Train Round the Bend
Music/Lyrics: Lou Reed
Vocals: Mike (lead), Fish (backing)
Original Artist: The Velvet Underground
Original Album: Loaded (1970)
Albums: Live Phish 16
Debut: 1998-10-31
Historian: Mark Toscano
This chug-chuggin' track was the penultimate tune in Phish’s Loaded set on 10/31/98. Mike handled the vocals on this chicken-fried rock song, the learning of which likely influenced Trey’s composition “Back On the Train” the following year. Phish offered a heavily energized reading of this tune. Trey’s extended solo raises the ante – each time the song seems about to end, the band takes the train around the track one more time, until Mike’s vocals slide back in to bring the number to an emphatic close. Many of the harder-core Velvets fans consider this one of the highlights of the set. Though some fans felt this would be a perfect addition to Mike’s repertoire, the song has only made this one appearance to date.
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