6/30/12 Alpine Valley
Ok, gonna try my best to objective again so we don't have another "everything is awesome" review 
Set 1
My Soul - Unexpected opener that works great! Great solo from Page!
And then of course Trey comin' up the rear tearing our heads off with
some tasty blues licks. Awesome opener!
Daniel Saw the Stone - Awesome!!! Daniel is Daniel but this one
actually had a nifty little vocal jam going on and, surprisingly, felt a
little more "extra" than your typical bluegrass slot tune. Huh. How
'bout that?
AC/DC Bag - Very good as always but nothing we haven't heard before. Good stuff though!
>Moma Dance - Terrific version as always. Love the cool-down section in the middle when Fishman starts scatting on vocals. Incredibly funky!!! Seriously, this is one song that is ALWAYS great and this one is no exception. Absolutely outstanding Moma!!!!
Runaway Jim - Red hot. Slowly builds steam as it goes until by
then end your head is banging and your tongue is hanging out like a dog
drooling for more. 
Let It Loose - Maybe my sleeper favorite Stones song off my favorite
Stones album. Great coincidence as I'm reading a Stones thread while
listening to this as well
Unfortunately this version actually sounds rather anticlimactic to me.
Oddly disappointing. Great to hear but maybe not the best song for Phish
to cover. A for effort!
Reba - The old girl returns! Feels like forever since we've had a
Reba....Awesome version!!! Trey really reaches for Everest come solo
time just churning it all out big time while the guys are raging behind.
Terrific.
Kill Devil Falls - See AC/DC Bag. Great as always but nothing we haven't heard a million times before.
The Sloth - Banging right out of KDF, it's like the cops came and just slammed your door in!!! BAM!!! The boys kill it and it kills.
Ocelot - For some reason this version feels exceptionally "ON" tonight. It's just got that extra bit of oomph to
it for some reason. It's a bluesy steamroller tonight and everyone is
locked in TIGHT. Killer, killer straightahead Ocelot!!!! Really great
soloing. Trey is just taking his sweet ass time, picking and choosing
his spots. He leaves enough space between licks that Page even gets some
oddball runs in hinting as potential for a jam to evolve into something
more. Wow, very cool and natural jamming on this!!!!
>Poor Heart - YEEEEHHHAAAAWWWW!!!!
When the Circus Comes to Town - Excellent version that feels a little more fiery than usual
>Timber - What. Out of nowhere. For Type I 2012 playing it
gets right out there and Trey definitely is just spewing leads all over
the place like a sprinkler, lol. Awesome, awesome, awesome!!!
Oh Kee Pa Ceremony - Oh yes!! The very rare OKP Ceremony. Sounds well rehearsed and kills it.
Suzy Greenberg - Nothing like a raging, redhot, fantastic Suzy to end this very long (94 minutes!) set with a BANG!
All in all, I highly enjoyed this set more than I expected. There
was no jamming to be found besides the Reba jam and Ocelot, maybe
Timber. But again, rarities and good flow and energy out the wazoo led
to this being better than I figured it would be. Definitely better than
6/29 if you can imagine. Great set!!!!
I've been SO lazy with my listening. I had 5+ days off in a row and only got through that 1st set of 6/30/12....
Shame on me....
*aside* You guys know I am not one to complain about "oh boohoo
no jams this show sucks" like a lot of folks, lol. As I always state, I
am a song guy and the jamming is icing on the cake. But I was doing some
reviewing of my 2011 experience (which I loved way more than expected)
and I was right, haha - this first leg of 2012 is totally a jam desert
for the most part. I'm ok with a "jukebox" show or 3 but this tour has
been ridiculous in that regards. Compare it to summer 2011 and you'd
think 2011 was friggin' fall 2018 or something. They've been absolutely
killing it with song selection this tour but good lord I'm STARVING for
some deeper playing here! Observation over
Anyways, on to set 2. I very much enjoyed set 1 and set 2 looks great on paper - let's go!!!
6/30/12
Set 2
Backwards Down The Number Line - Surely the only/one of the only
2nd set opener versions of this. Very odd choice but fits the flow of
the show, believe it or not (imo). Really great, high-energy, type I
version. No sappiness here! Way stronger than expected (and I love the
song anyways).
>Carini - Absolutely smokes!!!! Trey has some
simple musical flubs but nothing approaching derailment. And the energy
is so damn high that they all just plow right through like nothing
happenned. Several minutes of gnarly and inspired Type I follow. Really,
really freaking sick little Carini. It's like a "tiny" monster, if you
will
>Wilson - By virtue of sounding exactly the same every single time
they play it, it's near impossible for me to seriously warrant any newer
Wilson as a highlight. This one does not break the mold but it is still
excellent and keeps up the high energy started with the prior two
songs. Very weird to have it so early in a set but that's cool! Great as
always!
>Golden Age - On the shorter side but feels longer than it is.
Nothing out of the oridnary and the "Type II" still pretty much stays
within the box leading us perfectly into 2001
>2001 - Very short but does the trick great. So
friggin' funky....Fantastic!!!! Can you guys tell me what was going on
during the song that had the crowd going absolutely bonkers (seemingly
more than usual)????!!!! This is one of the absolute best short 2001's I
can recall. Definitely one for a non-album songs compilation!!!!
>Rock and Roll - Heck yes bring it on!!! Get it Page!! Rages
hard until around 7 minutes when we drift into some Type II. Things
slowly get progressively more chill. Piano tinkling here and there with
beautiful sustained notes from Trey. Mike and Fishman pick up on the
pattern Trey is playing and evolve the jam forward from there. Very
awesome stuff to notice. Nobody is soloing - everyone is playing
together. LOVE it! As per the norm for this tour, the song ends in a
brief ambient interlude before leading us into....
>Steam - The only performance this year, no? Anybody have any
idea why it was only played this one time in 2012?! Fantastic!!! Trey
lets it RIP for a few minutes and the 9 minute run time feels closer to
12 or 14 (in a good way). Freaking great little Steam!!! See Carini^^^ 
>Piper - Steam comes to an interesting conclusion. If this was
1998 we would be off into outer space funk or something from this
point, but instead Trey slowly morphs his strumming pattern into Piper.
Cool beans - I was curious how the heck he was gonna transition us! He
slowly morphs us from one song to another allowing the other guys to
follow along rather than ripcording it. A+ for effort, Trey!! Thatta'
boy!!! This Piper covers some very good jam ground and has a few
distinct parts, eventually ending in a great Page/Trey jam that quietly
leads the song to a conclusion. For 2012, this is possibly must-hear
>Quinn the Eskimo - Terrific!! Awesome!!! Check it out now!!!
>Harry Hood - Funny faux-botch of the intro. Just beautiful. Great Hood all around. Really, really, really nice!!!
Character Zero - See Wilson
Good Times Bad Times - SICK
All in all...WOW!!! What a show!!! In this "fast food Phish"
wasteland of a tour this one definitely stood out. A terrific show and
probably the 5th or 6th best of the tour so far. Definitely a keeper!!!
Not quite 6/28 but getting there for sure. The second set was freaking
great. A on all fronts. Great gig! Don't skip it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment