phish

Phish Charlotte: Setlist and The Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 17, 2011 6 Comments

Phish @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Charlotte

We’ve reached the final weekend of the first leg of Phish Summer Tour 2011 as the band moved from one Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Alpharetta) to another (Charlotte) for their fourth-ever show at the venue. Phish has previously played the North Carolina shed on July 7, 1999; July 25, 2003 and July 2, 2010.

[via @Mike_Gordon]


For the previous two shows in Alpharetta, Phish tended to play it safe and offered fans high-energy versions of some of their most popular and most played songs. This evening’s performance went a different route as the band reached into their “bag of tricks” and came out with the first exploratory jams in quite a few shows, some bust outs and even our first Henrietta song of the nearly-completed tour.

Tonight Mike’s Groove kicked off a show for the first time since Phish’s “final show” at Coventry in 2004. Mike’s was played in response to a fan who brought a “Mike’s House” sign to the show. How about we stick to signs for songs that haven’t been played in a while folks? Later in the set, NICU gave fans a chance to visit “Leo’s House” while Colonel’s Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird reared its head for only the third time since the quartet went on hiatus in October of 2000. Just like each of the other post-hiatus versions, there was not much of a narration with tonight’s YEMblog guest tweeter Scott Marks telling us that guitarist Trey Anastasio referenced the t-shirt he and bassist Mike Gordon were wearing thusly – “look, I’m not going to give this away (points at his short-sleeve t-shirt) but you all know who this is…it’s the Famous Mockingbird!”

READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…

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Bloggy Goodness: Bobby D-Tour

Jeffrey Greenblatt June 16, 2011 No Comments

As we head into the tail end of the first leg of Phish’s summer tour, we’re sure there are plenty of people out there that are beginning to make travel

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Phish Alpharetta #2: Setlist and The Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 15, 2011 4 Comments

We’ve reached the home stretch of the first leg of Phish Summer Tour 2011. Tonight the quartet returned to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA for the second of two shows at the fan-friendly shed.

[Screenshot of Live Phish webcast]


Once again Phish opened the show with a rare bluegrass cover and this time it was Paul and Silas getting the call. Tonight’s take on the traditional tune was only the fifth version in the past 15 years. Standard takes on Back On The Train and Foam followed along with the slow version of Water in the Sky which was in reference to the thunderstorms that enveloped the area around the venue both before the show and during the first set. Runaway Jim didn’t quite reach the heights of Bethel, but the harmonics section was extended nicely tonight as well. Page McConnell’s Army of One saw its first action of 2011 and featured some of Trey’s best work of the set. A pair of covers – Roses Are Free and Timber (Jerry) – came next and were joined together by a quick and painless transition.

It’s not very often that Phish is forced off the stage by bad weather. Notable instances in the past include Deer Creek ’09 and Polaris ’00. Fans must’ve been thinking about those times when members of Phish’s crew emerged during only the fifth Mound since 1997. Trey took to the mic and told the audience that a nasty storm was about to hit and that the band needed to leave the stage. He promised there would be more music soon as the shortened Mound came to a close.

Forty-nine minutes later Phish returned to the stage and finished Mound. Tweezer came complete with a lyric change of “cold” to “wet” in honor of the downpours. Just as Tweezer was getting good Trey started playing the Julius intro and hopes for a long excursion were dashed. While the Slave to the Traffic Light that followed did provide some fine interplay between the band members, Gotta Jibboo was the clear improvisational highlight of the closing set. McConnell in particular helped to push the jam to an interesting place shortly after killing his Suzy Greenberg solo. At the end of the set, the acapella mics came out for the first time all tour and Phish delivered a zany version of Birdwatcher and an acapella Kung led by Anastasio and Fishman with help from Page and Mike.

When Phish dropped jaws with a near 25-minute Down With Disease in Clarkston, MI back on June 3 hopes were high for more extended jams this tour. With just three shows to go on this leg we’re still waiting.

READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…

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Phish Alpharetta #1: Setlist and The Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 14, 2011 4 Comments

Phish fans raved about the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA after the band’s two performances there last summer. Tonight, Phish returned to the venue for the first of two shows. If you can’t make it to Alpharetta you can watch all the action live through a Live Phish webcast.

[Screen Grab from Webcast]


As with each of the past three shows Phish picked a sign in the audience to provide the name of the opening song. This time for the fitting Dinner and a Movie got the call. Moma Dance followed and led into the sixth Possum of the tour. There were other rotation staples a plenty in the opening stanza including Cities, Fluffhead, Ocelot and Kill Devil Falls. The band also dipped into their catalog for a bluegrass cover, Norman Blake’s Ginseng Sullivan, which saw live action for the first time in 50 shows. While the start of the 87-minute set didn’t contain much improvisation, the end was a different story. Bathtub Gin came to a big climax similar to the version from two nights earlier at Merriweather and a cover of Traffic’s Light Up or Leave Me Alone featured an extended solo filled with firey work from guitarist Trey Anastasio that was the clear highlight of the set.

Carini may have been a jam vehicle for Phish in 2010 but in 2011 each version has been of the straightforward variety and tonight’s set two opener quickly segued into Sand in what seemed like a surprise to every member of the band except Trey. Sand has had a fine tour thus far and tonight’s take was no exception. Down With Disease once again featured out of the box exploration for a spell before the band deftly worked their way towards Maze. Anastasio and Page McConnell were both in fine form technically throughout the light on improv second set, so Maze was a good choice to give them each a chance to shine. A sequence of well-played, heavy rotation stalwarts followed to close the set – Meatstick > Also Sprach Zarathrustra > Bug > A Day in the Life > Run Like An Antelope leading to a Quinn The Eskimo encore. Phish returns to Alpharetta tomorrow night.

READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…

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Phish Merriweather Run: A – Z

Scott Bernstein June 14, 2011 8 Comments

Continuing a Hidden Track tradition started last summer, today we break down Phish’s recently completed two-show run at Merriweather Post Pavilion with a look at the performances from A – Z.

A is for Access Me – Mike Gordon’s Access Me was dusted off for the first time in 2011 on Saturday night and in this writer’s opinion it was the best version of the Undermind tune yet. It wasn’t a perfect rendition (as pointed out by DaveO) but far surpasses the flub-laden versions from Alpine ’04, Miami ’09 and Manchester ’10.


B is for Badass Boogie On – Following on a trend started at Bethel, Phish had fun with the outro of this Stevie Wonder cover on Sunday night making for quite the interesting take on the tune. We’ve reached the point where we’re excited to hear Cactus kick on his micro synth signaling the start of Boogie On after a few years of mostly standard versions.

C is for Crab Cakes – I stumbled upon a small crab cake stand at the venue and was so hungry that I didn’t care about the $15 price tag. I was shocked when I took my first bite and realized this was no ordinary crab cake. It was all killer crab and very little filler and quite honestly was the best venue food I’ve ever eaten.

READ ON for more about Phish at Merriweather Post Pavilion…

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Review Phish @ Camden – June 10, 2011

Brian Bavosa June 11, 2011 9 Comments

Phish @ Susquehanna Bank Center, June 10

Sometimes you know what to expect from a Phish show. Others, you don’t. Last night in Camden, NJ, at the Susquehanna Bank Center was definitely the latter, and a show that displayed some flashes of brilliance, but overall had an odd vibe and flow throughout. Kicking off with the usual encore tune, Rocky Top, and immediately followed by Mike’s Song > I am Hydrogen >Weekapaug Groove, Friday night was surely off to a start that caught many off-guard.The first highlight of the night was definitely this Weekapaug. With Mike Gordon on bass leading the way, this version had the extra spark that many of the previous years have been missing.

In many ways, the first set felt like it was backwards, eventually closing with The Curtain (With). After some ebbs and flows of the set, The Curtain With punctuated a 90-plus minute opening stanza with one of the most impressive, soaring and soulful solos that Trey Anastasio has laid upon us in some time. As this tune was transpiring, I knew it was something magical and definitely my favorite version of the song in recent memory – and maybe ever. (There’s no mistake that the band released the official vibe of this song from last night.

Watch it here:


While the long first set was an interesting affair, set two is one I’m still not sure what to make of – although I enjoyed huge portions of it as it was occurring. Down With Disease > Free was a welcome, but predictable springboard for the final frame – but that’s about the last predictable thing that went down. When everyone hoped that the improvisational doors had been opened for the remainder of the evening, Trey led the band into yet another Possum, a song played all-too-much this tour. Now, this version was very strong, with above average work by Anastasio, but it was the song’s placement that did it wrong. Like PNC the previous week, an early set Possum is just the wrong spot for this tune to be played. Period. Always fun, but oddly placed. In fact, Odd was a common word that kept popping into my head last night. Just like the Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars that followed and saw Gordon sitting on the ground while singing. I told you last night was a bit weird, right?

READ ON for more on last night’s Phish show…

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Phish Darien Setlist and The Skinny

Scott Bernstein June 8, 2011 2 Comments

You knew the night where Phish dug deep into their songbook was coming and that night was tonight. Phish returned to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, NY for their fifth performance at the venue, which sits adjacent to an amusement park, and delivered many tour debuts.

[Photo via Kristy Freeman]


Friend of HT Kristy Freeman has always been a huge fan of Phish’s version of Nellie Kane by Hot Rize and she took matters into her own hands to get the band to play the song. She enlisted the help of about a dozen friends who all held creatively decorated signs with Nellie Kane on them. Kristy’s plan worked as Phish opened with Nellie Kane to her delight. Nellie Kane wasn’t the only relatively rare song on tap for Darien’s first set. Mellow Mood, Buffalo Bill, Undermind, Ride Captain Ride, It’s Ice, Dog Faced Boy and Brian and Robert all saw their first action of 2011 in the 14-song marathon opening stanza.

Since debuting their cover of TV on the Radio’s Golden Age in Albany back in 2009, the song has become a fan-favorite and a highly requested cover in the band’s arsenal. Golden Age returned to a Phish stage last October and once again tonight as the second set opener. Online Phish Tour’s Guy Forget noted Trey Anastasio’s “huge soaring guitar lines” that led into an “oozing gooey funk jam.” However, the Golden Age jam was short lived and went into a Mike’s Groove that contained Fast Enough For You in the middle of Mike’s and Weekpaug for the first time. What’s The Use? marked the 11th and final 2011 debut of the night and was teased later in 2001. Good Times, Bad Times was the encore once again following a closing sequence of Theme From The Bottom, Backwards Down The Number Line, 2001 and Harry Hood.

READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…

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Briefly: Phish to Webcast Alpharetta Shows

Scott Bernstein June 8, 2011 1 Comment

Once again Couch Tour goes legit as Phish will broadcast both of their sold-out performances at Alpharetta’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta, GA on June 14 and 15. The webcast

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