LawnMemo

The Daily Ghost

The Daily Ghost #78 08/12/2004 Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, Camden, NJ

(AUD Download @KernelForbin Remaster)

Background (Set: 1 of 2 – Song: 3 of 9 – Show Gap: 4)

Ghost gets some rare first set loving.  Even more rare is that it segues out of You Enjoy Myself!  That only happened one other time, and it took the Flecktones to make that happen.  The segue from You Enjoy Myself is included, and the segue into Maze has not been included.  This is the last show before Coventry.

2004-08-12mo

Composed Section (0:48-4:15)

Appearing out of the You Enjoy Myself vocal jam…Trey starts to play his intro to Ghost.  Fish follows him immediately and then Trey says something I can’t understand.  (Insert 2004 joke here….)  Mike comes in and Ghost takes full shape.  Mike’s tone is noticeably more powerful than usual.  The pace is a touch slower than normal as well.

The solo section carries that funk from Mike’s deep bass tone.  It explodes with some truly outstanding funk from Page.  Then there are some well timed chords by Trey while Mike crushes at the end.  One of the best solo sections.  I love that  jam.

The pause is pretty long with some soft notes from Trey.  The drop is not totally clean, but much better than the previous version at Alpine.  No train wreck .gif today.  Bummer I have some good ones ready to unleash.  Well I just crushed an ice cream sundae and opened a Nugget Nectar.  Let’s get to the jam!

Looking for Something, Thank God for Mike Gordon (4:16-6:37)

The band moves to some sectioned off jamming to start.  Mike quickly finds a cool lick that Trey immediately copies at 4:25.  Following Mike Gordon?  Always a good move.  Trey works on top of Mike’s lick and the jam finds a good deal of power from the start.  Fishman’s beat is middle of the road, letting whatever path take its course.

The Gordon lick repeats for a while and Trey continues it all the way to the 5:20 mark.  Trey then moves away from it and Mike fills in the empty space beautifully.  Page sees an opportunity to make a mark at the 5:37 and enters on the piano.  He makes a nice initial entrance but then falls back to the keyboards.

The jam begins to space out from there a bit.  Trey begins to explore but doesn’t do a ton for me.  Mike on the other hand is playing exceptionally well.   He is the life blood of this section.  At 6:07, he begins to repeat a lick and Trey once again copies him, and jumps on top (that sounded bad).  It breathes life into the jam.  Mike Gordon knows the way….Without him this might have happened…

From Going Nowhere… to… Moving the Couch To The Other Room for the Disco Dance Party for One (6:38-11:19)

The repeating section was the best thing for this jam.  When they break from it Trey is back on track, and Page finds himself.  Page comes in at 6:38 and Mike is breaking down walls.  Trey jumps in line and this jam starts to bring the heat.

Now THIS is what I am talking about fellas!!!  When Trey finds a lick he loves at the 6:50 mark, this jam takes flight.  Perfect timing.  Right as I was catching a buzz from the Nugget Nectar.  I just put my couch in the other room, and am using the space to create a Disco for One.

Mike is a man on a mission.  That mission is to punch every single person in the face.  I can’t get over the tone, power, and precision he lays down.  Every note fills me up with more dancing power and I just want to unleash it like this…

The band is locked in, and once again tremendously balanced.  Easy formula for an incredible section.  Trey…find a tremendous lick and repeats it.  Mike fills in the empty space with an assortment of ass kicking licks.  Page get your ass on the piano.  Fish, lock it down.  #Phishformula

Everyone follows the formula and the result is one rocking jam.  Trey ventures away from the lick but not by much.  He stays within and man does this sucker sing.

Around the 8:45 mark, Trey bridges off and starts to shred a bit more.  Some great playing from him, but it is rooted from the awesome jam he helped create.  Page and Mike are hammering down behind Trey and this jam just keeps kicking ass.  Then….

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTE!!!!! YES!!!!! You know I love the NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTE!!!

At 9:10 right in the middle of Trey’s shred fest, he stops and holds the noooooooooooooooote.  So awesome!!! So smart.   While he holds the note, Mike kicks down the door to Fort Knox and crushes a bass line.  Fish has also started to pick up the pace as well.  When Trey holds the nooooote the jam always takes off.  Incredible way to create tension, and when it gets released?  Fire!

When Trey breaks off at 9:29, his tone is gorgeous and he plays a beautiful lick.  Page plays some awesome melodies, and then Fish starts to pick up the pace at the 9:45 mark.  Now Trey starts to repeat a series of notes and build even more tension.  THIS band knows how to jam.

When he releases it at 9:57, he plays another great lick, and Mike has picked up his pace as well.  Page comes blasting with serious power, and then Fishman starts to crush some fills.  This jam rocks.

If for some reason you skipped the previous 77 versions of The Daily Ghost and skipped to this exact paragraph, I want to summarize things for you.  I love Ghost.  I love Phish.  I also love Page McConnell.  He is a great piano player.

Around the 10:37 mark, after a power lick from Fish, the jam starts to work its way down a bit.  Trey plays an awesome power lick shortly after.  As he does, Fish slows things right down.  Fish then releases things and the segment from 10:59-11:06 is really cool.

Trey then switches up to his gritty 2.0 sound and the jam changes directions.  Man was that 4 minutes or so, of some serious heat.  Love that section!

Alien Hell Horse Invasion (11:20-15:31)

Things start to get dark and spacey quick.  Mike gets real deep and begins a space march.  Trey is channeling some Portland Meadows Borg as well.  By the 12:00 mark, reality is bye bye.  Adios Muchacho.  I feel like I am suddenly in a world where this happens…

We have been invaded by Alien Hell Horses.  As if things weren’t dark and scary enough, Page adds the most haunting piano melody ever at the 13:20 mark.  What the heck is going on?  I feel like the Chairman is going to jump off the stage and stab everyone.  When we say Page Side Rage Side, maybe we should be careful what we wish for.

Just as I crap my pants at the 13:30 mark for 15 seconds, Fish decides to spare our lives.  He changes up the beat around 13:45 and starts to send the alien hell horses away.  You can hear the sound of the spaceship leaving starting at the 14:10 mark.  This is freaking crazy stuff.

Some more incredibly haunting sounds at the 14:30 mark.  Then…Ok…I guess I spoke too soon.  Spaceships, Alien Hell Horses, the Dude of Life, the Dude of Hell appear and flood the sound-waves   I have no idea where I am and what just happened.  I am scared that I won’t return to Earth, want to go shopping for a new stapler, want to read about wormholes, and want to take a nap.  I feel like if you were a virgin before you heard that last section, you can no longer call yourself one.

Needless to say.  I enjoy that immensely.

Final Thoughts

There are some parts towards the beginning of this jam that aren’t my favorite.  Once Mike gets Trey to start repeating that lick at the 6:30 mark the last 8 minutes are awesome.  The peak is fantastic, and the end of this jam would scare Lucifer.  It is not the most fluent version, but huge points for creativity and when it clicks, this Ghost is awesome.   Incredibly high marks to Mike Gordon in this jam.

Score: 9.1