Reviews RSS

March 14, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Mike Gordon @ the TLA [Ordered Chaos]

As the second set started, I realized that the band didn’t play many songs (remember the obvious point I missed? JAM BAND!). I finally had the “Duh!” moment during the second set because the band really settled into complete “Jam” mode. For the next 90+ minutes, I would be lying if I said they played more than 5 or 6 different songs. The Jam got loser than the first set and they let the music go where it wanted to. Tom played one of his original tunes which he modified for jam-ocity and it was excellent\very “sing-a-long” as Gordon rightfully put it.

0  |  #

March 7, 2010

Sponsored Link

Hampton Anniversary: Ace Cowboy’s Phish Hampton Review [HT]

To accurately describe what it’s like having the popular rock band Phish back on the Hampton Coliseum stage, let me steal a quip from that lovable ol’ drunkard Arthur when he tells Linda about owning a yacht: “It doesn’t suck.”

March 4, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio Ends Tour at Tennessee Theatre [Tennessee Journalist]

0  |  #

February 25, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Phish Front Man Brings Good Side to Pageant [StL Today]

0  |  #

February 24, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: TAB in KC - A Macro View [Phish Thoughts]

After witnessing Trey and Classic TAB in Kansas City on Sunday night, there is only one thing to say – believe the hype – the band is playing as well as all the glowing reviews have reported, and Trey has brought his own chops to another level. With childlike passion and a ear to ear smile plastered on his face, Trey played with a relaxed confidence all night long, as visibly, happy, and excited as ever.

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio & Classic TAB at the Uptown [KansasCity.com]

The bar band featured at the Uptown Theater on Sunday had an amazing guitarist. Ordinary bar bands, of course, don’t draw 1,200 fans. Then again, Trey Anastasio is no ordinary guitarist.

Anastasio is the most prominent member of the wildly successful Grateful Dead-inspired jam band Phish. He often leads the Classic Tab collective when Phish is on hiatus.

0  |  #

February 22, 2010

News & Views

Review and Photos: Trey Anastasio Band at the Riviera [The Butter Room]

After Friday night’s show at The Riv, it’s obvious that Trey is back in a major way, and 2009 was only the beginning. Over the course of the evening, fans were given a taste of everything in his solo cannon.  The best of his solo work was greeted with tight new treatments, while splashing in some tasteful Phish and even bringing a little something new to the table.

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews and Photos: 02/19 - Trey Anastasio - Chicago [JamBase]

Summer 2001: Phish was on hiatus. Trey Anastasio was on the road with his solo band, and everyone agreed that he seemed revitalized and giddy onstage. There must have been something about the freedom/ego trip of playing with a band that carried his name that got the juices flowing for Trey, and it boded well for the return of fresh Phish. Here we are almost nine years later, during a mere half-year break from the day job, and that giddiness is back. Talk to anybody walking out of a Winter 2010 Classic TAB show and you’re going to hear the word “energy.” And probably something like “off the charts.”

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio at Terminal 5 [Live Music Blog]

TAB has always been a forum for Trey to tool around with various solos and effects pedal pyrotechnics, so there were certainly moments of long-winded guitar wizardry throughout the band’s three-hour plus workout. But I was surprised at how well this version of TAB really gelled as a cohesive unit.

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: This Is My Trey-Man Review [Golden Brain Listens]

Before the final tune of the night, “First Tube,”  Trey acknowledged Russ Lawton & Tony Markelis, saying that they’d started the band and giving them their due credit for writing so many of the tunes that the band plays (he mentioned “Sand” and “Jibboo,” I believe), and noting that they were about to play the very first tune that they’d written together.  It was nice to hear him say that, because so often I hear people refer to these as “Phish songs.”  It was great to see props being given to the original core trio that stated this legacy 12 years ago.

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Trolling With Trey For Phish Fix [Star-Tribune]

It may not have been a gold-medal performance (Anastasio was more consistently impressive in 2005 at the Orpheum with his then-side project 70 Volt Parade) but Phish-heads got what they needed: a marathon concert featuring nonstop dance-inducing grooves, funky jams and long-winded guitar passages by the most giddily grinningest guitar player of all time.

0  |  #

February 20, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio @ The Riv [TimeOut Chicago]

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Trey at Pabst Theatre [A/V Club]

Anastasio seemed genuinely enthused throughout the show as he wanked away, wearing his goofy guitar o-face. It was clear that he was feeding off the crowd energy, which seemed to hit its peaks and valleys, especially as the second set continued to drag on. Perhaps this is why Anastasio wasn’t his usually chatty self. He only addressed the crowd to introduce the rest of the band just before and the final song of the encore, “Last Tube.” But the music spoke well enough for him.

0  |  #

February 18, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio @ Terminal 5 [Earvolution]

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Wrapping Up Trey Anastasio’s Northeast Run [Hidden Track]

As Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB move on from the Northeast leg of their tour onto the Midwest and South, they have left a trail of happy faces in their path. The “anything can happen at anytime” M.O. that Phish lives and dies with is nowhere to be found on TAB Tour, alleviating all the pressure that comes with Phish shows for Trey Anastasio. Big Red and his bandmates are clearly having fun and the happiness is contagious.

0  |  #

February 17, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey and TAB Light Up NYC [Whatever You Do]

0  |  #

February 15, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Classic Trey Anastasio Band Re-Energized at Oakdale [Hartford Courant]

What a delightful difference the addition of a horn section can make to a band. The Classic Trey Anastasio Band (TAB), a side project for the Phish guitarist, returned to the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford Saturday night. When the quartet — sans the horns — last performed at the venue in October 2008, it was an uninspired, mellow affair. As a septet, the performance was rhythmic, funky and full of energy.

0  |  #
News & Views

Reviews: Trey Anastasio w/ Classic TAB [My Fox Boston]

0  |  #

February 14, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey and Classic TAB in Boston [Hidden Track]

Just across the street from Fenway Park, where Trey and Phish kicked off a long-anticipated summer tour last year, Trey and Classic TAB got down to business at Boston’s House of Blues. Coming on a little after 8:30 PM, Trey and company kicked off with the newly-arranged Shine. The brass intro foreshadowed what would be the defining element of the night, TAB’s featured three-piece horn section. The lighting went perfectly with the lyrics, with blazing yellows and whites flooding the room as Trey and the audience echoed the chorus. A bouncy and funky Cayman Review followed, with Trey bouncing up and jumping around, pointing to various fans in the audience.

0  |  #

February 10, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: Trey and Classic TAB @ the Jefferson [The Butter Room]

Overall, it was clear the band had put in a lot of practice for the opener. It was also evident that they were having a good time. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the show as much if it wasn’t for the small venue. The last time I saw TAB was in a basketball arena with the horns and it just didn’t have the same vibe. I hope he can continue to play small clubs and theaters so all fans can experience the band up close. If you have a chance to see TAB on this tour, I encourage you to check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

0  |  #

February 1, 2010

News & Views

Reviews: LivePhish 11/19/1992 St. Michael’s [Jambands]

0  |  #

January 27, 2010

News & Views

Miami: Phishing in Miami [JVibe]

0  |  #

January 22, 2010

News & Views

MSG: Review - Phish Rocks Out at MSG [Hofstra Chronicle]

0  |  #

January 14, 2010

News & Views

The Biography: Review of Phish - The Biography by Jesse Jarnow [Indy Week]

I broke up Phish—according, at least, to the neutrally titled Phish: The Biography, a new book by Parke Puterbaugh.

0  |  #

January 13, 2010

News & Views

Miami: NYE Pt. 4 - Party In The City Where The Heat Is On [Dog Gone Blog]

0  |  #
News & Views

The Biography: Novel Approach - Off Phish’s Deep End [Weekender]

0  |  #

January 12, 2010

News & Views

Miami: NYE Review Pt. 3 - 12.30 [Dog Gone Blog]

Continuing to bring in the new year with bustouts galore, the set followed with no less than five rarities, as well as two debuts. After an emotional “Corinna”, the Taj Mahal cover that was played on the first night of Big Cypress, something happened. Trey overheard a fan requesting “What’s The Use”, my favorite song off the Siket Disc. Evoking the pure improvisational spirit in the band, they tore through their psychedelic instrumental, fueling the show with a rare energy that would carry into the second set. Thanks dude!

0  |  #

January 11, 2010

News & Views

Miami: The Man of Miami - Mike Gordon MVP [Phish Thoughts]

Mike Gordon annihilated Miami like a like a bass-driven assassin, owning his instrument in a display likening a musical Harlem Globetrotter. While leading most jams of the weekend, Mike cast down bass line after mind-expanding bass line, defined by his one-of-a-kind phrasing and unparalleled fluidity. From nuanced effects to ludicrous runs up and down the fretboard, Mike’s mastery jumped from the stage in Miami, and continues to surface with every shows’ re-listen.

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami: NYE Review Pt. 2 - The Connection [Dog Gone Blog]

Over the course of the following two nights of the New Years run, Phish rewrote the books for 2009. The year that brought with it so much hope, so much promise, so much…joy, was coming to a close. Since the return in Hampton, it has felt like a joint effort to try and regrow the magic that Phish brings. Whether it was relearning lyrics, practicing compositions, reconnecting with one another, it was a process and we were there for the ride. Over the 29th and 30th, Phish and every fan saw one journey end, and another begin. The reunion year was coming to an end, and the band had shed their training wheels – everything had returned to where they had left it.

0  |  #

January 10, 2010

News & Views

2009 In Review: Phish in the Age of 3.0 [Great Scott!]

Song choice played a much larger role for the group than it ever has, and the jamming, while still prevalent, became more concise. While many could contend that this marks the end of the Phish “we all know and love,” I would argue against that. The band is communicating in a new way while still using the same language, it just may take a more active listener to appreciate it.

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami: Mr. Miner’s Reviews - 12/29, 12/30, 12/31 [Phish Thoughts]

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami: PhanArt’s Brief New Year’s Reviews [PhanArt]

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami: Phish in Miami 12/28 - 12/31 [JamBase]

If someone had told me the song of the night, and maybe the run, would be the mid second set “Get Back on the Train,” I would have laughed, and laughed hard. But, hot damn, that’s exactly what Phish dropped on us, an exploratory, type-II jam that left behind all semblance of the normal choo-choo-honky-tonk-steam-locomotive theme that the song normally embodies. My mind raced to compare it to something, but this was “one of a kind,” a la the “Fee” from Virginia Beach in the summer of ‘99.

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami: Phishing For New Year’s [KnightNews]

0  |  #

January 3, 2010

News & Views

Miami: A European Fan’s Miami Experience [Bouncing Around Euroom]

0  |  #

January 2, 2010

News & Views

Miami: Last Splash - Phish New Year’s [Wading in the Velvet C.]

0  |  #

January 1, 2010

News & Views

Miami: One Last Phishy Blowout for ‘09 [Hidden Track]

Last night in Miami we reached the conclusion of an important year in the history of Phish. The quartet worked up their skills and dug deep through their repertoire all year long. Quite often the band was successful at satiating their notoriously hard-to-please fanbase while aiming to stay clear of the dreaded “nostalgia act” tag. For the fourth show of four at the American Airlines Arena, Phish didn’t disappoint offering the typical NYE fare of a few hearty jams, plenty of classics, a few bust outs and the “gimmick” which this year revolved around a little known female drummer named Sarah.

0  |  #

December 31, 2009

News & Views

Miami: A 12/30 Show For The Ages [Hidden Track]

It all started on a cold winter night in Springfield, Massachusetts seven years ago, when Phish dusted off Timber Ho! and Ride Captain Ride to treat some of their die-hard fans to a special concert on the night before New Year’s. Ever since that time, December 30th has been the Phish national holiday – a night when you can expect bust outs and jams galore, a tradition that continued in a big way at the American Airlines Arena last night in Miami where Phish blew their proverbial load multiple times on December 30.

0  |  #

December 30, 2009

News & Views

Miami: Review - Phish Heats Up Miami [Hidden Track]

If you’ve seen a bundle of Phish shows, it’s probable that you’ve been asked “why do you see this band so much?” repeatedly over the years. Everyone’s answer to that question is different, but most involve the aspect of surprise and the fact that neither the band or the audience knows what will happen. The second night of Phish’s New Year’s Run in Miami contained many unexpected moments, which is what we look for at each show.

0  |  #

December 29, 2009

News & Views

Miami 1: Phish Makes Triumphant Return to Miami [Miami Herald]

It was a triumphant return for the band, which last performed on New Year’s Eve at the same venue in 2003, and took a much-needed break shortly afterward following two decades of relentless recording and touring. The joyous roar that greeted Phish — lead singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman (clad as usual in a house-dress covered with “Phish circles”) — showed just how much the group was missed.

0  |  #
News & Views

Miami 1: Ebb and Flow [Phish Thoughts]

Following a first set that better resembled a mortuary rather than a Phish show, the band brought out their second-set defibrillators in the form of “Mike’s Song.”

0  |  #

December 23, 2009

News & Views

MSG: Fluff Came to New York [The Commentator]

0  |  #

December 21, 2009

News & Views

Reviews: Phish - Party Time [Jambands]

0  |  #

December 14, 2009

News & Views

MSG: Review - Phish @ MSG December 4, 2005 (sic) [StateofMind]

0  |  #

December 13, 2009

News & Views

Albany: Review - Phish 11/27/2009 [Jambands]

The show was certainly unique, interesting and loaded with quirky asides, although nothing especially earth shattering. And that’s just fine; it was a Phish show right in the middle of a Thanksgiving Phish tour, with all the comfort and ease and sense of tradition that that brings.

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Phish @ MSG 12/2 and 12/3 [Jambands]

0  |  #

December 10, 2009

News & Views

Charlottesville: Phish in Charlottesville Review [Handful of Brains]

0  |  #

December 9, 2009

News & Views

Charlottesville: Too Hot, Tour’s Cold, Cold Closer [Wading in the Velvet C.]

0  |  #

December 8, 2009

News & Views

MSG: Go See Phish at Least Once [Village Voice]

Incredibly, last Wednesday night’s three-hour-plus Phish extravaganza at Madison Square Garden—the first of their three-night run there, and my first Phish show, period—is not, in fact, the most indulgent, meandering, patience-obliterating concert I have ever experienced.

0  |  #
News & Views

Charlottesville: Review - The Naked Truth About Phish [The Hook]

0  |  #

December 7, 2009

News & Views

MSG: Review - Phish @ MSG Night Two [Hidden Track]

Slowly the Disease jam disintegrated and bled into the opening chords of Piper, which brought with it the promise of more improvisation. Having gone through the vocals, Phish bumped up the tempo slightly. Anastasio took a fairly rhythmic solo, punctuated by Fishman’s own flourishes on the drums. Eventually the band hit a groove they seemed to like and the jam gave way to a double-time funk.

0  |  #

December 6, 2009

News & Views

Charlottesville: A Feature Finale [Phish Thoughts]

Following the Stones’ southern ballad, Phish rolled into a magnificent “Harry Hood” whose completely sublime interplay between Mike and Trey made the many versions of tour look somewhat standard. Guided by a seemingly deeper spirit, the ethereal textures and other-worldly melodies of this “Hood” brought echoes of mid-to-late ’90’s classics, evoking the song’s essential core.

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Inside The Bee Hive - Night Three [Kid Dynamite's World]

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Review - Phish Find Themselves A City To Live In [Hidden Track]

The must-listen songs from the first set that provided the most blatant energy boosts were Boogie On, Julius, and Back on the Train. Boogie On had the place on fire. Although this version did not stretch out or differentiate itself too much, the pure enjoyment of just people watching during this one probably made it the best tune of the set.

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Evoking Spirits Past [Phish Thoughts]

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: MSG #3 - The Grand Finale [Coventry]

First Tube started out flat then took off in a thousand directions at once — sort of like being shot out of a canon, er, make that a thousand canons. A few minutes into the song, the crowd went bat shit crazy. Screaming. Yelling. Like everyones’ drugs kicked in at the same time! A fat kid puked on himself.

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Phish at the Garden, Night Two [YNZnNYC]

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Phish MSG December 4, 2009 [Partyin' Peeps]

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Kinda Glad Your Alive [Rock Me Baby]

0  |  #
News & Views

MSG: Photo Gallery - A Review in Haiku [The Tripwire]

0  |  #