Last night some good friends and I had the pleasure of seeing jam-gods, Phish, live in concert. I had seen them once before at Bonnaroo ’09, but this time we were indoors at the modest 10,000-ish seat Chaifetz Arena located on St. Louis University campus.
Production value was through the roof, with the best lighting design I’ve seen in recent memory, if not ever. A huge Clair Bros i-5 rig was a welcoming sight upon entering the venue. If I counted right, the main hangs each had fourteen i-5 cabs with accompanying i-5b subs. Two sets of outfield hangs covered the rest of the bowl and side stage seats, with the inner hangs consisting of ten i-5/i-5bs and the outer of twelve i-3s. Headroom aplenty. The floor was packed, but I could see some BT-218 subs hanging out offstage left and right.
FOH looked like a darn good time, with a Midas XL8 at the center of it all. The mix was clean and articulate, allowing the audience to follow the musicians’ every move. Each member of the band had their special, equally important role in the mix. One big, happy musical family, together in sonic harmony.
On a calm, late-summer Tuesday night in St. Louis, Missouri, Phish pulled out all the stops and played two sets full of classic examples why they’re the most prolific act in the scene.
Steven Eudaly 