Phish continued its tradition of treating fans to an unannounced “secret set” on night two of Mondegreen. After opening the festival on Thursday with two sets of ecstatic improvisation, Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell returned to the Mondegreen stage on Friday for a second night of precipitous jams. A couple ripcorded songs early in the show would prove indicative of the long night ahead, while some hard-edged prog rock playing alluded to the heavier elements of psych that would emerge in the third set.
“Bouncing Around the Room” kicked things off on a bubbly note, with more and more bouncing beach balls emerging from the crowd as the song built. An extended “Kill Devil Falls” then served as a leg-stretching jam, but a solid jam nonetheless.
Phish – “Bouncing Around The Room” – 8/16/24
Frank Zappa‘s “Peaches en Regalia” came as a big surprise, and the song was met with a massive cheer, likely from the many people who judged by the recent bust-out that they wouldn’t hear it this weekend; “Free” included a chunky bass solo from Mike, who was looking fly in sparkly disco shirt; A serene “Divided Sky” came next as a few linear streaks of clouds formed parallel lines in the soft blue sky.
This felt like a situation where they had to jam out “Tube”, and for a few minutes, it seemed like they were going to, with Fishman’s 2001-esque driving beat and Trey’s whistling notes a good start. Trey played with echoes as Page laid the foundation on his Wurlitzer in tandem with Mike. There was a moment where things really clicked and the jamming felt communal rather than like they were just toggling through old jams—before the ripcord out of the nascent jam.
“Mountains in the Mist” gave everyone a chance to catch their breath (or hit the head) before “Reba”. Dusk started to settle in, and the lights began to take full effect right as Phish hit the song’s composed section. All felt right with the world. Trey’s repetitious notes bounced off Page’s grand piano amid red and yellow flashes from Chris Kuroda, a.k.a. CK5.
The band took one more opportunity to stretch out on a joyful “Twist” before closing the first set with the rebellious “Character Zero”.
“My Friend, My Friend” came as a bit of a surprise at the start of set two. Similarly to the “Peaches” doubters, many surely figured Phish wouldn’t pull off another historic MFMF after Bethel. While this didn’t crack open the record books, the groove-based jam with Page double-dealing on grand and Rhodes (plus a “Moby Dick” teases) still gave this version a place in the summer of “My Friend, My Friend”. Don’t try to get inside the mind of the Phish. They’ll surprise you every time.
Phish – “My Friend, My Friend” – 8/16/24
Rows of red arrows flashed as Fishman allowed “No Men in No Man’s Land” to take off with rhythmic propulsion. On Thursday, Trey had really been getting familiar with his looping guitar effect, reviving the funk siren sound effect that he commonly used in Phish’s 1.0 era. Here he again layered flowing intersecting notes and continued improvising over top. The band pulled the cord on this jam just as it started to get droney.
During “Ruby Waves”, the lights all scattered as separate lines and then came together like the jam itself. Heavy woodblock and cowbell use from Fish added texture and a fun, carefree element to the sound, while Trey made his notes elastic with his wah-wah. Recent adjustments to his amp rig may have improved his clean tone, but he is obviously still having fun playing with his smorgasbord of effects. The jam descended into atonal, arhythmic madness, the stage painted blood red like the elevator in The Shining.
“Pillow Jets” cemented the show, with prog rock carnage from Trey as Fishman conjured thunder. A low rumble of power chords ushered in a flurry of chicka-chicka 16th notes and some cat samples. Fish kept the tempo up high, as he had for most of the set, for “Your Pet Cat”, which landed back in a reprise of “Ruby Waves”.
“Ghost” gave the set the funk that it was definitely missing, but after a little break from the hard rocking chaos, a brief NMINML reprise carried the band to a set-closing “Fluffhead”.
Before “Harry Hood” and “First Tube” capped off the pre-announced musical program, Trey intimated to a single fan that he should not go back to the campground after the encore, hinting at a “secret” third set.
“Shh, don’t tell anybody I’m saying this but every time we do one of these festivals we do a secret set and most of the people don’t see it, so we might be doing one in here,” he said. “Shh, I’m just telling that one guy, don’t go back to the campground after the set. The rest of you didn’t hear that. It’s you in the white shirt. Shh, don’t tell anybody, don’t go back to the campground after the set.”
Phish saved plenty of energy for the secret set, which consisted of a single cinematic jam—mostly acoustic and soft like the giant frayed tassels that hung down from the very top of the stage to the floor. Accompanied by projected visuals that smacked of Sphere influence, the atmospheric jamming was consistent with the heavier improv of the second set.
Overall, the three-set configuration gave night two a natural rise, fall, and finally decimation, but the fun has just begun at Mondegreen. The music continues tonight with another two sets of Phish. Those unable to make it in person can tune in to Phish’s nightly performances via LivePhish. [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!].
Phish – Mondegreen Secret Set – 8/16/24
[Video: Teleterrapin]
Phish – Mondegreen Secret Set [With View Of Band] – 8/16/24
[Video: Arielle Phares]
Setlist: Phish | Mondegreen | The Woodlands | Dover, DE | 8/16/24
Set 1: Bouncing Around the Room, Kill Devil Falls (Unfinished) > Peaches en Regalia (Frank Zappa), Free, The Divided Sky, Tube, Mountains in the Mist, Reba (No whistling), Twist > Character Zero
Set 2: My Friend, My Friend (No “Myfe” ending) > No Men in No Man’s Land > Ruby Waves (Trey Anastasio) > Pillow Jets -> Your Pet Cat -> Ruby Waves > Ghost -> No Men in No Man’s Land > Fluffhead
Encore: Harry Hood > First Tube
Set 3: Jam (‘Secret set’)
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