Last night, Phish brought their 2019 Summer Tour in Bangor, ME, as the band made their grand return to the beautiful Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion for night one of a two-night stand. The beautiful waterfront venue, first visited by the Vermont quartet back in 2013, found Phish in fine form, as they continue to get more and more comfortable as their tour chugs along. From the moment Phish took the stage, they showcased a clear confidence as they mastered songs from almost every era of their career, with plenty of improvisation peppered throughout the show.
“46 Days” and “Back on the Train” started set one off with a strong one-two punch. Guitarist Trey Anastasio immediately showed off his unique talents on the six-string, offering up strong versions of both songs as the rest of the band locked in perfectly behind him. Following the exciting openers, Anastasio stated that the band was going to “invite a beloved local politician on stage”, before announcing Phish drummer, Maine resident, and the proudly elected Selectman from Lincolnville, the one and only Jon Fishman! Fishman claimed that “this is kind of the theme song if you’re on the select board for sure” before launching into the comedic rocker and fan-favorite “Ass Handed”. Anastasio finished the song by yelling, “Vote Fishman in 2020!”
Phish kept things going with a surprising early-show “Bathtub Gin”, with keyboardist Page McConnell laying into his keys early and often. After playing through the song’s main form, the band launched into a healthy dose of full-band improvisation, with McConnell and Anastasio linking up for some impressive interplay. Fishman pushed the band into double-time, which allowed the rest of the band to blast off into exploratory, intergalactic territory for a few minutes before the jam moved into a second segment, with McConnell leading the charge on his organ. Anastasio laid back, choosing to add a rhythmic element while utilizing many of his trusty pedals for effect. Finally, after a solid ten minutes of jamming, Anastasio signaled the band to head back into the “Gin” finale, which the band played with perfection, closing out a strong version of the beloved live favorite.
McConnell then triggered the sample for “The Dogs”, the down-and-dirty rocker from the band’s famed Thrilling, Chilling Sounds of the Haunted House Halloween show. The crowd howled at the moon during the song’s introduction, and the band delivered a short-but-sweet version of the song before moving on to “Waves”. Typically a song that appears once per tour, this marked the second “Waves” of the Summer, and it would mark the beginning of a six-song set-closing segment.
Just as it seemed that the band was gearing up for a long “Waves” jam, the familiar opening notes to “Mike’s Song” rang out, to the delight of all in attendance. Following a standard version of “Mike’s” Phish played the first version of “Water In The Sky” of 2019, before quickly segueing into “Limb By Limb”. McConnell shined here early on, with Anastasio latching onto his themes as the two clearly listened and reacted to each other intently. Eventually, Fishman and Gordon caught on, and the band moved into type II territory. Bassist Mike Gordon was on fire throughout this jam, leading the band deeper and deeper until Anastasio pierced through with his guitar, and the two locked in for an inspired moment of improvisation.
As “Limb By Limb” came to its end, Fishman started up the punchy drumbeat for “Weekapaug Groove”–complete with “Ass Handed quotes–finishing up a unique “Mike’s Groove” segment. While “Weekapaug” typically acts as a set-closer in this situation, the band continued with their surprises with one more song, as Phish threw in the bluesy “Julius” to complete the fun first set.
Following a short set break, the band picks things right back up with an exploratory “Down With Disease” that stretched out past nineteen-minutes-long. This jam found the band listening to each other intently, allowing themselves to coalesce around several interesting ideas, as each member of the band took turns pushing the jam into different directions. The jam fizzled out into “Play By Play” from the band’s infamous Kasvot Växt album from last year’s Halloween run. A slick transition into “Simple” pushed the band back into free-form improvisation, as Phish delivered another impressive nineteen-minute jam.
The “Simple” jam started off patiently, with the band laying back and waiting for themes to emerge, rather than forcing them. The song’s typically blissful improvisation lasted several minutes, taking the band out into deep space, which gave Anastasio the perfect platform to break through with piercing guitar stabs, which McConnell matched as he banged out chords on his piano. “Simple” eventually transformed into “Piper”, which acted as a lilypad for the band to land on before moving back into improvisation. Fishman quickly pushed the tempo, acting as the centerpiece of the short-but-sweet jam.
Phish slowed things down with a heartfelt version of “Miss You”, before busting out “Llama” for the first time in 2019. The band infused some funk into the show with “Meatstick”, complete with Japanese lyrics. “Rise/Come Together”, perhaps out of place here towards the end of such an improv-heavy set, gave fans a breather before a set-closing version of the beloved jam-vehicle, “Slave To The Traffic Light”. One of the band’s most reliable songs from throughout their career, “Slave” remains somewhat predictable but also incredible at the same time, as Phish consistently delivers a euphoric jam and an other-world peak each time they play the song, and this version was no different.
For the encore, Phish turned to “Loving Cup”. The Rolling Stones cover is a frequent choice in the encore slot, and while it may show up there a bit too often, it still delivers on every level, and it certainly did last night, giving night one at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion the epic ended it deserved.
Last night’s show checked almost all of the boxes, as Phish turned in a show filled with some of their strongest material and plenty of exploratory, full-band improvisation, and they delivered it with confidence and precision. Now approaching the halfway point of their Summer Tour, Phish is firing on all cylinders and continues to prove why they are one of the best touring bands in the world.
Check out a beautiful gallery of photos from Tuesday night’s show below courtesy of photographer Vic Brazen.
Phish continues their summer tour tonight, Wednesday, June 26th with another show at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion before moving on to Camden, NJ for what’s sure to be a fiery three-night run at the BB&T Pavilion.
For a full list of Phish’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing information, head to the band’s website.
Setlist: Phish | Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion | Bangor, ME | 6/25/2019
Set One: 46 Days > Back on the Train, Ass Handed, Bathtub Gin, The Dogs, Waves > Mike’s Song > Water in the Sky > Limb By Limb -> Weekapaug Groove > Julius
Set Two: Down with Disease[1] > Play by Play > Simple > Piper, Miss You, Llama, Meatstick > Rise/Come Together > Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Loving Cup
[1] Unfinished
The post Phish Offers Up 19-Minute Versions Of “DWD” And “Simple” On Jam-Heavy Night One In Bangor [Photos] appeared first on L4LM.
