If 6/29 offered up the epitome of a fun-but-straightforward show, the first night at Alpine Valley tries to see just how straight the band can play it for over three hours, up to and potentially past the point of it being entertaining.
Like the previous night, the first set is a well-constructed summer set of rarities, covers, and favorites, with solid playing throughout. I especially liked hearing Page sing "Let It Loose," and the "Reba" is worth a listen, for sure.
The energy picks up, somehow, late in the set, and "Timber" is a particular standout. All told, though, this set was so long that it all sort of jumbled together in my mind by the end. I'm rarely one to complain about extra Phish, but this first set is fifteen songs, and it feels like a lot, especially with the only notable highlight, "Reba," happening early in the set.
The second set, for better or worse, is similar. After a totally standard "Number Line" to open, an interesting "Carini" jam gets chopped after about a minute for "Wilson," then a promising take on "Golden Age" gets ripcorded for a pretty standard "2001." From there, we continue this trend, with the band keeping up the energy but seeming to purposely focus on number of songs played over anything else, even cutting a high-energy "Hood" to just over ten minutes so that they can get to a set-closing "Zero."
It's a weird set, and a very long show, and in the end, I guess I just feel, after a few shows in a row like this, that I'd like to hear the band do something a little more interesting. But again, 6/30 is a perfect distillation of summery, east-coast, Type I Phish, and if that's your bag, you'll enjoy the hell out of this one.
The Live Review:
6/30/12: My Soul opener.
6/30/12: Trey bringing some serious heat with his solo.
6/30/12: Daniel Saw The Stone
6/30/12: Mini organ solo from Page at the end of the song.
6/30/12: AC/DC Bag
6/30/12: Neat drop into Moma at the end of Bag.
6/30/12: Pretty standard, if energetic take on Moma. > Jim.
6/30/12: Let It Loose! One of my favorite Stones songs. Wish Phish would cover it more often. Love Page's vocals.
6/30/12: Reba next.
6/30/12: Extra gorgeous launch into the Reba jam.
6/30/12: Better-than-average-great (?) version of Reba, there. KDF next.
6/30/12: Very straightforward, summery set so far, but the setlist choices and a great Reba have raised my opinion of it quite a bit.
6/30/12: The Sloth.
6/30/12: Ocelot and KDF in the same set! Yay?
6/30/12: Shortish Ocelot. Set rolls on with Poor Heart.
6/30/12: When The Circus Comes
6/30/12: > Timber
6/30/12: Great, frenetic take on Timber, followed by Oh Keep Pa.
6/30/12: > Suzy
6/30/12: First set (finally) over. Fifteen songs!
6/30/12: Mellow-tempo'd Number Line kicks off the second set.
6/30/12: > Carini
6/30/12: Carini starts developing promisingly before getting 'corded into Wilson.
6/30/12: > Golden Age
6/30/12: I'd be happy to live in an alternate universe that's exactly like this one except that Page sings Golden Age instead of Trey.
6/30/12: Jazzy, Page-led jam.
6/30/12: Plinko time...awwwww yeah
6/30/12: I will never, ever get sick of plinko jamming and would love a huge Golden Age plinko jam this summer at the Gorge.
6/30/12: Nice groove -> 2001
6/30/12: Nice, compact take on 2001 leads into Rock and Roll.
6/30/12: Prototypical funk-chording jam forming after a hot Type I outro from Rock and Roll proper.
6/30/12: Jam winds down to Page on piano and some guitar loops before > Steam.
6/30/12: Droning mini-jam out of Steam segues nicely into Piper.
6/30/12: High-tempo Piper. Trey locking on to a good, looping riff. Band following along.
6/30/12: Now Page taking the lead while Trey chords.
6/30/12: Jam stalls out, Fish drops out. Now just Trey and Page playing.
6/30/12: Neat duo jam goes brief. > Quinn.
6/30/12: HOOD
6/30/12: Solid momentum immediately in the Hood jam.
6/30/12: A relatively short, but really propulsive version of Hood to close out the second set.
6/30/12: My bad. > Zero.
6/30/12: GTBT encore
6/30/12: That was an enormously long show. 190 minutes.
6/30/12: Considering that, it kept a pretty amazingly high level of energy throughout.
6/30/12: Great setlists during both the first and second sets.
6/30/12: At the same time, no real jamming and not even really a 'gag jam' like 6/29's Twist joke.
6/30/12: Golden Age > 2001 was probably the highlight, but it was another show where it seemed like the band (or at… https://t.co/hl0E07w8Mm
6/30/12: I guess if you're into that kind of show, there probably aren't much better examples of it than this one.
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