Sorry to all you non-phish fans out there.. but there's only one thing making headlines today in my world... and that is the impending four night run at Madison Square Garden... So! In honor of the festivities about the begin.. let's take a stroll down MSG's past... here's my top 10 moments just of shows that I've been too... with links where possible.
10. There Must Be Some Kind of Way Outta Here
My first trip to MSG started with a tequila-soaked subway ride on 10/21/96.. and ended with Buddy Miles, Merle Sanders, and some troup of Circus Dancers coming out for the encore on 10/22/96... for a nice take on All Along the Watchtower. Buddy sang vocals, and it was definitely more of HIS tune than a Phish version.. he totally mixed up the phrasing on the chorus. Pretty cool. Was unlike any other Watchtower I had seen...and there's plenty out there. Not the best, but certainly the most firey one I've seen in person... and note the "unusual" ending...
Best part? Buddy Miles: "Everybody knows who Bob Dylan is, right?"
Dude, you're at a Phish show-- this isn't a Bieber concert. Oh wait, it was 1996. Bieber probably wasnt even born yet. This isn't a Color Me Badd show, brah!
Special thanks to Samara for providing the Dog and I a crash pad.. and said tequila. I think she consented to that... not to get anyone in trouble....
9. My Girl She's One Too
In keeping with the "sick-cover-encore" theme... let's turn back the Page to 12/28/98. Following the epic '98 "Summer of Covers" the band brought some leftovers to MSG for the NYE run. While not a bust at the time, Been Caught Stealing was still very well received by the crowd, including me.. who had -- ahem... Been Caught Stealing just that fall at Umass with two other accomplices who shall remain nameless.. I won't go into the whole story, but let's just say it involed me sticking a pound of corned beef down my pants at the supermarket... That's what she said
Note the strange coccoon type things in the backround.. It was part of that year's prank. Where each night there was a different seasonal-themed backdrop. They did scale it down a bit after the first night, because it was just a bit too busy I guess... Here's the brief write-up from phish.net
Notes: For the first show of the Holiday Run, the stage was decorated with flowers and sculptures. During the encore, parts of the set began to grow and sprout leaves. This stage setup was used for this show only, and disappeared for the rest of the run.
We'll never know for sure what happened there, but I'm guessing it had something to do with this guy being overserved....
8. This Feelin' I Can't Change
Sticking with the 98 run.. we FFWD to 12/29/98... which undoubtedly was the highlight of that run, and probably the best show I'd ever seen at that point... at the very least, in the top 3. The Rock N Roll opener, nodding to all the New York Stations kicked things off in overdrive, and they never really slowed down. It also helped that Noodle and I were on the floor, dead center, 25 rows back.. right in front of the aisle in between the floor sections. At one point, someone in a large, neon bird costume snuck up behind me and plucked my hat off my head. As you can imagine.. I was quite surprised.. I think I looked something like this at the time:
And just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder.. they ended the 1st set with an A Capella version of Freebird. They had done it before, but certainly the first time I had seen one.. and certainly the perfect way to cap that set. Can't seem to find the one from that night anywhere (damn you internets!) but for those of you who have never seen/heard them do it.. here's one from 2009. Definitely a sight to behold:
7. The Wind Blows High
After that smokin first set... Phish did the only thing they could do, the only thing they know how to do.. They got even more rediculous in the 2nd set. Funky, filthy, spacey, nasty jams.. particularly on that 2001 > Boogie On.... here's a lil sample
And then, as per usual, just when you thought they had blown out every last bit of your mind.. they come out for the encore and drop a Divided Sky... and people ask me why I have to go to all four nights... pssh!
part 1:
part 2:
6. Two Thousand Zero Zero Party Over -- Oops! Out of time.
Of course the irony being that the party was not over.. in fact it was just beginning. As with anything, the anticipation to a phish show is almost as much fun as the show itself. What will they play? When will they play it? In fact, some people have turned that into a fantasy sport of sorts -- you know just the real dorky types. Of course, more often than not they never play what you think they will, and you certain never know when it's coming. But going into New Years Ever on 12/31/98.. everyone was calling for the Prince classic, 1999. Will they do it before or after the countdown? Will they encore with it once we are officially into 1999? Nope. Let's just open the show with it and get it over with. Works for me!
The best part of this show was that everywhere I went for the next few weeks, 1999 was being played all over the place.. and it just brought it all back like a stifling wave of patchouli in the parking lot on summer tour. Good times.
5. You Enjoy MyTeca (aka Crab in my YEM-Mouth)
Phish 3.0 makes it's first appearance on this list with one of those classic, Phishy moments.
The date: 12/31/10.
The scene: Coming off a triumphant year where they started to get their sea legs back after "the break up" Phish was riding high into MSG and doing something they'd never done before. Playing NYE in the middle of the run, with a show following on New Year's Day. And ironically, it led to one of the best actual 12/31 shows in quite some time. Usually, the best night of a new year's run is one of the other days..See, 12/29/98, 12/30/97.. But this year, the stars aligned for a monster 12/31... and nothing captures that essence better than this epic mashup of two songs that you might not think would fit together so well...
Funny to see just how much better the vids have gotten over the years.. and is it too early to give HarpuaFSB a lifetime achievement at the oscar's? Dude is on point...
4. See the several kinds... blap boom biddy boom boom biddy boom
Have to cop out and do a tie here at 4th place... and they both come from a day that will live in infamy" 12/31/02 -- the Day They Came Back.. the First Time. After a not-so-brief "hiatus" (hissss) the boys return to their old stomping grounds for a New Year's Spectacular. And indeed it was. After not seeing Phish for two year, even the Tuning was music to my ears... and they quickly proved they still had their bag of tricks..
First, in the first set when the lights went dark, and the jumbotron kicked on to show a clip from the movie "cast away".. the classic "Wilson" scene. As Hanks screams grew more feverish, they kicked into the opening clicks of Wilson.. only to bring out Tom Hanks midway through to "sing" the breakdown line... Of course it wasnt Tom Hanks, it was actually Page's brother, who apparently looks a lot like Mr Hanks and is mistaken for him all the time. Or at least, mistaken all the time by 20+ thousand hippies who can't see strait. Either way, it made for good times... sadly, can't seem to find a video of this anywhere! Strange. Guess you'll have to just take my word for it.
That night for the New Year's Eve stunt, they somehow managed to make it snow inside the building, and brought their old friends the circus dancers to add that extra level of weird that only phish can do. Again, cant seem to find any vid of it, save for this "montage" of the evening, which has a few glimpses of it and some other tunes. Crazy to think just how much has changed in just 10 years. Now you can search just about any tune from any show and probably find a video for it..
3. Shocks the Brain
By far one of the bets Stuns they've done came just two years ago, on 12/31/10 ... when they let it all hang out -- metaphorically speaking of course -- with quite the unusual version of Meastick. And considering the song is called Meatstick, and has its very own dance, that's saying quite a bit. For those of you who dont know -- and by now, if you are still reading, I am sure you do -- the song has a verse in Japanese that they sing routinely.. taught to them by some Japanese band when they were playing Festivals there in 1999. Well, on this night, in true New York fashion, they turned the stage into a melting pot of meatsticks --- with singers peforming the verse in all sorts of languages.. and just when the stage was cluttered with vendors and street performers a la times square, the original Meatstick itself materialized in the back of the arena.
They also uploaded a cool behind the scenes version on vimeo... you can check it out here.
2. If I Haver...
Not sure what "Havering" is, but you may recall it was all the rage back in 1997 when a group called The Proclaimers hit it big with "500 miles (I'm Gonna Be). This brings me back..
Well, one thing we've learned over the years, Phish isn't immune to the genius of their contemporaries. And nothing proved that quite like 12/30/97.Dusting off the Fat Sweaty One, Trey unfurled a (rambling) yarn, about his time as a young lad when he used to watch Lost In Space. He somehow found his way to the point of that story -- that he saw a spirit in the mist and it sang to him.. And it looked.. something... like.. this...
Harpua >
500 Miles
1. It's like TWO New Year's Eves!
Quite an epic yarn, and the only way to properly cap that show is with an equally epic encore.. and as per usual, they did not dissapoint. Returning onstage after a brief break, Trey walks up to the mic and says:
"So the official word is... we were supposed to stop at 11, but its something like 12 minutes till nye. so we figured we'll just keep playing until NYE! Then we'll stop and it will still be NYE when we start tomorrow night. It's like TWO New Year's Eves!"
Kinder words were never spoken.. and with that they launched into a balls blazing Carini:
Before Seguing into the New Funked-Out-Instrumnetal-Later-Known-As-Moma-Dance Black Eyed Katy
Then deftly turned back into the Sneakin Sally Through The Alley which they broke out to open the show for the first time since 1989 (919 shows)... And finally coming to "rest" on the Edgar Winters Group rocker, Frankenstein. I've seen a lot of things in my time, but not quite sure I'll ever see an encore like that again. Of course, I hope they probe me wrong.. tomorrow.. and there's a good chance they will. Especially if my phantasy setlist comes to fruition.
Cant find vids for the last two..but there is one of the entire 2nd set here.. You can ffwd to the 1:38:00 mark to watch the entire encore uncut-- as God planned.
0. P-p-p-p-iper the Red Red Worm
It is a countdown after all, so don't begrudge me a number 0!
But the best MSG moment has to be the opener on that chilly night back on 12/31/02. MSG always has an electric vibe to it, thats what makes it one of the best venues in the country, but after that god awful hiatus (sssss) there was a little something extra in the air before the show. The entire place was basically general admission (as has become the norm since really) and we had taken over an entire section for our crew.. I think we had maybe two seats in there, but definitely not more than that. But that night, you felt like everyone there was in your crew. You were just high-fiving random hippies as you walked through the halls... everyone was just beyond fired up. Then they hit the stage with Piper, which I cant imagine anyone predicted. But it proved the be the perfect call. It starts with an instrumental crescendo, slowly getting louder and louder before the words kick in.. and just like the tune, the MSG crowd just kept getting louder and louder. Still have never heard anything quite like it. The decibel levels were off the charts. Again, no vides sadly, and not sure an mp3 will do it justice.. especially a soundboard... but here goes..
http://grooveshark.com/s/Piper+Live/4cLoc4?src=5
Well thats it for 2012. Thanks for checking in. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.. and I hope to see you at MSG! Of course, if you dont have tickets yet......
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