envelops your being. It is the most beautiful experience I know.

But what happened with the band? Well, they dropped an absolutely monstrous show anchored by an all- time jam in “Simple” that immediately became one of my favorite pieces of music that Phish has ever played. The second set, as a whole, was dripping with elite improvisation, and the first hour of the opening frame set the night aflame with non-stop action. Phish certainly brought its A+ game to the midwest, and kicked off their trifecta at Deer Creek with an explosive affair.

A show opening sequence of “Carini,” “Wolfman’s” and “Sand” reads like a misprint, but the reality was anything but, as Phish came out of the gates with a purpose. “Carini” quickly transformed into an engaging and uplifting passage that instantly set an improvisational tone for the evening. “Wolfman’s” offered some silky and connected funk playing straying just enough from structure to keep it interesting throughout. “Sand” built upon the show’s opening couplet and elevated into another stratosphere all together, as Trey and Page converged in glorious interplay that brought the jam into gorgeous, major-key territory. Page’s piano work really stood out here, anchoring the groove in blissful pastures before Trey took the piece to the mountain top.

Short but legitimately well-played versions of “We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains” and “Tube” rounded out a gripping opening hour of the show. At this juncture, Trey pulled the Delorean out and set the flux capacitor for 1993, resulting in the run of “Nellie Kane,” “Horn,” “Rift,” and Wedge.” The set then concluded with a really hot version of “Walls of the Cave,” and that is something I’m not sure I’ve said before.

But as the bell rang for the main event, Phish came out ready to rumble. And, boy did they ever. Following the set opener of “AC/DC Bag,” the band decided to get the show on the road with a gargantuan version of “Blaze On.” This jam grew unique in that for a long time, the improvisation remained loosely anchored to the rhythms of the song and didn’t posses distinct thematic sections, yet amidst this context, the band was immersed in an elite and free-flowing conversation. In relistening, this extended section struck me as a jazz-based improvisation, not necessarily musically-speaking, but structurally.

After experimenting with alternate tones and effects, Trey emerges with clean, melodic leads, taking the “Blaze” jam into a second stage in which his playing creates a more distinct musical narrative. Following a peak to this section, it became apparent that this would be the jam that kept on giving. The band navigates several more distinct sections ranging from experimental to melody-driven, finally concluding with an extended victory lap in which the band takes the mega long form piece to the top.

Those are a lot of words before getting to the the most epic piece of music I’ve heard Phish play any time in recent memory. Tonight’s “Simple” jam is so astronomically bonkers it had Trey giddily laughing as he brought the band back into the song after plunging the depths of the underworld and the outer reaches of the universe. Fusing space-aged disco, psych-abstraction and seriously heavy groove, Phish crafted a piece of utter lunacy that instantly jumps into the upper-most echelon of all-time jams. I’m not going to even attempt to give a detailed account of this, because frankly it defies any semantic description. It is, in a nutshell, Phish incarnate.

“Harry Hood” felt like the perfect encore for “Simple’s” headlining performance, and the band played a concise and on point version of the hallowed classic to cap off a fantastic evening of Phish. But in a surprise add on, Trey called for “I Never Needed You Like This Before,” which I can see settling into a rocking, set closing utility moving forward a la “Zero” and “S.A.N.T.O.S.”

Damn. What a night. This new era of Phish has quickly become some serious business. As Ron Burgundy said, “Boy, that escalated quickly!” If the current trajectory holds, what is going to be happening by the end of the year? You can save the whales and you can save the toads, but I don’t care if the world explodes…

I. Carini, Wolfman’s Brother, Sand, Lawn Boy, We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains, Tube, Nellie Kane, Horn, Rift, The Wedge, Walls of the Cave

II. AC/DC Bag, Blaze On, Wilson, Simple, Harry Hood, I Never Needed You Like This Before

E. Sanity, Limb By Limb, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.

Every now and then, Phish crafts a perfect set of music. Such statements are filled with top-shelf improvisation from start to finish, contain an impeccable set list, and feature jams that are stylistically diverse, illustrating just how dynamic this quartet can be at the peak of the their powers. On Wednesday night in Nashville, Phish dropped one of these sets. Twenty-four hours after playing a modest show to open their twin bill in Tennessee’s capital, the band returned to the stage and knocked it out of the park in what has to be considered the best frame of music of their young summer tour.

At their best, Phish are master set crafters who create flowing musical experiences that bring their audience on a thoughtfully contoured journey. Their once drill-bit focus on set crafting has fallen by the wayside a bit in the 3.0 era. These fully realized sets still happen, but they are fewer and further between than in Phish’s hey day. A number of variables create requisite flow for such an artistic statement—set list, transitions, jam length, and musical contrast to name a few. Once again, the band’s second performance in Nashville’s provide an illustration of all of these elements.

Phish sparked the night’s musical fire with an incendiary take on “Mr. Completely.” The band members immediately sounded in sync as they splashed into this jam, and they built a spirited journey that ran the sonic gamut from clean, delicate and nuanced interplay to vigorous, heavily effected soundscapes. Navigating this piece with notable patience, the band members listened and responded to each other diligently.

Breaking out of a quiet ending of “Mr. Completely” with a raucous jolt into “Birds of a Feather,” Phish injected some straightforward rock and roll into the set before stepping right back into adventurous jamming with “Ghost.” A creeping version of the late-‘90s groove machine saw Trey feature his Leslie cabinet to voice his contributions, giving the jam a notably eerie feel. Only towards the end of the piece did he pop back into his clean tone as the band began to consider their next move. It sounded like Mike and Fish initiated the pocket of “Bathtub Gin” well before the band moved into the song, but Trey responded with a tease of “Mr. Completely,” possibly suggesting a return to the set opener. Fish then went along with Trey, bringing back the song’s signature rhythm, but the band didn’t commit, continuing their open-ended jamming. Minutes later, however, they executed a smooth group-wide segue into “Gin” without breaking stride.

A fiery, guitar-led group romp through “Bathtub Gin” provided a stark juxtaposition to the more outward playing heard in the set’s opening two excursions. The clean, largely effect-less interplay invigorated the set with an rollicking energy that really hit the spot.

The final hit of “Gin” transformed into the opening hit of a syrupy “2001” with a tempo that likened the slower grooves of Deodato’s original composition and the Phish’s earliest takes on it. The thickness of the groove even translated through the audio stream, which means that shit was pure goo on the dance floor.

But even after all this action, the best was yet to come as Trey called for the set closer of “Split Open and Melt.” “Split” saw quite the renaissance in 2018, highlighted by the mind-bending epics from The Gorge, Hampton, Las Vegas and MSG. And Nashville’s master work belongs right along side these in the annals of all-timers. At its best, a “Split” jam will blur the line between pure dementia and tight cohesion, as its odd time signature, dark tonal color, and penchant for abstraction create a disorienting psych-laced adventure. This version did all that and then some. The set closing jam began with very intricate and connected interplay in which one could easily follow the conversation, though it ultimately reached a symphonic crescendo where the band collectively played one sound, muddying the boundaries of their four individual contributions into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. This jam popped out of my speakers live, and held up just as well on multiple relistens —this is a truly elite Phish and the perfect exclamation point on a monstrous set of music.

As the first leg of Summer Tour 2021 reaches its halfway point this weekend, Phish has fully regained their footing after 17 months away. It feels like Nashville’s second performance is ushering us into the second stage of this comeback tour, where the sheer excitement of their return of a crowd has moved through the band and they are back to business in earnest. It is an exciting prospect to think of what the next week plus will bring to fruition, especially as they prepare to step into the hallowed cornfields of Deer Creek. The round two bell is ringing and we are here for it.

I. Evolve, Free, Ocelot, My Sweet One, Cool Amber and Mercury, Halfway to the Moon, Water in the Sky, Theme From the Bottom, Suzy Greenberg, Fluffhead

II. Mr. Completely > Birds of a Feather, Ghost -> Bathtub Gin > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Split Open and Melt

E. Character Zero

*debut

***

I am writing this piece in the air as I travel from the Bay to Indianapolis for Deer Creek and beyond. I made my decision before this show happened, but if there was ever anything to support it, this set was certainly it. I will wear a mask at the shows, first and foremost, by choice, but just as importantly, to respect the band’s wishes. If I feel comfortable at these shows, I will also be going to Hershey and Atlantic City. Thus, I am not sure if I will continue writing or at what pace. But it has certainly been fun to revisit this space after so many years away, so I suspect I will continue in one form or another.  Hope to see some of you out there this weekend!

After bursting from their pandemic-induced hiatus over the weekend as if shot out of a cannon, Phish exhaled on Tuesday night, playing a solid but unspectacular show to kick off their two nights in Music City. One had to expect some element of a hangover after three monumental efforts over tour’s initial four nights, thus I don’t suspect this is much more than a speed bump in the road of summer tour. Each of the band’s second-set improvisational swings bested the one before, culminating with an outstanding, meditative take on “Light” in which they achieved a fully flowing conversation bubbling with ideas. Alpharetta’s “Tweezer” was a hard act to follow, and while fans were primed to digest another epic, Nashville’s opener saw the band regress to the mean a bit.

Following the peak of its composed jam, “No Man’s” pushed forth into some collectively crafted, space-aged textures, but the jam possessed a searching quality without ultimately cohering in any true direction. “Ruby Waves,” however, was played with notably more gusto and purpose, growing into an engaging and satisfying piece of full-band improv. After a choppy and unexpected mid-set coupling of “Possum” and “When the Circus Comes to Town,” Trey decided to give the band one more swing at connecting—and they did.

“Light’s” jam immediately sounded more cohesive than the band’s previous two attempts, and took off in earnest as Trey then Page echoed an eclectic bass offering from Gordeaux. The band reached a different level of communication in this passage, and the rolling, repetitive nature of Fish’s rhythms and Mike’s bass lines created a cerebral tone to the music. Trey played his best leads of the night within “Light,” providing a current to the jam that carried the listener along an inner path. Phish allowed this piece to breathe, leaving more space in the music than in “No Man’s” and “Ruby Waves,” and, as a result, they were able to step back and really listen to one another.

The band capped the set with a standard run through of “You Enjoy Myself.” I am sure it was fun in person, but from the sidelines—outside of “Light”—night one in Nashville just didn’t pop with the same energy or ideation that we heard over the weekend. But such is the nature of human endeavors. Tours always contain fluctuations in output and while we all wanted to see Phish crank out 25-30 minute jams every night, that felt more like a pipe dream than a real possibility. I predict that night two will be more musically significant as the band ramps up towards their three-night stand in Deer Creek this weekend.

I. Punch You in the Eye, Strawberry Letter 23, Sample in a Jar, Halley’s Comet > Backwards Down the Number Line, Undermind, Divided Sky, Mull*, It’s Ice, About to Run, The Squirming Coil

II. Party Time, No Men In No Man’s Land > Ruby Waves > Possum, When the Circus Comes, Light, You Enjoy Myself

E. Loving Cup

*debut