Attendance Bias Mini Episode #4: Twist, 11/1/13, Atlantic City, NJ
Welcome to the fourth mini-episode of Attendance Bias! Mini-episodes feature a breakdown of a single song or jam from a show that I’ve attended. I’ll pick a song or jam for any given reason—it was the highlight of the show, it meant something special to me, it's widely renown--who knows?
Mini-episodes are posted on a bi-weekly basis in between full episodes of Attendance Bias, when a guest and I will go over a full Phish show.
Today's episode focuses on "Twist," played on 11/1/13 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This show was the second of three nights of the band's 2013 Halloween run. The vibe going into the venue was strange. The previous night's Wingsuit set really knocked us off our rocker, as this was the first time that Phish did not play a full album by another band for Halloween. Rather, they played an entire set--80 minutes long--of new material. Even though the third set of 10/31 was excellent, things didn't quite feel the same afterwards.
"Twist" from the next night changed all that for me. It felt as though Phish, and the audience, had a lot of steam to blow off after the tension of the Halloween set, and "Twist" blew that steam right off. It has everything: exploration, triumphant bliss-rock, "Under Pressure" quotes, and abstract dissonance. It's since become one of my favorite jams.
AUD recording for this episode: Twist