10/20 - Hampton Coliseum - Hampton, VA - Post-Show Discussion and Review

[antelope19]

Mpp version was ok.

[gah]

really digging this Golden Age, sweet jam!  I like it so much I went back through all the versions played so far this year, only Bangor and 14July come close to its prowess.  Hollywood has a nice jam however its too short.  Dick's was not there at all imo.

agreed man, i never dug this golden age tune, but this jam was off the hook! Had me grooving hard!

[susep]

really digging this Golden Age, sweet jam!  I like it so much I went back through all the versions played so far this year, only Bangor and 14July come close to its prowess.  Hollywood has a nice jam however its too short.  Dick's was not there at all imo.

agreed man, i never dug this golden age tune, but this jam was off the hook! Had me grooving hard!

I've always liked the way they play it, the jam is hit or miss.  They nail it this night.  Its not type II or anything but they jam it well.  Page has a nice growl, Mike is hooking up nicely with Fish, Trey adds some nice lines instead of his usual cheese.  pretty cool stuff.   

[mistercharlie]

Tweezer didn't really do it for me.... like cactusfan just said.... it's mostly whale with a few highlights.

The last 4-5 minutes are nice and I DO give them credit for keeping it going, but Trey still seemed lost for a theme.

I wasn't feeling it either. It just went nowhere.

[rowjimmy]

Sundays have been the night you don't wanna miss this year and this show proved that out. The crowd was wound up and ready by show time when "Julius" opened strong and amped the energy up even higher. "Funky Bitch" revealed Mike to be in better voice and ready to go. Page gave us a great organ solo, Mike crooned a bit, and Trey rocked out on his solo. Better than average version.

"Back On The Train" eased into being and we settled into the groove. For the second consecutive night I was perched on Mike's side and you could feel the sub woofers rumbling at your feet.

After a fun "BOTT" they rolled into a nice version of "Roses Are Free". This features an interesting couple of minutes of jamming at the end but it didn't go too far before they wrapped it up and launched into "Sample In A Jar". Next, "Ginseng Sullivan" (a song by Norman Blake!) delighted me. After the bluegrass came "46 Days" which did as rock songs do before "Divided Sky" changed the room.

On Saturday night, at the encore break, the fans tried to bring back the old fashioned lighters-in-the-air tribute which sensibly died out along with the use of Zippos because of so many scorched thumbs. The practice has re-surged a bit in the form of cell phones raised to the sky but this is tacky and, fortunately hasn't caught on with the Phish crowd. On Sunday, at the pause in "Divided Sky", the lighters came out. I've recently felt that the audience was missing the message with this part of the song. Aren't we supposed to quiet down and feel the void screaming into our ears before freaking out from the tension? Maybe that's just me. Whatever the band is looking for from the fans, this night's crowd was not going to quiet down. Instead they turned the moment back onto the band and put up so many lighters that Kuroda turned out the stage lights, while the band stood/sat still watching and listening in a pause that lasted 2.5 minutes. I shoul dalso mention that the song itself was played pretty damned well.

The set wrapped with the always welcome "Bold As Love" with Page shining on vocals and Trey basically kicking ass throughout.

When the band returned for set two, Trey addressed the half dozen people on the floor in front of Mike that were all dressed as Waldo. Once he determined that they weren't dressed as prisoners, he turned and dedicated the set opener to the folks who'd had a "Paul and Silas" banner on the balcony edge all weekend. I was through the roof as this made four bluegrass songs in three nights and this was my first "Paul asd Silas".

The vocals had scarcely faded away before Trey started playing the "Tweezer" riff. This one is pretty big. It rocks, grooves and spreads out into space over the course of 20+ minutes. They did miss an obvious opportunity to slip into "What's The Use" but it wasn't necessary and, instead, they jumped into "Golden Age". I've never really liked this song. I did dance for it because, after the spacey "Tweezer", I was ready to move. This too contained a significant jam, stretching to more than fifteen minutes and serving as an upbeat answer to "Tweezer" for a while before it too descended into heavy weirdness. This, in fact, may be the jam of the weekend.

Once again eschewing a transition, Trey simply starting strumming "Piper" as the previous odd strains dissipated. The shakey start made up for itself with a compact yet fun version of the song that jumped off into rock jamming quiet quickly. One minute, we were hearing "Piper", the next there are hints of "The Real Me". Soon after that we were hearing a more generalized sort of rock and roll jamming that resolved into the first ever performance of, "Taking Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The band (Trey) laughed their way through the song so it's unclear if this was rehearsed but I'd wager that it was not. This is the kind of song that you kind of know without ever trying thanks to FM radio. The jam never really got back off the ground once it had landed on the BTO number. Trey played with his feedback and they finally jumped into "2001".

Trey played a bit with Kuroda, working on some call and response between his chord hits and Chris flashing the lights. That probably looked better from the front but I enjoyed watching Trey make it happen. Otherwise the fairly standard, dance number faded into "Sand". This decent version of "Sand" is a bit longer than "2001" and contains the usual Trey distortion-laden soloing and possibly a "Flashlight" tease. They finish the song and get right into the set-closing "Slave To The Traffic Light".

This version of "Slave" is gorgeous. The band displays masterful dynamics, group interplay and lovely solos. in a song that would have perfectly closed out the weekend. However, there was till an encore to be played. They began the encore with "A Day In The Life" sending my thoughts racing back to the first time Phish played Hampton and what a thrill it was to be in that room for my other favorite band. Page sang it beautifully (as he had done with everything that weekend) and after the perfect peak, they rocked the shit out of the house with "Tweezer Reprise". Mike dropped two ton bombs all over the place and Trey got all marchy marchy around the stage and we all jumped and cheered and left the Coliseum with smiles.

[Igbo]

STFU!!!!!!!!

[rowjimmy]

STFU!!!!!!!!

LOL

[McGrupp]

10/20 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA

Set I:     Julius, Funky Bitch, Back On The Train, Roses Are Free, Sample in a Jar, Ginseng Sullivan, 46 Days, Divided Sky, Bold as Love

Set II:    Paul and Silas> Tweezer#> Golden Age> Piper> Taking Care of Business*> 2001> Sand> Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore:  A Day in the Life> Tweezer Reprise

# Mike on drill

* Bachman Turner Overdrive cover, first time played. 

This whole 2nd set is SO $$$ start to finish.

Not sure if I like this or AC1 set II better.

Kinda leaning towards this not only because I was there, but TCOB was just so damn fun.

[runawayjimbo]

10/20 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA

Set I:     Julius, Funky Bitch, Back On The Train, Roses Are Free, Sample in a Jar, Ginseng Sullivan, 46 Days, Divided Sky, Bold as Love

Set II:    Paul and Silas> Tweezer#> Golden Age> Piper> Taking Care of Business*> 2001> Sand> Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore:  A Day in the Life> Tweezer Reprise

# Mike on drill

* Bachman Turner Overdrive cover, first time played. 

This whole 2nd set is SO $$$ start to finish.

Not sure if I like this or AC1 set II better.

Kinda leaning towards this not only because I was there, but TCOB was just so damn fun.

Big Wingsuit guy, Grupp?

[McGrupp]

 :hereitisyousentimentalbastard typo... meant set III ... I guess I was just pretending the Wingsuit set didn't happen.

[runawayjimbo]

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard typo... meant set III ... I guess I was just pretending the Wingsuit set didn't happen.

That's probably for the best.

[UncleEbinezer]

10/20 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton VA

Set I:     Julius, Funky Bitch, Back On The Train, Roses Are Free, Sample in a Jar, Ginseng Sullivan, 46 Days, Divided Sky, Bold as Love

Set II:    Paul and Silas> Tweezer#> Golden Age> Piper> Taking Care of Business*> 2001> Sand> Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore:  A Day in the Life> Tweezer Reprise

# Mike on drill

* Bachman Turner Overdrive cover, first time played. 

This whole 2nd set is SO $$$ start to finish.

Not sure if I like this or AC1 set II better.

Kinda leaning towards this not only because I was there, but TCOB was just so damn fun.

TCOB was awesome!  The recordings don't capture the lid blowing off the place going from that ending groove of Piper>TCOB.  I remember having a hard time hearing the vocals right at the beginning.  This was a great set of music!  Sunday Phunday!