Trey definitely looks old now, but honestly a little better than I expected. I was prepared for the crypt keeper to walk out.
With as fairly subdued as the first set has felt, I fully expect the 2nd set to leave faces in puddles.
Little bit of a mixed bag and definitely some sloppiness, but exceeded my expectations overall. Especially Trey, he was the clear MVP. Tone was amazing and really sounded throwback. Smooth, rounded, more melded into the fabric of the sound. Add on top of that the fluidity of his playing, finding themes, more fills, vamping chords, PLAYING MORE NOTES! Didn't seem like a struggle. Not sure if he's been practicing more or just all the playing with Beacon Jams, acoustic, playing with the strings and Tansky, but it showed. Fishman was really struggling and was slow all night. Trey even started fucking with him with Jim>Paug and Rift. Mike was kindof just coming in whenever he felt like it tonight. A lot of that should tighten up rather quickly. But Trey was clearly carrying everybody tonight and it feels like a long time since I've said that. First set was a festival day set, just running through songs and getting comfortable. No big deal, that's what I would expect after almost 2 years. Seemed like a weird vibe for a little bit with everybody not sure how to act and nervous playing. 2nd set still had some sloppiness, but it certainly wasn't boring. I think not having the songs dialed in even loosened things up a little. Really got me excited about the next 3 nights. 30 mins of DWD>Simple was pretty damn good. At least one of the Alpharetta shows will be awesome. oh yeah, CK does it again. Rig was amazing.
It was honestly so much cleaner than I expected it to be. I mean for where they were and how long it's been, was pretty solid. DwD was everything I wanted it to be. 1st set really pleased my buddy for his first show, and it flowed well
Don't think I've been this pumped for some sloppy/unrehearsed, early tour Phish in quite some time. I'll be with the crew in the black stretch H2 Hummer
Have we talked about how awesome Billy Strings is? May be the best thing I discovered during quarantine. His work with Billy and the Kids fucking slaps.
By the way, is this Back on the Train the first time a Grateful Dead affiliate act has covered a Phish song in concert?
Also one of the coolest moments in Dead history to me. Phil and Phriends was Lesh’s first show back after his liver transplant. The first song he brought his young boys on stage and they sang hello old friends(Clapton) to start the run. It actually makes the room dusty for me. It was 1999 and started the 3 night run. Knowing the context it’s a cool listen to hear the song https://www.jambase.com/article/new-youtube-three-nights-phil-lesh-phriends-1999
yep. The Viola Lee and Terrapin are two other of my faves from the run. Trey does a great job on Terrapin. This version was playing when my vet called me and told me I had to put my two year old dog down. Song gets to me when I listen now.
Here is the opener from that run. Just awesome to me with his sons and coming back from the transplant.
Last time Phish played Oak Mountain had a few college buddies go. They all have/had young kids at the time so concerts weren’t a regular thing for them anymore. First Phish show for them. These guys really were all in WSP and been to at least a few donzen shows back in the day. When they got back I enjoyed one of them saying “we all looked at each other during the show and said I think we wasted time following the wrong band” Got a kick out of that.
Looks like this weekend will be couch tour for me. Came down with bronchitis a couple of days ago so hot tea, bourbon, and face-melting jams it is. Hope all of you hitting the shows have an incredible time!