Continuing our series on the best parts of Phish’s best tour since 2009 (still not sure if I’m going to be stubborn and consider this 3.0 or jump on the 4.0 bandwagon), here are additional highlights we need to discuss.
Wolfman’s Brother (8/6)
I will apologize ahead of time for all the Deer Creek highlights which are about to fly at you. Deer Creek—once known for being in the middle of a corn field but not so much anymore—is like a highlight magnet regardless of year. In the venue’s opening trio of shows, we are treated to a first-set, second-song Wolfman’s. Par for the course in 3.0 (but we’re kinda not within the space space/time of 3.0 any longer, are we…). This Wolfman’s broke out of the cookie-cutter formula which plagued the 2010’s. It was easy to miss between the coveted Carini opener and a hefty sand to boot, but this bad boy features crispy full-band jamming. What caught my ear in particular was the incredible note digging Mike was doing for a portion just past the 10-minute mark. Have I mentioned first sets are back?Blaze On (8/6)
Proving that Phish uses imperfect vessels towards glorious ends (since Blaze On the song is meh), this version takes the crowd through a series of jam sections, naturally flowing from one to the next, highlighting Trey’s newfound interest in creating melodic themes on which to base jams upon. The offering comes to a clean rock peak at the end before wrapping into a tidy end. Normally after a 24-or-so minute jam, you wouldn’t expect another 20+ minute frenzy of improvisation. But this is Phish 4.0 (okay, I’m on board now) and soon comes…Simple (8/6)
For crying out loud, after just playing what was arguably the best jam of the tour the band immediate tops it with this improvisational gem. If there were still cornfields surrounding Deer Creek, I’d have thought aliens have landed on this particular night to make crop circles with some new musical weapon they have just created. This simple is absolutely gnarly. The depth of this jam is hard to crawl back out of yet Phish manages it by tying it up with a nice bow at the end. How often does a type-II jam travel this far away from the initial launch pad and still finds its way back home safely. Rarely does a spacey jam in recent years also have teeth and direction. The soundscape coming out of this one really shocks the brain. How can men of this age seem to be reinventing themselves in such a way. As you can tell, I have officially been shooketh by this band yet again.Everything’s Right (8/7)
Here we go again, another glorious Everything’s Right. This song is such a champ, and I knew it would be the moment my pal stomped on my feet during the debut of the song in Chicago. Again we have a 20+ minute Everything’s Right and again the band hollows out a nice space for the crowd to dance. The jam opens up, right out of the gates, with slooow boomerang crawling up the neck of Trey’s new Languedoc before it morphs into some funky strumming only to morph back to the boomerang. Why is Trey playing so well, it’s like a light switch is turned on.Crosseyed & Painless (8/7)
Still high from the fumes left onstage from Everything’s Right and What’s The Use?, Phish launches into an uptempo Crosseyed. Trey is lacing so many songs with teeth again. Out of the gates, Trey drops his guitar into synth mode without slowing the speed of the song and soon he brings out his—you guessed it—boomerang for some noodle echos down and up the fretboard. The jam is short and straightforward but represents the transformation the band apparently is in the midst of. Out of the ether the song drops back into the end of What’s the Use?II: Bathtub Gin > Waves → Ghost > Sneakin’ Sally → 20 Years Later > Waste > Twist → Makisupa > Twist → Makisupa → Twist > Most Events Aren’t Planned > More > Bathtub Gin (8/8)
The entire final set of the last show of Deer Creek makes the cut both due to both the jams within and just the classic Phishy vibe of the whole affair. With this set it felt like they imported the 90’s, both with the wacky song mashups and the selection of songs (even though there’s a few 3.0s in there). This set is how reflects the image burnt into my mind of what a Phish show is. Improvisation not only within the songs but also in how the songs connect and the set is structured. I should note that Bathtub Gin is apparently a second-set song again and we no longer are able to predict the direction it will go. Also, this Ghost, I believe, takes the record for the shortest version ever—previously held by UIC in 2011.
Stay tuned for part 3!