Phish Rocks Randall's Island - Review of Nights 1 and 2

[Image courtesy of Phish Facebook]

New venue, new album… same old Phish. The boys delivered two fantastic performances on Friday and Saturday nights, sticking to the classics with passion and bravado.

The set up on Randall’s Island is immediately comparable to that of the main stage at Outside Lands; for those who have never been, imagine a picturesque polo field shape, covered in grass, with seemingly unlimited concession options on either side. There were some fun tents set up in the middle as well, including Ben & Jerry’s, The Waterwheel Foundation, Relix’s lawn games, and, of course, The Freezer – Phish’s vintage merchandise booth. Though, considering the seemingly endless wait to step into the Freezer, my group opted to carve out a nice plot of land near the stage.

Now, I’m going to write about the music from memory. All the songs were played well, but there were a few stand-out moments that bear recapitulating. The full set-lists have been listed at the bottom, courtesy of phish.net.

On the first night, the band opened with the jam-funk tune “Moma Dance,” a great way to get the crowd rolling. “Ya Mar” was a fun tune from the first set, which ended on a unique drum solo from the illustrious Jon Fishman. Perhaps the highlight from this set was “Bathtub Gin,” a roaring 19-minute-long jam that flowed from theme to theme, ending triumphantly with the familiar Bathtub riff. Yeah, this was the place to be.

The first set also contained two tracks from the new album (read the review here), “555” and “Waiting All Night.” By the time that set-closing “Stash” rolled around, my god, the energy was electric. With the sun setting and the crowd on their toes, Phish left the fans wanting more.

A second set opening “Steam,” a tour debut, brought that down-low funky groove to Randall’s Island. Now dark, the band’s light show only accentuated their performance. This whole set flowed from one song to the next, seamless transitions through scintillating tracks. The 19-minute-long “Down With Disease” jam followed nicely, complete with a “Woo!” section reminiscent of the end of last summer.

This segued straight into the band’s only cover of the night, TV On The Radio’s “Golden Age.” An exciting, uplifting tune that kept the Phishy dance party going along. After a “Limb By Limb,” the heavy-hitting combo of “Fuego” > “Bowie” brought the crowd to its knees. While this version of “Fuego” wasn’t as stretched-out as their last two, I love the compositional structure of this song, and am thoroughly glad that it’s well-received by the phans. “David Bowie” rocked it, “Cavern” rocked it. And of course, “Character Zero” rocked it for the encore. Night one in the books, great show.

On to Saturday, a bit more crowded, but the excitement was in the air. Right before the set, five airplanes started writing the digits of Pi in the sky (#piinthesky). While their message was to “illuminate the arts,” I couldn’t help but consider it the best Simpsons reference ever.

Phish started the show with a traditional “AC/DC Bag,” into a funky “46 Days.” A solid first set through and through, with a couple of memorable moments. The ending of “Back On The Train” was played three times, the first repetition after the band flubbed the timing of the original ending. Page and Trey joked that it went off “without a hitch.” Of course, this prompted a chant of “one more time!,” which the band abided. Good fun all around.

This set also featured a fantastic version of “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing,” for what it’s worth, and a great set-closing “Run Like An Antelope.” The Antelope was dedicated to The Dude of Life, who was in attendance with two of his three children. Apparently Antelope was the first song they co-wrote, back in 1983. My how time flies.

Again in the fresh darkness of night, the second set was a monstrous testament to Phish’s ability to improvise. Starting with a “Punch You In The Eye,” the band flew through the heavy-hitters of “Carini” and “Ghost” before landing on the gentle touch of the new track, “Wingsuit.” Mixed feelings about this song, but I love the Pink Floyd-esque guitarwork from Trey Anastasio at that song’s ending. Perhaps that was the influence of Bob Ezrin, the producer of Phish’s new album Fuego and Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

After “Wingsuit,” the band jumped into their second cover of the weekend, a rousing rendition of Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll.” This was followed by a fantastic performance of the anthemic “Harry Hood,” with glowsticks illuminating the night sky. The 18-minute version from last night soared majestically, like a candy wrapper caught in an updraft, and closed out the second set.

The triple, tube-laden encore of “Tube,” “Joy,” and “First Tube” closed out night two at Randall’s Island. Funky, exciting, and never a dull moment, Phish delivered two great nights of musical goodness. What do they have in store for tonight? Can’t wait to find out! See you there tonight.

PS – If you’re going to the show tonight, be sure to catch the L4LM official Phish after-party with The Band of Gypsies, a musical tribute to Jimi Hendrix with Roosevelt Collier (The Lee Boys) on pedal steel guitar, Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band/Jennifer Hartswick Band) on vocals/trumpet, Ron Johnson (Gregg Allman Band/Warren Haynes Band) on bass, and Adam Deitch (Lettuce/Break Science/Pretty Lights Live Band) behind the kit. The show starts at 12 am, and tickets are still available here!

-David Melamed (@DMelamz)