Phish returned to Morrison, COs famed Red Rocks last night for the
first time since being banned from the intimate amphitheatre in 1996.
The band will play four nights at the fan favorite venue, the first
time the group has hosted a four night, non-holiday run since its last
Red Rocks performances. Phishs only other four-night runs since 1996
brought the group to New Yorks Madison Square Garden in 2002 (12/28-31) and
Miamis American Airlines Arena in 2003 (12/28-31).
The Vermont Quartet opened the night with The Divided Sky, one of
the songs most closely associated with the bands past Red Rocks
performances. Phish then launched into Ocelot, the nights lone nod to
the forthcoming album Joy, before paying tribute to the nearby
Continental Divide with The Wedge. The rest of the bands set
consisted of staples like Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, Horn,
Stash, The Horse >Silent in the Morning and Possum. Both The
Moma Dance and Stash, in particular, stretched into the ether.
Trey Anastasio jokingly introduced Mike Gordon at the start of Phishs
second set, prompting the bassist to take his bass off and return for
a second entrance. The group then launched into a classic ‘Mikes
Groove’ and the evenings most meaty improvisational moment, Ghost.
The group stayed with the funk-theme for Wolfman’s Brother and Limb By Limb, pausing only to slow things
down with the first version of the lovely ballad Billy Breathes
since the summer of 2003. The Squirming Coil, David Bowie and
the lone encore of Loving Cup closed out the night.
In general, the evening drew an older crowd than the East Coast leg of
the bands summer tour. String Cheese Incident keyboardist Kyle
Hollingsworth, Umphreys McGee keyboardist Joel Cummins and Tea Leaf
Green guitarist Josh Clark were among the musicians spotted in the
crowd.