Night two across the Southern sector of the country brought us three hours west of Asheville, and into a more fitting stereotype of the South. What can’t be said about Knoxville can easily said about Asheville. Knoxville is a quaint college town with a clichéd SEC feel to it; however, since the circus had arrived into town, that subtle “football is god” mentality had evaporated for the night being. Another day, another a plethora of freaks, and I couldn’t of asked for a better gathering in Knoxville. To go from the intimate feeling of Asheville to the sheer magnitude of Knoxville was fulfilling in a way, it was like suddenly being awakened.
I arrived in Knoxville and met up with a few friends and we rode into the lot. The police presence was known in Knoxville, but so were the extras, so no one was really complaining. In a way, the irony of seeing several fans piss within a foot of an empty cop car was somewhat symbolic of how this community has so much going on under the radar.
The energy was still present from last night’s show, but the fans attending the show were three times last night’s capacity. Seating was a free for all, and only at a Phish show could you steal seats and get away with it. Despite the abundance of extras present in the lot, the venue was nearly full. The band started the show with “Runaway Jim”, and right off the bat the band appeared more relaxed than at the Asheville Civic Center. Jim was solid and had the crowd rocking. Then the real heat came, “Punch You In The Eye.” This version was close to flawless, and wasn’t nearly the train wreck I had witnessed at Hampton. The crowd soaked in every moment of it, and then the boys decided to take an energy nose dive, they chose “Ocelot” as the next song in the set.
To get back to a point I made in the Asheville review, it seems to me that Phish is just struggling with their own confidence, and that they just fail to comprehend how to make a set flow in a seamless manner. “Ocelot” was poorly placed here, and so was “Foam.” “Foam” should have followed Jim, and PYITE should have been the set closer in my opinion. “Foam” was played well and a real treat to hear, I really liked hearing them nail the composition parts of “Foam,” it was quite encouraging and speaks levels about their progress since Hampton. “Train Song” followed and was standard, it had the ladies singing in particular, which was a surprise to me, that being that I saw a fair amount of attractive women at this show; don’t get me wrong, it was still a male dominated ratio, but the women seemed to be out more in Knoxville. “Undermind” got the funk rolling for the evening, and finally, in 2009, I got see Mike show off his skills, he just went off at the end of “Undermind,” he had the whole arena bumping with his thick groove.
Mike’s Groove followed and we got the first real improvisation of the night. “Mike’s Song” entered a dark realm during the jam, and I thought for a moment that they might actually take off and do some type II jamming, but like all things in version 3.0, it was cut short. Normally I would be annoyed with a short “Mike’s Song” but the fact that they nailed “I Am Hydrogen” completely makes up for it. A flawless version and it had the crowd swaying in a jovial and near angelic like moment. “Weekapuag Groove” was standard and had a few moments of promise, but like “Mike’s Song” the band simply cut it short. The closing tandem of “Squirming Coil” and “Character Zero” was an interesting choice by the band. Honestly, the band should of ended with Coil, it was majestic and fitting for the set, but Trey, Mike, and Fish remained on stage, and pumped a version of “Character Zero” that was forgettable.
Set II began with “Back on the Train,” and like Hampton, it had the crowd in an intertwined groove. Solid version of the tune, and a wonderful way to start a set in my opinion, and what followed was the easily the highlight of the set and show. The boys bust into a “Waves -> A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing -> David Bowie” sequence that is was well executed and intense in a psychedelic manner. The jam at the end of “Waves” was other worldly, and Chris Kuroda did the jam justice as he put forth visual eye candy that even Terrance McKenna would of admired. The “Song I Heard The Ocean Sing” jam was easily the best jam of the night. The band’s sound was thick and chilling, and they put forth an intense layer of sounds that broke through on several different emotional, psychological, and spiritual levels. That is Phish, they had for the moment, pierced the collective conscience, and transcended the music, themselves, and the crowd. The “David Bowie” was standard and well executed.
“Army of One” was a welcomed break for me, the set had been intense thus far, and it was nice to get a breather. The “Reba” that followed “Army of One” also contained a transcending moment by the band. Phish silenced 24,000 fans, and I had never ever seen anything like that. The band got so quite during the Reba jam, it was quite possible that one could hear the crickets outside the venue. The jam was very melodic, and while it did peak, “Reba” has yet to reach the peaks it can be capable of doing. “Hello My Baby” was a nice treat as well, and most of us assumed that to be the set, and boy were we wrong. “Julius > Cavern > Harry Hood” closed out the set. “Julius” was a solid version, “Cavern” was a fun treat, and well, “Harry Hood” has still yet to be played right. It is nice as a set closer, but I would really like them to shelf the tune until they can learn the Mr. Minor section of the song. As an encore, “Frankenstein” was served like sloppy fifths from a prom date; it just needs to be flushed from memory with cheap alcohol.
Overall, this was a solid Phish show, and again goes back to Phish following the trend of playing it safe. I am in no means complaining, as nothing satisfies me more than Phish, and as long as they are playing well, I will see them, and continue to evolve through their music.
-Sophist