Well, on the second night of the Alpine Valley run, my wish for a more improv-laden show is granted. Barely.
The first set is another almost unbelievably well-constructed affair, bouncing from rarity to staple to ballad without missing a beat or sacrificing flow. Nearly every song is a surprise, but nearly every song works, so it's great. Of particular note is the jam in "Fee," which isn't just a novelty, but is a few minutes' worth of fantastic, full-band jamming. It's followed by a powerful "Maze"/"Coil" combo to close out the set.
The second set is interesting, at least by early 2012's standards. "Crosseyed" starts out with a pretty straightforward Type I jam, but segues nicely into a more abstract, almost-ambient space. That that space is quickly taken over by "No Quarter" is not something I'm going to complain about, because I love me some "No Quarter."
"Light" is a jam monster (if again only by early 2012 standards). It moves really quickly away from the usual arpeggiated Type I jam and into a mellower space that slowly modulates its groove until suddenly...holy shit, it's "Frankie Says"! It's not the full song, but a really thorough jam on the song's chords before the band returns to "Light" to finish it out with a wind-down into "Ghost."
"Ghost" proper is short, but sweet. It's a driving, dark, bluesy jam that prompts some "Still waiting" vocal quotes and is definitely worth a listen.
It's starting to feel like a legit Phish show in here suddenly, but alas there's some jukebox-y action coming during the fourth quarter of the show, with "BOTT," "Farmhouse," "Heavy Things," "Joy," and "Julius" all making an appearance. That said, these songs are definitely played with more verve than normal, and it's hard to fault a performance of even these songs when it sounds earnest instead of phoned-in.
So, I'm happy to call this show one of my favorites so far in this early leg of tour.
The Live Review:
7/01/12: Soul Shakedown Party opener.
7/01/12: Looks like we're in for another rarities-laden opening set. Lonesome Cowboy Bill next.
7/01/12: Surprisingly energetic solo from Trey here. Band yelling and hooting.
7/01/12: And, as usual, by 'band' I mean 'Fish.'
7/01/12: Vultures!
7/01/12: SANS POTATO
7/01/12: > Jibboo.
7/01/12: Nice, jazzy little jam happening here.
7/01/12: Nice, energetic jam in Jibboo. Dirt next.
7/01/12: Liking the jazzy turn this set has taken.
7/01/12: ASIHTOS breaks up the jazzy interlude.
7/01/12: Access Me?!
7/01/12: Well, that's fun.
7/01/12: Meat! I love this tune.
7/01/12: If these guys could combine a 2011/2012 first set with a 2015-2017 second set, they'd have the perfect 3.0 show.
7/01/12: Well, that's not true. The perfect 3.0 show would just be two 2017 second sets.
7/01/12: But the other would be a close second.
7/01/12: Anyway, MEAT
7/01/12: Some fun guitar from Trey during the breakdown. Crowd erupts at Mike taking the lead on bass for a moment.
7/01/12: Frankenstein!
7/01/12: Band a little rough here, but fun to hear it nonetheless.
7/01/12: Fee! Loving this setlist.
7/01/12: Neat arcade-machine-sounding jam coming out of Fee.
7/01/12: Jam turning a bit somber now.
7/01/12: Really cool Fee jam fades into Maze.
7/01/12: Really high-energy take on Maze here. Wow.
7/01/12: Looks like Coil will wrap up a great first set.
7/01/12: Nice Trey/Page duel during the outro jam.
7/01/12: Great first set! A nice mix of songs, very unpredictable but still cohesive. The awesome jam in Fee and th… https://t.co/D0mmn2KdrQ
7/01/12: Crosseyed opener for set two.
7/01/12: Some serious Type I jamming happening here.
7/01/12: Mellower Type I jam with creepy 'Still waiting' lyrics.
7/01/12: Brief moment of uplifting ambient sound before -> No Quarter.
7/01/12: A somewhat out-of-the-box No Quarter solo from Trey there.
7/01/12: Light next.
7/01/12: Band doesn't spend a lot of time in the usual space, moves quickly to something more mellow and bouncier.
7/01/12: Jam almost reminiscent of Coil outro.
7/01/12: -> Frankie Says
7/01/12: Building a bit of melody in now.
7/01/12: Oh, for clarification, that was a sustained Frankie Says jam, but no lyrics. Not the full song.
7/01/12: Synth-y tone from Page and Trey now.
7/01/12: Neat wind-down > Ghost.
7/01/12: Really interesting driving, tense jam forming in Ghost.
7/01/12: This is great.
7/01/12: Smooth move into a bluesy space. 'Still waiting' lyric quotes.
7/01/12: -> BOTT
7/01/12: Extra-short BOTT leads into Farmhouse.
7/01/12: Nice, deliberate solo from Trey in Farmhouse.
7/01/12: Late-set 46 Days is next.
7/01/12: Jazzy Heavy Things makes a good companion to the first set's Jibboo.
7/01/12: Some great Trey/Page interplay here.
7/01/12: > Joy
7/01/12: Julius
7/01/12: Trey ripping on Julius. Then end set.
7/01/12: Standalone Meatstick encore. That's fun!
7/01/12: Overall, a show that really surprised me by transcending what it looked like on paper (another too-straight 2012 show).
7/01/12: Fantastic first set, with a perfect setlist, a legit jam in Fee, and really strong takes on Maze and Coil.
7/01/12: Second set had a nice mini-ambient jam in C+P plus a solid segue into No Quarter. Loved Light -> Frankie Says jam -> Light.
7/01/12: Ghost was short, but exploratory nonetheless, and as much as I want to call a fourth quarter slump after t… https://t.co/btHG6xlNTw
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