A Phishy weekend at Merriweather

As Bar prep is making it exceedingly difficult to crank out even a short blog 

posting these days, I humbly present:

The QUICK AND DIRTY on Phish's recent 2-Day stint in Columbia, MD!

Summer Tour Setlists

6/26/10
First set was...you know, I hesitate to say "bland."  Buuuut.....yeah, that's what I'm going with.  Wasn't much to it that you haven't seen before, and the song selection left a little bit to be desired.  A head bob-worthy AC/DC Bag, rather traditional Stash, and a pretty decent Suzy Greenberg were the reluctant highlights of an rather uninspired first set.

Now, we all have heard the band members are on the clean and sober these days.  But, they must have chiefed some ooey gooey purp slurp during intermission because the second set was quite the departure from the first...in a good way.  Page kicked off the set with a great version of Rock&Roll that made the sides of your mouth curl northward and fed right into a fist-pumping Free.  Tweezer was energizing and kept everyone dancing through standard and fun versions of SITM, Wolfman's, and Slave until a POUNDING Tweezer Reprise capped off the second set.  SICK Tweeprise!

6/27/10
We arrived on Sunday giddy with excitement, ready for whatever was in store.  Feeling like Saturday was but a prelude to a brain-vaporizing second night, we found our place on the lawn, felt the electricity in the air, and waited for the pied pipers to take us away.  First set started out with a zany Walfredo; Trey on keys, Mike on guitar, Fish on bass, and Page on drums.  First couple songs were soundly shoulder-shakers, but when Trey played those first few chords of Divided Sky, we knew the night was ON.  The band continued with a sweet-sounding Tela (first time heard live) and then a bouncing My Soul which got everyone, including the grey-haired Jerry Garcia incarnate near us, dancing and howlin' as the sun began to set (more on faux-Jerry later).  A fun Sample set the stage for one of the best Bathtub Gin's we've ever heard (a particular fav of the Wife), followed up with an always-pleasant Brian&Robert.  The Antelope that closed the first set was clean and sprightly, leaving us in great anticipation of the set to come.

The final set of the weekend could only be described as GRITTY...in the best way possible :)  They opened with Wilson, the initial notes of which were so power-chordy that it sent chills down my spine.  Wilson went right into a Japanese lyrics-infused Meatstick and then into I Saw It Again (which came to be the running gag of the night, as Trey randomly substituted other songs' lyrics with "Saw it Again!")  A quickly-escalating, powerful Piper w/ jam led into an always groovy Ghost.  And then, in quite the unexpected move by the band (of course, knowing Phish, they might not have known it was coming, either...), they played a seemingly impromptu and VERY rockin' version of Jumpin' Jack Flash!!  And the crowd goes wild!!  JJF led back into a second coming of I Saw It Again and petered into an arm-waving head-tilting Contact sing-a-long (which I do not now and never will consider a "bathroom song," thangyaveddymuch).  But, nothing throughout the whole night compared to hearing those first few notes of the closer...my favorite song...the song of all Phish songs...the majestic, the timeless, the mysterious, the monstrous...YOU ENJOY MYSELF!  YEM (vocal jam included "I Saw It Again" lyrics) marked the end of a second set that both exemplified why I love Phish and put the perfect finishing touches on a weekend of great music and celebration.

One last thing...

At some point during Rock&Roll, my eyes were drawn toward a gentleman to my left sporting a grey beard, wearing a tie-dyed shirt, and doing what can best be described as 'jamming out like no other.'  I mean, he was REALLY rockin'.  After he finished a fierce air piano solo, I knew I had to meet this Jerry Garcia-inspired jam band vet and maybe catch a few stories of the old days.  After introducing himself as 'Grateful Ed ' (fantastic, right?) he told me there was a story behind how he got into the jam band scene, as he wasn't always fond of the stuff of hippies.  Here's his story...I encourage you to have a look: Grateful Ed's Story

JFro and Grateful Ed...bridgin' the gap.

(NOTE: Yes...I realize that was neither "quick" nor "dirty." So I took it upon myself to waste a lil' more time and crank out a few extra paragraphs?  What's it to ya, patchouli breath!)