Tonight, Tuesday, January 26th, Phish will air its July 25th, 2003 show in Charlotte, NC as the 30th episode of its ongoing archival webcast/cooking series, Dinner and a Movie. Tune in below at 8:30 p.m. ET and scroll down to follow along with our 7/25/03 Stream Companion.
Phish Dinner and a Movie Episode 30 – 7/25/03, Charlotte, NC [STREAM]
This edition of Dinner and a Movie will benefit Meals on Wheels. You can donate via WaterWheel at any time here. Vulnerable seniors are at the greatest risk amid COVID-19. Local Meals on Wheels programs are on the front lines every day, focused on keeping older Americans safe and nourished in communities across the country. For more information about Meals On Wheels, click here.
This marks the first new installment of Dinner and a Movie of the 2021 calendar year and follows the Dinner and a Rematch stream and virtual audience chess grudge match from New Year’s Eve 2020. In case you missed it, Phish took home the audience’s chess crown. We’ll get ’em next time. Run down the list of all the past 30 (!!) Dinner and a Movies below:
Tonight’s episode marks a homecoming of sorts for Dinner and a Movie as it reclaims its customary Tuesday night time slot for the first time since August. Since then, the series has shifted from weekly to monthly installments and strayed organically from its early-pandemic, every-Tuesday-night schedule for a range of reasons, from co-opted holiday celebrations to Presidential debates. Now, once again, Tuesday night is for the Phish. It’s the little things.
Of note, Episode 30 also marks the first time Dinner and a Movie will feature a show from the “Phish 2.0” era, a term that typically describes the roughly two-year period between the end of the band’s first hiatus in 2003 and the beginning of its “breakup” in 2004. From a visual perspective, this means we’ll hopefully be getting video quality more reminiscent of what we’re used to in 2020 than the ripped-from-the-amphitheater’s-lawn-feed footage that has typically come along with 1.0 webcasts. For reference, the 7/25/03 show took place less than two weeks before the 2003 Phish festival, IT, which was beautifully captured for a PBS documentary.
Dinner And A Movie is back this Tuesday and will feature July 25 from Phish’s 2003 Summer Tour. Order a Summer 2003 Tour Bee Tee (heavy, classic and women’s fits available) to commemorate the evening and tune in this Tuesday at 8:30PM ET : https://t.co/5IU7Qar4bk pic.twitter.com/LkKbwEvuHD
— Phish Dry Goods (@phishdrygoods) January 22, 2021
The quality of playing during 2.0 often varied significantly from show to show, but the summer 2003 campaign contained more than a few noteworthy performances, tonight’s offering included. Coming off a strong Monday—Wednesday stand at Deer Creek, the band was red hot and ready to rip from the opening notes on Friday in Charlotte.
The momentum was immediately apparent on 7/25/03 as Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell tore into the opening combo of “Funky Bitch” and “Chalk Dust Torture” with mid-show intensity. A relic of 2003, “Two Versions of Me”, served as a bridge to an emphatic, 18-minute “Bathtub Gin”. “Limb By Limb”, “Horn”, “Golgi Apparatus”, and “Character Zero” closed out the strong first frame.
The second set started much like the first, this time with the first rendition of “Drowned” since before the hiatus (and a scorching one, at that). In fact, the grimey, sinister funk groove of the “Drowned” jam set the stage for a rare and unusual “Kung” (the first since 1999) to serve as a stopover on the way to “Twist”. Even the “Heavy Things” breather built to a nice little peak.
Of course, this show is remembered by most for its unprecedented, 29-minute “Harry Hood”, the first of two twin-jewel “Hood” jams (along with the Camden version from 7/31/03) played within a single week that remain defining highlights of the tour. There’s also the beastly “David Bowie” that flows out of “Hood” to close set two, a powerhouse, multi-sectional version that stands up with the best of them—and features a brief, full-band drop into “Tweezer” for good measure. This is 50 minutes of some of the most exciting improvisational Phish out there, from any era. Buckle up.
Tune in to Phish Dinner and a Movie Episode 30 (7/25/03 in Charlotte) tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Setlist: Phish | Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Charlotte | Charlotte, NC | 7/25/03
Set One: Funky Bitch > Chalk Dust Torture, Two Versions of Me, Bathtub Gin, Limb By Limb, Back on the Train > Horn > Golgi Apparatus > Character Zero
Set Two: Drowned -> Kung -> Twist -> Heavy Things, Harry Hood > David Bowie
Encore: The Star Spangled Banner, Bug