Phish 3D – The Live Concert Film

Phish 3D 04/20/10

The Bridge Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

Words/Photos/Videos by concertconfessions.com

Upon coming home from Festival 8, my goal was to write 8 reviews of the epic Halloween party hosted by the rock band Phish. However fatigue, writers block and the real world reared it’s ugly head and I tapped out at 7, or so I thought. While clear from, Speculation back in October was that Phish was going to release an IMAX 3D film from the bash out at the Empire Polo Club, with large cranes and camera crews around the festival ground only adding to the hot rumor. While the IMAX part was false, the band has indeed put together a 3D film event and, on a windy 4/20 evening in Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to witness the sneak preview.

Walking into the theatre at The Bridge I knew I was in for a once in a lifetime cinema experience. Within the first few seconds of the lights going down as the opening notes of “AC/DC Bag” blasted in surround sound, multiple fans took the chance to light up. You sure as hell didn’t see that during Alice in Wonderland 3D– Well at least I didn’t.

Over two plus hours, about 294 of my phellow phans and I were treated to a non stop musical barrage. The film was broken into three sections. The first focused on classic Phish songs played over the course of the weekend. Highlights include a funky “Undermind”, my favorite song from their recent release – “Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan” and a beefy “Tweezer>Maze” that featured a glow stick war within our theatre.

The second part featured songs from the crack of noon acoustic set which took place on the final day of the festival. This section opened with arguably the greatest “Back on the Train” the band has ever played. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I got very excited when I found myself (with backwards SF giants hat) on screen videotaping songs like “Wilson” and “The Curtain With.” I could have done without the lackluster “Sleep Again” but hey, you can’t win them all right? As you may recall from the acoustic set, there was an epic battle over whether or not phans should sit or stand. This battle raged onto “The Bridge” theatre – as many fans stood and danced while others begged for them to sit down and watch the show.

The final section focused on the band performing songs from their Halloween Costume – Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones. The first song is one that has been in the Phish catalog for years “Loving Cup.” Backed by a three piece horn section and singing sensations Saundra Williams & Sharon Jones, I know I am not the only fan who feels this was hands down the greatest Cup the band has ever played. From there we got the Fishman led “Happy” before wrapping up with “Shine A Light” and “Soul Survivor.”

For many the highlight of Festival 8 was the Halloween night encore of “Suzy Greenberg.” Only a fool would have left this out of the film. Heck, just like it was the highlight of Festival 8, Suzy is the hands down highlight of the entire 2 hour and 20 minute 3D concert event. The final song of the festival was also the final song of the film. With guitarist Trey Anastasio looking all goofy, the band blew the roof off the theatre with a hard rocking “Tweezer Reprise.” Then just like that, it was over. Scary how fast two hours and twenty minutes can fly by.

I will be honest, I did expect a lot more from the 3D. I thought we surely would see glowsticks jump out at us, lights up in our face and perhaps 8 shaped donuts fly at us. However, we just got mic stands that protruded and the occasional balloon. I had also hoped for more behind the scenes/phans/campground footage, but perhaps we will get those in the eventual DVD release. The film both looks and sounds great, and the fact I got to boogie down in a movie theatre to the music of my favorite band is an experience I won’t soon forget. So if you missed Festival 8, or perhaps just want to relive the weekend one more time, do not miss Phish 3D when it opens nationwide on April 30th.

Spoiler Alert - Film Set List Below The Photo:

AC/DC Bag

Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan

Undermind

Tweezer>

Maze

Mike’s Song

Back On The Train

Strange Design

The Curtain With

Sleep Again

Train Song

Wilson

Loving Cup

Happy

Shine A Light

Soul Survivor

Suzy Greenberg

Tweezer Reprise

A direct descendant of the outlaw Jesse James and star of a 1983 Kilpatricks Bread radio commercial, Reverend Justito has taken his gift of ADHD and put it to good use by creating one of a kind concert reviews. A bootlegger at heart, the man lives off Whiskey, Taco Bell and the love of San Francisco sports teams.