Tao of Pauly

Phish in Philly

11.29.03 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Set 1 (1:15): Wilson, Cars Trucks Buses, Limb by Limb, Dirt, Seven Below, Divided Sky, Fast Enough for You, Julius
Set 2 (1:20): Twist > Simple > Taste, Makisupa Policeman, Buffalo Bill (w/ Tom Marshall), David Bowie, Strange Design, Character Zero
Encore: Friday


Set 1: The crowd was buzzing, just like the February show at the Spectrum. The Philly show from this past Winter Tour was one of my favorite shows from 2003 (with a first set Slave to the Traffic Light! and a fatty & funky Cities), and it would be tough to top that show and match Friday night's effort and energy. I had a decent seat in the back with some nice heads from central PA. Wilson to open was flat, but the crowd was pumped nonetheless. Cars Trucks Buses is a song they don't play enough. I really enjoy a Phish instrumental, especially ones composed by Page. Limb by Limb is a song that I grew fond of in Japan, after they really broke out a couple of kick ass tight versions. They have been playing Limb by Limb much better post-haitus than before. Dirt is a song I once admitted that "I could see at every show." Well, this time, I didn't cause I had to take a wicked piss and the lines were slow. I got back just in time for a fat Seven Below. Phish hits or misses when they play Seven Below, because it's all about what kind of jam they were going to break out. That might have been the best version of Seven Below that I have seen. The jam was not sloppy nor too spacey. It was layered with some heavy groove and felt smooth as shit! That jam pretty much set the tone for the night. Whereas Nassau was a night of hard jamming and Trey bouncing all over the place, Philly was more laid back and groove oriented. That was the definite highlight of the first set. Divided Sky is a crowd pleaser and is one of the few songs I'd prefer to hear outdoors. Since the hiatus, Phish has played the rare Divided Sky almost nine times and I caught four (12.31.02, 7.10.03, 7.31.03. 11.29.03) versions. All of them were roughly the same, and I heard a couple of the other ones on CD. They haven't been tinkering with the jam since it was mostly composed stuff from the Phish early Junta years. Fast Enough for You is a nice slow song to smoke or bowl to. They closed the set with Julius, which they opened up their last Philly show with... and Trey was happy to be playing! Overall, the first set was not as sloppy as the night before, however, I prefered the song selection better in the first set at Nassau... which was one of the best First Sets of Phish all year.

Set 2: The opened up with a nice Twist Around and the jam was not too spacey and more groove and funk based. I really enjoy hearing a good Twist and it's a great second set opener. They segued into Simple which was better than average, before they slid into Taste. At the last Philly show, during Taste, I spotted an old lady wearing a green Phish shirt, she smiled at me and I never saw her again. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of her. I looked around, and I could not find her. Then, finally... Phish played a song I was dying to hear... Makisupa Policeman and that made my show! The second set was much better than the first and Makisupa topped it off! Especially when you have to travel a long distance to see a show, it's awesome when the boys break out something personal and something you were willing to pay good money to see. I had not seen Makisupa Policeman in over three years (that's more than 25 shows worth of Phish I had been waiting to hear one of my favorite songs!)... since Albany 9.9.00 with Gil (when Michael Ray came out and busted out some heavy horn action). I was very happy. Next up, Tom Marshall came out and sang Buffalo Bill with the boys. He makes me laugh. And I really have fun with Buffalo Bill. I was waiting for a heavy hitter like YEM, Harry Hood or David Bowie... and then Fishman went to the high hat and I knew we'd get a sick David Bowie. It was average, but I was happy to hear it. They settled down for a few seconds before they played a rare song, but one of Senor's favorites... Strange Design, and I was happy to hear it, but I would have been slightly disappointed that they closed the set with a slow song. Instead they played a crowd pleaser, Charcter Zero, another repeat from the last Philly show. Trey ripped the shit out of that jam and the crowd was going nuts for sure. The encore was one song, and I laughed when I thought about what Senor wrote me about the Nassau encore: "Once again Phish played a killer show... with a huge encore let down." Yeah, I think that Phish cheesed out with a Friday encore. But these days, I do not expect a hot closer. Besides, over the last few weeks I grew fond of a couple of slow Phish songs off of Round Room, including Friday. It was well played and all I could think about was, "Thank God they didn't play Secret Smile or Spices!" Which are two of the worst songs Phish debuted during the summer tour.

Afterthoughts: It was fucking cold. I almost stepped on a puppy. We got to the show just as it was starting and the lights went down. I heard the intro to Wilson as I was finding my seat. Fishman played much better at Philly. He was solid on Limb by Limb and Bowie. I am leaning towards Nassau as the better show (I thought Mike & Trey played better). The first set at Nassau was much tighter and I preferred the song selections. However, the second set of Philly was excellent (I mean... Makisupa Policeman!) and the groove based jams (Seven Below & Twist) were more to my liking. Special thanks to Laura, Craig's girlfriend from New Haven, for the ride. She took one for the team and acted as designated driver for the night. She got me back into the city pretty fast! And I never saw anyone smoke eighteen ciggies in a row while driving on the NJ Turnpike! Next up... Albany! Which is one of my favorite places to see Phish. Hey Trey, where's my fucking Tube opener??