A Look Back at SPAC
Summer Tour En Fuego
July 3-5,2014
By: Mitchell Parrish
What a weekend! I can’t believe Tour ‘14 is underway! Phish came to SPAC this weekend and made it clear that the early 3.0 rust is long gone. Phish has officially upgraded to version 3.5. The band sounded fresh, enthusiastic, and comfortable in front of nearly 30,000 fans. On Saturday night, when the dust settled, its safe to say every head went home satisfied.
This SPAC run felt different than last year (when I attended the first two nights of the run) because they just released Fuego and are trying to find ways to fit these new songs into the flow of a show. I was expecting to hear them play standard renditions of these freshly cut songs and hoping to hear them do something with the title track. I was more than pleased with they way they sounded. Except for “Winterqueen,” which I thought was a slightly misplaced during the second set of the first night, I thought each Fuego song held its own. I was particularly impressed with the way “Monica” sounded as a part of the show’s encore, especially before the classic Tweprise. I also thought “The Line” sounded great, particularly Trey’s tone during the hook. The Fourth also brought some new songs. “555” is a fine song, I just wish Gordon were writing more songs like “Scent of a Mule” or heck “Mike’s Song”, but the tune definitely grooves. “Waiting all night” I think is a great song. There’s a lot of division over it in the community, but I think it’s beautiful. Another song that has received some mixed reviews is “Wingsuit.” I heard a few people compare it to an 80s power ballad, but I think its closer to the vein of a song like “Waste” and has a really nice crescendo jam at the end. Trey’s guitar tone is a perfect compliment to Page’s delicate keys as the song builds.
Enough has been said about the monster “Forth Fuego”. Its a pretty awesome song, and it has a lot of potential as a jam vehicle. Taking it into “DWD” was a nice way to get back to second set basics and send the show into some interesting and uncharted jamming territory. “Twist” gave way to “Light” and Phish seemed to really be exploring some new ground. Phish seems to be constantly looking for new sounds and interesting grooves in 2014 that are becoming characteristic of this Phish “3.5” that has been on fire, or en fuego, since last summer. Listen to the Bathtub Gin > Limb By Limb from the 3rd, they really dig into some weird funk.
Perhaps my favorite “Fuego” song though is “Wombat.” It’s hilarious. Its weird. Its groovy. Its all the things I like about Phish. Hearing the “the Abe Vigoda” line while dancing my face off was absolutely hilarious. You could tell the guys were having a good time playing it.
Overall, the weekend was a blast. Phish is killing it and seem to be having as much fun as they did in the old days.
Some other highlights: Fishman jamming out to a marimba lumina during the “Scent” breakdown; Trey dancing his face off during YEM; Trey and Mike duel during YEM; just about every Page solo, who, in my opinion, takes home the MVP award (Squirming coil solo is nice and he does some real funky stuff in the Piper jam).