Review: Phish – Broomfield, Night One

And that they had. Second set opener Mike’s Song served as a base for Trey to shoot proverbial lasers out of his guitar, and Simple settled into an ambient, spacey jam that segued well into Ghost. This is when it got exciting. The slow funk of Ghost picked up and led to an impressive bout of improvisation that showed exactly what the quartet is capable of at this point in their career. After ten wonderful, jammy minutes drummer Jon Fishman hit the beat that signaled the start of Weekapaug Groove. Cactus slapped his bass hard on funky Weekapaug that kept the energy high.

After the ‘Paug, Trey grabbed a megaphone from behind his amp and placed it gently on the ground next to his microphone, apparently hoping nobody would see. His plan worked only for a second, though, because it’s kind of hard to miss a bullhorn being brought out to the stage. Playing along with our excitement, Big Red swung the horn around as if getting ready to hit a home run, while Gordon and Fishman started the oh-so-cherished thump of Fee. Later in the song, Trey waved the megaphone around again, always happy to have some fun with the crowd. From that jovial tune to another, Makisupa Policeman was sung, “Policeman came to my house, and asked me for his rank, so I reached over, and handed him some dank.” As this one settled into the jam after a drum solo, the only time Fishman would get his due on this evening, Trey again picked up the bullhorn and swung it around to create some feedback.

Suddenly, Trey approached the microphone and asked if we wanted to hear another, new, tune about a policeman. Of course, the answer was “yes!” My Problem Right There is a lyrically humorous tune – “I got no other problems of which I’m aware, I’m just too damn smart, and that’s my problem right there,” – that could be filed under the ranks of I’ve Been Around – a catchy tune that, for some reason, never gets played. Or maybe, I’ll be wrong. I can only hope. With the solid end of My Problem Right There, the boys jumped back into Makisupa, which quickly moved into Slave to the Traffic Light, a slow burn of a jam that never fails to pull your heartstrings, and pull hard. Strange Design was an interesting choice, such a slow song so close to the end of the set, especially because of the high-energy in the room following Slave, but it turned out that the ballad was just what we needed before Julius gave Trey one more chance to rip before heading off stage. Loving Cup, as an encore, was, again, just what was needed to send us home happy.

[My Problem Right There]

Though there were a few brief moments of uncertainty, it wasn’t long before they had it set. If the second set from this show is any indication, this should prove to be another solid fall tour.

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter