Phish Reunion

Phish.com is reporting that the new Phish album to be released July 28th is called Joy. According to the site:

“Phish will be releasing Joy, their first studio album in five years, later this summer on JEMP Records. The record was recorded in New York City this spring with producer Steve Lillywhite. Stay tuned for further details and pre-order information in the coming weeks! The last track, Time Turns Elastic, is available now at iTunes.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Trey said it “feels more like a live record than a lot of our live records.” I’m excited to see what that means, as they’ve always struggled to bring the live sound to the studio.

Here’s the track list:

1. Twenty Years Later
2. Backwards Down the Number Line
3. Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
4. Light
5. Joy
6. Sugar Shack
7. Ocelot
8. Kill Devil Falls
9. I’ve Been Around
10. Time Turns Elastic

Can’t wait to check it out!

6.4.09 Jones Beach Amphitheater, Wantagh, NY

Set 1
Grind, The Divided Sky, Ocelot, The Squirming Coil, Punch You in the Eye, Dirt, NICU, Ghost, Run Like An Antelope

Set 2
Water in the Sky, Birds of a Feather, Drowned> Meatstick, Time Turns Elastic, Waste, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Rock and Roll

6.02.09  Jones Beach Amphitheater, Wantagh, NY

Set 1: Runaway Jim, Foam, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan*, Timber, Cities, Driver, Reba, Possum, Farmhouse, If I Could

Set 2: Mike’s Song> Simple> Wolfman’s Brother> Weekapaug Groove, When the Circus Comes to Town, Kill Devil Falls*, Harry Hood, Loving Cup

Encore: Suzy Greenberg

*first time played

5.31.09 Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Set 1: The Star Spangled Banner, Sample in a Jar, The Moma Dance, Chalkdust Torture, Ocelot*, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, Poor Heart, Limb By Limb, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Down With Disease, Destiny Unbound, Character Zero

Set 2: Tweezer> Light*, Bathtub Gin, David Bowie, Time Turns Elastic*, Free, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Cavern, Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

Soundcheck: Funky Bitch, Kill Devil Falls*, Undermind, Star Spangled Banner

Star Spangled Banner performed acapella by Phish on the pitcher’s mound before the first set started.

* first time played

Alright, I guess it’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get ready for the next big Phish adventure! Our only summer shows will be the Gorge in Washington, unless some Red Rocks tickets miraculously fall from the sky. It’s a bit frustrating to have some big Phish shows going down in your own state but be unable to attend since apparently no one in Colorado actually scored tickets. But I digress.

How great is it to have a summer full of Phish to look forward to? Just like the good old days. Even if you aren’t at the shows, there is the excitement of checking the setlists to see what they played, and waiting impatiently for LivePhish.com to put the show up so you can listen to it. Or if you are the kind of person that likes surprises, you can always check out the No Spoilers downloads from Mr Miner. Just like being at the show, minus all the stinkie hippies and drunk frat boys. Sounds kinda nice actually.

So here’s to the return of Phish in the summer time. Two of the best things life has to offer, back together again!

Now we’re talking!

7.30.09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
7.31.09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
8.01.09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
8.02.09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
8.05.09 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
8.07.09 The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
8.08.09 The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
8.11.09 Toyota Park, Chicago, IL
8.13.09 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien Center, NY
8.14.09 Meadows Music Theater, Hartford, CT
8.15.09 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
8.16.09 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

Visit Phish.com for more info.

We had an epic travel day after the show, which involved driving 3 hours after the show, hopping on a plane, then another plane, then driving 3 more hours. Needless to say I’m exhausted, but the show was incredible and Phish is indeed back. I was fully impressed at my 47th show, and super psyched for what the future holds.

In the meantime, the Hampton Selists are here.

Thanks to Hidden Track for the heads up about this great article in the New York Times about Phish and their return. Some really positive stuff in there from a fan perspective. Two things in particular really stood out to me. One, they are talking about how to make this a “a format to keep playing for a long time” according to Trey. That’s great, as I think everyone will agree that the big tours of the past may not be feasible, but there is no reason Phish can’t keep things going for years and years to come.

Another point that I really liked was how they have been practicing, and not just the simple songs. According to the article, Split Open & Melt and Foam were being practiced. Foam! When’s the last time they played that? It sounds like they are dedicated to really being on top of their game with this go round, which is really exciting. Part of the joy of Phish in ‘94 was knowing they’d hit 99% of the notes perfectly!

Lastly, there is a mention of a structured setlist for the weekend shows, and I think this is great. Just yesterday I was listening to a bunch of Fall 2000 shows, and thinking how great and varied the setlists were. Apparently at the time Trey didn’t like it though, as he vowed that tour would be the last where they used setlists. And while there is a cool creative element to the open slate of just playing whatever, I think with a planned setlist, you get better variety, at least from a fan perspective. And it’s not like they can’t deviate if they are feeling it too.

Definitely check the article out, it was a fantastic way to start the morning!

Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more excited about this weekend’s shows, Phish.com just announced they will be offering free MP3 downloads of the entire weekend! From the official site:

“Each show will be professionally multitracked and mixed onsite and within 24 hours, 256kbps MP3s will be made available for free for a limited time at LivePhish.com. Fans who wish to download higher quality versions may purchase FLAC downloads. The shows will also be available on CD. Both are available for pre-order now. You can register at LivePhish.com to receive an email when the free MP3s are available for download.”

Everyone had been wondering why there was no preorder on LivePhish yet, and I guess now we know why! So psyched I don’t think I am gonna be able to sleep the rest of the week!

While I was reading Phish Thoughts the other day, I came across a post about the Victor Disk, a collection of recordings from 2002 before the band played their first reunion shows after the hiatus. After having listened to it several times now, I have to say, this is just great. This is why I love Phish. If all they did was stuff like this from now on, I’d be a happy camper. They are so good at just settling in and jamming it out with eachother, who needs things like structure and lyrics. Just give me endless Phishy improv and it’s all good.