The scene outside the Greek Theater Friday was just as colorful as Thursday's, but with fewer finger waggers, proving that even finger waggers have deep-seated realism. Friday night's wagger gaggle corner was right in front of the UC's massive "Walter Haas School of Business," so there was irony in the finger wagging ritual whether miracle Marxism was workable in NoCal2010 -- because waving $200 wasnt working either. At least the roses are free.
The lucky 8499 plus one special guest in attendance were served up a treat. Phish is a phenomenon without peer. If you love music and are willing to put up with people who dont look or smell like you, you will get your sonic reward. Friday's neighbors included the flirty YEM girl from the cover of Phish Magazine and other close talkers from Houston, Santa Cruz, Seattle, and five blocks away. We had five in our group tonight and stayed on the edge of the floor, where it was all nice and concretey. We rode out the set-break in place, because the Ancient Greeks had home cooking, but no plumbing.
Set I: Chalkdust Torture (Trey is more smug than Jerry), Gayute (whistling), Ocelot (swampy), Its Ice ("Phish is mathematical" our newcomer discovers), Cities (hippest dance party on the planet right in front of your eyes), Moma Dance (neighboring dreadman goes into funkoverload), Bathtub Gin (Phish's Rhapsody in Blue, pounding the priceless Steinway and sliding into the Brazilian samba by the end), Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan (from classic Phish to 3.0 rockphish). Everyone is stunned -- even the people who dont care for Trey's neener-neener attitude.
Set II: Rock and Roll ("two tv sets and two cadillac cars..." -- with JCL on the "fine fine music" falsetto), Ghost (less loopy than usual, but deeper), Mike's Song (Mike was the clear MVP of the show), Simple (Phish's best beautiful/silly song "cause we've got skyscrapers and they sing a pretty tune..."), Syncopated Simple Slideout, Backward Down the Number Line (seemed trivial by that point), Show of Life, Seven Below (truncated), Weekapuag Groove (Mike's "triology" pushed out to a "sextology"), You Enjoy Myself (anthemic road to the heavens and right back into the concrete -- with trampolines and haunting acapella.)
E: Good Times Bad Times (fantastic, but Jimmy Page could still kick Trey's ass at Dungeons and Dragons.)
See you tonight!
to my wife, Man, I wish there was a Phish show to go to this year. It's more than just a concert (or two), it's a long weenekd or a mini-vacation, centered around some fantastic music. The last shows we went to were the Noblesville, IN (formerly Deer Creek) shows. (They were both really good concerts, btw, if you're looking for examples of some strong post-hiatus shows.) We stayed in Indy and had a wonderful time. I miss that, the whole experience.Anyways, I'm rambling at the nostalgia (a sign getting older, I guess). It sounds like you had a good time on your honeymoon. Have fun enjoying all that beer you brought back!
Posted by: David | 04/15/2012 at 20:52