Review: Phish @ Comcast Theatre, Night 2
Phish was all business for the first 2:45 of Friday’s show in Hartford, the second of two nights at the Comcast Theatre. But the encore, which featured a strange dedication and the same song played twice is probably what will be remembered most about this night.
Fee was an interesting choice for an opener on a Friday, when the crowd seemed ready for something with more energy. The song is fairly rare these days – it was played only once in 2009 – but doesn’t do much to get the crowd going and this version wasn’t really any exception. Rift was close and had some good moments but was not quite as tight as it should be as Trey struggled with the “darkness the light from above could not reach” lyric and several of the licks in the buildup and peak. The set got cooking briefly with a very strong Wolfman’s Brother that started funky but turned into more of a straight ahead rock and roll jam and the energy began to rise in the venue.
New Phish songs always sound strange the first time you hear them live. Everyone sort of looks around and shrugs and has that “I have no clue what this is” look on their faces. Summer of ’89 certainly drew those looks on Friday night. I can’t say I enjoyed the song all that much but I’ll reserve full judgment until it’s been worked out a bit. The beginning struck me as a Water in the Sky/Driver hybrid that tried to gain steam with a jam segment that didn’t go very far. But we’ll see how the song develops if it remains in the rotation.
READ ON for more from Luke on Night Two of Hartford…
Gordon was particularly audible in the tightly played Foam that followed and he to thump throughout Possum, which finally got the crowd rocking again for the first time since Wolfman’s. Hopes were high for Moma Dance and the playing was solid and funky. But the song has become a source of frustration for fans of the Phish’s funky side as the band has been reluctant to stretch it passed seven or eight minutes.
Julius could have kept the flow going but a series of flubs, including a butchered climax and ending, made for a disappointing version. Almost determined to prove they were focused after a rough go through a standard, Trey called for the always-challenging Reba which was played with beautiful precision. The band proved that Julius was not an indication of their concentration level for the night. The always fun Cavern ended what was an up-and-down set.
The second set opened with a fun Halley’s but before the jam could really get going, Trey abruptly kicked into Light, which was has become one of the band’s best jamming vehicles. On this night it was under 10 minutes but was tight and smoothly segued into the sweet and rare Billy Breathes, which was played only once in 2009 and twice in 2003. I very much enjoyed the Tweezer that followed, with Trey finding a groove he liked and knifing in and out of it patiently, and thought Chris Kuroda did his best lighting work of the night towards the end, including washing the band in a series of deep blue lights as they put a spacey twist on the song’s conclusion. The segue into Theme was smooth but I was surprised to find this was only the fourth Tweezer > Theme ever. I thought that would have been a more common pairing. A well played Hood followed and, other than a group of fans unloading a gaggle of glowsticks onto the soundboard, had everyone pumped for the end of the show.
Wading in the Velvet Sea is one of the tunes I feel Phish has really struggled with since their return. The versions from MSG and Miami last December were very choppy both vocally and musically. But they played it well and it was nice to hear Page’s voice, which we didn’t get much of on this night. I thought the Wading would mark the end of the set but instead the band kicked into the vicious Stealing Time, which I really like as a set closer. It scratches that rockstar itch in much the same way that Character Zero does.
The encore kicked off a chain of events that was felt 150 miles away night in Saratoga the following night. Trey dedicated Sleeping Monkey, complete with crowd singalong, to a fan that had an elaborate sign on Thursday night (not even knowing if he was in the venue again that night) and the standard Tweezer Reprise followed. But as the Reprise was coming to an end, Trey stepped up to the mic and announced that they had a few extra minutes left so they were going to finish the un-Reprised Tweezer from Hershey Park. So the band launched into the first-ever Tweezer Reprise Reprise which sent the crowd off with a little extra punch in its step and led to a Tweezer Reprise opener AND closer on Saturday night at SPAC.
Although the ending was certainly unique and cool it was a fairly standard show otherwise. That said, there were highlights that made the show enjoyable. Other than the Wolfman’s and Reba, there was nothing about the first set that really stood out. But set two is solid and the encore is fun and I recommend giving both a listen.
06/18/2010 The Comcast Theatre
Set 1: Fee > Rift, Wolfman’s Brother, Summer of ‘89, Foam, Possum > The Moma Dance > Julius, Reba[1], Cavern
Set 2: Halley’s Comet > Light -> Billy Breathes, Tweezer > Theme From the Bottom > Harry Hood > Wading in the Velvet Sea, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Tweezer Reprise, Tweezer Reprise[2]
[1] No whistling.
[2] Played a second time, for Hershey.[via Phish.net]
I find this a really weak review. Were you in the lawn, or otherwise disengaged from what was going on onstage, in the crowd, or out of CK5? This show was a ton of fun!
Agreed with MainePhan on this one….very stellar show and a piss poor review. I was 7th row center and thought that the show was pretty flawless aside from the few flubs in Julius. Otherwise, solid all around and high energy. Stop being so critical and enjoy the music. “Do I care if we miss a change? No, no…I thought it was rockin.” -Trey
Agree with other two review reviewers. Extremely high energy and fun – the show flowed incredibly well. Solid, solid.
You sound like one of those people who gets too hung up on a few flubs to just take it in an enjoy yourself. The energy of this show from the first notes of Fee was incredible. I sat in the same place both nights and the energy that was lacking in the first night (mainly because of the weird transitions) was there from the beginning the second night. The sets flowed nearly perfectly and Trey ALWAYS screws up lyrics. Honestly, who cares about messed up lyrics? It adds to the fun IMO.
People go to see Phish for a good time and great music. This show had both. Mistakes are made, but don’t really change much. Fee, while not being a high energy song, got the crowd going due to it’s current, as you said, rarity status.
The second set was all about flow. The band moved from one song to the next with great feeling and patience. It flowed perfectly, though I was hoping for a different closer than Stealing Time, that fit pretty well.
““Do I care if we miss a change? No, no…I thought it was rockin.” -Trey”
summer of ’89 is a beautiful song – amazing lyrics. take another listen to that one, it’s fine just the way it is….
I heart sober Trey
I think that this is the first show I ever saw in which Phish did not play a single cover, not even a Nellie Kane or anything like that. The closest thing to a cover was Sleeping Monkey.
Obviously this guy doesn’t know a thing about phish. Tweezer Reprise Reprise has been done twice before, this wasn’t the first time like he stated.
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