Phish returned to the venue formerly known as Great Woods last night for the second of three shows at the storied Massachusetts amphitheatre. With a noticeably bigger crowd, the Saturday vibes were high and everyone was primed for an amazing show after Friday’s strong start.
The band took the stage at a timely 7:30 and opened with “Theme from the Bottom,” a soaring guitar solo from Trey Anastasio floating beautifully through the early evening air as everyone got settled. “Back on the Train” boosted the energy with a peppy choogle, keyboardist Page McConnell throwing riffs back and forth with Anastasio as Phish hit their first white-light peak of the night, eliciting a big cheer from the crowd.
The highlight of the first set came next in “Sand,” which quickly began to escape the song proper into Type II territory just before the five-minute mark. Anastasio initiated a subtle major-key modulation and McConnell’s switch from clavinet to piano put us in full takeoff mode. Drummer Jon Fishman mimicked the guitarist’s licks with well-timed cymbal hits as the energy rose higher. The second gorgeous major-key zone of the night – a mood perfect for an outdoor first set – hit an incredible peak with the band moving as one.
At the apex, bassist Mike Gordon hit a new vein of improv with a big bass bomb, inspiring a push in tempo from Fish and some reverse-delay work from Anastasio. Continuing to keep up the energy, the band hit a rocking theme and blazed through another peak, covering a seriously impressive amount of ground in a compact 11 minutes.
“Bouncing Around the Room” gave us a quick breather ahead of a rocking “Backwards Down the Number Line,” Anastasio taking us through more high-energy zones with some assertive playing.
Somewhere during the first set, a brief spell of rain gave hopes of breaking the thick humidity but unfortunately only succeeded in dousing those on the packed lawn.
The live debut of the Gordon-penned “Human Nature” off Evolve showed some excellent jamming potential with its propulsive funk and catchy hooks. While this version didn’t take off into extended territory, the brief jam between Anastasio’s delayed synth work and McConnell’s Moog One offered us a glimpse into what will hopefully be a widely successful jam vehicle by summer’s end.
I’ve always been a huge fan of “It’s Ice,” though I will say that I have been very dismayed by the lack of any sort of jam in recent years. We’ve seen that Phish is capable of really opening this song up (see 7/23/17), and their consistent move of bailing on improv and skipping right to McConnell’s ending piano solo seems puzzling to me.
A peppy and well-built “Wolfman’s Brother” led into a set-closing “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” whose ending resulted in the usual high burst of energy after many went to the bathroom at the song’s beginning.
At setbreak, thoughts turned to what tonight’s big jam vehicle would be – it seemed primed for a big “Chalk Dust Torture” or the like to open the second set. Phish, of course, bucked all expectations with a surprise “You Enjoy Myself,” prompting a mad dash of people back into the pavilion who were slow to return after a setbreak concourse visit.
Clocking in at under 16 minutes, this may have been one of the shortest versions of “YEM” in history – but it’s still “You Enjoy Myself,” and the collective moment of excitement at the first “BOY!” continues to be one of my favourite things in live Phish.
A quick return to improv out of the vocal jam gave hopes to a return to glory like the “YEM” of 2022, but Anastasio quickly pulled the plug in favour of “Oblivion.”
Gordon led the way early on in this jam as the band matched the sluggish vibe of the oppressively humid air with an open major-key vibe. Anastasio and McConnell danced around each other with flurries of arpeggiated riffs, heading for a glorious and joyful peak that took several minutes of patient building to reach.
Just when it seemed as though the band was ready to switch into the next vein of improv, Anastasio pulled us back home to the conclusion of “Oblivion” after a relatively brief 12 minutes. It was at this point that my worries about getting a standout Type II exploration got bigger – but Phish quickly removed them with the spectacular “No Men in No Man’s Land” that was tapped next.
Fish consistently pushed the tempo for the first half of “NMINML,” letting Anastasio layer on psychedelic licks drenched in effects overtop of McConnell’s bright Wurlitzer playing. The turning point in this jam came just before the nine-minute mark, when Gordon began to mimic the riff that Anastasio and McConnell had been improvising around, making it darker and more off-kilter in a similar move to Friday night’s “Ghost.”
Very quickly, the upbeat bliss jam was heading for new waters with octave-up chirpy guitar loops and subtle waves of Moog One coming in from McConnell. It seemed like the band might have been flipping the switch back to peak mode briefly, but dissonant drones from Anastasio took us further into the reaches of deep space. Eerie soloing and an increasingly uneasy amount of synthesizer, along with aggressive high-register work from Gordon, kept the propulsive jam on track.
Fish began to add in heavy amounts of cymbal crashes as the evil fully took control, reaching a controlled chaos jam similar to parts of “Ghost” and “Split Open and Melt” from Friday. This kind of music is only something Phish is capable of and seems to be a favourite tool of theirs so far this summer.
Eventually fragmenting into a more ambient zone, Anastasio tapped newer cut “Monsters” for the second-set cooldown slot, an amazing choice that let the guitarist go wild on a classic rock guitar solo, hitting multiple white-light peaks with a huge grin on his face.
There are few things that will get a bigger crowd reaction than a late-second set “2001,” especially with a little bit of an extended intro, and 20,000 people simultaneously dropped into the exaggerated funk dance party that comes along with every version of this song. McConnell tore up his Fender Rhodes on this rendition, being uncharacteristically aggressive instead of his usual emphasis on chords and textures on “2001.”
The second set closed with a rip-roaring “Chalk Dust Torture,” lifting the energy through a blazing and hose-filled 12-minute rendition. Anastasio especially was on fire, playing soaring lead after soaring lead plus an extended single sustained note that reminded me of the 11/16/96 “Harry Hood” in the way the guitarist grinned and danced while holding it.
Returning for the encore, some fun banter about how there’s never any mystery about whether the band would come back on ensued, including some more use of Fish’s The Blues Brothers “three orange whips” samples. It’s always a treat to watch the band crack each other up on stage.
“When The Circus Comes” led into a tight and powerful “David Bowie” that could have ended the show on a strong note, but Anastasio had other ideas and ripped out “Say it To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” for one last singalong and peak to send home the Saturday night crowd happy.
With one night to go in Mansfield, Phish seems primed for a massive Sunday show and I can’t wait to rage one more time with my favourite band. Tune in live from the couch tonight via LivePhish if you can’t make it and let’s get that “Life Saving Gun”!
Thanks again for the great review. Yeah Trey’s commentary before the encore is hilarious and classic Trey. This NMINML was my fave part of the run, incredible stuff