If anyone still has their doubts, I’m here to tell you: the boys are back, and they’re kicking ass and taking names.
I was still kicking myself for missing Red Rocks last year when word came down Phish would be playing Telluride Town Park. All the hoops I had to jump through to get tickets and camping were well worth it.
Telluride itself has changed noticeably over the years, but at least 2 things remain the same: 1) there are NO chain stores or restaurants on the main drag, and thank God they haven’t re-branded the venue Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Town Park or something similarly hideous – one of my biggest pet peeves these days – and 2) it’s still a great place to see a show, as long as the weather cooperates, which you could say it did – you could also say it was cold enough after sundown to see your breath. But, at least the rain held off during the shows.
There was a good mix of songs from every era, some rare covers, and several singularly unique jams (not all great, but definitely unique).
Some of the songs fit perfectly with the alpine surroundings: especially Mountains in the Mist, the Wedge, the Divided Sky, and Timber. The latter may have been a call-back of sorts to their ill-fated 1988 trip to Telluride. Other rarities in the tapes from that trip re-appeared, too, like Camel Walk and Traffic’s Light up or Leave Me Alone. I wondered if they were trying to make up for the sheer span of time between visits, or if they were trying to actually re-boot our memories of what Phish sounds like in Telluride, because “Camel,” “Light up,” and “Timber” all sounded absolutely aces compared to their 1988 counterparts. Phish’s whole sound is fuller, beefier now, especially Mike Gordon’s bass. A musician friend insists it’s a filter called “Bassballs,” and I first noticed Mike using it on Boogie on Reggae Woman from last year’s Red Rocks recordings. It also filled out the end of Mike’s Song quite nicely (which took a detour through the Talking Heads’ Crosseyed and Painless after a particularly awkward segue before careening back into I Am Hydrogen and Weekapaug Groove).
There were plenty of songs I’d NEVER heard at a Phish show before: like Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo), a Bob Dylan number made famous originally by Manfred Mann in the late 60’s, and oft-covered by both the Grateful Dead and String Cheese Incident over the years, but Phish hadn’t played it since 1999 according to livephish.com; second night surprises Let Me Lie and Party Time are apparently from the limited edition Super Deluxe Joy Box; and super-rarity Destiny Unbound has only been played 5 times since 1991 according to setlist.com. Consensus seems to be Roses Are Free was a second night highlight, and has only been brought out of the arsenal 3 times since the reunion (also according to setlist.com). Finally, the Rolling Stones “Exile” nugget Shine a Light closed the 2-day festivities on just the right note and sounded more like a new Phish song than some of the actual new Phish songs.
By the way, why only 2 nights in Telluride, when they could’ve obviously sold out a 3rd night, and possibly an entire week? Only the band and the town of Telluride know for sure. And maybe it was just the group of campers huddled in Town Park, but what’s the deal with the 80’s top 40 revival? Africa by Toto? All Night Long by Lionel Richie? Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ by Michael Jackson? OK, I’ll admit they all sounded surprisingly good after all these years, but WTF? Also, when did Pabst Blue Ribbon become a beer worth having on tap? Must be a Colorado thing.
At a bar called The Llama (which had the best draught beer selection I found in Telluride) – and no, Phish didn’t play Llama – I was talking over memories of the first night with a Phan from back east, I think. He said he overheard a young groover say it was “the worst Phish show ever.” I speculated that maybe this youngster needed to hear more of the new songs to be satisfied. Songs from Phish’s latest studio release, Joy, were few and far between on both nights, but sounded much better than the studio tracks, which was bound to happen, I suppose (Grateful Dead, anyone?). Especially better live were Ocelot and Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan.
Lots of old favorites flexed their muscles – some for short bursts (a blistering Cavern seemed a surprise to many, while Free got a better reception than I would’ve thought), some for extended extrapolations (usual suspects David Bowie and Possum both shone – “Bowie” actually got me to forsake my place in line at the john). Coincidentally, I did see a couple of dead possums on my way to Telluride but, despite its Aspen wanna-be vibe, no celebrity sightings of Bowie and his Goblin King codpiece. A guy who looked a lot like Drew Emmitt (of Leftover Salmon fame) crashed the taper section, but never did join the band onstage.
Not every note was perfect. These guys are human, after all. Mistakes were made. When the audience missed their clapping cue during the intro to Stash, it seemed to really knock Trey off his mark. But Sand opened the first night’s second set in fine form, and the collective gasp from the crowd when they opened night two with the Squirming Coil proved the band still had a few aces up their sleeves. Trey actually looked stunned by Paige’s closing solo on that one.
No one else has said it, so I will: BEST YA MAR EVER, including playful "Oh Kee Pah" lyrical interpolations. The eerie “scat jam” at the end of “YEM” before the final encore may have seemed over-indulgent to some, but to me proved that if anyone deserves to inherit the Grateful Dead’s sometimes-happy-sometimes-dark-sometimes-brief-sometimes-interminable crown, it’s this band for sure.
Perhaps tellingly, I took count of the t-shirts and other gear being worn at the venue and the clear winner was The Grateful Dead. Second in line was Phish. Third was what I’ll call “original costumes” – like a sexy cavegirl, and there was a Duke or Lord of some kind wearing Elton John glasses and a full-length coat made of what appeared to be fur from Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster. These are the kind of costumes that scare God-fearing townsfolk into thinking Phish-heads must surely all be on drugs, and maybe they are, but it certainly wouldn’t be a proper Phish show without them, so God bless you all (^_^)
Only because it seemed a noteworthy fourth, I’ll tell you that the fourth most represented outerwear was moe. gear. I’ve never seen so much moe. gear. Not even at moe. shows.
The biggest drawback to enjoying these shows fully for me was the lights. I know I’ll be dismissed as a heretic for saying this (and believe me, I’ve enjoyed Chris Kuroda’s light shows plenty of times in the past), but those lights have gotten so damn bright I felt like a deer frozen in headlights half the time. At first I thought it was just a nod to the subject of Possum, but the blinding glare continued. My dancing spot kept migrating to avoid it. Also, don’t know why or how, but the music was actually louder the farther away I got from the stage. Weird.
Each of the four band members travel on separate buses now, presumably to accommodate their growing families, but I hope it’s not an indicator that the band doesn’t actually get along anymore. I’d hate to think of them just deciding to be the Rolling Stones and cash the checks beyond the point of interest for them or the fans. But, as long as Trey keeps making sex faces during solos and he and Mikey keep up the choreographed jumping I’ll assume they’re still enjoying themselves.
And damn, I sure am too.
(^_^) TOAST
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