06-30-12 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

Phish Live Shows
#1

Sat, Jun 30, 2012
Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI

Set 1: My Soul, Daniel Saw the Stone, AC/DC Bag > The Moma Dance, Runaway Jim, Let It Loose, Reba, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Ocelot, Poor Heart, When the Circus Comes, Timber (Jerry) > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg

Set 2: Backwards Down the Number Line > Carini > Wilson > Golden Age -> Also Sprach Zarathustra > Rock and Roll[1] > Steam > Piper > Quinn the Eskimo, Harry Hood > Character Zero[2]

Encore: Good Times Bad Times

[1] DIrt teases.
[2] Streets of Cairo teases and a Jean Pierre tease from Trey.

Notes: Rock and Roll contained Dirt teases. Character Zero featured Streets of Cairo teases and a Jean Pierre tease from Trey.

#2

The funk-bluegrass first set was a totally different concert from the deep and dark second set. I love these guys. Reba, Suzy, Carini>Wilson>Golden Age and GTBT were insanely good! GTBT may have been standard fare, but Zeppelin is ALWAYS welcomed with open arms.

And Velvet Underground three nights in a row…awesome. Wish I could have been there for Sweet Jane. Here’s hoping that Phish covers Heroin or I’m Waiting for the Man. But with the way these guys have been playing, does it really matter? Because everything is gold - even Ocelot.

#3

^Check that, VU in 4 shows in a row! What will sneak in next?

#4

I am going preface this by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the show. None of what follows are really complaints, but merely observations, and of course I will have a lot of good things to say about the show as well.

I have not seen Phish since August, 2010. That is nearly two years of missed concerts, and it seems a lot has changed about the song selection, improvised sections, and the vibe in the crowd over the past couple of years.
Something about that first set did not keep me captivated, normally I am laser beam focused on the band and there were times in this first set that I was: Runaway Jim, Reba, The Sloth, Timber, OKP>Suzy, and there were other times where I was not. The culprits were Let it loose (even though I love that song) and Ocelot. I have given Ocelot many chances, if someone could point me toward a rip roaring, or even tolerable, Ocelot maybe it would help me get through this issue I have with it.

Set two was very enjoyable. BDTNL, although less than spectacular, is simply a pleasant song, and I hear far too many complaints about that one. CARINI > Wilson is among the most rocking one two punches possible. (BBFCFM > Fuck Your Face would probably out rock it.)

This was the first time I have heard Golden Age and Steam, and like all Phish songs, the first time I hear it I got through a honeymoon period with it. So, right now I love them both. Rock & Roll and the ensuing jam were probably the highlights of the show, but that might be because VU is one of my favorite bands. And I am with Fivepounds - sixpounds in hoping for a Herion in the future.

As we left the show I noticed something: there was VERY LITTLE JAMMING. What happened to the 15, 20, or even 25 minute song/jam? And honestly, I don’t go to shows to hear them play perfectly executed songs. I go for the improvisation, and exploring the musical possibilities without a net.

#5

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :clap:

#6

No song chasing here, just like to see this.

First timers for me at this show:
-Daniel Saw the Stone
-Let it Loose
-Golden Age
-Steam
-Good Times Bad Times

Ok by me!!! :thumbup:

#7

Glad I got to hook up with you a bit, sorry I was nowhere to be found set II, I decided to try my seats, then ran into more folks I know and bam, show time!

Hope you had some fun my friend!

#8

No worries at all Ryan! Had a great time! Thanks to you and your crew for being so welcoming and fun!
Great to meet up with you and put a few back! :thumbup:

#9

For me the first set had its ups and downs. My first Daniel Saw the Stone so that was cool. And definitely unexpected. I sort of mentally checked out during AC/DC Bag through Let it Loose, but mostly because it was so fucking humid that day that I was just having a hard time physically. I love love love Let it Loose, it’s a beautiful song but IMO I just can’t get past the lack of haunting backing vocals they had at 8. Shine a Light is a better tune to pull from that album sans backing vocals methinks. I was glad I caught a Reba before heading home and it was as pretty as ever, but then I had another lull from KDF through Circus. Again, I don’t think it was song selection as much as it was exhaustion and heat. Though, I don’t really like Ocelot. I like the song part of it okay, but the extended jam at the end just bores me. Musically I thought the Timber Ho! was the highlight…they changed keys slightly for a few measures and it sounded cool. I’ll take an OKP>Suzie set closer any day.

I loved this second set. I heard some tunes I wanted to hear before the end of my run AND I thought the jamming was really good. The Carini>Wilson was seriously rocking. Then, the Golden Age>2001>Rock and Roll>Steam>Piper was just fucking perfect.

I go for the same reason. But here’s my take on this. It seems that the new gold standard is the “10 minute jam/song”. Almost EVERY song with a jam in it is about 10-12 minutes and I think it’s been like this since the beginning of last year with some exceptions (Pine Knob and UIC DWD come to mind first). There were more 15 min jams last year too, but this year they’ve all been 10-12 minutes. I was getting a little frustrated with this last year, but this year I have no problem with it because of the way they seem to be just totally locked in to each other in a way they haven’t been for quite some time. When I was watching them play at the 5 shows I was at I just felt like they had that extra magic where if you didn’t know any better you’d think that the whole jam was scripted beforehand because it sounded so coherent. That’s why I fell in love with their improvisation back in the day and that’s what made these shows so special to me. It wasn’t that two or three of them were holding a groove while one of them soloed, which was a majority of the 2009-2011 improv style, it was all four of them moving the music around and forward together. Especially Mike and Trey. One of them would make a run and the other would pick up on it right away and they’d lock in. It was good shit. Granted, they aren’t doing it for 15, 20, 25 minutes in a row like they used to, but to watch that shit happen even for a few minutes is priceless. So, I have no bones about the “10 minute jam” if they keep playing the way they have been.

#10

'Nuff said… :thumbup:

#11

The last two minutes of this Piper, with a little Trey rhythm guitar solo and Page on the Rhodes, is as good as I remember it. Pure blissssssssssssss. :smiley: