TORONTO RECAP: THIRTEEN YEARS, THIRTEEN DAYS LATER
Disclaimer, I am one of the people who was originally scheduled to attend Phish’s originally scheduled Toronto appearance on 7/9/13, and went to the show. I sadly did not have an opportunity to make it back to tonight’s show. Thanks to LivePhish for the live music sharing capabilities.
Phish love water. Are you wet yet? If you have been seeing shows this tour, you have no doubt been affected in some way, shape or form by water. You might have experienced this in the form of showers, humidity so thick that to dance in it causes those who don’t sweat to sweat buckets, cold torrential rain, rain on steroids, and even floods. You might have had a set cut short, or an entire set cancelled, or an entire show cancelled.
Phish had completed soundcheck in Toronto on 7/9/13 ready to make its first performance outside of domestic borders in 4752 days (13 years 4 days). The show was postponed from its originally scheduled date due to "insurmountable transportation and public safety issues resulting from the power outage in Toronto after severe downpours in the city." It would be 4765 days (13 years, 13 days) until Phish could make IT happen. So the Canadian phans and those who are dedicated enough to make a return trip across the border are wet and they’ve been waiting a long time, so tell us, Phish, what’s for dinner, eh?
First sets this tour have not often exuded inspirational playing. Phish kicks the show off with “The Moma Dance” in rare opener slot (first since 10/4/00). A standard “Chalk Dust Torture” follows, followed by a short, sweet “Undermind." “Army of One” is a song I always enjoying hearing more during the fall or winter, but the arms of the arctic do unfold in Canada, so this seemed like more natural placement. The first set continues with fairly standard versions of “Halley’s Comet," a “Twist” with “Oye Como Va” teases, “Bouncing Around the Room” and a good version of “Stash." Then Phish serves up Gordon/Murawski ‘s “Yarmouth Road” which made me get off my couch and dance. Too predictably, a short “Tube” follows. Clearly, it is not as stupendous without a funky jam. Where did “Ocelot” go? I’m not sure, but it was the highlight of the first set. Always a crowd pleaser, “Suzy Greenberg” closes the second quarter and it’s halftime.
After a short setbreak, Phish comes back and begins the third quarter with heroic strength. Trust me, put on some headphones and listen to this “Down with Disease." Clocking in at 18:57, this “Disease” has the extra spicy delight of Canceaux Sauce all the way through. From the moment you hear Gordon’s chill inducing bassline you could tell it would not be a standard “Disease.”
It’s moments like these that keeps most fans coming back to the water. 2013 has been a hard weather tour for everyone, the fans, band and staff included. The band certainly showed IT still can happen! Containing teases of “Piper” and “Undermind," this “Disease” doesn’t disappoint, heading into type II territory at the 4:50 mark, you can hear the “2001” coming in from the 17:07 timepoint, and a free funk dance party erupts. “2001” gives way to a standard rocking “Free” which fell into a second beautiful gem of the evening, a short, but every note intense “Piper” that was teased in the “Disease.” The “Piper” ends rather abruptly, but falls into a soulful little “Tweezer” which almost had an old-school ending feel.
“Silent in the Morning” appears again without “The Horse." Is “The Horse" dead? This is the third consecutive “Silent” appearing with no “Horse” in 2013 (7/3/13, 7/16/13). “Silent” yields yet another “Backwards Down the Number Line," and the fourth quarter loses a little steam. A standard “Cavern” follows, and then gloriousness ensues. Put those headphones back on and tighten your headbands my friends, because this “David Bowie” delivers. You could not ask for a better set closer, arguably one of the finest “Bowie’s” of 3.0.
Page has been the spokesman of the tour, as even Trey acknowledged in Chicago. So it was only appropriate he continue the role as speaker as he gave a warm shout-out to the phans, band crew and staff. Doing what they do best, giving all they can, Phish gives Toronto a triple encore beginning with “Loving Cup” – what a beautiful buzz indeed! They keep the party going with the first “Squirming Coil” played this tour, and of course end the show with the typical ragefest of “Tweeprize."
So how about it, Toronto? You had a very standard first with a lot of crowd pleasing tunes. Set two provided type-II delicacies in “DwD," “Piper," “Tweezer," and a crushing “Bowie." So happy for better weather and some time off before this happens once again. For those of restarting or beginning your celebration in the West, I wish you amazing shows! There is not a finer place to kick start the dry tour than in the beautiful place they call the Gorge! See you kids in Tahoe, and don’t forget to support the Mockingbird Foundation’s Tahoe Phamily Poker Classic on Wednesday, July 31!
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The second set was much stronger, with some solid jamming in DWD, Tweezer, and Bowie. However, with YEM, Fluff, and Reba noticeably absent (again), I feel the show was average at best.
Encore was excellent however.
Well after 13 years and an extra two weeks following the first of many weather fiascos to plague this (strange?) tour, Phish finally make it back to Canada. It was my third show in my native land, following my only hometown (and first ever) show on 7/6/94, and the band's smoking appearance on 7/20/99. (I was sadly out of the country in 2000). But I wasn't going to miss this one. In fact I was lucky enough to enjoy the show from the front row, where I could get a pretty good idea of how things were unfolding for the band.
Before I dive into other details, let me say this: The 19 minute Down with Disease is a serious keeper! Definitely a must hear and a contender for jam of the tour thus far alongside the Crosseyed and Painless from PNC. After a somewhat shaky start to the actual song (and a bit of feedback) the band wails on the DWD theme for a bit before settling down nicely into exploratory mode and they just go off, weaving in and out of some beautiful themes and peaking with some glorious true hose two or three times before settling down.
Other than the Disease, I will say that I think we saw a pretty tired band this night, Trey especially. It's entirely understandable given what went down in Chicago, and the rescheduled show, but if anyone thought that Phish was going to roll in here all fired up and ready to bust things out and go wall to wall all night (ok, so I thought there was maybe an outside chance of a Foreplay/Longtime opener), they were sadly mistaken. Though I'm not one to dwell on it to much after the fact, I do find it strange just how small a palate they're working with in terms of song selection on this tour.
That said, it was great hear Undermind again, and was one of the first set highlights along with a pretty nice Stash and Twist. Nothing went too far out of the box but the band seemed patient, and Trey especially looked like he wanted to find his ground instead of just wailing (though he did fall back on the bluesy tension release jamming a few times at other points, as he often does these days). Tube and Suzie were also firey.
There's some pretty skippable stuff in Set II following the Disease. The Free is nice enough but 2001 and Piper are both four or 5 minutes with the latter basically aborted in favor of Tweezer after Trey decided he didn't know what to do with it. There were more than a few fatigued frustrated moments on his face where he just didn't have an idea or vision and just wanted to move on. This was a nice, if in-the-box old-school Tweezer, and the first I had personally seen since 2003 somehow, so I was pretty happy to hear it. The Backwards Down the Number Line was probably the weakest version I've seen.
The Bowie was terrific, however! Really great stuff that goes well out of the Bowie theme into major territory, and swirls around confidently. I'm not sure where the band pulled the energy off to execute that but it was a nice surprise after a pretty deflating late set sequence.
You could see the Loving Cup encore coming a mile away, but it was nice to hear Page chat a bit about being happy to be back in Canada, and about the difficulties of the tour regarding weather. It was even nicer to hear Trey finally break his silence following Squirming Coil and dedicate it to the newly born Prince in England, complete with reciting the relevant lyrics:
The muscles flex the mother's ring
She fastens children to her king
And sends him down the crooked street
When he returns, the birth's complete
And then suggesting they call the baby Kong. Presuming that he'd be a King someday. Har har.
This was probably one of the weaker start to finish shows of the ten I've seen in 3.0. But the Disease jam was one of the best I've seen in that span, so there you go. Strange and wonderful times with this band, as always. Happy to just watch them age, really. Thanks for coming back to Canada, boys. How about a return to Montreal in 2014? It'll be twenty years next July.
Though they've certainly started off weaker than last year, they've hit the same midtour lull. Remember Portsmouth? I would expect leg II to be significantly better a la last year. Ha Ha Ha> Possum from Chicago certainly indicates they are aware of the rotation concerns, though the recognition is a bit ambiguous. As far as the jams go, you have to remember you're comparing an entire year ('11) to essentially half a year. I'd say the first leg last year is slightly better jam wise but not enormously so. For better or worse the first leg seems to be about finding their jamming feet (lame pun). I think they will definitely respond to near universal (and legitimate at that) complaints concerning the rotation. If not in leg II, then certainly by fall or next year.
Expect better things to come.
I think the one of the biggest issues is that they don't live together and practice constantly anymore, so it's not like they can just whip out a song on the fly like they used to. If they do, it's likely to get butchered, because they haven't played it in so long. Just a thought.
Mike is at his creative and brillianr best. Trey works hard to bring the synergy all night. Moma Dance Chalkdust Undermined is the most pumped up opener of the tour, and it's during Haler's Comet that Trey really steps up for the other guys in the band to hold an egalitarian type of role in the musoc. Even the standard fare is jacked up with firemost creative invention, and the whole set just crackles with life. Anypne calling this standard due to setlist concerns is typically jaded. This Toronto show contaims the triumphant spirit of a band that has finally made it through the worst summer storms in recent memory. This is a return to the solid musicianship we witnessed at Merriweather Post Pavilion, but with a greater strength and resilience from the first note.
Opening the second round with Down with Diseaae, Trey spends the first several minutes digging deeper than usual with each ensuing phrase, while laying back and working hard to allow the entire band's sound to emerge into that egalitarian focus. The ensuing jam is must-hear material. The following 2001 is a flawlessly executed, down and dirty dance party. The Free that follows is one of he most inventive in recent years, with Trey choosing a different-than-the-usual path through the composed parts, and Mike literally indulging in one of the finest nights of bass playing in his career.
Piper is another great version, a song the band has rediscovered this tour, figuring out how to bring its heat night after night. A hell of a lot of jamming is contained inthese five minutes, and the shift into Tweezer is turn-on-a-dime to a ridiculous degree. Those calling this Tweezer standard fail to see that this is the second great Tweezer of the year, and the first complete version in years, with a newly perfected better-than-old-school slow down ending. I can't relate the debauchery that goes down in thisjam. This is a headphones show, or the type of show you want to really pay attention to. The strength of the night is powerful, creative, integrated musicianship, and the band play it out to way above average results. The ensuing Silent in the Morning, in my opinion, is the first "nailed" version of the tour, with good pacing and delivery on all fronts, and Page offering the song a virtuostic piano part through the peak.
At this point, the band is tired, and they take a bit of a more standard approach on Number Pine through Cavern, playing with a lot of love but not necessarily going the extra mile. And yet, on Bowie, they go the extra mile once more. Trey plays the composition with extra care, once again, and opts for melodic phrases that bring out the band's uncanny improvisational potential through the well above average jam. Easily the finest Bowie delivered in 2013, thus far.
The encore boasts a great Lovin' Cup, a near perfect Coil, a shout out to the birth of the Prince, with Trey recommending the name "Prince Kong", and an abbreviated Tweezer Reprise ( probably due to time constraints).
Like Alpharetta 2, this show stands alone. Where Alpharetta 2's second set boasted a rock and roll symphony presentation, this shpw featured some of the finest spontanious improv contained within songs of recent years. Forget the setlist. Listen to these guys talk to each other with their instruments as they bring you a classic that won't soon be forgotten.
Quality-wise, this may be, overall, one of the finest Phish performances in recent years, a best of 3.0 contender, and even obliterates much of what the band has accomplished in the past. West Coast look out! A Phish is coming to a stage near you!
Totally agree. I've had that happen to two of my favorite Phish songs, Pebbles & Marbles and Scents & Subtle Sounds: they'd been on the shelf for a while and when they did bust them out, they were sloppy and kind of a chore to listen to. To be honest, those "OMG! They've played 280 different songs this tour" segments felt like a baseball player padding his stats just because he can. It also helps to look at setlists from 1993-96, they were pretty standard a lot of the time (ten straight 2001 set 2 openers anyone?). Of course they have more original songs and covers to work with now, but I'll *always* take better playing over novelty.
Leg 2 plus fall tour means lots of time to stretch their legs out.
This show (like most really) was a case of the setlist not telling the whole story. From '92 to '00 Phish played Toronto, and Montreal and Vancouver, fairly regularly. And then after '00, they just stopped. We know some of the reasons why, but to people here who could always count on seeing Phish live and all of a sudden couldn't, it changed things.
While Phish (and HORDE, later jambands) never had the same following in Canada as in the US - we don't have the network of college towns that nurtured these bands in the early days - during the '90s and early '00s in some pockets of Toronto (North Toronto, Thornhill, York Mills, Western U, certain summer camps) Phish were absolutely huge. But the fact that Phish stopped coming here was a contributing factor to the band just kinda falling off the radar to a lot of people around here. There were a ton of people last night at the show in their 30s and 40s for whom Phish had once been an enormous part of their lives growing up, but who had not been to a show in a long, long time.
I include myself in this group, and to us last night was special. It was nostalgic, it was a reunion. You could tell by the blank stares and checking of phones during the Undermind tunes and Yarmouth, that not everyone had been keeping up with the band the way they once did. But when CDT, Stash, Suzy, heck even Bouncin' were played, it was as if time had stood still.
Objectively not a great show, although a pretty good one still. The Stash was an early highlight, and Set I ended on a huge high with a (short) Tube, a great Ocelot and Suzy. Set II was much better, really worth listening to, even with a couple "breathers" (needed if you were actually there in that heat dancing) thrown in. The DwD, Tweezer and Bowie were the highlights for sure. And the surprise Coil thrown into the middle of the encore I think was actually the highlight of the night for many. The only true "surprise" of the night, and always a sweet way to wind down.
Now hopefully it won't be another 13 years til they're back. By then I don't think my legs will be able to hold up.
Trey seems to be struggling with the compositions again. I find myself missing the elegance of the Ocedoc. Trey approached with great respect. Will we hear symphonic-quality Trey this tour? Return to mastery of technique and balance. I hope.
The music, well, obviously not the greatest setlist on paper, and sometimes the band did sound a little tired. They performance though is nothing to sneeze at and I think they brought it as best they could. Highlights for me were the Moma Dance -> Chalkdust -> Undermind trio opener, Twist, Stash, Ocelot, DWD, Tweezer, and Bowie. Ocelot and DWD especially brought it in my opinion and these are two songs I gained absolute new appreciation for last night.
Such a great time, I'll never forget it.
/ballbustin'
Safe fluff travels for everyone heading west. Rage, crush and repeat.
~L&L~
it's been pointed out that trey obviously likes Number Line more than anyone else in the world, and that he doesn't really need any other reason to call for a song. i think that at *some* level, most fans understand this. they like playing Song XYZ, they're gonna play it, and everyone will have a good time because it's a pleasant song well played by a great band.
but what the 'jam-chasers' seem to overlook, pretty consistently -- i include myself in this indictment -- is that 'trey likes it/they like it' doesn't just refer to the song as such, it's about the jam too. the band obviously loves those 'deep space' moments which were the whole point of turn-of-the-century(!) phish...but they clearly also love the 'type 1' jams that setlist-parsers dismiss as 'standard.' trey gets off on the Mike's Song guitar solo. this is obvious. he likes the way Piper crests, tumbles, hisses as it crashes against the shore. this is obvious. he likes the joke of Kill Devil Falls and the whisper-to-wail trajectory of the jam (which is like a less maniacal Chalkdust). this is obvious.
phish enjoy a conventional tweezer jam as much as you do -- not least because they listen to a lot less phish than you do. one difference is: that's enough for them, because they have the power to just make more phish if they want, and you can't -- you have to rely on your supplier. but you shouldn't begrudge them for privileging one kind of experience (everyone having a good time at the show) over another (tallying up the scoresheet the morning after).
the point is, i'm willing to bet that from the band's perspective, a tightly-played 'type 1' jam (even in a sometimes-'type 2' vehicle) isn't missing anything, no matter what the fans say. a jam that doesn't leave the confines of the song is never a failure or a disappointment except to the fan who thinks his idea of the show is more important than the show.
so...the songlist has shrunk.
i imagine this has something to do with the band enjoying playing the songs on the list, not feeling any strong pressure to play new stuff yet, and feeling (correctly) that there's still plenty of juice left in those old songs. mike, page, trey, and fish aren't sitting around comparing this weeks' shows to jams from 1998, because that's a ridiculous way to spend one's time! it's one thing to study, another thing to go looking for ammo for complaints. 'the songlist is too short' doesn't quite rise to the level of analysis, even if plenty of people are feeling it, even if it's true for you and you and etc.
if you aren't enjoying phish's music right now because the setlists overlap too much, listen to less phish, which doesn't mean 'fuck off,' it just means that refreshing your ears will let you come to the music not as a collector but as a traveller.
there are plenty of reasons to criticize this music, if we want; that's fun too sometimes. but 'the songlist is too short' is a matter of taste. that seems worth remembering.
btw, the theme > weekapaug jam from chicago is a great little in-the-moment variation on the usual weekapaug opening, leading right into a swell version. an unexpected pleasure!
And give the Went, Cypress, Omni Halloween, 12/6/97, et al. a listen before you get overzealous about any shows from summer 2013 and make ridiculous claims.
I enjoyed your piece Wax .Phish could play the exact same set list every night and it could be a completely different show , if they chose to work within those confines. I for one would welcome that.They could also chose to play one song for each set and make me even happier. Mr. Completely - First Set Carini - Second Set
it's been pointed out that trey obviously likes Number Line more than anyone else in the world,
He also wrote Traveler and not one of those songs need to sneak into the Phish lexicon. Where the hell has Sneakin' Sally gone ?
I have cherry picked shows in 3.0 . I was at the Mother Ship for the return (No need to listen to it ever again but being there for that 20 song first set is a feeling I will have total recall of for the rest of my life).
I was at the Gorge for the Rock and Roll that opened the door to the coming amazement. The lights and the jam were obviously coordinated. Planning and forethought are required to work that kind of wizardry.That seems to be what is lacking right now. The spark to make something unique each night. A theme if you will. When the threw down Heart Breaker set we all had fun.
but what the 'jam-chasers' seem to overlook, pretty consistently -- i include myself in this indictment -- is that 'trey likes it/they like it' doesn't just refer to the song as such, it's about the jam too. the band obviously loves those 'deep space' moments which were the whole point of turn-of-the-century(!)
I was at Dick's for what was for me , perfection. Consciously playing 12 songs , F.U.C.K.Y.O.U.R.F.A.C.E. ,fully exploring each one because there is no hurry, on the contrary , the band was forced to jam and stay in the songs (without sounding forced at all), got me exactly where I want to be with this band.
if you aren't enjoying phish's music right now because the setlists overlap too much, listen to less phish, which doesn't mean 'fuck off,' it just means that refreshing your ears will let you come to the music not as a collector but as a traveller. NOOOO!!! NOT TRAVELER!!! JK
I believe that the west coast swing will lead to what we are seeking . That Dick's will again be the culmination of the summer tour.
Later y'all
pS
Had a great first few shows less weather at JB and PNC. Totally pumped for the next few weeks and FALL. If any of you want to make mmbyem a happy man see me on COT and let's get tickets to AC but maybe more importantly GlenFalls CIVIC!