Phish - July 2nd, 2011

Strong vocals and snappy playing by Mike in the composed section give way to a great Page-led jam. Backed by the band, and with some inspired contributions from Trey, a nice little "McGrupp" jam emerges, which rises and swirls into the customary closing.

Staccato funk jam before delays/effects creep in, foreshadowing the "Storage Jam" to come later in the night. > to "Prince Caspian."

Unusually staccato-esque, repetitive jam, with some "elephant-like" noises from Trey thrown in.

More than anything, this jam is essential for what it helped break open for Phish than for the music played within. The band spends much of its first half simply trying to figure out how to play improvisational music while allowing for complete freedom of expression. Quite a tall task, as those of us who listened regularly to the band during this era can attest. It's important to note that, while there certainly were high quality jams played throughout 2009-2011, the band hadn't played with this level of wild abandon in seven years. Building through frenetic noise and swirls of hyper kinetic playing around demented grooves, Mike shines as the band member with the most unique ideas throughout the early segments of the jam. All of this ebbs & flows in directionless playing (sometimes satisfying, sometimes frustrating) until around 31min when we emerge into a stunning space of transcendent jamming that we simply hadn't heard until this point in 3.0. This fades around 38min into a plinko soundscape, leading to a very heavy-Mike/Fish rhythm-off in the early 40s.

As we fade out of The Storage Jam, Trey steps to the mic and offers a brief: "excuse me," which seems to cue one of the most perplexing moments in secret set history as they find their way into a loose take on "Sleeping Monkey." Fused with sirens and laughter as they make their way through the song proper, it gives the clear sense that they've made the climb back. They are once again capable to throwing themselves into the unknown and uncovering gold. While not the most enjoyable hour spent listening to free-form improv, it's undeniably one of the most important moments of their entire career. Suffice to say, Phish would not be Phish today without the Storage Jam.