I am a huge fan of Pete’s work. Some of the things he is able to do on guitar are pretty incredible. His latest album is a collection of tunes by Stevie Wonder arranged for solo acoustic guitar. Below is a great video from Guitar Player of him playing his arrangement of “Isn’t She Lovely”.
The arrangement shows a complete mastery of the guitar, but I am more impressed with Pete’s arranging skills. A few months ago I had the chance to see Pete live and he opened with this tune. Even being an educated guitar player, I was still wondering how he is able to make several parts sound like one.
The art of improvisation is one skill that is criminally under appreciated with today’s music. Many times a band will create a setlist for a tour and stick to it every night.
Not Phish. Every night Phish changes their setlist, and not just the order of the songs, but everything about them. From night to night you never know what to expect from then. Which is a huge reason why they have such a big following.
If you are unfamiliar with their music, then go here and download this show from LivePhish.
I will wait.
This was one of the better Phish shows in recent memory. Last time I saw them was September 22nd, 2000 in Chicago. Yes, Phish fans remember exact dates of shows. It was a great show, but our seats were literally behind the stage. Since then I have kept up with them through bootlegs and DVD’s, but never have had the chance to see them live.
I entered the ticket lottery several months ago not expecting to get anything as I had heard from many people of getting shut out completely. When I received the email with my seat location I thought I would be somewhere near the back of the pavilion.
My seats were in the 10th row.
It was easily the best concert I had seen in a while and from talking to the people around me after the show, it was the best Phish show in a long time.
Sitting next to me was Kevin Shapiro, who is Phish’s official archivist. I introduced myself and immediately he mentioned Trey’s appearance with us in ’93. I figured that it was his job to know things like that. We talked for a bit about how the tour was going and he thought that the first set was especially strong.
On the other side of me was a very familiar looking guy. Turns out it was Scott Murawski from Max Creek and Mike’s solo band. He was obviously enjoying the show. I thought he might sit in, but turns out he didn’t.
Here is the setlist for the show:
Set I: Punch You in the Eye, AC/DC Bag, NICU, Colonel Forbin’s Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Birds Of A Feather, Lawn Boy, Stash, I Didn’t Know, Middle Of The Road, Character Zero Set II: Down With Disease > Wilson > Slave To The Traffic Light, Piper > Water In The Sky, Ghost > Psycho Killer > Catapult > Icculus > You Enjoy Myself E: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
On paper, the show already looks ike a highlight of the tour. During the first set they came out hard with PYITE and from then on the energy just exploded. During the opening chords of Colonel Forbin’s is when most of the people around me knew this was going to be a special night. Pretty much every tune in the first set was a highlight. For me it was great to see Page do his thing on Lawn Boy and Fish do a great vac solo on I Didn’t Know.
The tension was pretty high when the lights went out for the second set. I don’t think anyone was expecting a “Down With Disease” opener. Everyone there pretty much lost it. The standout part of this set was easily the DWD>Wilson>Slave>Piper.
Only one thing could of taken this set to the next level. Talking Heads and Gamehendge.
When Trey started the lyrics to “Psycho Killer” the place went through the roof. This one one of the tunes played over the PA before the show started and there was a massive sing along during the chorus.
Once Trey began his discourse leading into “Icculus”, then it was offical that this was a legendary show. Here is the video of the intro:
They ended with a strong version of You Enjoy Myself and encored with “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Amazing show from start to finish.
If you are thinking you might be into Phish, then this should be a show to check out.
Lately I have been practicing different ways to play over a jazz blues. One of my favorite ways lately I got from Matt Warnock via Fred Hersch. Check out Matt’s web for more info.
What are your favorite ways to practice playing over a blues?
Here is a video of one of our National Guitar Workshop teachers, Jody Fisher.
The tension was pretty high when the lights went out for the second set. I don’t think anyone was expecting a “Down With Disease” opener. Everyone there pretty much lost it. The standout part of this set was easily the DWD>Wilson>Slave>Piper.