Last night, Phish returned to Burgettstown, PAs Post-Gazette
Pavilion. Since their first performance at the venue in 1997, the
members of Phish have used the rustic amphitheatre to bust out the
rarest tunes in their repertoire, including the first and only cover of
Elton Johns Amoreena in 1997, seldom played versions of Bob
Marleys Trenchtown Rock and Little Feats Time Loves A Hero in
1998, the lone take on Pavements Gold Soundz in 1999 and the
Story of the Ghost rarity Shafty in 2000. Phish threw out the
rule book altogether in 2003, opening its show with nine songs previously
unperformed on that tour, many of which had not been played in years: Daniel
(Saw the Stone), Camel Walk, Gotta Jibboo, Velvet Undergrounds
Cool it Down, Scent of a Mule, Fee, Timber (Jerry), When the
Circus Comes and McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters. The groups
second set featured a lengthy Crosseyed and Painless, as well as the
only Harpua since 1998 and a Fishman Hold Your Head Up routine
based around Elvin Bishops I Fooled Around and Fell in Love
(according to an interview conducted by Jambands.coms Jesse Jarnow
around the time, the group had recently received iPods filled with its
entire back catalogue).
In sharp contrast, last nights Phish performance opened with familiar
selections like Golgi Apparatus, Chalk Dust Torture, Bouncing Around
The Room, Wolfmans Brother, Divided Sky and Heavy Things, but
later opened up to include the first cover of Joe Walshs Walk Away
since 2000. The bands encore was also particularly colorful,
featuring back-to-back barbershop quartet arrangements of Grind and
Hello My Baby and a colorful cover of Syd Barrett’s Bike sandwiched
around a Hold Your Head Up skit. Phish will perform at Noblesville,
INs Deer Creek this evening.