With summer tour finally upon us, let us take a step back to look at where Phish last left off - the New Year's run - and contrast it with that of 20 years earlier.
In the mid-1990s, my friend aLi told me that even Phish's weakest shows were still the sonic equivalent of someone giving her flowers. That is to say that Phish shows at their worst were still wonderful. I can not help but agree - Phish shows of that era were in the same league as pizza and sex.
Five years after the shaky 2009 reunion, Phish has finally gotten to the point where that is true again. Some 2014 shows were exceptional and the rest were still excellent representations of this unique and still-evolving band. So, OK, stacked against 7/13/14, 7/27/14, or 10/31/14, none of these last four shows match up. But it puts a smile on my face to think that this is the worst thing I can say.
There were moments, large and small, that make these shows worth a good hard listen. New Year's Eve is the winner of the bunch. The triple play of "Ghost -> Theme From the Bottom -> Cities" contain jams that veer far away from their main structures while retaining strong musical sense and groove. It is the band doing what it has done best ever since the colossal "Tweezer" from 2013 reminded everyone that it can still jam and, arguably, better than ever. Placing Halloween jams such as "Martian Monster" and "The Dogs" in such prime New Year's Eve spots as Set II closer and first song after midnight, respectively, shows the healthy faith the band has in these new pieces - just as "Fuego" rang in 2014 a year before - and with good reason, too. "Tweezer" in its classic placement as a Set III powerhouse does not disappoint, even if it also does not approach the aforementioned Tahoe version. But even the shorter songs include on-point mini-jams, soaring solos and (save for a few flubs) perfect execution.
Still, where was the spectacle? On any other night, a giant inflatable likeness of Jon Fishman appearing over the crowd after the band does an a cappella rendition of "Dem Bones" would be hilarious and the talk of all the phans. But to ring in the new year, it fell a bit flat compared with the MSG years.
The shows that followed offered countless reasons to be glad, though. After a killer first-set-ending "Bathtub Gin", set II of 1/1/15 offered a party sandwich of ragers like "Twist", "Piper", "Run Like an Antelope" and "Rock and Roll" as the bread, with beautiful ballads as the meat. Though nothing else in the first set of 1/2/15 soared like "Stash" did, the second set was a knockout. From its "Mike's Song" start to its "Walls of the Cave" end, it was climax after blissful climax. And 1/3/15 includes what might be the best "Split Open and Melt" in years (faint praise) and one of the most inventive and exploratory versions of "Down With Disease" since the previous New Year's run (high praise), the latter only to be marred by the poorly executed ripcord crash into "Light" (which ended up being a fantastic jam in its own right, as it usually does).
None of this excellence, though, can compare to what had transpired 20 years before. The 1994 jams were getting wilder, woolier and longer. There was frenetic energy in songs like "Melt" and "Julius". Listen to any 1994 "Run Like an Antelope" and you hear a band that can hardly contain itself. Sure, none of the ever-expanding versions of "Tweezer" had the deep musicality of the recent era - but the band was willing to pull out all the stops and try everything they could as they explored the breadth of what a rock and roll band can do when given the chance to really stretch out. December 1994 represented the culmination of the leaps and bounds of that year.
As great as 12/28/94 is (with the "Weekapaug Groove" that goes every which way, ending up in a darkly bizarre minor key rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" before seamlessly nailing its major key ending), it could only hint at what was to come the following night.
Though the distinction of "best show ever" changes often for me, 12/29/94 is always at or near the top. And even if it is not the best show, it does contain what is undoubtedly the undisputed greatest rendition of "David Bowie" in the band's history. If nothing else, 12/28/94 is my go-to show for when a non-phan wants to know what all the fuss is about. The second set alone does every single thing that a truly top-notch Phish show can do - extended composed pieces ("Guyute" and "The Lizards"), a crazy long and unbelievably improvised jam that includes both weirdness and blissful peaks ("Bowie"), comic relief ("Cracklin' Rosie"), a faithful rock cover ("Good Times Bad Times"), bluegrass ("My Long Journey Home"), and a grand ending ("Sleeping Monkey").
Yet even that was all to set the stage for 12/30/94, the band's (and my) first show at Madison Square Garden, which began with an extremely focused and tight first set and followed with a second set of long and twisty versions of "Tweezer" and "You Enjoy Myself" - two of their heaviest hitters - played with only a short bluegrass tune ("Blue and Lonesome") in between. And if you think that Fishman's vaccuum cleaner was just noise, check out this "Purple Rain" for the most musical vac solo ever.
Yet even that was no match for the extravaganza on 12/31/94 at Boston Garden. In Set II, "Maze" got pushed to extreme heights and length; "Mike's Song" jammed its way into and out of the rare "Buffalo Bill", and into the as-rare (and final performance to date of) "Y-Rushalayim Shel Zahav"; and "Weekapaug Groove" includes an "Auld Lang Syne" tease before finishing its seeming nonstop ability to make you boogie. As Set III started, they cut off "My Sweet One" to bring in the wackiness. The giant hot dog descended over the arena crowd and nothing would ever be the same again - the standard for New Year's Eve spectacle was set. All future NYE gags would be compared to the hot dog - even the later two that featured the crazy prop again (1999 and 2010). You do not ever forget the image of a band playing "Auld Land Syne" while flying above the crowd in a giant frankfurter - even if you were not even there (and, sadly, I was not). But one look at any photograph of the stunt and you realize that this was not and would never be a typical rock and roll band.
An hour later, after the soaring set-ending ecstasy of "Slave to the Traffic Light" and the rocking "Simple" encore that featured one last reprise of "Auld Land Syne", it was the end of something truly special that unfolded over the course of four nights. This is what Phish at its glorious best can do.
Even when it is not at that paramount peak, Phish can provide a singular, incomparable experience. 1994 and 2014 were a lot alike in that way. And it certainly gives us something to which to look forward as summer tour begins tonight.
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