Phish (43 page)

Set II
Seven Below, Fluffhead, Scent of a Mule, Heavy Things, Harry Hood, Possum, Bug

Encore
Contact, Julius

 

Set I
Chalk Dust Torture, Fee, Wolfman’s Brother, Guyute, My Sweet One, 46 Days>The Lizards, The Wedge, Strange Design, Tube, First Tube

Set II
Sand, Suzy Greenberg, Limb by Limb, The Horse>Silent in the Morning, Sugar Shack, Character Zero>Tweezer

Encore
Joy, Bouncing Around the Room, Run Like an Antelope, Tweezer Reprise

 

Set I
Kill Devil Falls, The Moma Dance, Sample in a Jar, Stash, Dog Faced Boy, Gumbo, Tube, Lengthwise, The Divided Sky, When the Cactus Is in Bloom, Bold as Love

Set II
Backwards Down the Number Line>Ghost>Fast Enough for You, Halley’s Comet>Maze, Alaska, Theme from the Bottom, Golgi Apparatus, Possum

Encore
Loving Cup

 

Set I
Runaway Jim, Punch You in the Eye, Ocelot, Foam, Train Song, Undermind, Mike’s Song>I Am Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove, The Squirming Coil, Character Zero

Set II
Back on the Train, Waves>A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing>David Bowie, Army of One, Reba, Hello My Baby, Julius>Cavern>Harry Hood

Encore
Frankenstein

 

Set I
Chalk Dust Torture, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, The Divided Sky, Possum, Down with Disease, Alaska, Stash, Golgi Apparatus, Wolfman’s Brother, Poor Heart, Kill Devil Falls>Free, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Harry Hood>Highway to Hell>2001>You Enjoy Myself>Wilson>You Enjoy Myself

Encore
A Day in the Life

 

Set I
AC/DC Bag>NICU, Gotta Jibboo, Punch You in the Eye>Sparkle>Bathtub Gin, Character Zero>Tweezer>The Horse>Silent in the Morning, Run Like an Antelope, Mustang Sally*, Bobby Jean* Glory Days*

Set II
Rock & Roll>Light>46 Days, Limb by Limb, Farmhouse, Backwards Down the Number Line>Prince Caspian, First Tube

Encore
Suzy Greenberg>Tweezer Reprise

*with Bruce Springsteen

 

Set I
Kill Devil Falls, Ocelot, Brian and Robert, Sample in a Jar, Rift, Ya Mar, Reba, Train Song, Horn, Possum Slave to the Traffic Light

Set II
Halley’s Comet>Runaway Jim, Frankie Says, Time Turns Elastic, Sleep, Mike’s Song>I Am Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Character Zero

Encore
The Star-Spangled Banner, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Set I
Backwards Down the Number Line, AC/DC Bag, Limb By Limb, The Moma Dance, Water in the Sky, Split Open and Melt, Lawn Boy, The Wedge, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, The Connection, Ocelot, Fluffhead

Set II
A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing>Drowned>Twist, Let Me Lie, Tweezer>2001>Suzy Greenberg>Possum

Encore
Sleeping Monkey>Tweezer Reprise

 

Set I
Punch You in the Eye, Runaway Jim, Stash, Ya Mar, Bathtub Gin, Kill Devil Falls, Train Song, Farmhouse, Sparkle, Run Like an Antelope

Set II
Waves>Sample in a Jar, Maze, Makisupa Policeman>Ghost>The Lizards, You Enjoy Myself>NICU>Prince Caspian>Waste>Fire

Encore
Character Zero

 

Set I
Brother, Wolfman’s Brother, Funky Bitch>The Divided Sky, Joy, Back On the Train, Taste, Poor Heart, The Horse>Silent in the Morning, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday>Avenu Malkenu>The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Time Turns Elastic

Set II
Crosseyed and Painless>Down With Disease>Bug>Piper> Wading in the Velvet Sea, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore
Grind, Frankenstein

 

Set I
The Divided Sky, Ocelot, the Wedge, Poor Heart, The Moma Dance, Horn, Stash, The Horse>Silent in the Morning, Possum

Set II
Mike’s Song>I Am Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove, Ghost>Wolfman’s Brother, Limb By Limb, Billy Breathes, The Squirming Coil>David Bowie

Encore
Loving Cup

 

Set I
Runaway Jim, Chalk Dust Torture, Bathtub Gin, Time Turns Elastic, Lawn Boy, Water in the Sky, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Split Open and Melt

Set II
Drowned>Crosseyed and Painless>Joy, Tweezer>Backwards Down the Number Line>Fluffhead Piper>A Day in the Life

Encore
Suzy Greenberg>Tweezer Reprise

 

Set I
AC/DC Bag, The Curtain (With), Mound, Gotta Jibboo, Guyute, Punch You in the Eye, Tube, Alaska, Run Like an Antelope

Set II
Rock and Roll>Down with Disease>Free, Esther, Dirt, Harry Hood

Encore
Sleeping Monkey, First Tube

 

Set I
Roses Are Free, Wilson, NICU, Prince Caspian, Back On the Train, Reba, Grind, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Sample in a Jar, Sugar Shack, Waste, Kill Devil Falls

Set II
Boogie On Reggae Woman, You Enjoy Myself>Undermind>Drums>Seven Below>2001>Waves, Character Zero

Encore
Bittersweet Motel, Bouncing Around the Room, Slave to the Traffic Light

 

Set I
Golgi Apparatus, Halley’s Comet, Chalk Dust Torture, The Divided Sky, When the Circus Comes, Time Turns Elastic, Ya Mar, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Suzy Greenberg, David Bowie

Set II
Backwards Down the Number Line, Down With Disease>Limb By Limb, Oh Sweet Nothin’, Cities>Maze, Mike’s Song>Simple, Weekapaug Groove

Encore
Let Me Lie, Bold As Love

 

Set I
Down With Disease, Ocelot, Pebbles and Marbles, Possum, Sleep, Destiny Unbound, Stash, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley>Cavern

Set II
The Moma Dance>Light>Taste, Fluffhead, Joy, Bathtub Gin>Harry Hood

Encore
Slave to the Traffic Light

 

Set I
The Mango Song, Chalk Dust Torture, Middle of the Road, Tweezer, Driver, Twenty Years Later, Ya Mar, It’s Ice, Wolfman’s Brother, Character Zero>Run Like an Antelope

Set II
Rock & Roll>Makisupa Policeman, Alaska, The Wedge, You Enjoy Myself, Backwards Down the Number Line>Piper, Grind

Encore
Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

 

Set I
Kill Devil Falls, Sample in a Jar, Ocelot, Paul and Silas, Windy City, The Curtain (With), Train Song, Gumbo, Heavy Things, Time Turns Elastic

Set II
Backwards Down the Number Line>Carini>Gotta Jibboo, Theme from the Bottom, Wilson>2001>Chalk Dust Torture, Harry Hood, the Squirming Coil

Encore
Loving Cup

 

Set I
Sample in a Jar, Dinner and a Movie, Wolfman’s Brother, My Friend, My Friend, Possum, Farmhouse, Sugar Shack, Brian and Robert, David Bowie, Bathtub Gin, How High the Moon, Golgi Apparatus

Set II
Drowned>Prince Caspian>Rift, The Horse>Silent in the Morning, Sparkle, Run Like an Antelope, Suzy Greenberg, Fluffhead

Encore
Joy, First Tube

 

Set I
Punch You in the Eye, AC/DC Bag, NICU, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent Fly>Famous Mockingbird, Birds of a Feather, Lawn Boy, Stash, I Didn’t Know, Middle of the Road, Character Zero

Set II
Down With Disease>Wilson>Slave to the Traffic Light, Piper> Water in the Sky, Ghost>Psycho Killer>Catapult>Icculus>You Enjoy Myself

Encore
While My Guitar Gently Weeps

 

Set I
Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Axilla I, Foam, Esther, Ha Ha Ha, Party Time, Tube, Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan, Strange Design, Time Turns Elastic

Set II
Tweezer>Taste, Alaska, Let Me Lie, 46 Days, Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, Harry Hood

Encore
Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

 

Set I
Llama, The Moma Dance, Guyute, Anything But Me, Cars Trucks Buses, Chalk Dust Torture, Golgi Apparatus, David Bowie, Cavern, Possum, Ocelot, Run Like an Antelope

Set II
Backwards Down the Number Line>Twenty Years Later, Halley’s Comet>Rock & Roll, Harpua>I Kissed a Girl>Hold Your Head Up>Harpua, You Enjoy Myself

Encore
Grind, I Been Around, Highway to Hell

The conventional wisdom is that Phish are best experienced live and that the studio albums are frozen relics lacking the interaction and spontaneity that allow the group to soar in concert. That is the fans’ take, and this mind-set is peculiar to the jam-band world. Improv-oriented bands face a perpetual dilemma: How do you bottle the lightning of live performance in the studio? You can play live in the studio, which is kind of pointless without an audience to generate energy and feedback. Or you can take advantage of studio technology and craft a piece of music that lives and breathes on its own terms.

Phish took the latter tack, making records in different locations and with different producers (including several self-productions) in an effort to galvanize the typically static recording process.
Billy Breathes
is the acknowledged classic and must-own Phish studio album. But there are other non-live highlights in their catalog:
Rift
, their most ambitious and conceptually cohesive album;
Hoist
, a lively, extroverted endeavor featuring interesting guest musicians; and
Farmhouse
, the song-rich first Phish album recorded at the Barn, the studio that Trey Anastasio built outside Burlington.

For the full, uncut Phish experience, the double-disc
A Live One
is an essential acquisition. If you are now fully hooked on Phish, then backtrack and listen to where it all began (
Junta
,
Lawn Boy
,
A Picture of Nectar
). Finish up by fast-forwarding to see how it all ended (
Round Room
,
Undermind
)—that is, before it resumed again in 2009.

Incidentally, there’s lots more available in the way of live Phish: official (LivePhish CDs and downloads), unofficial (online downloads, fan-swapped tapes and CDs), and unacceptable (bootlegs).

Was Phish a disappointing chart act, as is widely assumed? Hardly. Phish has racked up nine gold albums (500,000 copies sold), two of which have been certified platinum (1 million copies sold). Only three of their ten major studio releases have failed (as of yet) to attain gold status. Somewhat amazingly, the first sixteen volumes in the LivePhish series all made Billboard’s Top 200 album chart—for exactly one week—from
Live Phish 02
(No. 93) to
Live Phish 08
(No. 154).

Charts don’t always tell an accurate tale. A slow but steady seller that “bubbles under” the Hot 200, in
Billboard
lingo, might surprise years later with a gold or platinum certification. This held true in Phish’s case, affirming their slow, steady, long-haul approach.
Junta
,
Lawn Boy
, and
A Picture of Nectar
were all certified gold long after their release (and in 2004,
Junta
went platinum), yet none of them ever appeared—even for a week—on
Billboard
’s Top 200 album chart.

A few Phish albums did make impressive showings on the charts, due to strong initial sales in the SoundScan era, when album sales began to be tracked more accurately.
Billy Breathes
and
The Story of the Ghost
both went Top Ten. (Ironically,
Ghost
never reached the gold plateau—go figure.) Among Phish releases,
Hoist
,
A Live One
, and
Billy Breathes
hold the records for chart longevity, at thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen weeks, respectively.

Just as it’s clear that the industry underestimated the popularity of Phish’s studio recordings, it’s also true that their last two studio releases began to tell a different tale. Numbers don’t lie, and the relatively poor showings of Phish’s final studio albums—
Round Room
and
Undermind—
suggest that interest had begun waning by the time of their 2004 breakup.

Five years later, the regrouped Phish has released another studio album,
Joy
, not on Elektra but on their own JEMP label.
Joy
debuted at No. 13 on
Billboard
’s Top 200—ironically, the exact position that
Undermind
debuted at in 2004—and at No. 5 on
Billboard
’s Rock Chart.