Phish
June 20th and 21st at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin

Once we made our way into the long line of vehicles snaking their way into the sprawling parking lot of Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley, the excitement of seeing Phish again, after all these years, crept up into an explosive air of festivity after we got out of our cars and tailgated with other fans, each one of us giddy and otherwise fully occupied by the impending show we were about to witness, here on the last stop of Phish’s month-long journey back from a five-year retirement. And if the enthusiasm was steadily mounting as showtime grew nearer, it smacked me on the back of the head after I ascended that slope at the top of the venue’s lawn and looked down onto a spectacular vision: A grassy haven of color and patchwork and tie-dye and glitter and flowly dresses and people young and old, all laying expectantly at the feet of an enormous stage engulfed by a domed roof and flanked by massive speakers. There before this loyal legion, Phish would pick up their instruments and strike once again into song, and it was that moment we were all anticipating in our collective allegiance to this band.

Although I never went on summer tour with Phish, I saw my fair share in high school and college and did a few strings of shows that allowed me to engage in the communal night-after-night pilgrimage. But even though I’ll be the first to say I am far from a rabid devotee, and I admit I was skeptical whether or not I would even actually get off on this music any more, once that moment drew near and finally exploded with Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, and Page McConnell picking up their respective instruments and plucking the opening notes of “Punch You in the Eye”, I was filled with a feeling of, not only nostalgia, but a genuine reaffirmation in Phish’s ability to cultivate this sort of consummate energy through their music. There simply aren’t many bands standing that can say the same thing.

Soon enough, the nostalgia faded and the music stood on its own. The band is sober, tight, and each one’s virtuosic skills on their instruments, as well as amazing improvisation skills that have enabled them to play different takes of the same songs for over 20 years, served to remind me that Phish delivers on a wide range of sound—be it piano-driven ballads, bass-y funk tunes, meandering guitar jams, experimental opuses (and they can literally cover just about anything). They aren’t just a jam band—they’re way too skilled as musicians for such a generalization, especially now as they are regaining their show legs. And while the first night of the Alpine shows had some spectacular highlights, among them “Bathtub Gin”, “Run Like an Antelope”, “Sample in a Jar”, “You Enjoy Myself”, “Prince Caspian”, and an encore of Billy Breathes fave “Character Zero”, it was the second night that sealed the deal for me. Dancing under that wide open Wisconsin sky to songs that soundtracked such an impressionable time in my life—“Wolfman’s Brother”, “Back on the Train”, “Down with Disease”, “Slave to the Traffic Light”, “Bug”, and an elated cover of “Boogie on Reggae Woman”—I remembered why this music made so much sense to me back then. And most importantly, no matter how my music tastes will continue to vary, waver, expound, and grow, I came to realize that Phish not only represents so much of my youth, but they still have the ability to carry me into my future. And that’s sayin’ something. – Angela Zimmerman

Watch: Phish, “Back on the Train” [at youtube.com]

Elvis Costello
June 22nd at Amoeba Music, San Francisco

“When I was starting out, my father gave me some good advice. He said, ‘Someday, son, your name may be up in lights; you may even play the Amoeba store,’” Elvis Costello said, like a sage, in the midst of his eight-song set at Haight’s Amoeba Music store. Costello packed the store on Monday afternoon for a short show to promote the release of his newest album, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.

Anticipating a mob scene, I galloped over to Amoeba a little after 11am to catch his 12pm performance on the store’s tiny stage, tucked away in the Country/Psychedelic Progressive music section. When I rolled in, the floor was already swarmed with bodies, but I had little trouble making my way to the third or fourth row of heads. It was 11:45am when I found a plot of tiled floor wide enough for me to dance on for the next 45 minutes. A soft clap sounded beneath a placard denoting the Metal/Goth/Industrial section and urged the store’s employees to dim the lights. Fourteen minutes later, Elvis Costello sauntered onto the stage like a vision of purple. Without a single utterance into the mic, Costello and his band, the Sugarcanes, began strumming the opening chords to “Complicated Shadows”, the second track off of Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.

Before powering through a preview of a track off his next record and playing through “My All Time Doll”, “Down Among the Wine and Spirits”, “Blame It on Cain”, “Red Cotton”, and “The Crooked Line”—all tracks from his recently released album—Costello introduced the talents of the Sugarcanes: Mike Compton on mandolin, Jim Lauderdale on guitar, and Jeff Taylor on accordion. Amoeba Music was prepared for this gang of rowdy old men. The band’s ragtime, folksy, twanging chords channeled clearly from their acoustic instruments and set the R&B backdrop for Costello’s wailing voice. Costello, though his energy may have been a bit subdued, stalked the stage during his set and spat out muddled lyrics from his sultry half-pursed lip—his demeanor still evokes the most carnal instincts in women; an elderly woman next to me fanned her perspiring chest with a flyer, multiple times.

“I can’t be killed by any regular means / I’ll come back to haunt you,” Costello sang in a song from his next record. Still draped in flamboyant threads, still drawing a crowd, and still prolific, Elvis Costello has hardly aged. – Marissa G. Muller

Watch: Elvis Costello, “Almost Blue” [at youtube.com]

Bonnaroo: June 11-14, Manchester, TN

Art Brut: June 15th at the Independent, SF and Northside Festival: June 11th to 14th, Brooklyn

Telepathe, Hawnay Troof: June 12th at Bottom of the Hill, SF