Phish played their first of two nights in Philadelphia, PA at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts tonight and we were following along from the couch via the LivePhish webcast. Scroll down for a quick recap and some videos of what went down.
The band came out and did their first acapella of the tour with “Space Oddity,” which brought the song back after last being played at the Baker’s Dozen run. “Martian Monster” came next and was a fun version, and once the band dropped into “Halley’s Comet” next it seemed like they were setting up for a fully space-themed show. Instead we got a full jammed out version, 17 minutes worth, which is the longest in quite a long time. I was loving the jam, but the band moved into “Stash” somewhat abruptly and it sounded a bit rough to me. “The Moma Dance” came next and we got our first “mooo!” sample of the night from Fishman. “Gotta Jibboo” was a solid version and I loved how deep the delay loops got on this version. “Shade,” “The Old Home Place,” and “Walls of the Cave” all finished off the first set.
For set two, the band started with “More” and I was worried that the energy just wasn’t on stage tonight, but a big “Tweezer” came next and it felt like the energy immediately shifted back to the Phish we chase. This version got a nice jam and made way perfectly into “Cities” with a perfect segue, and that brought back “Tweezer” to a huge applause and we started to really see the crowd wake up too. The Kasvot Växt tune “Passing Through” came next and was definitely a unique version, Fishman was still in sort of a “Tweezer” groove but they made it work. The Jimi Hendrix cover “Izabella” came next and got the crowd really fist-pumping, and once again the band found the “Tweezer” groove afterwards which got some heavy teases of The Meters classic, “Cissy Strut.”
Another interesting transition into “Mercury” came next, but this one was interesting because they truly stopped any chance of a jam and just ended the song very similar to the version on Sigma Oasis. The rest of the show was full fire, though, because the “Piper” jam was easily my highlight of the night musically, and another “Tweezer” groove got the band to “2001” which was ripping as well. “Character Zero” closed the set, with Trey quoting “I’m Waiting for the Man” from the Velvet Underground catalog.
For the encore the band played “Drift While You’re Sleeping” and a rockin’ “Tweezer Reprise” to send everyone home sweaty. The band is back on stage at the same spot tonight.
Phish @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia PA 7.19.22
Set I: Space Oddity, Martian Monster, Halley’s Comet*, Stash, The Moma Dance, Gotta Jibboo, Shade, The Old Home Place, Walls of the Cave
Set II: More > Tweezer -> Cities -> Tweezer -> Passing Through > Izabella > Tweezer^ -> Mercury > Piper -> Tweezer > 2001# > Character Zero#
Encore: Drift While You’re Sleeping > Tweezer Reprise
Notes:
* – jammed out, 15+ minutes
^ – with The Meters “Cissy Strut” teases
# – with “Space Oddity” and “Martian Monster” quotes
@ – with “I’m Waiting For the Man” quotes
