Phish returned to Commerce City, CO’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Friday night for its second of four Labor Day weekend shows to round out an eventful summer tour. While extended improvisational outings have been a reliable trend all summer, Friday’s performance raised the bar yet again thanks to a second set/encore loaded with thrilling, cohesive jams on “Chalk Dust Torture”, “Sand”, “Ruby Waves”, “Everything’s Right”, “You Enjoy Myself”, and more.
Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman (in an Army green muumuu with orange donuts), and Page McConnell got back on the rails with an energetic run through a trio of summer 2024 staples including an accelerating, sunset-backed “Back on the Train”, a sparse, nimble “Wolfman’s Brother”, and a gloomy rendition of Evolve vamp “Hey Stranger”.
The first appearance of A Picture of Nectar classic “Guelah Papyrus” since 6/22/22 (105 shows) added some variety to the setlist before the band settled into strong renditions of two more 2024 go-tos: first, a rhythmically elastic “No Men In No Man’s Land”; then, and a thumping (yeah, Mike!), red-light “Steam”. [Side note: “Hey Stranger” has always sounded like a spiritual cousin of “Steam” and hearing both during the same set for the first time ever only added credence to that notion.]
Page McConnell grabbed the baton next for a slower segment featuring some beautiful piano embellishments on “Evolve” and some heartfelt crooning on a rare “Strange Design” (first since 7/29/22, 100 shows) before the band rounded out set one at a sprint with a rowdy “Run Like An Antelope”.
Now, the meat: Friday’s second set and encore at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park were peak Phish—so much so that it feels like a disservice to pick it apart by song.
We could talk about the spellbinding, 27-minute “Chalk Dust Torture” that opened the set, how it went straight for droning, maddening darkness before Trey and Fish linked up telepathically to launch it toward textural percolation and, ultimately, five-ish minutes of full-hose glory. We could talk about the gurgling, sinister wail of the two-spot “Sand”, a clear improv highlight of the show despite the fact that five other songs on the night clocked longer runtimes. We could say that the menacing, cacophonous, 21-minute “Ruby Waves” was a clinic in unhinged, “evil” Phish, or argue that “What’s the Use?” is the most emotionally moving song in the band’s repertoire, or sing the praises of the set-closing one-two punch of “Possum” and “Everything’s Right” that brought the latter’s thematic positivity into the ring with the night’s angry, unhinged tone in a good vs. evil battle for Phish’s soul.
But with a show like this, the best advice we can give you is hit play and listen from front to back. There’s not a single second of that set worth missing. Incredible stuff. On Friday, Trey, Page, Mike, and Fish were feeling it.
Phish – “Chalk Dust Torture” [Pro-Shot] – 8/30/24
Still not convinced? Okay, let’s talk about “feeling it.” In a recent interview with Vulture, while speaking about fans’ song requests, Anastasio mentioned early-days staple “Fee” as a song he’s often not interested in revisiting. “I get a lot of requests for ‘Fee,’” he explained, “And, sometimes, I’m just not feeling ‘Fee’!’”
Friday night was not one of those times. When the band returned for its encore, Trey grabbed his megaphone and dove into the strange story of weasels, chimpanzees, bottle assaults, and nipple paper-cuts that fans have consistently chased for decades. Did he drop a few lyrics? Sure. Was he “feeling it?” Watch that man laugh his way through this silly song he wrote in college and try to tell me otherwise.
And even still, the good stuff kept coming. While they could have ripped a quick closer and called it a (great) night, the band instead incited an uproar in the stadium by charging into an exceptional “You Enjoy Myself” that blew through its composed sections and burst out the back of its customary “vocal jam” conclusion for several extra minutes of electrifying rock fireworks and a shouted “Wash Uffizi” coda. When all was said and done (and thoroughly enjoyed), this show-closing “YEM” clocked in at more than 27 minutes in length, making it the longest (and perhaps the most exciting) rendition of Phish’s signature composition this side of Y2K.
Phish – “Fee”, “You Enjoy Myself” – 8/30/24
[Video: Teleterrapin]
Truth be told, it may be hard for Phish to top Friday’s all-around greatness on Saturday and Sunday at Dick’s. Another truth be told, I’ll most likely eat those words for breakfast tomorrow morning. As Bart Scott once said, “Can’t wait.”
If you’re at Dick’s this weekend, be sure to check out Live For Live Music‘s full schedule of late-night shows at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom. On Saturday night, August 31st jam-focused Paul Simon tribute Bone Diggers featuring Reed Mathis (Billy & The Kids), Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (ALO), Adam MacDougall (Circles Around The Sun), Steve Adams (ALO), Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident), and Scott Rager (Tea Leaf Green) will handle the late-night tunes [get tickets].
On Sunday, an all-star Purple Party ensemble featuring Casey Russell (keys, Magic Beans), Isaac Teel (drums/vocals, TAUK), Garrett Sayers (bass, The Motet), Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff (guitar, Lettuce), Joey Porter (keys, The Motet), Ryan Jalbert (guitar, The Motet), Lyle Divinsky (vocals), Shira Elias (vocals, Cool Cool Cool), Sammi Garett (vocals, Cool Cool Cool), Eric “Benny” Bloom (trumpet/percussion, Lettuce), and Nicholas Gerlach (saxophone) will close out the weekend with a late-night tribute to Prince [get tickets].
If you can’t make it to Commerce City, tune in to Phish’s nightly Dick’s 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!].
Setlist [via phish.net]: Phish | Dick’s Sporting Goods Park | Commerce City, CO | 8/30/24
Set One: Back on the Train, Wolfman’s Brother, Hey Stranger, Guelah Papyrus, No Men In No Man’s Land, Steam, Evolve, Strange Design, Run Like an Antelope
Set Two: Chalk Dust Torture, Sand, Ruby Waves > What’s the Use? > Possum, Everything’s Right
Encore: Fee, You Enjoy Myself
Notes: Guelah Papyrus was played for the first time since July 22, 2022 (105 shows). Strange Design was played for the first time since July 29, 2022 (100 shows). Ruby Waves was unfinished. Trey sang the verses of Fee through a megaphone. At the end of the vocal jam, the band went back into the main YEM jam, concluding with additional “Wash Uffizi drive me to Firenze” lyrics.
The post Phish Tears Through Three Different 20+ Minute Jams At Outstanding Second Dick’s Show [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
