Here are ten more jams/sequences—unranked—that take the next ten slots in 2012’s Top 50. Below, I threw in a random reader’s poll. Take a few seconds to weigh in on some Phishy questions.
Here are ten more jams/sequences—unranked—that take the next ten slots in 2012’s Top 50. Below, I threw in a random reader’s poll. Take a few seconds to weigh in on some Phishy questions. “Tweezer” 8/26 II, Charlotte, NC This jam could be ranked higher. *** “Back On the Train -> Hold Your Head Up” 6/28 …
Not to trivialize today’s important election, but if you’re a fan of great Phish, there is really only one choice. Just look at recent history. Bill Clinton took office in 1993, the beginning the band’s first peak era. Clinton served two terms through 2000, watching over’s Phish’s glory years, and at the end of his term, Phish called it quits for the first time. George W. Bush, arguably the biggest buffoon to ever sit in the Oval Office, was sworn in at the beginning of 2001 and served two terms during which the band managed to crank out merely 1 and 1/2 years of opiate-laced jamming in ’03 and ’04. Enter Barack Obama in 2009. Less than two months after the Democratic victor was inaugurated, Phish came back at Hampton Coliseum and entered the Golden Age of their career, playing their tails off for the last four years. So here we are at the political crossroads of 2012. Under a Democratic White House, we experienced ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2000, ’09, ’10, ’11, and ’12. Under a Republican watch, the band came into their own during the late ’80s and early ’90s, and graced us with ’03 and half of ’04. Those are the facts—and the choice is yours. Vote wisely, my friends!
On Election Day 2012, I bring you three choice cuts from each of the past four years. And here’s to four more years of Democratic Phish!
…With Liberty and Justice For All (Seeyoutheredesigns)
Not to trivialize today’s important election, but if you’re a fan of great Phish, there is really only one choice. Just look at recent history. Bill Clinton took office in 1993, the beginning the band’s first peak era. Clinton served two terms through 2000, watching over’s Phish’s glory years, and at the end of his …
@EdCochran18: Can you address the cultures of different venues?
This is one of the weirdest factors of going on tour—by far. Because you are (usually) in a different state every night, the first thing that comes into play are state laws. Last summer, for example, when tour jumped from California into the south and then back to Colorado, the culture was like day and night. Weed and other drugs are seen so differently from state to state in the US, its hard to believe we are still in the same country sometimes, (see OKC.) Thus the first thing to verse yourself on is the laws of where you are and how seriously they have it out for hippies. But then the venues, themselves, can be extremely laid back or tight. For example, at Bill Graham Civic the ushers patrolled to make sure you were smoking weed and not cigarettes (this is a fact), while at Merriweather, there are teen-aged girls, backed by an urban security SWAT team, making sure your feet don’t cross painted lines on the aisles in the pavilion, less they kick you onto the lawn (also a fact.) Sometimes security takes themselves way to seriously (Jones Beach) while others they encourage you to have fun (Hampton.) It’s pretty crazy to bounce from venue to venue and have to adjust to a new set of norms on a nightly basis when all you’re trying to do is dance and feel good, but—alas—that’s why Jedi training is a huge asset on Phish tour.
Chillest Venues: The Gorge, Hampton, Dick’s
Tightest Venues: Merriweather Post, Jones Beach, Virginia Beach
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@Teddier: Five years into the future-what are Phish doing to keep their interest fresh and will their music change much by then?
Five years! Wow. Phish has only played four years in this era and we are jumping five more ahead. I’ll be completely honest and say that Phish 2017 may or may not exist. While I certainly hope so, five more years is a long time for these guys to keep going. For some reason, I don’t see Phish following the Grateful Dead model of play until you drop. I suppose nothing stands in their way of playing five years and beyond except a desire to move on. If they are still playing in five years, I sure hope the band has a couple more albums under their belt and we are hearing a hell of a lot of new material! Improvisationally, however, the sky is the limit. As long as these four guys are committed to each other, I am confident they will crank out high quality jams. Any stylistic conjecture would be sheer speculation of which I wouldn’t even know where to start. If Phish has one thing going for them, their fans will never lose interest no matter what they do. Tour wise, let me take a wild guess—maybe summer tour and a new years run?
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@Matthewgerber79: Do you ever see Mikes Song or YEM ever returning to their former improv glory, or has that ship sailed along with Halley’s?
Interestingly, all it takes is Trey’s will and either of these songs can snap back into form on any given night. But for whatever reason, I don’t see it happening. “YEM” doesn’t feel like as huge of a loss as “Mike’s,” which has gone from a top three jam vehicle for the second half of the ‘90s to a recycled guitar build. But at least “Mike’s” is over in eight minutes these days, while “YEM” still has nearly ten minutes of composition and five minutes of a vocal jam, leaving the song with negligible payoff on any given night. Everyone has been focusing on the rarity of “YEM” over the past two years as if it’s a bad thing, but if the band is only gonna step into four minutes of generic funk, my preference is to leave it on the shelf. There’s no need to kill so much of a set with the theatrics that are “YEM.” It’s unquestionably one of Phish’s greatest songs, but they’ve played it so much over their career, it seems like they no longer know how to make it interesting.
Here are some personal favorites in no particular order and without racking my brain:
Bliss:
“My Left Toe” 7.21.99, Star Lake
“Reba” 7.6.94, Montreal
“Harry Hood” 12.28.10, Worcester
“Bathtub Gin” 8.17.97, Great Went
“Bathtub Gin” 9.12.99, Portland Meadows
Groove:
“Sand > Quadraphonic Toppling” 12.31.99, Big Cypress
“Ghost” 5.22.00, Radio City
“Bathtub Gin” 7.29.98, Riverport
“Roses Are Free” 4.3.98, Nassau
“Mike’s Song” 12.31.95, MSG
Shred:
“Tweezer” 12.2.95, New Haven, CT
“Piper” 7.18.99, Oswego
“Antelope” 10.24.95, Madison, WI
“Drowned > Rock and Roll” 6.29.2000, PNC
“Antelope” 12.9.94, La Mesa, AZ
Space/Weird:
“Drowned” 9.14.00, Darien Lake
“Wolfman’s Brother” 10.31.98, Vegas
“David Bowie” 12.29.94, Providence
“Disease > Free” 6.26.95, SPAC
“Reba > Walk Away” 10.29.98, Los Angeles
**** @EdCochran18: Can you address the cultures of different venues? This is one of the weirdest factors of going on tour—by far. Because you are (usually) in a different state every night, the first thing that comes into play are state laws. Last summer, for example, when tour jumped from California into the south and then …
***** “Sandy > Kane” 6.8.12, Worcester, MA An appropriate kickoff to a playlist about Hurricane Sandy. *** “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing” 6.19.04 II, SPAC Perhaps my single favorite jam from the post-hiatus era. *** “Drowned” 9.14.00 II, Darien Center, NY The most harrowing and psychedelic version of all time; it seemed quite …
@alexriejohnson: Outstanding bass moments from Mike over the years. Unique and original notes/versions
Some of my favorite Mike moments from memory are:
“Tweezer” 7.25.98, Austin, TX: This “Tweezer” contains filthy, Summer ’98 grooves all over the place. Check out the final snippet of the jam in which Mike plays an infectious outro lick before the band fades into “Circus;” my friends and I have always hailed this bass line as one of his best.
“YEM” 7.19.98, Shoreline: This is the first “YEM” in which Mike infused the bass line of Trey’s “The Way I Feel” into the jam. At first, we called it the Shoreline “YEM” bassline, but over the course of the summer and the rest of the ‘90s, it became a de facto part of the song.
“Tweezer” 12.16.99, Raleigh: In this quintessential ’99 jam, Trey doesn’t play leads for the beginning section and Mike takes the opportunity to rip shit up. Amidst layers of sonic wizardry the entire band builds the intro into a mini peak out of which Gordon just goes ballistic. There’s no mistaking the part I am referencing when you hear this jam.
“Tweezer” 6.24.2000, Atlanta: In one of my upper echelon versions of all time, Mike sets the groove plate with a series of the danciest bass lines you’ll ever hear. As the jam starts, Trey hangs back, setting loops and effects, while Mike takes the helm and absolutely owns the intro to this excursion. This is one of my favorite segments of Mike’s playing in memory.
“Tweezer” 7.9.98, Barcelona: Though this version carries an insane whole-band groove throughout, Mike gets straight silly up in this piece from start to finish.
“Piper” 9.11.00, Great Woods: This is a hugely underrated “Piper” in which the band travels far off course into incredibly original territory. Late in the jam, Mike takes the helm, directing the slowed down tempo with an heavy bass pattern that is way out front of the music; definitely one of my favorite Gordeaux moments.
“Ghost” 5.22.00, Radio City — Mike Gordon at his finest exploring the hypercomplexities of groove.
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@PhishyMossman:Thoughts on Trey tour? (if you’ve heard any of the shows)
I’ve listened to four of the shows, and while I certainly feel the band has picked up some steam from beginning of the tour, I don’t feel there is much going on musically this tour. The same-sounding snippets of improv are being played in the exact same spots as usual—“Sand,” “Jibboo,” “Money, Love and Change,” “Simple Twist Up Dave” and a couple others. The shows of this tour sound much more like a pop concert than any previous run of TAB shows. I, personally, am a huge fan of Traveler as an album, but the infusion of these songs into TAB shows has done nothing to enhance the live experience, as they have been played more or less straight up. “Plasma” from Chicago is the most original jam I’ve heard thus far, though I haven’t spun the last couple shows. Trey has such a huge solo catalog that it’s a shame he is playing the same songs every night. I certainly have no complaints about the musicianship or tightness of the band, but when I go to a Trey-based event, I am looking for a bit more fireworks than he has displayed on a nightly basis. While I am sure these shows are quite fun to be at, I couldn’t care less that I’m not hitting any of them. As long as TAB provides an outlet for Trey to be happy, I’m all for it, but his modern side project is a far cry from what it used to be in both in the power-trio (w/ horns) and the big-band days—just a bunch of songs. In fact, his comeback tour in 2008 provided more high octane music than these largely sterile affairs.
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@Jacobid: If a friend who has never heard a Phish song asks you to hear some of their music, which song do you put on first?
Always a great question, but it kind of depends on who the friend is and what musical background they are coming from. Honestly, I feel you could play “Harry Hood” for anyone from a twelve year old to a non-musical parent to a professional musician and the sheer emotion of the music would affect them. That would be my choice if I had someone that could commit 15 minutes to listening. If they are coming from a dance background, perhaps a “Sand” or “Tweezer;” a pop background, perhaps “Heavy Things” or “Bouncin,” a more psychedelic background, perhaps a “Split” or “Piper.” It’s all relative. The first song that caught me ear as a non-Phish fan was “Lizards,” so go figure.
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@PleasingTweezer:Do you (I do) tend to listen to 3.0 Phish more? Been following/seeing/listening since 93/94, but “old” Phish is what it was.
Yes, 100%. I really only ever listen to the last tour that has ended. This has been the way I have listened to Phish for so long that by the next time a tour ends, I really have no need to consistently listen to stuff form the previous one. Of course the most monumental jams will find their way into rotation, but for the most part, I only listen to the stuff that just happened. It is very rare that I would put in something from the ‘90s at this point just because I have heard it so much in my life it’s no longer that engaging or meaningful. In post show situations or times when I am straight chillin’ with friends, some of the older stuff comes out, but even then, I am far more prone to listen to recent Phish. It just feels more relevant to the here and now.
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@Runaway_Tim:“Dr. Gabel” dead and gone? On new album along with “Steam?”
It better be dead and gone! That is, literally, the worst Phish song I’ve ever heard in my life! (I am a huge “Jennifer Dances” fan—for real.) I actually heard something about the band starting from scratch for their new album, so hopefully we will wind up with all new music (plus a fourth studio version of “Let Me Lie.”)
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@jonnyonthespots:How about you rank the Halloween album sets?
This is PURELY based on personal preference:
1) Remain In Light — unparalleled and forever changed the course of Phish music
2) Loaded – completely nailed from start to finish. Just glorious.
3) Waiting For Columbus — a perfect style for Phish; a genuine ‘70s dance party through and through.
4) Exile on Main Street – the band illustrated a level of soul they had never displayed before; they coouldn’t have pulled this off in their younger days
5) Quadrophenia — a fantastic performance of a fantastic album; an consistently underrated performance with some true gems
6) The White Album — a nice, long set of Beatles covers. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Mimi Fishman Foundation Launches New On-Line Charity Auction
The Mimi Fishman Foundation has launched a new on-line charity auction that features several New Years Eve ticket/poster packages as well as Phish memorabilia featuring a very rare kick drum head that was used by Phish in the 90’s and has been signed by the band. The auction also includes a large number of Phish 2012 Summer Tour posters signed by the band and a very unique memorabilia package from the 2011 New Years run. Umphrey’s McGee and the String Cheese Incident have kindly contributed New Years Eve ticket/poster packages as well.
The on-line auction is currently live with the bidding coming to close November 14.
To view and/or bid on the auction, as well as read about the charities the auction supports, please visit the Mimi Fishman Foundation Auction Page.
The Foundation also announces 2012 3rd Quarter Grants:
$10,000 – Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments
$1,000 – Helping Hounds
$1,000 – Borinquen Defensores de Animales del Sur (BDAS)
$1,000 – Jordan-Elbridge Central School
$500 – Front Range Hippotheorapy
**** @alexriejohnson: Outstanding bass moments from Mike over the years. Unique and original notes/versions Some of my favorite Mike moments from memory are: “Tweezer” 7.25.98, Austin, TX: This “Tweezer” contains filthy, Summer ’98 grooves all over the place. Check out the final snippet of the jam in which Mike plays an infectious outro lick before the …
