Phish 2/14/03

 

Historically speaking, tour opening shows for Phish are rarely the highlights of said tour or year. Yet occasionally you get shows like 7/15/98 or 9/9/99 where they’re surprisingly strong right out of the gate, possibly because they hadn’t been off the road for that long (in the case of 7/15/98, not even a week off!). No need to keep you in suspense but I think 2/14/03 is overlooked as a fantastic tour opener, and it rings in the true arrival of 2.0.

Set One

This show starts off with a nod to Valentine’s Day as well as a debut cover that nods to their cover story in Rolling Stone magazine before we really get cooking. Chalk Dust Torture lets Trey loose and continues the high energy, focused soloing from the previous show. Then there’s Fee! This version gets jammed out and spacey, including a full segue into Taste (which for some reason in my head I kept thinking was Free so that it’d be Fee -> Free). Trey is a little shaky and inaudible with his guitar playing at the start of Taste but the jam segment is more potent and a bit looser than normal—not at all type II but kept my attention more than the standard Taste. The jam times continue to roll with Bathtub Gin, which I’ve now heard a few times already in this retrospective review series. This is by far the best Gin of 2.0 (so far), setting an immediate high bar for the rest of the tour and year. This is like a modern/2.0 cousin to the legendary Great Went Gin, very fluid and bouncy and uplifting. Heavy Things is in my opinion a real dull thud of a song to follow with, so I was happy they closed with Golgi Apparatus.

 

Set Two/Encore

Something about these setlists is weird to me; I understand opening with My Sweet One to acknowledge Valentine’s Day but Possum to me is always a set closer or encore kind of song. Anyway it serves its purpose well, nothing too remarkable. The energy and especially the jamming reach a new height with Walls Of The Cave. This rare type II version is, along with the first set’s Fee and Gin, the birth of the 2.0 jamming sound. WOTC takes awhile to get there, and it isn’t as focused as future 2.0 behemoths, but it’s by far the best and most interesting jam I’ve heard in this series so far. There’s a fun grinding/chaotic segue into Carini that resolves the jam nicely. Carini is a bit slow and sludgy, though, and Trey holds back on the short jam. All Of These Dreams serves its purpose as a mid-set breather. Limb By Limb, while not an all-timer, has a focused and patient jam segment that shows now that the band has their shit back together they will not sleepwalk through songs. A fun and a bit sloppy Oh Kee Pa slams into AC/DC Bag, which also feels like weird setlist placement, close to the end of set II.

(A quick aside, if you’re wondering what on earth happens: a fan jumps on stage during the composed part of AC/DC Bag and interrupts a lyric to say he loves someone and to either wish them happy birthday or Valentine’s Day; it’s hard to hear. This freak occurrence seems to influence where the Bag jam goes)

Anyway, this one has one of the most unique jams I’ve heard from Phish. This Bag is nothing like even other type II versions like Hampton ’97 or the recent NYE ’23 version, with Trey stepping back and playing mostly just simple patterns and staccato rhythmic playing while Mike and Page try to figure out a place to go. Instead the jam stays in place for a few minutes before getting more quiet and sparse and a full-on segue into Prince Caspian. I don’t know if this is a great Bag but it’s certainly a weird one and a must hear for people seeking out jams that are non-standard. Anyway, Caspian is ok and has a weird ambient ending I haven’t heard before. The set as a result kind of just…peters out. Loving Cup, the final Valentine’s nod, closes out the show with an exclamation point after the weird trail off into ellipsis that was the end of the second set.

 

Overall

I said in the last review that the show was all sizzle and no steak, well, they certainly brought the steak to California for this show! Even moreso than 1/4/03, this show proved that Phish was back and trying new things. For a tour opener it’s incredible how strong it is; this didn’t at all feel like they’re warming up for a night and the jams are still coming. I’ve previously heard about half of the Winter ’03 tour and I can see why some people say it’s very consistent and one of the most underrated tours. 2/14/03 really brought the jams, and the rest of the playing was of high quality, too. The song selection and setlist placement is a little wonky and threw me off at first, though honestly on subsequent listens I like them trying new things like Possum opening a set or a quiet, peter-out ending to Caspian. I’m ALMOST tempted to give this show a 5 out of 5 but for as strong of a show as it is, I don’t think the overall experience quite gets there. The jams, while either nascent deep/fresh 2.0 jams or high energy rocking fun like Gin or Limb By Limb, most likely aren’t going to be among the best versions of the year. I do highly recommend this show, and it’s easily the best I’ve heard in this review series so far, but there just isn’t that X factor that tips the scales to 5 out of 5 or a S out of 5.

[Highlights]

Set One: Fee -> Taste, BATHTUB GIN

Set Two/Encore: WALLS OF THE CAVE, AC/DC Bag jam

Phish 1/4/03

 

Given the extremes of the last show, it was nice to get back to something normal with this one. While I will say that this New Year’s run of shows wasn’t outright bad, listening through them will confirm for you why you don’t see people talk about them. Anyway, 1/4/03 is probably the most consistent of the NYE run, as both sets are well played and feature at least two well played songs/jams.

Set One

This is a strong first set that starts out pretty good and gets better by the end. Especially compared to the previous show’s first set, this one is mostly tight and locked in, with just a couple flubs from Trey here or there. Roggae has some killer soloing from Trey and stands out a bit above the average version. Maze is a typical heater; high energy with Trey’s solo section a bit more droney and holding onto notes than is the standard. Saw It Again makes a rare appearance, but the real set highlight is the Split Open and Melt. This jam more than any other hints at where 2.0 is going with the jamming style, as it’s as intense as the usual Melt but uses more loops and spacey/droney playing from Trey and Mike. In all likelihood it won’t be one of the highlights of the year but as far as 2.0 shows so far, this Melt is the top of the pile and a must listen for 2.0 spelunkers like me.

 

Set Two/Encore

Not in terms of the jamming or anything else except the setlist itself, it’s really stark how set one has NO segues at all and set two is mostly all one continuous set of music. Yet as the saying goes, the tale is in the tape not the setlist. This set is a clear indicator that they’re getting their mojo back. Good but not noteworthy Rock and Roll opener, fairly standard Mike’s with a cool semi ambient ending/outro; full segue into Mountains In The Mist with an amazing Trey solo worth seeking out, sort of quiets down and stops IMO before Weekapaug starts up from zero (this song always sounds so awkward when it doesn’t arrive on a segue) and is a good high energy version that dips its toe into type II toward the end; full on segue into What’s The Use? (which in some ways could be used like I Am Hydrogen in a Mike’s Groove) which has a quiet ambient ending that segues into a rip-roaring Down With Disease, which, while not very experimental and barely over ten minutes in length, has some killer playing from Trey throughout including a cool, unique wah wah pedal loop segue into Fast Enough For You, which like so many songs from this set has an astoundingly good Trey solo in it (legit one of the best FEFY performances); after FEFY the song seems to have ended and the Phish.net setlist says there isn’t a > segue into 2001 but IMO there is one it’s just quiet and lowkey. This 2001 is actually one of the more short and tired sounding versions I’ve ever heard, and the big rock vamp endings mentioned on the setlist notes isn’t as fun or interesting as you’d expect.

Friday encore ON PAPER looks like trash. I can’t stand this song typically, let alone as the encore to cap off a run of shows…but GOD DAMN this is the best version and everyone else who says so is right. Trey was absolutely brilliant with his solos this show overall but especially second set and encore!

 

Overall

After finishing this show for the first time I scribbled “All sizzle and no steak, but it’s great sizzle.” I believe that’s a good summary! This was the best of the NYE run overall. There maybe were some moments especially on NYE itself that were more memorable, such as the jammed out Piper opener and the Runaway Jim -> Time Loves A Hero, but this show actually sounds like a real Phish show and has excellent, energetic playing in both sets. Gotta go with a 4 out of 5. Trey really stepped up his game since the last show but with a few exceptions there simply isn’t anything here that is noteworthy and will be on lists of greatest jams or shows ever from this period.

 

[Highlights]

Set One: Roggae, Maze, and Split Open and Melt especially!

Set Two/Encore: Strong set overall, Trey’s playing/soloing was on point throughout especially on the ballads like FEFY and Friday.

 

 

Phish Project Update

 

One of the most important things I ever learned about being a writer is to know the difference between wanting to quit a project and actually needing to quit a project. Sometimes it’s a matter of needing to restructure your life so that you can finish what you started. Other times it’s more about changing the scope/scale of a project so that not only can you make progress, you can actually progress towards finishing it.

I started this Phish catch-up project because I needed a new series to help motivate me to write on a consistent basis again. In starting it, I always had in the back of my head that this was probably too ambitious of an undertaking, and I’d probably want to quit multiple times because it was too daunting and time consuming. What I should’ve been thinking this whole time is that it’s not an all or nothing project, and I need to stop making this feel like a series of college essays I have to do research and take notes for. It should be fun to do this project, damnit! But sticking to my structure of talking about the show in song-by-song detail simply isn’t possible.

Now, there may still be shows that I have more to say about, and will write longer reviews about. But it’s obvious to me I need to drop the set by set, and song by song, approach. This simply takes too long and I’d probably already be close to done with the Winter ’03 tour if I didn’t start out like this. I’ve been stuck on the 1/4/03 show for weeks simply because it’s not a show worth taking so much time and effort for. If I can get my thoughts down in a couple paragraphs and highlight the important/best moments of the show, why am I going to try to say something interesting about every performance of Waste or Rift? Why am I writing linear walkthroughs of each jam if most of them aren’t top tier versions?

So, whoever is actually reading this: starting with the next review, you’ll be seeing shorter but more frequent posts. And we might actually make it to my first show, 10/11/23, before I’m 50 years old!