Show #5: Keyspan Park Night 2 (Brooklyn NY)

2004 Year-In-Review (A Journey Through the Dark Side)
Show #5: Keyspan Park Night #2 (Brooklyn NY)
Date: June 18, 2004
Tour: Early Summer

Set I

1. AC/DC Bag – always a welcomed opener (you can’t argue with a song that includes lyrics “let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, let’s get this show on the road!”). In the starter position, you aren’t expecting it to get stretched; just to act as a pace car for the evening. Three minutes in and the pace has been set accordingly. After five minutes, they seemed to be warming up, exercising their chops, and energizing the crowds’ legs and heads. Trey affixes the rousing outtro which dissipates as expected, and immediately they begin:

2. Camel Walk – considered a major “bust-out” for a long time, Camel Walk has seen the light of day at least once every few months for the past few tours. You can’t help but hear the “early years” in this song, with its rather simple, laid-back, funky structure, that includes almost no improvisation. Five minutes and we’re done here.

3. Crowd Control – continuing the two-night run with material off Undermind (although this song was debuted last fall and was also performed this spring in Vegas). Much better placed, early in the first set than it was in Vegas (late second set). It’s lively enough here, situated where a bluegrass tune used to fit.

4. Stash – how well this Stash comes off will, in some ways, depend on what they play after it. If they use it as a catalyst for the rest of the set, then it’s just what the doctor ordered to breathe life into this otherwise “disjointed” selection. Six minutes in and the exploration has begun, although it’s still rather “controlled” – they seem to be holding back tonight (does that mean a monster is coming this way in the second set?). So far, I haven’t heard anything wrong with their playing, but I’m ready for my face to be melted already. At the ten minute mark, I’m enjoying it (lowercase), but there’s another gear there that they aren’t switching into, I just know it. As the song comes to a close, I’m really hoping that they bring out a heavyweight …

5. Cars Trucks Buses – so much for my desires – who wrote this set list? Now I’m really expecting some Heat out of tonight’s second set, because this first set’s delivery is a total mixed-bag that seems to have no direction. It’s like a show on Xanax.

6. Carini - Did I write “mixed-bag” already? [uh, yeah, I did, and now I just wrote it again]. There’re actually a few surprises here, with some unexpected raunch and TONE after the 2:00 mark; Three minutes in and the mood continues to be dark. Around 5:00 Trey throws down a few hot licks and the pace quickens a bit, pulling the crowd closer to IT, but not all the way. Will they launch from here or return to base?

7. My Sweet One – like a mix tape gone wrong. Nothing wrong with the song though.

8. Character Zero – hmm, I don’t feel like the night has even gotten started and here we are facing a possible set closer? WTF? As the song progresses past the verses and choruses, I stop worrying about the clock and let the pure, unadulterated rock flow over me, enjoying the first dose of high-level energy of the night. All the hooks are fastened on this Zero and the crowd is appreciative of the effort. As the crowd and band join in together for the closing chorus, I can’t help but come back to the thought, is this it for set one?

OK – what the hell do I know … as they head straight into

9. Tweezer – jaw on the floor now; gonna stop trying to figure this set out. The guitar riff in Tweezer is another one that is near perfection in its fall-back-on-itself simplicity. Then it begins its dark turn around 3:00 only to clear the decks, recycle and begin again, eventually opening the door to full-scale funk improv by the 5:00 minute mark. Immediately all four members have lined up with Page as the unappointed leader, as he provides a palette on which Trey is able to paint some gritty textures. A few minutes later Trey steps in to lead, forging ahead with a determination to square the edges on this type I jam. Like a Mac truck charging down the highway, I’m wondering what are this Tweezer’s destination and cargo. At the 11 minute mark, I’m informed that round two of the jam is on the waybill. More Type I is served up deliciously for our consumption. Finally, I’m feeling IT. But wait, what’s that, are we at our destination? Yep, it’s a place known as Set Break. I’m told it’s a fifteen minute stop. As with all things tonight, whether that’s the truth or not, I have no idea.

Set II

1. Wilson – the best spot for Wilson is opening the second set, in my opinion. It immediately captures the audience’s attention and contains some nice heavy rock riffs. The audience becomes part of the act (“Wilson!”). Three minutes in and I have to mention the heavy guitar riffs again. Again, the audience and band connect (“Can you still have any fun now?!”). Can you still have fun? Answer: Yes, I can.

As Wilson winds down, I hear those notes from the bottom of the abyss that can only mean …

2. Down With Disease – early on the audience has to help Trey who flubs some lyrics. Just as with Wilson, the audience can help but join in the fun (“this is all been wonderful”). Better yet, DWD can usually be counted on to deliver, and in this second place position should be a pretty good launching pad. Every time I hear the composed jam, I can’t help but think back to that New Years’ Eve long ago when it was premiered for the first time – it’s the model of a Type I jam if there ever was one. Tonight, the energy is in the park and all four band members are firing on 12 cylinders. Nearing the 7:00 mark its turned into a raging inferno of molten rock. One final pass through the lyrically-laced iconic jam again reminds everyone that “this is all been wonderful.”

Bringing the jam to an end, Trey quickly announces that Brooklyn’s own Jay-Z is coming on stage. Jay-Z takes the make and out of the speakers comes

3. 99 Problems – it’s a good thing the show’s in Brooklyn where there are clearly some homeboy fans who know his songs and can join in the rap-along. Mixing rock and roll and rap has always come off to me as novelty. Tonight is not exception. I wonder how long he’ll be on stage, because I came to hear Phish. But this does prove that there’s almost no genre of music that Phish can’t handle. This song is pretty funny because most Phish fans do got 99 problems but the bitch ain’t one.

4. Big Pimpin’ – Jay stays on stage for another song. The beat of this song seems much more Phish-friendly – it’s sounds like something that would be played on a fairground for some reason. OK, it’s two and out for Jay-Z, and they waste not time getting back the point …

5. Chalk Dust Torture – re-launching at full-throttle, the interlude of hip-hop turns out not to interrupt the flow as I’d worried. Again, the good times roll and the audience gets to sing along (“Can’t I live while I’m young?! – although I kind of wish the people near the AUD mics would have keep it down a little). Three minutes in and we’re safely on the Type I bus. As I've mentioned before, a good sign that they are playing well is that I'm having trouble listening "critically." The tempo of the Chak Dust is perfect - no flubs, no hiccups, just pure, unsweetened, shredded wheat.

5. Chak Dust (cont.) – venturing past the 6:00 mark, the band continues to destroy it, but soon after takes an unfamiliar turn. Things slow down as it seems there’s more to this jam than meets the eye. Not knowing what to expect, the crowd settles down for the hard stare, as Phish ventures the neverworld, where never-before-heard ambience and psychedelic riffs that echo and repeat throughout the open air are birthed. This is some seriously heavy Phish. Heavy. A few minutes later and remnants of Chalk Dust's core return to bring it all to powerful yet tight ending. That was awesome.

6. Harry Hood - taking it down a slight notch after that scorching barn-burner that used to be known as Chalkdust, the audience is back on the team with chants of "Hood," and then the band heads out on their own again, playing some of the most loved music they've ever written. The composition is almost perfectly arranged, quiet then loud, shallow then deep, slow then quick, all the while building towards an imminent first-round offering of thanks to the Mister.

^ 7. Hood (cont.) – following the gratuitousness, it’s nothing but sheer bliss – like swimming in an ethereal ocean of sound. And more bliss after that, followed by even more bliss, followed by the first hints that there's nirvana up ahead.
^ 7. Hood (cont.) - out of the bliss, around the 9:00 mark, Trey throws a dark and brooding solo into the pot, causing things to boil immediately. It eventually settles down, consumed by some polyrhythmic drumming by Fishman and the song ends WITHOUT a finish (I guess the audience has sung enough already?) and transitions into

8. Taste - this song was one of the gems from Vegas. The polyrhythms found late in Hood make sense now. Listening to Taste, I'm reminded that there are certain types of music that Phish generates that cannot be found anywhere else; Taste is the poster child for this uniqueness.

8. Taste (cont.) – putting behind me the feeling that I was cheated out of my Hood outtro, the band departs the central core of Taste, layering Type I after Type I on top of the Fishman’s multi-tiered foundation that would chart like an MC Escher drawing. Ten minutes in and the Taste theme is brought back in full form, driving onward towards a machine-gun-laden peak of combustible goodness. And, with a final drum beat, it appears that I’ve not checked the clock in a while, but this second set is over. Catch your breath for three minutes.


Encore: Back on stage now … Bug comes out from behind the refrigerator for the first time in ‘04. That’s cool. I like the way this song starts out slow and never exceeds the speed limit, but generates some nice intensity nonetheless. Plus, they’re bound to put the bookend on first set’s Tweezer, so this is really just a way-station to everyone’s favorite show closer anyway. No complaints out of me.
As expected, after some wailing and flailing the Bug is squashed and Tweeprise wipes the floor clean, sending the audience into one final journey into the freezer.

Final thoughts: Keyspan Night 2 is the little brother to the movie-star that was Night 1, but set II is worth keeping around, if not for the novelty that was Jay-Z, then for the novelty that was an unexpected ChalkDust Torture. If you want to check this one out, try the SBDs, because the Brooklyn crowd didn’t respect the mic-stands at all. Next stop, SPAC for two nights.