Review Phish @ Camden – June 10, 2011

Another of last night’s highlights was the rare Swept Away > Steep combo, especially with a six-plus minute jam that was actually some of my favorite jamming and direction of the show. A beautiful, delicate floating breathe, the jam led into another ferocious David Bowie. After this however, the band seemingly filled the rest of the set with a bunch of single songs, including Julius, a sloppy Golgi Apparatus, before what I thought was a set-closing Fluffhead. Fluff did pack a mighty punch, and I actually liked the placement here. But, as I expected the band to step off stage, they instead played the sentimental ballad, Joy. And then walked off the stage. Oh, ok, so you crush a Fluffhead to close Camden with Joy? I gotcha. In fact, no, no I don’t and have no clue what you are thinking, Phish. But, that is NOT to say this was a bad show, just odd, which let’s face it, is something that makes Phish and the collective body of work in a tour so interesting.

Throughout the years, Camden has witnessed some incredible shows in the Phish legacy, but last night didn’t do too much to contribute to that and instead will have fans scratching their heads into what was going down. Maybe it’s the fact that this venue is so close to the raw energy of Philly, or the fact that surrounding the venue is one of the most dangerous cities in the country, or maybe its the almost lawless areas of lots that just about anything goes, but Camden and Phish usually go together quite well. Last night tried, but went down for some like a shot of quicksand, instead of whiskey. I enjoyed the show as it was happening, and suggest definitely checking out The Curtain With for a moment of grandeur, and a few other pieces like the Weekapaug and Steep for my other highlights.

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9 Responses

  1. The stash was played pretty nicely as well. Guyute was too sloppy for words, love the tune, but was a bit unhappy with how sloppy it came out. The Curtain With jam was worth the price of admission. Definitely the best i have heard.

  2. “Oh, ok, so you crush a Fluffhead to close Camden with Joy? I gotcha. In fact, no, no I don’t and have no clue what you are thinking, Phish”

    It’s in the lyrics:

    We want you to be happy, don’t live inside the gloom
    We want you to be happy, come step outside your room
    We want you to be happy ’cause this is your song too

    It’s probably not by chance that they played their big f-you to picky, critical phans, “Vultures”, on Saturday.

  3. it took me a while to realize that phish 3 is not what phish was all about, listen to 90’s shows .. i mean..what an explosive music ..i don’t know what happened to trey, his playing is so repetitive these days ..and it didn’t happen in a flash, it took some time for him to be as sloppy and boring as he sounds today ..this is all sad but true, and i hope trey will gain back his chops ..

  4. Give me a break…do you still know how to just freaking enjoy a show. It rocked. Good night. It’s not about what “your” idea of flow is. Get some rest, stay off tour for a while and when you come back you might appreciate the ” band’s” flow. WOW, give me a break already. Good to know your a critic and not a Phan.

  5. Starting off with an encore, that is not played that often, and continuing to play an off the wall show is why people love Phish. They’ve been doing it for 25 years. This isn’t new. Go follow another rock band for 5 shows and tell me you don’t hear at least 7 of the same songs 5 nights in a row.

  6. Nigel, i appreciate phish music , but don’t be blind and clean up your ears, this is not about being a critic ..this is about facts ..listen to Clifford ball and you will understand what im talking about!

  7. Dave…get a time machine go back to the 90’s and stay. I’ll rock out to the evolved Phish w/ my colla popped ho!

  8. “.i don’t know what happened to trey, his playing is so repetitive these days”

    And it wasn’t in the Cow Funk years?!?! Wow. At least he’s mostly gotten rid of those damn loop pedals.

    “.and it didn’t happen in a flash, it took some time for him to be as sloppy and boring as he sounds today”

    Early 2003 summer tour and the final run in 2004 would like to have a word with you. God, my first Phish show was 7/8/03 he could barely play some of the songs then.

    “..this is about facts”

    Bullshit, it’s just your opinion, which apparently some people disagree with.

    I *have* listened to the Clifford Ball, he made a bunch of mistakes then, he’s ALWAYS made bunches of mistakes because he’s not a technically flawless player like Robert Fripp or Jake Cinninger, his strengths lie elsewhere.

  9. Wow. Sucks to be one of them guys whose at the show judging the flow and song placement and wondering what happened to phish. Dude the question you need to ask is what happened to you? I love every single note played at a phish show. It tickles my soul man, and all you have to say is why arent they as fun as they use to be, cause you got stiff prick, phish is like nothing else and will be like nothing else. Glad I got to be there!!

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