The whole vibe and presentation of the Bader Field run is interesting. Like the three-night run last year in Bethel, N.Y., or the upcoming run at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., it is three shows at one outdoor venue that requires fans to leave after each show instead of camping on site and choose if they want to come to one, two or all of the shows.
But like the big weekends of yore, from the Clifford Ball to last year's Super Ball IX, there is a festival vibe to it - you could purchase a three-night pass, the stage sits on an open field with no seats and the venue is fully created from the ground up by the team the band hires to do so. And I am pretty sure it is the same team as before because I saw one of them, Russ Bennett (his big grey/white beard gives him away!) in the crowd last night.
Both of these elements combined with Phish's top-notch playing to create an amazing show, excellent in its own right, but serving as a taste of what is to come - the opening third of a blowout weekend.
It was a fun, but shaky, start. Though "The Sloth" was a great, well-played opener, it gave way to some bad three-part disharmony on the intro to "My Sweet One". But with that out of the way, I counted only one more "ouch" moment, later when "It's Ice" almost fell apart at one spot.
Other than that it was good times and well-rehearsed playing on shorter tunes like "Camel Walk" (only my third in 77 shows!), "Cities" and "Ginseng Sullivan". Fan favorite "Tube" was happily stretched out more than what has become the norm, especially after last year's performances in which Trey was said to "pull the ripcord" on it just as it got going. Clocking in at 6:33, it was the longest "Tube" since 8/1/2009 (Red Rocks).
Set One really heated up with an incredible "Stash" - jammed out but focused and rocking. From that point, the band was unstoppable. "Simple" kicked butt, "The Wedge" was dead on, "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" was tight and climactic, and "The Squirming Coil" had that festival set-ending vibe a la the Great Went, where the band leaves the stage while Page plays a beautiful solo coda and tells the crowd they are taking a break.
From the moment they hit the stage for Set Two, it was ON. Like freakin' Donkey Kong. Another one of my Great Went favorites, "My Soul" kicked it off in high bluesy gear, but "Birds of a Feather" quickly became the night's MVP. The jam shot upwards in pointy peaking solos from Trey and outwards from awesome band interaction. An absolutely sick, impossibly perfect segue into an excellent "Back on the Train" kept things moving nicely into a 'Farmhouse' mini-set that also included "Heavy Things" and two more examples of why we keep coming back to see this band.
"Twist" had enormous energy emanating from the band. The "Woo!"s were emphatic and celebratory. When the band finished it, they kept going "Woo!" as they sometimes had in the past. But the audience was feeling it, too, and we started "Woo!"ing right back. So as the opening strains of "Piper" began we were trading "Woo!"s with Trey. Much to Trey's apparent delight, we continued our happy dialogue with the band as they began to sing the words, so it sounded like this:
"Her words were words I sailed upon..." "WOOO!!" "...Piper, piper, the red, red worm. Woke last night to the sound of the storm. Her words were words I sailed upon..." "WOOO!!"
I hope that comes through on the soundboard recording because I would hate for it to have been a you-had-to-be-there moment.
And the fun did not stop there. The "Piper" jam went way out into the stratosphere, climaxing and then falling into beautiful ambience that included a bass bomb from Mike that was so heavy, I thought my bowels were going to let loose.
In classic form, they eased back after such a rocking high point, delivering the first "Billy Breathes" in almost two years and playing it with lovely grace and precision, delivering sweet, harmonious vocals. But as if the set was not diverse enough already, they brought the funk with "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" before closing with a huge "David Bowie" that included six teases of songs previously played in the show during the intro and a monster jam at it's conclusion.
When they kicked into "First Tube" for the encore there was still so much energy being transmitted between band and crowd that we picked up the "Woo!"s again on the downbeats of every other measure. Trey was beaming as he gave us an "Oh yeah!" kind of raised elbow fist. And when the lights stopped flashing and swirling as the final chord brought the show to a close, everyone was satisfied. We were still "Woo!"ing as we left the venue, some heading to the casinos for some late-night gambling, some to hotels, some home.
A girl near me in the crowd said it was her first show. I told her to immediately go to the casinos because luck was clearly on her side to get a show like this as her first. Or maybe this is Phish in 2012 - melting faces on a nightly basis like in their young prime.
Epic, indeed.
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