Jay About to Turn the Mike Over

So last night Phish played a benefit in Essex, VT for the Hurricane Irene flood victims.  I went w/ my special lady and our pals the LB^2.  Now I could have written a review but I have a buddy who is a much more thoughtful fan and as you are about to see... this is much better.  Harry Hoodwink, take it away!

"Soundchecks provide a rare glimpse into the mood of the group and shed some light on the interactions between the band members. When playing outside and the soundcheck emanates throughout the valley, there are often chances for the crowd to hear glimpses of the upcoming show, or oddball rarities. On Wednesday, updates began popping up online, noting that Phish checked Peaches in Regalia, a Zappa cover that popularly frequented late 80s setlists. And then, surprisingly, the whole soundcheck, Peaches included, was recorded by the band and released prior to the show, sending a buzz around the online community. Here’s a link to the soundcheck download if you’d like to listen yourself. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ABJXZXAF The intro jam is particularly compelling starting at 3:30. At 6 PM, on Phantasy Tour message board, Matzo notes “Right after the first jam you can hear Trey and Mike talking about how great a groove that was. Mike says that should be the whole next phish album. Trey tells mike to have "john" e-mail it to him. Mike says he sends out for recordings of every soundcheck. Awesome.”

This soundcheck also gives fans a view into the lighter side of the band. After Ginseng, left in a void, Page starts monkeying around with his theremin. As the eerily wavering electronic instrument (best known for its role in the Star Trek theme) dominates the PA, Trey leans into his mic and begs, ”Page, stop it, Page, I think the time has come for the vacuum theremin to end,” referring to the Fishman’s penchant for playing vintage Electrolux vacuum cleaners, then continues, ”They sound exactly the same.” Page responds, ”that’s a good idea….” And cuts out the exploration, but then Trey follows on and offers Page, ”Silent Night. Play silent Night” and so Page obliges with eerily oscillating theremin wavering out the Christmas classic. This leads to an impromptu made up on the spot “Too Much Fried Dough at the Fair”, and eventually, a tightly checked “Peaches en Regalia” instrumental to warm up the fingers.


Ticket time for the show was 7, with a hard cap at 11 PM due to noise ordinances. Right around 7:30, Governor Shumlin sauntered up to center stage to shake hands, kiss some babies, and give us all an update on VT flood relief, and to get things rolling. As the lots cleared and the crowd filtered in there, were pinch points where crowd control barriers pinched the crowd in certain places restricting flow and creating high traffic avenues, but eventually worked itself out around the outer edges of the stage, providing plenty of General Admission room on the field or in the Grandstands depending on where you wanted to anchor down.


The end of the summer tour came last week in Colorado where Phish played an entire show sponsored by the letter “S”, with every song following suit (Sample, Sparkle, Sloth, Sweet Virginia…) Then later during that run, Fishman wore his standard moo moo with “Xs” dotted everywhere instead of his normal “O”s. Following the show, many fans speculated that the band maneuvers were a veiled attempt to allude to a benefit show to be played at “SX”…or Essex Junction, Vermont. Soon after the Denver run closed, the benefit was announced. On this Wednesday evening show in Vermont, Fishman set up shop behind his drum kit sporting a newly crafted moo moo special for the occasion, instead of the O circles normally dotted evenly around the garment, this one featured hurricanes with a shout out to Irene.
The first set was an approachable rock ‘n roll jaunt with a fan-appreciated NICU and a solid Wolfman’s Brother > Julius set closer. Phish.net writes “Of course, leave it to Phish to stick the landing, as they did with a really nice "Wolfman's" > "Julius" combo. A few minutes into the "Wolfman's" jam, Trey made the first hard left turn of the night, modulating into a very unexpected harmonic space. The "Julius", though, provided the arguable highlight of the entire evening and will gain a reputation as one of the best if not the best "Julius" of 3.0.”
The second set blazed open with Carini > Down with Disease > Slave sequence that the band is wont to do right out of the gates after setbreak. This three song sequence was probably the highlight of the show in terms of energy and exploration. Pete Carini, drum tech for the band, was in attendance for his first show since before the first hiatus. Before the band kicked off the second set, Trey noted that the Pete and Tara Carini were the only local friends they hadn’t had a chance to catch up with since being back in Vermont, and then dedicated the song with their namesake to them to kick off the second set.

Following a high energy, if not truncated, Carini > DWD, Slave to the Traffic Light takes off at 1:30 during this video, screaming into overture, with Trey taking the lead at 1:55, white lights blaring out over the crowd on the field and into the grandstands beyond.  Then without hesitation, at 3:00 the band takes right off into the Velvet Underground’s Rock & Roll. http://www.youtube.com/embed/0_nqCDnOkCA

Theme from the Bottom was another favorite to see outdoors under the stars.  As always, Chris Kuroda was solid on lights, pulling out some great organic textures, developing color palettes that convey desired moods during jams, and executing on timing changes that always enhance the showgoing experience.  http://www.youtube.com/embed/PvcV3uz2bDg

Note at 1:04, 1:08 & 1:14 in this video when Page pings his upper keys for punctuation how Chris has flashes of light synced with his piano to punctuate the effect. The jam begins building at 3:15, with Page laying down a base of grand piano major chords for Trey to dart in and out of before he hits that overture at 3:55 and screams out through his guitar, washing out over the crowd. The whole band drives forward for the next two minutes with Trey taking the lead until he ducks out at 5:30 and makes room for Page to build into starting at 5:40, Vocal rolling jam at 6:05 “From the Bottom, from the Top”, and the underwater coral lighting Theme from the Bottom to match:

Character Zero is an all-in rocker that never fails to get the crowd chanting along and fist pumping, starting here at 0:25. Everyone get those fists ready to go again at 1:25. http://www.youtube.com/embed/jYBK1GRX9DE



All in all, a great way to spend a Wednesday night, and enjoyable Phish show if your expectations weren’t set too high. Of course, there are those that expected to be led into the Promised Land, or Gamehenge, whichever the case may be. Greenwigmonster at 10:45 PM offers,”I F#CKING HATE CHARITY”, while SatchTheDog agrees “2011'd” and ForgetPhull writes “3.0’d” suggesting that the band in its most recent incarnation doesn’t have the same energy, exploration & jamming as highlight years such as 1993 & 1995. Well, of course they don’t, that was close to 20 years ago. “Harry Doyle” takes it a step further, “Not only do Vermonters have sewage in their basements, now they have piss in their ears,” referring to a scene in the Phish documentary “Bittersweet Motel” where the Director Todd Phillips forces Trey to read bad reviews of the band on camera to catch a glimpse of his emotional reaction to the critiques. It gives you a (sometimes painful) glimpse of the pressure and expectations forced upon a band, and in particular, the lead singer/songwriter/axe-man.

Meanwhile, people are filtering out of the venue, and CheeseSteaks, in a thread labeled “Handy Suites” asks “Okay, so what's the post-show looking like back at the motel? Tim and Eric? Fresh fruit? Light stretching?”


In the end B-B sums it up right: “Organic lights, funky and deconstructed beats, cavern, Julius, rock n roll, and lovin cup. #phish, you've done vermont well.” All in all, a great community feel for a fun school night out, so much fun to see so many Vermonters out to see the band in their home state, and it was all for a great cause. "

***So there you have it!!!