Phish Tour 2009

The summer of jam band love continues with a guest post from Marcus Gebauer

We're all familiar with the old cliche "sex, drugs, and rock and roll." In the case of Phish it had always been about the rock 'n roll. It's said that in the early nineties they were so obsessed with perfection that they would head back to the tour bus after a grueling four hour show to practice and perfect transistions in their complicated compositional masterpieces. However, life on road for more than 20 years started wearing on the group, especially in the case of front man and bandleader Trey Anastasio. It became more about the drugs than the rock 'n roll. When the band decided to call it quits in 2004 after the Coventry festival, 'phans' could more than see that the music was suffering. Flubs and song restarting were becoming all too commonplace. Their trademark jams had hit the wall and were sounding more like long, unenergetic repeating measures at the end of songs. It was for the best that the Phish touring machine hung it up, at least for a while.

Well, 5 years later, Phish is back and better than ever. A drug related run-in with the law and the death of his sister from cancer seem to have put things in prospective for Trey. For this tour, he is completely sobered up and we're all reaping the benefits with some of the most impressive guitar and vocal work in decades. Listening to shows on the first leg of the tour so far, this tour is sounding like a throwback to the mid-nineties Phish we've all come to know and love - tight, polished, and climatic rip your face off jams.

With the tour in full swing, it is clear Phish is not embarking on some nostalgic, obligatory reunion tour. They are noticeably excited to play each night and seem intent on taking the old songs to new places. They've also been debuting new songs off their yet to be titled album set to drop later this summer (its rumored to be titled "Party Time"). The songs may not be groundbreaking artistic achievements especially lyrically but we've never expected that from Phish. What they do provide is an embodiment of everything there is to love about Phish songs. Melodic, fun, up tempo songs and most excitedly absolute rocking jams at the end of some of the new tunes. My favorites which are linked below include "Kill Devil Falls," the bluesy "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan," and the (very) Dead-esque "Alaska." For me summer does not feel complete without a Phish show so hopefully you're able to join me in checking them out live this summer and 'sharing in the groove.'

Phish is playing Alpine Valley this Saturday and Sunday before heading west to Red Rocks and the Gorge, then stopping through Chicago to play Toyota Park before traveling back to the eastern seaboard for the final four shows of the tour. Everyone should see at least one Phish show, it's an experience that cannot be matched by any other band, period.

Kill Devil Falls.mp3
Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan.mp3
Alaska.mp3

Phish.com
LivePhish.com - To purchase any of their recent live shows

Mid-Nineties Phish