Last night Phish returned to Merriweather Post Pavilion, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland for the first show of a two-night run. The last time the band played the Frank Gehry-designed venue was in the Before Times, June 2019.
Phish took the stage shortly after 7:30 pm local time and managed to pack a number of songs, several tasty little jams – indeed, jams where jams have not been before! – and a few rarities and some fun teases into two and a half hours(ish). Shorter, high-energy tunes seemed to be the band’s m.o., and often Saturday night it seemed that guitarist Trey Anastasio was just a spliiiiit second ahead of everyone else and leading the charge – a good place to have Mr. Anastasio.
Kicking things off right, a “Sand” opener continued the trend of no repeated openers in 2022, despite it being the most repeated tune in 2022 (seven times in 28 shows). A solid version at nine minutes, the crowd seemed ready to get after it, but wouldn’t have the chance right away.
Former uber-rarity “If I Could” was in the number two slot, which felt perhaps a little early, but always … goosebumps. While not the stunning album version on Hoist featuring Alison Krauss, Trey’s vibrato vocals were tender and there was spacious interplay between Trey’s melodies and bassist Mike Gordon’s low end.
Up next, and in quick contrast, a quick and dirty “Buried Alive” — is there any other kind — made its summer tour debut and was immediately followed by a 16-minute, adventurous “Set Your Soul Free,” which segued into (fast) “Llama.”
Cooling things down a bit, the Page McConnell-led “Halfway to the Moon” featured a guitar solo that deviated from its usual chord progression into improvisational territory, with Mike’s thundering bass locking into a groove based on the main riff to “Shafty,” and Trey layering some of The Story of the Ghost track’s lyrics over the ambient jam.
After a verse, the jam slowly petered out, winding up in a deeply funky cover of Shuggie Otis’ “Strawberry Letter 23,” a tune that made its way into the Phish catalog during the Baker’s Dozen on strawberry night. The band took this particular version for a longer walk than most, with Mike using an uncharacteristically synthesized bass tone – to much success and delight – as well as sneaking in The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” teases before the band wrapped things up with “The Lizards” in its rightful place (IMO) as a set one closer.
Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.
The Skinny
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The Setlist | |
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The Venue | |
Merriweather Post Pavilion [See upcoming shows] | |
Outdoor Amphitheatre | |
19,319 | |
19 shows | |
The Music | |
8 songs | |
11 songs | |
19 songs | |
1999 | |
14.8 [Gap chart] | |
None | |
Waves, Meatstick, Alumni Blues, Letter To Jimmy Page | |
Alumni Blues, Letter To Jimmy Page LTP 09/04/2021 | |
Fuego 18:53 | |
Letter To Jimmy Page 1:03 | |
Lawn Boy – 1, A Picture of Nectar – 1, Hoist – 1, Billy Breathes – 1, Farmhouse – 2, Round Room – 1, Fuego – 2, Sigma Oasis – 1, Misc. – 8, Covers – 1 | |
The Rest | |
86° and Partly Cloudy at Showtime | |
Koa 1 | |
Like the first, the second set was relatively short (72 mins), yet packed with tunes, had some new twists on older catalog, and exploratory, playful instrumentation from the band.
A truncated, but punchy “First Tube” opened set two before kicking off one of the more interesting versions of “Fuego” on record. This version saw the band traversing jagged jams and crunchy riffs over 19 minutes (the longest song of the night) before veering into the title track from their 2020 release, “Sigma Oasis.”
“Prince Caspian” flowed out of “Sigma Oasis” and contained “Fuego” teases, but it was the next tune that punched the energy level up several notches with its 2022 debut. “Meatstick,” replete with the Japanese verse and choreography, saw Trey venturing into some new melodic space early on, before tilting sideways into a darker, funkier vibe and before all-too-soon, landing in “Simple.”
The jam in “Simple,” while shortened, seemed to be building momentum before – curveball – the band headed into fairly standard versions of “The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony” and “Suzy Greenberg” to close the second set.
Following the new (highly likable) trend of multi-song encores, and for the first time since 1999 in an encore slot, the band ripped into “Alumni Blues.” It featured a nice Page solo out of the first verse before Trey charged headlong into “A Letter To Jimmy Page,” then back into “Alumni Blues.”
A rambunctious “Character Zero” followed with Trey setting the pace, and if you doubt the band was in it to win it, Mike began teasing Parliament’s “Flash Light” part way through “Zero.” When the band is all equally in that playful headspace, I don’t need to tell you; Phish just flows.
While many of the band’s songs are so carefully orchestrated, it’s awesome to hear them being adventurous, riffing on new melodies, using cool effects and creating state-of-the-art sounds. Despite only four songs being over 10 minutes and having the big, meaty jams we’ve been growing accustomed to this spring and summer, Saturday night’s show – Caturday night, if you’re two-time feline shirt enthusiast Page McConnell (follow @phish.phashion for the lowdown) – was just a goddamned good time.
Phish returns to Merriweather Post Pavilion tonight. Livestreams are available via LivePhish.com.
Phish From The Road Photos
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgqLctJODSl/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgqERwjONnn/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgpvOXouJuU/
Poster
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgpIggbLZja/
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Phish Tour 2022: Walnut Creek – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny
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Phish Tour 2022: Jones Beach Night 2 – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny
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Phish Tour 2022: Jones Beach Night 1 – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny
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Phish Tour 2022: Hartford – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny
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Phish Tour 2022: Bethel Night 2 – Recap, Setlist & The Skinny
