Phish Third Night - Undermind == First Time Played
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
Phish is my favorite band. Yes, you may be surprised but just check out my MOG. Page. My listening changes but favorite bands won't. At least not the top. I was lucky enough to go to the shows in Hampton, VA this past weekend and it was a truly incredible, amazing and very special time.
One of my favorite things about Phish shows is hearing new music. Most often that comes in them the middle of songs I already know with improvised riffs, lyrics and long, extended jams. On ocassion we're treated to new songs but never often enough. Then there's the very rare occasision they play a song of theirs I know but have never heard live. This is what happened at Hampton the Third Night.
The song Undermind is from their (thought to be) last studio album of the same name. The album was made after thier "first" haitus as it will most likely be known and included a bunch of new songs that sounded very different from the rest of the albums in some ways but still very Phishy.
I really like that album. I think I'm in a minority but I do. One friend said he could hear them breaking up during that album but I heard some of their best songs. One of my favorites was always Undermind. It's groovey and slinky. It sounds like Get Back on the Train but not with the country/Johnny Cash feel.
Well, after hearing the studio version for year, I was lucky enough to have them play it. Comig out of a great Bathtub Gin jam that wasn't long but full of fluttering notes they quited down and then came together playing a strangely familiar song. It doesn't start out like the album and I really wasn't thinking about that song or album at all. But the second they started singing I immediatley knew what it was.
Phish was kind enough to give away MP3's of all the music from those shows on their site www.livephish.com. They were available an hour after the show as done. Since the show was on the east coast many of my west coast friends would download the shows, have a party and listen to them at full blast and having dance parties at their houses.
Anyhow, I uploaded the tune. Check it out live. You can listen to the Rhapsody version as well to see the difference.
And be sure to watch out for these guys this summer. They're going to destroy Bonnaroo.
Peace!
Comments (8)
They are, indeed, going to destroy Bonnaroo. That's gonna be interesting!
You know, in the last week, I've gone and ripped my copies of Undermind, and Round Room to my harddrive, and with a fresh set of ears, I'm pleasantly surprised at what I hear. I think I definitely wrote off those recordings in 2002-2004. The scene was tired. I was tired. But 5+ years later, those albums have legs to stand on!
Thanks for sharing your experience from the shows.
I'm with you Jameson. I was had written those two releases off as well. I have not actually gone and ripped them to the HD yet, but plan doing so. I'm curious to how those tracks will sound.
After all the talk of Undermind from night three, I need to re-listen to it again. I have not really had much time with set 1 from night three yet. Yesterday I started re-listening to all the shows from the beginning. All I have left from night one is is Loving Cup and then onto day 2, starting today. That second set from night one has such a great flow of songs.
I think I'm gonna go out and buy some Phishfood to celebrate this weekend!
Guys.... I love those albums. I think Round Room is the best album Phish did to capture the live feel in the studio. The groove on Seven Below is just amazing. Waves was like a new Slave. Pebbles and Marbles and Walls of a cave are classic multi-part songs. 46 Days is the rocker. All of these Dreams and Anything But Me are just beautiful. And Mexican Cousin is like a new Sleeping Monkey. Funny, catchy chorus and plays that role between freak-outs when they need to regroup a bit.
Undermind didn't get enough time but A Song I Hear The Ocean Sing is is deep and Scents and Subtle Sounds is incredible. There's a version of that from the last tour that is over 30 min and rivals some of their best free form jamming.
For some reason many people were frustrated with new stuff and not playing the old classics. I'm sure that added to the problems with the band and gave them frustration that we as fans weren't letting them progress as a band. In some ways we forced them to do that in solo groups until it was proven it was worthy of Phish.
I don't think I've ever heard a bad Phish song. Except MAYBE Jennifer Dances. Hopefully Phish 3.0 will also have Phans 3.0 and we'll just be happy to hear them playing . And I'll even take a Jennifer Dances if we can still get our Tweezers.
Ya know, as I think about it. I like a lot of those songs and forget that they are affiliated with those records. Pebbles and Marbles, Scents and Subtle Sounds, 46 Days and Seven Below are all fun.
In the late 90's I gave away all of my studio releases and would only listen to live bootlegs. Since then, I've re-aquired some of those studio releases but as I think about it, the studio releases are a different band for me in a lot of ways. That's not to slight the studio output, but overall the enjoyment level I get from my 8/20/93 bootleg compared to any of the studio releases isn't even fair. Know what I'm sayin?
You making it to any of the summer tour or are you holding out for the late summer west coast tour rumors?
As many moggers agree, live is better. But it's still that studio album that gives us a starting point.
Going to as much as I can. Hopefully Jones Beach - Camden, Bonnaroo and maybe another on the current tour.
I hear west coast is coming soon so we'll see how that goes. We're having our second baby due Aug 3 so we'll see how that affects the whole thing. (probably a lot!)
I'm the guy who thought Jennifer Dances was 30x better than Heavy Things.
Al - i totally saw /felt/witnessed the frustrations of the fans when Phish was rolling out those new jam tunes. The songs were/are monstrous, and like you said, rival the Stashes, and the Slaves, and the Tweezers, but the band had reached a point where we all just wanted to hear their old shit. What was great about Hampton was that it seemed like nothing like that mattered.
Ouch, new baby around early August does not bode well if they do a late summer tour.
The break was good for all of us. It almost seems like everything after 2000 was kind of a lost generation of Phish for me. As of late I have been listening to a lot of the 2002-2003 stuff and really been likeing some of this way more then I remember. There are some real gems. 2003.02.28 Reba is insane! :)
For some context. I got into Phish in late 93. My first show could have been 8/20/03 at Red Rocks but I was still not quite hooked at that point. I was aware of them at that point it just didn't click yet. By the end of 93 I was hooked. (I always regret missing that show, they played my all time favorite YEM) June 10/11 1994 at Red Rocks was my first show. Follewed them very hard core until 98. After which I started fading and by the hiatus was pretty much uniterested. When the hiatus was over I was excited and listened to them a lot but it was just not the same. By 2004 I had lost the flame again and thought they made the right decision to phone it in. Fast forward to this last weekend and I have to say I'm way on board again.