Friday 01/01/2016 by jwelsh8

MSG2 RECAP: THE MOMENT ENDS, AND BEGINS AGAIN

The coming of a new year has been celebrated for over 4,000 years as a moment to actively look back on the past while marking the arrival of the new. It was in 46 B.C. that Julius Caesar instituted January 1st as the first day of the year, partially as an acknowledgment of the two-faced god Janus, name-sake for January. And in 1528, Pope Gregory XIII made January 1st a religious holiday, solidifying its significance. January 1st. One-one. Essentially, this holiday is the celebration of numbers. How does one keep track of time except through numbers? Another rotation around the sun, the year clicking forward like the slow turn of an odometer. We celebrate making it through the past 365 days and welcome the next set.


Photo © @Phish_FTR

And we Phish fans are fascinated by numbers. Show dates. The number of shows seen. Gaps between times-played. The length of songs as a measuring stick. Types I and II. 1.0/2.0/3.0. Wrapping the two together, Phish concerts begun the 31st of December have always been moments of joy and spectacle. Big Cypress. The 1995 Mike’s Groove Time Factory. 1993 and the “Down With Disease Jam.” Of course, balloons were hung from the ceiling. The one additional element was an inverted cone, or funnel, suspended over the soundboard area. What was in store for 2015?

Last night marked the thirty-third time Phish played Madison Square Garden, the twentieth New Year's Eve show, and the ninth such show played at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” And the tenth time “The Moma Dance” opened a show. The slow, loping funk of “Moma” was followed by the bounciness of “Possum,” which in turn lead to the funk of “Wolfman’s Brother.” “Wolfman’s,” while not extended, seemed to exhibit just a bit of gusto. After some pause and conversation, the band decided on a standard “Birds of a Feather.”


Photo © @Phish_FTR

A celebration of the Fishman family was to follow, with “The Man Mulcahy” demonstrating his vacuum skills on “I Didn’t Know.” Then at the request of Fishman, the crowd (and band) sang an arena-filling “Happy Birthday to You” to his daughter Ella for her 14th birthday, celebrated the day before.

Martian Monster” was followed by standard-great version of “Reba.” Trey made it through the fugue-like middle section relatively unscathed to deliver on the “Reba” jam that some fans have compared to oxygen — hard to live without. This would mark the first of many moments throughout the evening when Trey faced skyward toward the balloons hanging with anticipation, channeling the “hose.”


Photo © @hersch

Walls of the Cave” would close the opening set. (Interestingly, “Walls” has closed a set the last fourteen times it has been played.) As the song built to its rawkus “silent trees”close, the floor of the arena actually began to undulate. With the restrained first section and the energetic second, the song and its structure could be offered as an analog for the show as we would discover.

The second set of the evening began with “The Wedge,” followed by the crowd participatory “Wilson.” “Wilson” then transitioned into “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing.” With Trey acknowledging the changing of time, “10 years before the mast,” “ASIHTOS” was stretched ever so slightly.

After “Yarmouth Road,” the opening notes of “Kill Devil Falls” reinforced this feel that a standard “first set” had extended deep into the second, and some fans were becoming anxious. A shift needed to occur. Little did we know that this shift would happen in “KDF” — “this time will be different” indeed. The song opened up into the first Type II territory of the evening with Mike dropping bass bombs that made the arena rumble. The jam featured a bit of “plinko” as well as this loose seven-noted repeated riff. Arguably the most exploratory “KDF” since Bonnaroo 2012. The jam dissolves into the opening notes of “Piper,” which was driving and fiery as expected — albeit on the shorter side.

With the successful shift in tenor, the band was free to open things up and the set closing “Twist” would prove to be one of the highlights of 2015 (see 7/24 and 8/12). The jam once again featured Trey staring upwards, reaching for inspiration (or at least to Cream with a couple “Strange Brew” teases). As with “KDF,” Mike would once again lead the charge, dropping meatballs and leading the band on a dark and nasty course that would feature two distinct jams. The last thirty-seven minutes of music certainly lifted everyone’s excitement for what was to come in the third set and the transition into the new year.


Photo © @Phish_FTR

As noted above, the only sign of a “gag” or spectacle was the white shape suspended over an area immediately behind the soundboard. During set break, it was observed that a drum kit was arranged and gear was introduced. It became clear the band would perform beneath the shape. It just wasn’t clear for how long, or what else would happen. Around 20 til midnight, the band took to the floor and began to play the 2015 debut “No Men In No Man’s Land.” (A confident betting man would have put money on that new fan favorite being part of the NYE festivities.) The structure of the song quickly dissolved into what could be described as sounding like a “fourth” or “secret set” — ambient, without specific structure, setting a mood rather than taking us on a journey. And while that was happening, the shape slowly began to lower itself from the ceiling while images were projected against the translucent fabric. After reaching a certain point, another section of fabric dropped from the shape and covered the band, forming an hourglass shape. The projections then began to feature an hourglass with sand marking the passage of time, with various items passing across the surface — flying wings, wolves, blocks. It was reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s animations.

At some point with only a few minutes before Midnight, the band made a stealthy escape from below the hourglass and situated themselves on the darkened stage — they appear to have pre-recorded a piece of music to play over the PA leading into the countdown (“Thirty, “Twenty,” “Ten . . . “ booming over the speakers), as it did not appear they were performing until the balloons dropped and “Auld Lang Syne” began. A second fan favorite from 2015, the aptly titled “Blaze On” brought us all into 2016. Another highlight of the evening, as the jam freed itself into Type II territory after seven minutes, reaching a gorgeous, buttery peak. Happy New Year indeed!

The “Carini” that followed featured a short, patient section of improv in contrast to the songs darker, chaotic melody. And that section dissolved into a “David Bowie” that once again featured quite a bit of Mike, through a quiet section through a great peak before returning to “Bowie” proper.


Photo © @languagestrange

The obligatory New Year’s “The Horse” into “Silent In the Morning” (played at seven New Year’s Eve shows; “I think that this exact thing happened to me, just last year”) was a nice cool down from the earlier spectacle. The set closing “Backwards Down the Number Line” was almost as obligatory as the preceding “Silent,” with allusions to the past and birthdays, “somewhere between the past and future.”

A pairing of “Tube” and “Cavern” was offered as a feel-good encore. Even short “Tubes” work.

Last evening, twenty-six songs were played over the course of four hours. The longest song was “No Men in No Man’s Land,” clocking in at 21:32 (based on the Live Phish tracking). With the exception of “Happy Birthday” and “Auld Lang Syne,” the song with the longest gap was “Kill Devil Falls,” at 16 shows (8/5/15). One could go on and on. But despite this fascination with numbers, what really keeps fans coming back, year after year, every 365 days, is the joy of the old (rather, those melodies and lyrics we know and enjoy) and the celebration of the new (exploration, improvisation, and the unknown). And last night’s New Year’s celebration delivered on both accounts, in spades. And we are just halfway through. (Two out of four shows, for those who like numbers.)

(For the “tl; dr” crowd: Listen to the “KDF,” “Twist,” “NMINML,” and “Blaze On”)

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Comments

, comment by phunky58
phunky58 This KDF was the real deal, but for best ever version look to 7.31.15 Atlanta. Doesn't get any better than that at least for now..
, comment by nichobert
nichobert @phunky58 said:
This KDF was the real deal, but for best ever version look to 7.31.15 Atlanta. Doesn't get any better than that at least for now..
Definitely doesn't get any longer than that, I'd go with the Roo one for best though
, comment by dumidiot
dumidiot That KDF is not the best since 2012 as the above notes. Also, if you think that twist was the best jam of the year, you a) missed every other jam this year and b) enjoy a very different kind of jam than I do. Trey spent most of that song playing chords and whole notes. It felt extremely lazy and I don't know how you can talk this up when he no men was in the same show. Mostly fair review but boy oh boy, I don't know how anyone can think that twist was more than okay.

Yeah yeah down vote me, it won't make trey less lazy
, comment by nichobert
nichobert Big difference between being lazy and doing what's proper for the music. Lots of good stuff in these shows but Twist is the only thing that really blew me apart.
, comment by waxbanks
waxbanks @dumidiot said:
That KDF is not the best since 2012 as the above notes. Also, if you think that twist was the best jam of the year, you a) missed every other jam this year and b) enjoy a very different kind of jam than I do. Trey spent most of that song playing chords and whole notes. It felt extremely lazy and I don't know how you can talk this up when he no men was in the same show. Mostly fair review but boy oh boy, I don't know how anyone can think that twist was more than okay.

Yeah yeah down vote me, it won't make trey less lazy
ivebeentheretoo (if you're still reading) --

(1) Don't worry about downvotes. What other commenters think of your comments is less important than whether the things you're saying are right or wrong; also, the worry itself is unattractive.

(2) For a long time I would grit my teeth during any jam that Trey 'sat out' -- Phish's jamming is a four-player game, and without his voice leading from within the flock, I tended to check out. As far as I'm concerned, we long ago reached the point where Mike, Fish, and Page can run the show as a trio for long stretches -- partly because they went through a patch where they had no choice. (And at first I didn't know how to listen for the other guys during four-way jams, anyhow. They were always pretty interesting, though incomplete without their fourth.)

Still, Trey doesn't sit out this Twist; in any case, given what everyone else is up to, I'm not sure the jam would be at all deepened by Machine Gun Trey. And I've come to believe, or maybe understand, that that's what matters to Trey. Woodshedding did him a world of good chopswise and refreshed his imagination in some ways, but his job isn't to solo, even if folks outside the blast radius of the music misperceive it that way; the 'whole notes' you're bemoaning are the missing element in an extremely busy ensemble formation. It's not as if the jam doesn't build to a chestbursting peak without him playing scales up top! Sometimes all the upper-register melodic content they (feel they) need is a series of whole notes.

When a man who got famous for playing his guitar very fast and very loud decides, during the climactic jam of the deepest set of the biggest night of his professional year, that the right thing is to hold himself back and play something pure and simple, to let his best friends/coworkers (especially Mike, in this case) do the thrashing around...whether or not we prefer the other thing (which is fine!), maybe it's incumbent upon us, for our own sakes(!), to listen for what's there instead of holding it up against a moment that didn't occur.

Or maybe he got lazy. I dunno. But I wouldn't bet on it. You can say a lot of things about Trey Anastasio, but 'lazy' isn't one of them. Please consider the possibility that something else is going on, and that this music, whether or not it's to your taste -- which, again, is fine -- is complete unto itself.
, comment by Rutherford_the_Brave
Rutherford_the_Brave waxbanks i miss you baby!
, comment by nichobert
nichobert I remember people kinda rolling their eyes about the early part of that ATL Tweezer where Trey sounded like he was in REM or something. It's so weird how people get salty when he employs chords in any other way than gnarly funk stabs, which people lose their friggin minds over.
, comment by nichobert
nichobert i'm convinced that the average apreciation for Phish's most "complete" improv style, the one they were employing some in 2011 and a lot in 2012 is almost solely held down by people who begin statements by saying "I play guitar"
, comment by cuddlybutmuscular
cuddlybutmuscular Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, and since that's what we're doing, here is mine. Trey is serving the band and the jam better than he ever has. The good vibes are radiating from the stage like I haven't seen before. 2015 felt like the culmination of the "personal" work the band did during the break-up period as well as the work they've done in 3.0 to find a new, more mature and evolved voice. '94 Tweezers no longer exist and the Trey solo show is over. Welcome to 2016. I hear so many people pining away for the good old days. If you don't like what they're doing now...right now... then you are missing the point and the entire spirit of this band. If listening to Trey shred for hours on end is your thing, I have thousands of hours of recordings to which you are more than welcome. Change is good. Treat yourself and come along for the ride.
, comment by strutyerstuff
strutyerstuff Watching that funnel unfold and deploy over the band was absolutely mind-blowing and so well done, the engineering that went into that bad boy was seriously impressive.
, comment by preyingmantits
preyingmantits @waxbanks said:
@dumidiot said:
That KDF is not the best since 2012 as the above notes. Also, if you think that twist was the best jam of the year, you a) missed every other jam this year and b) enjoy a very different kind of jam than I do. Trey spent most of that song playing chords and whole notes. It felt extremely lazy and I don't know how you can talk this up when he no men was in the same show. Mostly fair review but boy oh boy, I don't know how anyone can think that twist was more than okay.

Yeah yeah down vote me, it won't make trey less lazy
ivebeentheretoo (if you're still reading) --

(1) Don't worry about downvotes. What other commenters think of your comments is less important than whether the things you're saying are right or wrong; also, the worry itself is unattractive.

(2) For a long time I would grit my teeth during any jam that Trey 'sat out' -- Phish's jamming is a four-player game, and without his voice leading from within the flock, I tended to check out. As far as I'm concerned, we long ago reached the point where Mike, Fish, and Page can run the show as a trio for long stretches -- partly because they went through a patch where they had no choice. (And at first I didn't know how to listen for the other guys during four-way jams, anyhow. They were always pretty interesting, though incomplete without their fourth.)

Still, Trey doesn't sit out this Twist; in any case, given what everyone else is up to, I'm not sure the jam would be at all deepened by Machine Gun Trey. And I've come to believe, or maybe understand, that that's what matters to Trey. Woodshedding did him a world of good chopswise and refreshed his imagination in some ways, but his job isn't to solo, even if folks outside the blast radius of the music misperceive it that way; the 'whole notes' you're bemoaning are the missing element in an extremely busy ensemble formation. It's not as if the jam doesn't build to a chestbursting peak without him playing scales up top! Sometimes all the upper-register melodic content they (feel they) need is a series of whole notes.

When a man who got famous for playing his guitar very fast and very loud decides, during the climactic jam of the deepest set of the biggest night of his professional year, that the right thing is to hold himself back and play something pure and simple, to let his best friends/coworkers (especially Mike, in this case) do the thrashing around...whether or not we prefer the other thing (which is fine!), maybe it's incumbent upon us, for our own sakes(!), to listen for what's there instead of holding it up against a moment that didn't occur.

Or maybe he got lazy. I dunno. But I wouldn't bet on it. You can say a lot of things about Trey Anastasio, but 'lazy' isn't one of them. Please consider the possibility that something else is going on, and that this music, whether or not it's to your taste -- which, again, is fine -- is complete unto itself.
I vote for more @waxbanks
, comment by samsaraa
samsaraa When are you going to review some 2015 @waxbanks? I can't stand sifting through this drivel!
, comment by melt_the_tek9
melt_the_tek9 To comment on @waxbanks and the most excellent analysis laid out:

Concerning Trey's ever evolving style (which it has and apparently always will be), isn't that what Phish is all about?? Not settling into any one sound or style for very long??? For god's sake they don't even play Mike's Song the same way as they did in the 90s, which is different from the way they originally played it when Mike wrote it!! Trey CAN'T just have one style of playing solos/jams: he's too interested in new things and trying new things out all the time.

This new year's run just continues to show that trend in Trey and the band/organization as a whole. The last time Phish played in the middle of this room, they were on their old tour truck, with hockey stick mic stands and their old instruments. They went as old school as possible. The next time they played in the middle of this room, they again were set up close to each other, but in this "new style" positioning: all four members forming a box, facing each other as a tight, cohesive unit. Then, they are encapsulated in material, playing to each other, for each other, cut off slightly from the outside world. But they brought it into the present, and really to me, the future, with the wildly new light show and the sandwich of brand new songs that highlight and personify themselves as a band right now: No Men In No Man's Land and Blaze On. I'm not saying they were being selfish or keeping themselves apart from the fans. But it was like a move to the future, a major step forward. Phish saying "you've seen and heard us for 30+ years, but we're not the same and never will settle into any kind of pattern, groove, style, sound or appearance you will recognize or be able to predict or count on." These guys set trends only to then move, or blaze, on to something else.
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