Seemingly every summer Phish tour has that show, the one where everyone in attendance gets to brag, the one where everyone not in attendance has the story of why they missed it. In 2014, that show came on the second night of a two-night run at the famed Merriweather Post Pavilion. The show featured Phish weaving in and out of “Tweezer” during the second set, with some great bust-outs along the way, for a Tweezerfest that would have made the “Bomb Factory Tweezer” proud.
The first set is no slouch either, as the band opened with “Fee” and played “The Curtain With”, “Saw It Again” > “Fuego”, “You Enjoy Myself”, and many more classics. Of course, it’s the second set that gets discussed—and with good reason—as the band opened with “Wilson” before alternating between “Tweezer” and “Back On The Train” for some jammed-out fun. After a “Waiting All Night”, the band broke into a big “Free”, which itself jammed into “Tweezer” again! This segued into “Simple”, back into “Tweezer”, and then back into “Free” once more.
The set wasn’t over, as the band went into “Catapult”, “Slave To The Traffic Light”, “Down With Disease”, and “NICU” before a jam session led them into a Trey Anastasio-requested, tongue-in-cheek version of “Jennifer Dances”. Though Jon Fishman struggled with the lyrics, the moment was pure Phish silliness. The band closed out the set with long-lost Joy tune, “I Been Around”. Naturally, after a “Boogie On Reggae Woman” encore opener, the show closed with—you guessed it—”Tweezer Reprise”.
Below, watch a clip of “I Been Around” released by the band, audio of the “You Enjoy Myself” that closed out the first set, and a fan-shot video of the “Tweeprise” encore:
Phish – “I Been Around” – 7/27/14
Phish – “You Enjoy Myself” – 7/27/14
[Video: platoplates]
Phish – “Tweezer Reprise” – 7/27/14
[Video: Jeremy Nimtz]
Setlist: Phish at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD – 7/27/14
Set 1: Fee, The Curtain With, 46 Days, 555, My Sweet One, Sand, Bouncing Around the Room, Saw It Again > Fuego, You Enjoy Myself
Set 2: Wilson > Tweezer -> Back on the Train -> Tweezer -> Back on the Train -> Tweezer > Waiting All Night, Free -> Tweezer -> Simple -> Tweezer -> Free > Catapult > Slave to the Traffic Light -> Down with Disease -> NICU -> Jam -> Hold Your Head Up -> Jennifer Dances -> Hold Your Head Up, I Been Around
Encore: Boogie On Reggae Woman > Tweezer Reprise
Teases:
· Flash Light, Back on the Train, Manteca, Under Pressure, Tweezer, Jennifer Dances, and Magilla teases
Notes: This show was webcast via LivePhish. YEM included Flash Light teases and featured Trey waving his megaphone and using its siren. The first Tweezer contained Back on the Train teasing from Fish. The third Tweezer included Page teasing Manteca. Simple included a Magilla tease from Page. Catapult was played for the first time since August 14, 2009 (206 shows). DWD was unfinished. NICU contained Under Pressure teases. Tweezer was teased after the first HYHU and in I Been Around. Jennifer Dances was performed at Trey’s request for the first time since December 17, 1999 (352 shows), featured Fish attempting to sing the song but not knowing the lyrics, and was quoted at the end of the second HYHU. I Been Around was last played October 16, 2010 (149 shows), and while the band was walking off the stage in synchronized steps.
[Originally published July 27th, 2016]