Weighing the Setlist: Why I need to reset how I evaluate a Phish show

Calling the opener… weeks before the show, on the way to the show, on lot, in line to go in, before the lights go down. Calling the second set opener, calling the encore, calling songs in between songs. All time-honored traditions that I love and have long participated in, with vigor. All traditions I have no intention of stopping. However, I do need to rethink how much weight I give to a setlist when evaluating how good a show was.

If we are all honest, do we ever call songs that are less than 15 years old? 20+ even? That’s not really fair to the band and it’s not really fair to us. Because of the nature of Phish (and a major reason why they’ve remained brilliant) we are going to miss by a mile way more often than coming close. We are going to feel let down when they open with Soul Planet instead of Alumni Blues or play Miss You over Dog Faced Boy in the ballad slot. BTW- fans who begrudge Trey for singing a song about his sister who passed away have real problems that Phish can’t solve.

Phish is vital because they are always bringing new music to the table and when they do, they are going to play it live. They are going to open with it, they are going to play it twice in three shows (the nerve!), they are going to use it as a second set jam vehicle, and they are going to encore with it. Remember the Garden Party message- if memories were all they sang, they’d rather drive a truck. I don’t know about you, but I prefer these four being in Phish over being truck drivers all damn day!

I got to thinking about this the other day when I heard David Lemieux, the current archivist for the Grateful Dead, say on the Dead’s SiriusXM channel something to the effect of, “I used to be a big setlist guy and don’t get me wrong, I still love a creative, outside the box setlist, but now I am more of a how they played guy than a what they played guy.”  This really struck me and, after pondering it and observing my reactions to what was played at my most recent show, I have come to believe that for me to get the most out of seeing and listening to Phish, I need to be a how they played guy.

To help me get there, I considered what I would rather have- a Phish where they are giving me the old school songs in all the right slots and looking and playing like they couldn’t care less OR a Phish that is playing Trey of the Spirit tunes like Everything’s Right a lot and Ghosts of the Forests songs, Kasvot Vaxt…or basically anything written after 2004 while clearly having a blast and playing at a very high level?

I am not talking all new songs (I wouldn’t pay to see that- their 35 year deep catalog is rich for a reason and friggin rocks like none other) but rather scattering in new stuff and playing it in spotlight slots. The Phish that does this has Trey running around, Page leaning over his rig with anticipation, Fish yelling and playing with extra mustard almost nightly, and Mike…well, the Cactus is always the same (just with better hair and more expensive clothes...but even he is moving around a bit more) and this is the Phish I want and this is the Phish we are getting.

The best Phish is the Phish that is inspired and for that to happen, they need to feature new material. For me, I need to accept this and not pine for 1997 in 2019. These guys are doing a pretty great job at blending nostalgia- and let’s face it, when dudes in their mid-fifties are singing about a weasel named Fee, there is an element of nostalgia at play- and the new stuff that keeps their juices flowing.

Seeing new songs become jam vehicles is pretty cool and I feel like Phish has been setting the table with this for years. The Lakewood Kill Devil Falls, the Baker’s Dozen Moma, even the recent Blossom Birds show that with this band, the magic can come at any moment and their best magic, in my opinion, are those improvised moments that are well beyond the structure of any one song.

Songs matter, they always will. The older songs are my favorites, but so many new ones are growing on me- quickly. I will always speculate about what’s coming, but I am going to work hard to reduce the weight of what they played and put more emphasis on how they played.  I can’t wait to see what’s next.