Phish gives Cobo another memorable night

REVIEW (WJRT) -- Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit has cemented its legacy as the host of more than a half dozen iconic live albums.

From The Doors' "Live In Detroit" to the Tragically Hip's "Live Between Us" and Journey's "Captured" and Kiss' "Alive!" and Bob Seger's "Live Bullet," the venue has certainly made its mark in the music industry.

And Wednesday evening, it added one more stellar live recording to its collection as jam band Phish opened its fall tour on the banks of the Detroit River.

The fact that the show was recorded isn't news, as every Phish show is available for download at LivePhish.com. But not every Phish show is like what the roughly 10,500 fans witnessed Wednesday night.

From the opening notes of "AC/DC Bag" just after 8 p.m. to the close of "Character Zero" just after 11:30 p.m., the band was locked in and the audience was hanging on every note.

Highlights were abundant as the set list was overflowing with crowd favorites. "Bouncing Around the Room" and "Sample In a Jar" were sandwiched between the lone new songs of the night, "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan" and "Kill Devil Falls" from "Joy," the band's latest album.

The mellow ballad "Mountains In The Mist" was used as a break for the crowd, which been on their feet dancing the entire set. And they'd need that break, as the first set ended with a flurry of "Poor Heart", "46 Days" and "David Bowie."

After a 30-minute intermission, the crowd packed the narrow concourse of the nearly 60-year-old building. Once the Vermont-based band got back to the stage, balloons and glow sticks rained from above on the floor seats as "Down With Disease" echoed through the hall.

As guitarist Trey Anastasio wound down his extended solo, he segued right into a trio of classics from their 1996 album "Billy Breathes." A blistering version of album opener "Free," Phish's most commercially successful song of their career, led to a crowd sing-a-long on "Waste" and "taste."

"Character Zero" finished things up with a mind-blowing, note-bending, furious solo from Anastasio. But the 45 year old also left plenty of room for exceptional bassist Mike Gordon and keyboardist Page McConnell to show their chops.

The music was just part of the overall experience. Young and old, hippies and straight-laced businessmen and fans with long dreads were all onboard.

As the house lights came up and the band left the stage, the buzz from the crowd was palpable, having just experienced yet another legendary Phish show, and one more historic performance at Cobo Arena.

Setlist: "AC/DC Bag"
"Foam"
"Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan"
"Bouncing Around The Room"
"Sample In A Jar"
"Kill Devil Falls"
"It's Ice"
"Horn"
"Mountains In The Mist"
"Poor Heart"
"46 Days"
"DavidBowie"

Intermission
"Runaway Jim"
"Down With Disease"
"Free"
"Waste"
"Taste"
"Bug"
"Wading In The Velvet Sea"
"Mike's Song"
"I Am Hydrogen"
"Weekapaug Groove"
"Cavern"

Encore:
"Character Zero"

The ABC12 Listening Room staff: James Chesna, editor-in-chief; Josh Daunt, managing editor, photographer; Beth McEnroe, staff writer, photographer; Gwen Mikolajczak, staff writer; Eric Fletcher, chief photographer; Randy Cox, photographer; Chris Carr, photographer; Jessica Reid, contributing photographer; LeeAlan Weddel, contributing editor, writer; Shawn Light, contributing writer; Robin Chan, contributing writer.

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