10 Years Later: Phish in Japan Pt. 3

Notable was the Japanese reaction when Page got up from the piano and sang crooner style for Lawn Boy: they freaking loved it. You sometimes forget how these familiar gimmicks are old hat – but watching people be surprised by, and so enjoy, this rehearsed showmanship actually made it more fun for many of us who were no longer fazed by it.

A gimmick that must have made a strong impression from the night before was the band’s use of trampolines during YEM. As if the trampoline maneuver was available on demand, the guy next to me, an apparent acrobatics enthusiast, kept yelling for them to “use tlamporeen!” between each song. Also of note was the Japanese reaction to Heavy Things. The song was actually getting some solid airtime from a Japanese-American DJ who worked Tokyo’s most popular alternative music afternoon drive show, and the Japanese fans loved Phish’s second set opener. Many Japanese were also floored by the Loving Cup closer, as they didn’t know the cover was a standard in the Phish repertoire, and it resulted in a high energy sing-along. In all, a solid show, but it pales when you compare it to the two titans it was sandwiched between.

06/11/00 Hibiya Outdoor Theatre, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Hibiya outdoor park is a gem in Tokyo’s sprawling urban metropolis. A bit akin to Central Park in NYC, it is nestled between Tokyo’s busiest financial districts and the gardens of the Emperor’s Imperial Palace. Tucked away within the park is Hibiya Outdoor Theatre, a small amphitheater that holds about 3,000. It would host Phish’s final Tokyo show of the tour – a terrific afternoon affair that started with the threat of rain and ended with some folks trying to convince me that Trey was a wizard.

[Photo via Russ Kahn’s Phish in Japan Page]

Only 12 or so hours after we had made our way from the previous night’s Odaiba show, we were already making our way through Hibiya Park to the music venue. When we arrived, the show had the vibe of a day-game after a night-game. Folks were still shaking off their short sleep from the night before and trying to get their game faces on for the next event. The weather wasn’t promising to cooperate – it was raining lightly, and it seemed likely that this might be a wet one.

This show had the run’s only opening act – a Japanese jamband called Big Frog. They played a solid hour-long set as we stood in the Greek style amphitheater under a light rain. As if on cue, the rain stopped about 45 seconds before Phish came on stage to a raucous welcome. Many Japanese weren’t following the band onto Nagoya, and they planned to make this one count. Phish would give them plenty to work with.

The first set was terrific and featured great versions of Punch You in the Eye, only the second It’s Ice in more than two years and a well received Stash. Again, it was watching the Japanese fans that really stuck out in my memory of that first set. This was the first time almost any of them had seen Phish two or three days in a row, and you could tell they were settling in nicely to the groove. The energy was high, and jumping and fist pumping were everywhere. People were leaving it all out on the field.

The second set was terrific, and the energy was high. After making their way through ripping versions of Birds of a Feather and Free, Phish segued a great Bug into David Bowie. In the daylight, and on the elevated perch of an amphitheater seat (as opposed to the flat GA spaces of On Air East and Zepp), Hibiya was terrific for people watching, and I especially noticed how many Japanese fans were very familiar with Bowie’s many twists and turns. There really were a number of Japanese fans that knew this material well – they weren’t passive onlookers, they were active participants following its many changes.

The set ended magically (at least that’s what folks tried to convince me). Phish closed the second set with an emotional Harry Hood. Eerily similar to the way the sun broke through overcast clouds during the first notes of Trey’s Sample guitar solo at the 2009 Fenway Park show, as the first notes of the Hood jam began, the sun finally broke through a sky that had been overcast the entire show. Warm golden rays poked through in spots and shined onto the crowd, and it responded by ratcheting up the energy.

It was one of those moments you can’t quite describe: that crowd responded to Phish’s very tangible notes with increased emotion and energy that were totally intangible but simultaneously so palpable. The band fed off of it, and the fan-favorite peaked to a tremendous crescendo: an anthemic, tension and release ending to Phish’s stay in Tokyo. Through Hood’s final moments, many of the Japanese fans displayed expressions that will stay with me forever. As they soaked in what they knew were the final notes of a once-in a lifetime experience, they had that look of marathon runners on the final mile: exhausted and transformed. As the band left the stage, Trey grinned, nodded his head, and offered several “arigato”s, bowing each time slightly. Many in the crowd turned to hug each other and us. And then came the magic.

As Phish returned for the encore, the clouds over the venue parted, again as if on cue, and among the biggest rainbows I have ever seen sprang from the sky and seemed to end right near the amphitheater. It was like Phish was the rainbow’s pot of gold. This all happened in a matter of seconds, and the crowd went crazy. Even Phish could see part of the rainbow, which took up what seemed like a third of the sky. The band had been all smiles the entire show, and they really seemed to appreciate this moment as well. You can even hear Trey laugh a bit as a he sings the first verse of Character Zero, as if to say, “yeah, this has been an incredible three shows, but that is a bit much.”

[via Phantasy Tour]

But for some this was no miracle of science or happenstance, it was all the proof some folks needed: Phish was magic. The guys in front of me turned around, and began trying to explain frantically in Japanese what the rainbow meant. Bewildered, I motioned my surrender and explained – my Japanese is not nearly that good, you are going to need to slow down. One grabbed my shirt, as if to tell me not to leave: what they had to say was important. They conferred for a moment in an animated huddle, and one looked right at me, as if he had just discovered alchemy or something, and yelled in English, “Trey magic man! He red wizard! He sky owner!” I responded in Japanese with a phrase that seemed to really freak them out: “I can neither confirm nor deny.”

Check back tomorrow afternoon for the conclusion of Stanch’s four-part series on Phish in Japan.

Related Content

2 Responses

  1. “I can neither confirm nor deny”

    😀

    I also recall that some Dallas Stars fans alerted Trey that the Devils had won the Stanley cup.

    Trey did not appreciate the news.

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