The Verdict:
The first night of the Atlantic City run is probably the strongest of the three. All three nights offer by-the-book first sets and then stretch out a bit during the third quarter in their own ways.
This is probably the best of the three first sets. Even though all three of them offer up straightforward, hit-based setlists, this one keeps the energy level high throughout and there are some solid Type I-style highlights. It's nice to hear "Camel Walk" and "Cities," "Tube" gets a solid groove workout, and "Stash" is a better-than-average take.
After the second set's "My Soul" opener, things get weird with "Birds of a Feather," of all things. The jam gets loopy and spacey pretty quickly, before heading into an ambient space that segues perfectly into "Back On the Train." "BOTT" itself goes almost-plinko before segueing nicely into "Heavy Things."
It's somewhat damning praise to say the highlight of the Atlantic City run is "Birds" -> "BOTT" -> "Heavy Things," but there it is.
Phish - 6/15/12 "Birds Of A Feather > Back On The Train > Heavy Things" from Phish on Vimeo.
The second set finishes with some more straightforward tunes, but a Type I "Twist" is nice to hear, "Piper" features a few minutes of space jamming, and an ambient end that sets up a beautiful segue into "Billy Breathes." From there it's a standard-but-punchy "Sally" > "Bowie" combo to end the set.
The Live Review:
6/15/12: The Sloth.
6/15/12: My Sweet One next.
6/15/12: Slow-tempo 46 Days after a quick MSO.
6/15/12: Big ol' blues-rock peak from Trey.
6/15/12: TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE
6/15: Great Mike/Fish groove in this version.
6/15/12: Cities! I feel like this one has been MIA lately in Phish-world.
6/15/12: Trey puts a neat twist on the end of Cities that echoes the It's Ice riff (albeit in the different key). > It's Ice.
6/15/12: Ginseng Sullivan and Stash follow It's Ice. Hoping Stash will open up what's been a well-played but straightforward opening set.
6/15/12: I know '12 isn't really known for its first sets in the way '15-'17 are, but a guy can still hope :)
6/15/12: Some nice low-key, full-band interplay early on in Stash.
6/15/12: Nice, technically tight build-up to Stash conclusion.
6/15/12: Simple next.
6/15/12: Weird to go back to the days when Simple was a seven-minute song, nearly always.
6/15/12: That said, neat little noodly outro jam there. > The Wedge
6/15/12: Stealing Time.
6/15/12: Going back in time a few years with Phish, I'm always struck by a) how much tighter and faster they sound,… https://t.co/pu1IMQiJd0
6/15/12: These days, I'm happy to sacrifice some speed and accuracy in the name of a version of a band that can do something like the BD.
6/15/12: I mean, I'd prefer speed *and* creativity, but alas time and age don't really do that combination any favors.
6/15/12: Coil is going to round out the opening set.
6/15/12: This might be 2012 Phish, but I still didn't expect them to open S2 with My Soul.
6/15/12: Really good Type I blues jam coming out of this My Soul.
6/15/12: Birds in the two-slot.
6/15/12: Trey switching scales to introduce some tension into this Birds outro.
6/15/12: The jam is riding Page's organ into a Type II space.
6/15/12: 'riding Page's organ'
6/15/12: You know, just in case you missed that the first time.
6/15/12: Trey deploying some loops and the pitch shifter.
6/15/12: Sparse contributions here from Trey and Page, but a nice backbone from the rhythm section.
6/15/12: Shuffle out of the ambient-ish jam leads to a perfect -> BOTT.
6/15/12: Ooh! Page bringing in the plinko tones!
6/15/12: Interesting loop-funk ending to BOTT. -> Heavy Things.
6/15/12: Normally I wouldn't be thrilled with Birds -> BOTT -> Heavy Things as the meat of a second set, but this i… https://t.co/qQ7qQ0qo6y
6/15/12: Twist. Piano-heavy, mellow intro before Trey kicks into the riff properly.
6/15/12: Pretty Type I take on Twist. Ending 'Woo!'s carry over into the introduction of Piper.
6/15/12: 'Woo!'s continuing as Piper builds. Love it.
6/15/12: Piper staying in a fast-paced, Type I zone, but there's some great work from Trey and Page keeping it interesting.
6/15/12: Continuing to pick up speed now.
6/15/12: Rhythm section pushing the pace and pushing the jam into a more abstract space now.
6/15/12: Legit ambient jam now. Mike bass bombs. Oddly enough, having mid-BD flashbacks.
6/15/12: ALL PHISH IS PHISH IT'S ALL CONNECTED MAN
6/15/12: Trey pulls the riff out of the ambient haze and -> Billy Breathes. That was gorgeous.
6/15/12: Trey biffs the outro solo a little, but then extends to something approaching a brief jam. Sally next.
6/15/12: Brief plinko action happening here in Sally.
6/15/12: Short Sally leads into Bowie to close the set.
6/15/12: Series of teases from various band members during Bowie. Stash, I think, and Birds, and It's Ice teases.
6/15/12: A 'Woo!' vocal tease, too. Ginseng Sullivan and Simple.
6/15/12: I feel like I'm, like, reliving it all, man.
6/15/12: This is neat: https://t.co/l4CT0Tnr7R
6/15/12: First Tube encore!
6/15/12: Overall, not a typical Phish second set, but lots of good stuff in there.
6/15/12: That Birds -> BOTT -> Heavy Things sequence was great. Piper -> Billy Breathes was beautiful. Nice Bowie, too.
6/15/12: Some proto-Tahoe-Tweezer 'Woo!'s happening from the crowd toward the end of First Tube.
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