I’m with ya there Reba.
My two cents on the shows I’ve heard so far is something is missing. They sound good, don’t get me wrong, but something’s lacking. Intensity maybe?
FUCK YEAH!!! Phil still drops BOMBS at 69!!!
i would say save this statement until the end of summer, and THEN see what’s up. i agree that it’s pointless to compare them to 90’s era, but to say they can no longer tap into the Source and pull IT out is definately premature. age has nothing to do with that.
really enjoying this Simple. ^ that sounds like a good idea,if the boys didn’t think their creativity wouldn’t be close to anything before they wouldn’t be on the road. if they want it and it seems they do, then all the post hiatus fans will see a Phish they only dreamed about seeing!
i said the same thing that night. not a bad thing at all.
i think the bottom line for all of us is PATIENCE
shit, it might take til 2nd leg of summer tour for them to really get to the highest intensity, it may not take that long either…who the hell knows
but i do agree, something is missing still… and a large part of me is confident that they’ll find it as they get more shows under their belt and are playing almost nightly for a while
edit: and for the record, i really like these first two shows, but they’re probably 7 outta 10 at best… but that’s just cuz i think the ceiling is much higher with where they could/will be
lots of fluffy fluffin goin on… but that’s kind of expected when it’s been so long since a majorty of people have seen’em
Strummin on a bass is a lot different then ripping it on a guitar.
Not to mention that 45 year old fingers simply cannot move as fast and do the same things as 23 year old fingers. Physically not possible. I think that is the little elemet that seems to be missing.
Don’t get me wrong, 80% of Trey is better then most anybody out there right now.
Jones Beach night one was not as good as Fenway, IMO, but still solid. I think Fishman is playing too much, but it’s cool to hear him going nuts. The jam in Timber was kind of rhythmically off, and it was like he was filling up every space of the music. but at the same time he was playing some stuff that was quite insane so it was fun to hear. At least there going for it and ripping it up.
I think it’s a matter of finding the right balance between the intense raging fast stuff from the early era and the open spacious jams of the latter era. I think they lost some energy later on and got boring, so I think revisiting the more frenetic pace will re-energize them. I’m all for it.
Also got to take into consideration the vibe of the crowd. Ya know we all have to readjust ourselves just like the band. Everyone is a conduit for the energy of the performances, so the imbalances in the music also reflect imbalances of the whole psychic state of the entire crowd. Once people get their heads tuned in shit will start getting more interesting for everyone.
also…
Foam has followed Jim as a set opener something like 25 or 30 times throughout Phish’s career. The last time this happened was 7/19/96. Kind of a bustout…
it’s funny you said that. i thought the beach show was significantly better than fenway.
Agreed. May be a little biased though since One attended Fenway and not JB1. Either way, One is happy with both shows. ;D
One overlooked aspect is the drugs.
I know people don’t want to hear this and many will disagree with me but the best eras of all the legendary bands have been when the band was on drugs.
Don’t get me wrong I’m glad Trey is sober.
It’s just not reasonable to expect a sober person to play at the level of a drugged out individual.
(And before anyone points out Coventry 04 was hadly the nadir of Phish).
They need time. It’s clear they’re out of sync thus far and rusty but even still they’re capable of giving some outstanding music.
BTW Jones Beach 1 destroyed Fenway. Not even close.
^ “on drugs” can mean many things though. I mean taking a few hits of whatever while on tour probably isn’t going to negatively effect any aspect of your playing, unless you’re doing it right before you go on stage. But if you have the type of personality that cares more about the drugs than the music, then it will definitely have a negative effect on the music. I think Trey’s personality was getting to that point and now it’s turned around…and yeah, maybe it will take a while for him to get those creative juices flowing from somewhere other than a syringe, but everyone has those juices in them.
Trey was basically cheating before and using chemicals to access that creativity, but I’ll take an honest Trey, who is really trying to find that within himself over a selfish Trey that is more concerned about the feeling than the effect.
Wow…that was a dumb rant. Sorry about that.
^Well, I think most of an artists best work on drugs comes before experimentation has degenerated into addiction. So it’s not really when the group is on drugs.
I think that you can actually get just as high or higher without drugs than with. Most of the “psychedelic” musicians in history were initially liberated by drugs but they pretty quickly limited by their use. I think these shows are a strong foundation for something that might go beyond our idea of what psychedelic music should or shouldn’t be.
One might argue that Pink Floyd’s better work came after Psychedelics (that’s probably not me, but, Dark Side of the Moon is certainly a landmark).
I need to relisten to the shows, but I just thought Fenway had more fire. I liked the setlist at JB1 better, though.
Not dumb at all. I’ve always felt that drugs allow access to different points of views. Of course there are serious ramifications and side effects not to mention the legal issue.
My point was more to state that Trey’s mindset in the 90s is compeltely different than now. Drugs help frame that mindset.
Trey was on top of the world and hungry. In 2004 what was left for him to do? Phish sells out constantly they play 80+ shows a year. They’ve played festivals of upwards of 85k. They probably have an insane amount of money.
As for Floyd I would argue they are an except rather than a rule although I would argue Meddle is their best work.
My point was to show that he’s beyond the craziness of the 90s. Phish is established they’re playing because they enjoy it whereas in the 90s they were playing because they were hungry to make a living and a career.
Part of that development was interwined with drug use.
As for getting high without the drugs I dunno. It’s hard to believe you can get higher naturally than eating an 1/8 of boomers.
Speaking from experience I’ve never been as high naturally as I have on boomers or acid.
It didn’t last as long, but have you ever had a mind-blowing orgasm? I’ve never had any trips or experiences with drugs that curl my toes.
i agree, 6/2 was better than Fenway
^yes an no. could get messy.
Just gave my first listen.
Really liked the first set, Stealing Time is a great, catchy tune. Timber and Cities are always greatness. Reba had a couple missteps, but the jam more than made up for them. I felt Farmhouse and If I Could really lacked something, and being the final two songs of the set, probably would have left an odd taste in my mouth.
I found the second set to be pretty lackluster. Mike’s Song is pretty terrible, Trey just sounds really odd. Luckily for my ears, they jumped quickly into Simple, which had a very nice jam. Wolfmans comes out of nowhere, and I’m not a huge fan of this song, but it was an alright jam. Fishman kicking in Weekapaug while Wolfman’s is actually being played sounded horrible. And the Paug didn’t really do too much. I’m a fan of Kill Devil Fall’s, but no so much of the composed section of this Hood. But if that composed part brought forth the ambience, that is quite fine with me.
The Suzy encore was great.
Personally, I felt Fenway was a step above this first Jones Beach show.