12/31 - AA Arena - Miami, FL - Post-Show Discussion and Review

[Casey Lenahan]

just gave the DWD another spin, OOO YEAH!  :crazy:

[burmesepython]

Albany still takes the cake for me, but this one is great too.

Would give Albany the slight edge but I've found myself listening to the AAA version more lately... thoughtful themes and I FN love how Trey NAILS the ALS tease... Albany is bigger and grander... but AAA is perfect in it's own way to me.

[justjezmund]

Albany still takes the cake for from me, then throws it in my face. but this one is great too.

FYPFY

[Caravan2001]

just gave the DWD another spin, OOO YEAH!  :crazy:

Listened to the Ghost, Piper and Party Time->ALS->Disease today during my workout and that shit is just plain nasty....The Disease is blistering and they end it before it loses focus which is cool....short and sweet.....really hot playing and as good as anything (Gorge, Albany, Camden) played in 2009.....great stuff....

[emay]

The second set to this show is one of my favorite (if not favorite) of the whole NYE run. The rock n roll starts it off nice, the piper really takes flight, the simple is beutiful and unexpected, theme is flubbed but the ending jam floooors me, I dont think I will ever see such an emotional Shine A Light for me, great placement IMO and trey shredsssss the solos, then the gooey phunk comes out for the ghost > NO2. Love it.

[MiamiPhish]

This is obviously a bit dated, but I just wanted to share with y'all a review I wrote for a class I'm taking called "Covering the Arts" (I'm in the 2nd semester of getting my Master's in Journalism at UF.)  There was a word limit of 850, so it's short and to the point.  Big ups to PIE who you'll see quoted (thanks Dave!)  BTW, I got an 'A' on the review. 


Benjamin Markus

Phish NYE 12/31/09

It's nearing 9 p.m. inside Miami's American Airlines Arena, and the crowd, 20,000 strong, tensely awaits the sudden dimming of the house lights signaling show time.  Most fans stand and mingle, some walk around, and a few hit the bathroom while the lines are short.  As the arena goes black, the roar that follows is deafening.  It carries the same exhilaration of facing an open airplane door, knowing full well you're about to jump through into falling.  It means one thing.
   
Phish is back.   

Six years ago to the minute, the four members of the jam band Phish stood on the very same stage, deafened by the same roar of the crowd, ready to launch a three-set, roughly five-hour musical journey through midnight into the wee-hours of a new year.
   
Few in attendance that night could have guessed that within a year Phish would be disbanded and effectively drowned by its own popularity.
   
Even fewer would have guessed that despite an arrest and subsequent drug-related rehabilitation of the band's iconic guitarist Trey Anastasio, and countless musical side projects and guest appearances from all four band members, Phish would return to the same sight of their last New Year's Eve concert, the "Triple-A" in Miami, revived, reinvigorated and ready to rock.   
   
As the night's first song, "AC/DC Bag," a simple-chorded upbeat rock tune, draws to a close, it becomes apparent that this is not the same Phish that Miami saw in 2003.

The life of each band member has changed since then, and so too has the music.  In a recent article written by Michael Hamersly of The Miami Herald, Anastasio was quoted as saying "[After the breakup]... Everybody went home and reconnected with what's important, which is family and health."

Indeed, each member of Phish now has children to care for and a family to look after.  In many ways, the band has grown up since their last visit to the Sunshine State. 

Their music has grown up too.

The night's first two songs, "AC/DC Bag" and "46 Days," both of which in recent years had the potential to stretch to over 20 minutes in search of newfound musical territory, are each roughly seven minutes long and void of any true improvisation.

Many Phish fans, like Dave Anderson, 35, of Austin, Texas, who has seen 91 Phish shows since 1992, felt the band had fallen into a rut before its breakup.

"That's what most of 2000 was for me... Every second set opened up into improvisation that was often directionless, lazy, and boring," Anderson said.

What the band now lacks in improvisation and spontaneity, both of which one still finds, albeit in small doses, at a Phish concert, it has made up for in focus and energy.

"What I really call out is the desire to return to the well," Anderson said.  "They needed to take the entire year [2009] to piece back together what the band is and prove to themselves that their musical legacy is not trite or nostalgic."
   
Indeed, one can tell that the band isn't simply going through the motions; it has been practicing.  Anastasio's notes ring clear and pure from his guitar.  Bass player Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman intertwine rhythms with one another, at times synchronizing as if sharing one brain between two musicians.  And keyboardist Page McConnell, pounding away at the seven or so keyboards and pianos surrounding him, constantly adds distinct flavor, if not spice, to each song played.
   
As the night progresses, the playing is for the most part clean, tight and energetic.  Fan favorites such as the groove-laden "Punch You in the Eye," The Velvet Underground's "Rock & Roll," and the sub aquatic, uplifting "Theme From the Bottom" pepper the first two sets. 

The night's only true improvisation comes in the second set from "Ghost," a funky rocker that is known for producing long, creative jams.  At just under 15 minutes in length, this "Ghost" gets "out there," without fluttering and winds into a 20-second "tease," or musical quote of the New Year's Eve anthem "Auld Lang Syne," before segueing seamlessly into the dentist-inspired song "NO2."
   
The night's third set of music, an effort in endurance reserved only for Halloween and New Year's Eve shows, appropriately begins with a new song entitled "Party Time."
   
In the midst of the dance number "Party Time," the countdown to 2010 begins.  Anastasio has a smile as wide as the stage he's playing on, as do the rest of his band mates.  This is a smile that Phish fans haven't seen in some time – a smile of purpose and passion for music, family and life.  The ball drops... 3... 2... 1... and it's 2010.
   
Phish is back.

[gah]

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

[fauxpaxfauxreal]

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

[Lifeboy]

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

[UncleEbinezer]

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

[redrum]

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

^^^ Great article! Nice write up! 

thanks for sharing.

[WhatstheUse?]

just gave the DWD another spin, OOO YEAH!  :crazy:

AGREED!

[burmesepython]

just gave the DWD another spin, OOO YEAH!  :crazy:

AGREED!

was dripping sweat during that shiz! FN :rawk: the whole time

[redrum]

i listened to most of this show while snowboarding the other day.
it was a good choice.
i recommend trying it.

[Buffalo Budd]

i listened to most of this show while snowboarding the other day.
it was a good choice.
i recommend trying it.

Nothing better than popping on a great show and flying down the hill.
Good times :mrgreen: