Alright ladies and germs night one of SPAC is in the books and we're off to a roaring start!

The rain subsided right before the set began and held off the whole rest of the night -- perfect!

The entire opening sequence was just a dance party -- everyone was so stoked to be there and having fun and the songs matched it. The Birds, my favorite Halloween song, made a comeback that stunned virtually all in attendance. The version itself is a bit clunky. It was like a friend you haven't seen in years showing up on your doorstep with their clothes a little dirty and a fresh scar on their cheek... not totally intact, but you're sure glad they're back.

The fun continues through Bowie, which gets really pretty at parts, before a standard-great Free.

Tonight's debut (I'm pretty sure that they're taking 2014's "Everybody gets a Fuego" strategy with debuts) was called Let's Go and was, well, hilarious. The whole "whoahhhh" line was really weird at first but then everyone caught on and then MIKE STARTED RAPPING. not a drill. I would apologize to everyone in my area for bursting out in laughter during this song, but I'm more so interested in why none of the rest of you were laughing. All told, though, it's a really fun song and it worked GREAT. Dancing to it is a real gem and I hope it finds its home somewhere, maybe in the Moma slot. We know it won't be jammed out because Mine wrote it. *sheds a single manly tear*

Rest of the set was great. Gin was fun, coil was a real treat after eighty minutes of music, and a good time was had by all.

Attn: people at the grey port-a-John. Y'all need to speed things up a bit. I have places to be. I left for the restroom five minutes into setbreak and got back to my spot two minutes before Sand started. That's embarrassing, folks.

Sand -- this is one of my favorite Phish songs and it was the first time I got to hear it live -- already a win! This version doesn't disappoint; it basically sets up the mood for the bigger jams to follow. On a relisten I certainly would not skip Sand for this reason.

Carini's opening almost took the roof off the place -- SPAC was going nuts! The jam itself covered a lot of territory really quickly; I thought it was 18 minutes long and was surprised to discover later that it was 11 or something. Those can be the best jams, though. Lots of exploration without being lost. Whole thing was a great success. Trey absolutely just abandoned ship at the end, but it ended up paying off.

Two big things about CDT: first (an observation from my friend who is still sleeping as I eat free hotel breakfast -- it's okay, I got you a bagel) is that this is the first time this Summer that Trey's played really melodic, lead guitar deep in jams. I think he's right... There's been a lot of rhythmic texturing on the part of Mr Antipsto and very little melody-creating so far this summer. This jam was significantly improved by Trey taking a risk or two and putting himself in front.

#2: Mike Gordon is just not to be believed. Easily the MVP of the show for me (bias disclosed: I'm a bass player) Mike was playing some really juicy lead lines throughout the night, but he really took over on this jam, especially when Trey went over to Marimba Lumina. Tonight's Trey/Mike relationship, up until Trey started playing more melodies in CDT, was very reminiscent of the Pete Townshend/John Entwistle relationship: lots of texture from the guitar player and melody from the bass player. Very fun.

All told the CDT is a real journey. I look forward to many, many relistens. The section with Mike on keys is particularly glorious. I was looking for some really upbeat hose when Trey picked the guitar back up, but alas, this was another jam destined to end without an ending. > Caspian.

The whole rest of the set through Sleeping Monkey was just a bliss fest. With so much dark jamming (clearly the MO of the summer), it was nice to rock out in major for a little while. I didn't need another deep dark jam at that point, but 2001 70 minutes into the set was the last great dance party we needed.

Great, great first show. The band is at last in mid-season form. They played for almost three hours. Mike's taking risks. Mike, Page, and Fish want to go deeper -- they just need to pull Trey along. Nights two and three will be great!

They aSPAC!!

SPAC is a special place. I think everyone kind of started to take it for granted after the band began reliably staging annual multi-night runs on Summer Tour. After a hiatus from that affair last year (with Magnaball essentially taking its place) there was palpable energy in the room. And while the band took a while to get warmed up, once they got started in the second set things got very, very good. Tl;dr you're going to want to check out that Chalk Dust.

Let's set the stage a bit. I hadn't been to a show since Glens Falls in 2013, after being away for most of 2014 and electing to go to Fare Thee Well instead last summer. I have my Portland tickets ready but I hadn't made solid plans to go to SPAC. The last time I was there was the two night stand in 2010 after memorable visits to the venue in 2009 and 2004. It had become so hard to get pavilion seats, and the sound on the lawn there is notoriously bad. But I decided to drive down without a ticket and meet some friends anyway. When I got out of the car in the lot and realized how bad the weather was going to be I was starting to second guess my decision. Torrential rain, tornado warnings; the prospect of being in that on the lawn was not very appealing.

After buying a cheap lawn in the lot I marched over the the box office where I had had some luck getting last minute pavilion seats in 2010. Things have changed since then. They weren't releasing tickets at the window but there was a handful of people pulling up re-releases on their phones and then showing the will call people their confirmation number to collect lower pavilion tickets. My Canadian phone wasn't cutting it and I ended up waiting with a couple other people I met in line from Montreal, hanging around hoping for the best. Finally around 6 after asking and asking the box office sold us two single lower pavilions. Score. Things continued to improve. The weather cleared, and I found other friends whose seats were close to the one I had just procured.

It's a fool's game to have high expectations for first sets in this era. I didn't have any, and I came away pretty happy. The 'got memories' line in Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan seemed to be a subtle nod to being back at SPAC and set a decent tone, but the band was obviously taking a while to warm up. Bowie and Uncle Pen felt like deliberate attempts to get the old fingers going. The song selection was definitely above average, but otherwise not much to write home about. The set ended on a pretty high note however. The crowd vibe in the room was loud and enthusiastic, and after a rousing Golgi that looked like it was going to end the set Trey signalled for one more. Page had a great night and he played an absolutely gorgeous solo to close out the set. The crowd loved it and so did I.

Set Two fed off that energy. It didn't come out of the gates blazing necessarily, though the Sand made an unexpected and welcome opener. Carini is where things started to get really interesting. Though it's not as strong as what followed, there are beautiful delicate moments packed into those 10 or so minutes. Trey started signalling a move to Chalk Dust during the end of the Carini jam that Fish just couldn't quite lock into, so the transition felt a little rough around the edges, but that wouldn't matter soon. The 22 minute jam that follows is top tier Phish, and encouraging for a few reasons. For one, the band seemed intent on exploring some very new, intricate grooves and laid an amazing foundation for the jam in the first of its three segments. After layering this amazing wall of sound Trey proceeded to pull the band to a peak that many have already pointed out echoes the spectacular 7/10/99 version. I don't know if he's been listening to it recently (he alluded to the jam in an interview last year, I believe), but either way, the room exploded. I was leaping up and down like at this point and laughing at how good it was. The jam's final segment saw Trey next to Fish on the marimba lumina and Mike next to Page on the organ. More new-groove material that then landed in Caspian.

By this point I had gotten my money's worth, and the band seemed to feel the same. That's not to say they phoned in the rest of the set; far from it. They were more than warmed up finally, and seemed to want to enjoy ripping through songs they obviously love playing. I really enjoyed the Shine a Light and My Sweet One>Sleeping Monkey sequence, which was classic Phish hilarity (listen for the way they start up Monkey before the closing 'naaaaaame' of MSO, and then proceed to 'finish' the lyrics in Sleeping Monkey).

After a lively Fire closed the set, I leaned over to my friend and said 'the only question now is do they encore with a cover bustout or Character Zero?' 'It won't be Zer--' my friend said, but Trey beat him to it before he could get the words out of his mouth. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Besides, the game had already been won about halfway into the second set.

I'm sure the fun encore will come tonight, but I won't be there to see it. I jumped in my car and drove straight back to Montreal after the show. Here's hoping for a Purple Rain in Portland, though..

7/1/16 SPAC: This was a good first show to begin what's sure to be a fun 3-day splash in Saratoga Springs. We tuned-in via the Live Phish webcast, which provided a nice smooth stream all night long.
We were a little late returning to Casa de Henry from a local art gallery event in our hometown, but the running joke was 'we gotta get down there!' and we made it inside the virtual venue doors by NICU.
I'd like to highlight that I was pleased with the Stealing Time opener, as I had had that song in my head earlier in the day...a little Phish magic to start the show, alright!
Then The Birds flew in, and I don't know about you guys, but somehow I never get tired of hearing the repurposed Halloween Jams...they're just damn delightful!
Sidenote: I would love to hear more new Jams like them in the future.
Then we visited Cities, a cover of the great Talking Heads song off the album "Fear Of Music," and in keeping with this tour's tradition of stormy weather it was indeed 'dark in the daytime."
Next was David Bowie, which almost seemed choresome to me but they quickly went into Free which has a way of bringing everyone into the moment.
Changing gears to bluegrass, we got an Uncle Pen next and Mike & Trey's licks were really together on this one...I'd like to take this opportunity to point out how well-suited Mike's voice is for this style of music. He's also such a versatile vocalist with the ability to hold down the bottom end during acapella songs but then also sing very high at other times...he's just an all-around great player!
Then my hubby got his song wish with the lovely Halfway To The Moon, which was followed by the new Let's Go -- It has a poppy main theme with a groovin' jam which I could see becoming a favorite with the new generation of fans.
Back to the Fuego album, we heard Waiting All Night next. Some people aren't fans of this song, but I think it's beautiful with Fishman's sizzle cymbal and Page's pretty organ part. Also during this song we saw an awesome effect on the LED screens behind the band...reminiscent of the 1960's oil projector visuals -- I experienced this graphic in person at Deer Creek and I'm here to tell you, it REALLY takes you back to another time & place...definitely my favorite graphic I've seen on the new setup thus far.
Next up was Bathtub Gin which I was sure was going to be the set closer, but then they surprised me with an exquisitely executed Golgi Apparatus THEN The Squirming Coil before the set came to a close. Woo Whee!!
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Set II ripped open with a solid Sand into Carini which entered a dark liquid space then shimmered up to a clear sparkling pool. We swam there for a bit before riding the undulating current down to meet Chalk Dust Torture, which took us through a dark and meaty ambient groove...Mike dropped a Bass Bomb that literally shook the webcast camera!! Wow! Trey also jumped on the Marimba Lumina, and I'm happy to see it getting some use this tour. No fault of Fishman, it just seems that he can't really get to it very often during shows, so it's cool that Trey is sharing it with us.
Prince Caspian is always a crowd pleaser, allowing for the opportunity to surface upon the waves after swimming through deep & dark jams through colorful underwater caves in the previous songs.
Remaining in our peaceful place, Bug was next followed by Shine A Light. We got a drum solo in My Sweet One! Sleeping Monkey came next and after calling us "their sweet ones", the band asked us to say their name...which we joyfully reply PHISH!!
It was soon time to dance again with Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) which was as freaky as it was funky.
In addition to stormy weather being a tradition this tour, cover songs have also joined the party in a big way...Jimi Hendrix's Fire was a molten white-hot close to the set, and the Character Zero encore sent us on our way to say...PHISH! PHISH!!

It would be a 5 star show if there were more breasts involved, male or female, quick rule of thumb: "the more intense the mammaries the more intense the memories". Not to say this show wasn't tits.

ya Bowie could of been more Bowie but it was Bowie enough in 94, uncle pen really brought it up with blue grass-y phish leading into halfway to the moon which is becoming an incredible song with each play, let's go gives a glimpse of potential fire from 2020 and then waiting all night rounds out that first set filled with the less "classic" of jams holding the weight in a real way.

Who did not lose it when Mr. Anastasio said "maybe one more" and they broke into the squirming coil, great set closer. Most certainly the place was filled with smiles.

Sand carini chalkdust, sure crowd pleasers; my pants got tight when they went caspian bug shine a light, what a trio of tunes to bring up round up the good vibes to be celebrated the next two nights, immediately celebrated with my sweet one and sleeping monkey, songs of triumph and Joy, 2001 would of been the cherry had they not played FIRE which makes 2001- nuts.

This was a great show, listening again and again it is the feeling conveyed by the crowd in response to the sounds that truly resonates, creating that "feeling", which is not easily defined, makes this show yet another gem. Thanks Phish and company, awesome stuff. The end.

Fun Fun Fun omfg

sure i've been SuperBall'd but i swear Trey wanted the band to summon a storm with the second set... a chugging Sand but Trey wants gnarlier and Carini delivers. the band is fierce but like i said Fun was in the cards and Carini leads to an ALL TIME unbelievable Chalk Dust! Trey on the marimba and Mike on keys in an island paradise of melody

then on a totally selfish note after 23 years of this good stuff, finally i caught a My Sweet One and its so fitting im finally with my sweet one to have shared it with also its a fine fine fine version with a jon fishhhhhmannnn drum solo and its hilarious spill over into Sleeping Monkey.

SaraStrohGa! ;D

I previously wrote a review while drunk in my friend's car at 1 am. In my current state of sobriety, I'd like to revisit an important point:

The Carini should make the jam chart.

It covered so much territory in ~11 minutes. From raw filth, to creepy introspection, to boldly emerging from the fire, to a brief relaxing sigh of relief, to tasty crunch before > Chalk Dust. This isn't just a solid version; it really effs with your mind, and I'd argue that it's one of the jams of the year. For me, Carini made my night as much as Chalk Dust did.

This was my 20th show, and SPAC was the fitting place for my 20th - the host of my first show (8/16/09), my "hometown" venue (I'm from Delmar, NY, which is about 37 minutes from SPAC), and one of the best places ever to have a real good time.

So naturally, I had a good feeling going into it. Kinda like that Black Eyed Peas song.... "I got a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night!" You know. Yeah.

And I was right. God damn did this show deliver. I feel like the reviewers thus far have reviewed it very well, so I have but 2 things too add:

1) This was my 20th show ever, and it was my 7th at SPAC. This was easily the best SPAC show I've seen (with 7/4/14 coming in second place. God damn that Fuefo was amazing).

2) The Carini should make the jam chart. It was a dope jam that lead into The SPAC Chaldust. And, it's the best Carini played since Carini's best year, 2013. Like, that weird shit trey started playing toward the end with that weird effect on his guitar...God damn...damn....

What s show. God damn.

This was my first show, after listening to Phish for a decade I finally made it to the legendary SPAC for a weekend and boy was this an incredible night to start off the run!

I had a lawn and met a guy on my bus who knew someone with a pav and hooked me up, it was his 100th show and my 1st, and boy did we have a night! Stealing Time has become an all time favorite from this show, but the Bowie, Gin, and especially the Coil to close set 1 were just incredible!

I love the new song, Let's Go. Chalkdust was sublime. The Sand > Carini > could've benefited from more -> action IMO, but this is an above average-great show to me. Fourth quarter was phun, but I think that's the area where Phish could most improve this year. There've been some strong encores, but some of the second halves of second sets have been a bit catch-as-catch-can. Add in stronger first sets--like the next night at SPAC's (7/2/16)--and sounds like a wiener to me!

Saratoga Springs in upstate New York is notable for several reasons. It has a proud history of horse racing that goes back over 150 years, it is home to the Fountain of Youth (in the form of a series of bubbling springs to which the natives have attributed healing powers for centuries), it is where that mightiest of snack foods The Potato Chip was invented (my eternal thanks goes out to the appropriately named George Crum for his snarky creation), and (least notably but most significant to this missive) it is home to the venue where I have seen Phish play more than anywhere else.

Helping to beef up that final stat was a three-night run at Saratoga’s beautiful performing arts centre (which is sensibly called the Saratoga Performing Arts Center) that I enjoyed beginning on July 1st, 2016*. If I’m not mistaken this was the first time I stayed at the very cute Inn at Saratoga, an antique boarding house with a large and unendingly social front porch that lazily oversees a quant corner in the oh-so-American downtown, with immaculate lawns and tricoloured banners of patriotism all around.

Plus it’s within (long) walking distance to the venue.

Anyway, m’lady and I arrived and hugged a bunch of friends that were already gathered on that wonderful old porch and we sat down for a welcome drink or two. More and more friends kept arriving, the gathering started gaining some serious steam, and finally we all piled into an extra-long shuttle van that someone in our crew had managed to harangle.

The concert hall itself is rather unique. It’s in the middle of a state park and completely surrounded by forest, which is pretty amazing, and it’s the only “shed” (as we live music fans call the countless covered outdoor pavilions that are scattered around the continent) that I can think of that has a balcony. Unfortunately the hanging balcony obscures the view from much of SPAC’s lawn section making it the most undesirable lawn section in the country, but if you ever happen to find yourself with a seat up in the balcony you’ll probably agree that it’s a pretty great place to see a show from.

I’ve been up there several times but this show was the only time I was in the balcony’s “box” section – that is, the first two or three rows of the whole level – and it was…thrilling.

Of course as soon as the band walked onstage the whole crowd stood up, and from the first note we were all dancing (nobody, and I mean nobody sits down at a Phish concert. Not a word of a lie: I once saw a wheelchair in the garbage following a Phish show). And I swear to you, as soon as the room got moving the front section of the balcony started bouncing.

Literally.

I mean the floor beneath my feet was rising and falling a good two inches, and right in time to the music. It was seriously unnerving and not just a little scary, but when we all survived the first song or two I stopped worrying and just bounced along for the ride.

I really, really hope it was built to do that.

Anyway, it was a great show and a great time – it was like seeing a Phish concert in a giant bouncy-castle – and afterwards we all ambled back to the Inn and stayed up late continuing our great time on the super-vibey front porch. Ah, it was all so glorious.

And we still had two more nights to go! No wonder I keep coming back**.

*Though I am loath to leave my homeland on Canada Day I have made a couple of exceptions in these fifty-odd years: Phish’s first festival at Watkins Glen (in 2011) and this show.

**I finally (finally!) went there for something other than a Phish concert when I attended the Outlaw Festival (featuring Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Nathaniel Rateliff, and others) at SPAC in 2018. Someday I want to go there not for a concert at all. It would be nice to actually see one of the horse races for once, for example. Or the hot springs (for another). At least I’ve had the potato chips.

toddmanout.com

This was my first show so I really didn't know what I was in for. Went solo and met some very cool and friendly people before, I had a lawn and got upgraded to pavs - the guy who gave me his extra was at his 100th show!

Stealing Time was a song I was not familiar and this version made me a huge fan! Bowie was a big highlight and a big favorite.

Let's Go... well I'm glad I saw it once but kinda happy it's out of the rotation.

Whole second set start to finish was a blast! I really dug the chiller Caspian ->Shine a light part with the crazy 2001>fire finish!

The whole weekend was a blast and this was an amazing start!

Here's my quick, concise review. Everything not mentioned was standard fare for a show.

Show started off with some serious bounce. Bowie and Uncle Pen were straight fire and I think Pen is a key version. Let's Go was so fun, has me actually excited for the album, and I love 3.0 Mike songs. Gin was business and flowed through some confusion into a beautiful Golgi and bonus Coil.

Tweezer tease by Trey before the music started. Carini took things up a peg then CDT blew the roof off the place, with a slow settle into some rotation jamming. Best jam of the tour thus far. The rest of the show was some fun renditions as the slow landing from that Chalk Dust. I feel like Trey should be self-aware enough to know when to not cover Hendrix but whatever.

4.3ish/5

SPAC starting off slow but getting better as the night went on.

STFTFP was definitely not expected by anyone to open the show, and it was done fairly well. After that, everything up to Waiting All Night was mediocre, although NICU was cool to hear. The Cities jam grew stale after a bit, and Trey cut David Bowie short, which was pretty annoying as it was really starting to build. HTTM is a lame song in general and the new song sounds like it came straight from the Disney Channel.

This is in my opinion the turning point of the show. Liked hearing Waiting All Night, even tho it was kinda cheesy being in the same set as HTTM. Bathtub Gin was a decent jam, nothing crazy. One of the highlights was Golgi, which was really well done, and Page's call for The Squirming Coil was what really saved the set, as Page played a fantastic piano solo to conclude the set.

So after acquiring a bag of kettle corn to satisfy my munchies and get me over a painful first set, the band headed into Set 2 with a grooving rendition of Sand, which was followed by a great Carini and a real cool jam. Loved hearing Chalk Dust and the jam was built very well, but in my opinion the jam shouldve ended after the peak, not after Trey cut the groove by slamming his dick on the marimba a few times. Prince Caspian was short and sweet, and Bug was decent. Shine a Light was a great song to pull out, and I finally got to hear a My Sweet One (with a drum solo!!!!!!). The Sleeping Monkey that followed was totally epic, and showcased Fishman's hilarious sense of humor, definitely one of the best performances of that song in its history. The 2001 that followed, while a bit shorter than i was expecting, was absolutely grooving and the band was spot on throughout the whole thing. Was not expecting Fire to end the set, but loved hearing it live and felt it was very well done. Character Zero was a typical encore.

All in all, this is a show that started out slow and built itself into a decent show. Here's to days two and three, hopefully they're both a bit drier this time around!