In what was penciled in as my 25th show, I arrived in Chicago in high anticipations, with the same 3.0 cautious attitude not to self-hype the show too much for fears of a great letdown. After all, I think I had witnessed more letdowns and shows that started out as fire, smoldered into setbreak (see 2011-2012 Alpine Valley) and officially fizzled out with a mid-second set "Wading," "Bug," or "Character Zero."
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| Post-show view from the bridge right outside our hotel (to the left) |
No such letdown in Chicago this night. In what was surely the strongest 3.0 Phish show I've witnessed, and possibly one of the top 5 Phish shows I've ever seen, there was just that intangible Phishy element in the air this Sunday night. Perhaps the band finally snapped from a summer tour plagued with immense weather and rain problems, which had also caused the band to reschedule a show in Toronto, suspend the first Chicago show after an hour on Friday, and played a special, "make-up" 3-set show on Saturday, also under storm clouds. There was a 50% chance of storms on Sunday night, which ended up being an immense miscalculation.
Phish started out the show right; as dark clouds mounted to the north, Trey ripped into the beginning of "Dinner and a Movie," which was my first of three firsts of the evening. Starting out the show with a first-timer turned out to be a great omen. Like the first notes tinkling from Trey's guitar to begin the show, he abruptly shifted into "AC/DC Bag," which, although it conformed to the normal sub 7-minute rendition it has in the last few years, it simply ripped. Trey was hitting the right notes and made this Bag into a particularly fun one to really springboard the show from an average beginning to a notable one. The tone continued after that, with a near flawless "Maze," with Trey remaining tight, focused, and on-point, and a "Mound," which was another first for me, although it was a rather rough attempt. A well-played "Funky Bitch" followed, which concluded what I'd refer to as the "normal part of the show."
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| Page hits literally every key in his arsenal during the intro to "Bathtub Gin," as the clouds continue to threaten the show. |
The clouds to the north crept closer and finally opened during "Bathtub Gin." The band's intensity picked up immensely as the rains intensified; a drizzle led to a smattering of huge rain drops as the Gin jam elevated, and by the end of the song, phanners everywhere were engulfed in huge, heavy drops of torrential downpour. The band, obviously used to inclement weather by this point of the tour, shrugged it off and continued the set with "Wilson" and an apropos "Water In the Sky." The rain continued to pour, and after becoming bone-soaked, the opening piano notes to "Water In the Sky" elicited a laugh. At that point, it's all one could have done. There was no cover, no shelter, no respite from the downpour.
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| Right before it started raining, Bathtub Gin. |
Unbelievably, the downpour actually intensified during "Water In the Sky" which forced us to seek cover, somewhere. Luckily, the back of the reserved seating area provided us, and many others, with about 7 feet of cover from the blowing, whipping rain. We could barely hear the Boogie On through the stands and roar of the rain, and heard that the band was taking a break until the rain let up. It was just one of those moments when you couldn't do anything except laugh it off -- everyone was stuck on the island, far from cover, hotels, and houses. My only concern was my cell phone, as I was negligent enough to forget a plastic baggie to protect my electronics from the elements. Luckily, all phones survived, but we might have been in trouble if we hadn't found our secret, back-of-stands dry spot.
The setbreak gave us the opportunity to collect ourselves and catch up and meet other phans. I talked with one guy who had been on the entire tour, and he upheld my statement that I felt the band was playing very well lately. Another was amazed that I happened to have a safety pin, which saved the day. For such a bummer of a situation (and not just the night -- an entire TOUR plagued by weather issues), it was such great vibes from everyone hanging out, waiting for the rain to cease, and Phish to return.
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| Lines for bathrooms were out of control, especially during the soaking setbreak, so phanners took matters into their own hands. |
After about 45 more minutes of downpour (it rained SO HARD), the skies finally relented, the crew dried the stage and we were treated to a superb second set. Phish came out and opened with Energy, a newer tune, which would usually draw a groan or a "meh" of indifference from me, but with spirits high from a unique setbreak and more music to come, it was a welcome set II opener. The jam blossomed to a few nice themes from Trey before deconstructing into the basslines of Ghost. I'd say this was a true segue and not one of the cop-out "drops" that barely necessitates a ">" on the setlist.
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| Look...the storm's gone. |
The Ghost jam immediately took off and soared to beautiful heights, and made me think again that "Wow, this band is really locked in and playing well right now." The jam crested and landed peacefully in Trey's opening noodling to Lizards, an always welcome addition to any show I'm at. This version was particularly peppy and well-played; the band was definitely feeding off the rainstorm vibes and the energy that the phans delivered back to the stage. I was already pretty content with the show upon hearing the first few notes of Lizards.
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| My best iPhone pic of the night: The Lizards. |
Oom pa pa Oom pa pa Oom pa pa Oom PA PAAAAAA! It's the whackiest of whacky Phish that you just never expect to hear at a show, but after the last two days, cancelled sets, crappy weather, and tonight's onslaught of rain, Phish must have decided to let it all out of the bag. This "Harpua" will notoriously go down as one of Phish's weirder Harpuas, but I loved it. Calling the comedy troupe of Chicago's Second City in to provide "their own" Poster Nutbag (The Right Way) story, it felt like an amazing coincidence at the time with something that just wasn't quite right. Afterwards, hearing that it was all planned out, of course, made sense, and there were clues along the way that indicated shenanigans, but at the time, it was difficult to determine truth from fabrication. My first Harpua, in all its glory, was not flawless, but it was entertaining and was simply perfect, considering the night. With Harpua as the cherry-on-top, the opening notes of "Run Like an Antelope" carried the second set away, in my mind, into immortally legendary status. I was nervous that they'd come out and encore with "Velvet Sea," or "Waste," perhaps the two slow ballads that would have possibly reduced the show's credibility in my eyes, as Phish is notorious for laying egg encores after immensely hot sets, but I was happy enough with a rip-roaring sing-a-long "Character Zero."
The hotel worked out, and was perfectly nice and swanky. The amphitheater was nice, and I'd never do another show there again without having reserved seats. (Phantasy Tour's amended seating charts had the floor mislabeled as "Ritz Carlton" -- when really it should have been the reserved seating stands. We did this show as right as we could, and it ended up being a legendary show that will forever make me question whether a 3.0 show can truly crack my top-5 shows list, mostly consisting of shows from 98, 99, and 00.
