Concert Review: Phish @ Jones Beach, NY 6/5 (w/ video)

Another submission from our West Coast representative, JB. He returned to his roots for the 6/5 Phish show at Jones Beach. Read all about it below…or at his blog. Thanks Joe.


From joebrundige.com: It always sucks when it rains at a show, but Phish sucks particularly hard because the only parking lot I'd rather be at is a UCLA/ND golf course tailgate at the Rose Bowl and there's hardly anything damper than a cold June rain on Long Island. I live in Los Angeles, but I made the somewhat embarrassing weekend trek to Long Island for this show because I was excited Phish is back out on the road and this band and this venue has some significance to me. I say embarrassing because it's tough to admit to co-workers and married friends that I traveled 6000 miles to see a jam band, and the only people I could find to go with me were 12 years old when I headed to Burlington for college. It was at Jones Beach almost exactly 15 years ago that I saw my first Phish show and one of my first real un-chaperoned concerts. 7-15-94 (the first solar powered show...was there a second?) was the date and it was a classic Junta/Hoist show that I would definitely appreciate a little more today rather than at 15.

But back to the event at hand. Underdressed for the monsoon and on a mission to get a buzz we packed 5 poeple into my dad's Chevy tahoe and slammed hippie beer (thanks Eric) and petron. Everyone waited to the last minute to get into the venue rather than sit on a wet seat so the security line took close to 20 minutes and the band went on late. As we walked to our seats it was a bit strange hearing Mike bang out the first E notes to "Wilson" to open the show as it seems almost yesterday that Trey was nearly crying (at another rain soaked debacle) that here was Wilson "for the laaast time". What an f'ing liar, huh? Or a drug addict that just needed a break. Either way, when we finally made it to our staircase (getting to an actual seat proved impossible), we were pleased to find that Phish is definitely back. They were both loose in demeanor and tight in performance. Everything seemed to be in stark contrast to the last time I'd seen the band at their "final" show at Coventry -- longwinded speeches, visible intoxication, and missed notes and segways were replaced with sober, tight and occassionaly inspired takes on old classics and one or two new tunes from the forthcoming album. Despite a great rendition of A Day in the Life I was a little surprised by the one song Encore, but that seems the norm these days for a band that now reminds me of an old crazy friend who got a little older, quit blow and now only comes to the bar to tell a couple stories. But the stories are still good and it's better than breaking up a bar fight at four in the morning or not seeing the old friend at all. I'm excited to see what the new chapter will bring for this incredibly creative and fun band.

Phish Jones Beach 6/5/09 from Joe Brundige on Vimeo.

Set One
Wilson
Buried Alive
Kill Devil Falls
AC/DC Bag
I Didn't Know
My Friend, My Friend
Ya Mar
Theme From The Bottom
Boogie On Reggae Woman
Split Open and Melt

Set Two
Down With Disease
Twist Around ^ >
Piper >
Backwards Down the Number Line >
Free
Twenty Years Later *
2001
Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore
A Day in the Life

Notes
^ with extended Oye Como Va jam
* First Time Played

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