We just went PHISHing!

What a show!  After a two-year hiatus during which the band pursued rewarding solo projects, Phish retuned to touring with four New Year’s Eve shows in New York and Hampton, VA.  Chicago was lucky enough to be on the list of their limited winter tour.  On Thursday, February 20^th, Trey, Mike, Page and Jon brought out the big guns at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.  We missed them tremendously.  We were not happy girls when we knew we weren’t going to see any Phish shows last year. We cried like babies!  But we have to tell you now it was worth the wait, the band did not disappoint us!

The lights went down, the crowd went wild.  The band opened up with a precise rendition of the bluegrassy Rift, followed by a crowd pleasing cover of Lou Reed’s Rock & Roll.  And the audience favorite, Guyute, drove the place into a mad frenzy.   The first set ended, all too quickly it seemed, with a stretched out, jammin’ Gotta Jibboo from Farmhouse.

The newly released Round Room, recorded at the Barn – a 100 year old farm building near Burlington, Vermont - is the first studio disc since the exceptional Farmhouse recorded in 2001.   Several songs from Round Room were on the set list, including  a hypnotizing Wave and Pebbles and Marbles, which sounded more like a ballad on the disc but emerged Thursday night as a pretty powerful rock tune. They seemed to rediscover their older songs while showcasing the new ones.  

Paige McConnell was really impressive on the keyboards, the two year break seems to have given him a rebirth in a way.  Whereas, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman were more subdued, although still keeping a tight rhythmic backbeat throughout the whole show.

The second set opened with a crisp Tweezer, followed by a smoking PYITE (Punch You In The Eye) which was no surprise since Trey had on a Wilson (volleyball ) shirt. Fast Enough was the calm after the storm which led to Seven Below, where someone jumped on the stage and was headed towards Trey before being tackled.

Golgi Apparatus was the classic encore choice.  Anything But Me and a commanding Tweezer Reprise topped the show off. Trey seemed very much like the band’s leader and appeared quite comfortable in that role. At one point at the end of Tweezer he was making tiger roars with his instrument. After a 45 minute encore, Trey raised his guitar in masterful Jedi-style as the band left the stage leaving the crowd cheering for more.

The evening was fun-filled, mesmerizing and unforgettable.   Hopefully it will hold us over until the Summer Tour comes around.  Phish – we’re glad you’re back!