Not So Guilty Pleasures Part 1: Phish

This is a selection from Phish's first night of their recent March reunion at Hampton Colosseum.  This song is off of their 1990 album "Lawn Boy".  Just for reference I, personally, am partial to their earlier stuff though this is not why I chose this song.  I chose to share this song because I think Paige McConnell's piano solo at the end I think sounds really sweet.

If you didn't know this already I used to kinda be a big Phish fan, and with their reunion and the reunion of Led Zeppelin (the other band with a very large and special place in my heart) all in the same year of an economic meltdown and the election of Barack Obama the world feels like it is coming together in a weird way. Compounded with this is the fact that while listening to the new shows Trey's improvisation I get the impression his soloing has changed a little bit to allow in general to for a more reflective and pensive tone due to an increase in the minor character of his phrases.

  Trey's solo in this song (at around 4:45) is representative of this fact, in the original their wasn't even a guitar solo and now as a result the song is gaining a new character 18 years later.  But Trey's solo is not the highlight for me.  For me it is the feeling I get when I listen to Paige McConnell's solo following Trey.  This solo is in the original version, but I think that this one is particularly powerful (speaking partly from the perspective of a Phish fan) in part because of Trey's solo and the character of the recording.  Listening to the clarity of the sound and the palpable awe and excitement of the crowd just makes me realize that now more than ever, Phish is back and probably really never left.

The Squirming Coil - Phish 3-6-09