Unfortunately, the vocals get lost in the echo of the arena. This proved to be a detriment when Phish did a bit of dialogue in last week's "Harpua", and again on this night, when the references to the lemon flavor theme were ensconced in the lyrics to a relatively obscure cover tune.
That happened in Set II at a point when things were already getting pretty deep and trippy. But "deep and trippy" was not the mode for Set I, which was a thorough party set with "Punch You in the Eye", "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars", "Dinner and a Movie", "Poor Heart" (with an extremely rough, cringe-inducing start) and the set-closing, face-melting "First Tube". The only lemon reference was the opener, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", which is an old 1920s blues tune by a guy named Blind Lemon Jefferson. I seriously doubt anyone got that one. At best, they might have known Bob Dylan had done it (I had not). But really, you know you looked it up.
Other pleasant surprises in the first set were "Ocelot" and "Winterqueen" which still seems to surprise people when they soar, despite the former's loping beat and the latter being a pretty ballad. But my memories of Bader Field and Randall's Island are good enough to know those two songs can knock you right over.
Then came Set II. "Dem Bones" was funny and mostly on-point with its barbershop quartet harmonies, but the set really started with "No Men in No Man's Land", which rang in 2016 in that very venue. The jam moved and grooved, and eventually landed on a familiar chord progression on the organ. So when Fish started singing Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place" (from the "Amnesiac" album, which I always found to be superior to its acclaimed predecessor, "Kid A"), I was so blown away by just the mere fact that they were playing it that I was frantically text messaging my friend while it was happening, completely missing the key line about sucking on a lemon (and the way Trey manipulated it with his effects box.
When you get all ambient, where else do you go except to "What's the Use"? (Not the best version, by the way.) With "Scents and Subtle Sounds" following, one would think the previous tune would lend itself to a segue into the mellow intro, but instead, Trey went crashing (sloppily) into the main riff. But it was of no matter, for the jam (the longest of the night) was beautiful and explored many different musical spaces.
The lid got completely blown off of "Prince Caspian" at Magnaball, and no one expects the song to reach those heights, but I will be damned if it was not the closest they have come since then. It was good to the point that the "Fluffhead" that followed actually left less of a mark (but a mark nonetheless!). Gloria told me that I kept making my "ecstasy face", and how could I not in a set that had musical peak after musical peak? That is my definition of ecstasy!
And what is better than seeing Page play the Keytar? Seeing Page play the Keytar twice - first during the epic "Lawn Boy" on Night 4, and now on Night 11 on the "Frankenstein" encore.
How does a band keep this feeling going for eleven nights in one venue? This has gone far beyond being 13 separate shows. This is one long party and one musical journey - a unique experience that has not happened before and will likely never happen again. We are a part of something big; bigger than we can even comprehend right now. This, friends, is history, and we are right in the thick of it.
That happened in Set II at a point when things were already getting pretty deep and trippy. But "deep and trippy" was not the mode for Set I, which was a thorough party set with "Punch You in the Eye", "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars", "Dinner and a Movie", "Poor Heart" (with an extremely rough, cringe-inducing start) and the set-closing, face-melting "First Tube". The only lemon reference was the opener, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", which is an old 1920s blues tune by a guy named Blind Lemon Jefferson. I seriously doubt anyone got that one. At best, they might have known Bob Dylan had done it (I had not). But really, you know you looked it up.
Other pleasant surprises in the first set were "Ocelot" and "Winterqueen" which still seems to surprise people when they soar, despite the former's loping beat and the latter being a pretty ballad. But my memories of Bader Field and Randall's Island are good enough to know those two songs can knock you right over.
Then came Set II. "Dem Bones" was funny and mostly on-point with its barbershop quartet harmonies, but the set really started with "No Men in No Man's Land", which rang in 2016 in that very venue. The jam moved and grooved, and eventually landed on a familiar chord progression on the organ. So when Fish started singing Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place" (from the "Amnesiac" album, which I always found to be superior to its acclaimed predecessor, "Kid A"), I was so blown away by just the mere fact that they were playing it that I was frantically text messaging my friend while it was happening, completely missing the key line about sucking on a lemon (and the way Trey manipulated it with his effects box.
When you get all ambient, where else do you go except to "What's the Use"? (Not the best version, by the way.) With "Scents and Subtle Sounds" following, one would think the previous tune would lend itself to a segue into the mellow intro, but instead, Trey went crashing (sloppily) into the main riff. But it was of no matter, for the jam (the longest of the night) was beautiful and explored many different musical spaces.
The lid got completely blown off of "Prince Caspian" at Magnaball, and no one expects the song to reach those heights, but I will be damned if it was not the closest they have come since then. It was good to the point that the "Fluffhead" that followed actually left less of a mark (but a mark nonetheless!). Gloria told me that I kept making my "ecstasy face", and how could I not in a set that had musical peak after musical peak? That is my definition of ecstasy!
And what is better than seeing Page play the Keytar? Seeing Page play the Keytar twice - first during the epic "Lawn Boy" on Night 4, and now on Night 11 on the "Frankenstein" encore.
How does a band keep this feeling going for eleven nights in one venue? This has gone far beyond being 13 separate shows. This is one long party and one musical journey - a unique experience that has not happened before and will likely never happen again. We are a part of something big; bigger than we can even comprehend right now. This, friends, is history, and we are right in the thick of it.
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