I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2022] Phish

I was pretty tired for this show and not really looking to the long day ahead.  But I had pretty much assured myself that this would be my last Phish show, so I’d be sure to enjoy it.

I entered through the gate under the stage which was weird and kind of fun and I wound up right by Paige again.  I was also cutting it pretty close to the start (parking this time in a garage not too far away from the stage–an excellent choice).

They came out pretty soon after and played a ripping “Wolfman’s Brother” a song on my “Gotta See List.”  So that was a good sign.  And it was an unexpectedly long jam.  There was some watery funky bass and riffs and peaks from Trey and dirty watery sounds from Page and Mike as well.  A great start.

And then they jumped right into “Tube.”  Tube is one of those wonderfully mythic live song that is so much fun to hear.  Between these two songs they’d jammed almost thirty minutes already.

They followed it up with a mellow song I didn’t recognize (even though I love Farmhouse), the ballad “Mountains of the Mist.”  At this point I was getting annoyed by the people around me (so many smokers!) so I had to move.

They moved onto a bouncy version of Ocelet, a song I’ve wanted to hear live for a long time (two on my gotta see list already!).   This one seemed delicate and almost tiptoe-like as it danced around the sand until it took off for some good jamming with some nice peaks

Sadly, that would be the end of my checklist for the night.

And yet that would be okay because the songs they played were just some of my all time big thumbs up yesses.

I had more or less decided that this would be my last Phish show–fifteen seemed like enough–unless I could get GA at venue or maybe New Year’s Eve.  But it was like the band  were thanking me  by sending me off with a great setlist of songs.  Like Flulffhead!  I had only seen it once before (in Atlantic City last year) it was a treat then and a treat here.  It sounded perfect, like they were having a ton of fun with it (and who wouldn’t) and all of the parts were done correctly with minimal flubs,  not bad for such a complicated piece.

I had just seen Mercury at the Mann Center (yes), but that was my first exposure to it so that’s fine.  Trey’s voice seemed a little stretched out for the high notes on this one.  It’s  a pretty enjoyable song, though, so I was happy to hear it again.  I was also happy to get a bouncy goofy happy “Gumbo.”   They seemed to really enjoy playing this song.

And then they ended the set with an absolutely bonkers “Carini” a rocker of song that I love hearing them play.

Set two opens with, sigh, “Mike’s Song.” I never would have guessed I’d be sad to hear this song which was once my favorite.  Its not even that I dislike the song, because I don’t.  It’s a lot of fun and an enjoyable good time from the get go.  The problem such as it is, is that I have seen it 6 times (*still not bad out of 15 shows, but still).  The followup problem is that it’s (nearly) always followed by “Weekapgaug Groove” (another great song) which means that between the two songs that’s at least fifteen minutes, up to twenty minutes taken up with these two (or three) songs.

Again, I love the whole trilogy, but if you’re there for checking off songs you haven’t heard before this is a big chunk of time you’re not getting back.

However, if you’re looking for a killer set of songs, this second set really has it all.

This Mike’s/Groove was really solid and it’s absurd that I would actually complain about hearing it since the two songs are so great and the “I am Hydrogen” interlude is quite lovely.

It jumped into “A Wave of Hope” the only new song in this set for me.    This is a Trey song that I didn’t know but which has been getting some play.  And play it they did.  They jammed this mother out for almost twenty minutes with all kinds of interplay between Trey and Paige.  It had a beautiful jam with all kinds of peaks and valleys and one which ends heavy and heads right into the intro of You Enjoy Myself.  Yes!  My potentially final Phish show ends with a YEM.  Well, guys, that was a very nice thing to do wasn’t it?

There was some wailing soloing with some really funky bass and keyboard work in the middle of the jam.  There was a vocal jam at the end.  In that past these disintegrated (in a good way) into a weird yelling nonsensical fun thing (not unlike Weird Al) but Fish picked up a new groove and they went to town with it while the band jammed along on a new wholly funky rhythm for another five minutes or so.  .

As Live for Live music put it “the 43 minutes Phish spent between “A Wave of Hope” and “YEM” were easily some of the most eccentric jamming of the summer.”

The only problem with this jamming after the vocal jam is that the song doesn’t really have an ending per se, which isn’t terrible or anything just weird after a 20+ minute jam.  YEM always seems like a show ender for me, but they weren’t done yet.   So if your post YEM jam suddenly morphs into “Suzy Greenberg” that’s pretty awesome too.  It’s like they were sending me off with a greatest hits of live songs.

While I accepted that they weren’t really going to check off any more songs from my list I was still hoping for one more ocean-themed song in the encore.  Why not play “A Aong I Heard the Ocean Sing?”  I love it and would be thrilled to hear it.   But instead they played “Wading in the Velvet Sea,” which also works.  A lovely come down for a slow encore intro.  But Phish doesn’t seem to want to end an encore mellow anymore, so they busted out one more rocker–a fantastic “First Tube.”  The song ended with wild screaming feedback and crazy sounds.

I was wiped out and really didn’t want to drive all the way home.  but I just could never bring myself to get a room in A/C for the night.

It was a great last couple of shows.

I still have thirty songs on my gotta see list (and can’t believe I haven’t seen a Possum yet).  Of course, Phish retired once as well, so maybe if they play the Mann center next summer I might pop in for a night (or two).  And, maybe one night in Atlantic City wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world…..

~~~~

The six, five and four timers club

1. Mike’s Song [6]
2. Weekapaug Groove [6]
3. Split open and Melt [5]
4. You Enjoy Myself [5]
5. Suzy Greenberg [5]
6. Wilson [5]
7. Roggae
8. 46 Days
9. Slave to the Traffic Light
10. Everything’s Right
11. More
12. Carini
13. I am Hydrogen

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 36 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 [548]  (Weekapaug Groove has been played 497 times and I’ve heard it 5 times)
2. Golgi Apparatus [469]
3. Cavern [467]
4. Foam [349]
5. Lizards [325]  (Split Open and Melt has been played 332 times and I have seen it 5 times)
6. Maze [326]
7. Sample in a Jar [298] [saw it TREY SOLO]
8. Fee [283]    (Slave to the Traffic Light has been played 272 time and I have seen it 4 times)
9. It’s Ice [243]
10. Silent in the Morning [185]
11. Punch You in the Eye [161]
12. Prince Caspian [165]
13. Twist [160]
14. Scent of a Mule [137]
15. Guyute [132]
16. Heavy Things [95] [TAB played it]
17. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan [79]
18. Farmhouse [82] [TREY played it]
19. Joy [52]
20. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing [43]   (Everything’s Right has been played 42 times and i have seen it 4 times)
21. Pebbles and Marbles [27]
22. Weigh [44]
23. Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars [131]
24. Kung [38]
25. Fuck Your Face [18]
26. Mexican Cousin [15]
27. Ass Handed [17]
28. Colonel Forbin/Mockingbird
29. *Stray Dog [Kasvot Växt] [4]
30. *Everything is Hollow [Kasvot Växt] [3]
31. *We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains [Kasvot Växt] [9]
32. *Play By Play [Kasvot Växt] [3]

Got:

1. Wolfman’s Brother [220]
2. Sleeping Monkey [94]
3. Ocelot [94]
4. Axilla (Part II) [46]

SETLISTS

August 7, 2022 [Atlantic City night 3 of 3]	August 7, 2022 [Atlantic City night 1 of 3]
SET ONE	SET ONE
Wolfman’s Brother 11:37	Chalk Dust Torture  7:39 [3]
Tube 12:07 [3]	Wilson  4:18 [5]
Mountains in the Mist 6:57	Sand 11:19  [saw TAB play it too]
Ocelot 11:10	Plasma  8:25 [2]
Fluffhead 14:28 [2]	Theme from the Bottom 8:10 [3]
Mercury 7:09 [2]	Back on the Train 7:50 [3]
Gumbo 4:49 [2]	Sigma Oasis 21:29 [SIXTH LONGEST SONG I’ve seen]
Carini 9:53 [4]	Cities 4:43 [Talking Heads] [2]
SET TWO	More 6:00 [4]
Mike’s Song 7:19 [6]	SET TWO
I am Hydrogen 7:01 [4]	Axilla (Part II) 5:54
Weekapaug Groove 8:13 [6]	Soul Planet 14:52 [Trey song] [2]
A Wave of Hope 19:23 [Eleventh longest song I’ve seen]	Down with Disease 20:51 [2] [Seventh longest song I’ve seen]
You Enjoy Myself 23:46 [5] [FIFTH LONGEST song I’ve seen]	Ruby Waves 14:39 [Ghosts of the Forest] [3]
Suzy Greenberg 7:21 [5]	Down with Disease 0:50 [2]
ENCORE	Ghost 12:17 [2 plus 1 slow version]
Wading in the Velvet Sea 5:43 [2]	Harry Hood 14:54 [2]
First Tube 7:21 [2]	ENCORE
	Sleeping Monkey 4:13
	Free 10:35 [2]

 

July 20, 2022 [Mann Center night 2 of 2]	July 19, 2022 [Mann Center night 1 of 2]
SET ONE	SET ONE
Steam (8:27) [3]	Space Oddity [David Bowie] (5:27) (a cappella) (first time since 2017)
Runaway Jim (11:50) [2]	Martian Monster (5:50) [2]
Tela (6:46)	Halley’s Comet (17:03) [2] (Richard Wright cover)
Kill Devil Falls (10:59) [2]	Stash (11:57)
Theme from the Bottom (7:51) [2]	The Moma Dance (7:22) [3]
Birds of a Feather (6:16) [3]	Gotta Jibboo (8:09) [2]
I Didn’t Know (4:36) [with vacuum solo] (Richard Wright)	Shade (4:27) [saw Trey perform at Newport]
Funky Bitch (6:48) [3] (Son Seals)	Old Home Place (3:27) (The Dillards)
Split Open and Melt (14:58) [5]	Walls of the Cave (11:49) (3)
SET TWO	SET TWO
AC/DC Bag (10:01)	More (5:37) [3]
Soul Planet (9:51) [Trey song]	Tweezer (15:54) [3]
Simple (14:50) [3]	Cities (5:03) [Talking Heads]
Light (9:28) [3]	Tweezer (4:53) [3]
Party Time (7:34)	Passing Through [Kasvot Växt] (4:34)
Lonely Trip (7:34) [Trey song]	Izabella (4:01) [2] (Jimi Hendrix)
David Bowie (13:10) [2]	Tweezer (4:40) [3]
ENCORE	Mercury (7:30)
Waste (5:29) [2]	Piper (13:59) [2]
Loving Cup (7:41) [2] (Rolling Stones)	Tweezer (1:11) [3]
	Also Sprach Zarathustra / 2001 (7:48) [2] (Richard Strauss cover)
	Character Zero (7:26) [2]
	ENCORE
	Drift While You’re Sleeping [Ghosts of the Forest] (11:45)
	Tweezer Reprise (3:37) [3]

 

August 15, 2021 [Atlantic City night 3 of 3]	August 14, 2021 [Atlantic City night 2 of 3]
SET ONE	SET ONE
The Landlady (6:08)	Llama [slow version] (8:03)
Scents and Subtle Sounds (pt. 1) (1:59)	Tube (7:56) [2]
The Moma Dance [slow] (14:06)	Destiny Unbound (7:24)
The Final Hurrah [Kasvot Växt] (8:25) [2]	Ya Mar (6:36)
Mike’s Song (9:30) [5]	46 Days (7:57) [4]
I am Hydrogen (2:56) [3]	Reba [no whistle] (12:03) [2]
Weekapaug Groove (8:09) [5]	Soul Shakedown Party (6:02)
The Sloth (4:32)	Split Open and Melt (15:36) [4]
Roggae (8:18) [4]	The Squirming Coil (9:57)
Back on the Train (5:23) [2]
You Enjoy Myself (20:02) [4]
SET TWO	SET TWO
Carini (15:44) [3]	I Never Needed You Like This Before (5:21)
Set Your Soul Free (10:49) [Trey Song] [2]	Drowned (15:54)
Beneath a Sea of Starts (Part 1) [Ghosts of the Forest] (8:20) [2]	Ghost [slow version] (11:47) [1 first slow version]
Piper (11:57) [a bit more Carini]	Scents and Subtle Sounds (pt 2 only) (4:56)
Waves (6:33)	Chalk Dust Torture (8:30) [2]
Simple (6:42) [2]	No Quarter (8:06)
About to Run [Ghosts of the Forest song] (6:47) [2]	Slave to the Traffic Light (10:15) [4]
First Tube (8:21)	Suzy Greenberg (7:48) [4]
	ENCORE
ENCORE	A Life Beyond the Dream (7:46)
Fluffhead (15:01)	Tweezer Reprise (3:38) [2]
Backwards Down the Number Line (8:45) [2]

 

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 / 2001 (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) (Son Seals)
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)