The second Portsmouth show is similar to the first. If you can get over the lack of sustained, long-form improvisation, there's a solid Type I Phish show buried in here somewhere.
The first set is a well-paced and nicely rarity-laden thing ("Sparkle," "Ha Ha Ha," "Dog Log," "Bold As Love"). The songs that aren't as much of a surprise are still played well, and the "Cities" -> "Ya Mar" segue is notably smooth.
The second set doesn't really get any deeper, but there's a lot of good playing nonetheless. There's a tension-filled jam out of "Rock and Roll" followed by a similar tension-heavy bit of improv in "Tweezer" if you're into that sort of thing. I'd recommend giving both a listen.
The rest of the set is solidly played and maintains a high level of energy, but for me the clear focus is the "Hood" -> "WTU?" sequence. I'd have loved to see this come back to finish "Hood," but the few minutes of angry, spacey, un-"Hood"-like ambiance that leads into the segue, the segue itself, and then the old-school, crashing take on "WTU?" is just fantastic.
Here, you can watch it (and the whole second set) if you want!
The Live Review:
6/20/12: Sparkle opener. How have I never thought of that before?
6/20/12: Sparkle being played at 2017 tempo, oddly.
6/20/12: Ha Ha Ha!
6/20/12: Alright. After that weird start to the show, we settle into a more traditional AC/DC Bag.
6/20/12: Some great interplay between Trey and Page during this outro jam.
6/20/12: There might not be the '17-style monster jams in these '12 shows, but damn if 'typical' takes on songs lik… https://t.co/muXV5dPmvz
6/20/12: Dear present-day Phish: please play more shows and practice more together.
6/20/12: Trilling ending > Divided Sky.
6/20/12: Smooth DSky so far.
6/20/12: Dog Log! Lots of rarities getting trotted out here (pun intended).
6/20/12: Dog Log just segued into a little jazzy piano jam. Does that normally happen? I don't listen to Dog Log all that often...
6/20/12: It was neat, regardless.
6/20/12: Clav-heavy Undermind next.
6/20/12: Is it fair to say that every version of Undermind should just be the UIC Undermind?
6/20/12: This brief takes fades into Mike's Song.
6/20/12: Every once in awhile, Trey will hit the wrong final chord right before Mike's drops into the bass-led intr… https://t.co/AjUox0XB3U
6/20/12: Oh, and then sometimes he also missed the chord that ends the jam, which is even worse. Also also, > Hydrogen.
6/20/12: Some legit Trey shredding on this version of Groove after a buildup featuring particularly sharp piano fills from Page.
6/20/12: Cities!
6/20/12: Unfortunately, it's the short version. But it's still always great to hear Cities.
6/20/12: Neat riff from Trey during the outro, though.
6/20/12: Riff sets up a *great* -> Ya Mar. Nice.
6/20/12: Bold As Love keeps the rarity train rolling.
6/20/12: Looks like Julius will end the first set.
6/20/12: I forgot just how many goddamn songs are in the first set of a 2012 show.
6/20/12: Set two kicks off with Rock and Roll.
6/20/12: Type I RnR jam fades out at around the ten minute mark and goes ambient, with Page playing the piano over noise.
6/20/12: > Tweezer.
6/20/12: Great, tension-y Type I jam in Tweezer.
6/20/12: > Free
6/20/12: I somewhat messy Free rolls right into Guyute.
6/20/12: Trey is shredding the shit out of Birds right now.
6/20/12: Mid-set Hood. Interesting choice.
6/20/12: Really ghostly, echo-y Hood jam. Almost rhythmless.
6/20/12: Lots of bass bombs and gauzy feedback now.
6/20/12: -> What's the Use?
6/20/12: Fantastic segue. My only regret is that Hood likely won't ever be finished now.
6/20/12: I vote that they finish it on 7/22/18.
6/20/12: Page-led outro to WTU? segues into Velvet Sea.
6/20/12: Really lively take on Possum late in the second set.
6/20/12: And, apparently by 'late in the second set' I meant 'it's the last song of the second set.'
6/20/12: Trey teasing the Star Wars theme before the encore. Sleeping Monkey now.
6/20/12: HOW THE HELL DID THIS MONKEY GET ON THIS TRAIN IN THE FIRST PLACE TRAINS ARE NOT A PLACE FOR MONKEYS
6/20/12: > Tweeprise
6/20/12: Fish demanding to go home on the train during the lead-in to Tweeprise.
6/20/12: End show.
6/20/12: Pretty typical early 2012 show, all told. No real sustained Type II jams at all.
6/20/12: First set had some interesting rarities and the Cities -> Ya Mar segue was great.
6/20/12: Second set had some solid Type I jamming, with the easy highlight being the last few minutes of Hood up th… https://t.co/MBUqgwAb8j
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