I tend to have lower expectations for Phish when they play festival sets. Because, for some reason, they still play festivals like they're trying to win over new fans. But, hey, this festival appearance is better than most.
The first set is mostly a hit parade, but it's played with exceptional energy, minus the kind of uncomfortable Kenny Rogers sit-in on "The Gambler." It's great to hear "Disease" as the show opener, "Number Line" just keeps getting better, and there's a legit highlight in the "Tweezer," which gets a space-funk jam that's more appropriate for a second set.
Unsurprisingly, there's no huge monster jam in the real second set, but there's enough interesting playing to please the already-Phish-fan. "Golden Age" is short, but its brief noise-rock jam fades nicely into "2001." "Carini" revists the pitch-shifted territory first explored earlier in "Tweezer" before segueing beautifully into "Shafty," of all songs. If you're a "Hood" purist, you might not appreciate the song getting cut in half during the "Hood" -> "Light" transition, but it's a pretty unique moment for the song and adds to the set's uniqueness.
In all, this show is a bit of a step back from the DCU Center run, but in the context of "usual" Phish festival shows, it stands out with a strong first set, and an interesting (if not exceptionally jammy) second.
The Live Review:
6/10/12: Alright, time for some festival Phish.
6/10/12: After a solid opening to 2012 tour at the DCU Center, I feel like this is likely to be...less interesting.
6/10/12: Disease opener, though.
6/10/12: Nice Type I romp through Disease. Funky Bitch next.
6/10/12: Page is losing his damn mind on the organ.
6/10/12: Moma continues the hit parade with an extended funk intro.
6/10/12: > Sample.
6/10/12: Back in the day, I could understand Phish playing rote sets for festivals. These days, though, it seems like half the...
6/10/12: ...bands that play at festivals are jambands. I'm pretty sure Phish could cut loose a few 20 minute jams without ruffling feathers.
6/10/12: Kenny Rogers out for The Gambler. I remember seeing this on the webcast and thinking Kenny was going to die at any moment.
6/10/12: Possum next. Some Gambler-style noodling during the intro.
6/10/12: Nice, energetic take on Possum. Wilson next.
6/10/12: > Tweezer!
6/10/12: Neat, minimal funk jam happening now.
6/10/12: Jam modulating for a moment into what would, in 2015, become a three-chord bliss jam. Transitioning back into Tweeze-funk instead.
6/10/12: This Tweezer, out of nowhere, is badass.
6/10/12: Trey soloing with the pitch-shifter over an I Am Hydrogen-style beat from Fish. > Free.
6/10/12: Take on Free is surprisingly weak after that monsta Tweezah
6/10/12: Number Line now.
6/10/12: Number Line goes quiet for a minute, like the Tweezer jam before it, then comes back for a standard ending.
6/10/12: Pretty sure I just heard a vuvuzela during setbreak. Those were the days.
6/10/12: Golden Age starts off the second set.
6/10/12: Droning, noise-rock ending to a short Golden Age.
6/10/12: > 2001
6/10/12: Chalkdust seems like an odd pick at this point in the set, but Trey is leading the band through a crazy rock and roll take.
6/10/12: THE WALRUS ON YER FACE
6/10/12: Carini jam goes dark at first, then transitions into a pitch-shifted melody over the rumbling.
6/10/12: Some great Trey/Mike interplay right now.
6/10/12: Carini -> Shafty. That was decidedly unfestival-like.
6/10/12: Neat little jam in Shafty. Sudden > Rock and Roll.
6/10/12: Troy giving this RnR and serious workout.
6/10/12: Extended vocal...jam? Screaming? Yelling? Bellowing? Alaska is next.
6/10/12: Someday, when Phish is like 70, they're going to play Alaska -> Ocelot -> Alaska or vice versa. And I will fall asleep.
6/10/12: Hood!
6/10/12: Great full-band improv to start off the Hood jam.
6/10/12: As the Hood jam builds, -> Light. You know I love me some Hood peak, but that was a neat transition.
6/10/12: Pretty standard take on Light after that great transition. No finish to Hood. Zero next instead.
6/10/12: End set with Rocky Top.
6/20/12: Well, the good news is that there was a three-song encore. The bad news is that two of those songs are Show of Life and Julius.
6/10/12: Basically, five show-ending tunes in a row there for the band. Better show overall than I expected, though.
6/10/12: Lots of energy in the first set and great Possum and Tweezer, taboot. Love Golden Age > 2001, Carini -> Shafty, and Hood -> Light.
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