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Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are widely regarded as the explorers responsible for discovery of the Northwest Passage and the opening of the American west to settlement by non-indigenous people. However, it was actually an insatiable thirst for beaver that inspired the brave mountain men to join the Rocky Mountain Fur Company – Ashley’s Hundred – and map out the most comfortable route to the bountiful lands of the best coast. Although the more well endowed trappers – John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company and the Hudson Bay Company – eventually priced Ashley’s Hundred out of the fur trade, these notorious mountain men were widely sought as guides whenever there was a new trail to “Blaze On” through the uncharted wilderness.

Watch Blaze On on YouTube “Blaze On” – 8/22/15, Watkins Glen, NY. Video by LazyLightning55a.

Considering Bend, Oregon’s location in the heart of the Beaver state and proximity to Portland Trailblazer country, the Les Schwab Amphitheater was a fitting location for the pioneer “Blaze On” experience on 7/21/15. The new tune, infused with a lively “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)” cum “Liberty” vibe, was one of several new Anastasio / Marshall songs debuted in Bend that the duo had penned during a February 2015 songwriting trip to the outer banks of North Carolina. The placement of the song’s debut immediately after “Devotion to a Dream” provided the perfect counterpoint to Fuego’s morose ode to a failed relationship, artfully conveying the message that although we all screw up, there is no point wasting the one life you have dwelling on past mistakes. 

The promise of a brighter future was evident all over the lively debut, a promise that was kept no sooner than the next performance, to open the second set at Shoreline on 7/24/15. This second chance effort surprisingly featured two jam segments, and set the exploratory tone for the monster “Twist” that followed. The next two performances captured the essence of their respective shows quite well. The Austin version was flat and dusty, but provided the necessary “oh fuck it!” resignation amidst the “Waiting” and “Wading” relationship angst sandwich. Atlanta’s “Blaze On,” by contrast was smoking hot and paired well with the more cerebral groove of “Halfway to the Moon” which followed. The ensuing Starlight, Alpine, and Merriweather versions are essentially LaserJet copies of Atlanta, with each clocking in at a little over eight minutes and all featuring tight incendiary jams that remain within the song structure. 

Watch Blaze On on YouTube “Blaze On” – 9/4/15, Commerce City, CO. Video via Phish.

Our rugged band of Green Mountain Men chose their Magnaball expedition on 8/22/15 for an extended third set foray into the uncharted wilderness of the Finger Lakes jam space that lay between trailside meals of “Meatstick” and “Possum.” Inspired by the success of the previous mission, the Dick’s “Blaze On” saw Phish bravely ascend several massive hard rock strewn crags as they tracked through the Rocky Mountain front range into the manifest destiny of the tune’s continued territorial expansion.

Demonstrating the strong affection Phish has for their new material, they elected to sandwich “Auld Lang Syne” between “No Men in No Man’s Land” and “Blaze on” as we celebrated the arrival of another year during the 12/31/15 MSG festivities. Clocking in well over fifteen minutes, this one begins veering into uncharted territory somewhere around the halfway point. The jam is largely cerebral and melodic, exploring cool rivulets of crystal clear water cascading out of a deep blue sub-glacial ice cave, before resolving back into a brief reprise and unceremoniously dropping into “Carini.”  

Watch Blaze On on YouTube “Auld Lang Syne” > “Blaze On” – 12/31/15, New York, NY. Video by LazyLightning55a.

(Anastasio/Marshall)
© Who Is She? Music, Inc. (BMI)

Climb that hill, stay on your feet
Scramble for your footing when it gets too steep
You're on the highway now with higher hopes
While all around are rolling eggs with living yolks

You never get too sad, you never get too blue
It must be all the chemtrails raining down on you
The justice of the peace can't help you anymore
And they just took the covers off the justice of war

You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on
You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on

The storm is passing through, lay down your sticks and stones
The struggle's over now, we're all just flesh and bones
We were wrong before, it was wrong to trust
The shadows cast were only light and dust

And then one day you find to your intense delight
That three wrong turns can really make a right
So why not be like me, be proud of all your crimes
Cause when I screw up once, I do it two more times

You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on
You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on

And we'll be dancing in the fields, running through the moor
Tripping on the barbed wire, buried near the shore
Blazing like a comet, that's brighter than the full moon
So you better get ready cause a change is coming soon

I met a liar, called the Messiah
I got the frying pan, I wanted fire
I saw a red dress, I met a daughter
I got the quicksand, I prayed for water

You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on
You got your nice shades on
And the worst days are gone
So now the band plays on
You got one life, blaze on

Blaze on