Photos by Mitch Kline
The Scene: Dark clouds blew over the Denver metro late Saturday afternoon, whipping up dust and dropping a few stray sprinkles as I rolled into the lot at Dick’s for Phish. The storm rolled northeast, clearing the way for a textbook perfect Colorado sunset for the thousands of fans enjoying the Saturday afternoon lot scene before night two of Phish.
Phish: Phish has been setting up shop at Dick’s over Labor Day weekend since 2011, delivering some of the most unique and memorable sets in recent Phish history, including a full show of songs that all start with the letter “S”, a set that spelled out “FUCKYOURFACE”, and another that spelled “MOST SHOWS SPELL SOMETHING” backwards. By most accounts, Phish is undefeated at Dick’s and with no trace of alphabet shenanigans on Friday (the traditional night for wordplay) and a generally “average” show, anticipation was high for a standout Saturday night.
They’ve set the bar so high, particularly at Dick’s in year’s past and on this summer’s tour, that it’s easy to get hypercritical about this band every time they take the stage. I don’t tend to lean that way, so here’s a little run down of my favorite moments of Saturday night. The show opened with a pair of songs that I had never seen live in “No Man in No Man’s Land” and the raging and appropriately spacey “Martian Monster” which is a gem debuted during the band’s now legendary 2014 Halloween show. While both these were fun, a dark and dirty “Split Open and Melt” was the highlight of the first set. I always appreciate that song in a setlist, and this one was up there with some of my favorite versions as Trey and Page toyed with each other and built tension that eventually drove the song to a cacophonous climax.
They closed out the first set strong as they followed “SOAM” with a great version of “Limb by Limb” that devolved into the tender “Roggae” and finally the standard but rocking set closer of “Character Zero.” After the break, the band came out of the gates with “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing” before tearing into the best 45 minutes of the night which began with an exceptional 16 minute “Chalk Dust Torture” odyssey that segued flawlessly into a strong take on “Twist.” Next I got another first for me when the band dropped promising newcomer “Mercury” before giving way to a “Light” which went into that spacey zone that reminded me of one of my favorite meltdowns of past (12/11/99 “Sneakin’ Sally” into “Ghost”).
When the band waved good bye a little earlier than many expected after a powerful version of The Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll”, we all knew that we are in for more than a perfunctory, one song, encore. Indeed Trey and company served up three songs that didn’t really push many barriers, but were fun none the less with “Sleeping Monkey,” a standard “Harry Hood” and finally a version of The Beatles “A Day In The Life” that turned into one last sing-along for the sold-out crowd of 26,000.
Sure, this wasn’t a show for the ages, or a year-end list topper we’ve come to expect at Dick’s, but it was a solid, enjoyable show, especially the second set. And while the music is always the most important aspect of any concert, the bottom line for me is always “did I have fun?” And on this night, the answer most certainly was “Yes!”
Phish – Saturday, September 5th 2015 – Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Set 1: No Men In No Man’s Land, Martian Monster, NICU, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Bouncing Around the Room, 555, Winterqueen, Split Open and Melt, Limb By Limb > Roggae > Character Zero
Set 2: A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Chalk Dust Torture > Twist > Mercury >Light > Wingsuit > Rock and Roll
Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Harry Hood > A Day in the Life
Energy: B
Musicianship: B+
Sound: A-
Stage Presence: B
Set/Light Show: A+
Overall: B
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