I always have put this on any spotify playlists where I'm giving someone a sampling of Phish. It's the perfect combo of a pretty basic rock and roll song that is Phish-y, combined with some of their wildest jamming that gets there relatively quickly. So I agree with your pick for the podcast.
Also, an additional band tidbit on this jam — Fishman from a summer '21 interview on Sirius (who actually remembers the venue and year):
"Every one of our tunes has been my favorite song at one point or another. All you gotta do is have a really peak experience with any one of them. And then you’re like, “oh, OK.” What actually is a funny story — for the longest time “Chalk Dust Torture” was the song I had a hard time wrapping my head around. And Trey used to always say, “you know, that’s like our best song.”
I was like, “I don’t know, man …” It was funny because back when you’re younger and you’re making that album and we were almost like the anti-hit band, you had that thing.
And then the record company is like, “well, now go out and play that a million times.” So whenever there was pressure like that, we always kind of would just pull away from that. And then my ex-wife, when she was in labor with our first child, she goes, “I want to hear the Camden 99 “Chalk Dust.” I was just like, really?
And we put it on and it blew my head off — that jam, it reaches this place where — and I remembered it happening, and I had forgotten about it, until that moment. It was at that gig where I remember coming off stage and feeling like, OK “Chalk Dust” is my favorite song now.
And now it’s the kind of thing, if I was going to try to turn someone on to Phish, I’d be like, “here, this is all you need to know about us, this is some of our best work.”
Great article, as always, Rob. Here's a quote from Trey's Rolling Stone interview of 6/14/15:
Do you have a memory where you hit a peak that you never found again?
There was a jam after "Chalk Dust Torture" at PNC Bank Center that was so unhinged. I can't remember what year it was, but it's probably findable. I think Mike put those videos together for the 30th anniversary.
My appreciation for your writing and the way it contextualizes Phish, a band I'm still relatively new to, is only amplified, as a fellow Chicagoan, by your use of the word "jagoff."
Pretty amusing to me that I just started Bandsplain this week and have listened to your pal, Steve yesterday. Saving your Phish episode for when I have time to give it a proper listen. This show has some vintage 99 on it for sure.
I always have put this on any spotify playlists where I'm giving someone a sampling of Phish. It's the perfect combo of a pretty basic rock and roll song that is Phish-y, combined with some of their wildest jamming that gets there relatively quickly. So I agree with your pick for the podcast.
Also, an additional band tidbit on this jam — Fishman from a summer '21 interview on Sirius (who actually remembers the venue and year):
"Every one of our tunes has been my favorite song at one point or another. All you gotta do is have a really peak experience with any one of them. And then you’re like, “oh, OK.” What actually is a funny story — for the longest time “Chalk Dust Torture” was the song I had a hard time wrapping my head around. And Trey used to always say, “you know, that’s like our best song.”
I was like, “I don’t know, man …” It was funny because back when you’re younger and you’re making that album and we were almost like the anti-hit band, you had that thing.
And then the record company is like, “well, now go out and play that a million times.” So whenever there was pressure like that, we always kind of would just pull away from that. And then my ex-wife, when she was in labor with our first child, she goes, “I want to hear the Camden 99 “Chalk Dust.” I was just like, really?
And we put it on and it blew my head off — that jam, it reaches this place where — and I remembered it happening, and I had forgotten about it, until that moment. It was at that gig where I remember coming off stage and feeling like, OK “Chalk Dust” is my favorite song now.
And now it’s the kind of thing, if I was going to try to turn someone on to Phish, I’d be like, “here, this is all you need to know about us, this is some of our best work.”
Great article, as always, Rob. Here's a quote from Trey's Rolling Stone interview of 6/14/15:
Do you have a memory where you hit a peak that you never found again?
There was a jam after "Chalk Dust Torture" at PNC Bank Center that was so unhinged. I can't remember what year it was, but it's probably findable. I think Mike put those videos together for the 30th anniversary.
Very Trey to get the venue wrong and forget the year, lol.
Sometimes I get the idea that Trey doesn't really know very much about Phish.
My appreciation for your writing and the way it contextualizes Phish, a band I'm still relatively new to, is only amplified, as a fellow Chicagoan, by your use of the word "jagoff."
Pretty amusing to me that I just started Bandsplain this week and have listened to your pal, Steve yesterday. Saving your Phish episode for when I have time to give it a proper listen. This show has some vintage 99 on it for sure.
Thank you for your work, Rob. Your interpretations and analysis always help me go deeper with the music. I am looking forward to your take on 7/13/99.
One can still hear the colors emanating from the music today