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Albany1 Recap: A Requiem For Phil, posted by phishnet

[We would like to thank Matthew Golia (@mgolia6) for recapping last night's show. Please support The Divided Sky Foundation. -Ed.]

(This recap is dedicated to my Dad and his best friend Mark)

Phish has graced Albany with its presence 18 times, starting in 1989 with a sketchily confirmed appearance at Pauly’s Hotel (setlist lost to the ether). After 3 jaunts at the Palace Theater between ‘92 and ‘93, the band finally arrived, Arena-style, in 1995 at The Knick.

The Knickerbocker Arena has known many names throughout its illustrious career. It was born in 1990 and brought into relative prominence due to the live album of another like-minded band, as an archival release in 1996. The Knick “sold out” to Pepsi in 97, then to Times Union in 2007, and finally to MVP Health Services, in 2021.

But depending on your generation, it will always be the…up until tonight, Phish have performed 13 times here, tied with that other improv band and bested only by the 20 performances from The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Prior to tonight’s show, 34 hours, 45 minutes, and 32 seconds of music have been played here by Phish, across 138 unique songs.

Tonight, Phish broke some things. First, they bested The Grateful Dead for most shows played by at the Knick, now 14. They played (unofficially) their longest show to date at the venue formerly known as The Knick (3 hours and change). “Ghost” was the first song to catapult into the 6-timer club at this historic venue. Oh, and they broke my brain.

Phish wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room, coming to the stage at 8:06 PM and dropping into “Box of Rain” paying tribute to the passing of Phil Lesh. This emotional bust-out, in and of itself, would have satiated every soul in the building for the remainder of the evening, but instead, Phish used their vast cannon to eulogize Reddy Kilowat across 3 plus hours of music.

“Moma Dance” struck first, jolting the crowd with some much-needed positive ions after the very touching and heart-string-tugging “Box of Rain.” Wiping away the tears, “Moma” came direct with a beautiful extended micro-jam, before slinking into “Free.” If it wasn’t evident in “Box” and “Moma,” this “Free” made clear that the bass would play a prominent role in the evening’s exploits. Another extended take on a setlist staple, “Free” felt like it could have gone interstellar, but was reigned back in by Trey.

And while “Dirt” brought back the onslaught of emotions, continuing the set’s ethereal theme, the “Wolfman’s Brother” that followed brought the bass-laden funk. At just under 10 minutes (set one’s average song length was approximately 8 minutes 45 seconds) “Wolfie” built to a dynamic white light peak, and trill happy Trey, before clumsily returning to its conclusion.

Much of the music tonight relied heavily on the band’s ability to sync quickly and form cohesive passages. “No Men In No Man’s Land” was blessed in such a manner, punching well above it’s length. At just over 9 minutes, the musical conversation jived almost immediately after the song proper and oozed purpose and intent. F@#$ me running, we are just 6 songs into the first night of three and shit is cohesive as f@#$.

“Theme from the Bottom” continues what I can only describe as an evening of songs about introspection. I don’t know if the band even considered this, but it felt as if each song they selected wrestled with concepts of existence and mortality. So, when Phish hits those signature Theme-notes, the shift from lyrical introspection to musical introspection ensues with what felt like “Franklin’s Tower” and “China Cat Sunflower” vibes. There was certainly an air of Grateful Dead being imbued from band, with “I Know You Rider” teases gliding “Theme” to its conclusion.

Ironically, “Steam” felt like the breather of the set, as if everyone had held their bladder to this point and couldn’t hold it any longer. Mike gets sassy mid-way through the song, while Trey plays with his groggy effects; the jam is a masterclass in whole band interplay, with Page and Fishman filling in any gaps that might have existed.

At this point I stopped guessing or, hoping, rather what was going to come next. Which was a good thing because who would have thought a siren loop infused “Sand” would bring us into halftime. I think my mind is always hoping for late 1.0 era siren loop anything, though knowing the band is just in a new time and place, but this mesmerizing mashup of loop and effects satisfied my feeble soul. At about 9 minutes there are these haunting effects that surface, presumably from Page, synthy effects that are slightly distorted and lend a chilling vibe to the song’s conclusion, peppered with Trey’s screaming axe. A rumbling of distortion effects takes us to the mid-way point. A lot of head scratching from those in attendance. Someone’s Iphone is mic’d up and we get the ringing through the PA on full blast…but, alas, no conversation.

As “Blaze On” ushered in the second act, I smirked at how the introspection/mortality theme continued but in an upbeat and quirky manner. A “Play it Leo! Do it!” from Trey and smiles abound. “Blaze” devolved into the mire, got murky before a well-executed segue (deserving of the à) into a “Piper” that wasted no time returning to the improv. There is this driving pace executed by the band at the onset of this jam that is focused and concise. What comes out of it is a tease that I can’t place my finger on (around 3:45) and it bleeds into this beautiful Trey/Page passage.

Patience pays off as the band hints, briefly at “Carol of the Bells” (around 6:30) before delving into one of the most intricate passages of the evening. The band is so nimble, pivoting through playful landscapes at will, making this a listen at all costs segment for sure. Page creates this sonic whirlwind as sound passes from one speaker to the next (sounds super cool with a headset at 11:30). At this point my head is just shaking. This “Piper” has it all. My buddy leans in at about 16 minutes and proceeds to ask, “What song is this again?” Yeah, that good.

As if on cue, “Light” cuts through the room like the sun through a curtain at dawn. Abrupt AF. All sins forgiven as song proper dissolves and reforms as more coherent jamming. The theme of the evening clearly running slip stich and pass through the entirety of the show. Patience pays dividends and we land in a “Mountain Jam” theme then some Elysium-esque soundscapes. The YAC (yards after catch) on this “Light” make up for the ugly transition (shout out to The League of Ordinary Lazards).

Trey read my mind about the poor transition into “Light” and so started teasing “Tweezer” a good 40 seconds before the band expertly shifted to their Opus! You can almost hear the confused, shaking heads of the crowd as “Tweezer” is ushered in. What aren’t they going to play tonight? Plucking away at this “Tweezer” the bands exhibits the first bit of meandering. Just an observation and one that is quickly quelled by the wholly cliched “whole-band-interplay!” Another, listen at all costs, including the very ethereal final minute, which melds into “The Wedge.”

The next segment of full stop songs, “The Wedge” then “The Howling” then “Monsters” then “Backwards Down the Number Line” listens better than it reads, but if there were a potential flow buster, this was rubbing elbows with it.

Another telepathy moment, perhaps, from the band, so they do the only reasonable and rationale thing and drop into “Carini” to cap off the set. They quickly find the sweet spot, locked in like a well-oiled machine and shift into Ludicrous Speed; thus going PLAID!

What, pray-tell, could the band play at this point to top what had already gone down. Well, the one song that I kept saying they needed to play to really cap this night off…but before they got to that, why not “Sleeping Monkey.”

The radio unfriendly “Ghost” that follows isn’t just filler/fluff. Yes, everyone was exhausted at this point, but the band slipped back into groove mode and treated everyone to as dynamic a 9 minute “Ghost” as I can recall in recent history. Brooding from the get-go, patient, building, we move from Casper to Ghost of Christmas Future rather deftly.

As “Ghost” crept back to its conclusion, the band throttled up “Tweezer Reprise” to the crowd’s dismay delight…LOLZ! If “Ghost wasn’t enough of an evening punctuation, “Tweeprise” tossed us out into the chilly autumn Albany air with purpose.

A Phish show falling on the day of Phil’s death is nothing short of kismet. At the same time, I am sure the band felt the weight of trying to honor such a musical legend in a tasteful fashion. There is a fair share of attendance bias, but with two passes through the show now, I am sticking with it as being a top tier Phish show. I am blessed to have been in attendance, more blessed (and honored) to get to “Suck” at recapping such a thrilling evening. And most blessed that my father instilled in me the same love of music that he had. My love to him and to Mark B., at a time when they need it the most.