The important thing is to pick which shows you go to and which ones you miss
This Best Phish Jams site seems familiar. Has this been posted here before? Will would know.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tn-AuFZp0budJqwy2wd9jeA&output=html
How bout it Will?
It’s weird… I like the 2.0 era song material, by and large, but the live performances of the era aren’t all that compelling to me (particularly '04). I had pretty much checked out on the band by '99 due to the increasing sloppiness in the live show and nothing in 2.0 compelled me to come back and listen. 15-or-so minutes of Trey noodling random notes up and down the neck isn’t jamming. I think a lot of folks who are begging for “the jams man…” have a selective memory. There were a ton of nights where the noodling went nowhere at all in that era.
I think it’s kind of a shame that 2.0 material doesn’t come out more often now that the band is as focused as they are now. Worcester’s Seven Below is a prime example of this. That version of the song is among the best of 3.0! I know that if Waves was given some more opportunities it would be able to shine with some great jams. Undermind has been given the real treatment (Portland '09) only a couple of times, and when it was, it’s amazing! Scents and Subtle Sounds, Walls of the Cave, the list goes on and on. Hopefully in the coming year some of that stuff will come into the more frequent song rotation and songs like Suzy Greenberg will go back to being on the outer ring of the rotation.
^Great post!
Again I find myself wondering why everyone’s so hung up on teh jams, maaaan,braaaah.
For my tastes, they’re doing Phish just right. I like early nineties Phish best, when the four song set was just not a possibility. I simply don’t find myself all that impressed or entertained by that coveted type II element or whatever ya crazy kids are callin it these days. To me the long improv segments are actually less risky, it’s like … they can’t screw up when there’s no plan, you know? I feel like the 2.0 era was full of loooong jams for that exact reason. It was actually safer. So … in 3.0 we’re getting It’s Ice. Now THAT’s a risky number. And they’re doing ALL the hard shit.
I’m loving the variety, the repertoire covered, the precision, the purposeful jams. New material is flowing. Trey’s chunked up a bit.
WTF? Is Trey doing coke off of that microphone?
Maybe I’m just getting too old, but either way I felt content after the 12/31 show and almost didn’t even go to the next night. While the next night was great and the second set might have been my favorite of the weekend, I left for home content with what I saw. In the 90’s, I was always wanting more. In 2.0, I just wanted them to be the band they used to be. I’m over that now and I like who they are and what they’re doing. I just don’t have the burning desire to go on week-long runs and I don’t think the band wants it that way…there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that I’m sure as a performer. But I also think they sound NOTHING like they did in the early 90’s, or any other time point in their career. That’s why I still go at all though, it’s still new, evolving Phish. I would have given up a long time ago if they stayed stuck in Fall 97 for 13 years. That and it’s a fucking hell of a good time!
I think it was during last summer’s tour that basically thought that they were purposely starting from the ground up again in order to find a new style and sound, and I still believe that…I think when they got back together they just said let’s go out there and start all over again and get all the technical songs down before we start getting in over our heads trying to play 20 minute jams and four song sets…it’s quite naive IMO to think they could do that within two years of being back together, I don’t know if they have the desire to move that way or not, but I do think with time it will happen
I don’t see age having any factor in whether this happens or not, with the way they’re living their lives right now, I don’t really see them getting fatigued or anything like that for a while
Just spent the better part of an hour with one of my old touring friends on Phish.net scouring old setlists. It’s really fun looking back at all your old shows and older shows . . .Telling stories about the shows you went to and hearing stories from the ones you didn’t.
Looking back on the Summer of 2000 . . .my first full tour. I’ll never be the same.
I agree wholeheartedly. I keep saying this to my friends: Phish’s current sound is a completely unique sound in their career, as in I can recognize a song or jam played in 3.0 (especially 2010) instantly by the sound and jamming style. It’s great. One of the main things I notice right away is Mike’s tone; it is totally different than it has ever been, and I have never heard another bassist who sounds like that. But it’s more than that; the way it sounds when they mesh up now is cool because it’s ambient and forward-moving at the same time.
I do understand the comparison to the early 90’s though, and it’s one that I use sometimes. It’s not the sound, it’s the way they play lots of songs every show and very rarely play 20 minute jams. And I also feel like they sometimes reach places in 14 minutes these days that they needed 22 minutes to get to in the late 90’s. The thing about the late 90’s that made all those jams so long is that the first 5 minutes or so of a lot of them is Trey strumming and using the wah pedal. That extra 5 minutes is not particularly interesting stuff, but it made the jams long.
All I’m saying (in 3 paragraphs where many people only need 1 
) is that Phish is awesome right now, so people should enjoy it more and spend less time wishing the band was playing like they used to. Anyone who likes the idea of Phish constantly evolving couldn’t possibly complain right now.
my main point was just that when I stepped back and watched the shows from afar (instead of being there), the shows were way less captivating to me…I was almost bored by them
they’ve been playing the same type of show for a year and a half now, and I don’t think much evolving has gone on at all
^you still da man, Hank. Good observation.
I don’t know what causes this. Maybe it’s easier for them, or maybe they believe they are aiming to please the greatest number of their fans to hear the same music played the same way. Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard a TTE since the summer.
Actually, the summer tour contained more experimentation with covers and bust outs, than either the Halloween (except for the 31st) or NYE shows, and that was encouraging. I’d like to hear more new music at every show I attend, whether it’s crap or not. They learn how to evolve their music mostly by playing it in front of people, and I’ll put up with buzz kill new song if it means there’s progress happening overall.
We’ll have to agree to disagree here Hank.
I totally think the sounds has evolved from 09>10.
Even tour by tour it has changed.
09 was a year of rust removal, there were some highs and lows, not to much experimenting, but nice and tight concise playing with a lot of debuts and new covers.
Each tour though saw them grow and change. The first big change was from summer '09 to fall '09. And I think thats due in part to the fact that they play much differently inside.
Also, when they took the stage last summer, Mike was turned way up and given the green light to lead most of the jams. That was a HUGE step in bringing back a more soul-funk-groove, simpler playing, not so many notes, not so much the band in the background with Trey at the reigns.
Second half of summer was another rebirth, starting with the Cities in Berkley and continuing throughout, really picking up steam in Alpine and capping off the tour with some real memorable playing at Jones Beach, no real bust outs, just some good ol rocking.
Fall tour again let them find their funk again starting in Charleston. Almost reaching the “porno-funk” from the late 90’s.
And MSG really sounded like Page came into his own and the whole band firing on all cylinders again.
I can’t wait to see what the 2011 incarnation of the band will be, but I think they are getting better by the day!
/rant that felt Mr. Winer-esque while typing
You’re burnt out because you saw/listened to the same band 70+ times on tour the past couple of years.
I sort of agree with this, though the quality of the playing (most notably Trey’s) turned a huge corner between the June tour and the August tour of this year which has changed the tone of the shows a little bit.
I finally started to listen to the MSG shows and after listening to the Tweezer realized that the reason I’m not as compelled to see every show or super crushed by missing shows has little to do with the band and more to do with me. I saw 15 shows in the last six months and that was probably too many. I loved each and every one of them…okay not each of them, that first night in Hartford wasn’t very good…but there are other things I’d rather be doing on top of seeing some Phish. Every vacation I took in 2010 was to see Phish and every disposable dollar I obtained went to seeing Phish. I realized when I was in New York that there are just some other things I’d like to do with my time and money. I was in NYC with my awesome wife and I didn’t really get to spend any time with her save for lunches each day because of the shows. It was the same way for half of our San Francisco/Berkeley trip. That and there are some things I’d like to buy that I can’t right now because I spent all my money on Phish. I still believe that spending the money on the experience that is a Phish show is still money very well spent, but man…it’d be nice to have more than two pairs of pants to wear, or boots that don’t leak water, or a computer screen that doesn’t randomly go blank every few hours…you get the point. When I was younger all I ever wanted to do was see Phish, and life at home was merely waiting for the next tour. It’s thankfully not like that anymore. I have a lot to live for on top of Phish, which is probably what makes it so much more special to me now. Or, maybe I’m just subconsciously dealing with the fact that it’s going to be at least six months before I can see them again.
Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Sorry for the ramble.
Sincerely,
Your resident “Spun Out Wookie at a Phish Show”.
^Zactley!
My absence from MSG = brand spanking new windows in my house and some $ tucked away for a down payment on a new car in August
Yeah, I need a new car…I fear the Champaign Supernova’s only got one more year in her. I’ve been without a car payment for almost 8 years…gonna be crushing on the ol’ budget.
8 years?! Damn son, can’t believe it’s been that long.
Favorite memory?
NYC Olympic Torch incident
Bummed is what I was when I went out to my car and it was towed…here:
Sorry Hank…but 09 was shit and 10 got better and better.
^hahaha!! Kinda true. Compared to 2010 it kinda is! I think there’s been evolution for sure.
I will probably never get the mentality that the length of the jams are the true measure of their progress.
I still say jamming is the easy part for Phish; hence the common 20 minute 2.0 improv.