Phish, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

On a Sunday evening after just returning from a wedding on the east coast, I made a last minute decision catch Phish’s last night in Chicago. This would be my tenth time seeing them over the past 14 years, even with their five year hiatus from 2004 to 2009. I suspect this is more than I’ve seen any other band, perhaps excluding the bands of a few friends but maybe even those as well. Like Dave Matthews Band, I have a recording of every single one of the ten shows, which include:

2000-09-15 - HersheyPark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania
2004-08-09 - Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
2004-08-12 - Tweeter Center, Camden, New Jersey
2009-06-12 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2009-06-14 - Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tennessee
2009-08-15 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
2009-12-05 - John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
2010-06-27 - Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
2013-07-20 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois
2014-07-20 - FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois

I was again on the lawn for the show, this time knowing to hang back a bit further. I also again marveled at the beautiful view that the venue provides of the urban landscape. I found a little grassy area within good distance of the screen and a speaker. The show wasn’t quite as crowded as Dave Matthews Band (it was a Sunday show of a three night run), so I had plenty of space. I was on my own but met various people on the lawn to hang out with including some kids (early 20’s) who were seeing Phish for the first time as well as slightly older veterans like me.

The setlist wasn't the best I've ever seen, but there was certainly enough to get excited about in the nearly three hours of music including many that I've already heard live before such as “Bathtub Gin,” “Ghost,” “Down with Disease,” “Weekapaug Groove,” and “Theme from the Bottom. It was also my first time getting to hear “Gumbo” and “Scent of a Scent of a Mule” live, both of which go all the way back to the mid-90’s as well as “Winterqueen,” the only song from their recently released album, Fuego (2014) that they played. All four members of the band also joined Fishman on his drums during “Scent of a Mule.” The show ended with phan favorite, “Character Zero.” Unfortunately, the glow stick war, which is the most fun aspect of hearing the song live, was a bit disappointing. I think I was just a little too far back on the lawn and it was a little too sparsely populated. I suspect attendees had also used their glow sticks up in the past two nights.

Even after ten shows, there are still quite a number of Phish songs that I have yet to hear live, including “Split Open and Melt,” “Bouncing Around the Room,” “Fluffhead,” “Harpua,” “Simple,” “The Squirming Coil,” “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” and one of my personal favorites “The Lizards.” Many of these songs were played on other nights in Chicago in 2013 or 2014. Obviously, I just need to keep seeing more Phish shows. Including this show I’ve now seen a total of 211 songs and 124 unique songs.

Also interesting was that on the way out of the show, the venue employees and phans were thanking and high-fiving each other. Many people said “thank you for having us” and “thanks for coming.” I’ve seen that here and there before, but never to such an extent; it was really nice.

Set 1:
Gumbo
Runaway Jim
Tela
The Line
Scent of a Mule
Bathtub Gin
Silent in the Morning
Maze
Ocelot
Walls of the Cave
Set 2:
Down with Disease
Winterqueen
Theme From the Bottom
Mike's Song
The Wedge
Ghost
Weekapaug Groove
First Tube
Encore:
Character Zero