Phish July 13th and 14th, 2013, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

  Hello everybody. I hope you all are surviving the mini heat wave we are experiencing. As Phish celebrates 30 years as a band, I am celebrating 23 years of going to shows. Yes my friends do the math. I’ve been going to shows since before you hit puberty. My first Dead show was July 12^th, 1990. So what better way than to consecrate these historic events than with 2 Phish shows at my backyard, AKA Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 13^th and 14^th.

     Once again, Phish showed why Hanover is ideally located if your main thing is seeing live music. Only an hour from MMP, I can see a raging show and spend the night in my own bed, which was a HUGE thing this run. I woke up on Thursday at 2:30 am to take my mid slumber leak. I’m an old man with an old prostrate and sleeping through the night without getting up to go to the bathroom just doesn’t happen anymore. I went and as I lay back down, I had the overwhelming sensation of the whole room spinning like I had drunk a six pack. I freaked the fuck out because this had never happened to me before. I somehow managed to fallback asleep and dragged myself to work.

     Work was impossible and saw a doc that AM. She diagnosed nonsituational vertigo and gave myself some motion sickness meds. Friday I was still in rough shape but was in much better shape Saturday.

     I went down with Paul, of mandolin picking fame from Boxcar Social. We got down there a little after 3 and man was it HOT. Found Nate and Christie (whose wedding I officiated and MC’d; you can read about it here

http://kempepedia.blogspot.com/2013/06/wedding-tour-part-ii-nate-and-christie_2.html)

They had the gonzo flag a flying (someone even stopped by and offered to buy it) and the hospitality welcome mat out. There wasn’t too much vending or a Lot scene going on but the police seemed much chiller than last year.  I even scored an Uno card. They were all the rage among Tour kids in the Fall of ’97 or ’98. Old school is where it’s at.

Sat, Jul 13, 2013
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

Soundcheck: Yarmouth Road, Energy, Architect, Jam

Set 1: Kill Devil Falls, Destiny Unbound, Taste, Halfway to the Moon, Twenty Years Later, Maze, Yarmouth Road, Split Open and Melt

Set 2: Down with Disease > Free > Bouncing Around the Room, Birds of a Feather, Harry Hood^[1] > Architect > Mike's Song > Simple > Weekapaug Groove

Encore: Waste > Good Times Bad Times

[1] BOAF and Divided Sky teases by Trey; Dog Log tease by Mike.

Notes: Hood featured a BOAF and Divided Sky teases by Trey and a Dog Log tease by Mike.

You can stream it here

http://www.phishtracks.com/shows/2013-07-13

     First set was sweet. The Taste had some nice jams. The Maze was all high speed chicken feed. Yarmouth Road is a good new song, definitely a cousin of Sugar Shack, much the same way Brokendown Palace is cousin to Black Muddy River by the Dead. The SOAM was a nice way to end the first set.

     The second set started off with a raging DWD that also included the ending, which evidently has been pretty rare. Free was typical 3.0 (Still holding out hope) I thought mid second set placement for Bouncin’ was weak but it picked back up with Birds and especially Hood.

     The beginning of Hood was really great. During the run up to the Harry part, about 40 seconds in, Page starts using the vocoder. He then proceeds to play what I call the Sex Note on one of his keyboards.  It’s kind of like the Brown Note from South Park, but instead makes the ladies drop their drawers. Mike then kicks in with his Meatball pedal. It sounded crazy live. It doesn’t quite have the impact it did live listening back to it, but it blew my mind. I totally heard the Dog Log tease, which was a nice nod to the version they did here back in Fall of 2000. Architect is a good new tune and Simple had a great solo at the end.

      One other thing about this show, it rained like a motherfucker.  I was one of the few to bring a poncho into the show. I got rained on at my first Dead show and suffered terrible chaffing.  After that, Gold Bond and a poncho for myself at every show. I stayed high and dry, and kept Paul’s phone dry as well. The hill was a muddy disaster.

      Leaving the show was a little bit of clusterfuck as I took a few wrong turns and almost ended up back in the Lot. My new phone’s GPS practically yelled at me when I wasn’t going the correct way. After an unbearable wait at Sheetz as everyone under 21 in Carroll County was served ahead of us, we made it home and I rested for the conclusion of MMP 2013.

   Vertigo was rather mild Sunday AM. I woke up SUPER DEHYDRATED. I think that was fucking me up more than the vertigo. Proceeded to get myself back to normal and headed down solo to meet up with my crew.

     Another hot day in the Lot with the clouds mercifully blotting out the sun, allowing us to scramble from shade to shade. Much more chill Lot scene than I have seen down at Merriweather since 1997 for a Phish show. The cops were around but not overbearing the way they had been in past years. Got inside early and Phish came out again right on time around 7:40.

Sun, Jul 14, 2013
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

Soundcheck: Guelah Papyrus, Frost, Unknown Mike Tune, Energy

Set 1: First Tube > The Moma Dance > NICU, Roses Are Free > Chalk Dust Torture, Stash, Scent of a Mule^[1], It's Ice > Tube > Run Like an Antelope

Set 2: Golden Age^[2] > Twist > Backwards Down the Number Line > Light -> Boogie On Reggae Woman, Julius, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Loving Cup

[1] Fishman on Marimba Lumina.
[2] Third Stone from the Sun teases.

Notes: Mule featured Fishman on Marimba Lumina. Golden Age contained Third Stone from the Sun teases.

     The highlight of the first set was Fishman playing the Marimba Lumina, which was some type of electronic xylophone. It was definitely the first time he used it live. It was nice because it added some variety to the Mule dueling jams. The It’s Ice had some nice jams (And that’s also Christie’s license plate).

     After a rather short set break they came back out with all barrels blazing. Golden Age is always good set started. The Third Stone teases were mostly in Trey’s solo. Light was the only really deep jammy excursion but they accomplished a lot in 13 minutes. The transition in Boogie On was outstanding. The YEM had a really nice breakdown jam at the end featuring Trey’s noodle dancing. I always dig a Loving Cup encore and we were sent on our way.

     So I survived another run at Merriweather. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. I have started the official countdown and leave for San Francisco in 13 days as I hit 6 shows on Phish’s West Coast swing. Long Live Rock!

Dave Kemp
BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll