Phish- Alpine Valley Music Theater, 7/13/19 and 7/14/19

photo by Rene Huemer, 2019 Phish from the road

As I sat down to write this blog post I realized something astonishing... I've been listening to Phish and attending their concerts for over half of my life.  It all started twenty-five years ago, when I saw my first Phish show back on 6/17/94 at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee.  When you think about a band that has been around that long and remains relevant enough to play a three-night stand at Alpine Valley, a venue that holds 35,000 fans each night, that's a pretty astounding feat.  And in all of those years, and the decade that preceded my first show in 1994, the band has never, ever, repeated a setlist, guaranteeing that every concert is a truly special and unique experience for their fans.  

photo by Rene Huemer, 2019 Phish

Phish is nothing if not one of the most unique and enduring touring acts out there.  Their songs can range in length from two minutes to over thirty minutes, as fans experienced this weekend at Alpine Valley. They have perhaps the most robust musical catalog in the business, consisting of thirteen studio records, plus a vast repertoire of tunes that are unreleased on record but are often performed live.  There are literally hundreds of songs that fall into this category. In addition, Phish loves covering songs by other artists, so there are boon of those songs that they can choose from as well.  Phish's setlists can vary from classic numbers to brand new songs, as the band is constantly evolving and writing new music.  In this 2019 Summer Tour, Phish incorporated twenty new songs into their catalog and played 200 different numbers (courtesy of Phish.net).  I cannot think of any other active band, jam band or otherwise, that would be able to pull off such a feat.  Perhaps never having a "hit" has helped Phish in this respect as the performances are known to be unique, one-of-a-kind affairs.  If you go into a Phish concert with the expectation of, "I must hear this song, that song, or the other song," you will most likely walk away disappointed.  If you enter the show with a sense of open-ended wonder for what the band is going to do, you're more likely to be pleasantly surprised.

photo by Rene Huemer, 2019 Phish

The Phish community itself is a unique group of individuals who take their fandom seriously, rise to new heights of nerdy, and are beloved for it.  Like heavy-duty Major League Baseball fans, Phish fans are eager to share their memories of their favorite songs, past shows, and general good times, just as baseball fans will recount special moments of games from the past and former stars.  The nostalgia factor that drives fans to baseball also does so with Phish to a certain extent.  There is also a lot of statistical nerdery going on.  Thanks to the interwebs and sites like "Jambase" and "Phish.net" one can figure out the average "vintage" of a given Phish show as well as how often certain numbers are played.  There is also a lot of strategizing and discussion that goes on regarding what the band will play on any given night.  This conversation can be between you and your buddy who you go to the show with, or a complete stranger who ends up as your parking lot or show neighbor.  People at Phish shows LOVE talking about Phish, and will eagerly engage in trying to predict the setlist for the given night.

Despite having a fan base that, for the most part resides in the over thirty demographic these days, Phish's popularity seems as high as ever. Granted, if you didn't care for Phish twenty-five years ago in the Eagles Ballroom opening with "Runaway Jim," hearing the famous song about the old dog who takes off on an adventure jammed out for well over ten minutes Saturday night at Alpine isn't going to necessarily win you over nowadays.  Phish's technical playing has improved by leaps and bounds, but the flavor of their show remains quirky, spontaneous, zany and free-flowing.  And in many ways, that's the magic of Phish, isn't it?  For longtime fans, it's a chance to hear the band re-imagine songs that we grew up with... songs that were scribbled on "dream setlists" in math classes... songs that were cranked on boom boxes and car cassette stereos on Maxell XLII grey cassette tapes with the treble down to avoid the inevitable "hiss"... songs that we connected to and that take us back to a different and simpler time.   

photo by Rene Huemer, 2019 Phish

Phish also continues to grow as a band, releasing new material.  Last Halloween, Phish took on the musical costume of Kasvot Vaxt, a made-up Scandinavian band and performed a set of brand new original songs under that alias. Who even thinks something like that up?  Phish, that's who.  In classic Phish fashion, many of those tunes have quickly become crowd favorites, including "Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S." which tells this listener, "This is what space smells like," repeatedly.  It made for a rocking encore on Saturday night with 35,000 fans strong at Alpine Valley, belting out the refrain together. Saturday's first set relied heavily on the nostalgia  with the band playing lots of older tracks including, "AC/DC Bag," to open the show, along with "Ya Mar," and "Character Zero".  In classic Phish fashion, these tracks were complimented by newer material like 'Blaze On,' from 2016's Big Boat record, which received the best jam of the first set, and "The Final Hurrah" from 2018's Kasvot Vaxt performance. Second set kicked off with "Haley's Comet," and also featured a great jam sequence that took fans on a flowing journey through "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing," from 2004's Undermind LP, into "Runaway Jim," which got a nice jam treatment. "Ghost," from 1998's Story of a Ghost was another set highlight and had a great spacey mid-section jam.

While the venue and band were, of course, the same, the Sunday Phish show had a totally different vibe and energy to it, as the band went into the very deep crevasses of its catalog for a show packed with a plethora of bust outs.  The first set opened with a rare version of "The Landlady," off of 1992's A Picture of Nectar record, which is rarely played.  Following was perhaps the biggest bust out of the tour, "Olivia's Pool," which hasn't been played since 1997 and has a fun-loving rock 'n roll vibe.  First set also featured a '"Meatstick," which went into a killer version of "Vultures," and then into another uber rare track, "Spock's Brain."  If that wasn't enough, set two of Sunday's show opened with two songs that I had never heard before live but showcase Phish's ability to make new classics. "Mercury" and "Ruby Waves," flowed perfectly together,  the latter of which provided an epic thirty-eight-minute jam that has the "Phish.net" community gushing. "You Enjoy Myself -> Catapult -> Contact -> You Enjoy Myself," closed the show with another great piece of music.  All totaled, the second set on Sunday lasted a whopping 118 minutes and was the longest set of tunes I've ever seen them do.  Was it epic?  Oh yes, it was!  I'd rank Sunday 7/14/19 as one of the best Phish concerts I've ever seen in fact.  #Nevermissasundayshow

So to Trey, Mike, Page, and Fishman... keep doing you.  You bring a lot of smiles and joy to a lot of people and bring people together.  I hope that you continue to do so, as your phans will keep coming back...even those who have been fans for twenty-five plus years and are still going strong.

Saturday, July 13, 2019 live recording thanks to Jam.Buzz

Sunday, July 14, 2018 live recording thanks to Jam.Buzz