Been thinking (and writing) for a long while about the show we caught back in November. There are plenty of reviews out there on the whole show (which currently has a fan rating of 4.26/5.00) but I decided to take a song-by-song approach to breaking down how it felt to be a part of this thing and what I’ve noticed a few more listens.

Turtle in the Clouds

One of the best from the Kasvot Vaxt “cover” set from Halloween ’18.  2nd time seeing this one – first one was a great delivery at MSG.  The band comes out of the gate upbeat with a song that includes a fun little dance number.  And by dance number, I mean that Trey and Mike have a choreographed dance break in the song.  Appropriately, I was talking to the guy next to me about how great the seats were before the house lights dropped, and one of the last things said before the band took the stage was that he was excited that our view afforded us the opportunity to “watch Trey’s feet”.  Presumably he was referring to watching him work his pedals… but I’ll take a great view little soft-shoe when I can get!  The lyrics also directly reference dancing with its “House Party!  My friends are dancing on the hillside!” lyric.  Hey!  That’s us!

Gap: 2  Andy: 2  Em: 1 Matt: 1

Punch you in the Eye

A second dance song to open the night!  And by dance song – I mean that Trey and Mike have a choreographed dance break in the song.  This punch packs a little extra – with a nice extended intro section before the lyrics that takes a brooding and ethereal little trip through the deep blue before the story starts.  I would say this section begins roughly at 1:42 when the keys start to add a little extra texture and it becomes clear that the band is in no rush to get through the intro.  By 2:24 we’re in somewhat of an abnormal territory – where you’d be hard-pressed to find a section quite like this in any other Punch intro.  By 3:00, Trey’s scratches re-introduce the theme and we continue on with the normal structure of the song…  Punch features one of 2 references to Wilson that we’d hear that night.  (See Wombat)  I love this energetic song in the 2nd slot and have listened back to it several times.  Pretty good jam for a run – in case any of my readers happen to be training for a marathon…

Gap: 14  Andy: 3 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Llama

Another from the game henge saga.  This one certainly lacks the speed of “Llama” but is not quite as slow as “Slow Llama” (although personally, I would score it as such).  Beautiful little bass solo rears its head in this one.

I’m always trying to guess at songs just from the scratching and count-in and I definitely didn’t have this one until a few notes in.  (I think I had guessed Roses are Free based on the count in).  You can hear two cheers from the crowd as the song begins, one from those of us who recognized Llama from the 10-(or so)-note intro and then another cheer from those that didn’t pick it up until the lyrics started…”Sunrise over the turquoise mountains…”

This song is normally a rippin’ barn-burner.  This slower version allows Trey to let his delay effects ride out a little more and lent itself perfectly to the bass breakdown that kicks in around 3:20

Gap: 12  Andy: 2 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Meat

The first of our ‘introduced’ songs of the night.  I love Meat.  This is Phish sublimely funky and perfectly weird.  In the moment, I was a little obsessed with trying to explain to Emily that this song was about the band tripping on acid and bugging out a little.  Basically the phone rang and put them all on red alert.  “I just felt like my heart stopped beating.  I thought that I heard you laughing.”  Finally, someone (I think perhaps Fish) came up with the brilliant idea to just “put the pillow on it.”  I feel like I can relate to the experience of that moment of paranoia, hysteria and humor.  Also, let’s be real… What are you gonna offer a host of ghosts living on your street?  There’s a bit of false ending thread so far in three of the four songs that the band selected for this first set.

One of 8! songs that I picked up for the first time at this show!

Gap: 13  Andy: 1  Em: 1 Matt: 1

Old Home Place

Fun bluegrass tune that was on some of my formative Phish CD’s.  It was the song after my favorite Phish song ever – 11/27/98 Reba on LivePhish 06.  I was pleased to catch this one!

Gap: 16  Andy: 2 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Lawn Boy

I feel like the band was playing around a bit with the idea of ‘showmanship’ during this performance.  I happened to have been at a fun show in Atlantic City back in 2012 where there was some banter about various band members’ favorite songs.  Trey said his was Maze (which is coming up shortly) and Page said his was Lawn Boy.  Perhaps the band is knowingly selecting songs that they know make for a tight show?  Also, we get another little highlight from the bass on this one, which I love.  That’s two bass solo songs out of 6 so far.  Also fun to sit Page-side and watch Page wander across stage to call out the Mike-side fans.

Gap: 7  Andy: 4 Em: 1 Matt: 1

I Didn’t Know

I learned a bunch about Richard “Nancy” Wright this year – the lyricist who wrote this song as well as Haley’s Comet. 

I was also pumped to land this song since one of the last things that Elliott said to me (and Emily) before we left for the show was: “Dad if anybody comes out in any crazy costumes and does some whacky stuff, can you please video it for me?”  Well, yes son – how about a 54-year old man in a dress playing a 30-year old vacuum as a musical instrument? Would that meet your little request?

This is the second song in a row (see Lawn Boy) that features a band member coming out from behind their normal station to present a feature at center-stage.  Again… there’s a little showmanship theme here.

Gap: 5  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Maze

Well gosh – this is just one of my favorites and a song that I really wished on both of you.  (2nd only to Stash probably).  This was the first Lure song of the evening.

This was an energetic, albeit relatively short Maze, with a nice intense peak around 5:00 and a lot of activity from the rhythm section throughout the guitar solo that follows.  One of my favorite things to watch while watching this band is the way Trey turns to face Page during Maze and plays rhythmically off of Page’s organ solo and we had a great vantage point for observing this interplay.  Rage Side!

Gap: 9  Andy: 4 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Horn

Lure song number 2.  This one fell into the class of Lure 2.0.  Prompted by Matt asking what I “thought we might hear at the show,” I set out to attempt the impossible task of guessing at songs before the tour had even started.  (Little did we know, this would be an 8-song tour with no repeats.)  I nailed this Tom Marshall classic.  This was a fairly standard run-through of Horn.

Gap: 16  Andy: 3 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Gotta Jibboo

THE top song on my request list for this show.  I got obsessed with Jibboo after listening to the version from 7/4/00 and have been chasing it ever since.  (The second song that I would have requested was Plasma, which was played several times the previous night and so I was sure I would have to wait for another day.  This song is not ‘popular’ Phish by any means, but I just got that riff stuck in my brain after a nice performance over the summer and became fixated on the idea of hearing it.  The band teased the song 3 times over the course of our night in Providence and so, while it’s not an official ‘catch’ – I’m counting it.  I heard my riff.)

Jibboo was also the next song set to get a Lure write-up – according to this list that I wrote on 11/12/19:

Not seen songs to write about:

1. Jibboo
2. Steam
3. It’s Ice
4. Makisupa
5. The Lizards
6. Squirming Coil

At this point in the set I was definitely excited for some ‘bliss’ and this Jibboo delivered.  The jam took it’s time getting started with echoing whale calls, thumping bass, ethereal keys and a light touch on guitar strings.  Trey leans in with a bit more attack around 5:15.

Gap: 17  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Stash

I have been hoping for Emily to see this song since I took her to her first show at Mansfield.  This is just classic Phish and I felt like the audience participation bit would help draw her in.  As such, I really wanted her to get those claps.  Not sure if she did…

This offers essentially all Type I jamming but the improvisation opens up a bit when Trey introduces some delayed texture around 7:30 followed by a little riff at 7:50 that the band locks into.  The texture builds further around 9:20.

Gap: 8  Andy: 4 Em: 1 Matt: 1  Lure Count = 3

Golgi Apparatus

Classic set-closer this one.  Funny lyrics rooted in high school chemistry class, a mid-section with some wild shifting time signatures, an audience-reference lyric refrain about ticket-holders and a killer ending.  Love it.

Gap: 9  Andy: 2 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Bathtub Gin

Matt was so hyped up at the start of this one.  It was great to feel the excitement emanating from the n00b to my right. 

This is a beautiful Gin that introduces some long swirling notes from Trey in the latter half of the 5th minute with compliments from Page’s Rhodes.   This builds and continues until we get into some choppy territory around 8:30 that leads to driving rhythm, heavy bass and organ texture in minute 9.  Trey takes the lead again around 9:40 to offer a little melody for the band to grasp onto.  The next few minutes are groovy and fun, but not particularly interesting.  A Chalkdusty-riff emerges around 13:20 and Trey drives the band to a more lively and upbeat jam.  15:00 starts sounding a little Birds of a Feather-esque building towards some trilling at 15:40 that pushes even more energy into this fun jam.  Trey did a nice sneaky job of bringing the jam back around to the theme and closing it out with a cool THX transition to Alaska.  All-in-all, this was good Gin jamming and an awesome way to open set II, although it didn’t break any new ground or land on the charts. 

Gap: 3  Andy: 4 Em: 2! Matt: 1  Lure Count = 4

Alaska

This Alaska was an unexpected monster.  This is the only version out of 40 performances to get a mention on the Jam Charts, which track notable jams of various songs.  The jam kicks in with growling guitar and gentle rhythm at 5:00 and stays in this general space for the next 2+ minutes with grand piano and bass keeping time to Fish’s ride cymbal.  Around 7:20 the jam drops to an even sparser and growlier space with deep notes from the piano and heavy bass.  Trey introduces a trippy guitar tone with a WTU tease at 8:44 that dissolves into electric piano and digital nonsense before landing squarely into…

Gap: 17  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1

What’s the Use

I love What’s the Use and had been hoping to catch one for years.  It wasn’t really played all that much prior to 2015 and then fell into very regular rotation – used to varying degrees of effectiveness – between snoozer and trippy wormhole.  The version we caught at Fenway in July probably had the longest ‘silent’ jam of any version I’ve ever heard.  There was actually even an applause break (like a mini Divided Sky break) which is rare.  The Providence version was a beauty.  I loved watching the band play in still blue light in the 3rd minute and listening for Fish’s subtle snare drum hits (2:20, 2:42, 2:50, 3:00) as he just allowed the stick to bounce naturally off the head of the drum.     

I also had that incredible and emotional bird moment in my hammock with this song over the summer, so this was kind of like my WTU year in a way. 

Gap: 4  Andy: 2 Em: 2 Matt: 2

Piper

This Piper is lively and driving once the jam gets going around 2:30.  Piper is one that is usually guaranteed to reach some far out psychedelic heights and this doesn’t disappoint.  Lots of full band interplay, passing the jam around and building on each other’s ideas.  Mike’s bass drives incessantly forward and provides for plenty of space for the lead players to play in. There are a few Camel Walk-y riffs towards the end there followed by some super wet bass and an unexpected transition to Golden Age.

Gap: 2  Andy: 3 (But hadn’t seen one since ’09) Em: 1 Matt: 1

Golden Age

This TV on the Radio cover had a huge year in 2016 when the band performed 2 monster versions that represented some of their absolute best jamming of the year.  The 10/28/16 Golden Age was a surprise behemoth that is definitely recommended listening.  This rather short version that we caught in Providence was good and all, but not exactly the Golden Age I’d been waiting for.

Gap: 6  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Harry Hood

This Hood was absolutely beautiful.

The jam starts out gently but active around 6:00.  Lots of Grand Piano.  The jam kicks up with swirling guitar licks.  Trey is super happy about his trilling and energetic licks.  He’s propelling this Hood forward with fingers all a-flying and the result is stunning.  The decrescendo back into the theme is sweet and somewhat unexpected.  The jam builds once again toward the classic Hood peak as Trey leans again into the rapid-fire trill notes.  Page introduces some rich organ butter as Trey’s relentless notes dot the top and we drive through the Feel Good finale.  The THX note to close here was a brilliant touch.

Gap: 4  Andy: 5 Em: 1 Matt: 1  Lure Count = 5

Big Black Furry Creature from Mars

Totally glad to have caught BBCFM and Kung, but, as strange as it sounds – these aren’t my favorite versions of these two songs – Kung especially.

However, the BBCFM features a Lengthwise quote, which I called out on the blog.  In all honesty, this call was nothing short of genius.  I can’t believe I pulled that one.

Gap: 14  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1  Lure Count = 6?

Kung

I do love Kung.  It’s in a great tradition on Dadaist rock and roll, akin to Talking Heads’ I Zimbra.  I didn’t love this version, which de-emphasized the escalating tension of the lyrics and opted instead for a smooth intro and quick-turn outro.  I think this dark combo could have been fraught with a bit more terror and anxiety.

Gap: 8  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 1

Wombat

This bit of beautiful nonsense features the worst ‘rap’ of all time  – Thanks Fish!.  Still the growling organ and broken back-beat are so funky that it gets stuck in my biorhythms in the best way.  This version is… fine. Wilson reference number 2!  Some other reviewers out there on web picked up on the fact that this and Possum offer a one-two punch of songs about marsupials.  Hmm…

Gap: 16  Andy: 1 Em: 1 Matt: 2

Possum

A fairly standard run through with a fun Plasma and THX tag on the back end- this was a great way to end the show and the raucous 4-song encore.

Gap: 10  Andy: 4 Em: 1 Matt: 1

In the run-up to this Providence show, I’d like to break down some songs that I’ve never seen live, for which I’ll have my fingers crossed to catch one or more in Providence. First up is a long and interesting composition called It’s Ice.

I would argue that It’s Ice is not exactly ‘approachable’ Phish. I only really came to terms with the song in the last year or so – Undoubtedly influenced by my darling wife’s devoted searching for (and subsequent securing of) several pints of Ben & Jerry’s limited-edition flavor It’s Ice Cream. (An empty carton is currently on display in my office).

Another interesting cut from the album Rift, It’s Ice is a complex Anastasio/Marshall composition that offers a play-by-play of the battle between a man skating on a frozen pond and his reflected image on the ice beneath him. The song offers a psychedelic crisis of identification and existential purpose. Taken in the context of Rifts break-up concept, the song is a dark look at the effects of depression’s unique breed of overwhelming self-doubt, unavoidable self-sabotage and masochism. It’s no surprise that the same poor schlub who would show “up at eight as usual” to pick up the gal who “bought and sold [his] self-control for less than it was worth” might also “laugh in full light of [his own] frown” and seek to pull himself beneath the frozen ice. Get what I’m sayin…

The lyrics, like the composition, are rather tricky to follow, so I would recommend giving them a read-through. This is Tom Marshall at his best – full of graphic imagery and thematic emotion. (I particular love this little conundrum of a line: “I’m tied to him or him to me, depending who you ask”). The subsequent jams tell the musical story of the internal struggle using various lead instruments (organ, drums, guitar) and may build to any number of frightening heights before returning to the main theme and conclusion.

Stats:

• It’s Ice first appeared at Keene, NH’s Colonial Theater on 9/25/91 and was subsequently played for the next 2 sequential nights, interestingly enough.
• It’s Ice has made 245 appearances since it’s debut – or once every 7.6 shows. However, it’s only been played 33 times since I saw my first show on 8/12/04 so that’s more like once every 13 shows.
• The song is currently on a 17-show gap to 6/23/19 in Maryland.
• Ain’t seen it yet but it seems like we’re due for one based on the numbers above… plus maybe the band will embrace the wintry vibe of this upcoming December run to pay tribute to this frozen tune.

Lyrics:

I press on the elastic sheet, I’m breathing through a slice
‘Are they worms or are the serpents?’ bubbles through the ice
The source was quite invisible, the ever-present voice
While skating, both legs tracing different shapes, I made my choice

I’m mimicking the image in whose radiance I bask
I’m tied to him, or him to me, depending who you ask
None the less reluctantly reflections tumble in
I slide with all the other on the wrong side of the skin

He’s fallen on the ice, it cracks
Will he plunge in and join me here?
He meets my eyes, to my surprise
He laughs in full light of my frown
My double wants to pull me down

Slipping on the friction slide, my skin peels to the bone
The flesh I leave behind, is something that is not my own
I beg my mirror image for a moment with my soul
He’s leaning back, time to attack, it’s me who’s in control

And every move I make he’s got a hand up just in time
He’s throwing several punches, and he’s blocking most of mine
Defeated now I sulk and squirm above the frozen heights
Waiting, calculating till he ventures onto the ice.

I’ve actually been meaning to write about Stash since I first started this project. And I always secretly hoped that Miss Emily would catch a Stash at one of her first shows – mainly because I saw Stash’s bit of audience participation as a way to pull newcomers in to the music and overall experience. (I recall trying to prep Em for “WE LOVE TO TAKE A BATH!” at 7/8/16, to no avail).

Stash is sort of quintessential Phish:

• It offers a classic lyric section / composed section / jam section structure
• It features totally nonsensical yet totally sing-along-able lyrics courtesy of Tom Marshall’s strange poetry
• The song structure is pure genius – deeply rooted in jazz form with a hypnotic and haunting dissonance that seemingly refuses to resolve – all set to a distinct Latin-tinged rhythmic groove.
• There’s a quirky bit of audience participation in the claps at the beginning. It’s fun to collectively be in on the joke, the gag, the game, the Rocky Horror of it all. (So study up n00bs!)
• It’s also got a solid intro/outro lick!

But about those lyrics… Like so much art and so much Phish – this song is really about everything and nothing. The song, for me, is about Phish. It’s about taking a risk, speaking your bizarre mind, accepting the fact that smiling is often beyond our control and wondering if perhaps maybe this is or maybe this is not the “life I sought”. I, for one, am certainly willing to show up repeatedly in an effort to find out, always with my stash all a-dangle.

Stats:

• Stash debuted at the famed Wetlands Preserve on 9/13/90 along with 4+ other songs.
• Stash has been played 424 times or once every 4.4 shows.
• Stash is currently on a 15-show gap back to 7/10/19 at Mohegan Sun
• I’ve seen the song 3 times, one of which featured a notable jam on 7/1/14 at Great Woods.

Lyrics:

Pulling the pavement from under my nails
I brush past a garden, dependent on whales
The sloping companion I cast down the ash
Yanked on my tunic and dangled my stash

Zipping through the forest with the curdling fleas
To grow with them spindles, the mutant I seize
I capture the dread beast who falls to his knees
And cries to his cohorts, asleep in the trees

Smegma, dogmatagram, fishmarket stew
Police in a corner, gunnin’ for you
Appletoast, bedheated, furblanket rat
Laugh when they shoot you, say
“Please don’t do that”

Control for smilers can’t be bought
The solar garlic starts to rot
Was it for this my life I sought?
Maybe so and maybe not

Let’s go back to Rift for another Anastasio/Marshall composition about the bitter breakup at the center of the album. Horn details the wrong-doings between both parties of the break-up, and the ways in which the song’s narrator has been mistreated by his partner, and seemingly himself. A glutton for the punishment that his partner so willingly doles out – the song outlines all the ways he has been wronged, and ends with the promise to pick her up “at eight as usual”. Oh love, you beautiful beast.

There’s even a slight false-ending tacked on the end – indicating the repetitive and cyclical nature of this sad, tired relationship.

Like Rift, this tight little number rarely receives the jam treatment but features a beautiful solo nonetheless– calling on the titular ‘horn’ to guide Trey’s pained, swirling notes. In fact, the song has only been jammed one time (the version below) and it’s not really a jam on Horn, but more a jam AFTER Horn. As such, it’s technically scored as two separate tracks Horn –> Jam (by fans) or Horn, Portland Jam (by Phish).

Stats:

• Horn first appeared on 5/24/90 at The Brewery in Raleigh, NC. (sounds good to me!)
• Since that fateful, beer-fueled evening, Horn has been played once every 8.6 shows for a total of 169 performances.
• Last performance was 14 shows ago on 6/28/19 in Camden, NJ.
• I’ve seen the song twice, at my first show on 8/12/04 at the very same Camden venue above and at the Bakers Dozen performance on 7/29/17.

Lyrics:

Now that you’ve deceived me, and played my name around
And hung those nasty flyers, on all the buildings in town
Dribbled my possessions in a ring around the earth
And bought and sold my self-control for less than it was worth

Now I know the reason that I’m feeling so forlorn
I’ll pick you up at eight as usual, listen for my horn

Sorry for the 4 month gap! Unfortunately, that’s a regular occurrence in the life a modern Phish fan.

Welcome to Season 2 of The Lure – in which I write less involved posts (we’ll see) in an attempt to highlight 10 songs ahead of Providence (we’ll see).

After giving Emily a quick crash course in Tom Marshall’s writing, I was inspired to introduce the title track from Phish’s 1993 album Rift. Basically, Tom was working in IT and would trade random lyrical IM’s with his buddy Scott Herman. He took all of these lyrics and printed them in a book called The Salamander Prince, which he gave to Trey, who subsequently turned them in dozens of songs that appeared on the albums Billy Breathes, Ghost and Farmhouse. Tom still pens a good number of Phish songs to this day – usually via “Songwriting Weekends” with Trey, wherein the two hole up in a house with a bunch of instruments, an 8-track recorder and a notebook full of Tom’s lyrics. Henceforth was born such contemporary faves as Blaze On, No Men In No Man’s Land, Backwards Down the Number Line, etc.

Anyway, regarding Rift – this song sits in fairly regular rotation and is an energetic joy. It features Trey and Page singing the lines of the song back and forth to one another, much in the same way that Tom and Scott Herman would have traded the lyrics via instant messenger. The song features amazingly skilled play and blazing-fast solos, but never really been jammed.

I once had the pleasure of watching the band perform the song from about 4th row on the floor at Worcester and was blown away by the energy of the two singers trading back and forth. The lyrics are great and I love the quick tempo. Below version is from the famed Hampton run from 1998. Why this version? Because I love ’98 Phish! I’m listening to 7/20/98 right now, as I write this!

Ok, one more note – the album Rift is Phish’s concept album, which is all about a breakup. The Rift of the song is central to the plot of the album. (One of my favorite lyrics of the album really speaks to married/coupled life: When you’re there, I sleep lengthwise and when you’re gone, I sleep diagonal in my bed.)

Stats:

• Rift debuted on 2/25/90 at the 8×10 Club in Baltimore (never heard of it!)
• Rift has been played 290 times, or approximately once every 6.4 shows.
• Last performance was 2 shows ago on 8/30/19 at Dick’s (Colorado)
• I’ve seen the song only once on 10/25/13 at the DCU Center in Worcester. (They played it at Fenway on 8/5/19 – the night before we all went.)

Lyrics:

Last night, in the moments my thoughts were adrift
And coasting a terrace, approaching a rift
Through which I could spy several glimpses beneath
Of the darkness the light from above could not reach
I spied wings of reason, herself taking flight
And upon yonder precipice saw her alight
And glared back at me one last look of dismay
As if she were the last one she thought I’d betray

So much better I said to myself
And drawing quite close to the top of the shelf
I struggled with destiny upon the ledge
And gasped when defeated he slipped off the edge
And silence contagious in moments like these
Consumed me and strengthened my will to appease
The passion that sparked me one terrible night
And shocked and persuaded my soul to ignite

So much better I said to myself
And drawing quite close to the top of the shelf
I struggled with destiny upon the ledge
And gasped when defeated he slipped off the edge

And silence contagious in moments like these
Consume me and strengthen my will to appease

The passion that sparked me one terrible night
And shocked and persuaded my soul to ignite

Let’s hop back to A Live One for a shorty this week… although there’s plenty of backstory.

One topic we haven’t yet dove into on this little bloggerooski is The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday – Trey’s senior thesis fantasy rock opera.  That’s right folks, there’s a whole ‘nother nerdy dimension to this whole thing, complete with a colonel, lizard people, an evil king, beams of prophetic light, a hooded executioner, wolves, a pet cat and a whole host of other trope-y characters.  The twisted story takes place in the mythical land of Gamehendge, which is ruled by the ‘worst one’ – King Wilson of Prussia.  Naturally, Wilson came to power to when he assumed possession of The Helping Friendly Book, stealing the blessed tome from the Lizards – a race of people practically extinct from doing things smart people don’t do, like giving the only copy of their holy scripture to a power-hungry traveler.

If all this is not exactly making a ton of sense to you… then welcome!  You’re officially in on the joke.  But you have much to learn.  Fear not, the tree of knowledge in your soul will grow and the Helping Friendly Book will plant the seed, if you catch my drift.

All told, there are about 19 songs that make up the saga of Gamehendge, each about different characters in the tale, their backstories, and their connections to one other.  Some of these songs advance the plot of the story through lyrics or even improvisational narration sections complete with musical accompaniment that makes for a full-on theater of the mind style experience.  The holy grail (or sacred creed?) of song-chasers is the elusive Gamehendge set, complete with the anchoring combo Colonel Forbin’s Ascent –> Fly Famous Mockingbird.  (Ask me about the time I sold my Sunday ticket on a Saturday, only to hear 24 hours later that these songs were being played for the first time in 76 shows.  That was 54 shows ago and they haven’t appeared since…)

One of the most prolific of the Gamehendge songs is Wilson, a hard-rocking sing-along that we just might get to hear this summer if we’re lucky.  The heavy opening notes of the song are met by the crowd with the hypnotic cult like chanting of the evil king’s vile name: Willllllsoooooonnnn!  This tidbit of Phish lore has even caught on in the most mainstream of all media… the NFL!

Of the 279 times that the song has been performed, only 2 versions have appeared on the jam charts: 3/13/93 and 7/29/17 — the aforementioned ‘Saturday Show’, coincidentally enough.  For this listen, however, let’s go back to A Live One for the first known inclusion of the full-crowd chanting.  This version essentially cemented this bit of crowd participation into the annals, and we’ll probably never hear the song without the crowd chant again.

The song basically just identifies how truly evil Wilson is, name-checks some of the Trey’s friends, and then asks the burning question of whether Wilson is even capable of having fun.  The A Live One version offers a fairly straight-ahead delivery packed with energy and a whip-em-up guitar solo.

Stats:

• Wilson debuted on 10/12/86 at Goddard College
• Wilson has been played 279 times, or once every 6.4 shows.
• Last performance was 4 shows ago on 12/30/18 at MSG
• I’ve seen the song 5 times including 8/12/04 – my first song at my first show!

Lyrics:
Oh out near Stonehenge, I lived alone
Oh out near Gamehendge, I chafed a bone
Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you
Wilson, Duke of Lizards
I beg it all true for you

Talk my duke a mountain, Helping Friendly Book
Inasfar as fiefdom, I think you bad crook
Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you
Wilson, Duke of Lizards
I beg it all true for you

I talked to Mike Christian, Rog and Pete the same
When we had that meeting, over down near Game(hendge)
Wilson, King of Prussia, I lay this hate on you
Wilson, Duke of Lizards
I beg it all true for you

You got me back thinkin’ that you’re the worst one
I must inquire, Wilson
Can you still have fun?
Wilson
Can you still have fun?
Wilson
Can you still have fun?
Wilson

Three (or even 4) (or even 5) for the price of one today kids!

Let’s revisit my favorite show of all time, 11/27/98 for a run through the popular trio of songs knows as Mike’s Groove!

Synopsis:

Made up of 3 individual parts – Mikes Song, I Am Hydrogen, and Weekapaug Groove – the sequence commonly known as Mike’s Groove has been performed in trio dating back to the summer of 1988.  Once a completely standard combo, today’s “Grooves” are far less predictable.  Mike’s Song –> Simple > Weekapaug Groove is almost as common as Hydrogen at this point but it’s anyone’s guess as to what might wind up sandwiched in the middle; I was privy to a Mike’s Song > Simple > Wolfman’s Brother –> Weekapaug Groove in ’09.  The groove may even be broken up by several songs, only to return to Weekapaug later in the set; at the summer opener in 2014 I caught Mike’s Song > Simple > Free, Waiting All Night > Ghost –> Weekapaug Groove.

The history on Mike’s Groove is long and storied… so I’ll spare you the groovy details.  Let’s listen!

Mike’s Song:

The song starts with a standard lyric section and then at 2:45 drops into the main jam with some high-pitch guitar wines and textural organ. The band is taking their time with this one as they settle in with dominant bass and drums while Page taps out the organ and the Trey loops some whiney guitar.  Trey picks up with a chunky solo over his own guitar loops.  The rhythm groove is super locked in with good tempo and a ton of texture from the loops and organ.

A tripped out layer builds around 4:40 and ushers in a proper guitar solo over an ethereal soundscape and driving bassline.

Organ intensity builds around the 6:00 mark with Trey dancing his way through a repetitive solo line.  New elements are introduced by various band members, including cymbal bell around 6:40.  Page keeps the organ heavy in the mix offering a dark, brooding mood to the whole affair. We’re in the zone of controlled chaos as we enter the 8th minute with swirling organ, fast drum fills, splashing cymbals and tons of engaging guitar sustain.  Sink your brain into the early 8th minute for a looong guitar note beginning around 8:07 that gets patched and then solo’d over and blended with an even  loooonger organ note.  This is Trey doing what he does best — playing not only the instrument around his shoulders but also displaying his mastery of the pedals at his feet.  By 9:00 we are descending into a psychedelic hole that’s almost tough to handle from a psycho-emotional perspective.  The activity from all 4 players is relentless, with the bass holding firm to the same groove where it ha essentially been sitting since the start.  A return to typical transitional chords at 10:00 marks the beginning of the end of Mike’s Song.  10:20 is the decision point where ‘Simple’ is passed over for the (slightly) more traditional middle section of “I Am Hydrogen”.  A truly beautiful segue as the tempo shifts on the rich organ backbone…

I Am Hydrogen:

The trippiness stays heavy even as the intensity cools with a stripped down rim-click rhythm and swirling psychedelic stardust energy.  Welcome to the void world of the cosmos, where melody is lost to the soundless blackscape of deep space.  A desperate grasp for an earthly element produces the simplest of atoms at 2:45 as a lone guitar exhales Hydrogen.  Trey patiently floats into the main theme at 4:00, riding a passing comet of steady ride cymbal and snare clicks.  A tickle of piano encompasses our guide on his trip through the unseen, elemental world.  This floating journey is but a brief respite as there is intense energy on the horizon… not quite ready to show face at 6:20.  One last return through Hydrogen’s notes bring us to the bass-slappy intro of Weekapaug Groove.

Weekapaug Groove:

The closing song of the famous trifecta comes off Hydrogen’s cool heels with a raucous bass and drum intro.  Mike gets all a-slappin on the 5-string to start things off and sets an upbeat tempo that is matched by the whole band.  After a short lyrical refrain, Trey dives right into a typical solo atop driving tempo, rhythmic piano and splashy cymbal fireworks.  It all stays fairly straightforward and Type I as the foursome relentlessly hammers through several deft repetitions. 

Trey introduces the Wah around 4:14 and leads the band into a breakdown of sorts that drops the grand piano, cools the cymbals and adds a little more muted funk to the bassline, complimented by a steady percussive cowbell rhythm.  A Leslie speaker may be contributing to the wash here and things get pretty chaotic towards the end of the 5th minute and into the 6th.  Trey takes the lead once again around 6:10 and cuts the staccato clutter with a soaring variation on the Weekapaug theme that builds to a peak in minute 7:00 and returns once again to a thematic Type I jam. 

What the What!?!  The band turns on a dime at 7:53 to suddenly drop, in total sync, into Wipeout at 7:53.  A two-minute Wipeout jam had appeared earlier in the set, and the band found the groove to revisit the Surfaris classic.  A couple turns through the waves at increasing speed leads us seamlessly back to Weekapaug at 9:30, now with a renewed sense of energy, if that’s even possible for this jam.  We’re flying at double time as we hit the lyrics again at 10:00 for what should be the song’s grand cap-off.  The usual ending drops around 11:00, but Trey simply hasn’t had his fill and takes the band right back into the jam for an unheard-of Weekapaug Reprise.

This second jam delivers some long sustained notes that cue musical psychosis to set in around 12:00.  This Type II section rides some whining sustain and reverse notes into an effects-laden tension with steady Weekapaug drums and dancing bass fingers.  Our poor guitarist and keyboardist are lost to delirium as the drums take a techno-ish drum-and-bass-y shift around 13:30.

By 14:30 we have a beautiful balance of sparseness and activity – minimalist while still somehow full.  At 15:30 Kevin McCallister’s furnace even seems to make a brief appearance!  It’s all scratchy and weird as the aliens descend… hovering over that persistent whine with chants of ‘Ohm’ taking hold around 17:40.  A dark little groove forms in the 18th minute as earthly instruments once again establish themselves for a chunky jam which fades calmly into the springy opening notes of Run Like an Antelope. 

The fans score this one as: Mike’s Song -> I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove -> Wipe Out -> Weekapaug Groove > Weekapaug Groove Reprise > Run Like an Antelope

Stats:

Mike’s Song debuted on 3/16/85 at Doolin’s Burlington Vermont
Mike’s has appeared once every 3.5 shows since 1985. That’s 28% of all shows for 520 performances!
Last performance was 0 shows ago on 2/23/19 in Mexico.
I’ve seen Mike’s 3 times. Including a memorable show opener in Atlantic City that featured a fun collective audience inflatable fish toss.

I Am Hydrogen debuted a month later on 4/6/85 at Finbar’s in Burlington.
It has appeared once every 5.4 shows since its debut.
Last time Hydrogen was in the air was 28 shows ago on 8/7/18 in Camden, NJ.
I’ve seen the ditty performed once, at the aforementioned Atlantic City show.

Weekapaug Groove made its first appearance on 7/23/88 at Pete’s Phabulous Phish Phest which just had to have been an amazing time.
Since then it has been played once every 3.4 shows for a total 486 performances.
Last played along with Mike’s on 2/23/19 in Riviera Maya.
As of typing this whole thing out, I’ve seen Mike’s 3 times.
Mike’s Song also gets my award for favorite lot shirt pun of all time:

Lyrics:

Mike’s Song
Trapped in time and I don’t know what to do
These friends of mine, I can see right through.
You don’t gotta tell me that I don’t gotta move
‘Cause I’m just sittin’ back here sharing in the groove.
Me no are no nice guy

I walk through the hallways inside my mind
I chase the backbeat falling behind
Big dude in the doorway blocking my way
He reached and grabbed me and this is what he said:
Me no are no nice guy

Weekapaug Groove
Trying to make a woman that you move
And I’m sharing in a Weekapaug groove

Bathtub Gin is quintessential Phish – an amalgam of styles, mixed with a silly and psychedelic ethos, peppered with brilliant flashes of technical proficiency.  The song follows the familiar format of lyrical section, standard (Type I) jam, improvised (Type II) jam (on a good night), return to theme, and wrap-up.

Drawing on influence from the classic melody of Rhapsody in Blue, Bathtub Gin offers a funky, boppity ramble through a psychedelic landscape of a royal court, complete with jesters, drunks, and of course, the bootleggers who mix up the titular concoction.

The opening notes of the song spell fun and funk for the crowd, who know that at, at worst, they are bound to sing and romp along to the silliness.  At best, they are prepared to strap in for a ride on wherever this jam vehicle might take them. For those of you whose friend are questioning their taste in music… the opening segment features our Chairmen of the Boards, Page McConnell smashing discordant notes on the grand piano out of sheer silliness (and possible inebriation), not because he lacks the skills to play the keys on key. The second time through the theme, he generally offers the straight Gershwin.

Audience Participation Alert!  The final verse of the song features a fun little audience part in the line: “We love to take a bath!”.  (I tried to queue this up for dear Emily when we heard Gin back on 7/8/16 but she missed the line unfortunately.  I, on the other hand, can be clearly heard yelling out the line on the soundboard recording.

This particular version, from the famed “Hampton Comes Alive” run stays generally true to formula as it kicks into Type I jam territory around 5:20.  This jam is decidedly punchy (as opposed to some mellower versions) and the active bassline in the early 6th minute keeps things moving right along – playing off of a straight 1/4-note cymbal rhythm and lots of piano comping as Trey smoothly dances his solo over the groove.  Additional grand piano pushes things forward and the band locks in to a busy little progression around 7:50 that drives with even more bass and piano activity. 

Trey adds sustain to the mix around 8:40 to wash the sound and a slight tempo shifts propels us onward.  Grand piano activity continues to build with Trey still in the lead and the band lands in an uptempo progression at 10:00 with a ton of driving force.  Pay attention to the drum proficiency and the fascinating bass runs from 10:30 to 11:00.  By 11:00 we have achieved interstellar blast-off, propelled by rocket guitars and bass boosters.

We break through the inner atmosphere and smooth things out just a bit in the 12th minute, but there’s still plenty of crunchy aromatics in this brew through to the fade out around 13:09.  The rhythm section just can’t quit as things get quiet and trippy to take us out and into the gentle beginnings of Piper…

Stats:

Bathtub Gin debuted on 5/26/89 the Valley Club Café in Rutland, VT
Since its first distillation, Gin has seen the light of night once every 5.8 shows
Last performance was 2/21/19 in Mexico
Andy’s seen the song 2 times – both stellar performances. Emily’s been in the Tub once, on 7/8/16.

Lyrics:

Brett is in the bathtub
making soup for the ambassadors
and I am in the hallway
singing to the troubadours

The kings are all lined up
outside the gate
and the autumn bells are ringing
but they’ll just have to wait

Where is the joker?
Have you seen him around
with his three coned cap
that he wears like a crown

Have you seen his striped stockings
and heard his sad tale
about the kids under the carpet
and the purple humpbacked whales

Here come the ambassadors
they show up one by one
Brett is tasting all the soup
to see if it is done

Wendy’s on the windowsill
waiting to be let in
and we’re all in the bathtub now
making bathtub gin

The kings storm the hallway
they’ve climbed up through the gate
they didn’t mean to be impolite
but they just couldn’t wait

Here comes the joker
with his silly grin
he carries a martini
made of bathtub gin

Here comes the joker
we all must laugh
cause we’re all in this together
and we love to take a bath.

Bathtub Gin…

This year’s Jam of the Year winner was a surprising come-out-of-nowhere newish song that powered past some serious contenders to ultimate wear the crown of the victory.  It’s a brilliant jam which I voted for straight through to the semi-finals at which point I then voted against it twice.  Nonetheless, this jam is brilliant and inspiring!

The song never appeared on an album and has no real history to speak of, other than the fact that 5 of its 15 appearances have wound up on the Jam Charts, including its debut.  The point here is, from the get-go, the band found room to take this for a walk and give it a good jam. 

This late-era Phish has been criticized by many to be overly optimistic, on-the-nose and a little cheesy.  That critique is warranted but in counterpoint, the songs that fit this category like Everything’s Right, More, Soul Planet, and Set Your Soul Free have all turned out to land rather quickly as fairly righteous jam vehicles, which each landing several significant jam versions in the last 24 months.  So it’s not like the band is simply phoning it in with some cheese lyrics about going bald and feeling ok about – there is still some serious musical expression to be wrung out of these sentiments.

So with that said, go ahead and have a listen.  If you can spare 15 minutes to watch the whole thing go down, the light spectacle is worth your time!  I’m linking to both the audio and video here, both fan-recorded.  The video cuts off the first couple verses, but you’re honestly not missing all the much.  The majesty is in the jam and I highly recommend watching the video to see how it all goes down. (Other option is to see me, borrow my phone, and listen to the soundboard audio – which is splendid.)

Everything’s Right 12/30/18:  Phish – Everything’s Right – 12/30/18 – MSG

Stats:
• Everything’s Right debuted on 7/14/17 at Northerly Island in Chicago.
• The song has been performed 15 times
• Since its debut, Everything Right has appeared once every 4.4 shows, so it got into heavy rotation rather quickly. (Overall, however, it’s only been played once every 122.9 shows.)
• Last performance was 2 shows ago on 2/21/19 in Mexico
• I’ve seen the song performed once on 12/28/17

Lyrics:

Time to get out, I paid my dues
I need to shout there’s no time to lose
No more to give, the well is dry
The pavement’s warm, my brain is fried
It’s time to get out, I paid my dues
My shoes have holes, my socks are bare
The mirror’s secret is I’m losing my hair
I’m in prison without a crime
The sentence stretches on undefined
It’s time to get out, I paid my dues
I paid my dues

But, everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
(Repeat x 6)
Just hold tight

I’m going downhill with increasing speed
Compassion gives way, if you listen to greed
Focus on the past and that’s what will last
Nothing that is real and nothing you can feel
Focus on tomorrow you’ll have to borrow
Images and mind and friends you left behind
Focus on today, you’ll find a way
Happiness is how rooting in the now

Because everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Just hold tight

Look into the eyes of everyone you meet
Try not to step on your best friend’s feet
The line is in the sand, the flag is planted
The rest of your life don’t take it for granted

Cuz everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Just hold tight

This world, this world, this crazy world I know
It turns, it turns, and the long night’s over and the sun’s coming up
(Repeat x 4)

Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Everything’s right, so just hold tight
Just hold tight

Every year for the past 3 or 4 years – a couple hundred nerdy friends and I have gathered together on the Phish.net community forum boards to vote on, and argue over, the annual Jam of the Year tournament.  Roughly coinciding with the NCAA basketball tournament, the JOTY tournament begins around February and runs through May with weekly voting through brackets to determine which single version of a single song was the best of the preceding year.  (The work actually begins in January when the committee that runs the tournament listens back through every jam from the year and votes on seeding for the brackets — an intense labor of love, to be sure.  I was lightly recruited to participate in the committee last year and even I just couldn’t commit to that dedication of time.)

So… Here we are now in the final round of the 2018 JOTY tournament — and now YOU get to play along!  We’re down to just 2 tracks – a top-seeded standby crowd favorite jam vehicle up against a 5-seeded emotional and creative jam that evolved out of a relatively new Phish song that made big strides in 2018.

Obviously, I would encourage you to listen to both songs and cast your vote, but in the interest of the whole one-song-per-week concept – let’s break this into two separate posts.  I’ll start with the powerhouse of Phish’s many many powerhouses – Tweezer.

There’s not a fan at any show whose heart doesn’t get at least a little fluttery when the opening notes of Tweezer get sent out into the airwaves.  The song is funky, upbeat fun and will generally launch into a jam at the end.  There are just certain songs that the band loves to jam out and are willing to take into the coveted Type II exploratory improvisation zone.  Off the top of my head, I would include Down with Disease, Bathtub Gin, Ghost, Carini and Light in that particular camp.  A well-placed Tweezer, usually in the 2nd set, can set a tone for the whole rest of the show — as you’re pretty much guaranteed to also get a show-closing Tweezer Reprise (or “Tweeprise”) to end your night an even heavier, rockier, glow stick-ier, more celebratory variation of the theme.  (I actually have one non-reprised Tweezer under my belt — from 12/28/12).

The version in question for today is by no means the ideal version or the best version ever.  In fact, it is the famous ‘Tahoe Tweezer’ of 7/31/13 that is considered by many to be the best Phish jam of all time; At the very least, it’s an agreed-upon turning point that solidified 3.0 Phish as a serious era for the band, during which they would deliver new creative offerings on any given evening.  But the 12/29 version is significant for sure.  This was an outstanding jam that was a marvel to witness.  And whether it is the ‘best’ jam of 2018 or not (fans seem to be quite disappointed with its advancement to the final) – it is, for sure, a clear demonstration of this band’s mastery of improvised rock and roll while also paying tribute to their heroes, who paved Phish’s road to Madison Square Garden.

Let’s dive in.

Tweezer 12/29/18:

Every other song that has been featured on this blog before has come from an official band releases- which are mastered version of soundboard recordings, and thus has been available on Spotify.  But for this track, we’ll have to go to the fan-captured audience tapes. https://phish.in/2018-12-29/tweezer

The better option, however, is to watch (or at least listen to) the band’s official video of the performance.  My timestamps below follow the video version.

The 12/29/18 version appears as the second song of Set II, following very closely on the heels of what seemed to be a promising Carini, but Lucy’s famously lumpy head took a quick turn into a rather slick transition into the beloved Tweez.  The song’s composed/lyric section starts amid blue light and kicks in with a powerful punch and a little extra guitar crunch.  The energy  is rousing out of the gate and crowd was IN IT – and why shouldn’t we be?

Even the little jam break at 3:38 offered some extra pizazz.  It was clear to those of us in the room  and watching/listening at home that this would be an exciting little ride.  A trippy breakdown at 4:28 adds a little hypnotic whirlpool, sucking our brains into the wormhole and as we prepare for the jam.  The psycho-swirl continues as the jam gets underway in the 5th minute with punchy echoes, growling organs, broken beats and a dark stage set. Trey lays into a groove at 6:35 that clicks for the band, as well as the crowd, who comes down with a minor case of the ‘woos’ to help fill the gaps.  Chris Kuroda, our lighting engineer, eggs the crowd on with some bright crowd-facing lighting cues.

We transition to the next ‘movement’ in this jam around 8:00 with some staccato guitar notes, a wet-nosed bass and textural electric piano.  Guitar and drums fall in lock step around 8:50 as the blue donut of death shrinks and expands on the heads of those in the arena.

The 9th minute is marked by heavy synth as Trey picks a new line, balanced on top of rhythmic piano and a gently driving drum.  Now, we’re getting to the meat of the this jam, as the straight drum rhythm drives Trey to find a new tone.

Here’s the thing — the reason why everyone loves this jam so much is that, as it builds in the 11th and 12th minutes, it takes on the very familiar quality of the Grateful Dead’s famous China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider transition jam.  The key, rhythm and overall feel of the jam are all tinged with elements of the Dead – and the long sustained strums of the 14th minute coupled with the classic country-highway guitar licks of the 15th minute hit very close to home to those of us who have closely followed the careers and material of both of these bands.  I turned to my buddy Tom during the jam and called out the I Know You Rider similarity — it was unmistakable.

Phish plays A LOT of covers, but they do not cover the Grateful Dead.  At least not anymore.  When the band was first starting out, they played plenty of GD covers, but that all ended in the 90’s – especially as Phish became increasingly compared to their psychedelic predecessors.  Phish is influenced by the Dead for sure, and Trey has even acknowledged to members of the Grateful Dead that they essentially paved the way for his whole life.  Furthermore, Trey was recruited by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead to play lead guitar for the band’s famous Fare Thee Well 50th anniversary shows — effectively becoming Jerry Garcia for the better part of a year.  However, with the exception of the famous 8/9/98 Terrapin Station cover in honor of the 3rd anniversary of Jerry’s death, they DO NOT play Dead songs.

They do, however play Kasvot Vaxt songs.  And they decided to play one right in the middle of this Tweezer.  The transition happens right around the 20-minute mark. 

The whole Kasvot Vaxt story is a long one to get into, but since we’re listening to a 34+ minute jam right now… I guess I have time to tell it.  Every year on Halloween, Phish takes on a ‘musical costume’ – often covering an entire album by another band.  They’ve covered The Beatles, Talking Heads, Little Feat, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones just to name a few.  On occasion, they’ve taken this concept in slightly different directions – reinterpreting Disney’s Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House sound effects album in 2014, and even delivering an entire album’s worth of brand new original Phish material in 2013.  One or two songs from each Halloween set tend to stay in regular rotation, adding new covers and songs to the band’s live repertoire.

Basically, what happened for Halloween 2018 in Las Vegas was that Phish created a fictitious Avant Garde Scandinavian synth-rock band and then ‘covered’ their album, essentially adding a brand new full album of Phish music to the catalog.  Except it’s not Phish, but it is, but it isn’t it, is it?  The 4 nights of the New Year’s run that followed the Halloween run featured renditions of all but one of the Kasvot Vaxt tunes, and Death Don’t Hurt Very Long wound up sandwiched right here between 2 slices of frozen Tweezer.

So, after some dark and mysterious lyrics and a break down that featured band nickname call-outs, indiscriminate yelling and a bit of ‘funking for the people’, we transition out of Death – which, as promised, didn’t hurt very long – and back to Tweezer at 27:00.  The band drops us right back into the psychedelic freakshow and Kuroda’s beams of light beckon us closer to the stage at 29:30.  Trey builds the jam with some sustain around 30:15 and we’re in motion with lively grand piano and sharp, controlled guitar into minute 31.  Kuroda adds more color to the palette and eventually lands in red as Trey builds tension and heats up around 31:30 with a nice little peak making landfall at 31:55.  The beat stays steady with powerful guitar and quick piano work as the band develops another wave which ends in a decrescendo amid some grinding organ and a return the Tweezer theme.  However a quick conference at 33:48 sets up a very interesting transition to the dark and brooding Led Zeppelin cover, No Quarter… which is where our video bus drops us off. 

The set is 100% worth finishing on Phish.in or see me if you’d like to borrow my credentials to listen to the soundboard recording.  Also a quick note regarding the depths of my personal obsession: I listened to the whole jam while I just wrote this thing out.  So realistically, if I had to guess, I would say that’s likely the 12th or 13th time I listened to the whole composition – first live at the show, then the next day, then when the video came out, then at least 3 other times while I listened back to the show, then once each in the round of 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, and 2 and then again just now.  So, a bit of easy math has me at a cumulative, and conservative, 7 1/2 hours+ of listening just to this one song over the course of about 5 months.  I guess that’s not that crazy…?  I also just wrote over 1,800 words about it too…

Stats:

Tweezer debuted on 3/28/90 at the Beta Hockey Team Party at the Beta Theta Pi Frat House at Denison University in Granville, OH.  This show also featured the debuts of Runaway Jim and Cavern.

Since its 1990 debut, Tweezer has appeared once every 3.7 shows.  Only once has it gapped more than 18 shows in its 29-year history.

Tweezer was last played during Phish’s most recent show on 2/23/19 on the beach in Riviera Maya, Mexico

I’ve seen the song performed 3 times – all of them stellar versions that earned spots on the Jam Charts.

Lyrics:

Won’t you step into the freezer
Seize her with a tweezer

Won’t you step into the freezer
Tease her with a tweezer

It’s gonna be cold cold cold cold cold

Won’t you step into the freezer
Please her with a tweezer

Won’t you step into the freezer
Please her with a tweezer

It’s gonna be cold cold cold cold cold

Look who’s in the freezer
Uncle Ebenezer