I walked away from Phish after a show at Merriweather Post Pavilion in 2010. I wasn’t disgusted or offended by their playing or whatever faults I might have perceived in the band, I just wasn’t having as much fun. So I stopped attending shows and listened to fewer and fewer of their current recordings. Then, over this past Summer, something changed. The band was exuding the playfulness that I wanted once again. Maybe it was me; maybe not. But it’s not just about jamming or silly gags onstage, it’s about energy. While the band has clearly been enjoying themselves all along, they had stopped transmitting on my frequency. This past Summer, that changed.

Then they announced a run of shows at the Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia and I knew it was time.

Coming about a week after the 19th anniversary of my very first Phish show, these would be my first shows in more than two years when the band returned to . The venue has been a part of my musical life since the early 90s and part of my life’s scenery as far back as I can remember due to growing up in region. It was good to be back to both the band and the room.
(Click here if you want to skip to the summary. I’ll eventually forgive you.)

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Night One (Friday, October 18, 2013):

A lovely day for a drive through Virginia and soon enough we’re checked into the hotel and on the lot in Hampton. We met a few friends and went in early enough to grab a great spot, on the rail, just behind Page. From here could see everything that he did, most of what Fish did and every bit of Trey’s turning and geeking out on Page’s solos. The latter happened frequently throughout the evening.

“Wolfman’s Brother” opened strong and got right down to rockin’ and “Runaway Jim” hinted at the band’s eagerness to jam when they stretched it slightly before the first big peak. “Mound” was a particular treat because I’ve somehow managed to not see it since the Summer of ’95. “Chalk Dust Torture” followed, bringing back the rock, and Page gave us a breather with his rather personal sounding ballad, “Army Of One”. The band picked things right back up a bluegrass number, “Nelly Kane”, and then dove into “Stash”.

“Stash” is one of my favorite tunes and this was a decent version. The opening theme was pretty good and they flowed through the song pretty well. Trey bailed on the “Maybe So” lyrics a bit early and started a subtle solo that climbed slowly and in 90 seconds hit a nice sustained note that he looped quietly before returning to soloing and ratcheting up the tension. The entire band is on point and Trey gets to shredding intensity around 8:30. The theme comes back at 9:20ish with vocals following for the finish and then… Oops. Trey ends the song but Fish doesn’t follow him and Page follows Fish and… I laughed.^[1] Overall this version was pretty sweet until the finish but it didn’t take me out of the moment in a negative way. Trey made some jokes that led to he and Page blaming Fish for the flub and then the show carried on.

Next they played “Ocelot” which I’ll admit to not loving. I sat down for the song portion of it but had a great time dancing to the closing groove. “Bouncing Around The Room” was fairly standard to follow and the “Walls Of The Cave” closed the set. The intro was not perfect but see footnote #1 if it really bothers you. They moved on and got down to business. Trey took off into his first solo and it was hot. After another quick refrain there was nothing left to do but rawk jam. This tune is killer closer material and we, understandably, ate it up.

Set two opened with “Twist” that contained some nice, upbeat, jamming before dissolving into a space from which Trey plucked “Free”.  This concise rocker was followed by a lovely version of “Roggae” that sprawled and intertwined with itself exactly the way ‘rock songs’ don’t. I was pleased to hear it. after straight ahead versions of “Sparkle” and “Cavern”, they dropped the first big jam of tour on us: “Carini”.

This heavy rocker came on strong and headed out quickly with jamming reminiscent of the earlier “Twist”, “Jesus Just Left Chicago”, and a “Boogie On Reggae Woman” jam that could have led to one to the smoothest transitions of their career. But this version simply stood alone and, eventually, dissolved. as the final notes echoed in the coliseum, Trey strummed into “Backwards Down The Number Line”.  This was followed by “Twenty Years Later” which has some intriguing music and, I feel, could really go to some dark places if jammed out. Next came “Wading In The Velvet Sea”.

Fans have long mocked this song either because they don’t want ballads from Phish at all (too bad, dudes) or because they are unimpressed by the lyrics. To my ear, these lyrics easily trump that of some of the newer ballads, both in being more distinctly “Phish” and in delivering powerful feelings through an abstract metaphor. But, disregard all of that and consider what this song must mean to the band. Watching Page and Trey cry over this song at Coventry has got to drive home its importance. I couldn’t imagine singing it ever again after that performance simply because my heart would be (and is) inextricably connected to those emotions. I feel that feeling once again, no matter how much fun I’m having as they play it. Page sang sweetly and played it spot on. Trey, after backing Page up with his best impression of Fripp’s on “Another Green World” soloed with appropriate portions taste and power.

“Run Like An Antelope”, as always, served as a healthy closer. This version, while not extended, contained some strong playing and humor as Trey complimented Mike’s Nikes and named-checked the bass player in the lyrics.

As far as encores go, I’ll take the ballad/rocker two-song combo any day. “When The Circus Comes To Town” is a great cover for this band and rises to a beautiful peak. This version does not fail. “Suzy Greenberg”, as always, ripped. Trey gave it all up to Page and spent most of the song turned to watch the man pound out the awesome on his keys. Also of note, Fish gaves a shout-out to the venue in one of the “forgot my name” breaks when he shouted, “I love this room!”

Overall, I enjoyed the show. Obviously, the “Carini” is the chief highlight and the band was rocking and having a great time; just like us. This was a fine start to the run.

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Night Two (Saturday, October 19, 2013):

Saturday dawned grey and mild and we took our time starting the day. After a midday brunch, we dropped in at a terrific record store in Newport News, American Oldies Records. Their staff was great and the selection was pretty serious business. I picked up some excellent stuff from John Hartford and Norman Blake. My buddy, Modi and I could easily have spent far more time and money in there but there was the matter of a rock show yet to come.

We swooped back through the hotel, collected ourselves and our things and rolled on down to Hampton. (No, we didn’t stay right at the Coliseum because quiet.) After a brief time in the lot spent collecting friends we went inside and, this time sat behind the stage on Mike’s side.

This show opened with a potent three song combo beginning with the first “Bathtub Gin” opener since ’99. This was a strong but not long version of “Gin”. Before anyone could complain (who would?) “Moma Dance” kicked in and we were certain that our selection of Mike’s side was going to pay off. Mike came up through our seats and the rest of the band was ready to throw down as well. “Tube” doubled down on that notion.  Everybody ripped up their solos leaving as the only complainers those who still want 2013 to be 1998.

I was thrilled to see “Fast Enough For You” and “The Ballad Of Curtis Loew” (which I’d never seen!) Both were played beautifully. “Ya Mar” got us all moving again and featured terrific solos from both Page and Mike. “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” is a rock song with an idea. Some disparage the lyrics but I’ve found a meaning in them to which I can relate. Besides, the song rips. Fish’s vocal sounded a little rough on “My Sweet One” but it was a cool version regardless. The pause before the final lyric was at least a minute long… We Phish fans love a pregnant pause.

“Mike’s Song” dropped right as MSO faded out. Listening back, I can hear that Mike’s voice was also sounding a bit ragged. I couldn’t hear it at the show, though, and his playing did not suffer on bit from whatever may have been ailing his throat. This was a nice, strong version of “Mike’s”.

I feel the need to tell you that I’m on a roughly four-year cycle for the song “I Am Hydrogen”. I saw it in ’94 at my first show as they began experimenting with playing “Simple” in the sandwich slot of a “Mike’s Groove”. Naturally, being a purist and a subscriber to Murphy’s Law, I was denied “Hydrogen” until Big Cypress, more than five years after my previous sighting. Following that, I didn’t see the song until 2003 (yes, I know, Hiatus… Still…) and not again until 2009. Now, four years after my last sighting, as they peaked in “Mike’s Song”, I found myself in the familiar position of praying to the band, crossing my fingers, and simply wishing for them to play “I Am Hydrogen” (and not screw it up too badly.)^[1]

I got my wish.

A charming run at “Hydrogen” was followed by a rocking version of “Weekapaug Groove” as is appropriate for a “Total Mike’s”. Mike, in particular, crushed but everyone delivered on this set-closer.

With a quiet, spacey intro, “Ghost” opened the second set. This song was appropriately groovy with lots of deep thumping from Mike. There was one missed peak that earned someone a stinkeye onstage^[1] but then they moved right on into some jamming. This got meaty with some fast major key business and melodic stuff from Trey atop a tight progression from the band. There were lots of long sustains around the ten minute mark and plenty of reason to throw your hands up and boogie. This eventually downshifted into a dark bit of space before turning into a (relatively) short “Down With Disease”.

Steam is not a song I’d pick if you asked me to write a set list. Or at least, it wasn’t before this show. The song has settled into its own skin and has gotten better and more interesting since its debut. On this night, right in the middle somewhere, Trey was bending notes and singing along with them for a pretty intense moment that led to a cool spot with Page leading on organ as Trey and Mike helped Fish on percussion duties. Then the band got back to their axes and reprised the vocals before Trey dropped into “Prince Caspian”.

I belong to a select committee of persons who enjoy “Prince Caspian”. Any song can suffer from poor placement and this one is reviled for that crime more than most, however this version comes off beautifully. Trey trilled and swelled his notes and Page gave us some excellent work on the piano before, as quickly as it appeared, the tune faded away. Mike stepped up with the funky bass line to “Boogie On Reggae Woman”, a crowd favorite that surely made up for any hard feelings generated by “Caspian”. This dance-able version was completely standard, albeit short, right until the end when they melted down in a very trippy fashion to launch into “Theme From The Bottom”.

The standard-great “Theme” was followed by a standard-great performance of “The Wedge”. I’ve always loved seeing this tune and I busted out my pyramid-building dance and got right on down. We enjoyed a tender moment with Page beautifully singing “Silent In the Morning” before “Harry Hood”.

This “Hood” had a short intro and lyric bit before they dove into a jam. It began with frantic, quiet, syncopation from everyone before Trey began needling some simple lines on top. He continued gathering the pieces as Page led the band in dancing around the groove. After nine minutes things got to a hot tension point that built for another minute before they shifted back towards the theme and wrapped up the song and set with appropriate enthusiasm.

For the encore, a vaguely hoarse Mike stepped back to the microphone for “Quinn The Eskimo” and, yes, everybody jumped for joy. Mike may have sounded rough vocally, but he and the band rocked that old Dylan tune to the fullest and sent us on our way.

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Night Three (Sunday, October 20, 2013):

If Phish has any rules in 2013, one of them is “do not skip the Sunday show”. We were perched, once again, close up on Mike’s side and were wound up and ready to go when the lights went down. “Julius” rocked as an opener and “Funky Bitch” revealed Mike to be in much better voice and ready to go. After a fun “Back On The Train”, they rolled into a nice “Roses Are Free”. This featured an interesting couple of minutes of jamming at the end but it didn’t go too far before they wrapped it up and launched into “Sample In A Jar”. Next, “Ginseng Sullivan” (a song by Norman Blake!) delighted me. After the bluegrass came “46 Days” which did as rock songs do before “Divided Sky” changed the room.

On Saturday night, at the encore break, the fans tried to bring back the old fashioned lighters-in-the-air tribute that had sensibly died out along with the use of Zippos due to scorched thumbs. The practice has re-surged a bit in the form of cell phones raised to the sky but this is tacky and, fortunately, hasn’t caught on with the Phish crowd. On Sunday, at the pause in “Divided Sky”, the lighters came out once again. This time in overwhelming numbers.

I’ve recently felt that the audience was missing the message with this part of the song. Aren’t we supposed to quiet down and feel the void screaming into our ears before freaking out from the tension? Maybe that’s just me. Whatever the band is looking for from the fans, this night’s crowd was not going to quiet down. Instead they turned the moment back onto the band and put up so many lighters that Kuroda turned out the stage lights. Then, illuminated by the glow of so much butane, the band stood and sat still watching and listening in a pause that lasted 2.5 minutes. I should also mention that the song itself was played pretty damned well. Very well. Also well played was the “Bold As Love” set closer that featured Page shining on vocals and Trey doing a great job with the triumphant solo.

When the band returned for set two, Trey addressed the half dozen people on the floor in front of Mike that were all dressed as Waldo. Once he determined that they weren’t dressed as prisoners, he turned and dedicated the set opener to the folks who’d hung a “Paul and Silas” banner on the balcony edge all weekend. I was through the roof, because not only did this make for four bluegrass songs in three nights; this was my first “Paul and Silas”.

The vocals had scarcely faded away before Trey started playing the “Tweezer” riff. This one is pretty big. It rocks, grooves and spreads out into space over the course of more than twenty minutes. They did miss an obvious opportunity to slip into “What’s The Use” but it wasn’t necessary (they’d already occupied similar territory for a couple minutes) and instead, they jumped into “Golden Age”. I’ve never really liked this song. I did dance for it because, after the spacey “Tweezer”, I was ready to move. This song also contained a significant jam, stretching to more than fifteen minutes and serving as an upbeat answer to “Tweezer” for a while before it too descended into heavy weirdness. Despite my feelings for the song itself, the “Golden Age” jam may be the jam of the weekend. Also, somewhere in there, Mike ripped a bass note with such intensity that I was compelled to tweet the following:

Not felt a bass note With that force here in Hampton since the Grateful Dead

— rowjimmy (@rowj) October 21, 2013

Once again eschewing a transition, Trey simply starting strumming “Piper” as the previous odd strains dissipated. The shaky start made up for itself with a compact yet fun version of the song that quickly jumped off into rock jamming. One minute, we were hearing “Piper”, the next there were hints of “The Real Me”. Soon after that we were hearing a more generalized sort of rock and roll jamming that became the first ever performance of “Taking Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The band (Trey) laughed their way through the song so it’s unclear if this was rehearsed but I’d wager that it was not. This is the kind of song that you kind of know without ever trying thanks to FM radio. The jam never really got back off the ground once it had landed on the BTO number. Trey played with his feedback a bit and Fish dropped into “2001”.

Trey played a bit with Kuroda, working on some call and response between his chord hits and Chris flashing the lights. That probably looked better from the front but I enjoyed watching Trey make it happen and he was clearly having fun with it. Otherwise the fairly standard, dance number faded into “Sand”. This decent version of “Sand” is a bit longer than “2001” and contains the usual Trey distortion-laden soloing and possibly a “Flashlight” tease. They finish the song and get right into the set-closing “Slave To The Traffic Light”.

This version of “Slave” is gorgeous. The band displays masterful dynamics, group interplay, and lovely solos in a song that would have perfectly closed out the weekend. However, there was still an encore to be played. They began the encore with “A Day In The Life” sending my thoughts racing back to the first time Phish played Hampton and what a thrill it was to be in that room for my other favorite band. Page sang it beautifully (as he had done with everything that weekend) and after the perfect peak, they rocked the shit out of the house with “Tweezer Reprise”. Mike dropped two ton bombs all over the place, Trey got all marchy marchy around the stage and we all jumped and cheered and left the Coliseum with smiles.

Conclusion (tl;dr):

Looks like I’m back on the bus. I couldn’t have asked for more from a weekend with Phish and I started wondering what’s different. Why, two years later, is it working for me again? I think I can safely say that the band has upped their game but I also know what is different about myself. For these shows, I brought with me zero expectations. Phish could have farted into microphones and I might not have blogged about it but I’d have had a fun weekend. The fact that they rose to the occasion and played a strong to exceptional series of shows is simply gravy. Delicious gravy.

It’s easy to look back at Fall ’94 and complain that Phish isn’t playing thirty minute versions of “David Bowie” every night. The problem is that Phish didn’t do that every night when it was Fall ’94 and that came after many years of regular shows and rehearsals. It’s been four years since Phish returned.  If you look back to Phish’s Hampton 2009 run as compared to this one, it’s clear that they’ve come a long way toward becoming a band again. Only now are we beginning to see Phish 3.0 regularly include significant ‘Type II’ jamming in their shows.

Phish has always^[2] been a growing, shape-shifting, target. Their current form, simply put, kicks ass. Phish may never be “back” if you define such a thing as playing in a fashion equal to some time in the 1990s. I suspect that, beyond listening and playing as a cohesive unit, they aren’t trying to get back to those days. But if you are looking for the unique juxtaposition of intricate compositions^[1], serious improvisation, and fun that we found at Phish shows in the old days, it’s out there on the road right now.

See you in AC.

 

Footnotes:

#1- We all know Phish doesn’t play note perfect versions of many of their classic compositions. They just don’t. Fact. Accept and move on. If it’s a deal breaker, Send us letters from whatever tour you find that gets you off.

#2 – with the probable exception of some points in the early parts of this century, not to mention that whole time when they didn’t play shows. That word “Always” is kind of a trap, isn’t it?

Photos used by permission. Thanks to:
Andrea Nusinov @andreanusinov http://www.etsy.com/shop/aznpics

and

Scott Harris @languagestrange https://www.facebook.com/languagestrange

Additional Thanks to @Modiahmed for the shot of me in the shop and for everything else.