The 2012 tour opener is a strong opening statement. I expected it to feel like a step back after finishing reviewing all of 2016, but in reality, the energy and looseness of early 3.0 Phish makes up for a lot.
"Buried Alive" is the opening bust-out, though the wheels come off for most of the middle of the first set, as the band tries to find their feet and stumble through takes on "Torn and Frayed," "Rift," and "Nothing." A strong "Beauty of a Broken Heart" and a tension-filled "Possum" bring things back online though, before the end of the first set.
As usual, the second set is where things pick up. Things start off with a neat "Carini" that revisits Gorge "Rock and Roll" territory briefly before going more melodic and seguing beautifully into "Taste."
Following that is a fantastic sequence of "Ghost" > "Boogie On" > "If I Could" that should just be heard/seen rather than described:
Even "If I Could" gets a jammed-out (albeit mellow) outro here. The set falters a bit after this, until things right themselves with a gauzy, ethereal "Hood," but hey, it's the first show of the year and we've already got an absolutely memorable second set!
The Live Review:
6/7/12: Here we go! Buried Alive kicks off 2012 tour.
6/7/12: Quick run-through > Jim.
6/7/12: Surprisingly, so far at least, the playing sounds a lot less busy than '16 Phish.
6/7/12: It's harder to hear those moments of group listening in the middle of the Type I improvisations.
6/7/12: I guess that's a good thing, right?
6/7/12: I.e., they're getting better over time?
6/7/12: Trey just tossed a bit of a Buried Alive tease into Jim.
6/7/12: Torn and Frayed.
6/7/12: 'Onstage the band has got problems, they're a bag of nerves on first nights' after Trey absolutely biffs the intro chords.
6/7/12: Nice outro jam tacked on to Torn and Frayed.
6/7/12: Page going to town on Funky Bitch now.
6/7/12: Moma next. Trey working in a slick little funk riff during Fish's vocals.
6/7/12: Hits keep coming with Rift. I keep forgetting that this is pre Fuego and BB. More old tunes in the setlists. Prob less variety.
6/7/12: Sorry, this Rift is ugly. Wheels coming off.
6/7/12: Nothing! One of my favorite Undermind tracks.
6/7/12: I know I'm only using a small sample when I say this, but Trey just isn't as engaging a soloist here as in the more recent shows.
6/7/12: Ocelot.
6/7/12: Fish all over the map during this Ocelot. Nobody seems to want to follow him to Jamtown, though.
6/7/12: After skating dangerously close to a whale-pedal-sounding jam, Trey brings Ocelot to a shreddy peak.
6/7/12: I STILL DON'T LIKE OCELOT THOUGH SO THERE. FINE.
6/7/12: Beauty of a Broken Heart. Well, this is the most interested I've been since Buried Alive :)
6/7/12: Possum with a little Beauty tease in the intro.
6/7/12: I'm happy to report that this is a jaunty take on Possum with Trey introducing some tension and experimenting with some odd tones.
6/7/12: Not a huge opening set by any means, but a neat Buried Alive bust out and a strong Possum. Carini opens set two.
6/7/12: It might be that the mix on these '12 SBDs is way different than the mix on the more recent ones. Sounds hollow and distant.
6/7/12: Opening of Carini doesn't even really have punch to it. I find that hard to believe.
6/7/12: Eerie, dissonant notes from Trey and Mike to start off the jam.
6/7/12: Some loops jacking up the tension now.
6/7/12: Really neat, unstructured jam. Synth swirls now.
6/7/12: Reminds me a bit of the Gorge Rock and Roll, but less angry.
6/7/12: Really great, drawn-out, atmospheric jam.
6/7/12: I just started feeling way better about 2012.
6/7/12: Great little melodic outro to the jam that -> Taste.
6/7/12: After Taste, a looping siren-like sound presages the coming of GHOST.
6/7/12: Great full-band jamming going on now.
6/7/12: Dissonant chording from Trey pushing for Type II.
6/7/12: Tension section. Mike adding bass like spiders crawling on yer face.
6/7/12: Bluesy resolve.
6/7/12: Really complex rhythm-led jam now. Wow. This is good stuff.
6/7/12: I feel like an ass for picking on them during the first set.
6/7/12: Page laying down a mellow electric piano melody while Fish rumbles along in the background.
6/7/12: Mike-led segue into Boogie On.
6/7/12: Trey laying down a blues riff overtop of the Boogie On jam. Picking up momentum.
6/7/12: Funk jam continuing after a peak. This is a great set so far.
6/7/12: Noisy haze gives way to If I Could.
6/7/12: Page and Trey bringing all the melodic feels here during the outro jam.
6/7/12: Gorgeous outro jam there. That was quite a sequence of music.
6/7/12: Somewhat rough Quinn leads into Hood.
6/7/12: Even a little bit of tension jamming, this time between Trey and Mike, at the beginning of the Hood jam.
6/7/12: Hood not as explosive as more recent versions, but a nice, gauzy build to the peak. > Cavern.
6/7/12: Cavern is about to end the set, but Trey teases Buried Alive and then that turns into a whole reprise.
6/7/12: Loving Cup encore.
6/7/12: By-the-numbers first set but a very consistently interesting, almost-2016-style second set makes this show a keeper.
6/7/12: Now I'm going to listen to this: https://t.co/RQuCjqDNon
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