Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Phish 1/3/03

 


Before I get to the review, I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts. Without going into all the details, it’s been a rough month or so, including losing a longtime beloved pet just as I was starting to work on this review again. I know I don’t have to explain to anyone who has experienced these times in your life, that you simply can’t focus on endeavors like this, that don’t really matter and are read by like negative one people. Anyway.

 

[Prologue]

Without giving too much away ahead of time, I have to say that this show is the earliest example of the worst and best that 2.0 Phish has to offer. As the third in a series of four ‘reunion’ shows, you can deduce from the setlist and song lengths that the band were continuing to reignite their jamming skills. Hell, it’s a five song first set, and the encore is the only one this run of shows that is two songs instead of just one! But a setlist doesn’t tell the tale of the tape, and all is clearly not well in Phish…

 

[Set One]

Tweezer- OK, yeah, I’ll take a ‘Tweezer’ show opener! I mean, 11/17/97 has a five song first set that opens with ‘Tweezer’, I’m on board! There’s something a bit sluggish and slightly off about the composed section of this song. Trey does that weird riff-variance thing he does a lot during 2.0 where he kind of plays the main ‘Tweezer’ riff but he kind of plays a different riff at the same time. Anyway, jam starts off like a ‘99/’00 era version minus the Trey loops, with Mike taking commanding lead while Trey and Page comp in the background. Around 7:00 Trey starts some patient, restrained soloing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always need my ‘Tweezer’ to be type II so I’m pretty happy with this one so far. Around 8:00 Trey lays down a loop but it gets a bit swallowed up in the rest of the sound going on. They start putting the pedal to the metal around 8:30, increasing the tempo from a crawl to….err, an amble. Big peaking jam feeling starting at 9:45, are we heading for a peak and cool-off? Heading out into type II? Trey and Page play responsive lines around each other for a minute or two, by 11:00 Trey has fully woken up and started cooking. Page stays on the organ to play chordal accompaniment as Trey hits an enjoyable but pretty standard peak and steps back with sustained notes. By 12:35 we’re cooling off, quieting down and possibly heading to an ending. Nope. Trey starts playing high register spacey guitar noodling and they feel stuck in place, unsure where to go next. Loops from Trey at 13:45ish but they’re quickly overwhelmed by Mike’s deep space bass sounds. Soon Trey starts a sluggish -> segue into the next song. All in all not a BAD ‘Tweezer’ but a very forgettable one. Another jam that feels like throwing things against the wall and waiting to strike gold that is never found.

Theme From The Bottom- Just as a jam being long doesn’t mean it’s good, a segue being a full -> doesn’t mean it’s a good -> segue. This one is both too drawn out and too clumsy. Not for the first and certainly not for the last time tonight it sounds like Trey is playing in the completely wrong key and his fingers are fumbling all over the place. To be fair, the jam portion is high energy and around 6:30 and forward Page is really saving the day with his playing. But I have to address this: there’s a big difference between ‘being rusty’ and just straight up fucking up, and this first set should be a key example of that difference. Look, I’m not here to judge anyone; I’ve had my own substance abuse issues and I don’t want to come off like I’m so much better than Trey. But I’m also not charging people money to listen to my band live. I’m glad he’s sober now and that we got the happy ending of the story, but it doesn’t excuse how embarrassing the flubs are during 2.0.

Foam- Oh boy…Was Fishman trolling Trey by starting this song? If you can’t hear that Trey is fucked up beyond control, you have no business calling yourself a fan of this band. I can excuse a mistake here or there but Jesus this first set is cringe inducing. As a hardcore fan I can and do try to look past these things to see the good parts of 2.0 but I would never play a show like this for my wife or around friends who are more casual fans. It’s no exaggeration to say it honestly sounds like the couple of times that I put on Phish or The Grateful Dead and tried to play along on guitar, just halting and off-time and hitting sour notes and so on. At least the rest of the band are on their game tonight, Page treats us to some lovely soloing like he always does. When it comes to Trey’s solo he seems eager to redeem himself, a thread that will run throughout this show and 2.0 as a whole. This ‘Foam’ nevertheless instilled a faint sadness and permeated the rest of the show the first time I listened to it, just like “oh, a song they used to play with effortlessness in ’94 is now a struggle to get through for the band and me”, such that when complicated songs came up later in the show I was bracing for impact. Oof the ending of this ‘Foam’ though…

Pebbles and Marbles- Sound of Trey tuning a string before this song. Despite this being a new song and its debut, so you’d assume it was practiced a lot recently, there’s still a roughness to Trey’s playing that cannot be put down to “well it’s been two years, they’re rusty.” No, Trey is just incapable of getting it together though I will say he does ok with the vocals. Maybe it’s just me but I can feel the rest of the band stepping up to help carry him through this song until he gets to the easier parts like the big rock jam breakdown at the end of the studio version. Sounds like we’re taking this one out for a spin. Around 7:45 still a standard jam on the song’s main theme. Page continues to carry the jam on his back by 8:30, trying to spur Trey on it feels like, who is starting to realize he can play guitar after all. At 9:15 Mike tries to introduce a bouncy bassline but Trey ignores it and starts doing his chorus pedal bliss jam peaking thing. Gotta say despite all the jams that look long and interesting on paper, this NYE run has been underwhelming. Like, a 15 minute ‘Pebbles and Marbles’ sounds amazing and intriguing in theory, but not when you realize it’s longer than the album version and is the same exact kind of jam yet I’d argue is less effective. My headcanon is that Trey keeps wanting to prove he isn’t fucked up on drugs so instead of doing dark/dissonant or spacey/ambient type II jams he wants to be like “look I can still do Machine Gun Trey and play fiery rock solos!” OK, great, good to know, but can we get something else? So far this first set is cringe inducing composed sections and ho-hum paint-by-numbers jams.

After the song ends on the official release I think it’s either the band or some audience members talking loud about it being “psychedelic” and “Xan’ing out on that drone” (as in Xanax I assume). A portent of things to immediately come. You can definitely hear someone saying Trey’s name.

You Enjoy Myself- This is like “school recital” levels of fucking up. Even though Trey stops the band and admits how ashamed he is, this is still one of the lowest of low points in all of Phish history. Look, at this point we all know he was in the depths of his addictions during 2.0, so his playing it off like “we” are “rusty after two years off” is a lie not even worth calling out. He continues to not play the best once they do restart the song and I’m remembering now why when I was listening to 2.0 in the past, I’d always skip past the composed sections of songs. I mean, the ambient section is cool I guess, but that’s the easiest part to play! Around 6:15 it’s particularly obvious Trey is lost and forgets what to play. Can we please get to the jam already? Mike and Page solo sections are decent enough. As Trey starts his solo Fishman introduces a funkier beat and Mike starts to drop bass bombs. At 12:25 though we’re back to a standard issue ‘You Enjoy Myself’ jam. At about 14:15 Trey starts a fun guitar line and the band picks up a bit. Twirl and release playing at 15:00 that is the most interesting thing he’s played all night. As with the running theme of 2.0, Trey really pushes himself to redeem the flubbed composed section with high octane soloing. I guess if you’re going to end a pretty wretched set like this one has been so far, this is the way to do it. I mean, sheesh, did somebody give Trey a bump at some point during the jam because he’s finally playing with drive and purpose! Around 18:13 I can hardly hear Mike or Page because Trey has overwhelmed the audio mix. Mike bass solo at 18:45 with this cool new gooey space bass effects. Someone starts the vocals back up before I think he was really done but eh, oh well. Vocal jam is the usual take-it-or-leave-it strangeness: a George Takei theme combined with a melody that vaguely sounds like ‘Tweezer’ or something, and an ending including groaning and moaning.

 

It's no hyperbole to say that this is the worst set I’ve ever heard Phish play. I’ve heard sets that were worse than this one in terms of being boring and forgettable, but they’re inoffensive. Despite being familiar with at least a dozen shows from the 2.0 era, I was shocked at how obviously fucked up Trey was during this set and how many mistakes there were. On paper this set looks like jam heaven but literally nothing about the improv in this set is noteworthy. Even for type I jams they aren’t notable or enjoyable. I understand this is all just my opinion but I’m concerned about anyone who can defend this set. Even with the 2.0 considerations, it doesn’t have any jams or playing that redeems the sloppy composed sections and off-feeling. It’s truly the worst of everything that 2.0 has to offer in one set, and I can only imagine how they felt backstage during set break.

 

[Setbreak]


I’ve been having the kind of weekend where you listen to seemingly random music as your mood changes. For some reason yesterday afternoon I was in a Lana mood and saw that my wife and I had never listened to Blue Bannisters on vinyl despite owning it for over a year. It was the right idea because I was reminded of how I admire this album’s musical consistency and blue/blues theme running throughout its lyrics. I can see some people not liking it as much as her other albums for this musical consistency though for me that’s part of the appeal. It’s kind of a long album and only had a couple songs I think really caught fire online, but trust me and give it a chance when you’re ready for its introspective, contemplative mood.

 

[Set Two]

Birds Of A Feather- Ok, Trey was still kind of off with his playing, but it’s nowhere near as egregious as the first set. Pretty decent but standard ‘Birds’ jam you’ve come to expect. You can just feel Trey willing this set to be better than the first by a Texas mile. Whatever he did during setbreak, it’s not my concern or place to judge, but it sure worked.

Wolfman’s Brother- If ever there’s a case of a band or a sports team coming back strong after half-time and salvaging the day, this show has to be it. I simply can’t in good conscience dismiss the first set just because they delivered a decent second set—because make no mistake, as strong and fun as this Wolfman’s turns out to be, this set would otherwise only enter the discussion in terms of best sets of the NYE reunion run. Everyone knows that the Winter tour is where 2.0 started to cook, but it’s fun revisiting this run to see the sparks starting to relight in the band. But I digress. The Wolfman’s jam has some fun sparse playing between all members around the 7:00 mark. Mike feels like he’s leading the jam, and throughout this set it feels like he’s also determined to step up and salvage the show after set one’s shit sandwich. Some “oooh, ooo” vocals around 7:45, I think from Trey and Page? It’s blink and you miss it. 9:00 has Trey using some raw, growly effects and a pitch shifter to make his guitar tone lower, which I feel is one of those hallmarks of this era and certain jam styles in general. 10:00 Page goes back to piano and the jam suddenly comes alive and sounds brighter, as if you opened the drapes and let the full sunshine in. Mike is still dropping bass goodness all over the place as Trey takes fire and treats us to a rocking, peaking Wolfman’s. I don’t know for sure if this is the first time a 10 minute plus Wolfman’s had this kind of bright rock jam and wasn’t a funky and/or spacey type II jam. I seem to recall really loving the first Wolfman’s they played at Hampton during the ’09 reunion NYE shows, and it following a similar funky to rocky jam journey. Am I crazy? Anyway. 13:00 is Trey remembering who he is, Lion King style. Locked in, hosing us all down with patient yet energetic Trey soloing his ass off. Almost before you realize it, though, he kills his guitar and starts doing funky rhythmic accents as Mike hits his kick ass cyber bass. Or is that Page on a synth? Maybe. Anyway, before you know it, a very abrupt and not at all -> full segue like some setlists say into…

Makisupa Policeman- Man was it good to hear them laughing again. I do wonder if anything Trey references was real. Again, knowing by this point he’s said in interviews he was already a full-blown addict, I unfortunately am the kind of person who is like “hmmm, was it a fatty joint, or…pills…?” Anyway, that’s shitty of me and let’s move on. This is a fun Makisupa! I love versions that take their time and get dubby with loops and stop/start dynamics, had me flashing back to some ’97 or ’00 versions I vaguely recall. As it should be, Mike is the force driving this Makisupa jam until Trey’s loops start to divide like cells and overwhelm the mix around 4:15 onward. Man this really sounds like a ’97 or ’00 version but I can’t remember which, maybe 11/19/97..which also followed a Wolfman’s (albeit a BEEFier version). Page gets NASTAY on the clav around 5:30, and this reminds me that while the other members were never slouches during 1.0, I really think 2.0 brought especially Page and Mike to the forefront. Sometimes to rescue Trey, mostly to add their own ideas and be more assertive more often. Things just kind of come to a stop and after a few seconds someone counts off…

Axilla I- I was a bit concerned about this one but I’m already sort of grading on a curve for the show at this point even after the mostly great preceding three songs, so let’s go! Actually Trey seems to have nailed the lyrics and I don’t think I noticed him screw up on guitar once. Not like this song is a super composed complex one but it requires a certain energy and focus, y’know? Sadly no Part II ending though they tease it. Overall, gotta give it to Trey. This was also really great song placement for the flow of the set, bit of a pick-me-up.

Twist- The opening of this, oof, not great but they pull it together before the lyrics. Speaking of, I wonder why they went back to the “substituting every sound” lyric from the pre-Farmhouse album version? Some lovely piano playing from Page at 3:35ish at the start of the jam. Really feels like he and Trey are locked in and Mike is right there with them. Twist has always been one of my favorite Phish songs, in terms of the song itself as well as how it can be used live. They can either keep a tight, blues-rocky jam like the Vegas ’00 version or have long type II odysseys or serve as a segue point/energy shifter between other songs in a set. This is another song in terms of this writing project I had heard very recently, during the 10/7/00 show. That version, while longer, also had a similar jam vibe and ended with a short spacey/ambient section before segueing into the next song. Hmmmm. Well, I don’t want to accuse a band of copying itself too much too close together so I’ll close this song by saying, I fucking LOVE the keyboard sound Page uses around 8:20. Well, I’ll also say, this is another part of a jam during the NYE run that I feel doesn’t quite get there but hints at the jam style that most people associate with 2.0 Phish.

Free- Why did it feel like Trey was laboring even more through this than he remotely was during Axila I? I’ve always had a so-so, mood-dependent opinion of this song. Not for nothing, but has there ever been a type II version? It’s like Undermind where it feels like such an obvious song for jam fodder but I don’t think they ever did, and they hardly even play Undermind (and when they do it doesn’t sound like the album version). So, yeah, it’s Free but played a little slower than usual and Trey sounds exhausted throughout it like he’s singing after running a mile in gym class.

All Of These Dreams- It’s not a perfect album but I really love Round Room and I was excited to see it towards the end of this set. Trey actually holds it together pretty well on vocals, too. Somebody—Page?!—accidentally starts to sing the chorus again around 2:14. Well I guess it’s not just Trey who can be off his game. Yeah? Yeah. Anywho, it’s a decent first version of this ballad, big pop from the crowd for Page’s piano solo! Browsing the LivePhish app it looks like this song became a bit of a rarity, that’s too bad!

Possum- I was never big into this song until it was part of the encore of my first show and everybody, even people who weren’t dancing before, seemed to suddenly be grooving and jamming to this song. As such, I now understand its power and what a fantastic choice to end the set. As so often happens with this song, it’s basically the same jam every single time, but like Antelope, Trey is able to just pop off and do his Jedi mind tricks. Since it’s just a bunch of wall of sound end rock song live vamp stuff, it was honestly kind of hard for me to tell but toward the end of this version of Possum, they do some instrument switching shenanigans. They seem to randomly bust out this gimmick like a sort of carny trick to pop the crowd. I guess live, seeing it in person or even visually, it would work, but on tape it’s just like…ok yeah, they do this at the end of most sets? I would never have known they were swapping instruments.

Contact- So we start the encore with a silly celebrity guest joke from Trey? Alright, I’m listening. This song is so dumb but so great, it’s pure Phish. We get a decently long, fun stop/start funk jam in the middle like it’s 1997 all over again. Ok, yeah, this second set and encore still don’t come close to offsetting the dumpster dive of set one, but I’ll give it to them, they’re sure fucking trying. For a hot minute this jam was starting to give me Dayton ’97 Tube/Dayton Jam vibes. This performance alone makes this the best encore of the batch of shows I’ve reviewed so far. Where was this in set one, lads?

Tweezer Reprise- Yeah, they’re probably always going to play this song during a show with Tweezer. But given the sad showing of set one, did they really earn this one? I guess that’s up to you to decide for yourself, but to me it feels a bit like a victory lap that was only earned at the very end, like sniping someone with a red shell just before the finish line in Mario Kart. In pro wrestling terms, this song can be cheap heat. Sure people will always react well to hearing it but it always feels the most appropriate if the show had a truly type II beast Tweezer (or even a Tweezerfest).

 

So, this set was more normal, right? I mean, it’s got some decent jam moments sprinkled in, and it’s actually competently played (mostly), so nothing to either greatly praise or criticize. The encore was a big highlight even if I didn’t personally feel they earned that Tweeprise.

 

[Final Verdict]

I was going to say that this was a tough call for me—set one is absolutely a 1 out of 5, no question, and set two is a 3 out of 5 because I was grading on a curve, so do I split the difference or…?—and spend multiple sentences hemming and hawing and possibly some mulling over for good measure. But re-reading my original description of what a 2 out of 5 show is, I feel like it’s all spelled out there and this show is that to a T. If they had rebounded with a second set that existed in the top tier of the best ’03 sets that were yet to come, I could maybe, maybe talk myself into considering a 3 out of 5. If the wind was in its favor and I had had an especially good nap that day. But damn if this isn’t one of the weakest shows I’ve heard from this band. After hearing the first set I literally—and I mean that word truly—couldn’t bring myself to listen to the second set for at least a week. It bummed me out so much it made me feel like I had seen a close friend get sloppy drunk and piss his pants while crying and apologizing to everyone. The second set at least reaffirmed that this writing project was worth continuing, not because it’s any great shakes but because they could pull it together and deliver a pretty good second set and excellent encore.

So, yeah, 2 out of 5.

[Highlights]

Set One: Nothing (no, not the song Nothing, literally nothing was remotely good)

Set Two: Trey was still alive, Wolfman’s > Makisupa, Possum was fire as always

Special Commendation: Contact! This song had one of the best jams of the night.