For the third straight year in what has hopefully become an annual tradition, Phish headed to Colorado for three shows right outside of Denver, bringing planes full of fans with them. Colorado has held a special place in Phish lore since their legendary trip out west in 1988 – the band’s first attempt at expansion past the east coast. Combine a little Phish history with a holiday weekend, and you have the recipe for some special shows. For the past two years, these shows have been arguably the best run of the summer, but could the band deliver yet a third year of quality?
Short answer is, yes, of course they could. The band gets seemingly tighter and tighter at each stop on the tour, and the epic Tweezer from Lake Tahoe a few weeks ago was probably the most talked about thing among Phish fans since the band announced their return in ’09. Listening to the Colorado shows side by side with the Saratoga shows from earlier this summer, its crazy to think this is the same band – but its business as usual as the band took a little time to find their groove before firing on all cylinders.
Night 1 started with many fans writing down the setlist, hoping to catch Phish sending their fans a cryptic message through the set list (in the previous two years, Phish has done a set where every song started with the letter ‘S’, and a set in which the songs spelled out “FUCK YOUR FACE”, on the first night). While it seemed as if the band had forgotten this little gimmick, eventually, we realized that the set spelled ‘MOST SHOWS SPELL SOMETHING’, backwards. Not quite as memorable as ‘FUCK YOUR FACE’, but at least the tradition continues.
I don’t know if you can pick a better opener to start the weekend then ‘Ghost’, which got the leadoff spot for the first time in nearly 15 years. Definitely unexpected, and a huge party starter. A quick ‘NICU’ led into a quick, surprise rendition of ‘Icculus’, which is one of those songs that simultaneously makes long time fans pee their pants, and newer fans head to the bathroom. Only the third time the song has been played since the band’s return, and definitely a checkmark for a lot of fans in the audience (although, I’m always hoping Trey busts out another “PUT DOWN YOUR iPHONES” Icculus).
Another relative rarity, ‘Esther’ popped up in the set as well, hinting at some special fireworks to come. ‘Ocelot’ seemed to rage harder than usual, making it a first set highlight before the band switched gears into ‘Stash’, getting to the real meat of this set. A quick Lawn Boy led into a raging ‘Limb by Limb’, which was top notch. The set closed with a Phish debut, a first time cover of Little Feat’s ‘Easy to Slip’ from Sailin Shoes. Little Feat is always welcome in a Phish show, although I’d love to get some of the tracks they’ve stopped playing before introducing some more.
The second set started with the familiar ‘Punch You In The Eye’, leading into a raging ‘Sand’ that probably steals the show, jam wise. The band took a step back with new song ‘Say Something’, debuted a few weeks ago at The Gorge, but then rewarded fans by closing the set with nothing but classics. ‘Walls of The Cave’, ‘Oh Kee Pa>Harry Hood’, ‘Silent In The Morning’, ‘Twist’, ‘Slave To The Traffic Light’. Boom. Can’t complain about that. The encore saw the band break out Velvet Underground’s ‘Oh, Sweet Nuthin’, and a sing-a-long ‘Meatstick’ to close the show. It was an awesome first night, tons of fun, but definitely based more around songs, rather than extended jams.
Night two started off with another bang of an opener – ‘Buried Alive’, played with intensity and precision. A quick ‘AC/DC Bag’ segued right into a ripping ‘Wolfman’s Brother’, which really opened the show up with a bangin’ jam. Mike’s new song, ‘Yarmouth Road’, was next, and seems to be a welcome addition to the band’s reservoir. Finally, Trey breaks out the megaphone for the first ‘Fee’ of the year! After only getting one play in 2012, this was a very warmly received song selection. A mid set ‘Bathtub Gin’ brought the energy level up, but a segue into ‘Bounding Around The Room’ brought it right back down. ‘Mound’ and ‘Gumbo’ both seemed like an interesting placement towards the end of the set, and an ‘Antelope’ closed it all down, not really featuring much fireworks.
What seemed like a standard second set opener with ‘Chalkdust Torture’ was actually anything but that. It kept going, and going, introducing new themes and jam segments, and enticing many ‘WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?’ questions from fans. This jam reaches some of the heights of the Tahoe ‘Tweezer’, and to me, is easily the second best jam of the year. The following ‘Light>46 Days>Steam’ segment seems like it could have been a classic, but the band played these tame after the explosive ‘Chalkdust’. ‘Tweezer’ finally showed up again, and, while it was awesome, it inevitably is overshadowed by the ‘Chalkdust’ and the previous ‘Tweezer’ in Tahoe. The set could have ended there, but we got an awkwardly placed ‘Backwards Down The Numberline’. The encore featured a sweet surprise – a cover of Willie Nelson’s ‘On The Road Agan’ in reference to the upcoming Fall Tour – a welcome treat for anyone thinking of making some of the drives – and the obligatory ‘Tweezer Reprise’ sent us home.
With Fall Tour looming, the summer’s finale was a little less somber this time around, and, it seemed like the band didn’t really go out with a bang the way they did the previous years. ‘A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing’ was an awkward, low energy opener, and the whole set seemed to follow that note. It was great to hear relative rarities like ‘Meat’ and ‘Geulah Papyrus’, but the rest of the set seemed average. The ‘David Bowie’ to close the set was its standard awesomeness, but for the last night, I expected a little more polish and excitement.
The second set opened with a fantastic ‘Carini>Birds Of A Feather’ segment, giving this set a lot of promise. ‘Carini’ has become an excellent jam vehicle for some dark and scary moments, and this one had a fantastic ending segment. ‘Golden Age’ was a great addition to Phish’s cover selection, but mainly because it has featured some awesome exploratory jamming. When the song comes up short, it doesn’t really contain anything special – its an awkward song for the band to cover. ‘Piper’ gave hope for another short jam, and featured some fantastic moments, but ended up ending a little too early to head into ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’ – a welcome cover, but I would have liked some more ‘Piper’. Saw it Again’ made an appearance, giving this song a ‘rarities’ vibe while we waited to see if we’d be graced with another monster jam. A ‘Mike’s Groove’ segment gave hope, but after a shorter ‘Mike’s Song’ than we could have hoped, the band moved into the reggae vibe – not for ‘Makisupa’, but for a cover of Peter Tosh’s ‘Legalize It’, for the first time ever, in honor of Colorado’s recently passed marijuana laws. The ‘Weekapaug’ to close the segment was solid, but the band pushed on with “Show Of Life’ and ‘Suzy Greenberg’ to close the set. A standard ‘Character Zero’ popped up for the encore, officially ending the run.
Overall, Phish has a new home away from home in Colorado – I think its safe to say that the band puts a little extra thought into these shows. With Fall Tour right around the corner and the band picking up steam every show, the road to Halloween looks extra bright.