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PLEASE READ!! - Welcome to Warewolf95's "Idiot Review" archive!!

 Howdy folks! As the title says, welcome to my archive of live show reviews as I have posted on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums website! I pr...

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

2012-06-24 Cuyahoga Falls, OH

 6/24/12 Cuyahoga Falls

This looks very "jukebox Phish" tonight. That's ok as long as they bring the heat! :p

Set 1

Sample in a Jar - Perennial chomper opener favorite. Great stuff - gets the energy going immediately.

Tube - Oh yes, Tube in 2nd slot and we are cookin'!! Get it LEO!!!!!

Axilla - FREAKING SLEDGEHAMMER HEAVY TONIGHT!!! Short but super sweet! Nothing special but always great to hear :p

Bathtub Gin - Strictly Type I, just hammering away. Very to-the-point. You will never remember this version after the show, but in the context of the set it's strong enough!

Roses are Free - Oh man, what the playing is lacking in length is MORE than made up for in strength and passion tonight!!! Again, another version you'll forget afterwards but in the moment is as strong sounding as any other Roses played. So much energy tonight!!!

Limb By Limb - Absolutely fantastic!

Free - Sounds slow and sluggish outta the gate. That's not good. Thankfully the extra sludginess just adds to the vibe and we get a pretty strong version with Gordo absolutely tearing it up and Trey following close behind.

>NICU - PLAY IT MOTHER EFFIN LEO!!!!! EXTRA rocket sauce on this NICU tonight! Purely Type I but the best of the best :D Also, the crowd is SUPER into it as well which only heightens the energy.

Possum - Is Possum. Is very hot. Is nothing special :p

The Wedge - Great as always. See Sample and Possum :)

Corinna - Very nice but not my favorite song so....

Meatstick - Haven't heard a Meatstick in a good while. Love Page's synth soloing on it. Great fun as always and a fun way to end a first set. Great version!



All in all, definitely a skippable set. There was nothing wrong with it at all but in the grand scheme of things I don't think a single thing from this set is ultimately THAT must-hear or memorable. If you must, I would grab the LxL>Free>NICU

 

Set 2

Golden Age - Short but terrific jam. Raging goes to jazzy fun to deep space ambience. Worth a listen for sure!!

>Ghost - Absolutely incredible segue/journey into Ghost from GA. Check that never-ending synth/delay that just keeps going. You will know it when you hear it. Very annoying :p Terrific Type I rager version of Ghost - well, again, until the last few minutes where things get a little whacky and we somehow come out into....

>Sweet Virginia - What. How did we get here. :p Awesome!!! This is the final version to date out of 4. But this sounded great!!! Bring it back, guys!!! :)

Rift - Excellent version but nothing special. It Ain't 2019. Great Rifts are a dime-a-dozen for now :p

>Tweezer - "HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY MEAT IF YOU DON"T EAT YOUR PUDDING!!!". Right when the jam starts Trey says that and the guys launch into, funnily enough, a full-on Tweeprise groove for a minute. Huh, how about that! Soon after things morph into a much darker and sludgier sound. Then Trey starts getting weird with the microphone - Ice Ice Baby and Under Pressure pop up together, lol. Not sure if this is awesome or horrendous but it sure is FUN! The band then attempts to jam Under Pressure with Fishman on vocals!! But that doesn't happen and we launch back into...Meatstick. What. What even is this Tweezer. :p And then it all just ends as quickly as it began. What. I don't even know but I am disappointed, lol

>Walk Away - Tweezer fizzles out but Fishman slowly brings the beat up and we seguely perfectly into Walk Away. KILLER. Really, picture this as Tweeprise though as that is the jam they go into. So basically Tweezer>WA>Tweeprise without vocals :D FREAKING SICK!!!!

>The Horse/Silent In The Morning - Well, the come down had to happen eventually, eh? :p

>Piper - SITM is fading out and Trey launches into the Piper riff. But he waits a minute for the other guys to catch up. Kind of a delayed segue, haha. The jam falters for a bit fumbling for liftoff, but eventually things click and Trey just starts unleashing killer leads left and right. Again we end up in super dark deep space with rumbling synths and bass. But still only for a minute. Wtf.

*Side note - that has been the big theme this tour - easily and quickly reaching outer space, staying there for 1-2 minutes and then just as quickly leaving it. And it hasn't been "ripcords" like it was in 2011. The transitions out are fine. But it's like they get out there too fast and jump the gun, scaring themselves back into submission or something. It's THERE. They CAN do it. They just aren't! Frustrating!!!

>Waste - Leaving Piper all too shortly, we segue beautifully into my favorite Phish ballad. I will never understand the hate - the song is gorgeous. And I gotta say after all the fire spitting so far this was actually welcome in the set for me. Great placement.

Run Like an Antelope - Meatstick teases. Gnarly as hell. Machine Gun Trey. Killer

Loving Cup - My favorite Stones song and the cover I always welcome. Always a highlight for me :D

Tweeprise - PROPER :p Walk Away teased us but we get the real deal to send us out :)



All in all, get that Limb By Limb>Free>NICU from set 1 and then probably this whole second set. Tonight was absolutely a step down from the last show and the 2nd set was lacking substance at times (despite how good what was here was). It just felt slightly "less than the sum of its parts". I'm sure an absolute blast to be at in person and a very FUN show for sure. But definitely nothing here to be remembered for all time. I don't know it's weird - not a poor show by any means at all and as you can see the 2nd set is absolutely loaded start to finish with fun and energy. I'm probably way overthinking this show - this is one to just throw on and turn your brain off and have a blast to. The 3.8 rating on .NET is probably adequate. This was like fast food Phish. Great in the moment to fill the void but nothing you'll be bragging about later on

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