Photos by Tiffany Michelle Black
One doesn’t simply review a Phish concert. First, you have to show your bona fides. With that in mind, I’ll simply state that my first time hearing Phish was Jeffrey Quinlan’s Junta cassette that he brought back from Bowdoin College, where his brother had seen them. My first show was in 1992; I left early. My 20th show was in 1995, and somewhere after then, I just stopped counting. I didn’t think I’d ever need that number again until I started writing this. I’d hazard a guess at around 40.
One can’t simply review a Phish concert anyway. Either you love them or you don’t, and I’m not going to convince anyone in the cult to like or dislike something; same for those outside the cult. Everyone is convinced; there is no middle ground.
What I can say with absolute certainty is that night two of Phish’s stop at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was one of the best shows I’ve seen by Phish or anyone else in a very long time. And night one was until it wasn’t. Night one was excellent; night two was exceptional.
Tuesday’s first show started with a real burst of energy, a first set full of ’90s bangers that rocked the venue and got everyone going instantly. “Buried Alive,” “Axilla,” and “Mike’s Song” as the first three were glorious, yet when a slow and sloppy “Weekapaug Groove” happened, I was a little perplexed. Why is the energy draining out of the room?
A near-trainwreck “Halley’s Comet followed,” apparently started in the wrong key. Still, it jammed out beautifully, followed by a wonderful “Roggae,” a blistering “Maze,” and a wow-this-is-turning-into-a-very-long-first-set “Split Open and Melt.” And we all did.
Would the second set be more mellow? Not if set opener “Carini” has anything to say about it! As close as Phish ever gets to metal, this is not a calm song. The rest of the set would be calmer until a closing “Down With Disease” ratcheted it back up until “Fluffhead” sent us off into the night yelling “Fluffy fluffy fluffy head” at strangers trying to sell me balloons.
Having missed out on seats because tarps, t-shirts, towels, and plastic shopping bags got seats before I could, I decided to show up later on the second day. After catching the 70mm IMAX presentation of Sinners and snagging a burrito, I got to exactly the same standing spot that I had claimed the night before, re-acquainted myself with the friends I had made the night before, and prepared myself for the mystery about to unfold.
Nothing could readied me for the blistering set I was about to receive. I thought the first night had a high-energy set? Wednesday’s first set made mincemeat of that argument. Even reading the setlist, it hardly feels real. “Simple,” “Punch You in the Eye,” “Gumbo,” “Reba,” “The Well,” “David Bowie,” and the should-have-been-a-radio-staple “Character Zero” made up a non-stop thrill ride.
Again, set two would be calmer, right? Well, no. Tiffany, the photographer on this post, had predicted a 30-minute Tweezer. Official runtime of tonight’s Tweezer? 30:24. She’s a Phish knower. Yet the highlight of the second set for me was “Crosseyed and Painless” because, y’know, I’m never going to get to see the Talking Heads. The show never let up, ending with a final “First Tube,” which I consider a gift. I get to bop to the riff the entire ride home, and for days afterward. I’m bopping to it right now as I write this, even though it’s not playing.
(Real question in case you can answer. Is “First Tube” Phish’s most lucrative song because it’s used in nearly every Fox Sports broadcast?)
What is it about Bill Graham Civic — a venue that draws groans from so many about the sound quality — that brings out the best in Phish and their fans? Does the giant dance floor create a mass of energy that the band thrives off? Is it the fact that the venue is just incredibly cool about allowing people to enjoy themselves? Is it the ghosts of San Francisco’s classic music scene? Whatever it is, Phish shows here are never to be missed. While I no longer travel up and down the coast to catch runs of Phish shows, I will never miss a hometown show for as long as we’re all still going.
