September 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Trey Anastasio

Trey Anastasio celebrates his 44th birthday today. I can't believe that he was only 28 years old the first time I saw Phish (and I was 22). Wow. Seems like a lifetime ago, yet at the same time it seems like only a month-or-so ago that I saw Phish for the first time at the Cameo Theatre in Miami Beach, Thursday, Feb. 25, 1993. I first listened to Phish in 1991 and it took two years before they came down to my part of the world.

The setlist from my first show is pretty amazing, really:

Set One: Buried Alive > Poor Heart, Cavern, Maze, Col. Forbin's Ascent > Famous Mockingbird, Rift, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, I Didn't Know, David Bowie
Set Two: Suzy Greenberg > It's Ice, Sparkle > Wilson > You Enjoy Myself, Uncle Pen, Big Ball Jam > Fast Enough for You, HYHU > If I Only Had a Brain > HYHU, Golgi Apparatus > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars
Encore: Amazing Grace, Good Times, Bad Times

Show Notes: Bowie included a tease of the theme from Jeopardy! Wilson included a Random Note Signal. This version of Forbin's including a surfing narration and a tease of the Gilligan's Island theme song. Brain featured Mimi Fishman on vacuum.

Happy Birthday Trey! Stay out of trouble!

September 7, 2008

Phish Briefly Reunites at Brad Sands' Wedding

Just minutes ago, Relix Magazine reported that last night all four members of Phish performed Suzy Greenberg, Julius and Waste at the wedding reception of Phish's long-time Road Manager Brad Sands.

The private ceremony took place in New York City on Saturday night. The time stamp with the story on the Relix website says September 7, 2008 at 11 p.m., so they must have played within a couple of hours of that time.

A video clip of Phish playing at the reception already surfaced on YouTube, and although the quality is below poor it is possible to make out Trey Anastasio's distinguishable sway -- the way he rocks back-and-forth from heel-to-toe while standing and playing the guitar. I had doubts about the authenticity of this clip at first, but upon further review, right at the end you can make out the familiar strains of Julius. Judge for yourself by clicking here.

UPDATE: A second, clear clip from Julius has surfaced in the last few minutes. It's official folks. Don't believe the haters on all the message boards. See for yourself right here.

The photo here I grabbed from the HiddenTrack blog -- nice clear shot of Page McConnell, but Jon Fishman's "pose" in the background almost made me fall out of my seat laughing. What a nut!

The Relix article goes on to say, "The stealth reunion caps off four months of rumors that began when all four members of Phish appeared onstage together at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Police Drummer Stewart Copeland also sat in with Sands’ wedding band on The Police’s Can’t Stand Losing You and The MetersFire on the Bayou. Sands served as The Police’s road manager throughout the group’s recent, high-profile reunion tour. "

Ladies and gentlemen: we have ripples in the water!!! Catch your breath before you freak out. Here at The Wagger, I had to re-write the first sentence three times because my fingers were outpaced by my thoughts a good two-to-one.

I think it's safe to say that Phish OK'd the announcement on Relix.com, based on the time of the posting and the details of how Phish's "reunion" unfolded.

One interesting note is that Mike Gordon is playing the last gig of his long awaited solo tour tonight, Sept. 7, at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. He did not have a show scheduled for Sept. 6, so on the surface it appears that when Mike originally booked his summer tour he did so with plans to be at Brad's wedding; wedding dates are, of course, normally picked months in advance of the actual ceremony.

With this in mind, please take a moment to answer The Wagger's latest survey question below: