A Phish Odyssey: Show 2001 Kicks Off With ‘2001’ On Night 2 In Nashville

Phish returned to Nashville on Saturday for their second show at Bridgestone Arena. A more momentous milestone was reached as last night’s concert marked show 2001, acknowledged in song form by the band on night two in Music City.

For anyone who’d seen bassist Mike Gordon‘s Instagram story on Friday about that night’s show being their 2000th (or read last night’s Skinny), Saturday night’s “2001” (“Also Sprach Zarathustra”) opener came as little surprise. Drummer Jon Fishman dropped into the opening sizzle and the audience responded in-kind. A slow, yet funky burn led to multiple crescendos, however the band left the tune unfinished, instead launching into methodical and tight “Gumbo” in the number two spot with Gordon’s bass vrooms anchoring the tune.

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Next up, guitarist Trey Anastasio dedicated to Del McCoury a full-speed-ahead “Beauty of My Dreams,” which then segued into Gordon’s “Mull,” off his Flying Games record released in May of this year. Mike’s strong vocals were paired by Trey’s robust fingerwork, as the band took the tune for a walk. The jam evolved into a crunchy series of riffs that lead into a brief “2001” peak, and then right back into a succinct ending to “Mull.”

Following “Mull” was “Dirt,” off 2000’s Farmhouse, with Trey’s voice sounding renewed compared to Friday night’s show. Tender and soaring, “Dirt” was followed by “Stash” that went Type II into a “Manteca”-esque jam before it really took off. Some of the best Phish is when the band is hearing the jam unfold seconds before you do, and almost before their fingers and appendages can keep up. The “Stash” was like that: athletic.

Taking a moment for everyone to catch their breath, “Stash” was followed by “Ether Edge,” premiered this summer in Huntsville, Alabama. Next up was “About to Run” off the 2019 Ghosts of the Forest record, with Trey’s pleading, cautionary vocals in contrast to his blistering guitar work and Fishman’s propulsive drums.

Closing out the first set was “Split Open and Melt,” from 1990’s Lawn Boy. Like the Dick’s 2023 “Melt,” this version went first toward the light, but then veered hard into deeply improvisational, frenzied territory with lighting designer Chris Kuroda shedding almost DNA-looking luminescence into the darkness with his rig. Clocking in just shy of 19 minutes, “S.O.A.M.” was the longest song of the nine-song first set.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

Set two saw the band open with “Life Saving Gun” – only the second time played – with keyboardist Page McConnell unleashing the funk on his clavinet. The band followed suit, bringing the tune to a healthy clip before leaving it behind to delve into “Sand,” with its disco beat at odds with its rather heavy lyrics, it was well coupled with “Life Saving Gun.”

By contrast, Sigma Oasis’ feel good number “Everything’s Right” followed, and contained a substantial, almost hypnotic jam. From the jam, the band segued right into a bluesy, funky “Cities” with Trey’s effects pedals complimented by Page’s clavinet, Mike’s bedrock bass, and Fishman’s cymbal-heavy beats. Reminiscent of the Hollywood Bowl “Cities,” this version saw the band extending the jam in several distinct directions.

Emerging from the tail end of the “Cities” jam was a seamless segue into slow “Llama,” the full-speed version of which appeared on 1992’s A Picture of Nectar. The deep groove of the “Cities” and “Llama” ran a solid 22+ minutes, and creative pairing worked extremely well.

Next up was Page’s “I Always Wanted It This Way,” laden with synthesizer zooms and zings, which created a woozy atmosphere for the rest of the band to bliss out over 12 and a half minutes, with the lights strobing and unfolding above them. At times, with Kuroda’s horizontal bars and round lights, they looked to be blinking out a Morse Code message. A positively ripping “Bug” closed out the seven-song second set.

The encore first saw the tender “Lonely Trip” off Trey’s 2020 album of the same name, and wrapped with a fairly conventional, yey lovely “Harry Hood.”

Phish returns to Bridgestone Arena on Sunday before heading to Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by three shows in Chicago next weekend. Watch any of these shows via LivePhish.com.

Phish From The Road Photos

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Posters

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Source: JamBase.com