Phish Unleashes 43-Minute ‘Tweezer’ At Greek Theatre In Berkeley: Night 1 – Setlist, Recap & The Skinny

Phish spring tour landed in Berkeley, California last night for the first of three nights at the historic Greek Theatre. The 8,500-person venue was packed as the band unleashed a second set that will no doubt come to be lauded as a legendary moment in Phish history featuring a “Tweezer” for the ages.

The show began with a breezy “The Curtain With” –- the first “With” since June 30, 2019 or 117 shows. Guitarist Trey Anastasio powered through tuning issues to break the longest gap on the classic song since the “With” bustout at Deer Creek in 2000. Moving into an energetic “Carini” next, keyboardist Page McConnell quickly laid down waves of Rhodes and synths as the jam moved from a rocking peak to a major-key space. Anastasio threw in a quick dedication to Tim “Frenchie” Gazaille, the naked dude from Dick’s 2022 who sadly passed away from cancer on Sunday.

“Carini” landed somewhat abruptly in the first “All of These Dreams” since last summer, as the band took a second to breathe before offering up a succinct “Stash.” A strong and well-played (albeit jamless) run of “Halfway to the Moon,” “Mull,” “Undermind” and “Theme from the Bottom” completed the first set in Berkeley — a venue the quartet last played in August of 2010 after J.J. Cale opened Phish's Greek headlining debut in 1993.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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Phish opened Monday’s second set with “My Soul,” a placement only utilized three times. The most recent “My Soul” to kick off a second set happened nearly 11 years ago at Bader Field in Atlantic City, which was a harbinger of a phenomenal set to follow. Last night, of course, did the same, as Phish used the bluesy number as a prelude to one of their longest jams of all time — a 43-minute “Tweezer.”

Bassist Mike Gordon asserted himself very early on in the jam by pushing for a modulation almost immediately as McConnell and Anastasio swirled around each other’s riffs. Drummer Jon Fishman pushed the pace as the band modulated yet again, searching for a space to lock into yet still delivering an incredibly cohesive piece of music.

Settling into a major-key space, fans seemed poised for a classic Phish bliss jam, but Anastasio had other ideas. Filling the space with delay, the guitarist offered a nice juxtaposition with McConnell’s shining piano as he pushed for a dark turn. Diving into his bag of synth tricks, Anastasio continued to take the music into darker spaces as Fishman laid down an unbelievably complex yet consistent beat.

The first of many peaks was unleashed around the 15-minute mark and saw Gordon echoing Anastasio’s leads in a few places – a cool and unique sound. McConnell flipped to his Fender Rhodes and began unleashing a thick carpet of sound as the jam quickly started heading toward an industrial funk zone.

Opting instead for another major modulation, the band entered a laidback space that saw McConnell utilizing both his Yamaha CS60 and Prophet Rev2 synthesizers to create layers upon layers of sound. Another Rhodes-fueled peak was achieved as “Tweezer” blew past the 20-minute mark and Anastasio’s tight arpeggiators continued to drive the improvisation.

It seemed as though the jam was heading for a transitional space to wrap up at this point –- what already would have been one of the best jams in recent memory. Gordon stepped forward to play with a new toy of his –- something like a theremin –- as Phish entered a deep space motif with swirling delays and sounds.

Much like the last “Tweezer” played on a Monday night (December 30, 2019 at Madison Square Garden), the band resurrected the jam seemingly out of a space-out ending to continue building new pathways. A “No Quarter”-like jam emerged from the haze and saw Anastasio doing his best Jimmy Page impression, torching the venue with his fretboard fireworks. It briefly felt as though the band might segue into “Tweezer Reprise” as the heavy rock peak exploded into the first white-light moment of the jam.

Landing somewhat shakily back into the main “Tweezer” theme just short of the 30-minute mark, it appeared as though the already-top-shelf jam was coming to an end. However, Phish had other ideas and Fish sprinkled in a couple of his trademark samples as they searched for the next mode.

It would be the industrial funk only hinted at earlier. Anastasio engaged his ring modulator effect as the groove deepened. Audience participation abounded as the guitarist goosed some woo-ing from the California crowd and Fish peppered in more samples. McConnell began to lean into the synths once again as the jam threatened to fall apart at any moment.

The pace gradually picked up again and Anastasio peppered in delays as Gordon absolutely hammered into some thick and chunky synth bass lines. McConnell’s suggestion of a major modulation was quickly picked up by Anastasio and it was plain to all listening at this point that a big peak was on its way.

Taking nearly five minutes to build up this theme, Phish unleashed a powerful peak to end the 43-minute excursion that landed perfectly and almost immediately into “Simple.”

The Greek “Tweezer” will stand as the fifth-longest jam the band has ever played.

The band would have been forgiven if they had dropped a quick version of this song and opted for a breather after the absolute behemoth “Tweezer” that had just been unleashed – but this is Phish, after all.

Walls of sound were built up and somehow developed into fresh ideas not touched on during the previous “Tweezer.” Reaching a space similar to the Deer Creek “Simple” from 2021, Phish unleashed undulating waves of sound across the audience as lighting designer Chris Kuroda did the same visually.

The delay-heavy motif continued before settling into a rocking theme. Anastasio seemed unsure of where to go briefly but was saved by Fishman’s insistent drumming as the band built up to another phenomenal (and MASSIVE) peak. Returning to the rocking theme from earlier, Anastasio quickly took the opportunity to lead the band into a fiery and set-closing rendition of The Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll.” While last night’s “Simple” was barely half the length of the “Tweezer,” its improvisation was incredibly focused and covered no more time than it needed to. Phish once again demonstrated their legendary prowess for crafting music both great in length and depth.

Last night’s second set is just the 21st in Phish history to contain four songs or less (weather delays and repeated songs excepted) – and only the third since 2004.

The band encored with a tender “Miss You” and a quick rocking “Sand” to squeeze in just under the Greek’s hard 10 p.m. curfew.

Two nights left at the venue and five shows left in the tour … Phish has already demonstrated an incredibly high level of playing to start off 2023, both compositionally and improvisationally. Wonder where “Tweezer Reprise” will show up? Livestreams are available for the remainder of spring tour via LivePhish.

Stream an audience recording of last night’s “Tweezer” taped by Ryan Stearns below:

https://soundcloud.com/htbloggin/phish-tweezer-live-at-greek-theatre-4172023

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