Lagniappe

Never Miss a Tuesday.... or a Wednesday. Or to cut to the chase, never miss a Bakers Dozen Show. Stream, webcast, get to NY; whatever you can do to see the Phish in action the time is right here, right now. They are executing and playing on a level with a consistency that hasn't been seen in almost 20 years. That's also 18 years longer than my memory seems to go back these days so as far as I am concerned we are at peak Phish. I probably sound like a broken record but it's a really beautiful and special time to be a passionate, loyal and dedicated follower of the P fish. 

What they might not have in youthful dexterity and the unrelenting raw energy they had in the 90s, they more than make up for it with the experience of playing for so many years, surviving, the knowledge and comfort of who they are and where their place in music history stands. It's really a beautiful thing to be comfortable in your own skin. I was younger, stronger, faster in my 20s. However today I am a better person, so much more comfortable with who I am and what I am about.

We are witnessing a special moment in the history of the greatest band of all time. I feel bad for the muggles that don't get IT, I try to spread the gospel as much as possible. At Veselka late night this past weekend I tried to convince some NY club kids to go to the show. It might have worked. As an aside Vesekla (Ukrainian for rainbow) is a bomb ass late night spot in the east village for delicious food and amazing vibes. Check it out if in town and hungry after a show.

After last night's Jam themed donut (shout out to Lasker for being the source of the Federal Donut info that I couldn't remember from yesterday's post), Wednesday's donut theme would be brought to you by powdered sugar donuts. There was lots of speculation that the theme would be cocaine related because it was the anniversary of JJ Cales death and, well, white powder. I think it hits too close to home. Part of the reason I enjoy every sandwich is that we have been very close (multiple times) to not having Phish and more specifically to not having Trey. Very few people can survive an opiate addiction, especially our rock n roll gods. It's amazing that Trey is healthy, happy and sober. My friend McKenzie taught me a creole word in New Orleans at Jazzfest this year when she ended up staying an extra day. Lagniappe (def: something given as a bonus gift). 

In a pretty cool hey, look how awesome the universe is kind of way, when I googled lagniappe to check spelling and definition, this is what I found on Wikipedia: 

A lagniappe (/ˈlænjæp/ LAN-yap or /lænˈjæp/lan-YAP) is "a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase" (such as a 13th doughnut on purchase of a dozen), or more broadly, "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure."

As such I look at and enjoy every Phish show as a lagniappe. Perhaps that makes me a bit of a fluffer (see second set review below) but I still feel that I can be reasonably critical (see first set review below). 

The boys come out with an acapella cover of White Winter Hymnal, today the band views powder as snow and not blow. As an aside while I'm not one to tell people what to do (that might actually not be true but anyway), and how to enjoy their show other than shutting the fuck up, cocaine is such a bad drug choice for Phish. I don't get it. Anyway I didn't recognized the song yet call myself a big fan of the Fleet Foxes. Kind of a fail. Trey is really into indy music - seems like lots of the 3.0 covers are more in that strikezone. 

Up next was My Soul. Not really but Trey definitely played the guitar lick from it before starting up cars, trucks, busses. I like this tune, jazzy number. Check out the New Mastersounds cover, it's pretty good. Nice version but didn't quite have it down. 

Up next My Soul. Slightly extended version, nothing really to report. At this point I was just thinking it was early in the show and the band was settling in. Roses up next, another cover. 3 of the first 4 songs were covers tonight. I love Roses, always think of the Island tour version (an unfair comparison), however this roses was short and didn't go anywhere. I was starting to think wow the band is tired from last night and for whatever reason don’t seem to have the magic tonight. It's really one of the first times all tour I have had that thought pop up in my head. 

The start of very long fuse did nothing to change that. It was a train wreck. Trey went over to Page, suggested fuse, Page said no, Trey said yes. Should have listened to Page. I'm glad they are taking chances and busting out songs but this one needed some practice. A big time struggle for the band. They found a little groove on the back end but it couldn't make up for the rough start. 

There is no such thing as a bad gumbo. In my over, under or properly rated game gumbo is a little underrated song. We went and saw Tom Marshall and the Amphibian All Stars including Cal Kehoe the night before. They covered Gumbo w Tom singing. Was actually cool to see them back to back. Anyway they started to find a little something in the gumbo. Ok, maybe they will break out of it. And then....

The set killer himself showed up stinging like a bee taking down everything in site. Sorry but Yarmouth road sucks. It's my least favorite Phish song. It kills momentum, never has a good jam. I know Trey likes to throw a Mike song in the mix early in the first set but there are so many better options. Say something would be nice to hear again. Maybe something from overstep (I always thought Ether would be a great Phish tune). Anything but Yarmouth Road. 

Ok, it was just going to be one of those sets, possibly one of those nights. And then out of nowhere for the first time in years, Pebbles and Marbles!!! This tune is properly rated by the phans but underrated by the band. It really should be in more heavy rotation. Such a good song. The pleasure and joy of hearing the bust out made up for the fact that there were so many flubs. To be expected when the band is playing 250 songs or whatever over the course of the Bakers Dozen. 

Farmhouse up next. I was happy to get it out of the way but I noticed Sara and Holly were really moved by the song. That's another reason I hammer the STFU at all times when the band is playing card. Just because a song might not be one that you like, it might be the person’s next to you favorite song. You haven't listened to a show with another persons earplugs (or something like that). 

Up next was Tube. Custy Jeni pointed to her watch (asking me if Tube was going to be jammed out) and I shook my head yes (at this point more hopeful than anything). Tube seems to typically come earlier in the set, in fact I don't really remember it closing a first set out (really dug the placement). This version was amazeballs (lame word but can't think of a better one). Just like that Phish was back on their game. Holy shit this jam was dope AF. I love tube, it's such a groovy song. The funk is probably my favorite Phish genre. I was wearing my Hollywood Bowl Dead & Co shirt so the freeway in Los Angeles hit home. The Tube resurgence happened at my hometown San Diego show. I was dancing my ass off, getting down, back in it to win it. Excellent extended tube, turned the entire show around and was the aperitif for what, in my opinion, was the best set of the tour to date.

At set break my buddy John was hosting 3 first time noobs. They didn't seem quite that impressed by the Phish first set. Can't really blame them. One dude was a Navy Seal - I asked him what kind of music he liked and he said hard rock. I thought to myself (wish I had said it) damn a Carini would be perfect for this guy. Then BOOM the lumpy head comes out and crushes us with the first song of the second set. I've said it before and will say it again, Carini is in my top 5 Phish songs. (The real top 5, not the songs I call top 5 that end up sliding into the top 10 or whatever). This was an excellent version, once again going from dark to light, evil to happy, hard to soft. Beautiful version, perfect amount of time spent on it, nice drop perhaps led by Fishman into Mr. Completely. Phish is now 3 for 3 with this TAB cover. This is a TAB song that just seems to really fit well with Phish. For me a lot of them don't but this one does. And they have found a great groove and jam every time played with some incredible peaks last night. I have a feeling it is going to become a regular. Nice to have you back in the fold, mister. 

Then 1999!!! I immediately recognized what was happening. That was awesome. Similar to pebbles the excitement of the bust out made up for the not exactly precise cover of the Prince classic (LTP was in the Garden in 1998 despite everyone being 100% sure we were going to hear it at Cypress). Following the standard 1999 phish turned the jam up to 11. That was awesome, get down and party and dance music. My favorite Prince album of all is the Loring Park Sessions - Prince at 19 just laying down the funk - and this jam was like that turned up to 11. Perhaps not as funky but definitely could groove to it. That was so much fun. 

Up next was another of my top 5 Phish songs (but this one is really in the top 15), Steam. This version was beautiful. Recency bias alert but this was the best version ever. It was nailed. Beautiful, soaring, touching all the emotions, hitting me right in the gut, all of the feels. Just an incredible display of the band locked in, grooving, professional and incredible musicians. I had the biggest smile on my face. 

Then No Quarter... holy shit. What a perfect call, beautiful placement and excellent version. One of my all time favorite Zep songs by my absolute all time favorite bands. Yes quarter!

To close out what was an incredible set was Character Zero. Chomper anthem? I think so but will have to get confirm from Fzappa. I whispered to Jeni well this was a great set until now. Not my favorite Phish song but this one had some extra mustard. Mike and Trey did that thing next to each other and as Jeni pointed out "Never miss a Mike smiling show." Mike was happy, the band was happy, we were happy, I was ecstatic (my baseline is happy - it's a choice!)

They then come out and closed this epic set with Powderfinger by Neil Young. Vocals a little rough but such a beautiful tune and really so happy to hear them play any Neil Young song. Does this take cinnamon girl out of play? Time will tell. Love the unusual / non-standard encores. 

Another magical set of music. The best band in the world firing on all cylinders. Great covers of songs by Fleet Foxes, Ween, Clifton Chenier, Prince, Led Zeppelin and Neil Young. I mean who else in the world can do that over the course of a career but much less in one show. The answer is nobody. Nobody can do what Phish does. The. Best. Band. In. The. World. And they are peaking. We've got it so good. 

✌🏼❤️🎼🐠🍩🤙🏼

#liveyourliphe

#collectmoments

#enjoyeverysandwich

Photo by @custynoob