"Did they play Cities?"

In Phish culture, you learn to want 'The Jam.' You want the ability to excitedly say you were present that tour when they jammed that tune. You know, like they really jammed on it, man.

Before you continue, I'll forewarn you that this post pretty much surrounds roughly 30-minutes of Friday night's show in Mansfield, Massachusetts at the amphitheater formerly known as Great Woods.

I hate missing the opener. I feel as if I've lost some battle if I haven't made it inside by the time they come onstage. From Portland's post, you may have read about getting familiar with knowing when they'll actually come on stage. It's a true feeling of defeat if you lose that game. There's prized Phish content being missed.

As we filed in Friday night, it was apparent they were on stage. It was 7:41 p.m. with 7:00 p.m. ticket time. It was a "Party Time" opener. My shoulders relaxed. While it serves as a great opening tune with a funky beat, the sole lyrics are, "Party Time." I wasn't devastated. Glenn, Michael, Josh, Matt, and myself slithered into the relaxed crowd on a cold, overcast night in southeast Massachusetts.

A supposedly capacity crowd (sold out) had many empty pockets. Glen and I had lawn seats while the three others had pavilion tickets. Thus starts 'stub down' process. To enter pavilion seats at most venues, you must present to an usher proof that you're supposed to be in the seats and not a character up on the lawn. To stub down, two people enter the pavilion and take their seats. Then one exits with both ticket stubs and grabs a cohort off the lawn and present the usher with both stubs. This process is pretty much fool proof as long as you don't act like a fool. We've all done it before and Friday was no different story. It was seamless.

Frontman Trey Anastasio ripped the opening chords to "46 Days," a 21st century ripper that displays their rock & roll capabilities. Following the first chorus it dawned on me---it was my 46th Phish show. I smiled unto myself and grazed over the crowd for personal affirmation to why I do this, why I see Phish. The set blew by as they burst through "Bathtub Gin" and laid down the best, most expansive "How Many People Are You" to date.

A minute or so into the fan favorite, "Cities," Anastasio had a guitar malfunction. As the three other members kept the rhythmic beat going, he flipped back reaching for his older guitar. Guitar tech (yes, Phish fans even know the names to stage hands/technicians/lighting directors as if they're members), Brian Brown quickly emerged helping Anastasio switch chords into the new guitar while retrieving the effected. Anastasio took the time to announce him to the crowd as 17,000 people roared in ovation for his technical skills setting up the guitarist night after night for sonic success.

I can't remember ever seeing Anastasio have a technical problem until last night when he apparently broke a string.

If it wasn't unique "Cities" up to this point, Anastasio hopped on drummer Jon Fishman's, Marimba Lumina, an electronic drumming apparatus. Bassist Mike Gordon took to Anastasio's guitar as they took the Talking Heads tune to a spacey place.

It's great to see Anastasio experimenting more regularly in the last few tours, knowing it's coming from a sober, musically-driven vantage point. In his drug-induced days of the drum kit ('95-'97) or keyboard ('99), the novelty was there, but the quality was often lacking.

Set I ended with an a cappella tribute to the late David Bowie, belting "Space Oddity" for the second time this tour.

Up to this point on the east coast leg of the tour the jams have been steady but nothing had really entered too, too unfamiliar territory. "Moma Dance" Sunday night in Saratoga for me had been the exploratory highlight of my time on tour. "Ghost" began the set right at 9:30 p.m.. Nearly 12-minutes in I could see Anastasio was going to abort prior to the unknown. Even from far away after all this time, you can read his body language. He seems anxious to a point. He'll start looking around at the other band member and then to his pedal board as if he's scouring his creative mind to decide what's next.


The opening lines of "Light" protruded the PA system. The near 20-minute improvisational track that ensued left the five of us reaching for our jaws from the concrete below. A perfect Phish jam that encompassed so many of their strong iprov aspects.

"Best jam of tour," people exclaimed!

We wholeheartedly agreed.

A second set "Wolfman's Brother" was a sign this set could be 'the one.' Exiting the song's structure, they slid into a gritty vocal jam. Just moments later, silence. For a second or two I looked around to see if maybe it was my hearing. They had blown the PA system. The band finally exited the stage signaling they'd be back. Here was when everyone started scheming. A little blimp in the game plan is always where Phish has strived.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro," Hunter S. Thompson once stated.

We were convinced they'd creatively work themselves back into Wolfman's when the PA was remedied. After about 10-minutes, the stage lights came back on and the band emerged as Anastasio swung into, "Chalkdust Torture."

Blasphemy! The energy was lost in my opinion. The vast 35-minutes of space funk through "Ghost > Light > Wolfman's" they had neatly layered into the set had fallen to the wayside.

They closed out the set with some straight forward hits and encored with The Beatles', "I am the Walrus."

Just another eventful night with Phish! Onward toward Hartford....what's this city known for? Didn't they have an NHL team at some point? Am I continually paying Comcast more money by attending seemingly all their venues in New England. I think I'll spend the afternoon in Providence, RI and get to Hartford just in time for the show.

In the long run, I'm really striving to find the city for me. Portland is high on the list. Philly is dirty. Boston has always had my heart. Brooklyn though....! We'll see, but it'll be somewhere.

"...I will find myself a city to live in," Talking Heads.