Phish Band • Page 14

Here's Trey telling some hilarious stories about Curveball

 

Here's Trey shouting out Bernie Sanders at Farm Aid in 1998

 

Love Oysterhead, too bad it’s not a big tour.

 

Watch Phish’s Trey Anastasio Cover Bon Iver’s “Towers” in Eau Claire

 

Worth noting: I AM SO FUCKING PUMPED FOR NASSAU.

 

If anybody's gonna be in Providence be sure to check out the Creek aftershow at the Strand

 

What a second set last night.

 

been waiting for one of these "stream the first song of the set!" videos to turn into a 30+ minute one lol. Trey's face at the end plus that story lol, so good

 

even if you're a jaded vet who thinks they suck in 3.0 and thought that hit in the head with a pan bit was painfully unfunny you gotta love how much fun these guys are having lol

 

Hoooooo boy that was fun last night. I am in pain haha.

 

Trey was 100% stuck during the gag. Can’t believe people are debating otherwise haha.

 

So, just getting some thoughts down.

12/28: Above average for a warmup show, and a good precursor for the run. Nice little Disease (in the 3-hole too!) and Ghost were the winners of the first set. One of the more interesting Free's in a long while is a treat in the second set, but don't sleep on the smoking hot Piper finally getting the gold star treatment. The Ass Handed + Chalk Dust Reprise + Guy Forget insanity had me laughing out loud and grinning a mile wide.

12/29: Forgettable first set, but loved the While My Guitar Gently Weeps bust out (first time since 2013). The crowd's reaction at the start of it was perfect. Second set is just a non-stop slaughter of banger after banger. Not a single "piss song" in sight. An experimental Gin wins this set, with a unique re-entry back into the main theme. 2001 went a bit deep again, and had the Garden rocking. Trey recreating the famous "The Note" in the Hood was insane and more than makes up for the fact that the jam kinda got lost at the end. He sustained the note for almost 2 damn minutes, and people were just increasingly losing their shit.

12/30: Whoa mama. Pedestrian first set outside of a near 20-minute Type II Blaze On and a fun, but short, Mike's Groove with Contact in the middle. This second set is what dreams are made of though, with the 35-minute Tweezer already approaching mythical status. The Ruby Waves, though short is no slouch either, and segues back into both Tweezer and Ruby complete a four-song (!!!) second set. That set is why we Phish.

12/31: More of the pan banter from 12/30 had me thinking it was a build-up to the gag, but that turned out not to be the case. Halley's gets jammed a bit (at least for 3.0 Halley's) but the rest is nothing crazy. Set two is the cream of this show, with the Wolfman's > Light > Twist > Soul Planet delivering the goods and keeping the energy flying. Possum was a thorough exclamation point. But the highlight...is that god damn Twist.

Seriously, this Twist was tear-inducing. Watch the whole thing, or just go to 10:15 to listen to that crowd. Un-fucking-believable.

Unfortunately set 3 will be remembered for the technical mishap more than any of the music that was played. Once I realized he was actually stuck, I spent the rest of the set with pretty bad anxiety, and it felt like others did too. Of course the crowd went nuts for YEM, but it felt subdued with what was going on before us. I will say this: what other musician is going to play a piece as technically complicated as YEM, on their knees, while stuck 30 feet in the air at MSG? Why do other bands even try? You can't top that shit. The gag itself was beautifully choreographed and colored otherwise.

Trey stuck in mid-air is already an absurd Phish moment, and I can't wait to see how they play it up later on.

 

Saw Goose on Friday and I gotta say...I was impressed.

 

fuck man!! I was there both nights. They killed both, I really really love them. That "Lovely Day" was incredible. And they got the LazyLightning55 endorsement which is huge. It's great to have a smaller jam band that I genuinely love that I can travel to see on a semi-regular basis without breaking the bank.

 

@Wharf Rat Ahhh bummer! Woulda been cool to meet you. Or do gas post show. Either one haha.

Exactly what I was thinking, re: talent vs. price. Jam is honestly not my entire musical palette, I much more lean towards what AbsolutePunk/Chrorus is/was built on. That being said, I was definitely really impressed by their chops and ability to stay outside of a definable "jam" style. Thankfully I didn't have many around me, but fucking talkers and chompers man. You can really hear them on the AUD. What a shame.

Was Friday or Saturday the better show?

 

They're very close for me I think. I had more fun Saturday but looking over the setlists again one doesn't come out clearly ahead. Each night had only a couple songs I'm not a huge fan of. Friday had a few jams that weren't as dancey as I would like but they weren't bad at all so not really a fair negative. I did get more songs I was hoping for Saturday too but on pure quality, Friday has a very slight edge because the Lovely Day was the best thing all weekend. And I fucking LOVE Shama Lama Ding Dong.

If you were out front doing gas I'm sure you walked by me and a few randos I met at the show also out front doing gas lmfao. We were explaining to a first timer about how this is an important part of jam culture

 

Forgot to post the fresh dates in here

 

@Wharf Rat Lmao yah, I was like one of the first people at the tank and was able to get the 4/$20's flowing with my cousin. Apparently you're not in a lotta Phish groups cause there's a massive revolt against gas, but it's mostly just because PEOPLE THROW THEIR EMPTY BALLOONS ON THE GROUND LIKE ASSHOLES. How hard is it to put it in your pocket or throw in the trash? The pictures of hours or morning after shows at venues across the country is such a bad look sadly.

 

It's one of the most balanced summer tours in a while, I feel like?

West Coast, Pacific Northwest, the South, and the Northeast. Sadly I am probably only going to be able to do Atlantic City this summer as I am planning and saving for my wedding in September. Might try to squeeze Hershey in somehow but probably not going to happen.

 

I threw mine out I'm a good boy! But it's really bad. I think it was Fenway last year especially that was just brutal with it, genuinely embarrassing to see. Doesn't help that the dudes selling it can be, uh, violent lol

 

Yeah, that's a lot of people's (very) valid criticism. It brings some unsavory characters into the scene who are obviously not exactly there for the right reasons. Some Phish fans were talking about self-policing it which is absolutely insane. The nitrous mafia killed a dude at the Gathering of the Vibes years ago for bringing his own tank apparently. The truth is that as long as people are buying—and they always will be—the dealers are gonna show up. Best that most people can do is either not buy it or just not trash the damn place, which is SO easily avoidable.

 

Yeah its not worth it to try to stand up to those guys, but you can definitely just put your balloons in your pocket. There's really no reason not to, its not like its gonna stink or get you dirty like a cigarette butt does. Doesn't even take up any space

 

AC might be most likely for me as well, thinking about Nashville too but being in Virginia the northern shows are actually closer.

 

if this is real i'm gonna lose my mind