2012-07-06 Saratoga, NY

 7/6/12 Saratoga, NY

Set 1

Runaway Jim - Great opener, but felt a step below the prior shows intensity level.

Ocelot - Really, really great version tonight. Trey takes his sweet time, making it extra bluesy. Lots of patience with his playing in this one. Great version!

Heavy Things - Feels a little too fast for my liking, but Page gives an absolutely spectacular (!!!!) piano solo that edges this onto the highlights list.

Back On the Train - Absolutely fantastic Type I version that is just perfect in every way. A++ Check out Trey's friggin' sustained note from hell at 6:40!!!!!!

Funky B - Excellent as always but doesn't feel like anything special. Funky B is ALWAYS great, ya know?

Tube/Psycho Killer/Tube - Now THIS is what I'm talking about! In an age of "always great but rarely special" Tubes, we get this little combo. Bring on the party, boys!!! SICK!!

HYHU/Cracklin Rosie/'Friar Tuck' Suite - I know I hate HYHU, but this is different than the usual Purple Rain fare WHY NOT TUCK THRICE?! This is Phish being fun in the best of ways.

***If I was in a better mood (poison ivy all over my face...) I'd be raving about this set more than I am. It's been more enjoyable than I'm letting on ***

Stash - Nothing too impressive for most of it. Usual very good Stash fare - until the final few minutes when they go off the deep end! Pianos swirling, Trey absolutely assaulting his helpless guitar, and the darkness descends for a few wonderful moments of time....If the final 2 or 3 minutes didn't happen, it wouldn't be on my list, imo.

Bouncing Around the Room - Is BATR.

Paul and Silas - A nice changeup for the bluegrass slot. Notable for the fabulous piano shredding from Page

Horn - Is Horn (How many "regular" songs are we gonna get in a row?!)

Corinna - Chill in the best way possible. Page is still MVP on this. All about his keys, yo. Absolutely terrific.

Light Up and Leave Me Alone - Everyones favorite cover, no? Very strong reading that sees the boys bordering on "taking it for a ride". The Type I really gets out there (you know it's ON when Gordo is using effects!!). A pretty A+ reading of this sucker, imo. Talk about ending the set on a bang!!!



All in all, I definitely preferred set 1 of 7/4/12 on a personal level. I thought that had better flow and worked terrifically from start to finish as a whole. This was an excellent set - and while the highlights were absolutely higher than those of the last shows first set - as a whole this set was a little bit more "pick and choose", if that makes sense. A higher level OVERALL but maybe not clicking from song to song like the first set prior. Just an observation between the different kinds of sets we get. But on the whole this show is living up to it's 4.5 rating thus far.

 

Set 2

Chalkdust Torture - Always a favorite choice of mine to open a set. Unfortunately this version does absolutely nothing noteworthy. A fine version but I've heard a million better.

Carini - After some tasty delay echoes to send CDT on its way, we launch into Carini. At 4 minutes the monster takes over and we drop into the abyss. Really cool section where Trey is abusing his Whammy and wah, Page is pounding on the low keys, and Fishman is creating an epic stomp on the drums. It sounds like Bigfoot or Godzilla is slowly crushing onwards towards you, trampling everything in his path. Extremely cool stuff!! Eventually they somehow manage to slowly morph us into some chill bliss to send us on our way. How insane is it that they can create such epic soundscapes in the span of 5 minutes?!!?!

>Sand - Again starting oddly with Trey's guitar lick, Fishman seems hesitant to jump in for a few bars. Exceptional Type I Sand!!! Trey is just DESTROYING WORLDS on this one!!! NOT EXAGGERATING THIS IS SOME 1995 INSANITY TREY IS PUMPING OUT! HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP!!! The final 2 minutes see him echoing Raleigh 1999 and busting out all kinds of epic effects, much to the crowds delight. Alas, it is not meant to be and he decides to kill the song in favor of....

Rose are Free - Really?! You killed that budding monster for ROSES?! For shame!!! Look, it's a great version, but I refuse to highlight this out of principle. Ok, I relent - but only because it REALLY is a terrific reading of the song. Seriously. A+ reading.

Punch You In the Eye - Again with the set placements this summer!! Middle of 2nd set?! OK! My favorite Phish song is ALWAYS welcome! Unfortunately this isn't the most well-performed version I've heard, but there's also nothing wrong with it really either. See Chalkdust above^^^^

>Sneaking Sally - Punch ends in the usual 2012 Ambient Segue transition we are all used to and goes stupendously into Sally!!!! And what a Sally she is! THIS SUCKER IS OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!! Freaking sick vocal jam in the middle of the instrumentals, raging funk, ripping leads.....this baby has it all!! At 5 minutes we are clearly heading for that Type II we have been craving. The boys tear it up until 7:45 when Trey pulls a ripcord in the middle of a jam just to change direction. What. Please don't do that jarring crap ever again. Thanks. Trey begins some new, uptempo shredding leading the boys into a Rock-and-Roll-on-steroids kind of jam. Big Cypress Disease, anyone? This goes for a while, wreaking havoc, but slowly things get more maelstrous, like a swirling vortex of sound. Absolutely incredibly 1.0-worthy Sally. This is an all-time jam, for sure. MANDATORY LISTENING. I can't get over this. What the hell.....

Ghost - Out of the storm, we arrive at Ghost. Hot dang, anyone got a towel?? Ghost sounds great - it features the lilting drawl of Sally, really laid back and vibing. Not gonna try to comment on this. The improv goes deep and picks up where Sally left off. This Sally>Ghost is one of the best jams of the summer. Easily. Fantastic!!!!

>Suzy Greenberg - Somehow, in the middle of deep space, the guys just LAUNCH into Suzy. And it doesn't even feel like a ripcord. It just...works. Great! Absolutely killer Suzy. Raging and red hot as always.

>Run Like an Antelope - It's Antelope. It Destroys. Need I say more?

Loving Cup - Always great. Always awesome. Perfect capper!!!



All in all, an absolutely incendiary show!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Top 5 or 6 of the summer so far!!!! The second set is like one non-step volcano eruption! The whole thing is amazing but that Sally>Ghost is MANDATORY listening and lives up to the hype. Holy hell this show killed me! A+ guys!!!