Step into space, alter my place
A review of 'Slip Stitch and Pass' by Phish
For Bucky
My OG Phish friend
Happy bday brother
Thankful for all the good times
Rest easy 💜
Phish - Slip Stitch and Pass (1997)
Phish - the premier jam band of the last 30+ years that we all love or hate - play this unwinnable game of sorts when it comes to albums. Typically they're either releasing a studio album or a full length concert. And both come with their good and their bad.
Their studio albums are great reference points that highlight where the band’s at creatively at the time. And every now and then you get a nice and clean song for the contemporary listener. Think “Bouncing Around the Room” off of Lawn Boy, or “Chalk Dust Torture” off of A Picture of Nectar, or “Free” and “Waste” off of Billy Breathes. And almost all of the record Farmhouse is friendly to the casual.
But a lot of the time there's a glaring lack of energy in the studio. There’s no crowd cheering to help amplify the intensity, and no improvised jams that go super deep. Anybody with a little sliver of Phish knowledge knows their phenomenon is found at a show. It’s their bread and butter stuff.
On the flip side, live show recordings illustrate that stage talent and intimacy with fans. You get the hooting and hollering as songs enter orbit, you get the insider spoofs and goofs (go watch a “You Enjoy Myself” video on YouTube and you’ll get some trampoline clownery). You get the mind-bending instrumental work from all four band members. It can be a transcendent experience for some. Throw some weed and psychedelic googlies into the mix and you’ll really be cookin’ (or melting lol) 🧑🍳🍳🔥😵💫🫠
But shows are usually 2-3 hours long and many of the songs are 15+ minutes, which makes listening to them daunting to the curious music lover who’s not up for a trip to the space-time continuum. Take a minute and go look at their arsenal of concert releases on Spotify. It’s impossible to know where to begin if you haven’t served a tour of duty on lot, or spent quality time with your stoner older cousin. Their last two concert releases - The Spectrum ‘97 and The Gorge ‘98 - are each 5+ hours long lol. Marathon listening session is an understatement.
But on this month’s album Slip Stitch and Pass they hit a lethal balance of the live show / LP arenas, and end up with what I believe is the best Phishhead-meets-curious-normie release in the band’s overwhelming and hallowed history. These days I’m somewhere in the middle between huge fan and interested onlooker. I still love Phish, but just don’t have the time to dive deep into the catalogue like I use to. So Slip Stitch has become a staple record to come back to for a quick taste of the good stuff.
Slip Stitch and Pass is a collection of live songs from their 1997 European Tour (the March 1st show in Hamburg, Germany to be specific). Arguably one of their finest tours ever, and a major landmark era where the group started to embrace funk jams (affectionately called ‘Cow Funk” by their fans - a shoutout to their Vermont farmland roots). The crucial part of this album is they avoid the 2-3 hr long odyssey by only including 9 of the songs from the night. That probably pisses off many Trey-worshiping shakedown wooks, but to an Average Joe it makes the bite much less intimidating. 1 hr and 12 mins is very doable. And in no way do the Vermont boys sacrifice the jams.
Phish open with a cover of “Cities” (a Talking Heads song they play all the time live) and knock it out of the park. It's a nice foundation that they lay, setting a groovy tone while keeping the extended jams briefly on the shelf. Right away you get the Cow Funk too, which is a look into their specific sound from the late 90s. They’d go full-fledged funk in the summer of ‘97 and all of '98 (the ‘98 Fall tour is the stuff of legend), but here in early ‘97 the headwinds are heard.
Next is “Wolfman's Brother” --> “Jesus Left Chicago” (a ZZ Top cover) which is an astounding 27 minute display of rock, funk, and electric blues. This is where it gets deep for the normies, which in my opinion is necessary if you really want to experience listening to Phish. You’re not really in goblin Phish mode if you’re not getting smacked in the face with a 15+ min trip to Narnia and back. This is where the wardrobe first pops up on the record, and it won’t be the last.
The uninterrupted transition from “Wolfman's” into “Jesus” is so seamless and lovely. A prime example of how good they are at performing with each other, and how well they can guide themselves through improvised progressions from song to song. They speak the language of music fluently, and dance with one another through their instruments like snake charmers. It’s a magical thing to behold at a live show, and can be pretty damn special listening to a recording of it too. Nothing beats a live one, but the recordings are forever. These two songs are a couple of those gem moments for sure. Trey Anastasio (guitar) enters a blues solo 5ish minutes into “Chicago” that will send chills down your spine as he channels his inner B.B. King. All time stuff.
Next is “Weigh”, which is a nice tension release. It’s such a wacky track, and you need some weirdness in the mix if you want the full Phish experience. Mike Gordon - the bassist who wrote the song and takes lead vocals - is one strange dude. They all are really. In the heart of the song Page McConnell’s (piano / keyboard) soloing and Jon Fishman’s (drums) fills are fucking insane. They all can take lethal solos when it’s their time to shine. Pure mondo.
“Mike's Song” is next, and on a good day this version is up there with my favorite songs I've ever heard by the group. Trey's guitar work the whole way through is as upper echelon as it gets, and when they start to enter into the hard rockin' improv section (2:35) it's like a rocket ship exiting the atmosphere. Deep into the song they end up teasing “The End” by The Doors - a glorious showing of how they fuse their improvisational talents with their wide-reaching musical influences and knowledge. Fans are always on the lookout for a good tease. It’s like an Easter egg hunt at every show, and is another essential aspect of their live act that keeps people engaged tour after tour.
This “Mike’s” is definitely another foray into Narnia, as they get super dark with the jam at times. There’s ominous screaming and some creepy lyrics delivered by Gordo (he drops reference to “Careful With That Ax, Eugene” by Pink Floyd. Wicked and nasty stuff all around. The boys are totally locked in on that one. Another platinum moment no question about it.
”Lawn Boy” is next and it’s a nice come-down - a soothing slow paced song where Page croons you off the space launch you've just experienced. These are important short-and-sweet pop-structured songs within their setlists. Sneaking these in helps change the pace and gives the band a breath. Plus I’ve always loved Page’s voice the most out of the four of them. He crushes the sentimental ones (“Silent in the Morning” is maybe his best vocal work), and especially this song. I also love how “Lawn Boy” is essentially a lounge singer song. They dabble in so many different styles and sub-genres of music. True renaissance men of the craft.
“Weekapaug Groove” follows and is pure Gordo. I've always loved this track for it’s bass ferocity, and Mike does a great job with it here. Just such a fun, fast paced, and thumping song that makes me think of their New England roots (the songs takes it’s name from Weekapaug, Rhode Island). They're going a million miles an hour in the middle of this rendition. It's pure madness, and a joy to groove along to. Phish have this super unique ability where all four instruments simultaneously support each other while sounding like their own equally important entity within the song. It’s this constant egalitarian weaving and threading - especially when the improv sections kick in - that’s wonderful to take in when it clicks. And this “Weekapaug” always does it for me. By the end there's a massive crater left behind from all the bass bombs that Mike's dropped. Incredible stuff.
Next is “Hello My Baby”, an a capella rendition that serves as another break in the action. They are known to drop an a capella from time to time, so it's cool to hear one in album form. They’re not the greatest singers in the world, but it’s still lovely and provides that much-needed intimacy that their fans crave. It’s all part of the live experience. To get an a capella at a show is always special.
Last up is the song “Taste”, which is a cool af song from the studio album Billy Breathes and a steady closer for the record. Again Trey is melting faces in the jam section as they stretch the tune out, wrapping a bow on the album with a bang. I also love Fishman’s vocal contributions in the middle, and the ‘hoo hoos’ that come in the background. It’s a super unique song. One that only Phish could pull off, and one that really brings things back to their mid-90s peak.
All in all this piece is a beautiful portrait of a premier rock n’ roll jam band in their prime, wrapped nicely into the album format. They are without question alpha dogs in the live rock arena, and here they flex that apex predator swag while making it more consumable for the layman. It’s not a full show release, but it’s a good middle ground between the easier listening stuff from their catalogue (Billy Breathes, Farmhouse, Joy) and the dorkier stuff (The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday, Junta, Rift) and marathon box set stuff (Hampton Comes Alive, The Clifford Ball, Chicago ‘94, The Baker’s Dozen etc).
As life trudges on it can be harder to find the time for a jam band like Phish. Being an in-the-know fan requires a lot of time and effort, and these days I’m not really tapped in like I used to be. There’s just too much music out there outside of the jam band world. I’d rather diversify my portfolio.
But it’s nice to have old classics like Slip Stitch to dust off when the feelings right. It’s a friendly reminder of just how special this foursome is. Nobody has ever done it like Phish. And nobody will ever do it like Phish again. Rural New England’s finest musical act. One of one.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! 🦃 Hope you enjoy all the tasty food today. Check ya next month for the final album of 2024. Can’t believe it’s already the end of the year. Time sure does fly. Holiday season here we come! 🎄🎉🚀🙏
Much love, and keep on listening <3
-Z.B.