I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 30, 2019] Phish

After last night’s show, I really didn’t have high hopes for knocking out a bunch of songs.  I realize they don’t know what’s on my list, but it sometimes feels like they do and they keep spacing them out to make sure I come back.

For this show I had seats that I bought in the lottery.  I never get good seats in the Phish lottery, but the tickets themselves are very cool–colorful and quite lovely.  But I was up in the 200s for this show.  And once again my row-mates were lame.  Or maybe I’m the lame one.  Whatever the case, this was my first show where I could see the video screen.  The video screen is pretty terrible because the audio and video are out of synch.  However, it did allow me to take a few good pictures of the guys.

Tonight’s trip into the city was much better.  I’d picked a garage in the village, six blocks from Le Poisson Rouge, and this time I knew I’d be able to make the afterparty (Garcia Peoples, Chris Forsyth, Ryley Walker).  I also managed to go into MSG through a different entrance (I really wish I could keep track of which entrances are the best).  I managed to get the shirt that I liked (sold out last night) and get to my seat with ample time to spare.  Let it be known that there is FAR LESS ROOM in the 200s than in the 100s!

But the lights soon dimmed and Trey played the four opening notes that can only mean one thing–“Wilson!”  The very first time I saw Phish, they opened with “Wilson” and it was a wonderful moment.  And sure, I’ve seen it four times, but it is such a great, exciting song live–so much crowd interaction–that I knew it would be a fun night.

Up next was a Kasvot Växt song, “The Final Hurrah.”  I love that I keep getting different ones from the album.  This one was terrific because of the wonderfully stupid line “faceplant into rock” which is comically  sampled several times by someone with a very heavy accent.  The song is great and those lyrics are just too funny.

The rest of the set seemed to juxtapose songs I’d never seen live (and some I’d never even heard before) with some old staples that I’d seen a bunch.

I’ve seen “46 Days” a few times, but it’s a good grooving song.  It was followed by “The Ballad of Curtis Loew,” a Lynyrd Skynyrd song.  Now, I’m not a big Skynyrd fan, so I’d never heard this song before and I was sure that Page was singing about Kurtis Blow, although I could not figure out why he was singing that Kurtis Blow was “the finest picker to ever play the blues.”

Up next was “Blaze On,” a song I’d seen twice before, including once by Trey solo at Newport Folk Festival.  Since S. was with me at Newport, I thought she’s be interested to hear the full band version and how different it sounded.

They followed that with another cover I didn’t know.  “Corinna” by Taj Mahal is one of those songs that I’m sure I’ve heard on a live recording, but I didn’t know well.  Interestingly, I saw a woman wearing a “Corinna” shirt later on that night.  How’d she know?

They followed it with another song I’ve heard the most live, and yet one which never fails to delight me–“Mike’s Song.”  When you hear “Mike’s” you know you’re going to get a “Weekapaug Groove” soon after.  Usually, they put a song in between the two bookends.  I have seen it once with the sandwiched song being a song they’ve never played before or since.  And this time the sandwiched song was one they’ve only put in between these two something like three times before–“Contact.”  “Contact” is a short, funny song that I assumed I’d never hear live.  And yet there it was.

The tires are the things on your car
That make contact with the road
The car is the thing on the road
That takes you back to your abode
The tires are the things on your car
That make contact with the road
Bummed is what you are
When you go out to your car and it’s been towed

As gloriously absurd as you could imagine and a wonderful breather before the fun of “Weekapaug.”  There’s a few moments in this song when the glow sticks go flying!

I assumed that that was the end of the set (it’s often a set ender), but they had more to play.  Up next was a song I’d never heard before, and it was phenomenal.  The song was “About to Run” which is from Trey’s Ghosts of the Forest project.  I haven’t listened to Ghosts of the Forest at all.  But after seeing this song live, I absolutely want to check it out.  Trey played a blisteringly noisy and dark solo–continuing with the fantastic style he’d been playing the night before.  It was really impressive.

They ended the set with the same song they ended the first set with on this day last year, “More.”  I also saw Trey play this at Newport–he started in the wrong key, which was pretty funny.  I really like this song.  It’s interesting because of how it’s optimistic and pessimistic at the same time

I’m vibrating with love and light [I’d always heard it as Northern Lights]
Pulsating with love and light
In a world gone mad a world gone mad
There must be something more than this

And yet however you interpret the “something more than this” it’s a really uplifting song to sing and a nice way to end the set.

I found out on my way into the show that my friend Armando and his S.O. were attending the show.  I knew they were going to be there for NYE, but they spontaneously grabbed tickets to this evening’s show earlier in the day.  Their seats were behind the stage in the 400s (I didn’t know they went that high).  So during intermission I went up to hang out.  Turns out for that section you need to show your ticket to get in (because it has access to the 300 box seats–yawn).  So, after some finagling, I got to see the view from the nosebleeds.  Which actually were pretty good–probably better than where I was.

I have no idea why I didn’t think to at least bring my bag with me, because I would have really enjoyed hanging out with them for the final set instead of my lame-o group.  And he told me that his entire row was empty for Set 2 because everyone had moved down somewhere else.

But, I timed it well, and made it back to my seat just a minute or so before they came back out.

A friend of mine recently asked if there were songs you always heard at a Phish show.  Obviously that is a no, but there seems to be a dozen or so songs and you’re likely to hear at least one of them at a show.  I feel like “Tweezer” is one of them, and yet this was only the second time I’ve seen it live.  This song is so much fun.  And this version proved to be almost historical as they jammed it out for over 36 minutes.  This is the longest song I’ve seen live (the previous record was a 25 minute “Simple”) and it turned out be one of the longest songs they’ve ever played–it puts it in their top ten longest songs.

I’ve always wondered what people did for a half an hour during a jam like this.  After fifteen minutes or so the guys in front of me sat down.  No stamina on these young people.  Maybe it’s more fun to dance if you’re on the floor.

The interesting thing is how many different directions a jam like this can go in.  Since others have described this better than me, I’m going to excerpt the summary from Live for Live Music:

Anastasio chose a driven, focused path for his guitar on top of Fishman’s foundational drum work. The jam moved into a dark and murky space with fuzzy wah-wah guitar effects over “Liz Reed”-reminiscent riffs and deep bass notes from Gordon, keeping the momentum moving forward with intent.

McConnell relocated to the organ at the 11-minute mark, helping the jam transition into airy major key territory with spacey synth tones and choppy plinko effects. As lighting designer Chris Kuroda circled white beams of light around the walls of the Garden, it became clear to everyone watching from both the crowd and the couch: the band had achieved lift-off. On a dime, Fishman switched up the tempo around the 15-minute mark to inspire dank and dirty bass notes to surround Anastasio’s high energy riffing.

About halfway through the marathon jam, the laser-focused band opened an ambient, placid path that hinted at a transition into a new song. Instead, they strategically teamed up to create an otherworldly Type II lullaby. Fishman pulled them out of the quieter space with jazzy drumming, setting up a return to a light and blissful palette as the timer on the jam hit 30 minutes. Reminiscent of the standout “Harry Hood” from the previous night, Anastasio sustained a single, glorious note that pierced through the accompaniment, adding to the emotional heft of this “Tweezer” voyage.

Finally, Trey worked with Fishman and Page to give a shout-out to the New York Rangers in the form of a tease of marching band classic “Let’s Go Band”, which Rangers fans co-opted long ago in this hallowed building as the cue for a “Potvin Sucks” chant. The audience obliged with excitement, prompting visible amusement from the band as they finally brought this mammoth “Tweezer” to a close.

So, yea, there’s a lot of inside lingo in that review, but suffice it to say that it was a lot off fun, especially as people started realizing just how long this jam was.  The “Potvin sucks” chant was interesting because I didn’t know it.  I thought they were saying Boston sucks.  I also heard some people saying Let’s Go Phish.  The Potvin Sucks story is pretty simple (click here if you care).

After the jam was over, Trey came to the mic and starting telling a story about playing the Garden 25 years ago.  I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a show in which Trey spoke to the crowd.  In the old days he used to talk a lot.  Now he hardly ever does.  So it was fun to get a story.  The story was absurd and involved him getting hit in the head with a pan.   Every time he said the word “pan,” Fish would hit a gonging sound effect.  And then Page started adding in a scream from his samples so Trey made the refrain that he was hit in the head with a pan [clang] and screamed [ahhhhh].  It was weird and silly and didn’t actually lead to anything.

[Turns out it was a set up for the following night, in which the “pan” led to their tour manager coming out and playing the pan flute].

This picture here is my actual view from my seats.

After the story, they started into “Ruby Waves,” the second Ghosts of the Forest song of the night.  I’d seen this live before, and they jammed it about 13 minutes.  After a 36 minute song, I never imagined they’d do another long song, but they stretched this one out for 13 minutes once again.  I actually wondered if set two was only going to be two songs.   But they started another song that I’ve seen live (and saw Trey play solo), “Steam.”  The first time I saw it was in Camden and I was pretty far from the stage.  It was cool being closer to the stage to see the “steam” coming out from the stage when they came to the chorus.

I was sure that would be the end of the set, but they started on one more song that I’ve seen a few times, but which I always enjoy hearing, “Slave to the Traffic Light.”  Each time I’ve seen it, it has run around nine minutes, and that’s what this one did too.  It was a reliably fun song to end with.

So I didn’t get to check off any songs on my short list.  I thought that maybe the encore would be a gift for my list, but instead it turned out to be a gift for New Yorkers.  They played “Rock & Roll” by the Velvet Underground which allowed New Yorkers to get excited at the line

Then one fine mornin’ she puts on a New York station
You know, she couldn’t believe what she heard at all.

It’s a fun song and their jamming sound made it a bit more rocking  than the original, so by the end we were all singing that “it was all right.”

After the show I made my way out to the subway (passing by all kinds of people doing the “hippie crack,” good lord) and got to the subway line I took to get in.  This line had frequent trains and I made it to the village quickly enough that I was able to get a slice of pizza before popping into Le Poisson Rouge for even more jam music.

So that makes nine Phish shows for me.  And since Phish fans love their statistics, I can add here that in nine shows, I have heard no songs more than four times.

The four that I have heard four times are:

1. Wilson
2. Mike’s Song/Weekapaug Grove
3. Everything’s Right (this Trey song is getting A LOT of play).

A Phish.net site lists every song that Phish has every played and when the last time it was played.  So I decided to make my own personal ultimate list of Phish songs I’d like to see.

According to that site, I have seen 123 different songs and there are 184 songs [not including the dozens of one-offs that they will not repeat] that I have not heard them play.

The completist in me would love to hear all 184 of those songs, (some they haven’t played in years, so that’s unlikely).  But given that enormous list, I have now selected the 25 or so songs that I want to hear live (the ones on the bottom are the rest of the Kasvot Voxt album and it would be cool to get the whole thing, but not essential).  These are in order of frequency of play (“Possum” is their second most frequently played song and I have not yet heard it live), which means likelihood I’ll hear them I guess.

1. Possum
2. Golgi Apparatus
3. Cavern
4. Stash
5. Squirming Coil
6. Foam
7. Lizards
8. Maze
9. Llama
10. Sample in a Jar [TREY SOLO]
11. Fee
12. Fluffhead
13. It’s Ice
14. Wolfman’s Brother
15. Silent in the Morning
16. The Sloth
17. Punch You in the Eye
18. Prince Caspian
19. Twist
20. Scent of a Mule
21. Guyute
22. Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars
23. Guyute
24. Heavy Things [TAB played it]
25. Sleeping Monkey
26. Ocelot [TAB played it]
27. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan
28. Farmhouse [TREY played it]
29. Joy
30. Weigh
31. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing
32. Kung
33. Axilla (Part II)
34. Pebbles and Marbles
35. Fuck Your Face
36. Mexican Cousin
37. Ass Handed
38. anything from the Colonel Forbin/Mockingbird
39. *Stray Dog
40. *Everything is Hollow
41. *We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains
42. *Play By Play
43. *Passing Through

I have wanted to go to a New Year’s Eve show for a long time.  But since I have a family, I figured I never would–because of course I want to ring in the new year with my family.  But this year my son said he thought that a Phish New Year’s Eve show sounded really cool (I don’t think he actually likes the band just the gag).  So, MAYBE, if Phish plays MSG next year, he and I will go.  And I’ll certainly be able to knock off a few more of those songs then.

SETLISTS

December 30, 2019 Madison Square Garden [night 3 of 4]	December 29, 2019 Madison Square Garden [night 2 of 4]
SET ONE
Wilson (4:49) (4)	Turtle in the Clouds (7:51) [Kasvot Växt]
The Final Hurrah (7:37) [Kasvot Växt]	The Moma Dance (7:54) (2)
46 Days (8:40)  (3)	Kill Devil Falls (8:40)
The Ballad of Curtis Loew (5:02) [Lynyrd Skynyrd cover]	Yarmouth Road (7:12) [Mike song]
Blaze On (17:17) (3)	The Wedge (7:41)
Corinna (5:32) [Taj Mahal cover]	Beauty of a Broken Heart (5:28) [Page song]
Mike’s Song (6:24) (4)	Fuego (9:16) (2)
Contact (6:13)	My Friend, My Friend (5:25) (no Myfe ending)
Weekapaug Groove (4:59) (4)	Birds of a Feather (5:42) (2)
About to Run (7:47) [Ghosts of the Forest song]	While My Guitar Gently Weeps (7:12) [The Beatles cover] (first time since 2013)
More (8:18) (2)	Walls of the Cave (11:07) (2)
SET TWO	SET TWO
Tweezer (36:08) (2) [LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN]	Carini (13:52) (2)
Pan Story (3:25)	Back on the Train (6:22)
Ruby Waves (13:23) [Ghosts of the Forest] (2)	Bathtub Gin (15:44)
Steam (with Tweezer reprise and Ruby Waves reprise) (11:53) (2)	Golden Age [TV on the Radio] (11:06) (2)
Slave to the Traffic Light (9:28) (3)	Also Sprach Zarathustra (8:16) [Richard Strauss cover]
ENCORE	Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley (5:12) [Lee Dorsey cover]
Rock & Roll (7:19) [Velvet Underground cover]	Chalk Dust Torture (5:19)
	Harry Hood (18:53)
	ENCORE
	Show of Life (5:35) [Trey song] (2)
	Run Like an Antelope (9:08)

 

Camden, June 29, 2019	December 30, 2018 Madison Square Garden [night 3 of 4]
SET ONE	SET ONE
Mike’s Song (9:12) (3)	Alumni Blues (5:14)
I Am Hydrogen (3:02) (2)	Letter to Jimmy Page > Alumni Blues (1:53)
Weekapaug Groove (8:01) (3)	Mike’s Song (9:14) (2)
Divided Sky (15:48)	Glide II (4:03) (first since 1995)
Everything’s Right (9:50) [Trey song] (4)	Weekapaug Groove (12:38) (2)
Guelah Papyrus (5:22)	Crosseyed and Painless (8:50)
Sparkle (3:51) (3)	Bliss (1:39)
Roggae (7:59) (3)	Billy Breathes (5:35) (2)
46 Days (10:31) (2)	No Men in No Man’s Land (7:50) (3)
SET TWO	Tube > Weekapaug Groove > Tube (10:02)
Blaze On (9:23) (2)	More (6:23)
NICU (4:57)	SET TWO
Golden Age (8:27) [TV on the Radio]	Cool Amber and Mercury (9:35) [Kasvot Växt]
Ruby Waves (13:38)[Ghosts of the Forest]	Everything’s Right (15:30) [Trey song] (3)
Death Don’t Hurt Very Long (2:57) [Kasvot Växt]	Plasma (9:09)
Rift (6:11) (3)	Light (20:01) (2)
Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 (8:10) [Ghosts of the Forest] [debut]	Wading in the Velvet Sea (5:25)
Waiting All Night (4:59)	Split Open and Melt (18:26) (3)
Ghost (8:17)	ENCORE
Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S (6:42) [Kasvot Växt]	Funky Bitch (5:33) (2)
ENCORE	Wilson (4:10) (3)
You Enjoy Myself (19:50) (3)	Rocky Top (2:40)
Grind (1:51) (a capella)	Cavern (4:45)

 

Camden August 8, 2018	Camden, August 7, 2018
SET ONE	SET ONE
The Moma Dance (9:34)	Crowd Control (5:20)
Free (8:03)	No Men in No Man’s Land (7:34) (2)
Undermind (8:27)	Blaze On (11:22)
Theme From the Bottom (8:23)	Lawn Boy (4:16)
My Sweet One (2:09)	Infinite (9:26)
Steam (8:38)	Wilson (4:08) (2)
Train Song (3:09)	Roggae (9:29) (2)
Halley’s Comet (6:29)	Rift (6:08) (2)
Everything’s Right [Trey song] (16:41) (2)	46 Days (9:41) [with Theme from S.W.A.T. tease]
SET TWO	Sparkle (3:34) (2)
Julius (8:06)	David Bowie (11:27)
Carini (11:49)	SET TWO
Set Your Soul Free (10:52) [Trey song]	Down with Disease (24:28) [3rd LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN]
Wingsuit (9:05)	Backwards Down the Number Line (8:28)
Scents and Subtle Sounds (12:04)	I Always Wanted It That Way (8:45)
Waste (6:20)	Miss You (6:25)
Split Open and Melt (11:59) (2)	Light (16:30)
Character Zero (8:47)	Mike’s Song (7:32)
ENCORE	I Am Hydrogen (3:08)
Suzy Greenberg (6:33) (3)	Weekapaug Groove (8:46)
	ENCORE
	Show of Life (Trey song) (6:02)

 

2017 Bakers Dozen Night 13 [Glazed]	2017 Bakers Dozen Night 1 [Coconut]
SET ONE	SET ONE
Dogs Stole Things (4:57)	Shake Your Coconuts (3:37) [Junior Senior cover]
Rift (6:25)	Martian Monster (6:02)
Ha Ha Ha (1:36)	Timber ho! (8:29) [Josh White cover] (2)
Camel Walk (6:20)	555 (7:30)
Crazy Sometimes (7:38) [Mike song]	Pigtail (8:00) [Trey song]
Saw It Again (6:08)	Halfway to the Moon (8:44)
Sanity (5:32)	Reba (12:53) (no whistling end)
Bouncing Around the Room (4:01)	Moonage Daydream (6:07) [David Bowie cover]
Most Events Aren’t Planned (11:38) [Vida Blue song]	Walls of the Cave (11:45)
Bug (7:05)	SET TWO
I Been Around (3:55)	Tweezer (16:12)
Izabella (6:42) [Jimi Hendrix song]	Seven Below (13:10)
SET TWO	Billy Breathes (5:27)
Simple (25:58) [2nd LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN]	Sparkle (4:08)
Rise/Come Together (7:28) [Trey song]	Everything’s Right (11:42) [Trey song]
Starman (5:27) [David Bowie song]	Slave to the Traffic Light (9:23) (2)
You Enjoy Myself (24:01) (2) [4th LONGEST SONG I’VE SEEN]	Suzy Greenberg (8:09) (2)
Loving Cup (7:48) [The Rolling Stones song]	Coconut (3:18) (a capella) [Harry Nilsson cover]
ENCORE	ENCORE
On the Road Again (2:32) [Willie Nelson cover]	The Mango Song (7:42)
Lawn Boy Reprise (1:28)	Good Times, Bad Times (5:44) [Led Zeppelin cover]
Bass Solo (0:30)
Tweezer Reprise (3:56)

 

2016 Mann Center

SET ONE

Wilson (5:09)

Funky Bitch (6:14) [Son Seals cover]

No Men in No Man’s Land (8:16)

Roggae (9:46)

Nellie Kane (2:59) [Hot Rize cover]

Gumbo (6:21)

Birds of a Feather (7:35)

Sleep Again (6:05) [Trey song]

Things People Do (2:49)

Limb By Limb (7:19)

Split Open and Melt (10:18)

The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony (1:43)

Suzy Greenberg (6:40)

SET TWO

Fuego (16:04)

Runaway Jim (7:52)

Gotta Jibboo (8:51)

Breath and Burning (9:34)

Timber ho! (5:36) [Josh White cover]

Slave to the Traffic Light (9:36)

You Enjoy Myself (18:43)

ENCORE

Quinn the Eskimo (4:49) [Bob Dylan cover]

 

TREY ANASTASIO BAND SETLISTS FOR ADDITION

 

TREY ANASTASIO BAND Fillmore 2016	TREY ANASTASIO solo Newport Folk Fest 2019
SET ONE	Sample in a Jar [PHISH]
Sand (11:18) [PHISH]	Blaze On [PHISH]
Sometime After Sunset (5:39)	Brian and Robert [PHISH]
Mozambique (3:43)	The Inlaw Josie Wales [PHISH]
Magilla (2:59) [PHISH]	Set Your Soul Free
Gotta Jibboo (10:25)	Back on the Train [PHISH]
Pigtail (6:29)	Farmhouse [PHISH]
Curlew’s Call (9:38)	Rise/Come Together [TAB]
Cayman Review (7:30)	Shade [PHISH]
Ocelot (9:12) [PHISH]	Summer of ’89 [PHISH]
Valentine (6:06)	Sand [PHISH]
Tuesday (5:50)	Snowflakes in the Sand [TAB]
SET TWO	Steam [PHISH]
Drifting (7:39)	More [PHISH]
Night Speaks to a Woman (10:21)
Delta Lady (4:29) [Leon Russel]
Simple Twist Up Dave (9:30)
The Song (5:06)
Feel It Still (3:11) [Portugal, The Man]
49 Bye-Byes (4:42) [Crosby, Stills & Nash]
Last Tube (10:40)
Architect (7:18)
Clint Eastwood (7:43) [Gorillaz]
Black Dog (8:35) [Led Zeppelin]
ENCORE
The Parting Glass (3:02) [traditional]
Heavy Things (5:08) [PHISH]
Push On ‘Til The Day (10:23)