Phish Delivers ‘The Wedge’ To Remember In Chicago During 2014 Run
By Scott Bernstein Jul 13, 2017 • 11:03 am PDT
Tomorrow, Phish kicks off Summer Tour 2017 with the first of three shows at Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island in Chicago. For this week’s Throwback Thursday we look at a highlight from the band’s last visit to the venue, which took place as part of Phish Summer Tour 2014.
Ever since its debut in 1993, “The Wedge” has rarely been a jam vehicle for the quartet. A major exception took place during Phish’s July 20, 2014 show at Northerly Island, as the foursome took “The Wedge” deep as part of the evening’s second set. Here’s what we had to say in our coverage of the show:
Phish blew out “The Wedge” in a way far different from any approach they’ve taken towards the song in the past. We had another “Team Phish” moment in which Trey focused on his rhythmic work after the Vermonters broke through the normal structure of the highly-composed song. Following a few marvelous minutes of improvisation, Fishman played the familiar “Wedge” beat but his band mates would not be denied and instead of ending the first-ever “Type II” “Wedge,” the quartet hooked up on an anthemic progression reminiscent of Guns N’ Roses “Paradise City” that took the brilliant jam home.
Three years later “The Atomic Wedgie” has stood the test of time and remains the best ever version of the Rift classic. We’ll soon find out what the band has in store for their latest visit to the Windy City.
Watch pro-shot video of Phish performing “The Wedge” on July 20, 2014:
Set 1: Gumbo > Runaway Jim, Tela, The Line, Scent of a Mule [1] > Bathtub Gin > Silent in the Morning > Maze > Ocelot > Walls of the Cave
Set 2: Down with Disease [2] > Winterqueen > Theme From the Bottom > Mike's Song > The Wedge, Ghost -> Weekapaug Groove, First Tube
Encore: Character Zero
Scent of a Mule featured Fish on Marimba Lumina and all four band members on Fish's drum set. Gin contained a Scent of a Mule tease by Trey. DWD was unfinished. Weekapaug contained San-Ho-Zay and Stash teases from Trey and a full-band Ghost jam.
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