2012-12-28 New York City, NY

 Onwards to New Years as MSG 2012!!!

Show 1, 12/28/12, has another of those patented "every overplayed song of the summer in one set" setlists.

GROAN!

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan - Like the Dead opening 2nd sets with Victim Or the Crime, I don't hate the sing, I merely think it's an atrocious opener. Slow and sludgy does not get me going no matter how good it usually is. Thankfully it redeems it's awful set placement! The guys are cookin' and BRING IT from the get go!!! Great version!!

The Moma Dance - Ooh, a slightly groovier than usual vibe on this one. EXTRA FUNKY (if that's even possible - ?!?!?!). Ya know how they played everything in Fall 1997? Yea, this one is like that. Trey keeps his playing pretty damn buttery smooth and relaxed throughout. On the whole, this Moma is chill in the most excellent way. Some might here it as tired, but to me it sounds RELAXED. And there is a BIG difference!! Excellent Moma!!!

Funky B - Trey is still very "absent" from this one like in Moma, but unfortunately, as good as Gordo's bass playing and Page's organ soloing is, you just need some ripping Trey to elevate FB. A fine version but no reason to highlight this one. He does rip it out by the end, but still it's just another fine Funky B. You're never going to seek this one out on purpose, ya dig?

Army of One - Great choice!!! On .NET the reviewers were saying this was bad set placement/poor song choice, but it works great for me!! After a few relative barn burners, it feels perfectly placed, just about. Always great to hear, I consider this an underrated gem that deserves more play time for sure. It's not the greatest version ever played. It's about on level with the Funky B just prior. But it's still great to hear. Not quite list worthy for the rarity alone, but it ALMOST reaches highlight level!

Tube - Awesome little Tube!!! Slightly longer than your usual early 3.0 version (still not long enough....) but the jamming is terrific!!! Type I majesty!!! Trey is just spewing wonderful leads left and right, perfectly placed and timed, perfect note choice.....And Page on the keys of course....AWESOME LITTLE TUBE!!

Stash - For some reason, this one didn't do anything for me. It was performed excellently but like Funky B it felt like a lesser rendition of which we've heard a million better ones. Nothing wrong at all with it and a fine Stash, but not list worthy for me!

Neillie Kane - Is Nellie Kane

Kill Devil Falls - Perfectly timed! Not that the set was dragging, but this was the perfect song choice for this slot! Really wakes us back up! Like recent versions, the jam starts nice and chill, the guys building a foundation from which to build upwards, ya know? This is an awesome KDF. It just SLOWLY builds and builds and friggin' BUILDS!!! It's one where you don't even realize they are slowly increasing the heat every second until you look down and realize you are on fire already!!! FANTASTIC!!!

Free - Aw yea, keep the headbangin' a-comin'!!! Killer little Free!!! Let it rip, Trey!!!

Wolfman's Brother - Incredible version!! Around 5:30 the Type I jamming starts expanding. Trey lets Gordo take front and center and BOY DOES HE EVER!!! Cactus unleashes more distortion on his bass than your typical Scandinavian black metal record!!! Holy hell, ear piercing bass destruction!!! Phil Lesh would kill for this! The crowd roars their glorious approval and cactus lets Trey have it back, letting him take the lead again. Around 8 minutes both Page and Trey sync up and start DESTROYING WORLDS TOGETHER!!!! Just destruction!!!!! You could say we are still in Type I, but this is about as out-there as Type I gets, that's for sure. By 9 minutes Page is doing his wah keys thing and Trey is just patiently grooving along, placing notes as opposed to shredding it up. Everyone is pretty synced up rhythmically. And then at 10 minutes we get a full-band LITTLE DRUMMER BOY JAM! YES! THIS IS AWESOME!!! THIS IS WHY WE PHISH! Oh my goodness, just when you thought this set was nothing but an enjoyable warmup, they come and throw a magical X Factor jam at you. Holy hell.... ONE OF THE JAMS OF THE YEAR!!! THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST WOLFMAN's EVER!!! ABSOLUTELY MUST-HEAR!!! DO NOT SKIP!!!



All in all, I'll admit that the setlist had me counting out this set before I had heard a note. Shame on me! On the whole this is absolutely not one of the sleeper classics of the year, but neither is it awful either!! This was a highly enjoyable first set, it just wasn't anything SPECIAL for the most part, ya know? You will have a great time listening but in a year you're not gonna be like "Hey, remember 12/28/12's first set?!", does that make any sense? Fast-Food-Warmup-Phish in the BEST way!!!

P.S. - WOLFMAN'S BROTHER IS ONE OF THE JAMS OF THE YEARS. YES, I'M SERIOUS. YOU CAN THROW THE WHOLE SET IN THE TRASH BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT SKIP OUT ON THIS WOLFMAN!!!!! X FACTOR MAGIC!!!!

 

Set 2

Tweezer - Aw yea, you know it's gonna be a party as MSG with a 2nd set-opening Tweezer. And good golly Miss Molly does this Tweezer ROCK!! Seriously, there is so much OOMPH to this version!!!! At around 6 minutes the proper jamming begins. Page pounding on the piano, Gordo takes the first solo slot, just taking his time and letting it rip slowly. No rush. He eventually cedes control back to Trey.     

     By 7:30 Page is just keeping it going on the piano and it's fantastic. Building a bed for Trey to slowly solo on top of, placing awesome legato leads here and there. Again, they are taking their time! This is how I like my jams!!! They are doing the KDF thing again where they are increasing the heat so slowly that you don't even realize it until you look down and see flames!!! 

    Awesome moment around 9 minutes where Page starts playing major key and the entire mood of the jam shifts on a dime!! Suddenly we are in Blissville, USA!!! How the hell did they change it so quick and smoothly like that?!?!??!??! Everyone lays back and lets Trey just coax whale-moans out of his axe. Sustained notes galore like 1999 again. But Fishman is keeping it uptempo and we are moving forward - no drifting into ambience yet! 

     By 11 minutes we are firmly entrenched in this gloriously aquatic soundscape. This is A+ Phish right here. Just spectacularly good jamming. By 12 minutes we are still riding the Bliss Train, but things are slowly changing yet again. Fishman starts slowly removing the drums and we drop down to a whisper of a rhythm. All cymbals, if you know what I mean. Page is on the piano playing along with Trey, both just picking out nice little melodic leads. Nobody is "soloing", this is full-band jamming! This is great - they are taking their damn time, making the most of each mood and "section" of the jam, instead of just constantly shifting.  

    By 15 minutes the mood is shifting yet again. Things are still major key but slowly growing more and more "angsty". Fishman is slowly re-building the momentum, adding in tons of drum fills and the crowd begins to cheer as they notice them starting to ascend once more. Trey is doing lots of chord-soloing, just vamping really as part of the ensemble. Around 16:30 he starts a rhythm and holds it steady, allowing Page to solo on the piano and Fishman to regain a solid tempo/pattern. It definitely sounds like the beginning of "returning to Tweezer", so to speak. 

    By 17 minutes the guys all lock back into a standard "Type I Rock Motif" and Trey starts soloing proper. The crowd roars their approval yet again!!! Wow, this Tweezer is a friggin' JOURNEY!!!!! By 18 minutes Trey is doing his patented "Divided Sky sustained note" stuff, Page has added in organ along with the piano and we are clearly heading towards a hosey rock and roll peak! Tweeprize is basically begging to pop up any second now! And by 19:30 the hose begins!!! 

    LET THE SPRAYING BEGIN!!! The guys just go nuts like they are going to all explode (except they ARE exploding!!!). The guys are ROCKING THE F OUT! But then at 20:45 Fishman reintroduces the Tweezer beat and the song......fades out..... HUH?! No return to the main theme yet?!?!?! BOO!!!!! THAT ENDING SUCKED!! BUT THE WHOLE JAM WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! But it's ok because the cymbal-ridden ending is the PERFECT seamless launch pad for us to go right into....

>Maze - Talk about a great segue!!!!!!! This Maze kicks all kinds of tail, but good lord this is all about Page!!! WELCOME TO PAGE'S HOUSE MOTHER EFFERS!!!! But of course after slowly dipping his toes into the Maze water, Trey eventually reaches the mangled guitar destruction mess of a peak we all know and expect out of a Maze. Basically, first half is all Page, second half is all Trey. And it's absolutely friggin' glorious. Maze is always killer but this was next-level for this period, imo. Really, a TRULY great Maze, imo.

>LITTLE DRUMMER BOY INTERLUDE

>Twist - Hell yes! Cactus switches back on his distortion and leads us directly into the most perfectly placed Twist ever!!! Trey even keeps the Little Drummer Boy fun going at the start, making this a damn party from the get-go!!! It's impossible to not have a smile on your face listening to this. Grade-A fun. This Twist is 10/10 absolutely OUTSTANDING, Grade-A Type I magic!!!! Just a complete RAGER party of the best kind!!!! Holy hell this Twist is INCENDIARY! And to cap it off, Trey gives us a minor-key Little Drummer Boy From Hell at the end!!!

Holy mother freaking crap, that Twist DESTROYED

Theme From the Bottom - Oo wee, finally a breather!!! Really great Type I Theme tonight. On the whole it's really nothing that special, but it's still GOSH DARN EXCELLENT on the whole!!! It's Theme, it does exactly what you expect it to, and it does it terrifically!

>Fluffhead - Well, damn if nobody saw THAT segue coming!!!! And of course the crowd roars their approval! And holy hell they friggin NAIL this Fluffhead! Throw every other 2012 version in the trash, this one is FLAWLESS. Seriously, they did their damn practice with this one. A+++++

David Bowie - A slightly jumbled start, but on the whole a terrific Bowie. See Fluffhead.

Bouncing Around the Room - Is BATR

Good Time Bad Times - Is GTBT. Kills.



All in all...WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY SMOKIN TONIGHT?! GIMME SOME OF THAT! Set one is enjoyable but throwaway aside from the MUST HEAR Wolfman, and then set 2 is pure X Factor Magic from start to finish. Genuinely, this second set was as good or better than the sets at Dick's. I mean, this second set+Wolf is on par, at least, with the famed Dick's 2012 shows. Do NOT skip this show. Absolutely must-hear second set - one of the top 10 of the year, it's that incredible.

2012-09-02 Commerce City, CO

 9/2/12 Commerce City, CO

Dick's 2012 #3

Great looking setlist tonight!

Set 1

Cars Trucks Buses - A+ for rarity and FUN factor! Always love getting this! Works like getting a Party Time or Undermind. Absolutely raging Trey soloing in the back half and great Page throughout as expected. Absolutely wonderful opener. Totally kicks the door WIDE open!!!

AC/DC Bag - Ultra high energy!!! I don't know what it is, but that intangible "x factor" seems to be present where it wasn't during last night's first set. The guys just sound absolutely friggin' PUMPED tonight! In the grand scheme of things it's nothing special, but it's just ridiculously hot and shredded out by Trey. A+ Bag!!!!

>Down With Disease - A DWD in SET ONE following a rip-roaring Bag?! Yea, they came to KICK ASS tonight!! This Disease hints at deeper jamming. The potential is there, but instead they simply bask in the Type I glory and rage this one HARD to the finish line. Awesome transition by Trey back into the theme at 8:45 to finish the song properly!!! Definitely worth your time as a little tiny monster of a Disease!!! One of the absolute best 3.0 Diseases out there as far as being tight, compact, and to the point. Don't underestimate this one!!!

Bathtub Gin - Oh crap, talk about a 1-2 punch! See Down With Disease. Pretty much stays "in the box", but they just ride it so damn hard, pushing the Type I to the limit, milking every last ounce of stardust out of the playing. Absolute Mt. Everest Hose peaking!! HOSE! HOSE EVERYWHERE!!!!

Nellie Kane - Is Nellie Kane. Is Fine. Dang, I needed a cool down anyways!

Sample In a Jar - Hot as hell but absolutely nothing noteworthy in the slightest.

Back On the Train - Feels much longer than it's 6 minute run time. Follows the formula laid down by Bag, Gin and Disease. A+ little BOTT!!

Rift - Aw yeah, remember when they could nail Rift like this?! HOLY FREAKING CRAP CHECK OUT THIS RIFT!!!!

Free - See BOTT!! KICK ASS!!

Ride Captain Ride - Now it's a party!!! Need I say more?! Killer! Rages! WHY IS THIS NOT IN REGULAR ROTATION?!?!?!??!

Maze - For the first half, this is all about Page. Trey doesn't do much for a very long time, content to let Leo absolutely destroy worlds. It's not until 6 minutes that Trey finally steps up and lets it rip. Killer Maze as always.

Halley's Comet - TONS of fun as always and played great, but pretty short (barely 5 minutes). Basically, see Sample In a Jar up above ^^^

>46 Days - What in the hell was that segue?! That was one of the best planned (it HAD to be!) segues ever!!! I was watching the time on Halley's thinking my file might've been corrupt and too short as it was approaching the end of the track, but NOPE!! They literally ended it on a dime and launched like a rocket into 46 Days! Dang!!! This 46 Days is outstanding Type I face smashing!! Takes what Gin and Disease brought to the table and elevates it to the next level!! Absolute guitar mutilation!!!

Possum - Is Possum. Kills. Nothing special



All in all an absolute FACE SMASHER of a first set!! There were clear "jam highlights" early in the set, but the bar was raised very high from the outset and the entire set lives up to it. Exceptionally HOT and tight versions of the songs played, even if they were on the whole nothing memorable. I mean, nobody is ever going to cite this Maze or Free or Back On The Train, but they were still fantastic readings, do you get my drift?? Rift WAS absolutely terrific, as was 46 Days and Ride Captain Ride in addition to CTB through Gin. Also, this has to be the longest first set of any "normal" show I can recall - An 1hr 37 minutes!!!!

TERRIFIC SET ALL AROUND!

  

Set 2:

Sand - 24:30 . Listed by .NET as "the most improvisational Sand yet". Hell hot dang if this doesn't live up to the hype I'm gonna be mighty disappointed! The jam absolutely DESTROYS in the best Type I you've ever heard until around 9:30 the mood shifts. Things get even DARKER if you can imagine!!! Trey and Page both begin experimenting with sustained chords to give tension and release. By 10:30 you can easily say we have achieved Type II liftoff - or descent into hell, if you want! Fishman is keeping the cymbals going but Trey and Page are playing around with sustained feedback squalls with bits of piano noodling thrown in. In comes the whale siren and the bass bombs!!! We have turned the corner into 1999! By 11:30 the THX synths come out and we are playing around with upbeat blissful landscapes. At this point the jam reaches a usual "2012 ambient outro" finale and on any other night this is the exact point where they would end it. BUT THEY DONT! THANK CHRIST!! THEY KEEP IT GOING!!! YES! PLEASE! YES!!! At 12:30 Gordo introduces a new bass motif that Fishman latches onto and we have a completely NEW rhythm and sound happenning!!!!!! Feedback ambience is still prevalent in the background, but Page has turned back to his keys and Trey is beginning melodic runs. Fishman and Gordo are maintaining the interesting shuffle-esque rhythm. THIS IS FREAKING INCREDIBLE!!!! By 14 minutes Trey begins his "whale calls to the heavens" sustained notes. Fishman and Gordo are keeping that new rhythm going and it's fantastic!!! Page and Trey are just riding out this feel, taking their damn time.But then around 15:20 the guys all slowly begin to sync back up, and it almost sounds like Trey could perfectly introduce the Light riff if he wanted to! Thankfully he does NOT, haha. By 16 minutes Fishman turns the page back to a more "standard" rhythm, this time incorporating latin-feeling cowbell motifs on top. Trey is slowly letting out melodic leads and Page is laying it down on the keys. At 17 minutes Page and Trey both turn the energy up and start "scratching" it out as if preparing for an eventual launch into Llama or Buried Alive!! Fishman picks up on this and starts incorporating lots of spastic drum fills. Trey returns to chordal vamping, content to let Page solo in piano for a bit. By 18:30 Trey and Page slowly start doing heavy bluesy figures, along the lines of a 46 Days jam or something. Around 20 minutes Trey starts spraying the proverbial hose and we are shifting firmly into "classic rock Type I rager jam" territory! Page on piano and organ, going bonkers, Gordo laying it down THICK and the boys in general just ROCKING THE F OUT. Seriously though, around the 21 minute mark, the all but return to a 46 Days jam. They could've PERFECTLY segued back into 46 Days right here and blown everyone's minds!!! But instead around 21:30 the boys hit some sustained chords and kill the jam in its spot, making us think we are going to just drift away into ambience like usual. THANK THE LORD FOR JON FISHMAN!!! HOLY HELL!!! HE SLOWLY BRINGS THE SAND RHYTHM BACK INTO PLAY LIKE A DJ TURNING UP A VOLUME FADER!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP THAT WAS ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS IVE EVER HEARD!!!!!! And with that we return to Sand proper and ride it to it's conclusion!! Absolutely incredible A+ jam. Just mind blowingly good.

>Ghost - In another example of one of the best segues you've ever heard, somehow they transform the Sand groove perfectly into the Ghost stomp like someone is using digital audio editing software or something. Absolutely incredible. Around 4:30 the guys shift into Type II. Trey jumps on the wah and things get REALLY murky and dark (not that they weren't already!). Love Gordo just walking all over the damn bass. Trey just honks it up for a few awesome minutes, while Page jumps to pounding the piano keys. Fishman and Gordo are increasing the balls of the jam and slowly we are turning this into an upbeat rock fest! By 7:20 Trey is doing his patented Guitar Hero Destruction and it's just ON! It sounds like we are going up a roller coaster or climbing a mountain!!!! Slowly just ascending upwards, things building and building and building....Around 9 minutes we haven't peaked, but we seem to have reached a new plateau upon which to build. We are in full-on rock show mode with this Ghost now. No funk here!!! Just rip-roaring rock and roll destruction!!! But this quickly subsides around 9:45 when Page jumps back to the guys and starts using HIS wah pedal, leaving Trey to spastically vamp with Gordo, just tearing it up rhythmically, again, like they are prepping to launch into Llama or something. Upbeat Disco Porno Music. This goes until 12 minutes when the dreaded "2012 ambient outro" creeps in once more, this time with Page introducing some calm keyboard playing and Fishman dropping out completely. Almost get some I Am Hydrogen vibes at this point. And it fades out slowly....

Piper - Leading us perfectly into Piper!!! Well hot damn if there wasn't a more perfectly placed Piper!!!! In recent 3.0 times Piper often feels "shoehorned" in rather than coming properly out of something else like this. And hot dang if that wasn't a phenomenal segue!!!! Literally couldn't have been any better. Piper is pretty fun tonight. It's only 9 minutes+ but they definitely go into some cool rhythmic Type II jamming!!! Seriously, this is a weirdo, unique little Piper! DON'T SKIP THIS!!! ITS FANTASTICAL!!!!

>Twenty Years Later - Somehow Piper ends up here! Fits the dark theme of this set very nicely!!! Who knows if this was planned or not, but it sounds really great!!! Doesn't sound like a rarity tonight!! Tight and perfectly performed, a perfect peak for this jam bananza.

The Lizards - PLAY IT, LEO!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously....This Lizards is great as usual but the big reason to hear it is to just bask in the glory that is Page's piano shredding. Fantastic. The melancholy peak on this Lizards is goose-bump inspiring. It's like a massive sigh of relief or an exhale of "completion" for the awesome year they have had. A++++++ Lizards.

Harry Hood - Not much to say. I never know what to say about Hoods. They are always terrific but often sound very alike. This one is no exception. Just an exceptional reading loaded with emotion capped off with the band thanking the crowd for an awesome summer.

Character Zero - Is Character Zero



All in all....WOW!!!! This show was possibly the best of all three shows in my opinion. And 3/4 of this show was among the best Phish played in 2012. Absolutely A+ gig all around.

2012-09-01 Commerce City, CO

 6 shows left to complete 2012. I can't stop now!!

Not sure how far I'll get today but I'm trying to at least get through the first set of Dick's 2012 #2

9/1/12 Commerce City, CO

Set 1

Run Like An Antelope - When the hell was the last Antelope opener?!! Great way to shake up the setlist and kick things off with immediate peaking!!! Trey's playing isn't exactly 1994 guitar destruction on this one, but it's extremely melodic and his phrasing is on point. No "wrong" notes in this version. Just killer lead after killer lead. The "subdued" nature of this Antelope actually works in it's favor and I think gives it some replay value!!!! I mean, it does reach a volcanic peak, but as a whole the great thing about this Antelope is the journey it takes. Terrific!!!!!!

Backwards Down the Number Line - Again, nice to have a setlist shakeup as such. Trey's voice is pretty rough at the start but he quickly recovers. A very delicate and "soft" reading of the song portion!!! Noticeably so. Eventually it builds to a pretty raging peak but nothing we haven't heard in a million other excellent 3.0 Number Lines.

Tweezer - And the setlist shakeups continue!! Around 3 minutes there is a perfectly timed "delay spiral" effect by Trey that is just fantastic. Highlight-list worthy but not the most adventurous Tweezer out there. I guess you'd say it goes Type II, but for the most part it definitely stays in the "Standard Tweezer Jam" box. Still a fine listen though. Ends in the usual minute plus of 2012 ambience.

>Fluffhead - Pretty terrific!!!! The composed section is 3/4 good, 1/4 uncertain shakiness, but not too bad!!! I mean if you're not paying CLOSE attention you won't notice anything but there are a few "stumbles" with being in sync at times. Still a kickass Fluffhead as always.

Roses are Free - See Number Line

Funky B - Absolutely KILLER showcase for Page on this one!!! Seriously, he burns down the effing house on this sucker. PLAY IT, LEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Moma Dance - Great as usual. See Number Line.

When the Circus Comes to Town - A nice change of pace I feel from something else we might usually get. Feels like I haven't heard one in a while. Nothing special but very nice.

Theme From the Bottom - Pedestrian version. Played fine but not even noteworthy enough as Number Line.

Golgi Apparatus - Aw yes, that's more like it! Time to wake back up!! A finely played version that breathes life into this snoozefest of a set.

Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan - Oh good gravy the last friggin' song I need at this point. Is the set over yet?



Outside of the opening quad of Antelope>Fluff, the setlist is as boring as you can make for 2012. This is one of those "I swear they've played this same set 12 other times this summer" sets. There really isn't anything much to say about the music - it's fine, played great on the whole, not much of note, so the next big thing to look at is the setlist and, well, it leaves a lot to be desired! 

 

Set 2

On paper it looks MILES better than set 1, so, let's go


Golden Age - Song goes as usual until at 6:30 Trey leads us immediately into a minor-key area instead. Things "get down low" and groovy. Very "late night 70s funk jam" vibes. Trey just striking out hits, Page doing minimal keyboard touches...Fishman is keeping the Golden Age groove going but the other three are keeping things sparse and dark. Very cool sounding. They ride this mood until about 10 minutes when Trey finally starts sparingly throwing in some solo lines among his vamping. Page jumps to the piano and he, Fishman and Trey all latch onto a new slightly different rhythm. Once the new beat is established, Page goes back to vamping on the keys and Trey starts with the sparse leads again. Gordo is even picking up slack on this one. At 11:30 Page jumps back to some classy piano chording while Trey does a repeating trill motif for a bit. We've changed directions ever so slightly once more. The darkness is receding very slowly and we are edging towards lighter pastures. Very cool to hear them taking their damn time and naturally transitioning instead of jumping once a minute "just because". This is good stuff!! And after a bit more Trey starts power chording it up and he signals the end of the jam with some delays. Not the greatest of all time, but a VERY NICE jam!!! A+ for effort on this one.

>Prince Caspian - Seriously?! You ripcorded that budding jam for Caspian just killing all the momentum dead in it's tracks?! * rolls eyes * Ok, whatever. Thankfully this Caspian is downright excellent!! Trey wastes NO time going into Guitar Hero mode, just tossing out beautiful and melodic leads left and right. Nectar for the ears. Slowly cracks appear and the song starts "decomposing" gradually. By 6 minutes this Caspian is melting down into a Carini!! Very cool push and pull where the band "breaks down" then drags it back together seamlessly. This Caspian is getting twisted and demented quickly!!! By 7 minutes the mood finally makes the proper switch to darker Type II stylings. Trey is just mangling his guitar to bits. Everyone else is just POUNDING out everything they have. By 8 minutes Trey is just going all volcanic eruption on this sucker. I'm getting scared. The uneven tension is real. Are we going dark or light?! Finally at 8:45 the song breaks down into the usual 2012 ambient outro. But it's just a tease!!! Trey starts heavy metal chugging and leads the band back into guitar meltdown rage territory for another glorious minute. THIS WAS OUTSTANDING!!!! DON'T SKIP THIS EFFING CASPIAN, HOLY HELL!!!! THE ONLY THING WRONG WITH IT WAS THAT IT WAS SO SHORT!!! A+++++++++++++++

>Light - Because this is 3.0, we must have light and not darkness The lead in to the riff is jarring as always but still a great set call. The song portion sounds extra well done tonight with Trey's voice in particularly good form on this version!!!! Seriously, the song itself sound exceptionally full of life tonight. Somewhere around 5 minutes, the jamming starts to slowly drift askew a little big like in Caspian, doing the push-pull thing again. But at 6 minutes we shift into Type II just about. Everyone starts playing very quietly. Trey is playing with effects and Fishman has begun adding fills and altering the rhythms. Almost getting into a tropical kind of mood!! This proceeds until 8:20 when Gordo kicks on his FX and the crowd roars their approval. Funky Tropic Island Jam. Around 9:20 all 4 guys sync up into a full-band rhythm, but then proceed to let Cactus solo it up. Absolutely terrific jamming!!! Trey starts playing with delay "spatters" while Page is still plonking away on the keys. At 10:45 the drums completely drop out. Fishman is doing cymbal and cowbell accents slowly adding back in the snare. He and Trey introduce a brand new super funky rhythm pattern that the guys adapt flawlessly to. I'm doing a very bad job describing how seamless and awesome this jam is. This has been one of the best jams of the year so far in terms of cohesion and "tightness". This is how the F you jam. This is absolutely A+ top-tier X Factor Magic Phish jamming. By 12:45 Trey starts a new repeater delay in the background and Page starts doing cool extended holds on the keys. Fishman and Trey yet again instantly lock into ANOTHER new groove that Leo and Cactus are quick to jump onto. This sounds like some awesome band practice exercise or something!!!! Things get light and CHILL!! Not ambient, but RELAXED! Trey picking out an upbeat rhythm with Page picking away on washy keys. We are heading for something blissful until Fishman lowers the dynamics yet again....By 14:45 it's Wah-wah keyboards and Fishman doing cymbal accents. Trey and Gordo are quietly picking and choosing their spots one measure at a time. What the F is this jam! It's INCREDIBLE! Then at 16 minutes someone hits a different zone and things get dark again. Tension is slowly rising bit by bit, with a darker edge. More Carini than Caspian now! By 18 minutes Page has jumped onto the piano and keeps the tension rising, but we aren't exactly melting down or anything. A very unique sound is occuring - Trey is doing melodic trilling in line with the piano and things are staying hot and heavy, but not dark and evil. Very hard to explain. Then finally at 19 minutes Trey starts soloing properly once more in between well-timed feedback squeals. Very slowly, the jam is heading back into major key territory. Things are heading towards the light! Bring on the church organ and the rock and roll drum fills and bluesy guitar soloing once more! We are on the main train to peak ville! For the next couple minutes the guys lead us into Rock And Roll Peak Heaven. Smashing organ and piano, drum bombast, guitar explosions....all culminating in a wonderfully relaxed outro section that is the perfect cool down and send off for the top tier jam.



No joke - that Light might have just been THE best jam of the year so far. It is seriously THAT good. Even by my standards. ABSOLUTELY GRADE-A TOP TIER MUST HEAR OR YOU WILL DIE JAM. HEED THESE WORDS!!


Boogie On Reggae Woman - The complete opposite of the rote versions of the "overplayed standards" in set 1. Absolutely 10/10 A+ Reggae Woman. Listen to Cactus just tear it the F up!!!

>The Wedge - Unexpected song choice and unexpected placement! Pretty good soloing from Trey and this is a fine version but on the whole nothing super special.

>The Horse/Silent In the Morning - See above

Mike's Song - Terrific set placement!!! Perfect pick up!!! Not much to say. It's Mike's Song, it kicks absolute ass and leads, shockingly, into....

>No Quarter - My freaking goodness what a perfect choice!!! Seriously, it fits PERFECT!!!! Trey proceeds to let it all out and just goes bonkers all over this sucker. Absolutely spectacularly awesome.

>Weekapaug Groove - Is WG. Kills.

Sleeping Monkey - See The Wedge

Tweeprise - Is Tweeprise.




All in all, set 2 was an absolute smashing success!!! The Light in particular is immediately a strong contender for jam of the year - it was that fluid and NATURAL!!!! Incredible!!! Great song picks and placement. On the whole this show was an extremely mixed bag but the heights scaled in set 2 were as good as 2012 gets. I think the 4.5 rating on .NET is a bit much but a 4.2 or so would not be out of the question in my opinion. Great show on the whole with one of the best second sets of the year!

The O.G. Live Phish Series In Review - Vol. 1. 12/14/95 Binghamtom. NY

 January 21 2023:

I have less than 3 hours until Starbucks closes tonight, so that means 12/14/95 it is (the next 2012 Dick's show is 3hr 8 min )

First listen through this sucker if I remember correctly.


12/14/95 Binghamton - Live Phish, Vol. 1

Set 1

Suzy Greenberg - Hot as a mother, talk about a great way to open a show! Page rages all over the damn place and Trey is on his auxillary percussion kit during it. Awesome stuff.

Llama - It's 1995. It's Llama. Destroys as expected.

Horn - Works really great in this set placement tonight following the one-two punch of Suzy and Llama. Really, it's just perfect set placement. Surprisingly heavy version!!! I can't put my finger on it, but it's like they are just CRASHING into every chord on this one. Great version!!!

Foam - STUPENDOUS FOAM! 10/10 IN EVERY WAY. Possible contender for best Foam ever??

Makisupa Policeman - You know it's a special show when this sucker is trotted out. Dumb fun as always. Very dank. Great job of making the most out of a 2 chord vamp! Ultra HAZY!!!! Kinda fizzles out into....

>Split Open and Melt - This one sounds extra urgent tonight. More spastic than usual. Definitely extra OOMPH!!! Jamming begins around 4:30. Things stay in "obtuse Type I Melt land" until around 8 minutes. The Melt rhythm is hanging by a thread and Page goes ballistic hitting every single piano key at his disposal. Meanwhile Trey is going insane too. This is like a runaway train about to go off the rails!!! At 9 minutes the guys accidentally move into a new kind of more angular rhythmic section. Things are just slowly getting more and more CHAOTIC by the minutes. This is a full-band meltdown in progress. Around 12 minutes the meltdown subsides and turns into a weird, slower kind of, falling apart little by little jam. But the guys are so TIGHT that even in this chaos, the Melt rhythm is never lost!! They even bring the jam down to a silent stop-start section!!! This "silent jam" lasts for about a minute or so before they end the song properly. This Melt was must-hear. Hard to describe but it was an ADVENTURE!!!

Tela - Beautiful version! Raging peak! Seriously, there are people out there that hate Tela?! Wtf is wrong with people....

Taste - Yea, fog that surrounds blah blah blah whatever, it's Taste. Great version. See Llama.

My Sweet One - Great of course but something has to be non-highlighted tonight GET IT LEO! LISTEN TO PAGE FRIGGIN SHRED!

Frankenstein - Brings the HEAT as expected. A wonderful way to lead us into set break wanting MORE!!!


All in all, set 1 was pretty damn excellent on the whole. There wasn't a single weak spot or performance and the set construction was A+. Flowed like butter!! Split and Foam are the main highlights - that Foam was seriously jaw droppingly amazing. Terrific set on the whole!!!

 

Please excuse my very sub-par reviewing tonight. I'm EXTREMELY exhausted. Sore throat since last night. Didn't sleep much because of that. Felt terrible this morning but had to go cut trees for most of the day. Only reason I even went out tonight was so I wouldn't fall asleep early and screw up my sleep schedule (I absolutely CANT nap )

12/14/95 Binghamton - Live Phish, Vol. 1

Set 2

The Curtain - Preceded by the audience chess move (assisted by Carini!). Great, standard version.

>Tweezer - Didn't see that segue coming!!! This first section of Tweezer tonight is very similar to Melt. Just full on RAGING, band-going-off-the-rails vibes.

>Timber - The TENTH version of Fall '95!!! Who saw this segue coming? I didn't. The segue is pretty jarring, actually, but thankfully they pick right up on it and smooth it out quick. Timber is only about 4+ minutes in length, but they sure take it for a ride. Almost going Type II but not completely (in my opinion).

>Tweezer - Aww yea, the guys LAUNCH back into Tweezer like the trampoline jump-off in YEM!!! SO. PERFECT. I'm not even gonna try to describe this jam. They go through several different distinct Type II sections and it's 10 minutes of pure insanity.

>Keyboard Cavalry/Army - Final version until Dick's 2015.

>Halley's Comet - Insane. What is the song they are quoting around 8 minutes?? This is Off The Rails Vol. 3. Must-hear! Goes into a crazy Type II meltdown.

>NICU - Genuine segue. Another bite-size Type II excursion of crazy randomonium!!! Incredible!! Awesome Page outro ala The Squirming Coil.

Slave to the Traffic Light - It's Slave. It's 95. It Kills.

Bold As Love - see Slave



All in all, set 2 is legendary for a reason. This felt like some of those August 93 shows where they just start doing random crap out of nowhere and you go "how did we get here?!". A terrific show all around. Absolutely worth your time. This would not be the first show I'd play for a newbie though!

 

Charleston 2019 - Nights 1 and 2 - My first shows! - #2. 12/7/19

Dead center 10 rows in front of Fishman

Devil horns

If you see them its me!!! Got on a green glowstick necklace. Surely you can find me now :P 

Fluffhead, Reba and Guyuute all in the first set.

Are you effing with me?!?!?!

Jeez...the killed about 2/3 of my must-see songlist in 2 nights!!!

Also got the first Connection since 2015

Set 2 was IMMENSE

It was a dance party from start to finish with a bit of type 2 madness, insane lighting, and a Page solo to finish the set

Then we get Keytar Frankenstein....

WILLLLSSSOOOONNNN!!!!!!!



I felt like night 1 had more energy and X Factor, but dammit A for sheer effort tonight!!! 

 

Oh man, when they started Crosseyed last night, the whole place EXPLODED

That was insane  

Glad i got a Melt but it was the worst ive heard in a while.

Trey was butchering it and there was no energy to it. Flat as could be. Felt like they didnt want to be playing it or something.

Now, the atonal noise jam was pretty sick, but there was NO buildup to it at all

It was awful -

Song --- >reverse ripcord STRAIGHT into space

Jarring as hell and did not work

BUT, the alien jam and light show were worth it

 

The jam was awesome, but I mean there was no "regular Type 1, slowly morphing into deeper stuff, then maybe some space.."

No, it was BOOM outer space!

Worst. Jam. Transition. EVER.

 

Listening back today, I gotta say they (Trey...) nailed Reba like I hoped and prayed for! That is a definite rarity these days

Same for Divided Sky the first night too - no real flubs

 

All weekend I kept getting asked what got me into Phish.

In my head, what happenned was that I always knew of them (Can't be into the Dead and not at least be aware, ya know?) but felt I needed to wait longer before lunging off the "deep end", so to speak.

Now that I've really cooled down off the Dead for the moment I've been able to move into Phish, ya know what I mean? Still love, adore and collect the Dead regularly, just I've hit the next phase of things, ya know?

But anyways, I guess the first time I REALLY got them on my radar was with Fare Thee Well cuz of Trey being apart of it. That made me look into things a little, but I knew I'd want more so I held back for a bit, haha.

But anyways, people kept asking what got me into them and it occured to me that the reason I like them is they are basically - in the most general sense (as they do all kinds of stuff) really a kind of combo of the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa. And Zappa and the Dead both changed my life, so....

Just random thoughts while eating my sandwich

Carry on! 

Charleston 2019 - Nights 1 and 2 - My first shows! - #1. 12/6/19

 Here are my live posts from the Hoffman forums over that weekend:

Currently leaving Greemville for Charleston.

This is it boys.

17 months in the making, from first discovery to first shows

12 31 95
6 14 00
6 15 00
7 30 97
10 31 90
8 14 93

These were basically my base level starterpack shows that got me hooked.

Gonna revisit Ventura 97 on the way down.

Not gonna try for a Sunday ticket cuz i gotta be home Monday morning for talks about a truck run to California - cant miss that

Peace and love

  

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At my very first shakedown street right now.

What thr hell is this - its like a city!  

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Ok, so they let us inside 45minutes early.

Made line mates, got 3 free beers and a Soul Planet Uno card, and a sticker lmao

Phish fans rule 

 

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On the floor. 1/3 rd back center.

Bout 30ft from rail

 First show where everyone taped blankets to the floor and had a picnic while waiting!

Made friends with some HOT (not hippie hot!) Phish chicks as well lol

 

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Ok, so, seeing in person makes many songs work better than just listening on computer.

Carolina to open - F you guys, I can check a capella number off my list!

PARTY TIME RULED!

UNDERMIND SLAYED!

I Been Around - eh

and then HOLY FREAKING OLD SCHOOL HOLY TRINITY!!

DIVIDED SKY!
THE SLOTH!
DESTINY UNBOUND!

Oh my god.

MyFe was surprisingly just ok but About To Run had Trey in full axe killer mode.

Awesome.

And then a smashing Bowie.


Oh my god.

I got DS. I actually freaking got Divided Sky!!!!

Yes i danced my fat ass off for thr ENTIRE set, wiggling and writhing and headbanging and convulsing my worries away.

It felt like an old school set. Gave me faint 1995 kind of vibes

10/10 would go tomorrow   

I forgot to mention this show has the best sound and lights of any concert ive been too

FLAWLESS

Incredible lighting and tge sound was loud and clear and PERFECTLY mixed yet not so loud to need the ear plugs I forgot to bring 

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 Ok, so they basically took most of my "want to see" list and did it tonight. Talk about dumb luck!!

Ok, set 2

Axilla - did NOT see this coming. Several reprisals throughout the set

Scents - absolute friggin MONSTER. I dont know how it sounded on webcast but in person this was next level, blow your mind insane

No Quarter - headbanging bananza

Mercury - lost my mind. Thought the jam was weak but LxL was incredible

Limb By Limb - terrific jamming. Beyond great

THE LIZARDS. THE FREAKING LIZARDS. I GOT LIZARDS, MERCURY, DIVIDED SKY, THE SLOTH AND DESTINY UNBOUND ALL AT MY FIRST SHOW ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, i also get Bittersweet Motel and Suzy Greenberg.

Like, good god. There is no way tomorrow is anything but a disappointment lol

Im gonna go to bed. Im wasted. Love you guys. The jam gods shone on me tonight!

 

Summer 2018, 2023 revisit

I'm revising my old .txt notes file from 2020 when I listened through 2018 the first time. Very cool and interesting to see what I still agree/disagree with.

For the most part, 90% of my opinions match what I wrote down originally, with the addition of a number of things I missed the first go around.

Summer 2018 is an absolute blast of a tour. It's insane to think it only gets BETTER with Fall 2018, because hot damn, Summer 2018 is downright fantastical!!!!

In my humble opinion, there isn't a poor show in the bunch, and only a few "poor" SETS at that. There are a number of "classic" shows as well as a bunch of "overall great with clear highlights" kind of gigs.

These are the best complete show experiences imo:

7/17 - Lake Tahoe
The undisputed sleeper classic. This show is a BEAST and I will maintain that opinion forever!!!! Rough and ready, but an incredible setlist, featuring an absolute metric ton of jamming (and great jamming at that!). This show feels very inspired and you can tell they are so excited to be on stage. It's gotta be one of the best "dipping the toe in the water after time off" shows ever. I swear.

7/20 - George, WA
All three nights are excellent, but 7/20 and 7/22 are MUCH better than 7/21. 7/20 is my favorite of the three, but 7/22 is equally as good, I just prefer the other setlist. Insane run. The 7/20 Chalkdust Torture, by the end of the tour, is still up there in my top 3 or 4 jams of the whole tour. Just an absolute Tour De Force Chalkdust for the history books.

7/24 - San Francisco, CA
These two shows are strange. The highest heights of the tour so far coupled with, arguably, the lowest lows of the tour!!! When it's not great, it's, well, not that great. When it's awesome, it's INSANE!!!! I prefer 7/25 as a "complete" listen, but even though 7/24 has the worst first set of the entire tour (save the scorched earth 46 Days...), the 2nd set is an absolute classic, monster, MUST HEAR behemoth!

7/31 - Austin, TX
The Undisputed Sleeper Classic, vol. 2. The show isn't entirely essential, but this is primo "ROCK SHOW" Phish of the highest order. The Down With Disease>Steam>Seven Below is absolutely ESSENTIAL listening and up there with the best of the year.

8/3 - Alpharetta, GA
This run felt like the Gorge trio on absolute steroids. I don't know what happenned, but there is a CLEAR elevation in the quality of these three shows compared to the ones directly on either side. All three shows are must-hear and, quite honestly, damn near EQUAL in quality! 8/3 is likely my go-to favorite of the 3, but each one is ESSENTIAL and on any given day I'm just as likely to give the nod to the incredibly 8/5 depending on my mood

8/8 - Camden, NJ
Both Camden shows have a LOT to recommend from them! But these were definitely more "uneven" shows with clear highlights as opposed to "complete" listening experiences. The Infinite from 8/7 is a hidden gem and the Light from 8/7 is rightly in the running for top 5 or so jam of the whole summer. I personally found myself more consistently blown away by 8/8 though. The first set was still uneven, but the second set, ala 7/24, flowed PERFECTLY from start to finish with every single song played being a highlight.


8/10 - Raleigh
Don't wanna call this a Sleeper Classic as it has a 4.2 rating and is well "remembered" to this day. This show felt incredibly unique. It just....had a vibe about it. It FELT like you were in the backwoods of North Carolina or something! The first set featured excellent playing but "sticky fingers" from Trey leading to a "ooh, so close, but not quite" feeling for the set. It was excellent but felt like it had the potential to be so much more if the band's playing was more fluid. Thankfully set 2 came along and absolutely slaughtered us all. You know the 2nd set....

8/12 - Columbia, MD
Bruh. This show. This friggin' show. Top to bottom, definitely tied with one of the Alpharetta trio as THE show of Summer 2018. Insane BALLS TO THE WALL versions from start to finish. When a show opens with Llama into BBFCFM, you know you are gonna get your face melted!