Photos by Nate Cundy
Labor Day traditionally marks the official end of Summer and, as a kid, I always dreaded the three-day weekend as it meant it was time to pack up the bathing suits and towels and break-out the backpacks and books. These days though, it’s different. Labor Day weekend has become a hallowed and highly anticipated weekend for me and many of my friends as it means that Phish is going to set up shop for three days at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park here in Denver.
From the start of this tradition eight years ago, these shows have offered something special most years. There was the “S” show, the “Thank You” encore, the “Most Shows Spell Something” evening and while the spelling shows ended in 2015, Phish has continued to offer up some pretty memorable three day runs at Dick’s and, on the heels of the cancellation of Curveball, this year was no exception.
Friday’s show served up a first set that felt like a second as it kicked off with an energetic “Free” before the band busted out the second set favorite “Harry Hood.” While “Hood” may not have hit the heights of some renditions of the tune, it did leave me thinking that maybe the band was going to drop a backwards show with “Free” serving in the encore slot and “Hood” as the second set closer. As the band slipped into “What’s the Use?” this theory held true and, in fact, I would have probably argued it for much of the first set with second set staples like “Ghost,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” and “Simple” showing up before the break. The set ended with a rocking “Cavern” in a fairly common position and we all careened into setbreak buzzing about what the actual second set had in store for us.
As I visited with friends, the guys returned to the stage and dropped into the relatively new jam vehicle “No Men In No Man’s Land.” After exploring the edges of the tune for nearly 15 minutes, they exploded into one of my personal favorites – “Carini” – and we were off the races as Trey led the band into deep space and back for nearly 19 minutes of superb jamming before changing tacks and landing in “Theme From The Bottom” which always delights me with its intricately woven lyrical rounds.
From there the band took us into the unique orbit of “Mercury” and while the multi-part Homerian opus may not be universally accepted, I’m a big fan. This version did not disappoint as I found myself lost in the 15 minutes of prog-rock influenced glory before the door opened and “Light” came into view. At more than 18 minutes, this version stacks up well against previous Dick’s “Light”s and rounded out a beautifully played five song second set that completely destroyed my theory of a backwards show.
After a brief break, the band returned to dive headlong into a blistering take on “Martian Monster” that featured Trey and Mike going toe-to-toe during the latter half of the Chilling, Thrilling favorite. Phish then closed the night out with a rocking “Julius” that had the whole crowd singing along one more time knowing that when we all woke up in the morning Phish would still be there for two more nights at Dick’s.
Friday 08/31/2018
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
SET 1: Free* > Harry Hood, What’s the Use? > Blaze On, Ghost^ -> Crosseyed and Painless# > Simple@ > Cavern
SET 2: No Men In No Man’s Land% > Carini > Theme From the Bottom > Mercury > Light
ENCORE: Martian Monster > Julius
* “Free” contained “Eminence Front” teases from Trey.
^ Trey teased “Under Pressure” in “Ghost.”
# Crossyed contained a “Bag’s Groove” tease from Trey and an “On Your Way Down” tease from Mike.
@ Trey teased “Mona Lisa” (Ray Evans and Jay Livingston) in “Simple.”
% Trey teased “How High the Moon” before “No Men In No Man’s Land.”
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