不良研究所导航网址

For the Phish faithful in St. 不良研究所导航网址, this week has been a high holiday as the jam giants arrived for the first time in five years. So it was two in the Lou: Tuesday and Wednesday night shows at Chaifetz Arena, and Phish always seem to bring something special. Their infamous 鈥淢 Show鈥� at the then-Kiel Center in 1996 featured a second set of tunes that all started with the letter M, and a pair of 1993 concerts at the American Theater ended up as an official six-disc live album 鈥淪t. 不良研究所导航网址 鈥�93.鈥�

The city has been buzzing with pre-parties each night: A 鈥渟hakedown street鈥� was set up near the Big Top on Washington Avenue, and Sean Canan鈥檚 Voodoo Players held late-night after-shows at Old Rock House each night 鈥� Voodoo Grateful Dead on Tuesday; Voodoo Talking Heads on Wednesday.

I attended night two, and the excitement of night one was still palpable in the arena, from, among other things, an epic version of 鈥淭weezer鈥� that topped the 40-minute mark. For the uninitiated or the Phish-curious, everything Phish is heavily archived, dissected, graphed and scrutinized, so you can find Tuesday鈥檚 鈥淭weezer鈥� on YouTube for a good idea of what Phish phans go bonkers for. The 90-second orgy of applause after the song was itself a momentous jam.

Chaifetz is smaller than the Enterprise Center, lacking a third deck, and Phishheads love the more intimate setting. The astonishing lighting rig 鈥� a multi-armed monstrosity that rises, falls, swivels and reconfigures into an infinite number of shapes and designs 鈥� above the stage also seems all the more massive. The light show at a Phish concert 鈥� run by Chris Kuroda, known affectionately to fans as CK5 鈥� is itself worth the price of admission.

Opening with 鈥淭urtle in the Clouds,鈥� the band was clearly in a playful mood, as the song, a remnant of their alter-ego band Kasvot V盲xt from a 2018 Halloween show, comes with its own dance. Guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon performed it 鈥� a goofy line dance involving leg kicks, elbow bumps and the donning of invisible flight goggles that they tossed into the crowd 鈥� over a purple-funk synth workout from Page McConnell.

As for dancing, St. 不良研究所导航网址 crowds are always amazing, but the audience was especially animated on Wednesday night; the general-admission floor was a roiling boil of bobbing from beginning to end, batting giant balloons around and growing more ecstatic as the night went on.

The rest of the first set was filled with punchy highlights: 鈥淗ey Stranger鈥� was a blues-funk throwdown with Trey going wah-wah crazy in the middle section. 鈥淏ack on the Train,鈥� a frequently played standard, featured a twangy guitar and piano scrimmage that crescendoed into orbit; 鈥淟awn Boy,鈥� a fan novelty, saw Page strolling around and crooning into a handheld mic while Gordon took a hushed solo on his five-string bass.

鈥淏ackwards Down the Number Line,鈥� a Dead-style piece of sunny roots-rock, did not overspill its borders, but when they played 鈥淗orn,鈥� a pretty first-set classic largely devoid of improvisation, you knew a prolonged jam was coming next. It ended up being 鈥淧ebbles and Marbles,鈥� brimming with frenetic snarework from drummer Jon Fishman while the guitar and piano played hide and seek, echoing 鈥�70s prog. It was the best, longest jam so far, but still just 11 minutes long, and the night was young.

The familiar 鈥淏ouncing Around the Room鈥� cut through the crystal haze as Trey played those intoxicating tetrads until the reggae-lite rhythms gave way to a delirious cover of Stevie Wonder鈥檚 鈥淏oogie on Reggae Woman,鈥� which was the peak of the set-one party, with Gordon鈥檚 watery bass lines burbling all over the fretboard and the lights throwing polka dots all over a crowd that was losing its mind.

鈥淭he Squirming Coil,鈥� a common set-ender, was quite lovely, especially when Page was left alone on stage to play gentle piano passages to end it. It was, all told, a Page-heavy evening, and he spent more time than usual at the piano keys as opposed to the synths and organs.

The second set got underway with 鈥淔ree,鈥� spacey with sparkling guitar and weightless drums; it鈥檚 not a particularly danceable song, but don鈥檛 tell that to the crowd that was shuffling and gyrating as though it was their last chance. But Phish鈥檚 reach for the golden ring was next, a 鈥淢r. Completely鈥� that was longer than a hockey period, all tinkly conversation before speeding up and getting weird with thick slabs of space-funk bass, non-Western scales and darker minor-key jamming, continually opening and closing like a flower moving through the seasons.

鈥淚f I Could,鈥� a setlist rarity worth chasing, was a welcome patchouli-scented ballad following such extended jamming, Page鈥檚 crystalline piano runs raining over Trey鈥檚 guitar trigonometry. A slinky 鈥淭wist鈥� was next, and both the crowd and the lights took it literally, while Trey laid in pinky-taxing Latin-infused breaks for eight minutes, quoting Santana鈥檚 鈥淥ye Como Va鈥� at one point.

鈥淩uby Waves鈥� was a shape-shifting behemoth, morphing into an interlocking series of instrumental crescendos and breakdowns, guitar arpeggios, time-signature shifts, piano gambols and jazzy modal interludes.

鈥淣o Men in No Man鈥檚 Land鈥� contained teases galore, including bits of 鈥淭equila鈥� and 鈥淪moke on the Water,鈥� leading to one of the night鈥檚 most feverish builds, the crowd in hysterics as Trey, making like Pete Townshend, demonstrated that his favorite form of clean energy is the windmill. A set-ending 鈥淔irst Tube,鈥� played fast, was filled with raucous jamming and cascading soundwaves, Fishman continually shifting the rhythm patterns and, at the end, Trey waving his guitar around to spread peals of feedback over the crowd.

The encore opened with 鈥淕rind,鈥� an a cappella number of shaky four-part harmony, Phish at their silliest, followed by the gentle ballad 鈥淢iss You鈥� (not the Stones song) featuring much better vocals and Trey鈥檚 best lyrical Jeff-Beck-ian soloing. The night ended with 鈥淗arry Hood,鈥� one of the band鈥檚 oldest and most beloved songs. 鈥淵ou can feel good!鈥� the refrain goes. On this night, with its favorite band on fire, the audience certainly did.