The Gorge. Just saying the words brings to mind something larger than life. A venue that still uses a name that does not sell energy or internet or banking is rare enough, but this place is easily in the upper echelon of rock music venues in the world. Every time I return to The Gorge, soaking in the big-ness of it all still amazes as much as it did the very first time I stepped over that hill. Phish’s 15th appearance in the high desert of eastern Washington brought possibly the set of the tour so far with what I like to call the “7 Layer Dip” approach. Set two’s “Crosseyed and Painless” opener provided the base for layering the rest of the set’s songs upon, and mixed in with each other, which yielded quite a tasty musical blend.

Making the trek to The Gorge invariably involves an elevated level of planning and just plain dealing. Whether you are camping on site or staying in one of the nearby riverside resort areas, you pretty much need to bring everything you need for the whole weekend. There is scant to no shade on the entire property, temperatures can vary wildly from day to night, and the wind can pack a big punch. It’s a relatively harsh environment juxtaposed against one of North America’s most majestic wonders, the mighty Columbia River.

photo Brian Feller

The sun with its relentless rays began to hint at setting just before set one started, and after a brief talk the band kicked off the weekend with Tweezer to usher in sunset. A creative choice that clocked in just under 12 minutes, the band sounded ready to play. A song that has seen its fair share of set one opening slots, “Sample In A Jar” followed the “Tweezer” and was a fine, solid rendition of the tune. The first “That Old Home Place” in 6 years came off without a hitch and featured a lovely piano solo from Page. The funky dance party ramped back up with “Wolfman’s Brother”, which made me think of the version a week before cut short by the PA outage. A solid if standard delivery that successfully finished this time around. No complaints. Sticking with the set of relatively older songs so far, a light uptempo “Bouncing Around the Room” filled the air and floated above the slanted lawn. A nearly flub-free set so far, and the band took some time to discuss the next choice. If you watch the band up close at all you can see easily that pre-written setlists are not in use and each song call is an audible.

I’ll take an “Undermind” anytime they want to play it, and some 3.0 versions have become the thing of legend but this was not one of those, coming in at 6 ½ minutes. Trey’s use of echo with some of his newer sounds is everywhere lately and very prevalent throughout this version in lieu of a guitar solo. It does feature a nice organ solo from Page and a playful ending. “Kill Devil Falls” made its third appearance of the tour and I liked the placement of this song in this set. A fine dance and sing-along.

Next up it was time for a visit from the Chairman of the Boards for “Lawn Boy”. Prior to the first verse Page announced, “We couldn’t be happier to be here; we love this place so much.” Mike Gordon’s bass solo rang clear and clean through the evening breeze, and we all enjoyed the olfactory hues. Trey praised Fishman’s drumming after the song, Fish praised Mike, and Page praised Trey. Bromance!

Next up came the debut of a brand new Fishman tune called “Ass Handed”. At just under a minute it is brief and to the point. Just like Fishman it is funny, rocking, and short. And maybe on the new album? Trey decided he wanted to do another Fish tune so they launched into Party Time. Similar in its concise lyrics, it was all smiles on the stage. To me the band felt very much in sync and loose and Party Time did its party thing.

Two newer Trey tunes, “The Line” and “Tide Turns”, took the energy down a notch or two but were well executed. “Rift”, a song that can be hit or miss in recent years, was delivered nearly flub-free, with yet another lovely piano solo from Page. If you are a fan of Page’s more straightforward piano and organ work, this set is for you. “Walls Of the Cave”, which has sat exclusively in a set closing position since fall tour 2013, features some standout playing by Fishman, who never seems to run out of creative ideas. Cavern walls, silent trees, this all seemed to fit in just fine at The Gorge. Trey unleashed a rock guitar god solo in the final section. End set one, the moon hanging like ripe fruit above the lawn.

One of the things that keeps us all coming back for more is the unpredictability of a Phish show. You truly never know what will come next, and most of the time neither does the band. On this night, the “Crosseyed and Painless” set two opener was a pre-show request by yours truly, and I really did not expect it to be played. But it was! I thought the song would be great to kick off a Gorge, Set Two, and I think I may have been right! What transpired in this set of music was not something new to Phish, but it did qualify itself as one of those “special” sets where weird stuff happened and a thematic element took over. Quotes and teases of “Crosseyed”, “No Men In No Man’s Land”, and “What’s The Use?” were featured throughout the set in other songs, sliding in at just the right time. Weaving melodies from other songs together in a set goes back to the legendary second night of the Roxy Atlanta run in February of 1993, and has occurred at various points throughout the years. Some might say it takes away from the overall “jam-iness” of a set and that is loses focus, but this felt to me like it showed how in sync the band was, able to drop in and listen and contribute to the stitching together of the various songs. It is one of those sets that really is best listened to in its entirety.

The third quarter offering of “Crosseyed and Painless”, “What’s The Use?” and “No Men In No Man’s Land” was a highlight in and of itself, and then Trey sung “Still Waiting” in the NMINML jam and the whole band came along with vocal harmonies. Page brought his MVP skills to the keyboard work in NMINML, and the jam took a turn for the weird, then picked up the melody to “Stash” and the brief transition landed squarely on the “Stash” intro. Second set “Stashes” are pretty rare and I was very pleased with this placement. Trey added some extra mustard to his guitar sound for the intro, using doubled up tones to great effect. Coming in at 10 minutes, this rendition featured some really beautiful cymbal work by Fishman and a patient solo by Trey that rose to that peak you really want to hear in a good “Stash”.

Next up a mid set “Ghost”, which featured “Crosseyed” teases right away, and had a nice slinky, snake like tempo. “What’s The Use?” was quoted and the jam began. It held its slower tempo for a few minutes then sped up to a double time jam with Page funking out the clavinet, and Trey eventually abandoning his guitar for the Marimba Lumina, and soon Fishman was singing “No Men In No Man’s Land” while Page and Mike joined around the kit for a 4 way drum jam. More “Crosseyed” quotes appeared, and I think this switch up jam worked better than some we have seen on this tour. It was the guacamole in the 7 Layer Dip. After a few minutes everyone returned to their instruments and picked up the NMINML jam instead of “Ghost”, which brought some fight bell kicks from Mike and then transitioned into “Chalk Dust Torture”, which felt longer than its 8 minutes and featured some nice off key jamming by Trey that transitioned back and forth with the major scale standard soloing of this song, and a slowed down/scrambled up ending that dissolved into “Meatstick”. The slow funk complimented the cool air and night sky, and an ambient jam led into a crowd favorite “Also Sprach Zarathrustra”. Light beams, everyone’s best dance moves, and the endless sea of stars above. More “Crosseyed” and NMINML quotes were scattered throughout this otherwise standard version. What could be called the set of the tour so far ended with a raucous “Cavern” and included another set of “Crosseyed” and NMINML quotes.

If the second set wasn’t enough, we were treated to a three song encore, kicking off with “Makisupa Policeman”. Trey gave shout outs to Page Side Rage Side, and also Mike side, with a simple keyword of “pot.” It was relaxed and slightly silly, and dissolved into Wilson, not something you see often in an encore position like this. Fish shouted out “policeman” in the “Wilson” intro, and the energized crowd shouted at the top of their lungs. They could have easily walked off after the Wilson but Trey decided he wanted to keep going and close it out with a real rocker with “Good Times Bad Times”. Expertly played, it ended the show on a high note.

Seeing Phish at the Gorge is often a high percentage play, as these shows tend to have some standout moments. The first night of this run did not disappoint, and offered up what will likely be one of the best sets of the tour. A mighty delicious 7 layer Dip, it left me hungry for more!

As a side note, I got to spend some time with Trey before the show and we had a chance to take a look at the new Phish Companion together. In every aspect possible, he was truly blown away. He loved the feel of the book, the color choices, the paper quality, all of the beautiful images, and the way the information was presented. He wanted me to thank everyone involved and congratulated the Mockingbird Foundation on its success and mission. He thinks you all should read the book!

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