Review: Phish @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
I walked out of Phish’s Hartford show thinking, “I’m glad I don’t have to write a review of THAT one.” But summing up the following night at Merriweather Post Pavilion isn’t much easier of a task.
[All Photos by Adam Kaufman]
Part of me wants to write a fairly negative review because for the most part, the song selection and placement were pretty bad. But the songs they did choose to play were played very well and there were some highlights.
I was in the pavilion and where I stood, the sound was good. But I’ve heard from numerous friends who were in good positions on the lawn that said they couldn’t hear much. I’ve been on the Merriweather lawn enough times to know I didn’t want to be there for Phish so I’m not surprised the sound on the grass was subpar.
READ ON for more of Luke’s thoughts and Adam’s photos…
The show opened with Crowd Control, which is just terrible placement for this song. They played it fairly well but just not the way you want a show to start. But it did give people a chance to settle into what felt like an oversold venue.
After a typically fun Kill Devil Falls, the always awesome Sloth rocked the house for the first time since 7-31-03. This is definitely a song that most fans would definitely like to see in setlists more often and was a nice treat.
But keeping in what would be a theme of uneven choices all night, the weak Beauty of a Broken Heart sucked a lot of the energy built up during KDF and Sloth out of the crowd which was fighting pretty rough heat and humidity.
The quartet rebounded nicely with Axilla, a personal favorite, and a well played Foam. Yet instead of keeping the crowd dancing and grooving, Esther made a second appearance of the summer. I actually like Esther – the Clifford Ball version is absolutely gorgeous – but it just didn’t work here.
After Esther the band bounced back and got the crowd going again with a quick Ha Ha Ha and what turned out to be the gem of the night, the debut of the new Fishman-penned original Party Time. With nothing but those two words as lyrics and a free-flowing rock and roll jam, this song has great potential and had the crowd dancing more than any song without “Reprise” in the title.
In response to a group request, an over-much-too-quickly Tube kept things moving briefly but the first set finished with three songs that were played well but didn’t provide much energy or punch. And we’re to the point now with Time Turns Elastic where if you don’t make a run for the john when you see Trey reaching for that other guitar, you are standing in line for 10 minutes. I always wonder if the band notices the hordes of people that get up and head out during that song.
A much more serious second set opened with a nice Tweezer but it barely cracked the 10-minute mark and never really got going. There was a nice meld into a well-played Taste and Alaska, which is growing on me every time I hear it, had a very nice outro jam.
But the brutal Let Me Lie brought the second set to a quick halt. I understand that breathers during a set are needed and that the band has earned the right to play whatever they want. But that doesn’t mean I can’t bitch about it a little bit. Any song about riding and bike and taking your shirt off is going to bring a set to a stop.
When the opening notes of 46 Days kicked in I cringed by instinct. But they actually weaved it into a style of jamming we haven’t seen much of from the band this year. It was quirky and weird in a good way and is worth checking out.
I’m a complete sucker for Oh! Sweet Nuthin and think it would make a great addition to the regular rotation. With two appearances in six shows, it’s clearly one the band enjoys.
The show finished on a high note with a very nice Hood that was more precise and emotional than most played by Phish 3.0 and a predictable yet rocking Good Times Bad Times > Tweezer Reprise sent the crowd out with with a solid jolt of energy.
But overall the show felt uneven. For every high there seemed to be a low and every groove that got going was interrupted by strange song placement. This could turn out to be one of those shows that sounds better on disc where you can skip a few tunes and cherry pick your way though the high points.
Phish
August 15, 2009
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD
Set I: Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Beauty Of A Broken Heart, Axilla I, Foam, Esther, Ha Ha Ha, Party Time, Tube, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Strange Design, Time Turns Elastic
Set II: Tweezer > Taste, Alaska, Let Me Lie, 46 Days, Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, Harry Hood
Encore: Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 9:45 am
I thought it was a pretty great show. Highs and lows, great flow. Breakouts, a debut, a very ITish 46 Days. This review really gives a very very different experience than what I had. To each their own but, do yourself a favor, download this one and judge for yourself. It’s hot.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:37 pm
So much complaining and criticism….I listened to this show off the download and it sounds great. Crowd Control is a fine opener…glad to see the band mix things up. Plus, they NEED to play some of their lesser-played songs and develop them live. Kill Devil Falls, Stealing Time, and others need to be played, plus, not every Phish show has to be a trancendental experience. There is nothing wrong with them playing a bunch of songs and putting on a great, sort-of-normal concert. I guess it’s their own fault for setting the bar so high, but come on, it’s still not like every other big tour where the songs are the same every night (and no, just mixing the order and playing the same things doesn’t count…Hello DMB)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Have you gone back and listed to that FOAM? Well played my ass. Butchered to all hell is more like it.
Only up to that point in listening…but man, that was a rough one.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 10:39 pm
What a horrible, totally incorrect, and horribly written review. Keep your day job.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 11:39 am
I actually think this review is fairly solid. I have been to 38 shows since 1994. Some epic shows too, Alladin, NYE 95, Clifford Ball, too many to list. I had 3rd row for this show. The band was totally enjoying themselves. Trey was way into it. I hated the song selection, but I think they played really well. The Foam was butchered. But some of the new tunes, Kill Devil, Stealing Time, the last 5-10 of elastic, they just ripped it. But everytime they got going they then killed the energy with a poor song choice. The second set was very disappointing eventhough again, the 46days was masterful work by the band. It was a letdown, but I loved seeing them anyway and thought what I heard was played with passion.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 2:31 pm
This article reeks of amateur rock journalism. Is the author really on staff for Glide, or was this some sort of hippie outreach program? Either was the prose stinks and the points are, well, pointless. I would hope in the future Glide would hold it’s reviewers writing ability to a higher standard, especially for such an important, albeit underground rock and roll reunion.
P.S. – The pictures are beautiful.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Adam – clearly you were way too high to appreciate what was easily the best first set of the tour.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I think anyone who was in the parking lot knows that choice of Crowd Control had everything to do with the crazy amount of law enforcement patrolling. They even had a police chopper flying around!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:01 am
Bad phish is better than no phish, and that was NOT bad phish!
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