oh kee pah

The Summer tour so far can be summarized in two words: bust outs. Trey, Mike, Page and Fish are having fun, and the music and shows reflect it. Setlists have been entertaining, similar to – but not as jaw-dropping as – the setlists of Furthur shows from the perspective of veteran Deadheads. (Perhaps Trey will visit the Fantasy Setlist Generator on Phish.net for ideas.) Phish seems to be on track to break last year’s Most Unique Songs Played in a Year record. Chris Kuroda continues to be pure genius behind the light board, and sound engineer Garry Brown is doing brilliant work with difficult venues. Bottom line? There are many reasons to be thankful that Phish is still at it. And while the typical “jamming tune” is generally shorter than what it once was, and while the music may not always be the best you’ve ever heard from them, Phish’s shows will likely contain enough for you to enjoy yourself.

In fact, Phish’s Summer tour, which is presently on a brief hiatus before it continues in August with three shows at Berkeley’s Greek Theater, has already covered all of the bases that fans have come to expect from Phish on every tour. While no show has been a start-to-finish, hear-at-all-costs shredapulooza, almost every show had something noteworthy. There were huge bust outs, blistering jams, goofy gimmicks, and now-legendary encores.

Within the first 30 seconds, it was clear that this show was going to be something very special. At the halfway point of the song, they stopped, took a drink and a breath, played the "Preamble," which usually starts "Mantis," and this time introduced a blistering version of "Mantis Ghetts." A sizzling "Ghetts" made its way back into the Floyd-ish section of "Mantis," which accelerated into screaming overdrive before plummeting into "Ocean Billy." It was already evident that the band had tailored the setlist to showcase lead vocalist and songwriter Brendan Bayliss' booming voice, which was given extra depth by the Red Rocks space. After a fervid solo by guitar avatar Jake Cinninger, the band settled into a funky jam that built from a slow groove start to a energetic peak before returning to "Ocean Billy" with a music box toned tease of their dance party classic "Cemetery Walk II" by key master Joel Cummins over percussionist Andy Farag's twinkling chimes. The fireworks continued through the end of "Billy" but the fireworks that lighting designer Jefferson Waful continued throughout the night as he sported around 30 Mac III LED cannons and dozens of other flashers and strobes.

Austin City Limits Music Festival has confirmed its daily schedules. As previously reported, the multi-band event will take place in Austin, TX from October 8-10. Several of the festival’s headliners will play at the same time, including Phish and The Strokes on Friday, October 8 and Muse and M.I.A. on Saturday, October 9. As of press time, the only act that will play to no competition is The Eagles, who will close the event from 8-10 PM on Sunday, October 10.

After a long and incredible tour, we’re finally rested and able to reflect on Phish’s Amazing Summer tour 2010 (leg 1). We present a recap of what we saw, what we heard, and the highlights of Summer 2010!

Hershey: This was the first show of the tour we made it to. A day in the park before the show proved to not be all that tiring, although it was unbearably hot. We finally had a chance to meet and hang with Andrew from Glowstickwars.com and once again chilled with good friend Sam from dogoneblog. The lots were chill, the show itself was solid.

When Trey was living here several years ago, the jam band leader autographed a paper while in Legend’s Cafe, giving his full endorsement of their Hammerin’ Hank sandwich (chicken cutlet, melted mozzarella, marsala brown sauce with mushrooms).

As the dust from tour settles, and we prepare for the next run of shows, we have a chance to look back on the highlights from the first leg. While some shows indicated a hesitance to explore extended jams there were many exploratory jaunts that brought us to that place. These moments not only foreshadowed the great possibilities for August, but left us with memories that will stand out in our minds for many years.

In a clear effort to freshen up summer setlists, Phish unveiled no less than 10 one-time covers over the 18 shows the season’s opening leg. Placing some innocently within first sets, and others more dramatically within the depths of second halves, the effects of these songs varied from case to case. A process unseen since the Summer of ’98, it seemed that Phish brought a new cover to the setlist almost nightly. This summer brought a more eclectic bunch of songs than the popular anthems covered twelve years ago, as several songs went unknown until after the show to most fans. Phish also included songs everyone knew, offering a melange of tracks from different genres and eras. It remains to be seen if anything will come of these covers, or if they were just dashes of spice in their respective shows. Regardless of their future, here are the ten covers the band debuted last tour, with a blurb about each.