Phish C/D

Also, loved the detail about the lyrics of "Farmhouse" bc during my own Phish odyssey I got extremely hung up on that song for about a week during which my take progressed from "this particular band kicking off a record with a song that's like 'welcome to our place, sorry about all the flies' is maybe a little too on the nose" to "gosh, this is unbearably gorgeous" to suddenly considering the second verse and becoming v unsettled by the implication that the farmhouse may not be what it seems and the whole scenario may be dystopian (protagonist embarks on some sort of wwoofing journey/commune visit/etc in the aftermath of a bad breakup, initially innocuous situation is not what it seems, winds up doing forced labor and meditating bitterly on the nature of betrayal, never even gets to see the northern lights) to forcefully telling myself "cmon now, the 'stinging lash' is just the flies, right?" Like a much hairier version of what happens when Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" catches you off guard in a grocery store and you find yourself unable to stop wondering exactly what the deal is with "a new religion that'll bring you to your knees."

The head pic chosen for that article was golden

Home run, Brad. (And you have me wanting to explore the band, too. The live material I’ve heard was always more exciting than the handful of studio records I’ve sampled.)

Bonkers "countdown" set last night, even if it led to exactly the predictable encore choice. Still, great start for the run. Seeing a lot of speculation that this means a numbers related Halloween cover, with 5150, 2112 and Pearl Jam's Ten being among the more popular guesses:

set 1: 2001, 1999 > 555 > 46 Days, Strawberry Letter 23 > Twenty Years Later
set 2: Seven Below > If 6 was 9 > Five Years > Two Versions of Me > NO2, Army of One, My Sweet One, First Tube > Character Zero

encore: Backwards Down the Number Line, Grind

lmao that's amazing

You are truly converted if you find a gimmick that high concept to be amazing and not inducive of eye rolls. I’m with you though! I have been at a few shows that had setlist mayhem, and a couple high concept ones where the first letters of all the songs spelled something out. They don’t always translate for posterity but it is pretty electric to be at a concert where that is happening.

Brad, I read and loved your piece on Pitchfork. Subsequently not one but two old Phish show buddies alerted me to its presence and gave us their own rave reviews. You struck the perfect balance between naming and articulating what makes Phish such persona non grata for so many, and what the fans see and experience that makes that first perspective hard to relate to.

PHISH, SATURDAY 10/30/2021
MGM GRAND
Las Vegas, NV
SET 1: The Dogs > Ocelot, Turtle in the Clouds, Run Like an Antelope, Camel Walk, Wombat > Guyute, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Shaggy Dog, Dog Faced Boy, The Sloth, Llama, I Am the Walrus

SET 2: Dogs Stole Things, Your Pet Cat > Runaway Jim[1] > Piper -> Birds of a Feather, Harpua > Bug > The Lizards, Farmhouse

ENCORE: Vultures, Sleeping Monkey > Possum

[1] Unfinished.

Also +1 great work on the Pitchfork article, Brad!

they did it! the all animals set!!!

also thank you all for your kind comments on the piece, thrilled it has been well-received by the phish community, who i relentlessly owned in said piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC8gpD6h3Z0

These wonderful, wonderful nerds.

fyi, here is the digital version of the comic book they handed out in lieu of the Phishbill last night.

https://i.imgur.com/fyo85pa.png

a youtube fan channel recently uploaded video of my atlantic city show's "split open and melt"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCsywXHAM10

god that shit is the greatest ever

I just discovered this Benevento/Russo Duo with Mike Gordon 53-minute Foam from 2005. I'm only 17 minute in, but holy shit. This is what I wish Phish was like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67oH6ZCiGPA

btw, I did listen to the entire thing last night and you should too.

Thanks for that! I saw this lineup in 2006 but they definitely did not bless it with a 53-minute "Foam".

i live where they were supposedly going to have their last concert so what a bunch of duds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7pMiso2dxg

I have known about that Foam for awhile but never got around to listening to it. Last night, with an hour long drive to make and this bump having put it back on my radar, I got a little toasty and gave it a listen. Wow. Beautiful stuff.

I try to listen to entire Phish shows from time to time - usually just picking from what's available on Spotify - and it has been kind of a mixed bag. But this morning I checked out 9/1/17 at Dick's and holy shit, was I rewarded. Playing's strong throughout. No dud songs. Opener Blaze On fucking ripped. Theme From the Bottom > Free was great. The second set is just NON-stop: No Men In No Man's Land > Carini > Ghost > Harry Hood > Cavern (copied that from phish.net, but I'm not totally sure whether those are all actually segued into one another and I'm pretty sure that NMINML gets reprised after the Ghost jam as well) - just playing and jamming and giving it their all. In the encore, Trey flubs the intro to Character Zero, but manages to recover from it with charm.

Is anyone seeing any of the rescheduled new year's run at MSG (4/20-23)? I totally forgot this was happening, thinking about grabbing a ticket for Thursday 4/21 or Saturday 4/23 (currently available on StubHub for under $100). Would be my first time seeing them since 9/22/00(!)

(My girlfriend is recovering from COVID and I'm 90% sure none of my other friends will be down to go, but I don't mind flying solo...)

Not me, but since last week, I've subscribed to the Live Phish app and been blasting Phish shows nonstop and I have halfway considering getting lawn tickets for Merriweather this summer.

I don't know what's happening to me.

Seeing an MSG NYE show is on my bucket list, but won't be happening this year. Actually probably won't be seeing them at all this year, since there's no Chicago show. Alpine is great, but such a pain in the ass to get to that I can't rally anyone to make the trip.

I was at MSG new years in 1998 and 2001. It was indeed a good time. Do it, peace, man!

I'll be on Hartford lawn if anyone wants to meet up.

I was at 12/31/98 too!

nice! i might've written about this upthread somewhere, but that was one of the best weeks of my life - certainly the most carefree. i was 16, and me and a best friend spent the whole 4-night run crashing at his cousin's place who was a med student in the city at the time. we had good tickets to all 4 shows. would get home at 1am, sleep till noon every day, then get stoned and play in the city till showtime. we were on completely opposite schedules and never saw his cousin.

Ah, to be a teenage Phishhead again...

I've never actually heard any of the 98 new year's run so I just fired up the video of 12/31/98 on YouTube. Amazing setlist, thinking this is gonna be a nice ride.

Ohhh this first-set "Mike's" jam is GORGEOUS

oh yeah, get excited for the ghost too!

the 1st set is the one that stuck with me and that i always returned to, but i know people rate the tweezer in the 2nd as well

I'm deep into the "Ghost" now and it's wonderful. They seem to be in a really happy and laid-back (yet high-energy) mood. The "1999" opener set exactly the right vibe

PHISH, THURSDAY 04/21/2022
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
New York, NY
SET 1: Suzy Greenberg[1] > 46 Days, Plasma, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Wolfman's Brother, Esther, Ghost

SET 2: Chalk Dust Torture[2] -> Tweezer > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Maze, About to Run, The Mango Song > Harry Hood > Character Zero -> Tweezer -> Character Zero

ENCORE: A Life Beyond The Dream, Tweezer Reprise

[1] Dedicated to the “hero of the song,” Suzy Greenberg, who was attending her first Phish show
[2] Unfinished.

Incredible setlist porn from last night's MSG show, has me regretting not going (ended up grabbing a ticket for Saturday instead).

have fun tonight, J. Sam!

Lol at this fool at the bar with a suit jacket and underneath a phish shirt

you know where you are????? you're on the back of the WORM

(i'm finally digging through the amsterdam box set and i'm in the thick of the second set of 7/1/97 and holy christ)

I went up to a family reunion not far from Fairmount in Indiana a few weeks back, rushing through a bunch of side highways through corn fields way up on the north side of Indianapolis, I ran behind the back entry of that big campground featuring a man-made lake that is right around Deer Creek (whatever corp name this year) music park.

The Phish Navy was in full regalia for their weekend run in the campground and it was packed.

My ex-stonerrock/deadhead lead guitarist who does not really care for Phish says they are a band forever in search of a song. I dunno, they got some pretty good jams myself but I can't get with some of the goofy tunes sometimes. There is so much, but a couple of the jams above, I did get with myself. I got quite a few cds of them and they got a couple listens each, but I never got deep into them say compared to the Dead.

the drummer is classic for wearing a dress otherwise they never held my attention

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, February 12, 2003 3:58 PM (nineteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
did he wear a dress B4 Cobain?

― Oops (Oops), Wednesday, February 12, 2003 3:59 PM (nineteen years ago)

if jon fishman was dead i'm sure there'd be an elaborate fan mythology in which he was actually a transgender woman

and then of course there's the guy who wrote halley's comet, he detransitioned tho, still, fucking legend

So I started going through all of the shows available on Relisten, starting back in 1983. It’s been, interesting, so far, but listening to a half hour “Whipping Post” jam from late 1985 that only sound minimally like the spruce material and hits on a few almost “Dark Star” style cosmic moments…

Of course I come to read later that this is the famous show where Mike hit on the realization that he wanted to explore music forever. I can’t really recommend a ton from those early years, but the 11/23/85 “Whipping Post” is worth your time and hints and things to come…

Ugh, excuse those autocorrect errors “source” obviously.

There’s a bit about 17 and a half minutes in where this “Norwegian Wood” tease kicks in that is tremendous.

jvc that is quite a journey you've given yourself! how far do you plan to go? for me that would be a surefire way to burn out my appreciation for the music, esp once the setlists start to normalize in 88 or 89 or something, but i guess before that they're pretty varied and out there (albeit not nearly as tight). i did once have an 86 tape that got a lot of play and enjoyment from me - i think it was 12/6/86?

also of potential interest to readers of this thread: Vol 4 of the LivePhish vinyl series, where they are releasing singular epic jams, has been leaked, and it's gonna be 5/22/2000 Radio City Ghost. I am upthread somewhere recommending this jam to Brad or someone, and I still think of it as one of the most sophisticated and awesome pieces of music this band ever played. If you're a vinyl guy, highly recommend picking this one up!

I really have no idea how long I'll stick with it, just started it a few weeks ago on a whim. I tried doing it about a decade or so ago too, but as more of a formal exercise to write about every show, but that quickly felt more like a chore. This time I'm just dipping in and listening to a few songs now and then, taking an easier pace. I'm sure I'll reach that point of burnout at some point.

So I've been offered a free ticket to NYE @ MSG, never been to a Phish show, kind of want to experience that but it's also the most challenging music imaginable to me. Obviously i should accept but I worry it's going to be more of an endurance test than enjoyable. BradNelson's deep dive upthread is heroic and encouraging but is this gonna be biting off more than i can chew?

oh i would go. the last time they played msg there was a 3d projection of a whale, i.e. the production will be worth however much you end up disliking the music

Well, I did go. I mainly wanted to get a sense of what their fans love so much about 'em. They've always provoked the worst of my cynicism, and I really wanted to be able to set that aside and just try to appreciate Phish. There's something about them, and especially their fans' devotion to them, that makes me wanna try. And secondarily, I wanted the show to provide some kind of celebratory atmosphere for new years' eve. I would say they gave me all of that, but only for a glimmer; the base note was definitely Phish Show, which, i mean, fair enough. Unfortunately the sillage is disagreeable, there's a whiff of insularity. So I'm kinda disappointed, mostly in myself, that my cynicism won out in the end. Uh, because there were moments when I was grinning from ear to ear, or utterly astonished, at a total loss for words etc

In fairness, I don't think I've seen a show on anything even close to this scale. I mean, apart from Van Hagar when I was 10, the very largest venues I've been to are around 2k capacity. And I found MSG very overwhelming, it took me a good chunk of the show to adjust to the extent I was able to adjust, which was only somewhat. If there was an element of an endurance test, like, it had nothing to do with the music or the length of the show, it was more because of that. Obviously I sorta knew going into it that it's MSG, I just did not expect that to be so challenging or distracting. Just, nothing could have prepared me for that.

So, y'know, the "gag"(?) was like the stoner version of a Super Bowl halftime show kind of production *exhales slowly* I... uh... maybe this is a much more common thing in pop music than rock, i don't know. But like, it's definitely kind of brilliant how they're able to play the unpredictability cards within the predetermined framework in such a fun way. And to create this anticipation of surprise and really deliver, I defo think the Phish Roulette aspect is a big part of the appeal. They did Ghost (by far my favorite song of theirs that I know going into this) into Bohemian Rhapsody with alternate lyrics about The Story of the Ghost, and then just where the headbanging section is supposed to come in, they unexpectedly went back into Ghost- that downbeat was my single favorite moment.

I'm glad you got to experience that show, even if it didn't win you over in the end. I think I know what you mean re: insularity. Reading the description of the NYE "gag" on phish.net it sounds like a bunch of in-jokes and references to previous New Year's stunts that would be impenetrable to all but devoted Heads.

I haven't heard any of the show, but just reading this first set has me salivating: Tweezer, Halley's Comet -> Set Your Soul Free > Rift, Cavern > Tweezer > Shade, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove

They didn't win me over, but I'm feeling a little better about their show than i was when i wrote that. Guess I'm still processing. I would say i'm on the fence now, and happy with that as the takeaway. Will give them another shot when the mood strikes.

Phish NYE is an impressive undertaking for someone who doesn't like Phish!