Depth Perceptions: ‘Phish 3D’

Brooklyn's Pavilion Cinema stunk like a skunk farm during last night's premiere of Phish 3D. Even the friendly ushers were complaining. Didn't they realize it was 4/20, our national day of marijuana abuse? (Tell it to the nitrous dealers defiling my local park across the street.) And if you thought you could avoid the annoyance of glow sticks and balloons in a theater setting, think again.

Dudes abounded and abided at this sneak preview in anticipation of the film's April 30 opening. I was psyched in large part due to my obsession with new performance technologies like simulcasts and such. Phish 3D contains some great performances from Festival 8, which it cherry picks and distills into two hours. The "Tweezer" and "Mike's" are keepers, as are every frame with Sharon Jones. (During a nifty rehearsal sequence, Trey A. modestly describes "Suzy Greenberg" to her as "a song about a girl.") The four Exile on Main Street are solid, and the "Suzy" encore is one of the song's best versions evuh.

The 3D part was kind of meh, however. And talk about squandered opportunities: The trombonist didn't even poke our eyes out! Umphrey's McGee lighting director and Jambands.com writer Jeffrey Waful reviews it in more detail, and more or less speaks for me, here.

Phish 3D opens officially on April 30. Find out where it's playing here.