When my best friend started getting into this band called Phish about 4 years ago, I must admit, I thought he was nuts; travelling half way around the world, sometimes twice a year, to go see the same artist perform. After spending countless hours listening to the band in his living room and hearing stories about the music, the band, all the great people he’d met and incredible experiences he’d had through this musical obsession, I decided at the 5th time of asking that I would finally make the trip with him to see a run of 3 shows at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Denver, Colorado.

There I find myself on the floor of the stadium, about 15 rows from the front surrounded by a sea of people wearing donuts. I was curious and a little worried. I knew my friend was going to ask me if I understood why he goes to so many shows and I thought I would have to smile and pretend I got it whilst secretly thinking he’s gone mad.

The band come on and it’s completely not what I expected. These 4 guys walk on a stage in front of nearly 30000 people as though they’ve just walked into a small room of friends. They start playing their music as though they’re in my living room playing just for me. They don’t even address the crowd again verbally until Trey changes the lyric to the song free to flea in reference to the local prairie dog population contracting plague in the run up to the shows. Naturally this gets a big laugh from everyone, relieved that the plague didn’t cancel the shows.

Thankfully I really didn’t have to pretend I “got” Phish because I left having been to the greatest gig I’ve experienced to date. Phish isn’t music you can fully appreciate at home. Until you’re there, in that crowd of incredibly warm and wonderful fans, immersing yourself in their increasingly long jams you can’t appreciate just how talented and in sync this band are. Each song feels like it has a hook with lyrics just so everyone in that space can acknowledge the familiarity of the situation before the band take us on a musical journey that I can only describe as having my ear lobes and brain massaged while my face melts with joy.

Sure the band make a few mistakes but these guys don’t just play a set of hits and then go home, they negotiate with each other through music in their set, so naturally there are going to be those moments. That’s part of the beauty of going to see them. It was in those moments I fully appreciated how much genius and practice it takes to be that good at improvising.

By the time the show ended last night, I felt part of the phamily. Every fan I met was so happy to welcome me into their odd but beautiful and colourful world. I never thought I’d ever want to see a band play again the following night but here I am, lying in my hotel room in downtown Denver, full to the brim with the excitement at the thought of having my face melted, musically, again. I’ll tell people if they’ve never heard of Phish want to hear them for the first time and can afford to, to get down to one of their shows. If they really must listen to them at home, to get some surround sound speakers and get hold of some live show recordings. Phish aren’t your normal recording artist rock band you can get into by hearing a hit on the radio, you have to dive in ears first into the musical madness and delight to fully understand why there are people who have seen them perform hundreds of times over their 36 year career. See you tonight for round two!

My wife and I’s first show in 3 years. In the interim we’ve become home owners and parents. Needless to say getting back on the train at Dick’s proved cathartic and emotional.

The first set felt some rusty in spots due no doubt to the long layoff since Alpine. Free served as a noticeable departure, however, and much welcomed. Other usually reliable vehicles in No Man and Blaze On stayed close to the best. Readings of Rift and Train Song were charitable at best.

The second set thus surprised me because of the ease that group improv came and went throughout a diverse song selection. Everything’s Right and Mercury contain signature moments. The extended Party Time intro over Light’s retreat likewise struck me as exceptional. The “same old jam” finally lent a novel departure for the Hood closer. If space smells like Dick’s, sign me up!

I thought this show ripped. Obviously there are huge differences between the first and second sets. The first set opened the unknown song that almost nobody knew. I guess it was cool. Not what I would’ve played, but the Free that was next was awesome. Was nice to see them stretch it out and explore a little. Bring back the double digit Free’s!!! Standard NMINML into 555. Hadn’t heard it in awhile. Thought the placement was perfect. This rolled into GBOTT. Nothing crazy here. Steam, Undermind and Wingsuit were solid top notch versions. The Blaze On set closer was meh, but overall I liked the first set.

The second set was really perfect in my opinion. The cohesiveness and flow they had was very impressive. Everything’s Right was a solid opener choice. I thought this version was stellar. Each jam after each song in this set had a purpose and kept the flow in a specific direction. It really was beautiful to watch. Mercury was ripping again. It’s Phish’s Terrapin Station. I’ve loved watching this song over the last 3 years evolve into this monster that it is today. Shade was a little breather and finally was played in the correct spot. Kudos. Light was next and everyone knows how Lights go. You gotta wait 5 mins for it to get good, and this was no exception. It was short but only because the jam led into this Party Time rif that was just dance party USA. They did a very similar one at MSG 12/30/16. It’s actually the night I started taking Party Time seriously. Always thought it was a joke song. The last 3 I’ve heard have been epic!!! The Sand again, was perfectly placed. I would’ve liked to see it played out longer and maybe skipped WTU, but the version was solid. Actually called it as set opener, so was happy it snuck it’s way into the eve. The Hood was beautiful. Great choice for set closer with the vibe of that set.
S.A.N.T.O.S. for the encore and man did it rip. I think they keep getting better and better and still have room to make it extended and crunchier. And those lyrics... They’re just so damn catchy aren’t they?!?

Nice lil show. The plague is affecting my memory so I'll just focus on two standout jams that made me feel special feelings. The Free jam was downright dirty and disgusting, like being trapped in a portapotty filled with dark liquid funk and being pushed down a 14er. In a good way. A great way. And the Everything's Right jam. A cosmically joyous and uplifting jam, the type of shit you imagine the gods playing when the first self-replicating molecule appeared in the universe. Triumphant. Glorious. Pure positive hose.

There are other sparkling moments in this show, especially second set, so take it for a spin. But don't miss these two heavy hitters.

Everything's Right.

Wow.

It sort of went by me on the first listen. I got into it a little bit more on the second. But then I gave it a close listen and watched the video... They are absolutely locked in on this one. Page in particular just makes perfect choice after perfect choice. The whole second set is well worth a few listens. But the first 41 minuets are obviously the must hears.

I wouldn't write off the first set either. A bust out then a fun Free/Flea with some nice grooving and a very good NMINML capped off with 555, a song I just happen to like really made the opening half of the first set a treat for me. Steam is also a highlight in my book.

But that second set has the potential to slip by some people and I think if you give it a chance and listen to the music you'll be very happy. Plenty of rewarding moments in this one.

Best of the run, all due to Everything's Right > Mercury which attains heights the band simply didn't reach for the rest of the run. Both the longest two tracks and the best two jams, these 2 versions are both top 3 all-timers for each song respectively. Mercury really is the best 3.0 Phish composition, and its even cooler that it's not on the actual album. Now it hangs out with Harry Hood (which was also quite great this set) and the other not-on-album cool kids.

Pretty solid show to open up the Dick's run. The lot pre-show was a different scene due to the lack of a real shakedown and many lots being closed, but it was still a fun time. LOTS of fingers in the air and very few tickets being sold, although I'm sure some got lucky.

First set was nothing too special but fun nonetheless, lots of classic 1st set songs. I enjoyed the BoTT and Undermind particularly. Some well-played songs but also plenty of rust to shake off during this set. I noticed a few missed changes, the band maybe a little bit disconnected after a month off. Nothing went super deep in the first set but it was a good warm up for sure.

Second set definitely stepped it up a notch. I'm not crazy about Everything's Right, although I do really enjoy the guitar riff and the jam in this version definitely went places. I enjoyed the ride they took it for and was really pleased to hear Mercury follow it up. I've always been a fan of Mercury so seeing it in the second slot was great. I got so lost in the jam that I did not realize it stretched on for over 20 minutes. I'll have to relisten to really judge this 1-2 combo, but at the show I was really into it. Shade is not my favorite ballad, but after dancing my ass off for ER>Mercury, I welcomed the slower song as a chance to catch my breath. Light has a long history of solid jams, and although I don't recall much of this particular jam, I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when it started to morph into Party Time. Who doesn't love a little Party Time jam in the middle of a different song? That really kicked up the energy levels for the remainder of the second set. Sand kept the funky grooves flowing and everyone got their groove on. WTU? was delicately and beautifully played; you could have heard a pin drop during the slow, silent part and it was gorgeous. A somewhat above average Hood closed out the set in classic fashion.

I was at Halloween 2018 so I am a huge fan of the KV songs, and SANTOS is obviously one of the more rocking songs on there. Love seeing it in the encore, but also felt like some of the encores this year were lacking. They did play really late on this night so they were definitely at curfew by the end of this song. Both sets were quite long

What a crazy scene. A few stretches of this show brought me back to junior high forced-listening to Foreigner 8-tracks in the back of my stoner ride's car. Gawd. There were a few valiant attempts, but, for me, the guys never got beyond the asteroid belt. There were some interesting vignettes with the lighting. Despite the place being awash in p-LSD, I did not get the meaty slab of psychedelia I was seeking. I'm an eternal optimist, so portents, portents, poor tents. Despite there not being a 'sanctioned' vending scene, there was a healthy amount of non-alcoholic bevs and heavier-than-air droplets after the show. And a strange tuba-enabled band. Everything's Right and Party Time rescued the evening for me, musically. All in all, good times. Let's do this again soon.