2009-08-15 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

please review the show, not the other reviews....


Lane H. Jost 
date	Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 10:24 AM
subject	8/15/09 Merriweather Review

Daniel,

Here you go:

8/15/09
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD

I: Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Beauty of a Broken Heart,  
Axilla I, Foam, Esther, Ha Ha Ha, Party Time#, Tube, Stealing Time from 
the Faulty Plan, Strange Design, Time Turns Elastic

II: Tweezer > Taste, Alaska, Let Me Lie, 46 Days > Jam > Oh! Sweet Nuthin' 
> Harry Hood

E: Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

#"World Premiere"

Last night's sultry experience in the Baltimore suburbs was my first gig 
of "Phish 3.0" and my 48th since 1992.  I was no doubt excited to see the 
boys again, as my last show was 6/17/04 in Brooklyn, though lingering 
questions remained as to what sort of band would emerge. Having listened 
to a few of the first leg's shows, I had been particularly enjoying the 
new material.

Now on to the show at Merriweather, where it seemed the kind folks at the 
930 Club had sold easily 3,000 more lawn tickets than normally alloted. 
Still, the ticketless hordes were everywhere, and I heard scalpers 
attempting to get $300 for pavilion seats -- yikes! On my way in I shook 
hands with Tom Marshall, who was innocuously picking up his tickets at 
will call. I asked him if an on stage appearance was imminent, and he 
responded with "If they want me to." No such luck.

I walked into the venue during the middle section of "Crowd Control" on 
account of a buddy arriving late. The song wasn't immediately 
recognizable, as I find Undermind to be a fairly forgettable record, but 
Trey's shit-eating grin was in abundance, so I was immediately taken over 
with a few goosebumps. A quirky bustout for an opener, which set the tone 
for easily the most bizarre setlist I have heard at a Phish show. Sadly, I 
was resigned to the aforementioned teeming lawn which was nearly 
impossible to even enter -- from the highest elevations! I've never been a 
fan of Merriweather and last night it showed its true queasy colors. The 
sound from the lawn was faint, which essentially made the music an ambient 
addition to a cocktail party. So, I won't comment on the first set other 
then to say "Sloth" "Esther" and "Foam" were wonderful to here, and 
sounded solid from my vantage point.

The most fiery moments were "Stealing Time" and "Kill Devil Falls" which  
I think are superb rockers. The band was having fun. I thought "Time Turns 
Elastic" closed a strange first set well. And the "world premiere" of 
Fish's "Party Time" was hilarious. Trey was very chatty all night and 
could not dispense with the small as he introduced the song. It's 
basically a simple funk groove with New Orleans syncopation and an ad 
nauseum vamp -- yes, "Party Time."

By virtue of an enterprising friend, I found myself 20 rows back in front 
of the soundboard for set 2 -- my night had just begun. The band returned 
from a very short intermission and immediately broke into "Tweezer." This 
was a great start after a song-oriented, choppy set 1. And I thought this 
tight, concise version was excellent. All four guys were locked in and the 
jam did not depart at all from the mode, but it was certainly nice to hear 
a direct and fiery "Tweezer." The segue into "Taste" was smooth, and I 
thought "Taste" probably outshone the brief "Tweezer." I enjoyed "Alaska" 
very much, though it returned set 2 to the flow of set 1 -- choppy and 
bizarre. "Let Me Lie" is a pretty ballad and Trey's voice sounded great 
here (as did everyone's all night), but the placement was peculiar.

I thought after all the new material and strange breakouts we would surely 
get a mid-set "Mike's Groove," but "46 Days" emerged and it was played 
admirably. A tight, rock and roll style that stayed on two chords for most 
of the jam. "46 Days" was really the  only true improvisational 
exploration all night, and it was very interesting and melodic. I will 
definitely enjoy giving it a few listens on livephish. Trey leaned over to 
Page then at Mike, and they segued smoothly into the Velvet Underground 
anthem, "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'". Page sang souls here and the whole band 
absolutely nailed this arena rock ballad. A peak of the night for sure.

Fish's reggae drum intro to "Harry Hood" flowed out of "Sweet Nuthin" and 
the band performed on of its oldest and most beloved soaring pieces. I 
found this Harry to be solid, with very few Trey flubs and excellent work 
by Mike, who again, was dialed in all night. Nothing new or overtly 
memorable here, just a gorgeous, face-melting piece of art rock.

The band returned quickly and hit the power chords to the Zeppelin 
classic. The crowd exploded, as did I. I haven't heard a "Good Times Bad 
Times" since the late 1990s. Trey absolutely shredded the solos and Page 
sounded incendiary. An exceptional performance, and one I hope they keep 
in the rotation, as it's yet another example of Phish owning a cover.

The inevitable, yet no less exhilarating "Tweezer Reprise" closed the 
show, and Trey was doing the kick dance he used to do nearly every show 
back in the 1990s. I had a hell of  a time seeing the band--particularly 
Trey and Page--enjoy themselves at Merriweather. The peculiar first set 
didn't take anything away from what was an infectiously high energy 
performance. Check out the "46 Days > "Nuthin", as well as the "Time 
Turns" for exceptional  performances. But if you like songs, do download 
this gig as there's a lot  of well performed music to listen to here.

My $0.02.

Cheers,
Lj 


 click here to return to the
2009 reviews page
, or
Andy's Phish Page