Sharing my favorite artists to get hyped for shows on Tuesday and Wednesday. This live album was my first experience with Phish. It's a pretty great portrait of their live experience, but being a single set makes it pretty digestable. If anyone new to the band decides to take a spin, the listening guide has some really background info for context.
Some general thoughts on my part... - This album captures a pretty concrete period of time for the band. They've been around for 40 years and tend to go through creative phases. This was right in the meat of their funk explorations. It's an awesome portrait of that time, but listening to them any other year would probably feel a bit different. - There's a great range of sounds on here. The funk I mentioned, some blues, some lounge singing, some barbershop, some deep jamming. That's part of the Phish experience; they've purposefully stretched into every genre over the years. - Some of these grooves are legit Phish jams, which is why I love this album. On the surface it's pretty listenable, but there's some real meat to the Wolfman's Brother and Mike's Song. Mike's Song in particular show the slightly ominous edge that I personally love in the band. I'll stop there and let the music do the talking. There aren't many artists that make it 40 years and still sell out Madison Square Garden four nights in a row every new years. They're worth a listen and I hope you enjoy!
@Jangles so like im someone who has never listened to a phish album and I know your like a phish hardcore, is this a good place to start
@William for sure. Having a general idea of your taste in music I'd probably pick something different, but this one is probably one of the easier entry points for most people. It has a little bit of everything and the overarching funk sounds are hard to not like.
@William if this get's anything close to a thumbs up from you I have one 30 minute jam in particular, from a different era, that I think you might be into.
The transition from Wolfman's Brother to Jesus Just Left Chicago is so incredibly smooth. The Wolfman's gets far enough out there to say "what song is this again"? (@MC_Benski knows this is one of my calling cards at shows...)
The segment that begins around the 10 minute mark of Mike's Song showcases one of my favorite tricks of the time. Trey creates an endless loop on his guitar that adds an additional layer/texture. That ominous feel creates a super cool foundation for their improvisation. (In this case, some vocal quotes of The Doors' The End)
Every few years I dip my toes into Phish. Can understand their appeal but it’s such a huge world to fully dive into. When I do there is plenty of variety. This was also one of the first albums I heard and in addition to this one I only have the CDs of Lawn Boy and Story of the Ghost. Other than that I just take in suggested live shows at random. I saw footage of them performing at the Vegas Sphere more recently.
@zprofound they’re definitely a little overwhelming. Especially with how obsessive their fans can be. The studio albums can be an interesting listen. Some good, some bad. Kind of hard to capture a band that’s so reliant on improvisation, right?
I did not expect this to start out with a talking heads cover, and its my favorite talking heads song to, so like thats cool as fuck
Overall I really enjoyed this one, which I was surprised cause i'm normally not a big live album guy
Good album. I am a live album guy and Phish is best heard live. I own one Phish live LP from much later on. Not a Phish fan, just a casual listener if there is such a thing. Know a couple hardcore fans who traded the Grateful Dead in on Phish.
@Cousin-Cletus You're right about casual listeners. People are usually all in or all out.
I appreciate everyone pandering to my somewhat-secret obsession for Phish. The Wisconsin trip was another one for the books. Incredible few days with @MC_Benski @HelpFrankSlip and a few others. There were one or two high points to the music, but overall it feels like they are grasping at a new musical direction they haven't quite found yet. I love that they're 40+ years in and are still pushing themselves in new directions, though. Excited to see where they land next.
