Songy Sets? 4th Quarter Slump? Explaining The Alaska Effect

So, I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about “Songy” shows and “Fourth Quarter Slumps.” I thought these complaints could use a reminder: the experience of playing the music as a band is profoundly different from the experience of the fan/listener (especially the “vet” listener who only subsists on exploratory type ii jams).

This is what I call the “Alaska Effect.” I play in a Phish cover band (Solar Garlic — check us out!). Alaska is a song that I dreaded getting at a show (especially in a set 2 placement). It’s just another standard bluesy Phish number that is basically the same every time played. Really boring for a “vet” looking for exploratory jam vehicles. But, here’s the thing — this song is amazingly fun TO PLAY in a band. It’s hard to explain the joy I feel singing this song. Not only that, it’s fun for the crowd — the bouncy rhythm and quirky lyrics have folks smiling and dancing. Next time they play Alaska check out the band and the crowd. While the seasoned/jaded vets have their arms crossed with grumpy faces, there will be many fans dancing and smiling and the band will be having a blast.

This is something about Phish we have to confront. The band and the crowd like playing/hearing songs. And rightfully so. They spent decades building an insanely large catalog of songs. Some songs have meaning to the bandmembers (for Trey, see, Backwards, Joy); some songs are just a blast to play because of the energy (e.g. Julius, Cavern). The songs are fun.

Moreover, it is also worth pointing out that the jaded vet’s preference for type ii exploratory jams is not always fun for the band. Going “out there” is risky, difficult and sometimes stressful (you know those moments where the band appears to be collectively asking: OK where is this going right now?!?). After the band achieves something as transcendent as the SPAC3 Moma, it is perfectly understandable for them to want to take a breath and just rock out some songs.

Now, you might say — “Well how come in late 1.0 and 2.0 they played all these 4–5 song sets filled with jams??? Why can’t they do that now.” It is conceivable to imagine that at that stage, the road-weary band was a bit tired of playing songs all the time. After all, they were used to being on tour 6–9 months a year for over a decade — playing most of their songs over and over night after night. In that context, the band pushed themselves by focusing on improvisation. It was the drive to develop their improvisation that kept them motivated on the long road of tour.

Now, fast forward to 3.0: the band tours 6 weeks per year (or thereabouts). Despite this, and as we’ve seen this summer, they attempt to tackle a vast spectrum of their song catalog. This means that some songs (e.g. NICU, Guleah Papyrus) they might only play once or twice a year. They are psyched to play those songs. There are so many songs to play, so little time. Phish is still a jam band — and they will continue to push the boundaries with improvisation (in fact, they probably know much of their fanbase depends on this), but they have a vast catalog of songs that they have a blast playing. They will play them. This might disappoint the jaded vet, but it is so much fun for the band and large parts of the crowd. We need to accept these conditions and try to appreciate the jams that do happen.