I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 21, 2017] Phish [I’ll be attaching some video clips later]

I had imagined going to all 13 shows at MSG.  I knew it would never happen (maybe if I was single and lived closer to NYC).  I saw a number of people who did go to all 13 shows.  Some looked pretty good.  Others looked pretty beat.   Last night I sat next to a guy who went to 10 and a woman who went to 8–she looked much better than he did.

Each night on this run has been pretty spectacular.  The sets have been great, the band has sounded fantastic and their energy never flagged.  There were several shows in the run that in retrospect I would have loved to have been at.  But I assumed first and last night would be a fun way to go.

As soon as I saw that they weren’t repeating any songs, I decided to keep track of what had been played to see what was left.  I don’t normally like to “know” what a band is going to play so I wasn’t trying to guess the setlist, but I wanted to make sure that I was going to get some songs that I wanted to hear.  I joked that if they kept playing my “top rated” songs, the show would be a 45 minute “Minkin” with dips into “No2” and “Riker’s Mailbox” [Phish jokes… nevermind].

I had made a list of all of the Phish songs I really wanted to see live.  And those “5 star” songs were getting removed night after night.  But by night 13, I was comforted to see that I knew I’d probably get at least two songs I really wanted to hear.  Turned out to get a whole lot more.

They opened with “Dogs Stole Things,” not a “glazed” song that I can see, but whatever.  And then they moved into “Rift.”  This was a song that was high on my list and it was even better than I thought it would be.  Next was a song that wasn’t even on my list: “Ha Ha Ha” a silly little ditty that I totally forgot about and which absolutely made my night.  This song is infrequently played and I’m pretty psyched to have heard it.

“Camel Walk” is one of those songs that’s not on an album but is just great.  This was another song that I didn’t put too high on my list but which proved to be really fun live.  Next they played a song that seemed familiar but which I didn’t really know.  I thought it was really catchy.  It turns out to be a song from Mike’s soon to be released solo album–one that I heard when I saw him play solo.

They played another song that I didn’t know: “Saw It Again.”  It’s another “unreleased” song except for a few live albums.  This was a loud moody piece and since I tend toward the heavier stuff I thought it was awesome.  And then came “Sanity.”  I’ve always liked this song.  I originally didn’t rank it very high in wanting-to-hear-songs, but as soon as they played it I was really excited.  But I was not as excited as the woman next to me who said “I’ve been waiting 88 shows to hear this.”  Glad she finally got it!  (and I almost feel bad that it only took me 3).  I wished I had asked her what other songs she wanted to hear.

When I told her that I was pretty happy to hear “Bouncing Around the Room” she told me that diehards don’t like the song that much because it’s too poppy.  But I think it’s great–fun and catchy with a cool set of fugue vocals at the end.  Wonderful to see live.

Then the played a song that I didn’t know (and I think many people didn’t know).  The guy next to me (who first saw Phish in 1994) said it was a song by Page’s side project Vida Blue.  Now that’s unexpected.  I really liked the song and need to give the album a listen.  They slowed things down with “Bug” from Farmhouse.  I really like Farmhouse and was happy to hear a mellow song that I was familiar with.

And then Trey asked Page how he was feeling.  Page said he was feeling “glazed” after all these shows.  Little did I know that this meant a really rare Phish song “I Been Around” (for people who like stats, it’s only been played 4 other times).  It’s a fun little ditty and they had a good time with it.

And then the crowd went berzerk because Trey started playing the riff to Jimi Hendrix’ “Izabella.”  I know the song from my Hendrix phase, and it’s a fine rocking song, but I couldn’t figure out why everyone was so insane for it.  So it turns out that the song hasn’t been played since 1998, making this a huge deal [since Phish fans love stats, it hadn’t been played for 574 shows–a real bust out].

And that was my Set One, a fantastic set–no clunkers to be found.  A few classic songs, a few delightfully weird songs and just a great 70-some minutes.

I was under the impression that every show in this run sold out.  At the first show, the intermission crowd was fine–I managed a snack and a drink and even some merch.  Tonight the crowd was bonkers.  The bathroom line was about 50 people deep in to the hall.  It mingled with the drinks line, and the merch line was huge.  I don’t know if this is because the 200 level is smaller, but it was chaos.  Piece of advice: the third floor has a lovely bathroom that few people were using right at the top of the stairs.  The normally chill Phish crowd was getting a little ugly, so I quickly headed back to my seat.

But I did get to see this guy with this now-legendary backpack.

Tonight’s seat was in the upper deck which was a bit of a bummer, but I was actually a little closer to the stage (more on the side).  But the unquestioning positivity of this seat was that it was row 1–no one in front of me.  Awesome!

Set two opened with a song that was really high on my list of songs–in fact, given what had been played, this was the song I wanted to hear the most.  “Simple.”  I’ve always loved this song and its simple lyrics.  It’s probably my favorite non-album song and I was so psyched that it was played on this night.  They jammed it out for over 20 minutes.  Including what I’ve read was a theremin solo (I didn’t realize that).   It was followed by “Rise Up/Come Together,” not the Beatles song, but an uplifting anthem that’s a recent song from Trey.  I really enjoyed it a lot.

Then Mike started singing a song that sounded really familiar.  What the heck was it?  Well, they burst forth the chorus of “there’s a starMAN! waiting in the sky.”  It was a great Bowie cover (my second Bowie cover in two shows).  And yes, I complained about so much Bowie-love, but this is a favorite song of mine and it sounded really good.

This Bowie connection may have been preordained when I saw this amazing mural on a wall in Hoboken.  I only wish I could have gotten more of it, but, you know, driving and all.

And then the opening notes of “You Enjoy Myself.”  This was the other huge song that I wanted to hear live.  My mild complaint was that I had seen it already last year (and there were so many other 5 star songs I wanted to hear).  But I absolutely love the song so I won’t actually complain at all.

And seeing it live is fantastic–it’s stretched out for some 20 minutes.  The opening musical melody is just fantastic.  Midway through the song Mike and Trey jump on trampolines.   And, like last time, this one ended with a 4 and a half-minute “vocal jam.”  I don’t know how most people feel about this part, but I love it.  I love it for how weird it is, I love that they throw so many facets into it and–for  this show, I absolutely loved that the lights were totally in sych with what they were doing.  It was fantastic.

The lights were just amazing through the whole series.  I really can’t stress enough how much fun it was to see the lights move and highlight different parts of the house.  And the guy in charge was practically like the fifth member of the band, improvising the lights as the guys were playing–perfectly jamming with the rest of the band

What was interesting is that midway through the song Trey put down his guitar and I think he was going to play the “marimba lumina: which would have been very cool–especially since I could see it so well from where I was).  But then Mike played a bass line and Trey picked up his guitar and resumed the jam where they were.

YEM usually ends a set, but they weren’t done yet.  They launched into The Rolling Stones’ “Loving Cup.”  I don’t even know if I know the Stones’ version, but I’ve heard the Phish version a ton on various live shows.  I was never that excited about it, but it was a lot of fun to be on hand for it with 20,000 people singing “Give me little drink from your loving cup” (and of course, the “what a beautiful buzz” section).  That’s 20,000 of my closest friends below.

And that was…it?  Seemed like a short set.  But I knew they’d be back for an encore.

This was the final night of their 13 night run so I assumed they’d do something special.  I even imagined they’d play long after the 11:30 curfew.  As the crowd cheered for the encore an object lowered down from the rafters. It looked like  a giant tube (people said it was a referencing the year that the band flew in on a giant hot dog).  But they did not climb out of the tube.  Rather, it was a banner–the one at the top of the post.  And after they unfurled it, it was pulled into the rafters, presumably to rest with the retired jerseys and other memorabilia of MSG history.

The band seemed genuinely moved by all of the love (the mayor officially declared it Phish Day).

So how do you cap off a 13 night run?  With a fun and appropriate cover of “On the Road Again.”  All three of the front men took a verse, and the song was a bittersweet realization that the fun was coming to an end.

Then Page came out from behind the keys.  He said “people keep asking me, is still ‘Lawn Boy?’” [for those not paying attention, “Lawn Boy is normally a goofy 90 second song, but at an earlier show they jammed it out to some 25 minutes, which is absurd and was even trending on Twitter].  And so, just to make the song last even longer, Page sang the final verse and more or less officially ended the song for good.

Then Mike started playing the funky bass intro to “Weekapaug Groove.”  But surely they had played that a few nights ago….  It was just a tease, because then Trey began what would definitely signal the end… the opening notes of “Tweezer Reprise.” I was lucky enough to have been there on the first night when the started the second set with “Tweezer.”  And I was here for the culmination with the rocking reprise.  There were confetti cannons and glitter and all manner of excitement as they rocked the song and then left the stage.

It was a pretty spectacular show–a great culmination to the run.  I have no idea if there was any glazed theme in the music.  It’s also interesting that there was no a capella song.  But who cares!

I will admit that I was surprised at just how early the show ended.  I expected the show to go on for hours and hours.  But at the same time, I think everyone was exhausted.  And I know I was really excited to get the PATH that was awaiting me and to make it back to Hoboken before midnight.

While It would dave been something otherworldly to have gone to all 13, or maybe even all four shows that I had tickets to, I like the symmetry of bookending the shows.

And it was very cool to be part of something so momentous.

So I’ve seen them three times now and there’s only been 4 repeated songs (and I like all of them, so it’s cool).