Phish Summer Tour 2011 is in full swing as the band returns to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ once again this evening.
[Photo by Balaji Mani from 5/31]
@alliedise will be reporting live from Holmdel for @YEMblog, so be sure to follow along for the latest. READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…
On Friday night Phish kicked off the first leg of their summer tour with a hearty opening show that featured a number of expansive jams and laid the ground work for what should be an exciting run. The quartet returned to gorgeous Bethel Woods for the second of three performances at the venue near the site of 1969’s Woodstock Festival on Saturday.
[Photo via Liberty Independent]
Saturday’s show proved the power of the jams as the band continued to flex their improvisational muscles in Bethel. In the first set both Halley’s Comet and Bathtub Gin featured impressive improvisation, especially considering nearly every version of Halley’s since Hampton has been of the five-minute variety. Halley’s at Bethel surpassed the 12-minute mark to the delight of Phish fans, while Bathtub Gin contained elements of Manteca and some of the best group interplay seen from the run thanks in part of drummer Jon Fishman’s bombastic backbeat. Also of note was the rare stretching out of the post-first verse breakdown in Runaway Jim.
The second set started with a 15-minute-plus Down With Disease that devolved into a space jam before the band worked their way into Free. Backwards Down The Number Line could be a monster when Phish chooses to explore the space between the riff that forms the jam and the Bethel version showed why as each member of the group contributed to a tasty improvisation that alternated between light/airy playing and dark/evil-tinged themes. Night two wasn’t just about the jams, Phish was also having fun all night, which was most apparent during a Makisupa Policeman that found Trey, Page, Mike and Fish each taking a turn at laying down what the music would sound like at their respective houses in a cool segment that’s worth a listen. From there, the boys turned on a dime into Harry Hood land for a patient take on the tune that would be a standout version if it peaked harder. David Bowie gave Phish one last chance to jam and they took advantage with Trey in particular laying down some ripping riffs.
HT’s Brian Bavosa will be at all three tour-opening shows and will file a full report early next week. READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…
Phish returned to the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA this evening for the second of two shows at the 10,600-person capacity UMASS basketball arena. Ride Captain Ride came off of
Hot on the heels of an all-around smoker last night, Phish returns to Alpine Valley for the final Midwest gig of the summer. We’ll have John Schulze’s review and photo set from Night One up soon, but for me the highlights were a tight Fuck Your Face, a ridiculous Down With Disease that contained three distinct jams before seguing into the rare instrumental What’s The Use?, the Sallypaug and a funky cover of Quinn The Eskimo.
Justin Wendt from Oh Kee Pah Blog will be reporting live from the show for @YEMblog. You can also follow the action at PhishTwit and through JamBase/Phish. READ ON for the setlist once the show begins…
Phish returned to the iconic Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA this evening for their second show of three at the venue. Tonight’s performance started innocently enough with Chalk Dust, Guyute
For the last show of Phish Summer Tour 2010 – Leg One, the quartet delivered a performance that featured a lit bit of everything that has made the run so good. There were bust outs, random covers and even a few intense bouts of improvisation at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Encore Park in Alpharetta, GA that put a proverbial bow around this gift of a tour.
Phish opened the show by paying tribute to America on the Fourth of July with an a Capella Star Spangled Banner. The band then took a trip to Gamehendge for a potent Punch You In The Eye and the rare Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird. As with last year’s Forbin’s > Mockingbird in Hartford there was no narration to be found, but by the end of the concert a narration would come. Other first set highlights included the funky Camel Walk and ripping versions of David Bowie and Gotta Jibboo.
07/04/2010 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
Set 1: The Star Spangled Banner, Punch You In the Eye, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Camel Walk, Ocelot, Heavy Things, My Friend, My Friend > Lawn Boy, David Bowie, Gotta Jibboo
Set 2: Down with Disease > Piper > Ghost > Waste, Julius > Mike’s Song > Tela, Harpua > Killing in the Name[1] > Harpua > Weekapaug Groove
Encore: First Tube
[1] Phish debut.
This show marked the Phish debut of Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine).
In a tour filled with dream setlists, the second set of the tour closer could just be the most insane sequence of songs Phish has thrown down this summer. The Disease > Piper > Ghost segment that opened the set was the meat of the show improvisationally. Although a rollicking Disease jam was cut short by Anastasio, Piper and Ghost each featured patient exploration. Waste and Julius were a mirage to lull attendees into a sense of standardness before the combination of Mike’s Song > Tela kicked off an epic end to the show.
READ ON for more on last night’s Phish Summer Tour closer…
Before Phish Summer Tour started, we asked our readers what song they would most like to see the band bust out and the winner of our informal poll was Alumni
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Last Sunday night in Hershey, Phish ran into curfew issues before they were able to cap the night with Tweezer Reprise so when the band finally did play Tweezer again,
I’m on the scene at the American Airlines Arena for the second of four Phish shows in Miami. I’ll be tweeting live from the show for @YEMblog. Last night’s show looks fairly standard on paper, but I did hear the Light jam which was stellar. READ ON for tonight’s setlist once the show starts…
