SPAC once again played host to a tour closing run for Phish, with Night 1 of the three nights one for the books with the bar set high as ever. The band, who have criss-crossed the country since June, have been putting together consistently solid performances along the way, breaking out older materials and jamming on unexpected tunes. SPAC would be no exception to this rule.
The first set started in unorthodox fashion with a very rare “First Tube” opener, allowing guitarist Trey Anastasio to kick the night off with his triumphant (GRAMMY-nominated!) rock instrumental, followed by what amounted to a 20-minute rendition of “Bathtub Gin,” complete with a Trey-led jam on “There is a Mountain” by Donovan.
The middle of the first set included the second “Devotion To a Dream” of the tour, “Strawberry Letter 23,” “Lawn Boy” with ‘Chairman of the Mound’ Page McConnell serenading the SPAC lawn, plus a deep dive into ‘Hey Stranger’ appearing as the biggest surprise late in the set, with ‘Walls of the Cave” closing the set in usual grand fashion.
Set 2 would only have five songs (only!) with the first two, “Set Your Soul Free” and a deeply exploratory “Chalkdust Torture” combining for nearly 48 minutes, ripe with distinct improv sections and a must listen. When ‘Beneath a Sea of Stars, Part 1″ rolled around to give the crowd a breather, it too would delve into a unique improv of its own,
The “Piper” and “Everything’s Right” pairing to wrap up the set followed the lead of “Gin,” “Hey Stranger” and set 2 brethren, making this Phish SPAC set the most packed with jamming since June 2004. To top it off, the Rolling Stones “Loving Cup” and a furious “Run Like an Antelope” served up the same energy in the encore.
Setlists via Phish.net
Friday, July 25
Set 1: First Tube, Bathtub Gin, Devotion To a Dream, The Well, Birds of a Feather, Strawberry Letter 23, Lawn Boy, The Old Home Place, Hey Stranger, Walls of the Cave
Set 2: Set Your Soul Free > Chalk Dust Torture -> Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 -> Piper > Everything’s Right
Encore: Loving Cup > Run Like an Antelope
Following Lawn Boy, Trey introduced Page as “The Chairman of the Mound
Saturday, July 26
Set 1: Martian Monster > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Mike’s Song > Wading in the Velvet Sea > Weekapaug Groove, Sand, Evolve, My Friend, My Friend > No Men In No Man’s Land
Set 2: Oblivion > Down with Disease[1] > Light > Life Saving Gun -> Waste > Fluffhead
Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Rock and Roll
[1] Unfinished.
N.I.B. (Black Sabbath) was teased repeatedly by Mike and Trey in Mike’s Song. Trey teased Walk This Way in My Friend, My Friend. Happy Birthday and San-Ho-Zay were teased in No Men In No Men’s Land. Oblivion contained December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) teases from Mike and She Said She Said teases from Page. Down with Disease was unfinished.
Sunday, July 27
Set 1: Buried Alive > Tweezer Reprise > Reba[1] -> Tweezer Reprise > Funky Bitch, Roses Are Free -> Tweezer Reprise > 46 Days, About to Run, Split Open and Melt[2] -> Tweezer Reprise
Set 2: Kill Devil Falls[2] > Twist, Golden Age -> Tweezer Reprise -> Boogie On Reggae Woman, You Enjoy Myself -> Tweezer Reprise
Encore: Tweezer, Harry Hood
[1] Unfinished, no whistling.
[2] Unfinished.
Reba was unfinished and did not contain the whistling ending. Trey teased The Greater Good in Roses Are Free. Split Open and Melt and Kill Devil Falls were also unfinished. The last Tweezer Reprise of the first set contained Split Open and Melt teases by Fish. Trey, Mike, and Page teased The Secret of Life (The Dead Milkmen) in Kill Devil Falls. Tweezer, which was played as an encore for the first time, ended abruptly, with Fish saying “Do you get it?”
Photo gallery by Frankie Cavone
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