Starter Pack
SET 1: Sample in a Jar > Poor Heart, Cavern, Maze, Bouncing Around the Room, Stash, A Day in the Life, You Enjoy Myself
Towards the start of this month, I wondered whether it would have been easier on Phish if they had just chosen one fairly accessible 45-minute setlist and played it every time they were on Santana warm-up duty. If they had, it probably would’ve looked something like the one they played at Tanzbrunnen, which my poorly-remembered high school German translates as “Fountain Dancing.” Tonight’s set features 5 of the top 6 most-played songs in their 1996 opening sets — only Chalk Dust is left out of this frequent-flyer gathering.
So if this collection of songs is what they settled on to be most likely to convert new fans, or at least keep the heckling to a minimum, what does it mean? I think you can break these eight songs down into a few distinct categories that provide a Cliff’s Notes version of how Phish introduced themselves to unfamiliar company in 1996.
The “Singles”
Two years after the release of Hoist and three years after its live debut, Phish is still determined to make Sample happen. Sometimes the band cynically appears to conflate “easy to play” with “mass appeal,” and they don’t get any easier than Sample, which features the first six chords learned by anyone who picks up a guitar. You can’t say the same for Bouncin’, a deceptively simple ditty that boasts a weird time signature shift and intersecting round-like vocal and instrumental melodies that show off the band’s formidable cohesion. And yet Bouncin’, as the default single from A Live One, seemingly caught far more ears than Sample. Then again, Cavern might be the catchiest of the three 4-minute tunes, and the fatal commercial flaw of its goofy-ass lyrics can get away with one on foreign audiences.
I maintain my stance that Down with Disease — the actual first single from Hoist — would’ve been far better song to flog across Europe to guitar-worshipping Santana fans. Or Free, the single from their forthcoming album, would’ve satisfied as well, with its heroic riff and supplemental percussion. But perhaps Phish was advised against playing any songs that new German fans couldn’t find at the local Plattenladen.
Some Real American Music
Poor Heart is the most baffling heavy rotation choice of the summer. It’s far from new, it’s misleadingly brief, and it’s a bit of a piss-take on a genre outside of Phish’s usual wheelhouse. But country music is ‘Murican dammit, and Phish seem to delight in playing to Europeans’ perception of the U.S. as full of cowboy-hat wearing, gun-waving, boot-scootin’ boogiers. That they are in fact playing an ironic country song about a four-track machine might go over the crowd’s head, or the audience might be ironically appreciating the weird Americans playing a hootenanny, creating a hall of irony mirrors that is so very mid-Nineties.
Solos and “Solos”
If you bought a ticket to a Santana concert, you probably like solos. Guitar solos, definitely, but also bass solos, keyboard solos, drum solos, percussion solos using that wind-chime thing, the works. So Phish wisely provides a showcase for some instrumental features via Maze, which has claimed the European title in the “Maze or Bowie” battle by virtue of being too loud to be drowned out by whistles, cf Vienne. It’s a sneaky-smart move, as on its surface the Maze jam is just “organ guy gets a turn, then guitar guy.” But discerning fans know that the real action is to be found in what the three non-soloists are doing, and any close-listening Santana fans will hopefully catch on quick.
Stash is similarly deceptive and rewarding. Owners of Santana’s Greatest Hits might hear it as an extended guitar solo, while fans who own all the records where Carlos changed his name to Devadip and jammed on Coltrane with John McLaughlin will get down with Phish’s mastery of improvisational tension/release dynamics. These aren’t the songs that are going to jam the deepest — as if Phish would in a 45-minute opening set — but Maze and Stash are definitely songs that can be appreciated on multiple levels.
The Safest of Covers
Who doesn’t love The Beatles? Playing A Day in the Life just as fans are getting impatient with the length of Phish’s warm-up set is the equivalent of the Blues Brothers busting out “Rawhide” to sooth the angry customers of Bob’s Country Bunker. It was a cover that felt equal parts ballsy and safe when it debuted in the U.S. in 1995, but on shakier ground in Europe, I won’t hold begrudge a little pandering.
The Calling Card
When opening for another band, you might think Phish would shy away from playing their 20-minute, prog epic with pidgin Italian lyrics and a final segment of unhinged four-part beatboxing. But the band played YEM in 3 of their final 5 opening sets in Europe. That’s because You Enjoy Myself is far and away the most-played Phish song for a reason, and that reason is that it gives you a buffet of everything Phish does best over the course of its lengthy runtime. There’s intricate composition and virtuoso group playing, an opportunity for some funk-rock improvisation, a bass/drums duet (see two blurbs above), and a truly wacky but occasionally sublime coda.
Oh, and a trampoline routine — I assume they’ve been doing the tramps, even as openers? Whether someone left the Santana show remembering some dorks hopping in unison as they played or trying to figure out WATSIYEM or impressed by Trey’s fast fingers or Mike’s subtle melodic counterpoint, the important thing is that they remember something. For a tour that’s mostly about planting the seeds for more fertile European harvests in 97 and 98, that’s probably enough for now.