For those paying attention, you know what's up right now with Phish. For those not, they are in the mist of one of the best stretches of shows that they have put together since returning in 2009 from their break up in 2004.
Yes, I know, hasn't the community said this about lots of tours in the past few years? You could say Fall 2013 was the best tour or Summer 2012. The reality is in those tours, you had shows that were high caliber / listen back many times types of shows but it was rare to have such shows back to back. What Phish is doing now is similar to what they use to do during say their epic Fall 97 tour, which was every show was just about as good if not better then the last with maybe one or two flubs all told. So in otherwords your percentage of seeing a show where you walk out with your hair standing on edge was about a 90 or 95% chance. Those be some great odds and worth jumping on tour for.
Let me outline some of the highlights so far (some = lots):
- 3 new tunes in opener with No Men in No Man's Land acting as a serious groove launchpad into a solid Weekapaug groove to make for a great 3rd / 4th quarter of Phish to open the tour. Did I mention 3 new tunes!
- More new tunes but more of the solo variety in 2nd night with another stellar version of Simple to keep for the valut in second set. Also a great Winterqueen in the 1st set showing off Trey's new Dead style courtesy of his practice for Dead 50
- Shoreline, well, just watch this and yeah, shoreline
- Forum's energy was echoed by most in attendance and the great audience footage that was produced by a taper throwing a gopro on his mic shows proof of the energy but this was also when they opened up No Men in No Man's Land and dropped a YEM in the encore where you had Mike and Trey doing some humpback whale move as most are calling it
[Photo Credit: Dan Vann @ Forum in LA on 7-25-15]
- Texas shows got some flack for being the lull so far of the tour but definitely don't sleep on these shows such as the 46 Days > Dogs > 46 Days to open second set in Austin and the Steam in 1st set at Grand Praire and the opening Chalk Dust of that show are all great. But as with all shows so far, those in attendance have noticed the energy from the crowds and the overall tone of the band. How on point they are with all their songs and some of this doesn't always come through on the tapes or streams.
- Then Atlanta happened. Both nights are off the charts with great playing throughout but most notably the second set opens with two monsters - Kill Devil Falls > Martian Monster to open 2nd set of 1st night and the epic Tweezer to open 2nd set of 2nd night (on the anniversary of Tahoe Tweezer no less). But these shows had more then just the 2nd set opener. On night one pretty much the entire 2nd set is a must here with great versions of Twist, BOTT and Reba but the closing Bathtub Gin is just insanely good. And the 2nd night 2nd set, while not as fluid as first in terms of straight jams, the Carini gets metalish and the Sand is super funky with a great high energy segue in to Reprise to close out the set in rocking fashion with a rare Rock n Roll encore.
- Now, in prior great tours of this era you would often see at least one show here that kind of falls flat. Well, not here. Tuscaloosa keeps the fire going with a fantastic DWD that stretches also in to the 20 minute range (both KDF and Tweezer surprassed 20 in Atlanta shows). The cool segue in to Camel Walk out of Disease. The Seven Below that while only 10 minutes packed one hell of a punch. A 2001 that gets close to the 10 minute versions that were so commonplace in late 90 / early 2000 era.
- That then brings us to last night in Nashville. Could the boys keep the amazing sets rolling? Oh boy did they with the first Mike's 2nd jam since 2000 (thanks @drewphish - read the story here) and this Mike's Groove segment in general was just off the charts with Mikes > Piper (slow type of build too) > Crosseyed > Weekapaug. And let me tell you, while the Mike's 2nd jam has it's nostalgic value, this Paug is the king of the hill in terms of jams this night. It gets super dark and heavy metalish, which is some of the best type of Phish. Especially when they rise out of this darkness and back in to the happy funk of the standard Weekapaug jam. So so good. The Wolfman's in the 1st is also notable.
So yeah. Good tour so far I'd say.
Which brings me to my next point as the title of this post states. How about a mini-Fall Tour fellas?
If I can remember correctly, one well known tour in Phish history where they were having the same amount of fun on stage and tearing it apart each and every night saw the band end the year with no intention of touring until the summer only to then surprise us all with a mini tour called the Island Tour. Yes folks, I'm comparing this current tour to 1997 Fall Tour.
I see no reason why they shouldn't follow the same rule here and keep the party rolling for just a short while in to the fall. And being a New Englander, I'd have to say it should be in this corner of the world. Halloween time frame is obviously out with Trey's band playing a show in Vegas but how about bringing back a Thanksgiving run? Maybe Philly > MSG > Worcester for good times sake? Or if we are keeping with the Island Tour theme, just hit those same venues - 2 nights at Nassau and 2 nights in Providence.
And what better place to unleash even more of the new tunes they plan on laying down this fall then on the live stage. In fact, the Island Tour was exactly the place where they did this very thing with new tunes off of the Story of the Ghost album.
So let's go Phish community. Lets spread the word and get a bug in the ears of the powers that be - #phishminifalltour
