Jammy!

  • Jammy!

It had been ten years since jam-band giant Phish last played Blossom Music Center — or anywhere in Cleveland for that matter — so you’d think the band would have brought its entire arsenal to its show Saturday night.

It’s been a year since Phish reformed, so they should be capable of sustaining their energy for more than three hours every night, but Saturday’s show was largely an uneven one.

Playing to 15,000-plus phans, most of them in their late 20s and 30s, the second show of Phish’s summer tour began with a timely cover of the Band’s “Look Out, Cleveland.” It was the first time Phish played the song, and it was received with a heroes welcome, as singer guitarist Trey Anastasio belted out the first verse.

But the remainder of the first set was a bit like a kiddie roller coaster, with a couple brief, exciting highlights and lots of flat, slow tracks. Crowd favorite “Stash” started with the right energy but lost its way after several minutes.

Newer songs “Ocelot” and “Time Turns Elastic,” from last year’s Joy, lacked life, and if it weren’t for “Sample in a Jar” and the set-ending medley of “Mike’s Song”, “I am Hydrogen,” and “Weekapaug Groove,” the first 80 minutes would have been better spent watching a 0-0 World Cup match.

After a brief intermission, the band must have realized it didn’t play up to its potential and returned with a much stronger set. The Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” ignited the audience from the first note, and was followed by a cohesive “Harry Hood.”

With glow sticks flying around the pavilion and lawn, the band stretched the song to its limit without being over indulgent in its jamming.

The second set was not without lulls, though. The mid-set pair of “Backwards Down the Number Line” “and “Twenty Years Later” nearly threatened the show. It was saved by another first-time cover, John Lennon’s “Instant Karma,” which was sung earnestly by keyboardist Page McConnell.

The rest of the set kept the energy going, with “Suzy Greenberg” and “Character Zero” punctuating it. And the “Squirming Coil” encore was a fitting finale, one of the most well-composed Phish songs, down to the McConnell piano solo that ended the song.

Post-breakup Phish are now in their second year of touring, and although they haven’t quite recaptured the magic they had during their mid-’90s heyday, they’re sounding much better than they did right before the five-year hiatus.

Their Cleveland show just needed a little more fine-tuning to get to that elite status, but at least Phish are headed in the right direction. —Aaron Mendelsohn

Were you there? What did you think of the show? Tell us.

This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2010.

6 replies on “Concert Review: Phish at Blossom Music Center”

  1. I agree with this review somewhat. They may have played newer songs and the pace may not have been 100% but overall it was a fantastic show. Most of all you could tell the band was having fun and feeding off the crowds energy. While on paper the set list is less than impressive…..the show it self was fantastic.

  2. I gotta say I really really enjoyed this show. I didn’t think there were any “flat, slow” songs. Ocelot is one of my faves off joy, and even though I left to go buy a couple of shirts for my kids during TTE (which I said I would do if they played it,) coming back during the 2nd part of the song, I really got into it, and even though I know that right know TTE isn’t a big fan fave, I am begining to like it more and more. The rare curtis loew in the first was a treat, as was oh kee pa in the second. Mike’s groove was just plain sick. The intro to Backwards was really great also. If I had to pick one song I could have done without it may have been 20 years, but that is probably because I am just not that familiar with it yet. Also, people throwing glowsticks at Page during Instant Karma = not cool

  3. I give this review 2 stars. Curtis Loew.. a flat, slow track??? IT’S CURTIS LOEW. Best live TTE yet. The BDTNL jam is far from a lull, the jam out of it has a distinct vibe if you actually listen to the whole thing. Everyone loves Instant Karma! But sometimes, bands have songs are slower than other songs. Maybe you should just stick to reviewing other bands.

  4. Review was Meh,
    Reviewer did his preshow research, but lacked any atmospheric details.
    Summer first sets have that lackadasical mellowness to them. (not slow and flat)
    He did a good job asking what the songs were and who was the originator.
    Best stanza of the first set was Mikes Song>H2>Weekapaug.
    Rock and Roll>harry hood>Backwards Down the # Line>20 years>okeepah>suzy raged!!!!!

  5. Sorry, but when Aaron Mendelsohn says “The second set was not without lulls, though. The mid-set pair of ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ and ‘Twenty Years Later’ nearly threatened the show” I HAVE to say something. I can let go his thoughts about first set (WHAT! Curtis Lowe is slow and flat?). But not these. What a load of junk. Number Line was Phish playing their new dark . . .and they did an AWESOME job at it.
    And I see Curtis Lowe as a song that speaks about Phish. The kid loves Curtis Lowe, though “people say he’s useless.” People might say Phish is old and sux, but “them people are the fools.” Phish is like the old Curtis Lowe. Don’t know if Phish brought it back with this sense in mind, but it makes sense to me, and I’ll keep it.

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