Searching for Bobby Phisher.
What an opening gambit from these master chess players we call Phish. Debuts, a flawless set, and a rock and roll throw down aimed squarely at the music industry. 2015 is off to a blazing start and it certainly appears as if Phish is laying the foundation for a very special Summer Tour indeed.
Opening night in Bend may not have eclipsed anyone’s expectations in terms of improvisation but no one could have guessed we would have seen 3 new songs and a bandleader almost overly anxious to show off his newly sharpened chops. The Vermillion Butcher is in the house.
The next night we saw a first set full of side project songs and the first great jam segment of the year in “Simple,” a preview of the patient, dark and gritty style so many of us crave, Evil Phish.
Want to know what I hear more than anything? OVERALL SOUND. Forget the jams which will come. Forget the flubs, of which there are very few. Forget the hype and just listen to the freshness and verve with which the band is approaching their catalog. The music sounds fresh whether its “Sample in a Jar, Free” or even more contemporary songs like “Waves, ASHITOS,” or “Yarmouth Road” — which got an “Estimated Prophet” style feel. 3 shows in and we saw an all time version of “Twist” and a remarkably strong “Light.” To say nothing of the first “Harry Hood” of the year which, like Mansfield last year, went places man.
The band sounds jazzed and in charge of an entirely new power and connection. The state of Phish is as healthy as ever.
Let’s talk about their rapidly EXPANDING catalog. This band, and Trey in particular, is on a song-writing roll; “Mercury, Blaze On, Shade,” and “No Man in No Man’s Land.” Nice of Trey to basically write a whole new album in all that free time he apparently has, you know, in between learning the bulk of the Grateful Dead’s catalog for Fare Thee Well, a TAB Tour, Phish runs, symphonies and Broadway plays.
It all goes back to Wingsuit of course, that crucial and risky decision to debut an entire album and reset their entire Halloween narrative. Chilling, Thrilling was a natural outgrowth of that, forcing the band to pen even more jams from which to deploy. What we have here is a positive feedback loop where new compositions lead to renewed interest and practice, which leads to better communication and trust on stage, which of course shows up in our cherished improvisational moments. It’s all too good to be true. And yet it is. We are so lucky.
There’s another thing about all this new material and how it functions. Not only does it expand Phish’s already impossibly deep catalog, but it reflects positively on their more recent material. Songs like “The Line, Wingsuit, Fuego” and “Winterqueen” have all become set stalwarts and with this new material, they sort of get pushed down the “Number Line.” That is, with each new song written and performed, even these new songs become somehow more established, while we are all still in the process of getting used to them. It’s so stunning and one of the most delicious byproducts of continued new material.
The promise of BDTNL may not have been truly reached until now, when it seems, every year, Tom and Trey whisper new songs in one another’s ears, creating new art together and elevating the whole enterprise. Saturday night’s “BDTNL” raged hard and it occurred to me that as much as any song in the 3.0 era, it is “Backwards Down the Number Line” that most speaks to what Phish is all about. Even as the past recedes, our memories grow fonder but we have now to celebrate. New music, new life, always.
Phish is doing the unthinkable, getting better with age. Like the finest wine. Nothing left to do but Raise a Glass.
