Phish returned to Bethel Woods Center For The Arts in Bethel, NY on Sunday to round out both a three-night weekend run and the 2024 summer tour’s “regular season” as a whole with a standout show featuring the return of long-lost tune “Fikus” and more.
You can typically expect to hear the word “Woodstock” from all angles during shows at Bethel Woods. It’s a part of the gorgeous amphitheater’s allure—standing on the grounds of the iconic 1969 festival watching a band well aware of the venue’s storied past add new pages to its legacy is a powerful experience. But on this picture-perfect Sunday, there was a different word on the lips of fans in Bethel—a festival from the future, not one from the past: “Mondegreen.”
In truth, it usually came with a question mark attached, a short-hand for the query on everyone’s mind: After years of anticipation, months of preparation, and three-plus weeks on the road for the best summer Phish tour in recent memory, it seemed that the collective thoughts of the Bethel crowd were already fixed on what awaits them this week in Dover, DE… “See you at Mondegreen?”
Related: Here’s A List Of Activities To Do At Mondegreen (Besides Seeing Phish)
Of course, this last of three nights proved to be more than just a pre-festival meet-up as Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman, and Page McConnell‘s Bethel finale made yet another thrilling deposit into this summer’s embarrassment of Phish riches. A red-hot start by way of “I Never Needed You Like This Before” and “46 Days” got the band primed for a spectacular “Bathtub Gin” that trudged through various distinct sections of ominous tension and thick metallic rumbles before catching a lift on a melodic Trey rift and riding it to the clouds past the 18-minute mark. A strong, unusually textured “Theme From The Bottom” started crunchy and ended with a howl. “Timber”, “Human Nature”, and “Limb by Limb” kept the flame burning bright. The first “Axilla I” of 2024 after a recent spate of “Axilla II” affinity set up a strong “Sigma Oasis” that closed the set with an appropriate dose of white-light explosion.
Set two got started with the familiar “call to mayhem” that is “Buried Alive” before “AC/DC Bag” stormed in for an otherworldly voyage that traveled through deep space, dodged asteroids, and did battle with extraterrestrial sonic beings for 24 dizzying minutes (making it the first 20-minute “Bag” since Coventry and the longest since Boise ’99). And let’s not be size queens here, either: this one stayed interesting and active throughout, with the last 10 minutes devoted largely to some of the darkest, most deranged “evil” Phish improv we’ve heard all summer. The unique “Fuego” jam that followed kept things churning as Fishman pushed the pace and Trey seemed to work some bluegrass-style phrasings into the cosmic muck. The “Golden Age” that came round from there started pretty but soon returned to the shadows for a few more minutes of ominous percolation before giving way to a sub-five-minute “Simple” that was over as soon it began. No matter—the “Life Saving Gun” that grabbed its baton was blessed with gloriously unhinged Trey sustain, and the climactic “Harry Hood” that wrapped the set was as lofty and lovely as ever. A pairing of “A Life Beyond The Dream” and “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” provided some classic “aww”/”AHH!”, reflecting/raging encore juxtaposition to round out the night.
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Of course, we haven’t yet touched on the biggest surprise of the night: Amid the all-around excellent show, the band decided to dust off long-lost ’90s relic “Fikus” for its first appearance in more than 25 years, a gap of 800 shows.
This tour has been loaded with memorable moments made even more magical by the organic, spur-of-the-moment ways in which they came about (lookin’ at you, Billy Strings). The long-awaited reappearance of “Fikus” on Sunday, Live For Live Music has learned, was a byproduct of that same cycle of appreciation, interaction, and spontaneity between the band and its surrounding community: Longtime fan Sarah K. has been volunteering for the Anastasio-founded Divided Sky Foundation throughout this summer tour. If you’ve been out there, you’ve probably seen her at the Divided Sky table engaging with fans and spreading the word about the organization’s Ludlowe, VT addiction recovery retreat, a project initially seeded by the generosity and compassion of Phish fans during The Beacon Jams in 2020. Ahead of Sunday’s show, Sarah K. met Trey Anastasio for the first time and shot her shot, calling out “Fikus” as the song she was chasing.
Despite the fact that the band hadn’t played the eerie, Mike-led Story of the Ghost track since its brief run in the rotation back in 1998, it only took four songs for Trey, Mike, Page, and Fish to honor her wish. That, in turn, snowballed into the second set as Mike—arguably the Sunday MVP—creatively worked the distinctive “Fikus” bassline into the show-highlight “AC/DC Bag” jam, helping set it on its dark, ominous course.
It doesn’t get much better than this kind of mutual gratitude—especially when the Phish fan community as a whole gets a surprise like this one out of the deal. You can thank Sarah for the “Fikus” when you stop by the Divided Sky table at Mondegreen this week to learn about the organization’s meaningful and ongoing work in the addiction recovery space and the community at large. [Side note: Anyone else see the autocorrect typo pop up on Phish From The Road and think, “WTF is ‘Files?’”]
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So… Mondegreen? The response to that question echoing over the original Woodstock grounds on Sunday largely seemed to be, “Of course”—or, when it wasn’t, a sigh and a knowing shake of the head [To those folks: We feel you. We’ll miss you]. This week, the hearts and minds of all of Phishdom turn toward Delaware.
Safe travels to Mondegreen, everyone. We can’t wait to see you.
For Mondegreen (Thu, 8/15–Sun, 8/18) ticketing and info, head here. To order your Mondegreen webcasts on LivePhish, head here. [Note: Live For Live Music is a LivePhish affiliate. Ordering your webcast via the links on this page helps support our work covering Phish and the world of live music as a whole. Thanks for reading!]
Below, check out the full setlist and view a selection of fan-shot videos from Sunday’s Phish show at Bethel Woods.
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Bethel Woods Center for the Arts | Bethel, NY | 8/12/24
Set One: I Never Needed You Like This Before, 46 Days, Bathtub Gin, Fikus, Theme From the Bottom > Timber (Jerry the Mule), Human Nature, Limb By Limb, Axilla > Sigma Oasis
Set Two: Buried Alive, AC/DC Bag > Fuego > Golden Age -> Simple, Life Saving Gun, Harry Hood
Encore: A Life Beyond The Dream, Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
Notes: Fikus was performed for the first time since November 7, 1998 (801 show gap). Mike teased Fikus in AC/DC Bag.
Phish – “Bathtub Gin” – 8/11/24
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
Phish – “Theme From The Bottom” – 8/11/24
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
Phish – “Sigma Oasis” – 8/11/24
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
Phish – “Harry Hood” – 8/11/24
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
Phish – “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” – 8/11/24
[Video: Steve’s Concert Corner]
The post Phish Clears Road To Mondegreen With First “Fikus” Since ’98, 25-Minute “AC/DC Bag” At Bethel Finale [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
