I had waited for more than five years and last night I was finally able to see Phish live in concert. It was worth the wait. After my introduction to Shakedown Street (one row of the parking lot, lined with tents of people selling literally everything imaginable) and a heavy downpour, the skies opened up to a distinctive rainbow. It turned out to be a good omen for the night as the band came out swinging with a tight "Runaway Jim," followed by an even tighter "Foam." They threw in some real cool songs in the first set. "Timber Ho!" "Driver," and "Possum" were all great. "Cities," the Talking Heads cover was unbelievable, with Fishman forcing the end of the song as the band could not keep up with Page, who was killing it on the clavinet and just would not stop. "Reba" was amazing, complete with a glow stick war and the whistling outro. "Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan" was a new song and I liked it. The best new song of the night was yet to come though. I was a little disappointed that they didn't end such a tight set with an upbeat song. I thought they kind of killed the mood with "Farmhouse," and "If I Could" just doesn't do it as a set closer for me. Hey, beggars can't be choosers. Here's the first set:
Set One - Phish - Jones Beach 6.2.09
I was lucky enough to meet up with my friend Nicholas, who worked his magic to get us backstage during the set break. We left the "lounge" just in time for the drop into "Mike's Song." I had a feeling we were going to hear a Mike's Groove but had no idea of the twists the band would take with it. After a great jam, Trey slowly segued into "Simple" and then into "Wolfman's Brother" before finally finishing off with the classic "Weekapaug Groove." It was cool to see "When the Circus Comes to Town" but the next song in store was unbelievable. Another new song, "Kill Devil Falls is a real dirty blues jam, which sort of reminds me of the Allman Brothers. I was rocking out to this song and can't wait to see it played again. Then came "Harry Hood," which was literally out of this world. Phish, for the first time this year, took us on a journey into the depths of the universe. The jam came together really nicely for a good close to the song and the opening chords of "Loving Cup," the Rolling Stones cover. Rockin' jam to close out the set. They only came out for one song on the encore but they killed it with "Suzy Greenberg," a great song about a woman who's "bout as faithful as a slot machine, pays off once in a while, then she robs you clean." Awesome end to an awesome night. And the second + encore:
Second Set & Encore - Phish - Jones Beach 6.2.09
Here's a video of the new song "Kill Devil Falls." Again, it's real bluesy and it grabs you by the throat and forces you on a joyride. As always, the lights are trance-inducing:
No comments:
Post a Comment