by Jeff Waful

It's funny how your perspective of a Phish show changes over time. Last night, I stood in the second row behind a nine-year-old boy on a stepladder with his father. The kid was freaking out for the entire show. The concert probably changed his life forever. I tried to remember what it felt like to be blown away by Phish, when it all seemed like magic. There was a time when I couldn't comprehend how the band members read each other's minds or how Chris Kuroda knew what was coming next. After years of seeing shows, my love for the band remains strong, but the experience has changed. The magical moments don't occur as often for me, but they still happen.

I was really down on the band after the Rochester show on Sunday and started second-guessing my decision to see so many shows in December. I thought Sunday's show was one of the worst Phish concerts I've ever seen. I know that it looked great on paper, but I left very disappointed with the band's performance; specifically, Trey's. He couldn't buy a right note in Fluff's Travels. However, after the truly epic "Halley's Comet" on Tuesday night, I knew I had made the right choice to stick with my travel plans.

The "Limb by Limb" that opened last night's show was majestic and fierce. Trey's solo really ignited the already energized general admission crowd. I can't get over how much lighting director, Chris Kuroda keeps improving. His light show turns Phish's music into a fantasyland of melting colors. "Get Back on the Train" was not a surprise as the second song of the set. It was funky, but I had a hard time connecting with the band. A lot of people really dig this tune, but I'm not sold on it yet. It's not that it's a bad song, but it's just another reminder that Trey's writing style is becoming simple and stale (don't even get me started on "Jennifer Dances"). "Down with Disease" came next and included another wailing Trey solo. I don't particularly enjoy DWD as a song, but I always look forward to the jam out of it. This one was nearly ten minutes long and sounded beautiful. After a raging Trey solo, the jam turned quiet and melodic. Mike started playing a bass line very similar to "Gotta Jiboo" and Trey and Page both chimed in with rhythmic one-note vamps in a repetitive groove. "Fast Enough For You" was a rare treat and featured a brief solo from Mr. Anastasio. "Yamar" was when the band really started to hit their stride. During Page's solo, Fishman started played a poly-rhythmic Latin groove on his cowbell. Trey immediately looked up with a huge grin on his face. When he started his solo, he did so with a percussive attack. Mike then departed from the four-chord progression and vamped on the "one" chord while Page complimented Trey's rhythmic strutting. At this point, Kuroda stepped it up a notch, with a fairly new lighting effect that features a circular pattern of chartreuse strobes above the stage, while the band is flooded in blood red. "The Horse" and "Silent in the Morning" were next and were standard. I did get a kick out of Trey and Page's interaction on this one. They kept grinning at each other from across the stage. "Antelope" ended the set with a bang. It was definitely representative of Phish's current jamming style. There was plenty of energy, but not the barrage of notes that used to be common place in a Trey-powered Antelope. It was a huge jam, with Trey banging on all of his effects pedals and Page going crazy on the piano. Fishman inadvertently ended the song a measure early, by slowing down his drum fill after only three lines of "run like an Antelope out of control" (instead of four). He thought it was hilarious and the band all had a good laugh as they left the stage for set break.

When the band came out for the second set, the father and son in front of me were trying to get Trey's attention. The kid had brought a little fish doll and wanted to give it to Trey. At least ten people around us started yelling and pointing to the cute little boy and Trey came right over and took the fish and put it on his amp. Nice move Trey. The band opened the set with "Sand." Throughout the entire song, Mike never strayed from his three-note bass line (a common occurrence in a lot of Trey's solo tunes). Think about that for a second. The man played the same bass line for seventeen minutes. That maybe sound easy technically, but psychologically, it really takes some self-restraint. Gordon however, has never been one to turn down a good Zen ritual, so I'm sure he had no problem with it. His bass line became the backbeat of the jam as the rest of the band ventured away from the basic funk that is "Sand" and into atonal land. Fishman kept alternating between straigh-ahead pocket funk and off-kilter syncopation. The simplicity of the bass line allowed him to do so. Phish is really experimenting with space these days, not psychedelic space, but the actually space within the texture of the instrumentation. They are allowing their grooves to breathe. As the jam progressed, Kuroda pulled out the big guns. The stage became dark and out came the multi-colored strobes, chasing each other around the band in double time. It is obvious that the band responds to certain lighting effects. I urge everyone to take at least a couple minutes per show to really observe the nuances of Kuroda's brilliance. "Dirt" came next and was pretty standard. Although, Mike was singing during the intro while Trey was whistling, which was new to me. "Piper" has become one of my new favorites and I am always filled with positive energy when the band plays it. Kuroda flooded the stage with the most intense hue of custom-made blue violet. Its like the glow of a hundred black lights suspended above the stage. This "Piper" did not feature the long build up preceding the chorus. I was actually quite surprised when the band began singing about the red red worm awaking to the sound of the storm. However, after the second chorus, things got interesting. Trey would play the repetitive-yet-somehow-never-boring-progression, while Mike would just stall on the "one" chord, creating a beautiful pedal point. Then when Mike would start to play the progression, or some re-harmonized variation of it, Trey would vamp for a while. After a short guitar solo, the jam wandered into funk territory and Trey moved briefly over to his keyboard set up. After a minute or so of ambient noodling and shimmering funnels of light, the jam fizzled out to nothing. The rare "Dog Faced Boy" was next and provided everyone a minute or two to catch their breath. When Trey started playing the opening chords to "Lizards," I had two thoughts. On the one hand, I was happy to hear a fun song from the old school days. On the other hand, I was a little worried that Trey would forget the composition, as has been the case in many of his recent stabs at his early work. The song was fun and everyone danced. However, Trey was pretty shaky on some of the composed sections. (Would it kill you to practice these old songs even once Trey?) "You Enjoy Myself" was next and again, Trey proved that his muscle memory isn't what it once was. Granted the introduction to YEM is not easy to play, but after playing it live over 400 times in fifteen years, I would hope that Trey could get it right like he used to. Possibly because of time constraints, there was not much of a jam in this version. Mike did funk things up for a minute or so after the tramps segment, but then Trey started chanting in his mic, signaling the band to join him for the vocal jam, thus dashing any hopes of a soaring solo. Amidst the vocal jam, Mike started singing the bass line to "Tweezer Reprise" and the band followed him briefly as the crowd picked up on the melody. Towards the end of the vocal excursion, one of the band members shouted "step into the, step into the, step into the," the refrain from "Tweezer Reprise." The crowd went nuts and the band left the stage. I was hoping for a first time cover or something out of the ordinary for the encore. Instead, the band played "Golgi Apparatus" and "Tweezer Reprise." They're good songs, with a whole lot of energy. However, they don't differ from version to version.

Overall, I was very pleased with this show. It certainly made up for the Rochester fiasco. What's interesting is that in the last three shows, the first set has been stronger than the second set. The "Halley's Comet" from Tuesday night was just absolutely huge and caused me to grin from ear to ear and stare at the band in disbelief. That is something that hasn't happened in a very long time. The "Limb by Limb" and "Yamar" from last night stood out as especially inspired jams. I was very upset with Phish earlier in the week and was beginning to think that they were past their prime. That is still yet to be determined, but the Portland shows proved that they can still bring me to that special place. They don't do it nearly as often as they used to, but it still happens. Remember though, that's just me. The beauty of music is in the ear of the beholder. It's about interpretation and perspective. That nine-year-old boy in the front row just experienced the most amazing spectacle of his young life.

See you in Philly.