Review - JB1 6/2/09

06/02/09 Jones Beach Amphitheatre, Wantagh, NY
Set I: Runaway Jim, Foam, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan¹, Timber (Jerry the Mule), Cities, Driver, Reba, Possum, Farmhouse, If I Could²
Set II: Mike's Song> Simple> Wolfman's Brother> Weekapaug Groove, When the Circus Comes to Town, Kill Devil Falls¹, Harry Hood, Loving Cup
Encore: Suzy Greenberg

¹ First Time Played
² Last Played 6/28/2000 (101 Shows)


It was a scene all too comfortable, and yet it shouldn't have been.

Phish (and the accompanying circus) at Jones Beach felt perfectly placed. A large expansive lot right on the beach. A full shakedown complete with food, crafts and other vending.

But within minutes it became clear that this was slightly different. No clear drinking allowed. Cops in full dress were patrolling the aisles giving out tickets and arresting people for alcohol violations. Undercovers were swarming the lot, making it hard to figure out if they were trying to be "undercover" at all. There was a holding cell on site with a judge that was exceptionally efficient in getting people processed and bailed out.

But enough about the scene.

This was a reunion show in more ways than one. I was at a show with Wurtz (who i took to his first show...or rather he drove us since we didn't have licenses yet and i had the ticket to his first show), and Evan, who I've seen a ton of shows with over the years (Hershey, Philly, Nassau, BKNY).

Having been at Hampton, i think i didn't quite appreciate the excitement building in my friends. At Hampton i was dizzy with anticipation, literally holding my stomach as we tried to enter the building.

Here i was joyous. Truly thrilled to be back on tour. And in my hometown nonetheless.

Amy and I spent a little while chillin at Wurtz' ocean side abode waiting out the rain before heading over. Did a quick lap before meeting up with Evan and his crew and headed inside to our actual seats, which turned out to be great.

Nice opener with Jim, nothing special though. A tight Foam, led into my favorite new song right now "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan."

Aside from its infectious repeating chorus of "I've got a blank space where my mind should be," i thought the rock composition was natural and not forced as some Phish rockers end up sounding, especially upon early listens.

Timber is one of my favs and I'm not sure that I've heard it live before...good version, a little first set jamming. The Cities was FUN-KY. I loved the groove at the end that they get into.

Driver was standard. A good song that I've never loved. It was always placed with Albuquerque or something during the acoustic breaks in 99-00 and i while the songs are good, i was never a big fan.

Reba was hands down the first set highlight. I can still hear the jam shift in my head. Type I jamming, type II jamming. It was all there.

Nice high energy Possum followed by a standard Farmhouse and a not so standard If I Could.

I've already talked a bit about the strangeness that followed the ending of If I Could, but i would like to re-emphasize the soloing at the end. Beautiful and amazing.

Quick set break and we're back.

I feel like no matter how many times i listen to this set, I'm still not sure where to place it. It was a set filled with monster songs, but no monster moments.

The Mike's jam seemed to be going places but then sloppily landed in Simple. The Wolfman's was a treat in that slot, but again seemed to just sort of end up (via Fishman) in Weekapaug.

I always like a good Circus, and then we got Kill Devil Falls, which we all decided sounds alot like Birds of a Feather (and had confirmed the next night). It's a catchy rockish tune (that i cannot get out of my head in a REALLY bad way) that I'm sure could lead to nice moments in the future. TBD.

Hood was tight. Excellent jam section, multiple builds, multiple releases, but again, the ending just sort of happened after all the incredible peaking.

Loving Cup is always great and who is going to argue with a Suzy encore. I like my Suzy's a little longer with an OKP intro, but this was a nice way to end the show. Seemed like they were getting close to the 11:30 curfew though and were rushing a bit.