Photo by Casey Flanigan

On the first day of the 4th Annual Outside Lands Festival, Phish played a four hour headlining set to a crowd that was not comprised solely of the faithful. It seems that they took this as a challenge and set about to win over some new fans. “I had no idea that Phish sounded like this” said one of the newly converted, in a sentiment that was shared by many in attendance. Some bands at the event had trouble overcoming the huge space that is the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park but Phish stepped up and delivered a good show on what was kind of a drab evening.

The quartet kicked things off with a tight “Kill Devil Falls,” followed up by an off-kilter “Wilson” that had some of the fans participating and others slowly turning their heads and wondering what was going on. The audience really came alive in the next few minutes for the sexy funk groove of “The Moma Dance” and the Frank Zappa tune “Peaches en Regalia.” This was followed by a short, solid “Tweezer” and a rocking “Mound” that had Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon helping the crowd clap in time to Jon Fishman’s drums. Then, in a surprise move, following decent versions of “Suzy Greenberg” and “Axilla,” they closed out the set with “Mike’s” > “Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug.” This marked the first time since 1991 that these three songs had appeared in the same set as “Tweezer,” bringing a solid, energetic opening frame to a close.

The short set break then saw a few attendees move on while many more came pouring in from the other sets that were finishing up. When Phish reemerged, the group kicked into one of the cover songs that ithas made its own. The Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” has become a crowd favorite and a band favorite alike and it opens up some great exploratory territory. In this instance, the path then led into “Steam” a new song that has only been played live three times. The sultry, deep funk of this song suits Phish quite well and it also gave lighting designer Chris Kuroda plenty of canvas to work his magic on because at the end of each verse, he released giant amounts of “steam” from vents on the stage. The effect coupled with Trey’s sound effects was quite entrancing, if a little over the top. The next few songs built up energy across the Polo Fields into a raucous “Roses are Free,” as Phish continued to play stellar covers that non-Phish heads could enjoy. After a rocking” Julius” the group dropped into David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” which is a great song but killed the energy a little. It didn’t take long to amp back up though and the rest of the set fell into place nicely. A wonderful “Fluffhead” stood out as a highlight in a second set that tailed off into the “Cavern” > “Tweezer Reprise” encore.

If you were to just look at the setlist, you’d think that Phish tore down Golden Gate Park. Of course, to some fans they did just that but mainly the songs were well-played without too much risk-taking. Phish walked a tightrope of playing accessible songs for new listeners while at the same time giving the faithful plenty to dance too. It was a good show in a stellar location for what one hopes is the first in a long line of Outside Lands appearances.

Setlist

Set I: Kill Devil Falls > Wilson, Funky Bitch > The Moma Dance > Peaches en Regalia > Sample in a Jar > Possum, Tweezer > Mound, Suzy Greenberg > Axilla > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove

Set II: Rock and Roll > Steam > Piper > Roses Are Free, Julius, Life on Mars?, Birds of a Feather > Fluffhead > Backwards Down the Number Line > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Chalk Dust Torture

Enc: Cavern > Tweezer Reprise