"Just Have Fun, Man"

"Just have fun, man" is the new mantra when you tell people, "Phish is just not that interesting anymore...", and I have told a lot of people that. From the get go, before Thursday's Jones Beach show, my friend Jay B. said, "I no longer goto Phish shows expecting to be blown away musically." I took that advice going into last night's Camden show, and on some level it worked.

Lets just get the basics out of the way about the last few shows. First, the band has moments when they're very good, Tweezer at Camden was one example of that, as was Tube. There are many others for sure, especially if you decide to cull a few songs for the iPod.

Second, the band is having fun, and seeing them enjoy being together is in itself a victory. The way things ended in 2004 were so awful that you have to feel good for these guys, and at the same time for the fans who are so supportive. When the band expressed how much fun they were having in the "northeast" the fans just loved it. We love having them around, and love partying with them.

There will certainly be more great moments during their shows from now until the end of summer tour.

With all of that said, there have been no great shows at all, and here's why.

We start with the fact that Trey cannot play the intricate and highly technical Phish songs that for years amazed fans. Guyute, Lizards, and Silent in the Morning (not even that technical) were just some of the botched examples from last night's show. On Thursday night there were fewer of those moments, but they were there nonetheless. I expect that after 4+ years they would be rusty, so I'll give you an inch. I will not give you "Hey man, it's been 4 years, and I think it sounded pretty damn good for that..." That's bullshit.

A few flubs here and there, fine. Not being able to play an entire song? Not acceptable. Don't play it. Don't ruin a song for me. Don't begin a song, get me all excited for that song, and then just fuck it up the entire time. Trey was hardly able to play Lizards at all, going as far as playing chords throughout where there should have been detailed notes. I was 3rd row. He was lost. To the less discerning, often drug-using fan, maybe you do not notice. I noticed. It was bad. And it's not just Lizards, but rather it is countless songs he is barely getting through. "He's trying."

My advice to not play songs you can't play live should be taken to heart. If you are going to play them at all, practice the songs before you get there. A lot of people really care about the music, spend time traveling to shows, buying tickets, and all the other shit involved in getting to a performance. We are doing our part, giving you money, actively listening and challenging you to be at your best. Do your part...or...DON'T! But please don't half-ass it and think it's alright because your post-'99 crowd accepts it.

The best part of the two shows I have seen, and every show I have heard since the return (I have heard them all), was the period between the end of Birds of a Feather through You Enjoy Myself from Jones Beach on June 4th. At some point during Birds Trey really took the song on, and for the first time, the band was almost playing catch up to him. Halfway through Drowned I was asking myself, "Is this the point where he will wuss out and end the song, or will he take his sack out and go further?"

I don't even like the elongated endless jams, but to my enjoyment, sack came out, and he crushed it. Then they did a nice, fun, Meatstick, that was flawless. After that was Time Turns Elastic, which I had heard once before online, but was not quite moved. By the end of that song I was smiling ear to ear. The band absolutely nailed it, and the end of that song is absolutely incredible. Phish in its truest form. Phish when they practice! (Note: Phish doesn't mess up new tunes because they rehearse them.) Trey didn't mess it up, and the band was spot on. Waste, not a tough song for them, but often a beauty, they pegged it. Finally they ended with You Enjoy Myself which was as good a version you will ever hear.

The reason I am detailing this part of the set is because the entire thing worked together, as if it was one piece. If the band plays Tweezer and it is stellar in and of itself, that's a good thing, but that does not make for a great show. Same goes for Antelope, or any other song. Just because it is an old song played well does not mean a thing. I am looking for a piece, a whole movement, a show, a flow, something that connects the Drowned to the You Enjoy Myself. Post Time Turns Elastic Trey was in such a good place there was no way to ruin YEM, and they didn't.

Other than that little run though, there has been almost nothing to hang your hat on. Good songs, yes, moments of excellent music, but by and large, it is not overly impressive. I know they can power chord through a Tweezer, and shred an Antelope. That does nothing for me unless you have been on point the entire show. I have seen that hundreds of times, and it seems like it's on repeat. The hard-charging Sand seems like a makeup song for all the stuff they messed up. The scale gets tipped in one direction, then they try to put the weight on the other side. The entire show never seems balanced. Just from one side, to the other, to the other, and back to the other.

I know you can play these 3-chord jam songs all night, and lift the crowd. That to me is not interesting, and that to me is not what makes Phish great. It never was. When they were compared to Zappa it was not because of Sand.

For fans that always held this band to the highest standard, and for a band reaching to achieve it at all times, it's incredible to me I'm told, "Just have fun, man." No, sorry, I don't play that. I still hold this band to the highest standards, and just because you're 3 hits deep on some hardcore drug, that does not make the music good. As fans we should still hold them to a higher standard. If we did that then maybe, MAYBE, they (he) would work a little harder at being great. Accepting what they're putting out there as the gospel with so many of their minions agreeing will leave us with what we're getting now.

Trey's sober. I'm sober. I'm listening, and doing my part to judge this band, and hold them up to the light. The band needs to start doing their part as well. Right now, they're not, and those who say they are, they're different from me in a big way.

I had fun. It's nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. We all enjoyed the energy.

Still.

This is not a great band right now...at all.