I don't have a whole lot to say about 6/29 or 6/30, so these next two will be pretty short reviews. Neither of these shows are bad, per se, but they just aren't really remarkable in any way, so I won't be...uh...remarking on much.
That said, if you like your Phish shows mostly solidly played, with pretty consistent energy and a well-constructed setlist with almost absolutely no improvisation or surprises, then you can't do much better than these two shows. They are straight-laced summer-lawn Phish at its finest, for better or worse.
Anyway, the second night in Noblesville slots even more neatly into the Type-I-show-with-a-brief-peak-at-jamming-in-the-third-quarter mold than the first night did. The first set is a well-paced mix of rarities, covers, and standbys, with particular highlights in "Possum," "The Mango Song," and "Birds of a Feather."
The second set opens with "Disease," and while it never gets truly Out There, it does spend a few minutes in a great Type 1.5 space before transitioning into "Sand." "Sand" also stays mostly within its typical confines, but the band plays around a bit with the groove before changing keys to set up a nice segue into "Twist," so as straight versions of "Sand" go, this one's better than most.
"Twist" doesn't get a chance to really go anywhere, as Trey gets fixated on literally rearranging the band members' names (as in the song lyrics), and then picks up on the "Rift" riff, ending a four-or-so-minutes-long "Twist" in a nice segue.
The rest of the set is straightforward, but fun. There's a spirited take on "Gin" that's only slightly derailed by Trey bringing up the name-switching gag, an energetic "Fluffhead," a "Ride Captain Ride" bustout with a huge solo from Trey, and an "Antelope" set-closer that devolves into a game of "Marco Polo" between the band and the audience.
Your mileage might vary, but the name-changing gag is fun, and the show is solid enough front-to-back that it makes for a good listen even without any sustained improvisation.
The Live Review:
6/29/12: Back for the second night in Noblesville. Crowd Control opener.
6/29/12: Dinner and a Movie!
6/29/12: Sweet Jane next. Really odd set of songs to start off the show. Not complaining.
6/29/12: Band telling the fans not to hold up signs so other fans can see. In a hilarious way, of course.
6/29/12: Limb By Limb next. Not sure if it was, in fact, the song request listed on the offending sign.
6/29/12: Possum next, after a pretty standard LxL. Some interesting distorted chording from Trey during the Possum intro.
6/29/12: #tacomountain
6/29/12: Pretty standard Possum with some solid guitar heroics by Trey. Mound next.
6/29/12: Life On Mars!
6/29/12: Mango Song next. Set one has been a typical 2012 grab bag so far, but it's a fun grab bag.
6/29/12: Always love the Mike/Page interplay in the middle of Mango Song.
6/29/12: > BBFCFM!
6/29/12: Following BBFCFM with Strange Design has to have been an intentional tonal joke, right?
6/29/12: Another SoaG song here with Birds.
6/29/12: Fun romp through Birds. Now, Halley's.
6/29/12: Looks like While My Guitar Gently Weeps will close the set. Loving some of the rarity choices in this set.
6/29/12: End first set.
6/29/12: Set two opening with Disease.
6/29/12: Trey really laying into the Type I opening jam.
6/29/12: Jam getting a little more abstract, anchored by some great melodic playing from Mike and a cascade of organ chords.
6/29/12: After a few solid minutes of good...uh...Type 1.5 jamming, noise-rock fades into Sand.
6/29/12: Great riffing from Trey and Mike heading into the jam.
6/29/12: Really great turn in the Sand jam. If I knew more about music, I could probably tell you if it was a key change or whatever.
6/29/12: But as it turns out, you can write almost 70 of your own songs and still not know anything about music.
6/29/12: Back to the standard Sand funk now.
6/29/12: Dipping a toe into Plinko Lake.
6/29/12: Back into Sand proper...then a key change.
6/29/12: Band changing keys multiple times over the main Sand riff.
6/29/12: -> Twist. That's probably why.
6/29/12: Rather than singing the second verse, Trey is just rearranging the letters of Mike's name over and over.
6/29/12: Now Trey doing the same thing with 'Page' as the rest of the band continues the song.
6/29/12: Shortest Twist ever as Trey hits on the Rift riff...and we're off!
6/29/12: Bathtub Gin after Rift.
6/29/12: Trey is adding a lot of scat vocals to match his guitar notes.
6/29/12: Now sort of a droning jam section interspersed with some random vocals before the band drops back into a m… https://t.co/SrLK5VcT7B
6/29/12: Trey revisiting the Twist lyrics so that he can pronounce Fish's name in various ways.
6/29/12: Building jam ripcorded a bit for a rough -> Fluffhead.
6/29/12: Trey is pretty set on making this set a seguefest.
6/29/12: Fun but rough take on Fluffhead leads into Ride Captain Ride.
6/29/12: Massive solo from Trey during Ride Captain Ride.
6/29/12: > Antelope
6/29/12: Captain teases from Trey.
6/29/12: Trey once again returning to the 'pronouncing your name in many ways' gag in Antelope, rearranging the letters to 'Marco.'
6/29/12: This just turned into a game of Marco Polo with the audience.
6/29/12: Set ends with one last, emphatic 'MARCO!'
6/29/12: Encore kicks off with Cavern.
6/29/12: > Sanity
6/29/12: Sanity is always pretty great. First Tube now looks ready to finish the show off for good.
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