8/8/11 Hollywood, CA So I can see this is going to be another "are we listening to the same show?!" kinda gig when comparing my thoughts with those of the hive mind on .NET This was a terrific first set. Ok, nothing that will make you go "Hey guys, remember that Hollywood 2011 first set?!" years from now, but it had great flow and raged from start to finish. A base level of excellence with energy out the wazoo. The jams were short but oh boy were they TASTY!!!!!! Possum Kill Devil Falls - great "chill" vibe on this one Cities Tube Back On the Train Split Open and Melt - goes Type II pretty much All wonderful versions. And the other tracks I didn't mention were excellent as well. A terrific first set!!!!
8/8/11 Hollywood SPLIT OPEN AND MELT This thing is a BEAST. It is just a monster. It's quick and to the point (barely 10 minutes) but it will smash you into the wall. Dark and evil, like the best Carinis out there, this one gets demented and twisted. I'd say it goes Type II, but it straddles that I/II border very hard. This is absolutely one for the books and not to be missed. Up there with the 8/5 Rock and Roll and 8/6 Tweezer, imo. Definitely compilation-worthy
8/8/11 Hollywood Wow, this show was terrific (gonna be saying that a lot, it seems....) It's very straightforward, but that's ok because there is so much energy, so much heat....it's just awesome. I'll just go ahead and post my "notes" (if you can call them that) 8/8 Hollywood ** (.NET is WRONG!) Down With Disease (Fire right out the gate!) Possum Cities (Great funky, too-short jam) Kill Devil Falls (Great chill jam) Tube (Short but FUNKY!) >Back On the Train (Exceptional Type I) Split Open and Melt (DARK AND EVIL! ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY LISTENING!) Number Line (Exceptional) Carini (Gorgeous ambience) >Crosseyed and Painless (Raging Type 1.5. Goest Type II into...) >Twist >Piper (6 minutes of Type II) >Mike's Song (ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS) >Joy >Weekapaug Groove (GO PAGE! SPECTACULAR)> >50 WAYs TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER >Groove Reprise Quinn the Eskimo
Yes! And I was getting a bit of the Berkeley vibe as well (the only shows I caught in '10). Don't think I've ever heard this one before so it was fun to check out. I did a so-called micro-dose at the first Berkeley show that run, which had a real 1.0 centric setlist. Which I liked.
So, I have been listening to the Europe '96 tour lately, and it's been fun! Actually decided to bust out my DAT masters and make sure they are still ok. 25 years is a long time for bits to stay on magnetic tape. But the bits were there and for the most part played back cleanly! None of my tapes were in general circulation so I also did proper transfers and shared them on etree. I am guessing that perhaps a few of y'all visit that zone for Phish downloads. The first Phish show I caught that summer, was actually a Santana show. Phish opened for Santana on several dates.... I ended up seeing 5 Santana + Phish shows, all 5 Phish headline shows, + Nice Jazz Fest in France, which they were both at! If I recall correctly - at the same time! While they were both playing, of course I was at the Phish stage. I did check out some of the Santana set.... and the entire Joe Zawinal Syndicate set. Which was cool. Anyway - July 10 1996, Phish opened the show at Le Zenith in Paris. Only 50 minutes or so, but it is pretty smokin! 01. Chalk Dust Torture 02. Ya Mar 03. Split Open & Melt 04. Waste 05. David Bowie 06. Hello My Baby 07. Good Times, Bad Times
2003 and 1996 have probably been the biggest years I've been sampling over the last few months. 1996 is fascinating to me because of just how much they changed in such a short period of time. I mean, there's barely any transition between 96 and 97 - you have Halloween 96 and then that 97 sound is kinda just there. There is good likelihood that I dive into 1996 soon Plus it always seems like a "neglected" year so that makes it more intersting to me as well.
So, after the Paris show, we went across the channel to London! At this point, Phish had opened 6 or 7 Santana shows, but hadn't yet played their own show yet. On this night they were fired up and ready! First set was strong, if a little uneven. Second set brings the heat. Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, England July 11 1996 Set I 01. Runaway Jim 02. Cavern 03. Reba 04. I Didn't Know 05. Sparkle 06. Stash 07. Scent of a Mule 08. Sample In a Jar Set II 09. Harry Hood 10. Bouncing Around The Room 11. 2001 12. Maze 13. Lizards 14. HYHU / Terrapin / HYHU 15. You Enjoy Myself 16. Hello My Baby (a capella, no PA) 17. - crowd / encore break - 18. A Day In The Life 19. fade out...
This was the first show of a good high school friend of mine, summer before senior year. His family was on vacation there at the time. His little brother (a musician and artist par excellence) and him got into the show. His parents were outside the venue waiting around and saw an American with a walkie talkie so they asked him when the show would end. They explained that their teenage sons were inside and they wanted to be waiting for them when the show let out. That guy was Brad Sands and he hooked up the parents with tickets and the whole family with backstage passes. They have photos with the whole band, autographs and everything.
Quite a few! Including the deer creek 96 and 97 runs with me. Unfortunately his younger brother, who was a huge fan after this show, was killed in a tragic accident in 1998. Making those first show memories all the more meaningful
Brit here, only discovered Phish in 2003. So of course I missed all the, count 'em, 3 shows they've ever played here. What was the crowd like? Brit locals? I'd be surprised, as they've never had ANY profile over here. Or was it USA ex-pats and tour followers? Was it full? What sort of reaction did they get? Questions questions, I know, but it's a time machine "if I could go back....." thing for me.
I didn't see them in England, but did go to Amsterdam in 97. Crowd was overwhelmingly American as far as I could tell.
Cheers! I think it was about a 50/50 mix of locals, tourheads, and yeah, probably some ex-pats. The place was close to full, as I recall, but not super crowded. I had some elbow room -- near the back of the main floor. I think it was sold out -- but couldn't say for certain. As far as reaction, the crowd was enthusiastic and into it, much the same as any stateside crowd would have been.
As an American who (Phish and some others aside) grew up during Britpop and has always been drawn to British acts with almost no stateside presence, I'm always so fascinated by how seemingly no modern jam band ever made any real inroads there. I mean, there's a sizeable audience for Zappa and prog-rock there, and a seemingly receptive audience for jazz as well. Like, I know Phish wouldn't ever play Wembley Stadium but even without physically doing a lot of touring there, in the internet age you think it wouldn't be that difficult to reach the same crowds that love FZ, prog, etc. Like, I listen to Weller and Blur and realize they're too wonderfully, brazenly British to really connect in the States, but I don't feel like there's anything particularly 'American' about Phish where audiences wouldn't get into what they're doing. Just such a strange thing to me...20+ years after Napster I don't think geography really keeps anyone from discovering music outside their homeland, so I really think it's a cultural/musical disconnect that I just don't quite comprehend. Oh well.
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm pretty sure Phish's only other shows here were in '97. Glastonbury festival, probably buried down the bill on a smaller stage. But the other one was at the Royal Albert Hall, which is a showpiece venue here, so that's quite ambitious. Don't know how that went. Regards jam bands' profile in the UK. I've seen Dave Matthews Band play 3,000 - 4,000 capacity theatres, fill them, with mostly locals, and go down a storm. The 2 shows I went to, maybe 10 years ago, were f***ing fantastic. Think - these were full shows that you guys have to stand in a park for, and we got the same in theatres. But I've also seen Gov't Mule do a club tour, and the show I went to was only, say 3/4 full, maybe 700 people. Widespread Panic and Umphreys McGee have played clubs in London, maybe banking on an ex-pat crowd, but they haven't toured. The only act I can think, kinda in this genre, that could have sold out a theatre tour would've been the Allman Brothers Band, but obviously those days are gone. I think Tedeschi-Trucks could probably sell a theatre in London, but not a tour. Maybe a few clubs.
I was at that RAH show in 1997 as well. My one and only time in that historic venue. Nice place, indeed! Certainly, there were plenty of Americans (myself included), but there wouldn't have been enough of us to fill the place. In addition to the Brits in the house, I knew some Dutch and Germans who were also doing several of the shows. There was a small but dedicated contingent of Italian heads as well. I wonder why they never went back....
Onward with 8/9/11, Stateline, NV (Lake Tahoe) Awesome setlist tonight. Currently headbanging to Punch You in the Eye. This is THE song that made me a fan (12/31/95!!!) I would definitely put it as my favorite Phish song, no questions asked. End of story. Good versions in 3.0 are extremely hit or miss. This one is total HIT. I am very happy Everything has been played excellent so far. Some shows have that raging-hopped up-too many energy drinks vibe such as 8/8 and 8/6 This has that smoother, excellent kind of vibe, if that makes sense. To me, there are clearly different "vibes" that shows give, lol. This feels like less of a full-on rage-til-you-die show and more of a take-your-time-and-enjoy-it-all affair Party Time was a perfect opener - is it ever not? Oh Kee Pah - unexpected and perfectly performed AC/DC Bag - nothing special but a strong, album-ready version >Mellow Mood - awesome digital delay segue into MM. A terrific version and I'm not one for reggae, so.... Rift - KA BLAM!!!!! CHECK OUT THIS FIRE!!!!!! HOLY HELL!!!!!!!! Rift definitely kicked things up a notch and the fire and precision it brought has carried over to this Punch. Not to be hyperbolic but this is surely one of the best Punch's of 3.0 SO FAR. I have extremely high standards for this song (again, 12/31/95 was my intro!) so I'm constantly putting down any version I hear. Not this one. Terrific.
It's funny, I get the same comments from Brits on the rare occasion I get to see Weller, or when I saw the Manics on one of their rare US tours about 12 years ago.
Nice review. I think you have picked up on the vibe pretty well. The venue is literally a parking lot with fences around it, some bleachers, and a stage. But there are a few little grassy spots, and from the bleachers you can actually see Lake Tahoe, which is just walking distance from the venue. 1/4 mile or so. Probably one of the smaller venues that Phish still plays. Not sure the capacity but I'm guessing 5k or less. Anyway -- Phish is good at playing off of the crowd, the venue, the vibe, and this performance epitomizes that. These are the only 2 shows I caught in 2011. I had to skip Outside Lands because my band had a gig... mixed blessing, at best. Kind of wish I had seen that Phish set! Keep 'em coming!
Grovel time: Anybody have any extras for this year's Tahoe shows?? I'm going regardless, but would be nice to have tickets in hand before I go ...
I’ll keep my ears open. I assume they’ll be cancelled though as I’m not sure, even if such large scale events are technically allowed, that promoters, corporate venues, insurance companies and the like are prepared but glad to be wrong. Maybe by AC or Dicks though I’m not at all optimistic.