Phish Busts Out Neil Young Cover At Exceptional United Center Debut

The final weekend of Phish’s Fall Tour 2023 kicked off last night at Chicago’s United Center, marking the first shows in the area since a three-night stand at Rosemont’s Allstate Arena in 2018.

With a loose theme of “Friday the 13th” throughout, the Vermont quartet continued the hot streak of the run thus far, putting together two well-crafted sets and a bevy of improvisation packed within.

Taking the stage amidst a cloud of smoke and an ominous tease of the Friday the 13th theme, guitarist Trey Anastasio ripped into the distinctive riff of “Carini.” While there was theoretically a spooky theme to the night, he opted for an early major-key modulation less than a minute into the jam. Keyboardist Page McConnell locked in early as well and took charge on a flurry of riffs and melodies underneath the soaring guitar solo. There are few better ways to open the show than with a straight-to-the-point white-light peak and last night’s compact 12-minute “Carini” showed that the band meant business in Chicago.

A romp through “Rift” and “Halley’s Comet” seemed to be signalling the next big jam of the night, but the “Halley’s” jam was quickly abandoned in favor of a smooth segue into “Ghost” – another song on theme and the tour’s first repeat.

Many Phish fans might be inclined to skip a first-set “Ghost” these days, given its propensity for following a very similar bliss jam for a 12-14 minute runtime – though last night’s is not your average jam. Anastasio teased the vocal melody early on as McConnell laid down soft Wurlitzer electric piano and drummer Jon Fishman began a gradual and almost imperceptible tempo increase that would feed the majestical peak to come.

Taking the expected major modulation, Anastasio and McConnell continued to demonstrate their impeccable interplay that has been a hallmark of this tour. Fish’s incredibly light touch as he danced across his cymbals and drums gave the jam a floaty quality as it continued to pick up speed and intensity. Guitar and keyboards locked in on a beautiful ballet of intertwining riffs and melodies, both musicians leading the jam yet giving space for the other to come up with new ideas at every turn. THIS is Phish at their best.

Every time you thought it would be the final peak, “Ghost” just kept going. Anastasio reached for the heavens as McConnell pivoted to Hammond B3 organ and Fish just. kept. pushing. Even from the couch, it was clear that the arena was going absolutely wild for this peak – and I was doing the same at home.

After the conclusion of the big jam, Phish opted to bust out the first cover of Neil Young’s “Albuquerque” since June 11, 2011 – a 457 show gap. The Friday the 13th theme returned for a brief scream-y “Saw it Again” ahead of “Foam.” The classic Phish composition boasted nice piano and guitar solos as per usual but the band struggled a little bit with the composed sections, especially the outro.

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Shrugging off the flubs, Anastasio led the band through “Blaze On,” a former massive jam vehicle that has been relatively contained to sub-10 minute versions this year. “Meat” offered another song for the spooky theme with its “host of ghosts” lyrics and wacky solo trading. Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon had a battle of synth-filters as they met in centre stage. Fish then proceeded to take a “reverse drum solo,” with Anastasio egging him on through the minimalist fills.

Ghosts of the Forest opus “Drift While You’re Sleeping” served as the first-set closer and set up what would be one of the best second frames of the tour.

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

The band came out and struck into “Sand” with purpose, Anastasio immediately setting spooky and hypnotic loops as the jam began. Calling back to the massive versions of December 1999, Fish and Gordon stayed in the song’s rhythm while the guitarist layered loops upon loops into the space. McConnell made a switch from clavinet to Moog One synthesizer as Anastasio took a more active role in the improv, swamping in with synth-filter work.

The next segment came with a flavor reminiscent of the “Simple” played on August 6, 2021 at Deer Creek with blasts of Moog and wild, delayed guitar over a propulsive rhythm. Phish exhibited remarkable patience throughout the “Sand” jam, not rushing into a new space or idea, letting the music flow out of them and exploring the space to the fullest. The weirdness eventually fell away into a major-key peak that wrapped a thoroughly psychedelic 16 minutes.

“Waves” was called upon next, a seriously under-utilized 2.0 vehicle that showed potential right from the jump. The melodic first jam gradually sunk under the surface of Anastasio’s delay leads as McConnell hammered in sweeping piano chords. It was right back to the depths of weird space for a breathtaking segment – though Anastasio quickly reeled it back in to conclude the song.

Ripcords are often spoken about in the Phish community with an air of negativity, but there is generally one song that can excuse them – “Tweezer.” While the version played in Chicago last night may have been the first one of 2023 to clock in under 20 minutes, it packed an incredible amount of improv into its runtime.

McConnell hit it early with some Fender Rhodes work as Anastasio rode his wah pedal into some nasty riffing. It almost seemed like the guitarist was heading for a “Low Rider” tease briefly as he engaged once again in a delicate and melodic dance with the keyboards.

Many fans were incredibly excited at the next old-school throwback as Anastasio lit into the classic 1997 cow-funk lick just past the six-minute mark. Gordon popped in with some aggressive slap work as McConnell played undulating waves of synthesizer on both Prophet Rev2 and Yamaha CS60.

Sticking to the wah pedal but taking a more active role again, Anastasio led a quick modulation to major as McConnell returned to brighter Rhodes work. Gordon suggested an idea that Anastasio quickly latched on to, creating another unique moment of interplay.

A quick mid-jam return to the “Tweezer” theme saw Phish blast off into a new bliss segment with an ultra-familiar hook. McConnell’s piano really stuck out in this section as Fish drove the jam into serious peak territory. A full exploration of this riff led to an explosive landing into “Crosseyed And Painless.”

While just under 10 minutes in length, this “Crosseyed” is absolutely FERAL, seeing the quartet unleash a peak of epic proportions as all the members went wild on their respective instruments. There was even time for McConnell and Anastasio to do some more interplay during the ferocious jamming as they hit a series of strong peaks.

Just as the apex of energy was reached, Anastasio pulled a sharp left into “Light,” using the momentum of the “Crosseyed” jam as a launchpad for the ensuing improv. It’s amazing how the band was able to switch from the all-out insanity of the Talking Heads cover to a quiet and contemplative space throughout “Light.” Delicate play ensued with a lack of a full peak, yet felt far longer than its nine-minute runtime. Definitely do not skip over this version.

“Mountains In The Mist” continues its streak of perfect placement and gave us a breather ahead of “Golgi Apparatus.” This easily could have closed the set, but Phish instead opted to bestow a “Talk”-infused “Harry Hood” on the Chicago crowd. Played for just the second time since 2003, the Billy Breathes cut broke a gap of 535 shows, having been last seen on November 1, 2009 at Festival 8’s acoustic set.

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“Izabella” ripped the encore to pieces in its third appearance of 2023, marking the first time the Jimi Hendrix cover has been played that many times in a single year since 1997 – a pretty excellent sign that it has become a semi-regular part of the rotation!

With repeats on the table and two nights to go, Phish has only gained momentum through the six shows played so far on this fall run. Do not miss a note of the next two nights, as they are sure to deliver even bigger moments of greatness – there’s no slowing down here for the 40th anniversary!

Phish plays at United Center again tonight ahead of a tour closer on Sunday night. Tickets are available for both shows. Livestreams are available via LivePhish.com.

Phish From The Road Photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyW3bZ1JL0z/

Posters

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyWIOxLuBeF/

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Source: JamBase.com