SET 1: Tube > Boogie On Reggae Woman, Birds of a Feather, Guelah Papyrus, My Sweet One, Roggae, Tweezer -> Have Mercy -> Taste > Character Zero
SET 2: Funky Bitch, On My Knees, Jam > Down with Disease, Wolfman's Brother -> Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley > Timber (Jerry the Mule), You Enjoy Myself
ENCORE: The Squirming Coil, Tweezer Reprise
If there was one common thread between the first three Phish festivals, it’s that they went all out. Scheduling them at the end of the summer tour meant the band would be in peak form when they arrived, ready to play four or five hours of music a night, not counting a poorly-kept-secret set. The art installations spared no expense, creating an immersive experience that transported fans to a pocket universe for the weekend. There was focus – it was nothing but a firehose of Phish in all its artistic forms.
So Camp Oswego was a weird outlier, full of changes that seemed to disregard the valuable lessons built up in the previous three years. It was scheduled smack in the middle of the summer tour, on the back half of a four-day run with no day off for the band to soundcheck and settle in. The first night was only two sets, breaking a core festival commandment, with no late night set dessert either.
In its place, the band provided – for the first and only time – a second stage featuring (gasp!) other bands, booking direct influences like Son Seals and Del McCoury and jam-adjacent acts such as The Slip and Ozomatli. The summer camp theming was still strong, but the production values were a little lower, the grounds a little smaller and less hospitable – standing on a roof-less blacktop runway in 90-degree weather was not the warm welcome to this tour I had in mind.
That put all the pressure on the band to deliver the “festival experience” on stage. And on night one, they delivered a solid show that nevertheless didn’t quite get there. It’s easy to imagine this setlist happening on any other night of the tour so far, in any other venue. Even the special guest segment has been a regular occurrence, with about half the shows this summer featuring a cameo appearance.
Admittedly, tonight was a particularly long two-set show, with no curfew beyond the band’s own fatigue. Further, it might be the most classically fan-friendly show that the band has provided their fans all summer. There’s significantly more straightforward cowfunk than we’ve heard so far this year, with Tube, Boogie On, Wolfman’s, Sally, and YEM all reviving the less prevalent 1997 flavor. The Tweezer > Have Mercy > Taste sequence feels like an even deeper 90s throwback, and not just because the reggae filling in that sandwich appears for the first time since 1994. Even the tempos are back to normal; Disease positively gallops, perhaps in response to the preceding 15 minutes of restraint while they played the deferential host to Son Seals.
You might be expecting me to bash that two-song sequence, but I’m going to buck expectations here. The invitation extended to the Chicago bluesman is a neat inversion of the usual Phish guest appearance, which recently has meant bringing someone more famous or more established than them on stage and finding common musical ground to play together. Seals was never that famous in Chicago, where there’s a lot of blues competition – the one time I saw him was in a suburban restaurant where they didn’t even move the tables around for the show. And the first song that they play with him is one that Phish, arguably, popularized more than he ever did.
If I’ve shown bias against Funky Bitch in the past, it’s because I was there for this version, when Son Seals exposed the wimpiness of Phish’s version as soon as he sang the first note. It inspires a great crowd pop, and it’s a bit surprising that Mike had the courage to sing it again himself after exposing fans to the real deal*. I also really dig Seal’s scratchy guitar style; it plays great against Trey’s cleaner tone, adding some much needed raunch to Phish’s usual squeaky-clean take on the blues. The music rises to the emotional level of the moment, with an older musician near the end of an incredibly rough life playing two of his songs for what I’m pretty sure is the largest audience he’d ever performed for.
Still, as much as that sit-in – and tomorrow’s with the Del McCoury Band – hits the right emotional notes, it’s a weird diversion for a festival, where the spotlight has traditionally been on Phish and only Phish**. For another six days, we didn’t know that there would be not just another Phish festival in 1999, but their most ambitious yet, providing the largest serving of their music we’d ever get. After one night in Oswego, it felt like the most sacred of Phish rituals had suffered an unfortunate fate – apart from all the toasted marshmallow sculptures in the concert field, it was just a normal show.
* - Both at this date and three months later in Rosemont, another show I attended, preserving my perfect “Son Seals with Phish” record. I know you’re jealous.
** - And okay, Ben and Jerry, for one song. And The Clifford Ball Orchestra. But you know what I mean.
Lovely read, Rob.
I feel grateful and hopeful for my first Phish fest experience this summer. I predict more than toasted marshmallows sculptures in a field for sure. Hope to see ya there Rob, let’s get a live cast podcast thing going if the Bunny doesn’t go over the airwaves this year.
P.S. on The Slip, a band that became The Barr Brothers. They were my in-person Phish equivalent, 99-04, coming of age in the Western MA area. I wish more SBD sets of the band existed. Wonderful, original music. They started each show with a moody soundscape that set the tone. Like entering a jungle without predators. But also unlike the bland synthness of STS9.
Slip fans? Lookout for the Buffalo Bills flag and pre set tent in Mondegreen. Let’s connect.