NYS Music 20​13

Tag: YEMSG

  • Phish at Madison Square Garden, December 31, 2012

    Of the 220 different songs Phish played in 2012, #218 was Ricky Nelson’s “Garden Party”, played on New Years Eve at the World’s Most Famous Arena, perhaps had the most defining chorus to all their phans. The bands opening tune on December 31, 2012 included these first lyrics:

    “I went to a garden party, reminisced with my old friends
    A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
    When I got to the garden party they all knew my name
    But no one recognized me I didn’t look the same.”

    Barring a flux capacitor, no one could have predicted the complete change of direction 3.0 phish took in 2012, let alone from last year’s “Steam” stunt to this year’s golf-themed funked-out classic New Years Eve throwdown into 2013. That juxtaposition from last year’s New Year’s Eve low energy affair that garnered much criticism from the band’s outspoken fanbase to this entire 2012’s stellar record of epic shows appeared to be the impetus behind the band choosing “Garden Party” as their opening number at MSG. Upon entering MSG, phans (some of whom paid as much as $1500+ for a scalped ticket) were greeted with lush green astroturf/grass on the stage and GA floor and perhaps the first time in the band’s 30 year history, people enjoyed lawn seats at an indoor venue.  Complete with sunbathers, croquet, badminton and picnickers, the stage was literally set for a Garden Party. Little did we know however, that an obscure phish-geek-stat-guy- type of song would prove to be the tee box for a golf-themed third set party that ensued in the wee-hours of 2013.

    Artist James Flames created this poster for the three-night run

    Once lyrics were clearly delivered by bassist Mike Gordon, it became obvious why the band chose to start their 3-set throwdown at the Garden with such an poignant, anticlimactic song. However, no one in attendance could have predicted the actual Garden Party that ensued hours later. Phish has always walked the line of music-geekery and headier-than-thou status among jam fans with their setlists. Perpetuating that pervasive purgatory, Phish delivered a masterful setlist for all, satisfying both the jam-centric lovers of “Ghost”, “Piper”, “Sand” and also for phans who love Phish for well-documented New Years’ antics.

    Following “Garden Party”, the band moved into one of their 1.0 staples, “Possum”, which appeared to be specifically chosen for that slot after Garden Party, in response to perhaps, previous phans criticism of the band overplaying the old fave too many times during Summer Tour. Can you imagine? The disgust and outrage! However, this 10+ min Possum was delivered flawlessly and was a great energetic springboard for easily, the band’s most energetic set of the three on New Years Eve. From “Possum”, they went feverishly through Ween’s “Roses are Free”, “Rift” and a thoughtful “Sample in a Jar” that prompted many noteworthy compliments around my section 102 at the Garden. From there, they played “Alaska” and a great “Mike’s Song”, but rather segue into the traditional “Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove”, the band dropped a rousing  “Walk Away” cover before going into a frenetic, high-paced “Weekapaug” (Perhaps the best MSG version since 1995) that saw Trey Anastasio jumping, spinning his red locks and keeping his vertical head bobbing with his signature “Trey Face” that just continued to whip the Garden crowd into a frenzy. Finally the band wrapped up the 70 min set with an upbeat “Character Zero” that just wet the pallets of everyone in attendance for a dark, funky second set filled with historic jam vehicles from the Vermont quartet.

    The second set began swiftly with crowd favorite “Birds of a Feather”. A rather rudimentary rendition, the band simply spring-boarded that energy into the start of “Ghost”, which would be the last time the band would stop between songs during the second set.  During the next 65 minutes, Phish simply segued between songs playing puppet-master of crescendos with “Ghost>Piper>Light>2001>The Horse->Silent in the Morning>You Enjoy Myself.” The highlights of the set, hands down, were the quickly revved up Piper with early dashes of the epic Vegas 2003 version, and a 2001 that while short (like nearly all 3.0 ‘Sprach’s) had brief, deep concentrations of syncopation. Phish then appropriately slowed it down with a dash of perfectly placed Horse/Silent and gently placed the cherry atop the set with the always anticipated “YEM”, so much so during these 4-night runs that it’s previously prompting the lot acronym “YEMSG.” While typically not always a fan of the concluding YEM ‘Vocal Jam’, this year’s version was eerie and possibly intentionally weird, only foreshadowing the “Bizarro-Golf-Garden Party” that was about to ensue after the 30 min setbreak. During setbreak, the music notably included some gag hints, including Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” with phans energy soaring and crowds singing along.

    Around 11:45 pm, Phish returned for their final notes of 2012 and their first of 2013. It was a perfect 15-minute entertaining reprieve from the sweaty Garden crowd dancing their asses of. It was quite entertaining w/ Trey, Page Mike and a caddie-adorned Jon Fishman hitting tee shots into the crowd.Kicking things off w/ a fun “Party Time” before moving a 27-yr old obscure Phish chant “Kung.” Starting dark and creepy w/ odd lyrics including the lines “Can we stand?…Can we stare? We can stage a run away golf cart marathon!” (Unbeknownst initially to even this old 17 year  jaded vet) Basing this song as this year’s NYE theme (2010 was “Meatstick” and 2011 was “Steam”) Kung allowed the band to unleash a feverish on-stage Garden Party including midgets, dancers, the band hitting foam golf balls into the crow and an aforementioned “golf cart marathon” rapidly moving across the stage and through the backstage MSG tunnels at a frenetic pace.  Following the entire dimpled display, the foursome continued into classic upbeat “Chalkdust Torture” where the band brought us into 2013 with everyone in the garden hugging it out over “Auld Lang Syne.”  Following Auld Lang Syne, Phish capped off the 28th’s “Tweezer” with “Tweezer Reprise”, a great selection to commemorate 2012m considering NBC famously used ‘TweePrise’ as its audio accompaniment for its much heralded Gold-Medal video montage of Michael Phelps. I encourage readers to check out Youtube videos of this gag which includes a powerful “Tweezer Reprise”, complete with female backup vocals, featuring Syracuse’s own Carrie Manolakos.

    Following the ‘Reprise’ is just one more reason to either love Phish for their quirkiness or hate them for breeding setlist thirsty stat geeks. Follow me here: along with the golf-themed “Garden Party” third set, the band also made a point to play golf-themed songs from their catalog and bust-out covers with  “Sand”, “The Wedge” a masterfully played debut cover of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle”, a rocking “Wilson” (with a Wilson-logo golf ball appearing on the MSG jumbotron) and a doo-wop version of “Lawn Boy”, before closing out the occasion with the encore of “Driver” (first attempt botched by band has led to online speculation they initially flubbed “Driver” as to try again ala ‘using their mulligan’) and a classic rock-n-roll bustout cover (and first time played the extended rock ballad version) of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” (Many phans also debated whether the song “Par Tee-Time” aka Party Time was also intentional by the band).  When the lights came around 1 am in 2013, the Phish crew had even orchestrated Kenny Loggins’ “I’m Alright” (from Caddyshack) as the departing chorus. Oblivious to many saggy-eyed faithful, it was just one more observation on how this band is still putting the inside-joke on us.

    While the night before was musically my personal favorite show of the four-night run, with 12/28 and 12/29 paling in comparison to the run’s latter shows. But Phish knows it not about how you start, but how you finish. That was evident with the entire 12/31 show including this monster version of “Iron Man” which proved to be historic. In return, the entire sweaty Garden crowd appeared thankful Phish chose such a powerful, energetic, classic song to close out what has been heralded by phans and myself as thee best year in Phish 3.0. The 220th different song of the year, “Iron Man” that Phish played, in some way, symbolized a band that had just wrapped up their 27th show at Madison Square Garden and triumphantly began their 30th year as one of most successful touring acts today: definitely an ‘Iron Man’ feat this day and age.

  • Phish at Madison Square Garden, December 30th

    December 30th has always had a somewhat special place in Phish lore and there’s some that say this night has produced better shows than the far more renowned New Year’s Eve.  With this being the third show of a four night run at the mecca of rock and roll, Madison Square Garden, it was safe to say all bets were off and hopes were raised high this evening.  As they always do, Phish delivered in its own unique way with a show that may not necessarily go down in the annals as a legendary one, but certainly one with some incredible musical moments that featured some memorable jamming.

    phish december 30th
    poster by Franky Scaglione

    Those who called a ‘Runaway Jim’ to open on this night were right and Phish wasted no time in delivering a fairly standard version of this classic show opening song which certainly did nothing to dampen the already high energy level in the Garden.  After some soft early interplay with keyboardist Page McConnell, Trey Anastasio’s guitar licks gradually grow in intensity and precision as the song comes to its peak before finishing.  The short, but emotive, jam seems to serve  as the perfect musical warm up for both the band and the fans, giving everyone a chance to get stretched out and warmed up for a long night of music. This reviewer was hoping they’d open with an old school flair and follow this up with a ‘Foam’, but instead, after a short discussion, the decision was made to go with ‘Cities’.  This Talking Heads cover  is no stranger to Phish first sets and the group plowed with through with a clean, yet fairly meek rendition that didn’t feature much of a jam unlike some ‘Cities’ of yesteryear (see: 1997). Batting in the third spot this evening was one of Phish’s oldest and most iconic numbers, ‘The Divided Sky’.  This song with its exquisite composition, multi-layered sounds and unique vocal section exemplifies the essence of this band and is generally a crowd-pleaser.  While Trey was slightly off on some of the early ‘technical’ parts, he and the group more than made up for it with a rousing and powerful finish to the song that re-established the high energy level in the building. To keep things moving, it was time to ‘Back on the Train’.  Another crowd favorite, this version saw Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman shine on bass and drums, respectively, as they spearheaded the effort through a shuffle type jam that finally brought about  the first glimpses of group improvisation on this night.  Next, came another cover as Page led the group through a short and fairly standard ‘Ride Captain Ride’. So far, the first set saw all the songs played more than adequately but without much jamming or extended improv.  ‘Ocelot’ changed all that in a hurry with a stirring 11 minute version that finally saw the group get into an extended jam and stretch things out a little.  This version saw Anastasio and McConnell once again complimenting each other wonderfully in a jam that took its time and was played to perfection.  While it didn’t seem incredibly too well received at its inception, the crowd got loud and made sure the band’s effort on this one was appreciated at the end. This was followed by ‘Ya Mar’, another one of the band’s older numbers (and another cover).  The calypso-groove classic kept everyone moving, but again, a fairly routine and uneventful version was played as the song selection in the first set continued to be all over the map with few continuations or any innovative segues between songs. Keeping in line with this, ‘Horn’ was played next to little fanfare and this parlayed into ‘My Friend, My Friend’.  Both songs again gave Phish a chance to show off some of their compositional wizardry and prowess, but also didn’t feature anything out of the ordinary. With one last bullet in its holster for the first set, Phish made it count with the always entertaining ‘Run Like an Antelope’ set closer.   This vintage Phish staple gave everyone a final chance to cut loose this set and the boys delivered a high octane rendition that served as a fitting end to the set in that it was played flawlessly but without anything truly memorable.  No extended build up, no guest vocalists, not even a slight lyrical alteration.  Not that these things are necessary by any means, but hopes are a little higher and dreams a little wilder on a night like tonight. To recap, the first set had several very enjoyable songs (Divided Sky and Back on the Train) and featured one quasi-intensive jam (Ocelot), but overall lacked a sense of continuity and explosiveness often felt in other 12/30 shows of the past.  Set break served as an opportunity for everyone to recharge and wonder what lay in store next.

    The second set is typically the time the band will really delve into the heavy improvisation and ‘darker’ jams and this set proved to be absolutely no exception to that rule.  ‘Down with Disease’ let everyone know it was game on for the second set as the corresponding jams in this tune have the capability of reaching epic proportions.  The first several minutes of such proceed in a typical fashion and the high tempo rocker has everyone moving along and anticipating a big second set.  Around the ten-minute mark, Fishman starts to slow the tempo slightly with Page throwing in delicate piano fills.  Shortly after, Trey takes the reigns with some guitar play that seeks to bring the tempo back up and it’s clear each band member is prominently involved in this one – always a clear indicator of a good jam. As the second set opener continues to march on, Trey soon introduces some darker, mysterious tones to the jam before finally dissolving into some familiar, spacy ‘whale call’ sounds – somewhat of a staple of the Phish 3.0 era.  Not much time is wasted on this and, before long, the jam begins to pick up pace and intensity again.  At this point, it was all over the map, but in a good way.  Gordon then takes his turn and introduces a sinister bass effect that drives the jam to a new level of darkness and fun.  When all is said and done, the ‘Disease’ clocks in at almost 20 minutes long and finally gives everyone a taste of the spontaneous and cohesive playing this band has hung its hat on its entire career.

    As a breather of sorts, Trey then starts up ‘Twenty Years Later’ which seems to always find a home after an intense second set jam.  This fairly new original is played to perfection and does little to diminish the still high energy level that’s present.  Upon its completion, Trey immediately starts the opening riffs to what many are already calling one of the highlights of this four night run, ‘Carini’.  This powerful number has been taken to a new level in the 3.0 era and this version followed suit and then some.  For the next few minutes or so, Phish builds on an already dark and powerful number and gives it a menacing jam that at one point drops off into an almost eerily ambient one.   This one is Phish at their finest – dark, melodious and full of improvisational goodness.   At one point, during one of the more menacing portions of the jam, it even sounds like Trey makes a half-effort to re-introduce the ‘Little Drummer Boy’ theme that was so prevalent on 12/28/12.  There’s also somewhat of a ‘Crossroads’-esque section introduced by Trey before the jam blisses out and ends almost 15 minutes after the start of the song.  Three songs into the second set, Phish has already dropped two noteworthy and inspiring jams. Seeking to keep momentum going, Trey then begins ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ which seems to be a hit or miss song with the crowd these days and, in this spot, may be more miss than hit.  However, that didn’t stop the group from delivering a soulful and inspired version of the song that gives Trey a chance to shine with some inspired guitar play in the jam that ensues.  It certainly kept the second set energy high and Page’s complimentary play on both piano and organ is stunning on this version.   One can tell that the band just simply loves to play this song and this energy always seems to carry over into the crowd by song’s end. Before Fishman even hits the last cymbal crash, Trey has already started the opening riff to a somewhat older Phish ‘rocker’, ‘Julius’.  This leads to another eight minutes of high tempo, fun arena rock that has the Garden again moving as a collective whole.  It’s cleanly played and brings to the forefront, once again, the cohesiveness and skill of these longtime friends who have now been playing together for over 30 years!

    With a monstrous second set already under its belt, the call is made to have the classic hit ‘Slave to the Traffic Light’ bring things to an end as only it can do.  This is met with great approval and seems to be the perfect choice to cap off a memorable and truly innovative set.  This is another song that fits the ‘exquisite composition/odd vocal styling/mind-blowing performance’ mold of song that Phish has officially perfected.  A truly masterful ‘Slave’ jam that takes its time and builds to perfection follows and leaves the crowd standing in applause as the foursome takes a well-deserved and long bow on stage. A somewhat of a two-faced encore followed as it began with a sterling rendition of the crowd favorite, ‘Harry Hood’.  This gave the group one last chance to bob and weave through a 12 minute musical masterpiece while taking everyone in the Garden along for one last ride for the night.  This ‘Hood’ was typical of all good ones: slow, patient and bursting with energy by song’s end.  The show could have ended right there, but instead, ‘Show of Life’ took the honors and was met with some groans by the crowd, as it usually seems to be.  The short, but powerful, number served as a fitting end to a show that had a little bit of everything. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/56567290 w=400&h=300] Overall, Phish delivered a fun and memorable show like they always do.  While some of the song selection was sporadic at best in the first set, they more than made up for it with intense, thoughtful and innovative jamming in the second.  The stage was now officially set for New Year’s Eve where, as we all know, anything can (and did) happen.

  • Phish at Madison Square Garden, December 29, 2012

    The opening night of Phish’s New Year’s run left little to be desired. The band came out and eased through a first set, before dropping the defining ‘Wolfman’s Brother’ of the so-called 3.0 era. The second set, well you’ve heard about the second set. There is little to say about it other than it was one of the best sets of Phish I’ve seen in a long time. Understandably, the proverbial bar was set incredibly high for the second of the four shows. With mid-town Manhattan lit up with cheer, lights and lagers, it was an easy stroll into Madison Square Garden, a place that has become a second home of sorts to Phish. The crowd ready, aside from the stragglers staggering in, the quartet opened with a standard ‘Crowd Control’, an uninspired ‘Mound’ and a standard ‘AC/DC Bag’. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it felt like Phish was getting the opening jitters out. Then came ‘Rock and Roll’, a Velvet Underground tune that Phish has slayed countless times in the band’s career. After the standard part of the song, guitarist Trey Anastasio jumps into the lead, laying down relentless licks over a true rock and roll backing. The ending “It was alright” chants were inspired, and it seemed as if Phish was starting to take this show to a new level.

    Then, BOOM. Sorry for the personal touch, but I love ‘Sugar Shack’. It seemed like it was slightly re-worked, with Anastasio playing a slightly more rhythmic riff under bassist Mike Gordon’s boppy bass line. Anytime Phish plays ‘Sugar Shack’, I go nuts, therefore I suggest you listen to the song instead of me. It’s one of the best songs Gordon has penned. ‘Reba’, a short ‘Halley’s Comet’, ‘Limb by Limb’ and a somewhat extended ‘Wading in the Velvet Sea’ add a softer touch to set. An inspired ‘Bathtub Gin’, with a slow ascension complete with a ‘Suzie Q’ segment, followed by some exploration with Anastasio again taking charge with ferocious licks, closed out a well-played set.

    ‘Golden Age’, a song that debuted in 2009 (A TV On the Radio cover), opened the second set. I am still not sold on this tune, aside from the Superball version (which I believe is a Top-10 3.0 jam) because it just doesn’t do it for me. The jam that came out of it had the fans around me raging, dancing and high-fiving, and was engaging, but I was still high from the ending of Wolfman’s, so maybe I wasn’t listening closely enough.

    ‘Waves’ then bled into ‘Prince Caspian’ before the pace picked up with a tight, fast ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’. Gordon tears the ending into a meatball-bass free-for-all. ‘Suzy Greenberg’, ‘Bug’ and ‘Cavern’ fill the next few slots before the arena-rocker ’46 Days’ makes an appearance. Again, Anastasio takes the lead and builds up several tension and release riffs. It’s becoming apparent that while Phish isn’t taking many risks on this night, Anastasio has decided he’s going to put that Languedoc to the test by bending and building notes until the place explodes. ‘The Squirming Coil’ started a three-song encore, followed by ‘Grind’ and a rollicking ‘First Tube’.

    This show was pure fun. Tightly played music with some exploration and certainly some guitar lessons from Anastasio. It definitely was different from the first night, but no doubt this show deserves a listen or two or ten. In fact, the energy comes through in the LivePhish recording. Go on a long run and you won’t stop until this show ends. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPT5SkEXhRU?&w=560&h=315]

  • Phish at Madison Square Garden, December 28, 2012

    The moment of exhilaration when the venue lights go down and Phish returns to the stage elicits an unmistakable sound, as a festive and anticipatory crowd awoke from their dormancy to start the third consecutive Holiday run at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Electric waves of cheers scream out, as Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman walked out on December 28, 2012, to perform ‘Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” followed by “The Moma Dance”; Phish was back, the best Christmas/Hanukkah present anyone could ask for!

    Phish December 28 2012Floor seating was restricted this year through an alternate entrance, giving ample room to conduct Phish fueled dancing. The warm and happy 20,000 collected inside MSG’s round room hung on each song, waiting for that first big moment of the shows. Each song gave an opportunity that satiated, if not built up, the eager crowd to the point of release; “Funky Bitch” gave Trey a chance to hit the peaks of Son Seals’ accelerated blues number. Page’s “Army of One” was a brief piano-led curveball before the funk of “Tube” descended for a short yet thrilling few minutes. “Stash”, “Kill Devil Falls” and “Free” followed, with each one building up but left fans waiting for that moment when the building would shake from a combination of band and audience. That came in the form of set closer “Wolfman’s Brother”, a 14 minute funk odyssey that set the tone for the second set with Mike Gordon makes synthesizer affects on his bass that sounded more Edgar Winter on “Frankenstein” than anything else. Trey took over mid-jam and led the Type II improvisation that cranked out a jam based on the traditional “Little Drummer Boy”, getting the crowd to respond with a response of “Rum Pa Pa Pum”, amid an up-tempo beat that was far from traditional – if you haven’t danced to a funkified version of “Little Drummer Boy”, you’re missing the potential.

    After a break to catch our breath, meet up with friends and coordinate with friends, the second set opened up with a monstrous version of “Tweezer”, leading to the second six-song set in a row, dating back to the previous show on September 2nd in Commerce City, Colorado. With “Tweezer”, a vehicle arrived for what has led to the greatest jams that Phish has historically played, slowly arriving at the peaks amid Chris Kuroda’s sea of lights. About 12 minutes in, the song falls out of the first jam, serenely settling into a Trey-led jam that finally peaked a minute before dissolving into “Maze.”

    Phish December 28 2012

    “Maze” got down and dirty, with more meandering and exploration from Page on the keys, even sounding like Booker T. Jones for more than a few moments, adding on a few minutes to this stalwart of a tune. Fishman took a minute to play a drum beat similar to “Under Pressure” that Trey identified as “Little Drummer Boy”, leading to a brief reprise and crowd participation and laughs from all, before dipping into “Twist”. This version got so deep into its jam, as it has been prone to do in 2012, that is nearly disappeared from the song proper before reemerging 10 minutes later, like Jaws taking four barrels down and only showing up a short while later with teeth ready for action. Having taken the crowd on a sojourn to improvisation a dark and scary “Little Drummer Boy” jam arose, before the final “WOOOs” brought the song to conclusion.

    Phish December 28 2012

    “Theme From the Bottom” was simply beautiful, and these appearances in the second set are becoming a welcome treat. Trey let loose with some focused jamming, complimented by Page’s grand piano play. And to push the tempo back up towards 11, “Fluffhead” came back to New York! Even though it caught some by surprise, the tune was as incredible and never felt so good mid second set. Every section of this long composition was masterfully played and from the experience of dancing this one out on the floor, it might have been the spark for the rest of the weekend. The elation that “Fluffhead” inspires, especially when you recall that it was the first song back on March 6th, 2009 at Hampton – this version stands up to the long awaited return of Fluffhead and Phish.

    “David Bowie” from Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 8th is a standout version from 2012 but MSG night 1 may have it beat by a nose. Five minutes in, the jam breaks out and everything from Set 2 that preceded the song was brought to fruition. The four band members on the stage were completely in sync as the builds arose and the curves were thrown, with Trey leading the way into the finale amid start/stop jamming and hitting the adrenalized peak of Bowie.

    Phish December 28 2012

    An encore of “Bouncing Around the Room” and Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” were a decent encore for a well-practiced and dialed in band. There would be no “Tweezer Reprise” in the encore slot this evening – that was going to be saved for a bigger peak later this run. The first of four nights in the books, it was time to head out into New York City and find more adventures for this night. Phish was just getting warmed up. The New Years run is on! Happy New Year!