(all listed chronologically vs. ranked order within category)

The Fatty Toro:

6/7/09 - The Camden Sand - If not the first HOSE of 3.0, certainly a high-powered sprinkler. To many of us, an indication of what we had been waiting for loved of 1.0 and 2.0 phish.

6/7/09 - Tweezer - Less exploratory and more melodic and soaring, lovely stuff. Hrm, maybe Camden should be higher in my show rankings??

7/31/09 - Drowned -> Crosseyed - The segue on paper and as performed would likely land this piece here as Fatty Toro, but the playing around it confirms. Must hear.

7/31/09 - Tweezer - A clear exception to the timing/length rule. This Tweezer clocks in at just over 12min, but has mind bending and melodic playing—auditory gymnastics.

8/2/09 - Boogie On - Are we back at Alpine? Not quite, but an elite version; great playing, Twist-eqsue jamming.

8/7/09 - Sally - Amidst a relatively sloppy set-1 Sally goes bezerk after the VJ, unexpected hosing.

8/7/09 - Light - The band hits on all cylinders as they continue to showcase the new song as a second set hitter. Put this one in the wookipedia as the definition of “jamming so good it sounds composed” - the calypso / cooing jam.

8/7/09 - Gin - Yep, this Gorge1 is the real deal. Slinking all over and boomerang.

8/8/09 - Rock and Roll - This one’s better than a’right…

8/16/09 - #Line - Exploratory, some like, some don’t… but you have to admire the process. Segue into 20 Yrs.

11/28/09 - The Albany Seven Beghost - I’m sure you’ve heard all about this one…

Part Two next - The Chu Toro

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So I was just listening to “Gone” off of Party Time and I was trying to think of what the lyrically darkest Phish songs are. These are the ones that come to mind.

“Esther” - it might be just a little too goofy to qualify, but it’s a woman who accepts a random gift and finds her life spiraling downhill rapidly the second she takes it.

“Free” - only if you accept that this is a song about drowning your wife and then proclaiming your freedom.

“Dirt” - almost definitely about someone killing themselves, leaving behind a despondent person futilely shouting their name into the wind and wondering if they could have done more.

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