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Phish Gets Funky At Second Reunion Show

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by Michael D. Ayers, Hampton, Va.  |   March 08, 2009 2:24 EDT

Phish

Phish wasted no time getting funky on Saturday (March 7) at the second of three reunion concerts this weekend at Virginia's Hampton Coliseum. Proggy keyboards, a mix of '90s-era material and covers of the Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” and the Beatles “A Day in the Life” were among the many highlights.

Keyboardist Page McConnell dominated much of the action during the nearly two-hour first set. After taking lead vocals on “It’s Ice” and the lounge act crooner-ish  “Lawnboy,” McConnell introduced “Beauty of a Broken Heart,” the lead track on his 2007 self-titled debut. Playing the clavinet, he also led the charge on opener “Back on the Train.”

Trey Anastasio's guitar work was in the spotlight on the winding “Reba,” “Split Open and Melt,” and “Run Like An Antelope." When he flubbed a part during “Punch You in the Eye,” the crowd seemed to egg him on and he quickly laughed it off. The groovy “Halley’s Comet” offered one of the biggest reactions of the night, with McConnell, Anastasio, and bassist Mike Gordon singing in unison for nearly six minutes.

Set two featured most of the favorites from the band’s under-appreciated late '90s catalog. “Limb By Limb” emerged from “Rock and Roll”  and a short "Piper" was tagged to the end of “Ghost,” which in turn suddenly dropped into the anthemic “Birds of a Feather.” The classic combination of “Mike’s Song,” “I Am Hydrogen” and “Weekapaug Groove” broke away from the “Story of the Ghost”-era tunes, but the band finished the second set with a raucous version of “Character Zero" from 1996's "Billy Breathes."

Phish will cap its reunion run tonight (March 8), with the first two shows available for free download at livephish.com. To read Billboard.com's report on Phish's first Hampton reunion show, click here. For more coverage of Phish's Hampton shows, visit Billboard's blog, Jaded Insider.

Here is Phish’s Hampton night two set list:

“Back On The Train”
“Runaway Jim”
“Brian and Robert”
“Split Open and Melt”
“Heavy Things”
“Punch You In The Eye”
“Gumbo”
“Reba”
“Mexican Cousin”
“It’s Ice”
“Halley’s Comet”>
“Beauty of a Broken Heart
“Guelah Papyrus”
“Lawnboy”
“Run Like An Antelope”

Set 2:

“Rock & Roll”>
“Limb by Limb”
“Ghost”>
“Piper”>
“Birds of a Feather”
“Wolfman’s Brother”
“Prince Caspian”
“Mike’s Song”>
“I Am Hydrogen”>
“Weekapaug Groove”
“Character Zero”

Encore:

“A Day In The Life”

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