Phish @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Charlotte

We’ve reached the final weekend of the first leg of Phish Summer Tour 2011 as the band moved from one Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Alpharetta) to another (Charlotte) for their fourth-ever show at the venue. Phish has previously played the North Carolina shed on July 7, 1999; July 25, 2003 and July 2, 2010.

[via @Mike_Gordon]

For the previous two shows in Alpharetta, Phish tended to play it safe and offered fans high-energy versions of some of their most popular and most played songs. This evening’s performance went a different route as the band reached into their “bag of tricks” and came out with the first exploratory jams in quite a few shows, some bust outs and even our first Henrietta song of the nearly-completed tour.

Tonight Mike’s Groove kicked off a show for the first time since Phish’s “final show” at Coventry in 2004. Mike’s was played in response to a fan who brought a “Mike’s House” sign to the show. How about we stick to signs for songs that haven’t been played in a while folks? Later in the set, NICU gave fans a chance to visit “Leo’s House” while Colonel’s Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird reared its head for only the third time since the quartet went on hiatus in October of 2000. Just like each of the other post-hiatus versions, there was not much of a narration with tonight’s YEMblog guest tweeter Scott Marks telling us that guitarist Trey Anastasio referenced the t-shirt he and bassist Mike Gordon were wearing thusly – “look, I’m not going to give this away (points at his short-sleeve t-shirt) but you all know who this is…it’s the Famous Mockingbird!”

READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…

Backwards Down The Number Line seems to have become a second set song as including tonight’s second set opening take, it has appeared in the closing stanza at five of the tour’s 16 shows thus far. While the Charlotte BDTNL wasn’t jammed out, the two tunes that followed sure were. Marks described Rock and Roll as “Type II” while @surefootedllama felt the jam had “definite hose” moments. The Velvet Underground cover segued into a Ghost that combined with the preceding Rock and Roll was “the best [sequence of] Phish since Merriweather” in Marks’ opinion. The Trey-led jam alternated between major and minor keys before the quartet landed on Free.

Reba made its first appearance in the second set since Festival 8 and featured a fast-paced jam that peaked a little harder than usual. What came next was only the fourth Icculus in the last 16 years. Anastasio again referenced the t-shirt both he and Gordon were wearing when a picture of the garment appeared on the venue’s screens leading Trey to say, “this man has all the answers! he will take you to the promised land!” according to Marks before imploring fans to “read the fucking book.” Jon Fishman’s vacuum solos have been missing of late, so it was a surprise when the group started playing Hold Your Head Up leading to a Fish’s sung cover of Pink Floyd’s Bike that included some toots on the old Electrolux.

Most Phish second sets include some sort of ballad or slow moment but not tonight. The energy was kept sky high with standard takes on Chalkdust Torture and You Enjoy Myself closing out the 90-minute-plus set. Phish screwed with song placement once again for the encore, dropping Wilson in that slot for the first time since August 11, 1998 before saying goodnight with Loving Cup.

The lack of jams and ever-shrinking song list was the big story for the last few Phish shows. Luckily for the fans in Charlotte tonight there were a few notable explorations, a smattering of bust outs and – as per usual these days – plenty of energy. Phish heads to Raleigh tomorrow for their eighth performance at Walnut Creek.

Setlist…

Soundcheck: Dog Log, Blues Jam

Set 1: Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, NICU^[1] >Sample in a Jar, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Axilla, Wolfman’s Brother, Scent of a Mule, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan

Set 2: Backwards Down the Number Line > Rock and Roll > Ghost > Free, Reba^[2], Icculus, Hold Your Head Up > Bike > Hold Your Head Up, Chalk Dust Torture, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Wilson > Loving Cup

[1] “Play it, Leo!” lyric replaced with “Leo’s House!”
[2] No whistling.

Notes: In NICU, the lyric “Play it, Leo!” was replaced with “Leo’s House!” Reba did not contain the whistling ending. Bike was played for the first time since June 18, 2009 (100 shows). In the soundcheck, Funky Bitch was briefly teased before Dog Log began.

[via Phish.net]

• Venue Capacity / Attendance: 18,768 / 15,000*
• Previous Shows at Venue: July 7, 1999, July 25, 2003 and July 2, 2010 [4  including tonight]
• Number Of Songs / Length – First Set: 12 / 7:48 > 9:04 (76 Minutes)
• Number Of Songs / Length – Second Set & Encore: 13 / 9:30 > 11:13PM (103 Minutes)
• Total Number of Songs / Covers / Originals: 25 / 5 / 20 [includes two HYHUs]
• Biggest Bustout: Bike (Last Played 6/18/2009 – 100 Shows)
• Debuts: N/A
• Average Song Gap: 17.8
• Longest LivePhish Track / Shortest LivePhish Track: You Enjoy Myself (17:58) / Hold Your Head Up (1:54)
• Wardrobe: Trey = Black Unbuttoned Shirt + T-Shirt / Black Jeans, Mike = Black Unbuttoned Shirt + T-Shirt/Jeans, Page = Blue Shortsleeve Shirt/Jeans, Fish = Dress
• Audio: Live Phish SBD

* – Estimate, Awaiting Actual Figure From Billboard’s Box Scores

Poster…

Merit Badge…

From The Road Photos…

[Mike and Trey dressing for dinner in Charlotte (6/17/2011 from Mike Gordon) via @Phish_FTR and @mike_gordon]

[Mike and I pedicabbing it to NoDa in Charlotte (6/16/2011 from Trey Anastasio) via @Phish_FTR and @treyanastasio]

Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: