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[ATTENDED: December 31, 2023] Phish

I have seen many Phish shows (not nearly as many as most Phish fans, but more Phish than any other band).  The one show I wanted to go to that I hadn’t yet was New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden.

I wasn’t ever going to pay crazy prices for the show, so I always tried to get them in the lottery or through Ticketmaster.  And this year I actually did.  The key was also that I needed to get 4 tickets so my whole family could go–I wouldn’t spend New Year’s Eve without them.  I wasn’t sure how keen the kids would be about seeing a band they didn’t know, but they were all pretty excited about the idea of being in New York, at a concert, as the New Year dawned.

So I was happy to kick back and enjoy the show, with my biggest concern being that the kids weren’t too bored during the long solos.  But I promised them that there would be some kind of New Year’s gag to entertain them.

Little did I know that the gag was probably tame for them compared to what I’d described, but it was incredible for me and meaningful in a way I never imagined.

I had noticed that they hadn’t played “Possum” at MSG on this run.  It’s their second most played song (and one I hadn’t seen them play in 16 shows) so I thought I’d have a good chance of seeing it.  And maybe one or two others on my list.

Little did I know that I would be in for THE FIRST TIME THEY PLAYED THE GAMEHENDGE STORY IN NEARLY 30 YEARS (which includes Possum).

The show started with a lengthy version of “Everything’s Right.”  This is a newer song that I have heard five times already.  Trey must just sense my presence.  They followed it with “Tube.”  It’s a weird song with a jerky rhythm that I really like.  This version featured a lengthy jam that quoted the Mary Tyler Moore theme song.

Up next was a brand new song (debuted this summer) that I hadn’t heard before.  “Ether Edge” shows that Trey is still writing songs, and most of them are uplifting and positive.

It was a lovely song but I was super psyched when the band did a sidestep to play a song from Lawn Boy.  I’ve seen “Reba” (a big favorite for me) twice, but this is the first time they played the whole thing (including the whistling ending, which they seem to have been leaving out as of late).

I have a lengthy list of songs I’ve never seen live and which I would like to see.  And every once in a while they play a song that I have never seen that I didn’t realize I wanted to see, like “Taste,” a classic rock sounding song from Billy Breathes.

I have never really listened to the Ghosts in the Forest record which is kind of a shame since I’ve heard so much of it live.  “Ruby Waves” gets better with each listen.  It was followed by one of Trey’s newer, sweeter songs, “A Life Beyond the Dream.”  The set ended (rather early I thought) with a rocking and fun “Character Zero.”

I had seen in previous years that the act break was pretty long between the two main parts of the set.  We stayed put as everyone had gotten up and we were rewarded because they started set two much earlier than I thought they would.

I was pretty excited that they opened Set two with “Down with Disease,” a fun rocker–I wanted my kids to be into the rockers before the meandering jams started.

And then they started playing “Harpua.”  There was ONE song I wanted to hear at this show, and I hoped I’d get “Possum” but instead I got Harpua!  It was so rare in my mind, that it wasn’t even on my list.  And then Trey started talking.  And he mentioned Gamehendge.  And soon enough, my mind was blown.

I don’t even know if I have the words.

I’m not a first-gen Phish fan, I got into them around 1998.  But they were super easy to get really into because they released a lot of live albums. And you could quickly get sucked into the mythology and realize that you missed out on all the secret languages that they band developed with their fans.  Including Gamehendge.  Sure, they played Harpua from time to time, but, as was quickly pointed out once the show started Phish never played Gamehendge.   Live for Live Music gives some stats:

Prior to 12/31/23, the band had played Gamehendge—referring to the collective group of songs and their complete, accompanying narration—in concert only four times (that we know of): 3/12/88 at Nectar’s3/22/93 in Sacramento, CA, 6/26/94 in West Virginia (which also a near-complete performance of Phish’s Hoist album), and 7/8/94 in Mansfield, MA. There was also the 10/13/91 show in Olympia, WA that featured most but not all of the Gamehendge saga/narration, so that one gets an asterisk on most peoples’ list. Phish-nerds gonna Phish-nerd.

Over the nearly three decades since the last Gamehendge show in 1994, Phish seemed content to leave the land of Lizards in the past. The individual songs themselves have never disappeared from the repertoire, but until New Year’s Eve, chasing Gamehendge at a live show amounted to a pipe dream for generations of Phish fans: “What do you want to hear tonight? Gamehendge? Right, cool. Wouldn’t we all. Not gonna happen.”

So even if I’ve only been into Phish for 25 years, it was still an incredible moment.   I may not have been to 100 shows (this was my 17th), and I feel incredibly lucky to have been there in person, I still feel like I earned it (unlike my kids who were like, “what’s happening”).

It was pretty amazing to be there on site as it happened.  Even if we were behind the stage and couldn’t really see the performance, the place was electric.  And yes, I was moved to tears at being there, watching that giant rhimbus take over the stage was something else.

In my experience, I would have typically been at the show the night before (like when we went to see Pearl Jam in Philly on the night BEFORE they played Ten front to back).  The fact that I was there was pretty amazing.

And now Phish has released the entire Gamehendge saga on 4K stream on YouTube (you can’t see us behind the stage).

I also never realized that so many of the songs that were on my “gotta hear” list were from this saga.  I got “The Lizards” and “Punch You in the Eye.”

And of course I knew that “Fly Famous Mockingbird” was part of the saga but to hear it live WITH a massive drone bird flying around was incredible.

And it ended just as they sang Auld Lang Syne (my kids point out that he did the count down about a minute and a half before it actually turned midnight (and that the the song itself ended at exactly midnight), but who needs exactitude, right?

How do you top that?  Can you even top it?

Well, how about with a really jamming Split Open and Melt.  And then with a nearly 25 minute You Enjoy Myself (making this a true YEMSG).

And surely that would be the end.  But no, how about a ripping cover of The Rolling Stone’s  “Loving Cup.”  One which the whole crowd could sing along to.

I assumed there would be an encore (but really, after all that?)  And actually I assumed it would be a Tweezer Reprise because they had played Tweezer but did not play the Reprise.

But they couldn’t let us leave before 1AM.  And so, there was a super fun Cavern a fantastic First Tube (one of my faves) and then a night-ending Tweezer Reprise.

It was an incredible night.

We got some street cart food on the way home (and happened to stop on a street where there was a massive accident and police chase and then a massive line up for the bus.  But they threw on an extra bus driver for us and we wound up getting home some time around 4:30 AM

A pretty unforgettable New Year’s Eve.

I’m honestly not sure if I ever need to see Phish again after that.  But I feel like I need  to go to more shows to show my appreciation.

Thanks guys.

~~~~

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, there are about 200 songs I’m likely to hear live [not including one offs and gags and such].  The completist in me would love to hear all of those songs, (some they haven’t played in years, so that’s unlikely).  But given that enormous list, I have 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 (as of 12/31/23 their most frequently played song is “You Enjoy Myself” 634 times).

  1. Golgi Apparatus (11th of the list) [475] J
  2. Foam (20th) [352] J
  3. Maze (23nd) [338] [Split Open and Melt has been played 344 times and I have seen it 6 times)
  4. Sample in a Jar (32nd) [305] [saw it TREY SOLO]
  5. Fee (35th) [286]  J  (Slave to the Traffic Light has been played 272 time and I have seen it 4 times)
  6. It’s Ice (40th) [254]
  7. Silent in the Morning (61st) [185]
  8. Prince Caspian (65th) [175]
  9. Twist (66th) [175]
  10. Scent of a Mule (79th)[146]
  11. Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars (81st)  [142] (They have covered Loving Cup 146 times and I have seen it 3 times)
  12. Guyute [133]
  13. Heavy Things [98] [TAB played it]
  14. Farmhouse [85] [TREY played it]
  15. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan [80]
  16. Joy [55]
  17. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing [46]   (Everything’s Right has been played 53 times and I have seen it 5 times)
  18. Weigh [45]
  19. Kung [39]
  20. Pebbles and Marbles [28]
  21. Fuck Your Face [20]
  22. Ass Handed [19]
  23. Mexican Cousin [15]
  24. *We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains [Kasvot Växt] [10]
  25. *Stray Dog [Kasvot Växt] [4]
  26. *Everything is Hollow [Kasvot Växt] [4]
  27. *Play By Play [Kasvot Växt] [3]

And these are the songs I’ve seen the most:

The six, five and four timers club [bold songs were played at this last show]

  1. Mike’s Song [6]
  2. Weekapaug Groove [6]
  3. Split Open and Melt [6]
  4. You Enjoy Myself [6]
  5. Wilson [6]
  6. Suzy Greenberg [5]
  7. 46 Days [5]
  8. Everything’s Right [5]
  9. Down with Disease [4]
  10. Roggae [4]
  11. Slave to the Traffic Light [4]
  12. More [4]
  13. Carini [4]
  14. I am Hydrogen [4]
  15. Back on the Train [4]
  16. Blaze On [4]
  17. Walls of the Cave [4]
  18. No Men in No Man’s Land [4]
  19. Chalk Dust Torture [4]
  20. Ruby Waves [4]
  21. Tube [4]
  22. Tweezer Reprise [4]

 

December 31, 2023 [Madison Square Garden night 4 of 4] July 25, 2023 [Mann Center night 1 of 2]
SET ONE SET ONE
Everything’s Right (11:38) [Trey song] (5) Strawberry Letter 23 [Shuggie Otis] 4:20
Tube (8:09) [4] Bathtub Gin 14:35 (2)
Ether Edge (4:26) [Trey song] Back on the Train 8:28 [4]
Reba [with whistle] (12:10) [3] The Squirming Coil 7:19 [2]
Taste (7:23) Axilla (Part II) 5:41 [2]
Ruby Waves (9:20) [Ghosts of the Forest] [4] Ya Mar 7:10 [2]
A Life Beyond the Dream (7:26) [2] Blaze On 10:16 [4]
Character Zero (5:16) [3] Waste 5:42 [3]
SET TWO Walls of the Cave 10:16 [4]
Down with Disease 8:26 [4]  46 Days 6:08 [5]
Harpua (9:01) SET TWO
Gamehendge Down with Disease 16:48 [3] 
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (2:38) The Well 20:38 [Eighth longest song I’ve seen]
The Lizards (9:50) No Men in No Man’s Land 6:10 [4]
Punch You in the Eye (6:24) ~ Beneath a Sea of Starts (Part 1) [Ghosts of the Forest] 9:07 [3]
AC/DC Bag (18:57) [2]  Piper 9:10 [3]
Tela (7:38) [2] Crosseyed and Painless 6:53 [Talking Heads] [2]
Llama [fast version] (4:26) [2] ~ Chalk Dust Torture  8:04 [4]
Wilson  (4:34) [6] ENCORE
The Sloth (5:20) [2] Wading in the Velvet Sea 5:05 [2]
Divided Sky (13:42) [2] ~ Fire [Jimi Hendrix] 4:43 [2] 
SET THREE
McGrupp And The Watchful Hosemasters (8:57) ~
Colonel Forbin’s Ascent (5:52) 
Fly Famous Mockingbird (7:47) 
Auld Lang Syne (1:25)
Split Open and Melt (14:26) [6]
You Enjoy Myself (23:46) [6]
Loving Cup (8:04) [3] (Rolling Stones)
Possum (11:02) 
ENCORE
Cavern (4:42) [2]
First Tube (7:46) [3]
Tweezer Reprise (3:41) [4]

 

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  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]

Junta:
Lawn Boy: complete
Picture of Nectar:  Eliza*; Poor Heart; Manteca*; Faht*; Catapult*; Glide (have seen glide II)
Rift: Fast Enough for You; Lengthwise*; Maze; Horn; Weigh*; All Things Reconsidered*; Mound; It’s Ice; The Horse*; Silent in the Morning
Hoist: If I Could; Riker’s Mailbox*; Lifeboy; Scent of a Mule; Dog Faced Boy; Demand ; Yerushalayim Shel Zahav
Billy Breathes: Cars Trucks Buses; Talk; Swept Away, Steep; Prince Caspian
The Story of the Ghost: Meat; Guyute; Fikus;
Farmhouse: Twist; Heavy Things; Dirt; Sleep; The Inlaw Josie Wales
Round Room: Pebbles and Marbles; Anything But Me; Round Room; Mexican Cousin; Friday; All of These Dreams; Thunderhead;
Undermind: The Connection; A Song a I Heard The Ocean Sing; Army of One; Maggie’s Revenge; Nothing; Two Versions of Me; Access me; Tomorrow’s Song; Secret Smile
Joy: Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan; Joy; Sugar Shack; Time Turns Elastic; Twenty Years Later
Fuego: The Line; Devotion to a Dream; Winterqueen; Sing Monica; Wombat
Big Boat
Sigma Oasis

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)

 

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: December 28-30, 2023] Phish

I have been to the Phish New Year’s Eve run a few times.  I went on Night 3 in 2018 and nights 2 and 3 in 2019.  But I’ve never been to New Year’s Eve.

I have reached the point where Madison Square Garden is too much of a hassle for me, so I wasn’t even planning on trying to get tickets for these shows.  But I figured I’d give New Year’s Eve a shot and I actually got some!

So I had no desire to go to these shows.

It’s possible that New Year’s Eve will be my last Phish show (that will make 17 shows).  I don’t really feel the need to go for 20, but they do keep drawing me back in.

I’m not going to The Sphere, though, as cool as that sounds.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: July 26, 2023] Phish

Ever since seeing two Phish shows in a row at the same venue, it’s hard to not do both show every time.

Last night’s show was great and the new song(s) were fantastic.

But after last night’s lengthy time getting in and lengthy time getting home, even with a friend offering me a Lyft so I didn’t have to fight for parking, I just didn’t have the energy to do another show tonight.

So I sold my ticket on CashorTrade and will head home for an early night, hoping they don’t play any of my “gotta see songs.”

~~~~ (more…)

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[ATTENDED: July 25, 2023] Phish

This was my sixteenth Phish show.  I assumed I’d be seeing 17 tomorrow, but I decided to blow it off instead.

Primarily, because this trip from Prince to Philly sucked so bad,  I left work at 4:30 and parked at 7.  Yes, there was a donut run in the middle, but still.  My parking space was way back in the woods (which was actually kind of easy to get out, thankfully).  And I felt like I was surrounded by insanity.

This was my first Mann Center show where I had an assigned seat.  I thought it was balcony, but it was actually outside in that weird uncovered area.  The seat was pretty good.  Me neighbors were weird though.  Not very friendly–no one passed me anything.

I felt like the show had to be spectacular if I was going to even consider going tomorrow night.

And while the show checked off NO songs on my gotta see list and bumped FIVE songs into “now I’ve seen it four times” territory and one song into “now I’ve seen it 5 times” the show was still fun.

Really, seeing a band sixteen times and seeing a few songs only six times is stull a lot of originality, although I fell like they’ve been playing the same basic grouping of songs for the last few tours.  Or maybe playing the same venue makes them think of playing the same songs a lot.  (more…)

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[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. (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: August 6, 2022] Phish

I simply don’t think I have it in me to drive to Atlantic City three days in a row.  And I’m not going to get a hotel room.  So I tend to blow of the middle of three shows there.

Here’s what I missed

The Setlist

Set 1: 46 Days > The Moma Dance, Olivia’s Pool > My Soul, 555 > NICU > Bathtub Gin, Heavy Rotation > Character Zero, Moonage Daydream

Set 2: No Men In No Man’s Land > Tweezer, Set Your Soul Free > Simple > Backwards Down the Number Line > Golgi Apparatus > Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore: A Life Beyond The Dream, Tweezer Reprise

Overall, a decent mix of songs.  There were two that I’ve seen a bunch and only one on my Must See list.  So it was probably a good decision to bail.

The six, five and four timers club (bolded songs were played tonight so my number would be one up)

  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

I have 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]   would have been nice to hear that one.
  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]

(more…)

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[ATTENDED: August 5, 2022] Phish

I saw phish earlier this summer and wasn’t sure if I was up for another Atlantic City run.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle all three nights, so I decided to do Friday and Sunday.  I also decided that this might be my final Phish shows, these being numbers fourteen and fifteen.

I decided to drive to Atlantic City straight from work on Friday night.  It saved a little grief, although not a lot of time.  I also wound up arriving fairly early, but apparently nowhere near early enough to get the famous Atlantic City posters (people started lining up for them at 2PM).   I parked in the Bass Pro Shops, which I pre-paid for, but I think that it would have been free because the store was closed.  Or something.  It was confusing.

So I wandered around A/C for a bit and enjoyed being plenty early.  The mood was good and I managed to walk all the way through the people set up with blankets and got a walked pretty close to the Paige side of the stage.

One of the bad things as far as Phish for me is that I have never really gotten close to the band–never gotten GA tickets.  So I thought it would be cool to be close (even with so many other people around).

Well, I enjoyed the view and the breeze and was soon rewarded with one my favorite songs “Chalk Dust Torture.”  It was quickly followed by a second favorite “Wilson.”

When Phish plays the shore, they play thematically appropriate songs like “Sand,” a slinky slow grooving song.  Although they had jammed Chalk Dust, this one they stetched out over ten minutes with a grooving mellow jam that seamlessly bounced back to the rugged raw melody of the song before segueing into “Plasma.”  “Plasma” had a bouncy ebullient jam with lots of swirling grooving keys behind Trey’s solos.

This led into a “Theme from the Bottom” a song I really like–many parts, weird melodies and it’s thematically appropriate.  Even though they had just played it at the Mann center back in July. Now I was under the impression that Phish almost never played the same song more than once in a tour.  I know that’s not true.  It may have been true for some tours in the past, but is no longer the case, with some songs getting multiple plays in a tour, but still I was really quite surprised that they played a song  that I heard last month.

This one had a lot of piano and kept a happy vibe as by this time my feet were in the ocean and things were very chill.  It segued into a bouncy “Back on the Train.”  There was a good long solo with so me nice high peaks.

Phish shows, especially at the Mann and Atlantic City are very strange for me because I can actually move around. Usually I am planted in my spot and the only moving I do is to schooch up or move back away from obnoxious people.  So to have the huge amount of freedom that the shore affords is a little unnerving to me.   It’s also my fourteenth Phish show and I’ve given up on the idea of “watching” the band and have accepted that Phish shows are more about the experience.  So yes, sometimes you’re walking away and looking at the water or the sky or the people dancing or whatever.

Then I got my first experience of the title track of their new album “Sigma Oasis.”.  I really like the album and I like this song quiet a bit.  I never expected it to run for over 21 minutes (the 6th longest Phish song I’ve seen them play).  A 20 minute jam on the beach is an interesting thing because you can really wander around and enjoy the sights and everything.  But you still want to get into the vibe and the lights.  I think that the air of COVID has made my usual hesitancy about strangers even more pronounced at events like this, so I’m even more standoffish than usual.  (more…)

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[ATTENDED: July 19, 2022] Phish

This was my thirteenth Phish show (thus making it the most I have seen any band).  Going to a show two nights in a row is tough (although I have done it many times).  But going to a show at the Mann Center two nights in a row is really tough.  Especially when it is very hot and I know I’ll be standing the whole time.

But Phish never disappoints at a two night Mann Center run.

This time I decided to stand on the concrete behind the seats for most of the set.  I snuck into the seated area a few times (and did managed to park it during intermission) but it’s such chaos down there that it was sometimes harder to see anything.

I wound up much of the night standing near a guy and his son.  It was the son’s first show and they were following the band onto Ohio for a run of three or four shows.  And the kid got a good show!

They opened with a perfect sing for such a hot night–a sultry, slow building “Steam.”  This was my third time seeing them play it and I feel like it may have been the best–it really sounded great (maybe because it opened the show?).  They changed things up with a bouncy “Runaway Jim.”

Then they blew my mind by tossing in a segment from “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent.”  From time to time they will play pieces of this ancient song cycle that Trey wrote as a youth.  I would love to see this whole thing performed live although I know I never will.  But to get snippets of it here and there is wonderful.  So here was “Tela” which leaves just a couple of songs left from The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday.

The mellow “Tela” jumped into a song I don’t think about too often but which is a lot of fun live: “Kill Devil Falls.”  It’s bouncy and lively and just a big ball of summer fun.  They jammed that out for 11 minutes until it segued into the delightful “Theme from the Bottom.”  I really enjoy this song and there was some great soloing in it as well.

They followed it with “Birds of a Feather.”  Story of the Ghost was the first new album of Phish material that I got into back in the day and this song has always been a favorite, so I’m always thrilled to hear it live.  But as the song was ending I couldn’t help but notice that a tech guy was bringing what sure looked like a vacuum cleaner out to the stage.  No.  Frickin.  Way.

The three guys started an a capella “I Didn’t Know” and Trey announced “Ladies and gentlemen, he only breathes water, but he sucks air.  It’s Moses Brown, Moses Heaps, and Moses DeWitt” .  Paige and Mike played a jazzy melody while Trey played the drums and maple ample use of Fishman’s sample pad. While Fish played  the first vacuum solo I’ve seen in person!

They followed that with a “Funky Bitch,” a song I’ve seen a few times and which is always a blast to see live because they rock it hard.  They ended the set with “Split Open an Melt.”  I enjoy a good “S.O.A.M.” (and this was a good one) but I can’t believe I’ve seen this song five times and have yet to see a “Possum” which they have played at 200 MORE shows in their history.

But a stretched out 15 minute SOAM was certainly a fun set ender with its noisy, growly, echoey, dirty guitar sounds and Paige’s complementary synth noises taking everything down into the darkness (along with Chris Kuroda’s lights) until it pulled us all back out again.

They opened set two with “AC/DC Bag” a song that seems to be on every live record they’ve put out and which I couldn’t believe I hadn’t actually seen live myself before.  So it was fun to get the crowd energy of this old classic, especially when jammed out to ten minutes.

The song jumped right into “Soul Planet” a Try song that I didn’t know and hadn’t heard before but which rocked perfectly. and also stretched out for ten minutes.  It’s amazing how many songs these guys know.

The jam seemed like it was getting darker and darker buy they quickly pulled it out into a bright “Simple,” one of my favorite songs of theirs.  This jam was nearly 15 minutes long and had a weird middle part with warm washes of synths from Paige while Trey soloed away, creating a very unusual feel for a Phish song.  But it came out of that pretty quickly and returned to Trey’s new favorite raw, dirty guitar sound.

The groove then bounced into “Light,” an upbeat jaunty number that I’m rather fond of.  The jam bounced around a few different styles and ended up in a “Party Time”!  I’d never seen one live and the crowd completely got into the vibe.

Trey slowed things down for a mellow “Lonely Trip” after which Fish started the frenetic high hat that could only mean “David Bowie” was coming.  I love this song and this was only my second time hearing it.  It’s funny how Trey had a hard time with the formal parts of the songs yesterday but was (mostly) spot on for these more challenging ones today.

This show was not high on my list for scoring new songs to check off (although I did get a few), but it was a solid rocker from start to finish and a fully enjoyable one with some great songs thrown in.

Last night I left the show as quickly as possible.  On this night the parking was utter chaos with no one directing us anywhere.  I parked in a spot that was probably not even legal–in the circle, on the grass.  I also crept near the exit for the encore.

The encore was probably my favorite mellow Phish song.  “Waste.”  I love the sentiment of the chorus “come waste your time with me.”  It dates all the way back to 1996 but it still works.  I don’t love a mellow encore, so I was happy that there was one more tacked on.  A rollicking “Loving Cup.”   I never really gave this song much thought until I saw Phish play it live.  They have a lot of fun with it and the crowd really gets into it. It’s a solid encore and a good night ender.

That parking spot proved to be perfect because I didn’t have to merge with anyone.  I backed out successfully and was on the road leading out in no time at all.  They were the two most successful exits from the Mann center ever.  They almost made me want to go back.

Maybe next summer.

Maybe.

~~~~

The five and four timers club

  1. Mike’s Song [5]
  2. Weekapaug Groove [5]
  3. Split open and Melt [5]
  4. Roggae
  5. You Enjoy Myself
  6. 46 Days
  7. Slave to the Traffic Light
  8. Suzy Greenberg
  9. Wilson
  10. 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 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.

The Gotta See List (Number in brackets is the number of times the band has played the song)

  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. Wolfman’s Brother [220]
  11. Silent in the Morning [185]
  12. Punch You in the Eye [161]
  13. Prince Caspian [165]
  14. Twist [160]
  15. Scent of a Mule [137]
  16. Guyute [132]
  17. Heavy Things [95] [TAB played it]
  18. Sleeping Monkey [94]
  19. Ocelot [94] [TAB played it]
  20. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan [79]
  21. Farmhouse [82] [TREY played it]
  22. Joy [52]
  23. A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing [43]   (Everything’s Right has been played 42 times and i have seen it 4 times)
  24. Pebbles and Marbles [27]
  25. Weigh [44]
  26. Big Black Furry Creatures from Mars [131]
  27. Kung [38]
  28. Axilla (Part II) [46]
  29. Fuck Your Face [18]
  30. Mexican Cousin [15]
  31. Ass Handed [17]
  32. Colonel Forbin/Mockingbird
  33. *Stray Dog [Kasvot Växt] [4]
  34. *Everything is Hollow [Kasvot Växt] [3]
  35. *We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains [Kasvot Växt] [9]
  36. *Play By Play [Kasvot Växt] [3]

SETLISTS

 

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)

 

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[ATTENDED: July 19, 2022] Phish

This was my twelfth Phish show (thus making it the most I have seen any band).  I usually don’t mind going t o see bands by myself but Phish shows are the weird outlier because I never get good seats (it’s always lawn) and because everyone seems to be with a bunch of people and I don’t want to gate crash.  Phish fans are pretty friendly but can also be a bit much, so it’s risky to tie yourself to a group for an evening.

The Mann is a pain in the ass to get to for me, but their new policy of free parking s a godsend.  I arrived in plenty of time to get a poster (outset the venue) and to get it back to my car and then to get a spot mid lawn as the guys came out an started an acapella “wawawawawah” which was a little odd until Trey started singing “Ground control to Major Tom.”  Yes, an acapella “Space Oddity.”  It was insane and wonderful.  I love that Trey did the guitar soo with his mouth and while I’m usually cranky when people sing over the band (especially the a capella songs, it was hard not to sing along to this classic sing along song).

The guys moved to their instruments and Paige played the opening narration to “Martian Monster” with the repeated samples of “Your trip is short.”  I’ve only heard this once before and it’s a fun groove.  After a brief pause, Mike started the bass vocal intro to “Halley’s Comet.”  I’ve also only seen this live once before.  It’s an old song that I know well and that’s a crowd favorite.  The regular parts of the song were a little clunky but the jamming was really smooth.  It mellowed out nicely and stretched out to over 17 minutes of trippy chill out.

As the song ended Trey played a riff that sounded familiar, but I think it was wrong…  “Stash” played on the wrong fret, perhaps.  [As the reviewer for “Live for Live Music put it: “Trey had a touch of cheesesteak fingers for chunks of the composed section of “Stash”, briefly bringing the energy down for the initial drop into the jam.”]  But it was almost like a segue into the song proper.  And man was I psyched because this was my first ever live Stash, a song that I love–the guitar line is just so lovely (boy is it a shame he flubbed it so badly later in song).  But it was still fun to clap and sing along to.  Paige was also throwing in cow sounds throughout the show which was fun. (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: April 20 & 21, 2022] Phish [rescheduled from December 29, 30, 31 2021 and January 1, 2022]

I wasn’t exactly happy that Phish cancelled their New Year’s run at MSG.  Well, actually I was because I didn’t feel safe going out.

The rescheduled dates (around 4/20, ha ha) were doable except that it’s a birthday week in our house.

MSG is a pain in the ass to get to, so I wasn’t looking forward to the travel.  Then Phish announced more summer shows–in Philly and Atlantic City.  Suddenly I had tickets to seven Phish shows in four months.  That was too much even by my standards, so I sold these two on Cash or Trade and someone else got to enjoy the shows.

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