7/4/12 Wantagh #2
This show has a weird as hell setlist on paper. Is it just me?
Also, limited commentary tonight - I had a crazy day and am exhausted 
Set 1
Alumni Blues Suite - Fantastic to hear as always. Way to bust a
show right open!!! The guys knock it out of the park - why is this a
rarity when they could play it this well?!
Head Held High - ALRIGHT!!!! WOOHOO!!!! Gotta love it! See Alumni Blues^^^^ 
Freaking ROCKS! No, seriously, this freaking kills!!!! Also, the 2nd and final version played to date!!!
The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday Suite - Weird setlist, right? Third time in a row tonight - great to hear, major rarity, who expected this?!
Kill Devil Falls - The high energy assault continues with a very fast KDF. Almost 9 minutes, this is a rager-heater for the ages. Fantastic.
Bittersweet Motel - Is great. Is rare. 'Nuff said! The version I caught in Charleston '19 was only the second version played since!
>Moma Dance - Kills as always. Feels a little more fiery tonight than the usual chill versions. Rager!! SICK!
Gumbo - Awesome!!! Better than Atlantic City, imo. Also, really great pairing with Moma.
>David Bowie - Really great segue out of Gumbo. The song
portion sounds stilted, but the guys are totally firing on all cylinders
with the jamming. It just sounds oh so cohesive and together in the
most perfect way.
***MY FILE FOR BOWIE APPARENTLY WAS CORRUPTED AND ENDED THE TRACK PREMATURELY. DANG IT
***Alaska - On its way to greatness, my file for this was corrupted as well and went AWOL about halfway through.....***
Susskind Hotel - I FREAKING LOVE THIS SONG! WHY IS THIS THE LAST ONE EVER PLAYED?! AWESOME SONG. AWESOME VERSION. BRING IT BACK, YO!!!!
Hold You Head Up/Purple Rain Suite - SKIP!!! After my 1993 marathon I never need to hear this ever again. EVER.
The Star Spangled Banner - A capella. Sick!!! A+ for effort
All in all, I went into this set expecting the worst and was VERY
pleasantly surprised! In the context of the year/tour, nothing here will
make end-of-year best-of lists, but in the context of the show, the
first set was fantastic! Great flow, more than a few MAJOR rarities and
bustouts, and enough rocking energy to shake a stick at. Type I Jukebox
Phish done RIGHT!!! 
Set 2
After Rock and Roll, the back half of this set falls off a sheer cliff in terms of song selection. Let's see how it is anyways
Boogie On Reggae Woman - Awesome as always. Can't recall the last time hearing this as a set opener. GET IT GORDO!!!
>Tweezer - 11 minutes of the best Type I raging you've heard all summer. Holy freaking crap. Incendiary! Descends into the expected Type II segue section for the final 2 minutes. Ripcorded into Twist....
>Twist - Absolutely beautiful. Great Type I ala that Tweezer
slowly morphs into blissful and heavenly Type II. Must-hear improv, imo.
Wow!!! This is spectacularly wonderful!!!!!!!! DO NOT SKIP HOLY CRAP!!!! It pretty much fades out and Trey launches right into....
>Taste - Is it just me, or is this kinda a rarity now? Feels like I haven't heard Taste in ages! As for this rendition, see my notes for Tweezer^^^^ Fantastical!!!
Quinn The Eskimo - In the middle of the set?! Huh. Ok!!! So much fun! Awesome, awesome, AWESOME Page soloing on this sucker. Just fantastic!!!
>Julius - Again, middle of 2nd set?! Not the opener or encore or set closer?! Wow! It's
great, but nothing out of the ordinary and perhaps a small step down
from the likes of Taste and Tweezer. Sure its awesome, but if those 2
are the benchmarks for tonight, this one just slightly falls short of
list worthy
>Rock and Roll - Before the final notes and beats of Julius have even occured, Trey launches into RnR!!!! This RnR is absolutely incendiary. "ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT ALL FRIGGIN RIGHT WOO HOO!!!!"
>The Horse/Silent In the Morning - BOO! NO! SCREW YOU GUYS! C'MON, MAN!!!! 
Rock
and Roll is dissolving into more ambience and they follow it up with
one of the ultimate set killers (imo!).....Ok, at least it wasn't
ripcorded, but this is pretty much the last song I want to hear after
that sick performance that was all too short. NEXT! Ok, it's actually a
strong version but not what the doctor ordered....
***Ok, from here on out, look at this hellish setlist. I enjoy all these songs but all in a row at the back end of set 2?!***
The Horse/SITM
Harry Hood
Shine a Light
Show of Life
Slave to the Traffic Light
Sleeping Monkey
Tweeprise
Not trying to be negative, but dude....wake me up in 40 min, ok? Golly....
>Harry Hood - Segued from SITM. A definite pick me up, but I'm not a
Hood guy so it really doesn't do that much for me. That being said,
strong A for effort on this one. It's too short for it's own good, but
Trey is playing absolutely beautifully on it.
Shine a Light - Really great version!!! Trey's vocal is
particularly impassioned tonight and this is surprisingly full of
energy. Wow! Great solo, great version. Nuff said!!
Show of Life - Utterly fantastic rendition. Just fantastic. What
else to say? Not much, really. It's SOL. I love it. You should too.
Don't skip this one!!!
Slave to the Traffic Light - It's Slave. It Kills
Sleeping Monkey - ....not my favorite song
Tweeprise - Is Tweeprise
All in all, an extremely surprising show! Look at it, it reeks of
"Jukebox Phish", but there were several strong jam moments and the
energy was through the roof. Trey in particular was having a total "ON"
night for the most part. In the context of their career and even this
tour, this is a forgettable show, but if you forget about rankings and
comparisons, this was a highly enjoyable show!!!! I'd say the rating on
.NET is accurate. This will never win any awards, but if you want a
no-nonsense show you don't have to focus to hard on, check this one out.
Driving material, in other words.
Not a classic, but neither is it a show to be snubbed either. Hard
to describe this show, but I'd say it's well worth at least one listen
if you decide to do a 2012 dive!
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