Lawn Boy

Originally Performed ByPhish
Appears On
Music/LyricsAnastasio, Marshall
VocalsPage
HistorianPhillip Zerbo (pzerbo); Mockingbird Staff
Last Update2023-11-27

History

“Ladies and Gentlemen, The Chairman of the Boards.” As often introduced by Trey either before or following its performance, “Lawn Boy” shines the spotlight on Phish’s Chairman of the Keyboards, Page McConnell. Not content with a stylistic diversity that includes everything from punk to bluegrass, “Lawn Boy” adds lounge crooning to Phish’s repertoire. 

“Lawn Boy” provides the title track for Phish’s second studio album, and in keeping with the Phish tradition of variety – in this case unplanned – there are two different versions of the studio release. The re-mastered version on Elektra is significantly slower than the original version on the Absolute A-Go-Go label. Perhaps they found this version preferable, as the live version performed today is even slower than the (already slowed-down) remastered album cut.

“Lawn Boy” – 7/19/03, East Troy, WI

Introduced at Boston’s Paradise on 11/30/89, “Lawn Boy” has been a standard ever since, remaining in a more or less regular live rotation. Almost all renditions witness Page moving out from the veil of his keyboard setup to assume front-and-center stage in order to serenade the crowd. “Lawn Boy” also provides an opportunity for Mike Gordon to display his more subtle skills, with a laid-back, jazzy solo. 

While live renditions are for the most part similar, a few notable versions can be found on 7/19/91 and 7/21/91 with the Giant Country Horns; 8/21/93 with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones; 8/16/97 with an extended bass solo by Mike, and on 11/21/97, featuring Fishman’s intentionally slow, non-eventful “anti-drum solo.” Standard versions appear in many otherwise notable shows, including 12/31/93; 10/31/98 Live Phish 16, 12/31/99 Big Cypress, 12/31/02 MSG hiatus-buster, 8/2/03 IT; 8/14/09 Hartford throwback; the excellent opening set to Super Ball IX on 7/2/11; 4/26/14 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; and 10/31/14 Las Vegas with a Fish drum solo. A truly unique a cappella offering concluded the third set on 12/31/12 at MSG, one of the finishing touches on the lawn-themed set and overall NYE gag theme.

“Lawn Boy” – 12/31/12, New York, NY

Of course, the first 205 offerings of “Lawn Boy” were but a prelude for the 7/25/17 “Jam-Filled” version, a/k/a the “Lawn Man.” In the summer of 2017 Phish played a 13-show run at Madison Square Garden dubbed the “Baker’s Dozen.” Prior to each show, a donut flavor was announced, which influenced that night’s setlist.  Shortly after the third “Red Velvet” night, Phish changed the rules and immediately announced that for the next show the donut would be “Jam-Filled.” Fans immediately understood the significance. Plans should be altered, flights changed. This was not a show to be missed, if at all possible. Sure, it was possible this could be yet another Phish fake out, but those fears were put to rest when the band hung onto the E chord in “Sample,” before launching into the only jammed out version of that song. So when “Lawn Boy” followed, everyone knew what to expect.  

Yet, even with Phish telegraphing their hand in a way they rarely have over the course of their career, it’s safe to say that no one quite expected a half-hour version of “Lawn Boy”.  It’s not just the length that sets this “Lawn Boy” apart. This jam is as good as it is long. The band locks into a captivating space-funk groove and stays there for long enough to shake MSG from its foundation. Trey then ups the ante and launches into a double-time jam that recalls so many 1997 odysseys. The jam concludes by morphing into “My Friend My Friend,” while the song itself is finally finished at the end of the “Julius” encore. There is almost certainly no other single performance of any Phish song that so radically redefined its place in the band’s canon. Never one to let a good joke pass, Phish reprised a funk-infused variation on “Lawn Boy” during the encore of the final “Baker’s” show, with Page explaining that a lot of people have been asking him, “Is this still ‘Lawn Boy’?” “It is,” he noted. So, depending on your perspective, the longest jam Phish has played is either the 11/29/97Runaway Jim,” clocking in at just under an hour, or the Baker’s Dozen “Lawn Boy,” which lasted just over twelve days.

Page fans will certainly want to check out the first set of Phish’s performance on 7/19/03. This set featured consecutive appearances of “NICU,” “Rocky Top,” and “Ya Mar,” all songs where Trey encourages Page to “Play it, Leo!” After Trey coined these songs “The Leo Trio” the spotlight continued to shine on Page, as he stepped out for an inspired “Lawn Boy."

Versions of “Lawn Boy” where Page was joined by guests can be found in Vida Blue’s performances on 4/9/03 with Kyle Gass (of Trainwreck and Tenacious D fame) on acoustic guitar and vocals and 1/10/04 with Jamie Masefield on mandolin. Trey has also performed the tune four times without Page: at the 11/14/05 TAB gig with Trey on acoustic guitar and the song’s co-author Tom Marshall on vocals, and on 2/20/11, 2/23/11 and 3/1/11 with Trey on acoustic guitar and vocals, Tony Markellis on bass and Russ Remington on drums.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Sodales neque sodales ut etiam. Metus aliquam eleifend mi in nulla posuere sollicitudin. Pharetra vel turpis nunc eget lorem dolor. Ac odio tempor orci dapibus. Pellentesque diam volutpat commodo sed egestas egestas fringilla. Purus semper eget duis at tellus at urna condimentum mattis. Erat velit scelerisque in dictum non consectetur a erat nam. Dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing. Integer enim neque volutpat ac tincidunt vitae semper. Rhoncus urna neque viverra justo nec ultrices. Nibh sed pulvinar proin gravida hendrerit lectus a.

At augue eget arcu dictum varius. Imperdiet sed euismod nisi porta. Feugiat vivamus at augue eget arcu dictum. Egestas fringilla phasellus faucibus scelerisque eleifend donec pretium vulputate sapien. Urna id volutpat lacus laoreet non. Pulvinar pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et. Molestie at elementum eu facilisis sed odio. Vulputate dignissim suspendisse in est ante. Aliquet porttitor lacus luctus accumsan tortor posuere ac. Neque gravida in fermentum et sollicitudin ac orci. Vitae congue eu consequat ac. Felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Sit amet dictum sit amet justo. Laoreet non curabitur gravida arcu ac tortor dignissim convallis aenean.

Viverra aliquet eget sit amet tellus cras. Habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum rhoncus est pellentesque elit. Commodo odio aenean sed adipiscing diam donec adipiscing tristique. Pharetra sit amet aliquam id diam maecenas ultricies. Odio ut enim blandit volutpat maecenas volutpat. Varius quam quisque id diam. Dui id ornare arcu odio ut. Scelerisque purus semper eget duis. Ac tortor vitae purus faucibus. Vulputate eu scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Tristique magna sit amet purus gravida quis. Quis vel eros donec ac odio. Malesuada fames ac turpis egestas maecenas pharetra.

Urna neque viverra justo nec ultrices. Curabitur vitae nunc sed velit. Commodo sed egestas egestas fringilla. Dignissim enim sit amet venenatis urna cursus. Pellentesque elit ullamcorper dignissim cras tincidunt. Tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti nullam ac tortor vitae. Sem fringilla ut morbi tincidunt augue interdum velit euismod in. Nunc congue nisi vitae suscipit tellus mauris. Massa placerat duis ultricies lacus sed turpis tincidunt id aliquet. Diam vulputate ut pharetra sit amet aliquam id. Amet est placerat in egestas. Dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant morbi. Eu augue ut lectus arcu bibendum at varius vel. Amet nisl purus in mollis nunc sed.

Ultricies integer quis auctor elit sed vulputate mi sit. Urna nunc id cursus metus aliquam eleifend. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut tristique et egestas. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis imperdiet. Neque gravida in fermentum et sollicitudin ac. Diam sit amet nisl suscipit adipiscing. Ut eu sem integer vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis. Non odio euismod lacinia at. Mauris cursus mattis molestie a iaculis at. Est pellentesque elit ullamcorper dignissim cras tincidunt lobortis feugiat vivamus. Mauris sit amet massa vitae tortor condimentum. Massa id neque aliquam vestibulum morbi. Pharetra et ultrices neque ornare aenean euismod.

Feugiat nibh sed pulvinar proin gravida hendrerit lectus. Condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor. Scelerisque eu ultrices vitae auctor eu augue ut. Massa enim nec dui nunc. Dignissim sodales ut eu sem integer vitae justo eget magna. Risus in hendrerit gravida rutrum quisque non. Blandit turpis cursus in hac habitasse platea. Volutpat consequat mauris nunc congue. Faucibus vitae aliquet nec ullamcorper sit amet risus. Enim diam vulputate ut pharetra sit amet aliquam. Quam vulputate dignissim suspendisse in est ante in. Arcu ac tortor dignissim convallis aenean et tortor. Sollicitudin ac orci phasellus egestas tellus rutrum tellus pellentesque. Fames ac turpis egestas sed tempus urna et.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Diam volutpat commodo sed egestas. Aenean euismod elementum nisi quis eleifend quam adipiscing vitae proin. Facilisis volutpat est velit egestas. Nulla facilisi cras fermentum odio eu feugiat pretium. Sit amet venenatis urna cursus eget nunc scelerisque viverra. Felis bibendum ut tristique et. Viverra justo nec ultrices dui. Ac auctor augue mauris augue neque gravida in fermentum et. Convallis a cras semper auctor neque vitae tempus quam. Vel fringilla est ullamcorper eget nulla facilisi etiam dignissim. A iaculis at erat pellentesque adipiscing commodo elit at. Risus quis varius quam quisque id diam vel. Eleifend mi in nulla posuere sollicitudin aliquam ultrices sagittis orci. Velit sed ullamcorper morbi tincidunt. Mollis aliquam ut porttitor leo a diam sollicitudin tempor. Convallis aenean et tortor at risus viverra adipiscing at in. In nulla posuere sollicitudin aliquam. Eu consequat ac felis donec.

Nunc sed augue lacus viverra. Eget egestas purus viverra accumsan in nisl nisi. Ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum enim facilisis gravida. Urna porttitor rhoncus dolor purus non enim. Leo in vitae turpis massa sed. Viverra nam libero justo laoreet. Auctor neque vitae tempus quam pellentesque nec nam aliquam. Sagittis eu volutpat odio facilisis. Ultrices neque ornare aenean euismod. Augue interdum velit euismod in pellentesque massa placerat duis ultricies.

Commodo nulla facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum. Tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet est. Eu turpis egestas pretium aenean pharetra magna ac placerat. Faucibus et molestie ac feugiat. Purus semper eget duis at. Ipsum a arcu cursus vitae congue mauris rhoncus aenean vel. Egestas tellus rutrum tellus pellentesque eu. Consectetur lorem donec massa sapien faucibus et molestie ac. Lacus sed viverra tellus in. Eget nunc scelerisque viverra mauris in aliquam sem. Ullamcorper morbi tincidunt ornare massa eget.

Amet risus nullam eget felis eget nunc lobortis. Posuere morbi leo urna molestie at elementum eu facilisis. Sed euismod nisi porta lorem mollis aliquam ut. Tellus cras adipiscing enim eu turpis. Amet cursus sit amet dictum sit amet justo donec. Purus ut faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim neque volutpat ac. Leo vel orci porta non pulvinar neque laoreet. Consectetur adipiscing elit ut aliquam purus sit amet luctus venenatis. Elit duis tristique sollicitudin nibh sit. Orci dapibus ultrices in iaculis nunc sed augue lacus. Rhoncus aenean vel elit scelerisque mauris. Tellus elementum sagittis vitae et leo duis ut diam. Ut consequat semper viverra nam. Tincidunt ornare massa eget egestas purus viverra accumsan in.

Is this still the “Lawn Boy” song history? Well, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve earned it: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Chairman of the Boards...

”Lawn Boy” -- 7/25/17, New York, NY

Submit notes/corrections



Phish.net

Phish.net is a non-commercial project run by Phish fans and for Phish fans under the auspices of the all-volunteer, non-profit Mockingbird Foundation.

This project serves to compile, preserve, and protect encyclopedic information about Phish and their music.

Credits | Terms Of Use | Legal | DMCA

© 1990-2024  The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. | Hosted by Linode