Phish – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 10/28/14 (Night Two Highlights/Lowlights)

For a majority of Phish fans, last evening was the clear highlight of the fall tour.  Even though the San Francisco Giants did not win the World Series, the disappointing energy exuded from the lot had no bearing on the show. Or did it? The show was far from perfect, as if there’s such a thing anyway, but in terms of where the band has been over the past eight shows, Phish took a major step forward last night. The first set was as good as the band has played in recent times, and the second set offered some of the most standout exploratory jamming of the tour.  In what was really a make-or-break show, Phish offered a worthy one at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last night. With so much on the table for the final night of the three show run, potential remains high for a special Wednesday night in San Francisco.

 

Highlights

  1. First set. In what, to the author, feels like a direct move to combat what was offered in yesterday’s review of night one at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Phish (mostly) came out blazing dropping a tight “Mikes Song”> “I am Hydrogen”> “Weekapaug Groove” right after the opening offering in “Crowd Control”. They set a tone by choosing to play “Mikes Song” as the second song of the evening, and in terms of a flowing first set, it’s hard to think of another recent set one that had as much bounce as last night.
  2. “Plasma”. It’s the second time the song has been played this tour and the second time Phish has ever played the Trey Anastasio Band original. Put simply, it works. It works for Phish, and it really worked last night in terms of placement, and offering something a little less predictable when set one’s have in fact been taking on such an identity as of late.
  3. The early “Mikes Groove” was an easy highlight last evening in San Francisco, but musically the “Gumbo”> “Sanity” is what built off the energy offered at the beginning of the set to help blur the reality of what set it was. It almost felt more like a second set at this point during the show, which is a good thing when you’re talking Phish. The jam in “Gumbo”, albeit short, had the crowd throwing down in a wave of crispy funk before a major treat in “Sanity” plastered a smile on just about everyone’s face in the venue.
  4. The real highlight of last night, arguably, was a seven song second set layered with diverse journeys of interesting improvisation.  “Kill Devil Falls” kicked off set two with some cosmic moments over what wasn’t a very lengthy jam, but a solid way to get things started after a well received first set. However, the real meat would be saved for the end of the show.
  5. The final forty-five minutes of set two is what most people interested in the music of Phish will be listening to today. Some felt “Twist” didn’t go as deep as it could have, and “Runaway Jim” had a little sloppiness to it, but in the scheme of things insert a transcendent “Harry Hood” that left its normal song structure early, and there you have a trifecta of quality songs, jammed out, that speaks directly to anyone wondering if the band is having issues hooking up. “Hood” alone serves as the standout out piece of improvisation of the evening, but it’s recommended to listen to the final three songs of set two together for a maximum experience of some of the best Phish from fall tour 2014.

 

Other highlights from last night include a tight “Wingsuit” in set one. Every time this song is played it seems to be growing on fans and the band alike. Trey really lays into the final guitar solo section and you can almost feel the sincerity in which he plays out the final notes of the song. Song selection and placement go hand-in-hand at a Phish show. “Run Like an Antelope” was a great choice to cap of a great first set, leaving the crowd full of energy and anticipation for set two. Likewise, the classy “Loving Cup” encore was just right, especially after the standout, intergalactic, tease accentuated “Hood” that had closed the proper part of the show.

 

Lowlights

  1. What’s up with this being the third three show Phish run at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium with “Crowd Control” as an opener? It’s really not a glaring lowlight-at least not as much as the next two listed below, which really were the true lowlights of the show, but it does conjure up questions as to what the band is trying to say? Is it a coincidence? Or something else? In any case, the first notes of a Phish show are important, and while the last nights first set was as good as any they’ve done in recent shows, this first song of the evening seemed a dubious choice at best.
  2. After what was shaping up to be a deep experimental run in “Kill Devil Falls” to start the second set, “Mountain in the Mist” felt like a swift kick to the stomach. Phish can and should play whatever it is they want, whenever they want. But why this song at this time? I know that’s somewhat contradictory to what was just offered, but a major issue to locate in the 3.0 era of phish is aborted jams and quick transitions out of improvisational territory that feel forced. It hasn’t happened in the last few nights as much as in other somewhat recent shows, but with so many other options to bleed the unfinished “Kill Devil Falls” into something, with “Mountain in the Mist” fans got lost, the energy of the crowd was sucked dry, and until “Fuego” many show attendees were straight confused during this six minutes of playing.
  3. As if the “Mountains in the Mist” wasn’t enough, “Julius” had a very similar effect on the crowd last night. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great song, and there have been great recent editions of the song. It’s high-energy, old school, and has a warm place in many fans hearts. But as mentioned, with Phish, placement is as important as song selection. After starting to get weird with “Kill Devil Falls”, then abruptly ending it for what was an out of place, energy sucking song, to then bring the energy back up and drop a jamless “Julius” had the flow of the set and the show as a whole out of whack. Thankfully it all came back around at the end of the show once “Twist” got going, but in all seriousness, if “Mountains in the Mist” and “Julius were replaced, combined with set one, last night could’ve been much more than what it was. That said, it was a good show, what many feel is the top show of this fall tour, and in all fairness, the stage is painfully set for some quintessential Bay Area magic on Wednesday night.

Phish Setlist Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, USA, Fall Tour 2014

Related Content

One Response

  1. Mr. Lagasse. You write regarding the Phish concert that ‘“Runaway Jim” had a little sloppiness to it’. Could you please expand on the “sloppiness”? Personally, I would say it’s quite the opposite. Fishman is drilling syncopation from every angle and makes it the backbone of this song’s performance. Chord progressions in perfect alignment. Then you have Trey busting out signature Jimi Hendrix techniques. The band is pushing their limits and I marvel at the imperfection because of that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter