2012-08-19 San Francisco, CA

 Continuing my one-show-every-2-months marathon of 2012. This has been the worst summer I've maybe ever had and unfortunately listening took a back seat to all the crap, awfulness, drama and stupidity of the past 3 months....

First my heart issues in July. Then my grandmother being sent to the hospital for likely (but not completely certain) cancer diganosis. All the drama of that. Then major problems between me and my uncle and getting our business going (problems with money and equipment + all the stress with that...), then some of the worst fights and blowouts we've ever had since I moved here in 2015. Me having problems with undiagnosed ADHD and getting that resolved with doctors...Then all the stress of nana coming home from the hospital having to care for her (which I'm happy to do!! Love her more than anything!), deal with doctors and everything, etc etc....

Now we've all had the flu (yes it is the FLU) for the past 2+ weeks. All 3 of us. And it's been horrendous. Not looking for sympathy, just venting, haha.

THIS SUMMER WAS A NIGHTMARE

Yea, listening has been low- priority

On to 8/19/12, San Francisco
On paper it looks great. First set has some good choices and 2nd set looks a party.
Here we go!

Set 1

Crowd Control - Good enough version to get us on our feet and get the show started, but still not my favorite song, haha. I'm pretty forgiving (you guys know that ) but this song just doesn't sound like Phish to me....or something. Surely you guys get what I'm thinking? Sounds like a Creedence song or something That being said, love Page's keys on this one and for a Crowd Control, it's really one of the better ones I've heard! Great start! High energy, not dragging, musically interesting (for CC, anyways!).

Party Time - Great as expected. Guys, c'mon now - just stop with Crowd Control and open the show straight with PT. I mean, y'all did it for me in Charleston in 2019 and it had the desired effect! Great version. Nothing special - you get what you expect, but the energy and enthusiasm is high. Dance party. Good stuff!

Axilla - Sloppy but fun. Techincally we've heard better, but it's Axilla. It's only 3 minutes long. It rocks. Get over it.

Reba - MAGICAL VERSION!!! Absolutely one of the very best early 3.0 version ever! They don't get much better than this! FANTASTIC REBA!!!!

Free - Can't remember ever hearing Free out of Reba like this but golly does it work!!! A+ set placement! Absolutely sick soloing from Gordo.

>Mound - And the hits keep comin! Excellent version, definitely practiced! KILLER!

>Walk Away - Hard to believe, but this is the twelfth version of WA since 2009. What was such a rarity at one point has returned to semi-regular rotation. Thank goodness. Cuz it's great as always. SHRED IT, TREY!!!!

NICU - Nothing special. Very relaxed sounding. The crowd is into it big time. Very fun!

Back on the Train - HOLY CRAP get it Trey! Wah-tastic!!!! NASTY! ABSOLUTELY FRIGGIN FILTHY!!! A+ BOTT!! HOLY CRAP!!!!!

Gotta Jibboo - See BOTT. Just absolutely raging-on-fire Type I greatness. Fantastic.

Roggae - Smashing! Beautiful yet powerful. Gorgeous piano and vocals.

David Bowie - Early on the riff there, Page Jam gets pretty maniacal. Awesome Bowie.


All in all, an absolutely smashing first set! From Reba onwards it's all pretty much must-hear. Even the lesser stuff at the start of the set at least had great energy and vibe!!! Seriously though, jump in at Reba and just follow it on through. A+ first set!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

 

Set 2

Crosseyed and Painless - Type I raging until about 7 minutes in Page introduces an ascending keyboard line that everyone latches onto. This pushes the raging even harder. This goes til 9:30 whereupon the guys morph into a more gallopy, slightly ambient kind of zone. Things have now taken a sharp turn into unsettling darkness. Fishman is still keeping the tempo urgent and up, but everyone else is now laying down some dark space-funk time stuff. Very unique - I can't say I've heard a jam like this before! 10:40 and the tempo finally adjusts downwards. Bring on the synth washes and bass bombs! We are officially in Type II Space Land! "Still waiting" quotes from Page on the keys, but Crosseyed has been left FAR in the rearview mirror! By 11:40 we have turned the page into pure ambience with Fishman now sitting out momentarily leaving the other three to noodle around for the next direction. The darkness seems to be subsiding for more uplifting pastures, but this is still totally ambient. Gordo takes a prominent role by this point (13 min) with Trey putting some pretty noodles on top and Fishman working his way back in on some woodblock/rim shot action. At this point it feels like a typical Summer 2012 bliss-out to conclusion like we've heard so many disappointing times this summer. But at 14 min Gordo drops a bass synth bomb as if to say "no guys, keep going!". By this point the guys could easily bust out No Quarter - that's what kind of zone we are in right here. Fishman on minimal tapping noises, Trey doing some Dave's Energy Guide kind of picky stuff, Page washing in and out on the keys. The guys sound lost now for what to do, unfortunately. They've gone out into the deep seas but seem to have forgotten how to get back to shore! Oh no! This isn't good! Finally around 15:45 Fishman comes back with some beats on the kit proper and things are slowly building back up. Thank heavens! This jam was real awesome and got real disappointing very quickly. Lots of trying hard but without too much pulling off, ya know? A++ for effort, let's put it like that. But this was a pretty awkward jam. Dare I say the 9 minutes of Type I was the best part. But hey, beggars can't be choosers! Give us our wacky Phish because otherwise I'll be complaining about sets being too "songy"

>Light - Ah yes, the payoff!!!! A darn perfectly placed segue if I've ever heard one! Gave me chills actually. Out of the Crosseyed washout, Trey tosses in the Light riff so perfectly it's not even funny. Now THAT's how you segue!!! 4 minutes in and things are already starting to go ever-so-slightly sideways to the noting observer. Trey and Page playing around the key and tossing in "outside" notes and things like that. Fishman is absolutely destroying his kit - sure makes up for his absence on Crosseyed! By 5:45 things are really starting to get jagged!!! We are in the "transition" part of the jam where it is just building and building, slowly and more feverishly by the second! This sounds like a train barreling down the tracks at 150mph about to come off and wreck at any second! By 7 minutes Trey is giving us "still waiting" quotes, Page is on the church organ, and the whole thing sounds like it's going to explode. But then a few seconds later we reach a turning point - after a massive group crescendo (freaking awesome), Trey launches onto his wah pedal for a burst or two before everyone pulls in behind him for this next movement. The guys waste no time going into "quiet funk" mode. This is terrific! Everyone is just playing their damn hearts out and the jam is killer. Slightly ambient, pretty funky, all kinds of hazy! By 9 minutes and things have quieted down. Page jumps on the synths for some real cool soloing. Sounds like Jerry's midi-flute kind of stuff! Very Meatstick-ey. The other three lay it down good and let Page go to down, slowly building a solo. This turns into Page playing with different sounds and effects for a minute or two. By 11 minutes with Page still soloing away, the other guys bring up their intensity a bit and we return to a more full-band jam style. Killer stuff!!! Trey takes prominence, doing some bluesy shredding on top of the foundation the rest have laid down. At 13:20 the beat stops and Page is left hanging for the other guys to rebuild beneath him. Not the best call, but it allows the guys to quickly restart the jam with another new theme. The Rage Page soloing atop an ascending motif from the other 3. Welcome to Leo's House! And then HOLY FREAKING CRAP THAT PEAK AT 14:20 WHERE TREY JUST BUSTS THE EFFIN DOOR WIDE OPEN LIKE "LISTEN HERE MOTHER EFFER'S WE ARE HERE TO DESTROY YOUR FACE!" And then the most perfectly placed Sneaking Sally segue ever played. WHAT IN THE EFF THIS WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>Sneaking Sally Through the Alley - WHAT WAS THAT SEGUE HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!
And out of the song we go into a great funk jam. Lots of piano and just layin' it down thick. Killer. This turns into absolutely FACE MELTING raging insanity! HOLY CRAP WHAT IN THE HECK!!!! THIS IS INSANE!!!!!!!!! We even get a proper Crosseyed Reprise! Dude! INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*head explodes *

THAT WAS 45 MINUTES OF SOME OF THE BEST PHISH EVER! GO CHECK THAT SEQUENCE OUT RIGHT NOW!

>Theme From the Bottom - Rising from the ashes of that ridiculous pile of craziness like nice, cool water on scorched tongue. So perfect!!! A+ type I Theme From the Bottom. Very powerful and just full of gusto. Killer.

>Rocky Top - YYEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWW LETS FREAKING GO!!!!!!

Boogie On Reggae Woman - Exactly as always but so freaking good.

>Meatstick - Is Meatstick. Came out of nowhere.

Bug - Is excellent as always but nothing special. Good placement.

You Enjoy Myself - Didn't see this coming! Perfect out of Bug! BOOOOOOOOYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely terrific version loaded with extra mustard and slightly unusual (for 2012 YEM's) jamming in parts. Terrific.

Ride Captain Ride - Is rare. Is awesome.

Tweeprise - PERFECT EPIC ENDING TO A FRIGGIN EPIC SHOW/SET!


All in all, yea....I enjoyed this show immensely. The guys ABSOLUTELY FRIGGIN KICKED MAJOR @$$ TONIGHT IN EVERY WAY!!!! That Light>Sneaking Sally>Theme was the highlight for sure, but the entire 2nd set slayed. Set 1 was primo as well - tight versions, a nearly must-hear Reba and rarities abound. A+ shows. The 4.6 rating on .NET might be ever-so-slightly inflated, but this gig is definitely a 4.3 or so. At least.

KILLER. KILLER. KILLER. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?! GO PLAY THIS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!