A Ruby wave swallows Alpine Valley

Hello and welcome to yet another edition of the crunchy munchie, the wham-bam, the double-decker Sandwich, Jam. I’m your host, moneyries.

I write you, finally, I think, recovered from an incredible weekend of Phish in sunny Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Before this weekend I knew Wisconsin to have cheese, and lots of it, and now today I know it to have, well, cheese curds in fact, and some good Phish.

If you’re a longtime reader, I thank you. If you’re new here, welcome, I hope to entertain. If you’re not yet signed up, c’mon, get in. Do you like this newsletter? Hit the fucking heart.

Let’s get to it.

Lights.

Ruby Waves debuted on April 4, 2019, when Ghosts of the Forest played it at Portland’s State Theatre for the debut show of that tour. It was 8:53. The following night, the Ghosts stretched it to 9:21, and it would remain in the give or take of that range for most of that tour — occasionally reaching into the 10th minute.

When Phish debuted Ruby Waves in Toronto on June 18, it was 9:38. The band would play it three more times — 12:27, 13:38, 7:18 — until July 14, 2019, when they went the distance.

You’ve probably read quite a bit about the 38:08 Ruby Waves that melted Alpine Valley back into cow manure and helped rocket 7/14/19 into Phish’s Hall of Fame — a surprise that came at the end of what critics were calling a mediocre tour full of “m—rojams” (a bad word, I won’t use it), rip-chords, and too many GOTF songs.

My very brief thought when it all came to an end there was, this: My God, Trey just gave us all the awesomest middle finger. You don’t like GOTF? You think our jams are too short? Eat this.

(It was also a pretty beautiful tribute to his friend for which he wrote it.)

Here’s a bit more. If you’re like me, you can’t get enough.

Amar Sastry, aka brahmin_noodles, investigated just what it is Trey is doing with his hands. I thought it was cool but I also had no idea what it means. Vamping! I love it.

In a subsequent tweet Amar added:“For the helicopter sound Trey plays muted continuous 8th notes and angles his pick so the sharp side strikes the strings. Then he improvises straight 8th notes mixing Bb minor pentatonic, Bb Dorian, and a Bbm7 arpeggio for the double time rave sound.”

Mike Hamad: The man behind Setlist Schematics did a quick analysis of the jam itself and found it went all sorts of places — seven of them in fact. My 8/17/97 Bathtub Gin coffee mug has seen some mileage so Mike, if you’re out there, I’d be first in line to order a pint glass of RW.

Now that the 10 longest Phish jams of all time list has a new member, can you name them based on length alone? Take this quiz and give it a whirl.

You have five minutes.

Answers at the end of this email.

Oh wait so what did Mike think about everything? He says forget the bust-outs and lengths of the jams — focus on the tapestry and space between the threads instead.

See the whole thread.

“By the 15-minute mark it became clear the Alpine ‘Ruby Waves’ was the best jam of the year thanks to Trey’s assertiveness, Page’s usage of nearly every instrument in his rig, Fish’s half-time groove and Mike’s steady anchoring…

There was nary a wasted minute in the action-packed ‘Ruby Waves’ that was among the longest jams in Phish history and longest of the era.” - Scott Bernstein, JamBase

“There were segments of ethereal bliss butting up against 70s arena rock, terrifying wall-of-sound repetition segueing into infectious groove-based jamming.

Every time it sounded as though it were going to conclude, the band found a new direction. It was a statement on the work the band has put in over the past three years to fully connect again through improvisation.

Justification for their longevity, and a massive creative reward for the multitudes of risks taken over the last six years.” - @SufferingJuke, Phish.net

“You have not been listening closely (enough) to this tour. It has been building to the Alpine Ruby Waves...

And if you did not see it coming you especially did not listen closely to the free jazz improv that is the Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 from Mohegan

It's all there...” - funk_lin, Phish.net

“…Glowsticks and smoke billowed through the air as hard-rocking Type II jamming vibrated throughout the field and sounded like the balls-to-the-wall Hell metal you may hear at Tool concert…” - Live For Live Music

That’s all for now. 44 days ‘til Dicks. You could listen to this Ruby a few thousand times until then. Like these guys:

The 10 longest Phish jams

1. 11/29/97 Runaway Jim 58:47
2. 6/14/95 Tweezer 49:48
3. 11/28/94 Tweezer 44:23
4. 6/22/95 Tweezer 42:17
5. 10/31/95 YEM 40:08
6. 8/3/03 46 Days 38:50
7. 7/14/19 Ruby Waves 38:08
8. 7/31/13 Tweezer 36:48
9. 11/26/94 David Bowie 36:30
10. 12/31/99 Roses Are Free 35:02

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Thanks for reading. Until next time.