Sunday 07/30/2017 by phishnet

MSG 7 RECAP: CINNAMON - 7/29/2017

Phish.net welcomes Tim Kelleher - @timkell - to recap Night 7 of the Baker's Dozen.

We’ve made it through a good number of donuts, and here on night seven of The Baker’s Dozen our long anticipated cinnamon donut gets the call - Cinnamon Glazed to be precise. There’s been so much great music so far, I’m no longer the least bit anxious about whether we will see a good show each night. These are going to be good. And we will be happy. This much I know.

Photo © Phish
Photo © Phish

We walk in plenty early through our secret fast entrance no one’s yet found (woohoo!) and see our usual crew in 118. It’s nice getting to know everyone in our section over the run, and I’m genuinely surprised at the number of people hitting so many nights. Chatting before the start, we are all positive we will hear Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” tonight. Other than that it’s wide open, and I’ve become completely clueless about what to expect each night. All I expect now is a big smile when the show is over. That’s a given. As the lights go down, we are advised by a creepy voice to not eat the brown donuts. No problem, Phish, I hear you ran out of donuts at 6:15.

And here we go!

Photo © Renee Huemer
Photo © Renee Huemer

Always nice to start a show off with a rip roaring “Llama” and this one didn’t disappoint. Next comes “Wilson”, which didn’t get the bonkers reaction that 12/30/16 did, but it was a great version. I don’t think we were quite ready yet to scream our heads off. Sorry Phish. Once the “Wilson” lyrics finished, I leaned over to my brother and said, “and fifteen minutes later, "Wilson" ends,” because ... Baker’s Dozen. Not fifteen, but we got six minutes of darkness that maybe you could even call type II? It was a blast. Don’t sleep on this “Wilson.” Awkward transition into “Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan” but it settled in nicely. “Stealing Time” always works for me, so I was glad to hear it. Next up, “Ya Mar!” Great tune and a fun groove, but never one to anchor a set, right? At this point, I’m thinking we’ll have a nice light set with nothing to write home about and we’ll look for the real mustard in Set II. Fine by me I’m more than satisfied this week already.

Silence, anticipation, debate on stage, Mike and Trey talking earnestly, and what comes after this debate? “TELA!!!” My white whale. Tela!

Long time Phish fans know what it means to bare those scarlet letters of shame. Yes, I’ve seen 74 shows and some great ones. My first was way back in 1994. But open my closet and there sits the shame of zero “Telas,” disturbing my slumber. After five years you notice and think, “That’s weird.” After ten, you tell yourself you don’t even like that song and who cares. After 20, you just don’t bring it up and you HATE that song! No more! Show 75 and I finally got me a Tela! I tell everyone around me how awesome I’ve now become having seen “Tela,” and they can’t help but agree. I insist they stop genuflecting, and we all dance our merry dance. These are the fun random events of Phish fandom. Well played, patient version. Happy to check that box off my list and everyone within twenty yards pretended to be happy for me as well. Still waiting for the free beers guys.

“The Birds” is up next with far too many “They attacks” for things to get weird at all. Perfectly fine and quickly onto that all time classic “The Line." I have no complaints - they’ve earned it.

Next we blow through a straight played “Water In the Sky”, and before the pee breakers even have a chance to flush we’re into “Vultures”, my first since 1999. Definitely got the crowd excited, but we’re still generally in the “nothing to write home about” phase of this show.

On to “Train Song”, which was well played and very pretty I must say. Next up, “Horn”. OK Phish, that’s a bunch of straight played songs to end this set. And it must be over because it’s late. Eh, that was decent, but nothing like last few days. Wait. Another one? Hmm, it’s probably “Antelope” which is fine by me. But I hear the spooky organ line, come to a realization, and check my boxers … No way!!! “I am the Walrus” - for the fourth time ever! Huge roar all over MSG. They nailed it and the crowd ate it up. Total surprise and it worked great. Killer finish to set 1!

Set Break: We get our fixins, take care of business. We get back to our seats and chill to the sounds of The Beastie Boys - The in Sound From Way Out. Nice choice guys.

Photo © Timothy Kelleher
Photo © Timothy Kelleher

Set two: “Blaze On” - I have not grown to love this song, but the jams have been amazing, so I accept it. I suffer through the composed section and at 5 minutes I proceed to dance my fool head off for 18 more minutes. This “Blaze On” is fantastic. Put ‘er in the bin with the other classics for this run. Nice really chill and interesting back and forth with Trey and Page here. They stay pretty even keeled throughout and just keep the momentum going without forcing a peak. My favorite kind of Phish. Mid tempo and avoiding the huge peaks as long as possible. No idea is explored for more than two minutes until someone adds a new wrinkle. Endless subtle changes throughout. Not much bliss here for you bliss bashers! Plenty of space for everyone to do their thing. Great stuff here.

“Twenty Years Later“- We need this and "46 Days" to make friends. I’m obsessed with dark Trey and bird-screech-screaming-guitar Trey, and he’s got it in spades in this one. Love it.

Next is “Alumni Blues.” Meh. Saw this last summer for the first time ever. Old hat. Kidding! There were smiles all around for this little sandwich of “Alumni” and “Letter to Jimmy Page." The second “Alumni” section had some extra mustard.

First notes of “Meatstick” and my groove is on! I keep hearing rumors that lots of people don’t like “Meatstick.” Who are these people? They need to be… corrected. The crowd loved “Meatstick” and the funk was flowing.

Next up is a quick and beautiful “Dirt”, but we all know something else is coming...

“Harry Hood!” We got a tease of the end of “Hood” last night in that “Chalk Dust Torture” and here it is again! Guess they liked that feeling last night. Beautiful. Surprising. When was the last truly surprising “Hood?” Trey nailed the composed section right up until the last bit which he really crunched, but man this jam is beautiful. I think I’ll pick this as tops of the night, but if you want to pick “Blaze On” you are welcome to.

Encore time - what will it be? Oh, we all know by now. We need some Cinnamon. Here it is! “Cinnamon Girl!” Last time I saw this was the last time Phish played it, two days less than 20 years ago. 7/31/97. One hell of a show. Not a surprise at this point, but it was more than welcome. Definitely proto-grunge. It is a great tune and a totally satisfying encore.

Night 7 is in the books and what else needs to be said about this run? Our favorite band is in peak form. Enjoy it folks.

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.


Comments

, comment by User_25773_
User_25773_ Great review!
I know the feeling of chasing a song or 2. Last night was an epic one for me in catching songs...after 50 shows my first Alumni, LTJP, Water in the Sky, The Birds, Walrus and Cinnamon Girl. Six in one show!!! Not shabby.
, comment by dank71274
dank71274 Dirt was played in the first and second set?
, comment by josepeaydro
josepeaydro Nicely said, Tim - just lousy I wasn't right there beside you!!

This run is ridiculous - look forward to more posts.
, comment by ljstella
ljstella That was a Train Song in the first set that the reviewer referred to as Dirt. Dirt was played in the second set.
, comment by timkell
timkell @dank71274 said:
Dirt was played in the first and second set?
Yeah, Dirt is my pet name for Train Song. I thought you knew that. It can get confusing I know.

D'oh!
, comment by SerNelson_TheBrave
SerNelson_TheBrave Solid recap. No one can ever complain about a Llama opener, really good moments in Wilson, my second Tela (and I knew what song it was this time! My first was my 5th show and I was a bit green then). I'm not a huge fan of The Line but for how much Trey was very, very into it it worked for me. I love seeing that guy as happy as he was last night. I Am The Walrus closer, what more needs to be said about that. Grumpy Young Man side note: Can we not Woo during Vultures? I know the band started signaling for it at the end but we clearly started it.

Glaze On to open the second set was pretty fire, lots a good stuff in there. Same with 20YL and Meatstick. There's nothing super crazy to write home about but the boys are on fire and every night is going to be above average-great. If you're not already getting down to The Garden, do yourself a favour and get down to The Garden.

See you guys tonight. Happy Baker's Dozen to all!
, comment by Treeboy
Treeboy Last night was my 72nd show (and 19 year phishiversary) and my first Tela. Right there with you on that level of joy. White Whale indeed. I had friends texting me from across the country.
, comment by timkell
timkell @Treeboy said:
Last night was my 72nd show (and 19 year phishiversary) and my first Tela. Right there with you on that level of joy. White Whale indeed. I had friends texting me from across the country.
Awesome. I bet there were many of us in that boat last night.
, comment by timkell
timkell @The_Judge said:
Great review!
I know the feeling of chasing a song or 2. Last night was an epic one for me in catching songs...after 50 shows my first Alumni, LTJP, Water in the Sky, The Birds, Walrus and Cinnamon Girl. Six in one show!!! Not shabby.
My first Walrus as well. And what a doozy.
, comment by oh_kee_dono
oh_kee_dono @timkell said:
@Treeboy said:
Last night was my 72nd show (and 19 year phishiversary) and my first Tela. Right there with you on that level of joy. White Whale indeed. I had friends texting me from across the country.
Awesome. I bet there were many of us in that boat last night.
I've managed to get 4 of the last 7 telas going back to 2011 at pine knob. I love each one of them. This one didn't disappoint either. Fun show.
, comment by dongusbologna
dongusbologna I think the highlight of the night for me was Twenty Years Later. It got FILTHY at the end, and the lights spinning around the garden was incredible. It felt a bit like SOAM or Maze towards the end. A very awesome version.
, comment by timkell
timkell @dongusbologna said:
I think the highlight of the night for me was Twenty Years Later. It got FILTHY at the end, and the lights spinning around the garden was incredible. It felt a bit like SOAM or Maze towards the end. A very awesome version.
Yeah, I loved it! Great stuff.
, comment by johnnyd
johnnyd Agreed on 20 Years Later. Love that song, and especially when it gets deep and dark.
Havent relistened yet, but I found last night's to be very Led Zeppelin-y - almost No Quarter-ish in the atmospherics.
, comment by burlingtonnuthouse
burlingtonnuthouse That
Big Boss man
On guitar
Knows how
To take us there,
But we need to
Push him, push him.
Push him with love
And all the other
Good stuff
So the
Big Boss Man
On the guitar
Who knows how
To take us there,
Takes us there.
He knows where
Where is,

Love will push
The Big Boss man
To rip the roof off
With his guitar.
, comment by rubbish69
rubbish69 Between the 10 and 11 minute mark of the Hood last night, did anyone else hear the obvious Donovan riff? Good stuff. Makes you wonder where it might show up in these next 6 doughnuts. I still haven't been in person since 10/29/16, but damn, these shows are more than just a novelty or a feather in their accomplishment cap, these shows are relevant. Thank you couch tour !!!
, comment by FAHTAPES
FAHTAPES @burlingtonnuthouse said:
That
Big Boss man
On guitar
Knows how
To take us there,
But we need to
Push him, push him.
Push him with love
And all the other
Good stuff
So the
Big Boss Man
On the guitar
Who knows how
To take us there,
Takes us there.
He knows where
Where is,

Love will push
The Big Boss man
To rip the roof off
With his guitar.
--------
The Big Boss Man on guitar...
I love it !!
, comment by Greatwoods94
Greatwoods94 Nice review!

I can relate to your chasing of Tela. Last night was my first as well. My first show was 7/9/94...the DAY AFTER..The final Gamehenge set. So I've been trying to catch a Tela for 23 years now. Feels good that my Gamehenge saga is finally complete!
, comment by timkell
timkell @Greatwoods94 said:
Nice review!

I can relate to your chasing of Tela. Last night was my first as well. My first show was 7/9/94...the DAY AFTER..The final Gamehenge set. So I've been trying to catch a Tela for 23 years now. Feels good that my Gamehenge saga is finally complete!
Thanks! Wow, pretty close in timing. 7/15/94 for my first. Congrats to you as well!

Now I start my Buried Alive quest. LOL.

Thanks to all for the kind words for my first recap.
, comment by TurkeyTaboot
TurkeyTaboot Great review. It's funny how those things work out. I've only been to 5 shows with a few more coming and I've gotten Tela twice. I suspect because I couldn't make it work for me to get to 7/30/17 tonight I will be chasing Forbin for a very long time.
, comment by BearClawRL
BearClawRL Funny, I've seen 4 Telas in only 27 shows. Yet to see a Fluffhead tho ;)
, comment by nichobert
nichobert Gotta love not even mentioning the jams in stealing time & ya mar
, comment by TheGherkinWith
TheGherkinWith I'm wondering if anyone else picked up on this...

I was in Page Side 200-level, so I had an especially good view of the CK5 show on the floor. During the Cinnamon Girl solo, Kuroda had 2 spots on the floor - one on a girl who was basically center stage 1/3 of the way back on the floor who was totally dancing and rocking out with both hands in the air - and the other on 2 dudes who were just standing there not moving. There were lights swirling around the crowd, but those two spots were the brightest. When the last verse came in, Kuroda took all of the other lights off the floor, but kept those two, with an especially bright light on the dancing girl when Trey sang the line "See your baby loves to dance".

Did anyone else notice that? Wonder if the girl was a plant or just some clever work by the CK5 team. There's no way he could have spotted her from his post on his own -- he would have needed help from a spotter.

Or perhaps it was all merely a weird coincidence. Or perhaps I just ate a few too many Rocky Mountain Gummy Worms...
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Support Phish.net & Mbird
Fun with Setlists
Check our Phish setlists and sideshow setlists!
Phish News
Subscribe to Phish-News for exclusive info while on tour!


Phish.net

Phish.net is a non-commercial project run by Phish fans and for Phish fans under the auspices of the all-volunteer, non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.

This project serves to compile, preserve, and protect encyclopedic information about Phish and their music.

Credits | Terms Of Use | Legal | DMCA

© 1990-2024  The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. | Hosted by Linode