2012-08-29 Oklahoma City, OK

8/29/12 Oklahoma City

I'm genuinely excited to hear low-rated shows because I usually enjoy them better than most others
First off, the last show had the rarities, but this one looks straight up Rock Show Bonanza, setlist-wise. For me, that's always a plus.

Let's see if this disappoints me or not, haha


Set 1

Kill Devil Falls - Love this song and I find it's not an opener as often as I think it should be. A great pick to kick the doors wide open and get us off to a rocking start!! Really great version that is pretty lengthy and kicks all kinds of tail!

Rift - An absolutely killer, nearly flawless reading! The kind of Rift Phish in 2022 can only dream of, haha. A+ Rift!!! Seriously, the guys freaking NAIL this Rift to the board!!!

Wilson - Dude, the energy is off the charts!!!! This is like Pelham all over again! Before this, Trey mentioned the guys specifically wanted to play at this venue and the enthusiasm is palpable. Hot Wilson's are a dime a dozen, but this one really shines. Absolute destruction.

>Backwards Down the Number Line - Yup, I'm calling that a segue!! And again another terrific version! Trey is ripping it up, hitting all the right notes, so to speak, really just making this one lift off. In reality, ok, there isn't anything special or memorable about it, but dag nabbit it's really freaking good!!!!

Moma Dance - KILLER! Yes, it's the same as every other recent Moma....that is....KILLER!!! Seriously, like with Sand, it's almost impossible to find a Moma that isn't a blast. C'mon now. It's such an easy tune to get going. Love the dynamics on this one. Lots of push-and-pull, back-and-forth, hot-and-cold....KILLER (did I say that already?)

Divided Sky - Alright! Let's goooooooooooo!!!!!!!! The boys (ahem, Trey) nail the song just like Rift. Sounds like they practiced to me!!! This Divided Sky is flawless. I mean, wtf, how the hell does this show have a 2.8 rating?! It's terrific so far! And this Divided Sky is kicking all kinds of ass!!!!!! A+ Divided Sky!!!!!!!!!

>Wolfman's Brother - As with Moma, Number Line and Wilson, there isn't anything special really about this one, it just is loaded with that extra X Factor energy that propels a good version to being a great version! Everyone is in sync and the whole place is together as one! Fantastic Type I perfection!!! Listen to the boys just RAGE!!!

>Axilla - "1, 2!" AND LETS FREAKING GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! *commence extreme headbanging* Holy hell what a transition that was!

>46 Days - Trey moves us out of a destructive Axilla into a world-destroying 46 Days! What the F is this set. This is not the same show everyone else listened to. This show is BONKERS.

Ya Mar - Damn, 66 minutes straight without a break until now. Great version! Play it, Leo!!!!!!! Wonderful Page soloing. Super slinky and fantastic soloing from Trey. Total party on this one, yo. Terrific.

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan - As with Axilla, we basically LAUNCH right into this sucker. That intro is like BAM! And Trey is absolutely ripping it up as expected, yo. Guitar destruction galore. This sucker is downright NASTY and destructive. Holy hell.

Run Like An Antelope - MADNESS! MADNESS I TELL YOU! PURE UNADULTERATED 1.0-TYPE MADNESS! TALK ABOUT A SET CLOSER!


All in all....yea, where the F to begin. This set took me by the head, smashed me repeatedly into the wall and then knee-kicked me in the face over and over and over again. The boys wanted to ROCK tonight and holy freaking mother of Icculus DID THEY EVER! WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING F!!??? THIS SET ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS!!!!!

 

 Merry Christmas everyone!

On to set 2 of 8/29/12 Oklahoma City


Set 2:

Down With Disease - Remember the days when DWD still had FIRE to it?? Yea, this is another one of those good ones! 13 minutes, to boot. As expected, it absolutely RAGES. Around 7 minutes we get the first hints of an emerging jam. Page jumps on the organ and starts doing some sustained chords while Trey starts doing delay "slashes". And we are off!! By 8 minutes, Page has introduced minor key chords and Trey is now doing some Whammy pedal picking around. Fishman is Mr. Fills today and Gordo gets it going with some cool, watery effects. Everyone is locked in and things are jamming great!!! Full steam ahead! Around 10 minutes the mood starts to brighten a little bit. Trey starts doing some wah pedal "trilling" motifs and Page jumps off the organ and back to the keys. Things are looking up and the sun is now shining through the clouds. We are heading for Blissville. By 12 minutes things have cooled off significantly and the ambience is fast approaching. Heavenly bliss jamming. Nice keyboard washes, cymbal washes, Trey sustaining notes, etc. You know the deal. The jam is slowly but surely moving to other waters. At 12:30 Gordo introduces a bass rhythm - sounds like he maybe wants to launch into Reggae Woman? But instead Trey does a "1,2" and we are freaking OFF THE FRIGGIN' RACES.....


Birds of a Feather - DAMN! Talk about a 1-2 punch!!! It's short and sweet, not even reaching 5 minutes. But holy crap the ENERGY we love is hear in spades. Just pouring molten rock and roll fire directly into our ear canals!!!! Face melting, yo

>My Friend My Friend - An unexpected segue but a segue nonetheless! Great version, it spirals to the depths of black hole hell as all good MyFe's do!! HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS WE ARE BEING SUCKED INTO THE ABYSS!!!!!!!!

>Rock and Roll - Another unexpected segue that worked way better than it had any right to! The boys are LOCKED IN - there was no pause at all between the two and they IMMEDIATELY switched songs. Preplanned? Maybe?? AND THIS RnR KICKS FRIGGIN ASS! THIS IS A PARTY! I CANT STOP HEADBANGING AND DANCING MY LEGS TO THE MUSIC! THIS IS KICKING SO MUCH ASS!!!! FREAKING GET IT GUYS!!! ROCK AND ROLL DESTRUCTION!!!!!



SERIOUSLY - You guys have heard the Big Cypress DWD, right? Ok, picture that condensed to 9 minutes. THIS ROCK AND ROLL IS MAGICAL. YES. I SAID MAGICAL. LONG BEACH ROCK AND ROLL AINT GOT NOTHING ON THIS ONE!

What in the F.


>Twist - And of course the ambience dissolves into everyone's favorite "what should we follow that jam with" song as of late....Right away at 2:45 they turn the corner from the song to the jam. Starting with jazzy Type I as usual, Page and Trey are playing very much together, echoing phrases in sync. But then they "drift" apart and start their soloing again. Right around 4:30 things turn again towards ambience. But this time the boys actually enjoy it for a few minutes instead of it immediately signaling a song change!!! Beautiful Type II ambient bliss!!!! Sounds great to have Page on the piano once again playing "along" with Trey's phrases. The boys are keeping it slow and steady, just floating on that velvet sea, baby! Absolutely gorgeous!!!!! Trey sounds like's ready to move on a few times but keeps deciding against it. Slowly the ambience gets more and more, well...ambient. By 7 minutes Trey is just holding extended sustained notes and hints of darkness are approaching the fringes of the music. But at 7:27 the jam comes to a perfect natural closing and Trey leads us straight back to the Twist theme! Absolutely terrific A+ "micro" jam!!!!!

>If I Could - AND LIKE BUTTER WE SLIDE INTO IF I COULD!!! ONE OF THE MOST ABSOLUTELY PERFECT SET PLACEMENTS IVE EVER HEARD! HOLY HELL!!!! Ugh, it's absolutely beautiful. Way to go guys. My mind is just blown right now. Holy $#!T

>Light - Well, I guess the guys came to melt our faces tonight! If I Could ends and IMMEDIATELY Trey launches into one of the most rocked-up Lights this side of your favorite Axilla!! Let's freaking GO! This Light is EXPLODING! If Light was played by 1.0 in, say, 1997, this is maybe what it would sound like. THAT'S how rocked up this one is!!!!!!!!! FANTASTIC!!! Around 6 minutes, we are still Type I, but things are getting slightly demented and are sliding sideways....By 7 minutes Page and Trey are doing the playing-together thing again and we have firmly entered Type II. The tempo and energy is scalding hot. Repeated phrases from Trey's delay, but this is like sizzling steam ready to explode at any moment. Absolutely beautiful as well - underlying ambience beneath the Fishman rhythm-keeping. By 8:30 we reach the all-too-familiar ambient outro. Dang it!!! At least this wasn't a ripcord - the jam "died" a natural death and the segue out of it was perfect. But what was here is one of the best Light's everyone has forgotten about!! DONT MISS IT!!!!

>Harry Hood - Freakin' on point with those segues!!! The boys nail the composed section and it's wonderful hearing the whole audience sing the "Thank you, Mr. Miner"!!!! @Harry Hood what do you think of this one? This Hood is absolutely terrific!!! I swear, by the time of the concluding refrains it felt like it was approaching magic if only they had kept it going longer....

>Character Zero - DESTROYS FRIGGIN WORLDS! GET IT TREY! MELT MY FACE! GIVE ME THE LAVA! PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

>Suzy Greenberg - OFF TO PAGE'S HOUSE WE GO!!!!!!!

Slave to the Traffic Light - They play at a Zoo, so naturally we get a Slave. And as with the rest of this set, it is imbedded with Rock and Roll X Factor Magic. Just a top notch, absolutely slaying Slave.

Loving Cup - In it's usual show-closer spot, my favorites Stones song and favorite Phish cover. This one, as with the rest of this show, has extra enthusiasm and energy out the wazoo! This could easily go on a best-ever list for versions of this song!! It's just stupidly perfectly excellent!!!! ITS A FRIGGIN PARTY!


And with that, boys and girls, I arrive at Dick's. This show was absolutely bat-crap incredible. This felt like Pelham part 2. EVERYTHING was an A+++ version, everything was SUPER high quality, no flubs to be found, energy and enthusiasm ABOUND. People rating this over on .NET are DEAF! I will meet any of them in a back alley and teach them with my fists just how wrong they are about this absolutely destructively incredible show!!!

STRAIGHT TO THE TOP OF THE MOST UNDERRATED SHOWS EVER PILE FOR THIS ONE!!!!