Going with the flow proves rewarding at Phish show July 17, 2003 - Salt Lake Tribune By Dan Nailen The key to enjoying an improv-reliant band like Phish is an open mind and a willingness to let the band lead where it wants to go musically. More often than not, putting your evening in Phish's collective hands is a smart move, and it proved true again at the Usana Amphitheater Tuesday. The Vermont-based quartet played, or at least touched on, 23 songs in two sets and an encore that lasted roughly 3 1/2 hours. That is an epic undertaking for a typical rock band, but for Phish the lengthy shows are par for the course. They give the band plenty of time for jamming tangents that can turn into dead ends, forcing the musicians to find a groove that will lead them out. Hearing them play off each other while they save a song from turning into a cacophonous blob of noise is half the fun. More fun, though, is when Phish totally locks in, taking the audience on an aural thrill ride that touches on classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, punk and metal -- sometimes in the same song. When the ace musicians (guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman) catch fire together, it is obvious to anyone in the venue. Songs take flight from meandering beginnings into full-blown masterpieces. If you're lucky, it happens a lot. On Tuesday, Phish hit its stride often enough to make you understand why some fans follow the band around the country. After opening with "AC/DC Bag" and "Ya Mar," the band's majestic "Theme From the Bottom" gave Gordon ample space to lead the song along with his bass. McConnell's piano eventually took the spotlight before passing it on to a stinging Anastasio solo. That's the modus operandi for Phish -- take a turn and pass it on -- with each player getting an opportunity to shine. "Theme From the Bottom" also offered a perfect summary of the Phish experience: The song stretched long enough that at times the band was mesmerizing, while at others it frustrated. Can the same song be one of the most compelling live performances you've seen in a long time and one of the most boring? At a Phish show, it can. After a sunlit first set that also included killer takes on "Two Versions of Me" and "Mike's Song" and closed with "Weekapaug Groove," the second set benefited from darkness and the band's light show. War's "Low Rider" popped up early, and "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars" would show up, then disappear for a while, only to re-emerge after songs like "Buried Alive." "Spread It Round" was arguably the best song of the second set, while "Walls of the Cave" arrived with some art-rock tendencies. "Golgi Apparatus" and "Slave to the Traffic Light" closed the set, and the band returned for a one-song encore of "Sleeping Monkey" that featured the falsetto croon of dress-clad drummer Fishman. Copyright © 2003 Salt Lake Tribune