We last left our modern-era audio retrospective after wrapping up the comeback year of 2009 in Miami. This week, let’s take a look back at the the year that was 2010. After six long months off—a time filled with promise—Phish came back at Toyota Park in Chicago, kicking off Leg One of summer with a blistering two-set effort amidst sweltering heat. Coming off a practice session at UIC Pavilion, the band’s beginning-of-tour momentum carried through Blossom and Hershey Park as they opened up the run with three of its stronger shows. The following weekend featured two nights in Hartford and two in SPAC, before the band hit an improvisational breakthrough at Camden and Merriweather with jams such as 6.25’s “Chalk Dust,” 6.26’s “Rock and Roll,” and 6.27’s “Piper.” After popping north to Canandaigua, the band finished out the tour with four shows down south, each featuring flashes of greatness, but little whole show consistency.
This tour was also the month that Trey favored his whammy pedal for pitch bending, a technique affectionately (or not) nicknamed “The Whale.” Many fans lamented this more mimialist playing by Trey, but by laying back, Trey allowed Page, and specifically, Mike to step up and lead jams like never before. When Trey got finally debuted “The Ocedoc” and a more fiery style of play at The Greek, a new improvisational dynamic had emerged over Leg One that allowed the band to communicate on a more democratic level. Phish threw down many great jams during this month, and today’s playlist represent ten of my favorite in chronological order.
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“Ghost” 6.11, Bridgeview, IL
The improvisatioonal centrepiece of a big-time second set that opened tour with a bang.
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“Number Line” 6.12 II, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
One night later, this jam topped Chicago’s “Ghost,” showcasing a single-mindedness rarely seen in 2009.
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“Disease -> Sand” 6.17 II, Hartford, CT
An intense throwdown on night one in Hartford.
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“Rock and Roll > Free” 6.19 II, S.Springs, NY
This “Rock and Roll” set up the following weekend’s tour highlight version. This one from SPAC, however, ain’t too shabby either.
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“Drowned > Swept > Steep” 6.20, II S.Springs, NY
This sequence provided the meat of SPAC’s second performance.
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“Chalk Dust > Caspian” 6.25 II, Camden, NJ
Phish hadn’t dropped a jam like this all summer long. It felt like a monumental breakthrough at the time, and it still holds up just fine.
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“Rock and Roll > Free” 6.26 II, Columbia, MD
Right up there with the best jams of tour; a gorgeous piece of improvisation. This comes from the Saturday night of tour’s peak weekend.
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“Piper” 6.27 II, Columbia, MD
Amidst a thematic second set strewn with allusions to “Saw It Again,” Phish dropped the gnarliest “Piper” of the era up to that point.
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“Light” 7.1 II, Raleigh, NC
This was the top version from a tour in which “Light” became Phish’s preeminent jam vehicle.
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“Tweezer -> Slave” 7.3 II, Alpharetta, GA
Believe it or not, this was the first time that “Tweezer” and “Slave” had been paired in the band’s career—and it made for a no-brainer tour highlight.
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UPDATE: THE PHILLER
The latest from Robert Champion of The Sloping Companion:
