There's some folklore behind the energy of this show, particularly the second set. It can be found in a google search but the gist is Leigh Fordham with another member of the crew went out on the ocean when the band was in Florida and happened upon a lost barrel filled with fine contraband, from some shady deal gone wrong probably, and absconded with it. Over the course of the rest of the tour the dust arose so to speak and highjinks ensued. This particular night, the second set especially, is fabled to be a night where the band fueled on said contraband. Hence the shouting at Leigh Fordham and Fishman mentioning Cuba. There's an undeniable kind of dark rock and roll energy to this set, unlike, as you pointed out Mitch, almost any other set they've played on this tour (or maybe ever?) Trey's face during "the note" is notably more coy and sinister than the loving ego less faces he made on this past tour when he held some comparably long notes, moving the rest of the band to shift things around underneath him in a similar way described. Plus, there are few more indulgent substance fueled rock star party tunes than "American Band". Whether or not any of this is true is left to history and the inner circles but it's pretty undeniable watching the video the band isn't sober. Mike dances around with a scarf for god's sake. Just an interesting addendum to your historical monolith. I was wondering what your take on this show would be. Loving this stuff, man.
Part of the darkness of the second set (per Shram’s comment) is the empty cavern of a place this arena was. Almost like it was going to be torn down the next day, I remember feeling how cold and concrete and dark everything was. Literally like we found a warehouse to rock out in. Was up close Page side for The Note. Thanks for reminding me of that. Attended the only two Phish shows in Nebraska — we made the right choice!
There's some folklore behind the energy of this show, particularly the second set. It can be found in a google search but the gist is Leigh Fordham with another member of the crew went out on the ocean when the band was in Florida and happened upon a lost barrel filled with fine contraband, from some shady deal gone wrong probably, and absconded with it. Over the course of the rest of the tour the dust arose so to speak and highjinks ensued. This particular night, the second set especially, is fabled to be a night where the band fueled on said contraband. Hence the shouting at Leigh Fordham and Fishman mentioning Cuba. There's an undeniable kind of dark rock and roll energy to this set, unlike, as you pointed out Mitch, almost any other set they've played on this tour (or maybe ever?) Trey's face during "the note" is notably more coy and sinister than the loving ego less faces he made on this past tour when he held some comparably long notes, moving the rest of the band to shift things around underneath him in a similar way described. Plus, there are few more indulgent substance fueled rock star party tunes than "American Band". Whether or not any of this is true is left to history and the inner circles but it's pretty undeniable watching the video the band isn't sober. Mike dances around with a scarf for god's sake. Just an interesting addendum to your historical monolith. I was wondering what your take on this show would be. Loving this stuff, man.
Here is the phish.net discussion about the supposed ties between this show and the lyrics of 46 Days. https://forum.phish.net/forum/show/1378273886#page=1
Part of the darkness of the second set (per Shram’s comment) is the empty cavern of a place this arena was. Almost like it was going to be torn down the next day, I remember feeling how cold and concrete and dark everything was. Literally like we found a warehouse to rock out in. Was up close Page side for The Note. Thanks for reminding me of that. Attended the only two Phish shows in Nebraska — we made the right choice!