Phish scales familiar territory in return to stage

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | 8:22 a.m.

For the past two years, Phish fans have all been asking the same question: Will they be back?

The answer came on New Year's Eve, as America's jam band deities returned to the stage and ended the longest hiatus in a 20-year career built on touring excellence.

So now there's a new question being asked around the Phish camp: How do they sound?

Over the weekend Las Vegans -- and plenty of well-traveled out-of-towners -- got their chance to hear for themselves, as Phish stopped by the Thomas & Mack Center for a pair of sold-out shows Saturday and Sunday nights.

Playing just their sixth and seventh shows since reuniting, the Vermont quartet showed virtually no sign of rust, an astounding achievement considering both the band's vast repertoire and the intricacy of many of its songs.

Phish also sounded reinvigorated following its layoff, delivering more satisfying performances than in September 2000, the last time the band played Las Vegas.

As if to silence any doubters early on, the band took few "warm-up" swipes during its first sets. Instead, guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman started the party as soon as the lights went out, immediately delving into some of their most demanding material.

Saturday night the funky "Wolfman's Brother" and a tight rendition of "Reba," were the early treats. Also featured before intermission was "Run Like an Antelope," a song featuring the wonderful lyric: "Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul. You've got to run like an antelope out of control."

On Sunday the crowd of around 18,000 roared as Phish opened with "David Bowie," one of its oldest compositions. Almost entirely instrumental, the piece kept most fans dancing exuberantly for more than 20 minutes.

"Guyute," perhaps the most challenging piece in the Phish songbook, was also included in Set 1 Sunday night. Demonstrating an uncanny feel for each other, the four musicians maneuvered crisply through the number's series of dissimilar segments, sounding like a classical ensemble one moment and a heavy-metal orchestra the next.

Second sets were generally reserved for heavy improvisation, with the band using such songs as "Free" and "Down With Disease" to visit faraway places. Anastasio and McConnell constantly sought new directions in which to take the music, while Gordon and Fishman maintained order with unwavering rhythms.

In keeping with tradition, both Phish shows featured cover tunes. McConnell's sweetly sung version of Bowie's "Life on Mars" was a highlight on Saturday, while Anastasio's stab at Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady" came up short on Sunday.

The band also tipped its hat to the crowd, responding to a huge sign in the upper tier reading "871 Days Since Last Ghost" with a long take on the requested song, "Ghost."

Though the quartet did not address the audience directly during the concerts, it was apparent they enjoyed themselves immensely. They even reached back for one of their oldest stage stunts, performing several bars of a "silent jam," in which all four pretend to play instruments without actually doing so for several measures, before picking up again in perfect unison.

"Harry Hood," the all-time Phish favorite for many fans, closed out Set 2 in fine form Saturday.

Less to some fans' liking, Phish also debuted seven cuts from its latest album, "Round Room." While a few of the new tracks, namely "Pebbles and Marbles" and "46 Days," measured up to some of their older counterparts, others clearly need more polishing.

Otherwise, squabbles were few. The band's set breaks -- 40 and 47 minutes for the two shows -- continue to be too long. Certainly, 30 minutes should be plenty of time for the four men to rest up for Set 2 without letting all momentum drain from the building.

Encores were also somewhat disappointing: just one relatively short song each night. This from a band that played 13 hours in a row just three years ago.

Phish fans left wanting for more music had plenty of options after the shows, with both moe. and Particle performing late-night shows on or near the Strip. Former Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts even shared in the groove with a guest appearance during moe.'s Saturday's night set at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Unquestionably, however, the main attraction was Phish, from which fans should expect even more in the months to come.

Which leads us to Phish fans' next question: When will they be back?