Super Ball IX has come to an end, and it was certainly a super ball. Eight sets of well-executed music, some great eats, epic fireworks, art, and fun. Here's a breakdown of the music by set, the setlists (thanks to Phish.net), some pictures, and a review of the food to be found throughout the festival.
7/1/2011
Set I: Possum, Peaches En Regalia > Moma Dance, Torn and Frayed > NICU > Bathtub Gin, Life on Mars?, My Friend, My Friend, Wolfman's Brother, Roses are Free > Funky Bitch, Quinn the Eskimo
Set II: Super Ball Jam > Crosseyed and Painless > Chalkdust Torture, Sand > Wedge, Mike's Song > Simple > Bug, The Horse > Silent in the Morning > Weekapaug Groove > Joy > Character Zero
Encore: Show of Life
From the second they got on stage with the obvious Possum opener, you could tell Phish was very excited to be there. The first set started off the weekend right. Setlist wise it was very cover heavy, featuring two rarer ones, Peaches en Regalia and, for the first time in 3.0, Life On Mars?. The Mike's Song through Weekapaug set-up was also different, with a beautifully played Simple and an unexpected Bug. The highlights of this night musically were Bathtub Gin, Wolfman's Brother, Super Ball Jam > Crosseyed and Painless.
7/2/2011
Set I: Tube, Kill Devil Falls, Ocelot, Lawn Boy, The Divided Sky, Boogie on Reggae Woman > Camel Walk, Cities > Poor Heart > 46 Days > Suskind Hotel, When The Circus Comes To Town, Timber > Back on the Train > Suzy Greenberg, Monkey Man
Set II: Runway Jim, McGrupp and the Watchful Horsemasters, Axilla, Birds of a Feather, Stash, Sample in a Jar, Heavy Things >Horn > It's Ice > Mango Song > Rift > Scents and Subtle Sounds > Run Like an Antelope
Set III: Golden Age > Prince Caspian > Piper > Tweezer > Julius > Backwards Down the Number Line > Twist > 2001 > Hood > Cavern > Golgi > A Day in the Life
Encore: Loving Cup, Tweezer Reprise
Set IV (Secret Set at Storage Unit): Ball Square Jam >Sleeping Monkey
The only day set of the festival brought upon some funky jams- Boogie On Reggae Woman, Camel Walk, and Cities- and two Phish debuts- Suskind Hotel and a cover of Monkey Man by the Rolling Stones. Set II opened with Runaway Jim, announcing the winners of the Runway Jim 5K, and featured some songs that had only been played once so far this summer, plus Scents and Subtle Sounds for the first time this summer. The last set played like a mix of solid versions of classics. Highlights from the day included Boogie on Reggae Woman > Camel Walk, Stash, Scents and Subtle Sounds > Run Like an Antelope, Golden Age, and my favorite of the day- Twist. Also in this set, the first time the secret language has showed itself in 3.0, when Trey teased "The Simpsons" post-Birds of a Feather, to which the crowd responded eagerly, "D'oh!"
Following the last set, race car noises emerged from around the track, and the lights set up around Ball Square began to take shape around one of the art installations, a storage shed labeled "USA Storage." Before long, some very spacey, psychedelic emerged from the speakers, and the band became visible from the shed. This jam continued for almost an hour, hitting some Pink Floyd-esque peaks before delving into a unique rendition of Sleeping Monkey. This "secret set" at Ball Square was one of the greatest highlights of the whole weekend. I have never heard Phish play quite like this, and it was a special set to have witnessed.
7/3/2011
Set I: Soul Shakedown Party, AC/DC Bag > The Curtain > Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird, Destiny Unbound, Big Black Furry Creature From Mars > Wilson > Mound, A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing, Time Loves a Hero, Reba
Set II: Big Balls > Down with Disease > No Quarter > Party Time, Ghost > Gotta Jibboo > Light > Waves > What's the Use?, Meatstick Dance, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Star Spangled Banner
Encore: First Tube
Set I opened with a bang- Soul Shakedown Party, which had yet to be played since the 2009 New Years Run in Miami. After The Curtain, played "without" for the first time since 2000, some rare Gamehendge emerged with Colonel Forbin's > Fly Famous Mockingbird. It featured a narration, also for the first time since 2000, that told the story behind them playing in the storage unit the night before. While in their early days on tour, the band had gotten locked in a storage facility, and would play these jams in hopes of altering their reality, and that this whole event was a result of these moments. Some more great versions of seldom played songs made the list with Destiny Unbound, Mound, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, and Time Loves A Hero, and the Reba had the whistling ending, which was not up to par, but is so rare these days it was nice to hear. Highlights from the first set were Colonel Forbin's > Flying Famous Mocking Bird, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, and Time Loves a Hero.
For the record- the best pre/post set music goes to setbreak on 7/3, as every song had an American theme.
The song choices and execution of Set II from this day will go down, at least for me, as possibly one of the better sets I have ever witnessed. It began with a fitting and raging Phish debut of AC/DC's Big Balls before transitioning into a rousing Down with Disease. Leaving DwD unfinished, the band transitioned into its second playing of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter," which they have clearly practiced since its debut. Party Time kept the energy going, before playing a spacey version of Ghost. Light was one of the best versions played since it debuted, and the rare Waves and even more rare What's The Use continued on this epic set. A whimsical Meatstick Dance and an awkwardly placed but raging Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, followed by a heartwarming a cappella version of the Star Spangled Banner. As they came on for the encore, the band thanked the many people in their crew and at Watkin's Glen for helping them out, and as the First Tube encore played on, a fantastic display of fireworks appeared in the sky and continued well past the music. This whole set was a highlight for me for the entire weekend. Maybe it was just my song taste (What's The Use is one of my favorite songs, and I'm a sucker for Down with Disease, especially a great version) and my jamming taste, but I will never forget that set.
Can you believe that was just the music? The music, however, blew the food away at Super Ball IX. While there was certainly some variety and some of it was tasty, the officially vended offerings were subpar at best. The veggie quesedillas and enchilladas were good, the smoothie was ok, and the various Spicy Pie pizzas set-up were inconsistent; I had the perfect slice of it inside the venue, but it was cold and soggy when I got a slice in the campground vending. As the weekend went on, many independent vendors began to set-up in small shakedowns throughout the campsite, including my favorite veggie burrito of summer tour (adding fresh corn now to its mix of black beans, fresh spinach, tomatoes, garlic, garlic, and cheese) and the infamous Billy's Pulled Pork sandwich. I found and tried another pulled pork sandwich that was sans the slaw, and not only was the pork not as good, but you really need that slaw to bring the whole thing together. I was very pleased to see, however, that there were many smaller vendors set up that were using a lot of fresh ingredients; I watched a very nice neighbor making breakfast sandwiches, complete with your choice of two different cheddar cheeses, fresh onion, peppers, and eggs.
(h3ddy breakfast sandwich)
I was especially disappointed in the farmer's market this year. New York state is famous for its farm, and summer produce is nearly at its peak. So why was their so little fresh produce? Besides some decent plums, cherries, and scapes, the produce was lacking. Most of the market featured grains, granola, and other all-natural food and beauty products. This was especially angering considering the market(s!) at Festival 8 were bigger and had much better offerings.
(farmer's market)
A month off before Phish goes back on tour, and given what I saw this weekend, I have very high expectations for leg II. I hope to see some of you out west, and if not, definitely at UIC! Until then, a farmer's market report, some gym mix tapes, and some more live music reviews as I see them will be coming your way.
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