Whatever You Do, Take Care Of Your Shoes

Well OK, maybe we are in a storm right now.  As the Northeast gets blanketed in white from the season’s first snow storm, it’s a good time to start thinking about the New Year’s run that will begin tomorrow up in Worcester.  I’m not going to focus on shows that have exploded during storms, or the ‘95 and ‘97 New Year’s runs that have been the talk of the town for the last month.  There is plenty of decent coverage out there from some great folks like Mr. Miner and Dog Gone Blog.

What I do want to focus on are the songs.  As Phish wraps up it’s second consecutive year since returning to the stage in Hampton ‘09, there are still some gems that have yet to surface in the 3.0 era.  The Round Room material comes to mind, with “Thunderhead,” “Friday” and “Round Room” still buried in the archive, but there are also a bunch of oldies that I (and I imagine many of you) would welcome.

Daniel Saw The Stone - Last heard as the day two opener at IT, this spiritual really set the tone for the festival’s final day.  This was only the second appearance of “Daniel” since its last bustout in Italy ‘97 (the first being the famed rarities show a few days prior in Burgettstown).  Ideal placement - show opener.

Dog Log - Anyone who follows this blog or knows me, knows that “Dog Log” has been on my wish list since the band returned to the stage.  Last heard at IT during the first day’s encore, the band seemed to accidentally fall into it as they decided what to play.  “Dog Log” has been soundchecked repeatedly during this Summer’s tour, and it’s time to grace our presence again.  Ideal placement - first set, second song (always a good slot for a bustout).

Round Room - This Gordo original seemed to have a lot of potential during the Winter ‘03 run.  It’s layed back groove had the seed to be a decent jam vehicle that the band could both segue into or out of.  Yet, after a few tries during Winter ‘03 and one more that summer, it disappeared.  Let’s try it again.  Ideal placement - mid-second set out of “Tweezer” or “Piper” jam.

Back At The Chicken Shack - This blues jam always sounds great when Phish tackles it.  Nothing too fancy, but it’s a great instrumental that showcases some great interplay between Page and Trey.  After a bunch of appearances throughout ‘99 and ‘00, it went back into the cave and has remained dormant ever since.  Ideal placement - mid-first set.

Manteca - I saw a massive “Manteca” sign at this year’s Halloween show (Fish side 3:00) and I was convinced the band had to have seen it.  When the boys launched into that monster “Stash” in the first set, it would have been the best opportunity to drop into it.  It’s been years since we’ve had a nice “Stash > Manteca > Stash” jam.  Bring it!  Ideal placement - second set sandwiched into “Stash.”

Now obviously there are more (I can hear the cry in the distance for “Prep School Hippie”) but these are a few reasonable requests.  As it is always, we’ll just have to wait and see what lies ahead.  This is bound to be a great run.

image courtesy of Dave Vann.